Pagan Community Notes is a series focused on news originating from within the Pagan community. Reinforcing the idea that what happens to and within our organizations, groups, and events is news, and news-worthy. If you enjoy this series and our other recurring entries, please consider donating to our 2014 Fall Fund Campaign. Your support and donations make it possible for us to keep sharing the news and these important stories with you. Now let’s get started!
Blake Kirk
The Interfaith Mission Council (IMS) of Huntsville, Alabama has announced that Wiccan Priest Blake Kirk is scheduled to offer an invocation before the Nov. 6 city council meeting. In June, Kirk was removed from the schedule due to complaints from local residents. After much discussion, the Huntsville city council opted to maintain its inclusive prayer policy prayer rather than removing invocations entirely. The executive director of IMS, the local organization charged with coordinating invocation speakers, Jeannie Robison told AL.com, “We [IMS and the city council] want to honor Huntsville’s commitment to being an Inclusive City and to meet Constitutional standards regarding freedom of religion.”
This past Thursday, the council demonstrated its commitment to diversity by inviting an Atheist to speak. Following that meeting, IMS announced that Kirk had been invited back. In response to the city’s actions, Kirk said, “I think it’s an extremely positive development for Huntsville, and it suggests that people have learned something from the unfortunate situation in June, and are really trying to do better.” You can watch Kirk’s invocation live on Nov. 6 through Huntsville’s live streaming site.
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart
On Sept. 28, Oberon Zell-Ravenhart posted a call on Witchvox for information about “Pagan Lands for Pagan Burials.” He wrote, “Since Morning Glory’s death, I have been inspired (nay, “assigned!”) to co-author a handbook for Pagan Final Passages—including green burials.” In the spring, the Church of All Worlds’ sacred land of Annwfn was legally-secured as an “officially-recognized cemetery for full body burials.” Morning-Glory was the first to be buried on that land, and Oberon is thankful to those who helped make that possible. Now he wants to turn his experience into, what he describes as, a “how-to manual.”
To accomplish this work, Oberon is looking for input from anyone who maintains Pagan land, a green cemetery, or anyone who is planning to build a cemetery space. He adds, “Previously, virtually all members of the modern Pagan community who have died (at least in the United States) have been cremated, as this seemed to be the only option other than the impossibly expensive and distasteful mortuary practice of embalming and burial in a fancy coffin in a concrete vault. But for many of us, cremation is a repellent choice, as we remember the Burning Times, and have no wish to consign our flesh to the flames yet again!”
Pagan/Academic European Associates Network (PAEAN) will be holding its 2nd online conference on October 9, 2014. The event is held in coordination with the Pagan Federation International (PFI) and is focused on “a variety of topics around the subjects of Paganism and Witchcraft.” This October’s theme is “The changing of Magic: Modern and Ancient Witchcraft.” There will be two panels on the following subjects: “Ancient Witchcraft and its adaptation” and “Western Esotericism practices and the academy.”
The online PAEAN conference is held twice a year, in the spring and fall. Coordinators hope that the unique online platform, which allows a diversity of people to engage in dialogue and interaction, will “increase learning, understanding and developing from the combined discussions.”
![Spelcastor [Courtesy: EMLC]](https://wildhunt.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/unnamed1.jpg)
Spelcastor [Courtesy: EMLC]
In Other Pagan Community News:
- Cherry Hill Seminary has launched its own Fall Fund Drive. In the past week, the Board announced that “every donor will be entered in a free drawing for the Dream Shawl,” hand knit and beaded by Dean Wendy Griffin.
- “Witches and Wicked Bodies” is now on exhibit at The British Museum in London through January 2015. The exhibit, which was first displayed at the National Galleries of Scotland, “examines the portrayal of witches and witchcraft in art from the Renaissance to the end of the 19th century.” After viewing the popular exhibition, patrons can step across the street into the Atlantis Bookshop, which maintains its own place in Witchcraft history.
- The Temple of Witchcraft in Salem, New Hampshire will be hosting a lecture with author Philip Heselton on Oct. 28. Organizers say, “Mr. Heselton will share his considerable knowledge on [Gerald Gardner], answer questions, and be available to sign copies of his books.” Heselton, an authority on Gardner, has written the books Witchfather and Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration. He was present at the dedication of Gardner’s Blue Plaque last June. The Temple of Witchcraft says they are excited to be hosting the acclaimed author this coming month.
