In late August, the Mount Franklin Pagan Gathering (MFPG) ran into a hurdle after being handed a number of new requirements from Parks Victoria. MFPG is one of the oldest and longest running ‘free to attend’ Pagan gatherings in Australia with its first event held in 1981. Named after an extinct volcano, MPFG is always scheduled for late October.
However, the organizers recently announced that they had been “informed of the changes in administration surrounding Parks Victoria …These changes impose upon us limitations and requests for documentation that are nothing less than astonishing in number and in time frame. Last year, the Gathering paid for two years’ worth of permits in full, however the requirements have now been changed significantly.” They go on to explain that Parks Victoria now requires a nine page detailed application, other fees, forms, and consultations.
The MFPG organizers’ biggest concern was in the timing of it all. Would they be able to finish the work needed to meet these new requirements in time to host this year’s festival? As they said, “The MFPG is non profit, and is organised by a very small, close-knit group of volunteers with families and full time jobs. It is a free Gathering, relying on volunteer labour”
However, they have remained upbeat and now say that the gathering happen despite this hurdle. On its Facebook page, organizers wrote, “[An] an incredible amount of bureaucratic red tape is being worked with. It is challenging for all parties as it is all new, but we have every confidence we will have our 34th Gathering as usual.” The Mount Franklin Pagan Gathering is scheduled for October 23-25. Registration is currently open and admission is free.
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Witch School International has announced that it is closing its doors on September 30. Its sites will be handed over to the “not for profit Correllian Educational Ministries, as part of the Correllian Tradition.” These websites include Witch School, Magick TV and the Pagans Tonight Radio Network.
Rev. Don Lewis, Chancellor of the Correllian Nativist Tradition, said that the transition “will not change the focus of Witch School, which has always been open to many points of view. However as an official part of the Tradition, Witch School will be able to work more directly with Temples and groups in its clergy training programs, and as a not for profit Witch School will be able to focus totally on the needs of the student.”
Ed Hubbard, retiring Chairman of Witch School, said, “Under the Religious education banner, this will be able to continue to grow and expand, seeking out ways to provide a quality education for a lifetime.” The transition is expected to go smoothly with little interruption or problems for current members. Both Lewis and Hubbard said that more information would be provided over the coming month.
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It is that time of the year again. The 2016 GBG Calendar is available. Since 2011, the GBG calendar project has produced a full color product that includes an array of facts, photographs, quotes and other material from Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente and others. The calendar itself also highlights “hundreds of Pagan feast days from around the world.”
As noted on the website, “For each calendar sold, a small donation will be made to two organizations that help preserve Craft history. Special thanks to the Doreen Valiente Foundation and the Museum of Witchcraft in England.”
The 2016 edition is dedicated to Gerald’s wife Donna Gardner, who was not involved in the Craft herself but was instrumental in supporting her husband’s work. Additionally, this year’s calendar comes with a 160 coupons from online merchants who have supported the 2016 GBG project. The calendar is currently available by mail order through its website.
In Other News:
- The Morning Glory Zell Memorial Foundation is continuing its quest to open a school, store and museum in Northern California. It is currently “negotiating to lease a storefront in downtown Santa Cruz, to be called The Academy of Arcana.” Oberon Zell-Ravenheart said that he expects the Academy to be self-sustaining but the start-up expenses are considerable. The Foundation is continuing its funding campaign, and Oberon has just made a personal appeal to the community for assistance with these early costs. All donations can be made through the Foundation’s website.
- Private memorial services for Deborah Ann Light have been held in a number of locations. Quail Hill Farm, in New York, will be hosting a public memorial service on Sept. 19. Quail Hill Farm is located on the property owned by Light herself, and then gifted to a local land trust. Quail Hill was a place that held personal importance for Light and was, at one time, her home. The service will begin at 4 p.m.
- Virgo Ministry has announced that Tim Titus will be taking over as Leader of the Temple Healing Case Study Group. The Healing Group holds events and maintains a list of people and animals in need of healing. The group is connected with the New Hampshire-based Temple of Witchcraft. In its announcement the Ministry said, “[Titus] brings to the group his experience as a healer and teacher and the skills he has been developing in his studies in the Mystery School.” Congratulations Tim Titus!
