Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary, a farm and campground located in Pennsylvania, was in the news after a festival-goer reported being attacked. Four Quarters opens its land to a number of yearly external events. One of these events is Big Dub, a 4-Day EDM festival that brings together “40 of the regions biggest electronic dance dj’s to perform and hold workshops.”
On the final day of the festival, a women reported to festival security that she had been drugged and raped. Security turned the case over to local police who launched an investigation. Both Four Quarters and Big Dub are reportedly cooperating fully with authorities. Four Quarters spokesperson Orren Whiddon told local reporters, “We are allowing the law to work its course.” Unfortunately neither Whiddon or Big Dub organizers answered our requests for further comments or updates. Currently, Big Dub’s website is down.
Despite the investigation, Four Quarters is moving forward with its own extensive schedule of fall events and happenings. Upcoming this week, the organization is hosting its own 5 day festival called Stones Rising. The sanctuary is also home to the Four Quarters Meadery, which earned 4th place recognition for its sweet brew back in the Spring.
* * *
Starhawk is in the final hours of her Kickstarter campaign to self-publish City of Refuge, the sequel to her novel The Fifth Sacred Thing. As we have reported in the past, Starhawk’s manuscript was rejected by her former publisher. While she was initially both frustrated and angry, Starhawk decided to take a leap and publish the book herself.
Starhawk describes the new book, “Do you choose to imagine a future filled with food gardens and community or guns and isolation? City of Refuge offers the world an alternative vision of the future- one where we can face down the oppressors and the violence with confidence that a peaceful and abundant world is possible.”
Starhawk launched the City of Refuge crowd-sourcing campaign on Aug. 5 with a goal of $50,000. However, she has surpassed that goal, raising $73,136. The campaign closes later today and, according to the site, a special first edition of the novel will only be available through the Kickstarter event. Additionally, Starhawk announced that, if she reaches $75,000, she will create an audio book version of City of Refuge. The book is due to be released for sale in 2016.
* * *
Pagan Pride Day logo.
We have now officially entered Pagan Pride Day season. A few events have already taken place but most are still in the final planning stages. Pagan Pride events offer a wide diversity of opportunities, which often reflect the flavor of the local community. At the Patheos’ blog Heathen At Heart, guest writer Náf Andrewson shares a unique reflection on representing Heathenry and the group Nebraska Heathens United at Pagan Pride Day Omaha. Andrewson wrote, “My purpose was simple; represent Heathenry at this event and make the distinct voice of all of Heathenry clear compared to other Pagan religions.”
Generally speaking, Pagan Pride events typically contain three main elements: public ritual, a food drive and media outreach. While not every event is run the same, these elements are reportedly required in order to be considered a part of the Pagan Pride Day project. For example, in July, Philadelphia Pagan Pride Day sent out its press release announcing the event’s return on Sept. 5. Others have made similar efforts. The Pagan Pride Day website has an easily searchable list of all local Pride events even some happening in Latin America and Europe. In addition, many of the local Pride organizations host Facebook pages and groups for community support.
In Other News:
- EarthSpirit Community has announced its schedule for the upcoming Parliament of the World Religions in Salt Lake City. Members will be involved with at least 6 different scheduled programs, serve on various host committees and will be speaking on panels. The organization has launched a fundraising campaign to offset travel costs to the big interfaith gathering.
- For those of you who missed the Many Gods West conference, Morpheus Ravenna’s keynote address has been published in full at Polytheist.com. In her speech titled “Deep Polytheism: On the Agency and Sovereignty of the Gods,” Ravenna said, “The key, in my mind, to understanding the nature of the Gods and what makes Them distinct from archetypes, is agency. And this is a theme I am going to emphasize a lot here.”
- Circle Sanctuary will be hosting its fall festival on Sept. 19-20 in Wisconsin. The event is called an “Old Tyme Community Harvest Faire: a Celebration of Hearth and Harvest.” It includes rituals, workshops, crafting and more. For more information and for tickets, Circle has set up a dedicated web page filled with information and photos from past events.
- Humanistic Paganism has opened a call for submissions for its September theme: Gaia philosophy and the Earth. Editors write, “This month in 1965, James Lovelock, the author of the Gaia Hypothesis, started defining the idea of a self-regulating Earth … In the meantime, also in September … one of the fathers of Neo-Paganism, Tim (Oberon) Zell had his a vision which inspired him to articulate vision of the earth as a single living organism.” In honor of that work, editors are looking for papers that focus on Earth Stewardship and related topics. All deadlines and requirements are posted on the site.
- The Association for the Study of Women and Mythology has put out a call for proposals for its 2016 conference. “ASWM’s supports the work of those whose scholarly/creative endeavors explore or elucidate aspects of the sacred feminine, women and mythology.” The conference, to be held in Boston in April, is themed: “Seeking Harbor in Our Histories: Lights in the Darkness.” Specifics on the conference and submission guidelines are listed on the organization’s site. In addition, ASWM is seeking nominee’s for its Kore award and for its Sarasvati book award.
- The Pagan band Taibhsear has just released its debut album called “Tears Upon the Water.” The band’s sound is described as “somewhere between Pink Floyd and Damh the Bard.” The new album is available through iTunes, Amazon and other outlets.
That is it for now! Have a nice day.
The Wild Hunt is not responsible for links to external content.
To join a conversation on this post:
Visit our The Wild Hunt subreddit! Point your favorite browser to https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Wild_Hunt_News/, then click “JOIN”. Make sure to click the bell, too, to be notified of new articles posted to our subreddit.
Love to see the organization and cooperation.
As it should be.
Thank you for mentioning my blog, Heathen at Heart! A quick correction: the group Náf Andrewson represented is a regional group called Nebraska Heathens United. Thank you again!
Excellent. Correction made.
Starhawk’s New Novel
She is a very well known person in the US. There is probably no needfor her to self-publish with all the problems and other things that are involved. I am sure that with a little looking and a very good query letter she would probably hook herself a great agent who could take all those burdens off her shoulders. Why do people think that they can put the cart in front of the horse?
She has a good agent, same as mine. It’s not that simple nowadays.