- Also in October, actor Mark Ryan is due to launch his autobiography entitled Hold Fast. Produced by independent publisher Mythwood Books, the autobiography will include a chapter called, “Living Magically,” in which he writes, “Magic is very real to me, and the real magic is in making the intangible idea, the elusive creative impulse, manifest and live in our reality. We’ll explore the scientific, philosophical and practical applications of this concept throughout the course of this story.” Ryan considers himself Pagan and has co-authored several popular Tarot decks include The Wildwood Tarot and the Greenwood Tarot.
- In the wake of current discussions on the meaning of leadership and elders, it seems appropriate that Circle Magazine has decided to focus its next edition on the topic. The issue is called, “Honoring Elders and Aging,” and the deadline for submissions was extended to Oct 14.
- Damien Echols has moved on with his life and, in July, told The Village Voice that he no longer wants to talk about the West Memphis 3. He and his wife have been teaching tarot in New York City. Now, Echols has announced that he will be in Salem, Massachusetts for a one-time only class in Tarot reading held at the Scarlet Letter Press and Gallery on Oct. 11. The press release says, “All who take the class will be awarded a certificate of completion in the Crimson Lotus tradition of ceremonial magick and will receive a gift of magickal oil, blended personally by Damien.”
- Finally, we’ve reached 52% in our own Fall Fund drive. We are thankful to everyone who has donated and supported our work. The drive will continue until Nov 2.
That is all for now. Have a great day!
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Yay for Blake and the invocation to come! And while I think pagan cemeteries are a nice idea; I still plan to be cremated myself. I don’t literally remember the “burning times”….tho’ I get the sense of that. But I also recall the historical practice of cremation being an OLD pagan form of disposal of the body and thus “consigning my body to the flames” is not repellent at all to me.
I don’t remember the “Burning Times” either. And I think there is a difference between being accused of a crime then burned alive at the stake and that of being cremated after death.
Fire is one of the elements and, in my mind, is an appropriate form of returning to the Earth. Personally, I would like to be buried in Circle Sanctuary’s green cemetery, but I live out of state, and it is difficult to get the permits to carry a body across state lines. So, at this point, unless the laws change, I will have to be cremated in order for ashes to be taken to Wisconsin. And I’m OK with that.
Likewise, I feel that the huge difference between cremation and burning alive, seems an important thing to note. My ashes are to be spread upon my own Walk of the Fallen Memorial Labyrinth on my own property in keeping with a vow I made.
Oberon wrote, ““Previously, virtually all members of the modern Pagan community who have died (at least in the United States) have been cremated, as this seemed to be the only option other than the impossibly expensive and distasteful mortuary practice of embalming and burial in a fancy coffin in a concrete vault.”
“Seemed” may be the operative word. Orthodox Judaism forbids embalming and requires swift burial of the corpse either wrapped in a shroud and placed directly into the ground, or in a coffin made of flimsy material that will disintegrate quickly. Orthodox Jews have been burying their dead in Jewish cemeteries in America since before the Revolution.
OTOH, concrete vaults are a requirement for public health in places where the water table is higher than the depth at which people are buried.
Indeed. Tennessee, for example, does not have any legal requirement for embalming prior to burial, and several sites in that state now offer “natural burials” as an option. Persons interested in something other than cremation or embalming should research local or regional options for natural burials. One other option might be to donate one’s remains for use in a medical school, or for research purposes, such as the donated human remains used in researching natural decomposition for forensic purposes by the University of Tennessee’s Anthropology department.
Thank you very much for stating the law in TN. We have been asking about green burials and have been told several times, even by state employees, that burials without a vault are illegal in TN. Even those who don’t lie about the law are brushing us off or acting as if we were nuts to ask for such a thing.
Now that we know this, we can search more effectively for a way to fulfill our last wishes.
Verity – The Medical Examiner’s office in Hamilton County, TN has a very nice web page which covers most of the basics about what Tennessee’s laws ACTUALLY say with regard to funerals. While some of the information is specific to Hamilton County, most of the information is applicable state-wide.
http://www.hamiltontn.gov/medicalexaminer/me%20office%20faqs.htm
An excellent place to start. Thanks again!
I know my paternal grandmother’s body was given to Vanderbilt U (in TN?); whether her elder son chose that path for himself, or his wife chose for herself, I do not know.
Given the number of inherited disease and oddities I have, yeah, research can have me for a while. I want my remains, when they are returned, cremated and mixed into material which will make a nice bench to put in a scenic spot, such as a redwood forest.
There are Pagans indeed who have been buried in green cemeteries in the United States.
congrats on the progress for funding!
Given Oberon’s bollocks about “the Burning Times”, it’s worth mentioning that cremation only became legal in the UK after a fight by a neopagan Druid named William Price.