Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids appoints new Chosen Chief

GLASTONBURY, England — An announcement was made at the summer assembly of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids in earlier this month, regarding the selection of a new chosen chief. Eimear Burke, an Irish Druid, will be stepping into the role in 2020 after a two-year transition period, and she will be taking the order forward. In 2020 the current chief, Philip Carr-Gomm, will have been in the role for 32 years. He himself was selected by Ross Nichols, the founder of the order, and initiated on Glastonbury Tor 48 years ago. Carr-Gomm states on his blog, “I will be handing on the leadership of an organization that is flourishing, that doesn’t need changing or fixing, but just needs a steady hand on the tiller while at the same time allowing the order to grow and flourish in a new phase of its life.”

He goes on to say, “If you wait until the leader of a group dies, you create an unstable situation that has so often occurred in the history of spiritual groups.

Pagan Community Notes: Masterpiece Cake ruling, Phyllis Curott honored, OBOD changes hands, and more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court of the United States delivered their opinion Monday, June 4 on the Masterpiece Cakeshop case. Justice Kennedy delivered that opinion, which holds that the “Colorado Civil Rights Commission’s actions in assessing a cake shop owner’s reasons for declining to make a cake for a same-sex couple’s wedding celebration violated the free exercise clause.” This overturned previous court rulings. The vote was seven to two, with justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor filing a dissenting opinion. The ruling suggests that the commission did not uphold neutrality when dealing with the baker’s conscious-based objections, stating there was a notable bias expressed against the baker’s religious beliefs.

Druids Down Under organize a national gathering for 2018

SYDNEY — Australian eclectic Druid group Druids Down Under is set to host its first national event in the Pennant Hills this weekend. The gathering will include workshops, musical performances, meditation, creative spaces and nature walks, with organisers expecting around 60 participants from a range of established traditions such as Ár nDraíocht Féin, the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and the British Druid Order, as well as eclectic and solitary practitioners. Organiser and eclectic Druid Julie Brett hopes the gathering will be significant and uniquely Australian. “It focuses on what it means to follow the path of Druidry in the Australian landscape specifically,” Brett says. “This is the first time that we have met in large numbers from around the country in person.

Pagan Community Notes: Lady Cybele, American Academy of Religion, PantheaCon and more

HOLMEN, Wis. — The Wisconsin Pagan community lost one of its elders last month. Carol Lee Wiggins Olson Gainer, known as Lady Cybele of Rowangrove, died Nov. 26 at her home. Lady Cybele followed the Family Tradition Craft, was a longtime member of Circle Sanctuary and the Society for Creative Anachronism.  She regularly attended Pagan Spirit Gathering until her health made it difficult.

Lady Cybele was born in 1942 in Winona, Minnesota to Leland Edward Wiggins and Mabel Cecilia Johnson. After high school, she earned a bachelor’s degree from LaCrosse State University and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison.

Pagan Community Notes: Conjure Gala, Tuatha Dea, #GivingTuesday, and more

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