Circle Sanctuary has announced the launch of its new membership program. Since its founding in 1974, Circle has been an open organization that has relied predominantly on donations, volunteerism and community support without any form of official membership needed. At Imbolc, organizers officially changed Circle’s traditional structure. In a press release, they wrote, “By creating a more formal membership program, we can open stronger channels of communication; learn from our members about how we can support their spiritual and personal development; and focus on members’ needs now and in the times to come.”
Membership is open to a wide variety of people, limited only by a willingness to agree to “a set of three basic ethical tenets” involving nature, respect and inclusivity. Organizers said, “Circle Sanctuary’s community has always been diverse, including Pagans, Wiccans, Druids, Polytheists,Heathens, Unitarian Universalists, Witches, Humanists, Shamanic practitioners and many other names and paths. Within Circle Sanctuary we come together with a common intention to honor the Divine in Nature and create community together. Our membership program continues this tradition of honoring the diversity.”
Organizers were also quick to add, “Circle Sanctuary will continue to serve Pagans of many paths and places, regardless of membership.” Their events, such as Pagan Spirit Gathering, will continue to be open to everyone. Details on joining and on other Circle programs can be found online.
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After the Jan 10 posting of controversial statements by Asatru Folk Assembly’s Steve McNallen, a wave of backlash and debate erupted throughout the Heathen world. As we previously reported, Heathens United Against Racism publicly responded with a strong response to McNallen’s comments. And, since early January the issue has not abated, with many Heathens adding to the growing public discussion on racism and the support of fascism within their religious communities.
More recently, on Jan 30, Troth Steersman Steve T. Abell posted a response to the situation on Patheos’ Agora, saying, “We have some colorful characters in the Heathen community.” The article, which calls out several members of the Heathen community by name, set off another round of arguments and more backlash. In response, The Troth as an organization posted a reaffirmation of its mission statement, and Redesman John T Mainer published an official response in an essay titled, “The High Cost of Rhetoric.”
Since that point, Heathens and Pagans alike have been weighing in on the volatile situation, including long time Troth member Diana Paxson. Speaking only for herself, Paxson wrote in a Facebook post, “Heathens are known for the variety and vividness of our opinions, and even those who are members of the Troth do not always agree. But the policies of the organization reflect the will of its members. […] If the Troth is to continue to support toleration and respect for all, all those who oppose racism need to stick with the organization and make their opinions known.”
The conversation is ongoing with many Heathens and others sharing stories and opinions on both McNallen’s original post and the follow-up response by various Troth members. How and if this will affect The Troth as an organization or the Heathen community as a whole is still unknown.
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The Academy of Arcana‘s museum containing “Morning Glory’s 40 year collection of Goddess Statues” is now officially opened. The Museum of Myth, Magick & Mysterie, as it has been named, held its grand opening Feb. 7 at 3:00 pm. Attendees were able to look at 366 goddess statues collected by Morning Glory over the years.
The ribbon cutting event was hosted by curator Oberon Zell and coordinator Anne Duthers, and was followed by a reception and guest presentation by Witch Elder Dr. Zsuzsanna E Budapest on “The Politics of Women’s Myths.” The academy, along with its curio shop and museum, are located at 428-A Front St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060. It is the “first physical campus for the Grey School of Wizardry, offering an educational center with a Museum of Myth, Magick and Mysterie, and a Library of Esoterica.”
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We are currently researching a breaking story in which a Pagan Facebook group was shut down because it “violated community standards.” The group’s name is “Following Isis” and was created for those people who are devotees of the Egyptian goddess. As we have reported in the past, it is not uncommon for the goddess Isis to be confused with Daesh, the terrorist organization more typically referred to as ISIS. We are currently in touch with the Facebook group owners and will follow up as we learn more.
In Other News
- The Adocentyn Research Library, located in California, has been quietly building its collection over the past few years and is now up to 13,000 volumes. Its goal is to become the “premier Pagan research center in the Western US.” The library is managed by a non-profit organization and relies on donations of both money and materials. The management team recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise more awareness and funds toward the goal of finally opening its doors. Over the weekend, The New Alexandrian Library, a corresponding entity located on the East Coast, donated $250 to the cause with the words “in unity and support of the great work for the community.”