Springer International Publishing has just released a book called Pagan Ethics written by Michael York. According to the publisher, “This book is the first comprehensive examination of the ethical parameters of paganism when considered as a world religion alongside Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism … The book is aimed at both the contemporary Western pagan and anyone with an interest in the moral dilemmas of our times and the desire to engage in the global ethical discussion.” Pagan Ethics is available through Springer in hard cover or eBook. Currently, you can also purchase individual chapters or download a sample.- The submission deadline for the third issue of Walking the Worlds is fast approaching. As noted on the site, “Walking the Worlds is devoted to an exploration of spiritwork and polytheism from a variety of traditions, ancient and modern.” As a “serious, rigorous journal,” each issue has dedicated theme that the editors“encourage contributors to keep … in mind when submitting.” This third issue’s theme is “Magic and Religion.” The deadline is Oct. 1. All details and submission guidelines are listed on the journal’s website.
- And now for something a little different. Laboratorium Pieśni is an all-female vocal group from Poland. They focus specifically on traditional, polyphonic singing. The group performs music predominantly from the Ukraine, Balkans, Poland, Belarus, Georgia, and Scandinavia. As explained on the Laboratorium Pieśni site, “They sing a capella as well as with shaman drums and other ethnic instruments (shruti box, kalimba, flute, gong, zaphir and koshi chimes, singing bowls, rattles etc.), creating a new space in a traditional song, adding voice improvisations, inspired by sounds of nature, often intuitive, wild and feminine.” Below is their latest video “Sztoj pa moru”
That’s it for now. Have a nice day!
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I’m blown away by Laboratorium Pieśni! I hope that they record an album soon, and it’s available to download in the US.
This Pagan Ethics book seems quite interesting. Would you consider writing a review of it at some point?
Yes. We are looking into it.
Neat!
Here’s the link for the Amazon release for Pagan Ethics. Ouch…the Kindle copy is more expensive than the hardcopy…
http://smile.amazon.com/Pagan-Ethics-Paganism-World-Religion/dp/3319189220/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441737008&sr=8-1&keywords=pagan+ethics
It’s a joke right? How come a book that has just been released costs 180 bucks?
You beat me to it. Stcker shock of 250$ has me just waiting for the cliff notes version. =.=;
I’m not overly surprised; academic books are often absurdly overpriced.
I can almost understand for older, out of print books, but if this book was just released, this is simply beyond insane !
Most often it is because they will have a narrow appeal and are unlikely to sell widely and sufficient numbers to warrant writing and printing – so as Kauko says, like most academic books they cost a lot ore to break even. Applies in my fields of science too.
But in all honesty, who would buy such a volume for 200 dollars? Even I would consider illegal download at that point.
Normally for that price it is bought by people who work in that field or by libraries/institutions. These sorts of books are uncommon so when they do come out, you buy them if it is your field.
This is why I quit academia. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life having a conversation that only other academics could hear.
yes and no. My previous field was very small and specialised and the broader public people didn’t really care or know about it (they always wanted Dinosaurs), I got plenty of opportunity to change that and maybe did have some impact.
working within a specialised field has it advantages; like minded people who were as passionate about it as you and who do it for the love/intrigue/fascination rather than publicity or money.
I wonder if that is a bit of a holdover from pre-Internet days when academic literature was perhaps more hard to come by for non-academics. But in this day and age where the internet makes all of these books easy to get and there are so many people outside academia who study these things (just look at Pagans, Heathens, and Polytheists, who often are great readers of academic works related to things related to their religious practice), if there isn’t now a larger audience for these books and the price is no longer justified? It could almost be a self-fulfilling prophecy: they charge a lot of money because they think few people will buy it, and so few people buy it because it costs too much money. Look at the book in question: I’d imagine many Pagans would see the title somewhere and be interested; if they see a typical price tag of say $20-30, they might well buy it. They see $200 and say, “no, thanks.”
If I really needed this book for says, studies or writing I’d just contact the author and wire them 25 bucks for a pdf. That’s how many Indie bands sell their music so whay not authors as well?