News

Pagan librarians rescue books, preserve history

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TWH – Michael Smith, acting director of the New Alexandrian Library, became spellbound as he was packing up books and materials recently donated by the Theosophical Society of Washington, D.C., including four decades of bound volumes of Theosophist magazines dating to 1901. One of Smith’s husbands, Jim Dickinson, became perturbed. “When we were boxing up the Theosophical Society library, my husband Jim yelled at me – a lot,” Smith said, chuckling at the memory. “He kept saying, ‘Put the book in the box so we can move it.’ It was such an incredible collection of all sorts of esoteric topics that I had never seen before.”

Thanks to two Pagan-centric institutions — the New Alexandrian Library, located near Georgetown, Del., and the Adocentyn Research Library, a similar enterprise located in San Francisco’s East Bay — Pagans and the general public alike now have access to thousands of Pagan, metaphysical, and esoteric books and periodicals, including rare and out-of-print works. Both libraries continue to accept donations of Pagan and Pagan-related books.

Paganism

Pagan Community Notes: Italian Druid speaks out, special edition of the Pomegranate, Solar Cross and more

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BIELLA, Italy – A well-known Druid in Italy is speaking up for Pagans after several cemeteries were desecrated. Luigi D’Ambrosio, also known as Ossian, has told the local media that the damage was most likely done by vandals and not by Satanists or Pagans. He said, “It was [done by] disturbed young people looking for attention.” The damage occurred at the Catholic cemeteries in Oropa and Cosilla. According to the report, skulls and other bones had been extracted from grave sites, but left close by. This is not the first time it has happened there, nor in other parts of the country.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Dana Eilers, Oroville Dam, Holli Emore and more!

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CAPE COD, Mass. — Word spread quickly this weekend that Pagan and Witch Dana Eilers had died unexpectedly. Born Sept. 15, 1956 in North Chatham, Mass, Eilers spent much of her adult life using her knowledge and skills to assist the growing Pagan community in its quest for religious freedom. Eilers held a law degree from the New England School of Law and spent more than 17 years practicing in the states of Missouri and Illinois.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Columbia Grove, Many Gods West, David Suhor and more!

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TROUT LAKE, Wash. — Over the weekend, Columbia Grove, ADF hosted its first Pan-Pagan camping festival at White Mountain Druid Sanctuary in Trout Lake, Washington. The festival, called Beyond the Gates, was attended by 35 people, and featured a variety of workshops and rituals. For example, ADF Archdruid Emeritus Reverend Kirk Thomas, who co-owns and operates Trout Lake Abbey on which the sanctuary is located, offered two lectures: Celtic Arthur and The Ancient Celtic Religion. Phaedra Bonewits was there to host a workshop on Ritual Participation and the Life and Times of Isaac Bonewits.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Circle Sanctuary, The Troth, Academy of Arcana, Isis and more

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Circle Sanctuary has announced the launch of its new membership program. Since its founding in 1974, Circle has been an open organization that has relied predominantly on donations, volunteerism and community support without any form of official membership needed. At Imbolc, organizers officially changed Circle’s traditional structure. In a press release, they wrote, “By creating a more formal membership program, we can open stronger channels of communication; learn from our members about how we can support their spiritual and personal development; and focus on members’ needs now and in the times to come.” Membership is open to a wide variety of people, limited only by a willingness to agree to “a set of three basic ethical tenets” involving nature, respect and inclusivity.