- PantheaCon gets underway this Friday in San Jose, California. If you are attending, don’t forget to come out and meet The Wild Hunt writers on Saturday, from 5-6 p.m. in the Hexenfest Suite. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new people.
- Speaking of PantheaCon, the Mills College Pagan Alliance met its fundraising goal in just 6 days and will be able to attend PantheaCon after all. Kristen Oliver called it “a blessing” and said that the group of women attending were extremely thankful for the support.
- As Valentine’s Day nears, the Huffington Post decided to look into the meaning of Pagan handfastings.The article, titled “Here’s Why Couples Tie Their Hands Together During Pagan Weddings,” contains quotes and photos from both Circle Sanctuary’s Rev. Selena Fox and New York-based Witch Courtney Weber. Fox is quoted as saying, “In many ceremonies, the couple faces each associated direction as I do the blessing, concluding with being at the altar for the blessing of Spirit.” And, Weber, who shared photos from her own recent handfasting, said, “The use of the elementals encourages a balanced, healthy relationship […] When all parts are working together — earth, air, fire, water, and spirit — they created [sic] a holistic world that allows the couple to breathe, move, function and grow together.”
- Dr. Ruth Lindley, a UK-based historian is looking to interview “women whose spiritual practices focus on, or relate to, ‘the Goddess’, for [her] PhD research on religion and spirituality.” As posted on the blog Medusa’s Coils, Dr. Lindley, Ph.D, of the Department of History, University of Birmingham said, “[My] will challenge current scholarship on religious change in modern Britain, especially in relation to women’s experiences of faith from the 1960s to the present day.” She is specifically “looking for participants based in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.” To get involved, contact her directly at RML033@bham.ac.uk.
- The Glastonbury Goddess Temple, which was featured in our report on the legality of handfastings in England, launched a new website for its 21st annual Goddess Festival. The summer event will “honour Goddess as Lady of Avalon, Nolava of the Sacred Land,” and will take place from July 26 to 31. Included in the festival’s activities are presentations, workshops and performances by many speakers, artists, and musicians, including “Starhawk, Carolyn Hillyer, ALisa Starweather, Rith Barrett, Jana Runnalls, Kathy Jones, Kellianna, Katinka Soetens, Luciana Percovich, Lydia Ruyle, and Falcon River” More information is available at the Temple’s new website.
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I’m a little dismayed that HUAR is once again capitalizing on a lazy media reliant on press releases to bolster its meager and pathetic credibility. The “immediate” and “strong response” to McNallen’s words occured over a week after McNallen made his original comments and Days after the actual response prompted him to issue the middle fingered raspberry on January 11? Perhaps it would be an essay posted before January 18th? I would hope that such a suspicious timeline would prompt a journalist with good instincts to look at the responses posted between McNallen’s original remarks and his non apology, and that might lead them to A Brief fresponse Josh White of Heathen Talk wrote on… January 11. http://heathentalk.com/2016/01/11/a-brief-response-to-ill-words/
I find this particularly galling not only because Josh didn’t deserve the abuse heaped upon him by AFA supporters, up to and including someone wishing & hoping for harm to befall Josh’s family, but also because Josh has consistently put forth the best, most mature criticism of McNallen’s statement. Meanwhile, after the initial furor quiets down, HUAR comes along and claims credit. Unearned, unworthed credit. Josh White put himself out there to call out someone he once respected, and suffered for it. Josh’s engagement, and his willingness to continue to engage with McNallen, polite but in opposition, shows Josh’s confidence and maturity, and exactly the kind of figure Public Heathenry needs. Robbing him of the credit because of lazy press-release journalism is a travesty.
I want to say I’m disappointed in the Wild Hunt but again, how can one be disappointed when your expectations are fulfilled?
