Pagan Community Notes: Terror Attacks, Doreen Valiente Foundation, PEC-NYC and more!

On Saturday, Nov 14, La Ligue Wiccane Ecletique, based in Paris, held a vigil and ritual for its city, country and for the many victims of Friday’s terrorist attack. The ritual was organized through the Facebook event service and was to be held within the homes of each of the participants, or “chez vous.” At exactly 9 p.m. participants were told to follow the prescribed ritual outline and recite a specially written prayer for peace. The results and other words of prayer are now posted on the site.

The Wild Hunt is currently in touch with Ligue organizers in Paris and also has reached out to others affected by the recent worldwide terrorist attacks. We will be following up with more on this story as the events unfold over the next day.

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It was just announced at Witchfest 2015 that the Doreen Valiente Foundation in association with the Centre for Pagan Studies would be sponsoring two special exhibitions of their Doreen Valiente collection and other related works. The first event, titled Mystery, Magic, Folklore and Witchcraft in the British Isles, will be presented in Preston Manor, Brighton. It will run for several months, approximately April to September. The second exhibition, titled Where Witchcraft Lives, will run later in the year at a dedicated site in the same city.

It isn’t surprising that these two events are being held in Brighton. This is the same city in which Valiente was honored with a Blue Heritage Plaque in June 2013. She became the first witch to earn such an prestigious historical honor. A year later, Gerald Gardner earned the second such recognition. The fundraising and sponsorship for the two commemorative plaques were coordinated by the Foundation and Centre. The upcoming Witchcraft exhibitions will also be sponsored by both organizations in association with the local Royal Pavilion and Museusm of Brighton and Hove.

In addition, the two organizations announced an upcoming February book launch for Valiente’s new biography, which is being written by historian Philip Hesleton. The book launch is scheduled to be held at Treadwell’s Bookshop in London, Feb. 21. For updates on the exhibition, there is a dedicated website with a digital newsletter. Updates about the book will be posted to the Foundation and Centre’s main websites.

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Over the past year, the Pagan Environmental Coalition of New York City has been petitioning New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to veto the Port Ambrose LNG project. As explained by PEC organizers, “This would have built a liquefied natural gas station off the coast of Long Island. While billing itself as an import station, it likely would have flipped to become an export station, sending fracked gas to a mirror station in the UK.”

The project’s construction and operation would have disturbed an already very busy port region. In addition, spokesperson Courtney Weber said that the project could create “a terrorist target, prevent the construction of an off-shore wind farm, and become a potential catastrophe had we another storm like Sandy.”

PEC maintained its aggressive letter writing campaign for the past year, “gathering several hundred signatures from Witches in New York State.” And just this week, the state announced that Cuomo had vetoed the Ambrose LNG project. Weber said, “Another exciting victory for Gaia. Thank you to the New York State Pagan community who has supported the effort to stop the construction of this monstrosity.  Let’s keep the momentum going! There is more work to be done!”

In Other News

• The Adocentyn Research Library held its first ever “Friends of the Adocentyn Research Library” meeting. Organizers posted that it was successful with its small turnout of dedicated people. The library is located in the Bay Area of California, and holds a “collection [covering] Wiccan, Pagan, Reconstructionist, Afro-Diasporic, metaphysical and esoteric content.” The intent of the friends group is to help facilitate the library’s purpose and objectives, in all forms of its development. They will be hosting another meeting on Jan 10 and plan to be at PantheaCon in Feb.
• For those readers living in the Rockies, the 2016 Colorado Celtic Weekly Planner Desk Calendar is out. Available through Denver-based Isis Books, the weekly calendar is a unique publication that maintains its focus on the local area. The description reads, “The New Moons, Full Moons, Equinoxes and Solstices are correct for Mountain Time, even for MST and MDT! It contains a treasure trove of information on following the Celtic tree path, including information on each tree for this particular region.”
• Michigan Pagan Fest 2016 is now calling for submissions for workshops and presentations.The headlines for next year’s event include Orion Foxwood, Judika Illes, M.R. Sellars, and Lady Bona Dea. The musical guest is Lord Wrayven. The event will be held in Belleville, Michigan from June 23-26 and includes camping, drumming, workshops, vendors and more. The workshop submission deadline is Feb. 1.
• Artist and author Kari Tauring has launched a Kickstarter campaign to finish her two latest albums. As she explains, “Ljos (Light) and Svart (Black), named after Snorri Sturluson’s above ground and below ground elves, the beings of Summer frolic and Winter’s almost complete blackness in the far North.”  Money raised will be used the complete the two albums, which were started in 2014.  Tauring expects the albums to be released by late Spring 2016.

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