In Other News: I see press reports on line that the city of Phoenix has decided to do away with public prayer before official meetings altogether rather than face their constitutional duty to include an invocation from The Satanic Temple. I would call that a “win” for TST, Paganism and religious freedom generally, as the whole official “secular” prayer setup plays quite fast & loose with the First Amendment.
We will be reporting on that story in the coming days. Stay tuned.
Yeah? That’s awesome, I can’t wait for the insights you’ll get from interviewing the TST and local pagans… Here is to real journalism in pagan news!
ugh… Stop trying to make Paganism a religion. It’s not intended to be and so many organizations are misleading the public. I know this is random and will probably not reach very far, but for anyone spectating, NOBODY represents Pagans or any of the different traditions of Paganism… And nobody ever will. Thank the Gods.
[Citation needed]
While the name “Isis”, the Greek form of the name of Ancient Egyptian Goddess’ Auset, has been commonly used, perhaps it would behoove folks to use the actual Ancient Egyptian name of the Goddess rather than the Greek cognate. That might do away with all this other crap that’s happening and be more respectful of the Goddess’ Ancient Egyptian Heritage. Similarly, with Osiris, whose Ancient Egyptian name would’ve been Ausr. Just a suggestion.
That horse left the barn centuries ago – rightly or wrongly. The use of Her (commonly accepted) name for the terrorist group is a new phenomenon that might – I stress “MIGHT” – be able to be reversed. With that said and in my opinion, what happened is yet another reason (among many) to avoid “that site” that it happened on.
Yo, why would you remove criticism of your article?
We always welcome constructive criticism and healthy discussions of our articles. We also welcome additions and corrections. Comments are rarely deleted and, if they are, they were judged to have violated our comment policy containing direct attacks and/or defamatory language.
If you have a correction or addition, please let us know.
Did you read the criticism you deleted? Or reach out to the criticism for corrections?
Your reporting on the McNallen meltdown is wrong, HUAR didn’t immediately respond, neither did the Troth, I did. And I took the heat.
Hey, you’ve been informed of the correction needed to your piece, you’ve been given the sources, yet… No correction. So here it is again. HUAR responded a week after the initial comments by McNallen and only after the comments had gained the attention of myself here: http://heathentalk.com/2016/01/11/a-brief-response-to-ill-words/
And not until after my response to the non-apology here: http://heathentalk.com/2016/01/14/dearstevemcnallen/
The Troth didn’t respond until last week, and that response wasn’t from “the Troth” it was from Steve Abell and it was a response to HUAR not to McNallen.
The initial response to McNallen was handled entirely by unaffiliated heathens, the other national organizations and heathen media(aside from heathentalk.com) was completely silent on the issue until the ire of Mcnallens fan club had faded.
Can we get that correction now?
It this article open to criticism? There is misinformation present in it, but I would hate to violate a rule by pointing it out.
Please see the response above. If you have corrections, please use the contact form and we will look into it immediately.
I will, for sure.
But I ask because legitimate criticism was posted here in the comments section pointing out that HUAR and the Troth were well behind in response to McNallen’s statement, and summarily deleted without so much as a hint of acknowledgement. The comment even included easily verifiable information about where the discussion of McNallen’s comments really started, with Josh White of Heathen Talk. It would have taken very little effort to check that this was correct and respond to it.
Corrections are all well and good, and I will submit a request for one, but it remains a fact that we live in an age when immediate response is not only possible, but common and preferable. And the deletion of comments containing legitimate criticism does not make me hopeful for a quiet request being paid the slightest bit of attention.
I think that Circles decision to have a membership and a regular flow of money coming in in order to be able to pan for each year, plus to learn from its membership what is needed makes perfect sense. Us nonmembers lose nothing in the process, and the new members will have some say in how Circle develops, creating a firm organization that can last into the future and continue to create the necessary infrastructure to do things for the entire community.
As for the controversy in the heathen Community, it is one that we also have in the Wiccan Community, the Druid Community, and the Polytheist Community. Racism and elitism is not in just one group. By nature we disagree on many things, as long as we respect the differences between us, then each has the freedom to develop as they will, which was the very freedom that we wanted when we left the mainstream religions. As developing religions we have to realize that there is always a s danger that we will fall into the same errors that the mainstream religions did, because we are still human beings.
Contrary to another post most Pagan religions are indeed religions in the full sense of the world, we are just not organized religions yet, but some of us may well become organized for the same reasons of having an infrastructure and temples and what not and a professional priesthood, with the services such professionals can provide us. This would also allow us to set up religious schools to train our priests in all the skills the priest or priestess needs and charitable organizations that we are already beginning to establish.
Now what we do not want to loose is are variations of each religion. If you study most ancient religions, they had a variety of cultus. Even when worshiping the same gods, they did not always see them the same way, sometimes with different specialties, even different parentage, and sometimes quite different stories and different methods of worship and ceremony.
The one trap we must avoid is orthodoxy, the one right and proper way. The attempt to make all worship of any god the same leads both to blood shed, suffering and persecution, and does not stop the further divide and splintering that is natural in developing religions. Remember all religion is local,to fit the land and the people that are practicing it. There was no Pan Greek religion,there was no Pan Celtic religion.
Another thing that we have to avoid is the the continued need to expand the wealth of a religions, or its political power, as if not then wealth and political power soon corrupt whatever religious function the religion ever had. So not only remember why you left the mainstream religions but make sure that you do not allow the same things into your personal practice and you version of a religion. We are not supposed to conform, difference is allowed to keep the peace and each group go their own way. Our religion today need not and should not be a carbon copy of the past least we create a dead museum religion, but at the same time we want to hold on the the good of the old religions as we develop them to fit the need of the modern world that we live in now.
The old religions changed as well, as man left hunter gathering, to farming and animal husbandry, and finally to cities, city states, kingdoms, then countries, and now a connected world. Those that did not change to fit the new needs died out, as will ours if they do not take on the new needs along with the old needs that continue today. Someday we may leave this planet and that too will require our religions to adjust, but for each religion, or branch of each religion, there may be quite different ways to do that adjustment. We must have the freedom to adjust as each feels is fit. They do not all need to fit each other.
I find it ironic that the DisQus comment blurb asks me to “Join the discussion”, but the actions on the part of The Wild Hunt prevent me. Why was my comment removed? Did I violate a rule here? Are we not allowed to dispute facts and express dismay for the quality of journalism on this site?
“no”
HUAR waited over a week to respond – mysteriously timing it on MLK Day. There was a large response in the Heathen comminity. I am a Troth member, but they (and HUAR) are not even a majority voice in Heathenry. To only cover those two responses is like only getting quotes on a Wiccan issue from CoG and some random solitary in Cheboygan.
Merely editing the blog post to take the word “immediate” out in regards to HUAR’s response doesn’t solve the basic issue, that credit for taking the lead AND all the flak on this issue is being denied the person who deserves it. That’s not a correction, that’s a deflection.
Just a helpful suggestion: I often comes across new groups after an article is published. Often groups who are doing wonderful, exciting things. It’s part of the challenge of covering such diverse and fragmented communities. Always super helpful if you send an email telling TWH a bit about your group, what you’re up to, and how you can be quickly contacted. That way, when the next article in your community comes up, TWH can quickly and easily use you as a source.
I’m saying this strictly as a reporter, not speaking for TWH itself.
You published a presser about Heathen Talk last year. This publication is well aware of us.
I wonder if I did that? Wait….no, I don’t think that was one of the articles I wrote. I usually remember my articles that involve Heathens. But I’m on a bit of a sabbatical.
I am going to clarify this one more time. The Wild Hunt and its writers have and always will welcome constructive, respectful criticism and corrections. We are very accessible through email, social media messaging and the comment form on this site. We take all requests into consideration.
We also welcome news tips. If you or your organization has done something that you feel is newsworthy or, if you see or hear about something that may be newsworthy, “drop us a line.” Never assume that our news team has seen or heard your story, *even* if we have previously spoken to you or are friends on Facebook, Twitter or real life etc. Send us a message anyway. Let us know what’s happening.
We are a small operation. We see a whole lot but don’t see everything.