CALGARY, Alb. — Members of Pagan and Wiccan communities across Canada were saddened to hear of the passing of elder Margarian Bridger (1957-2016). Born in the prairie city of Regina, Saskatchewan February 7, 1957, Margarian was raised in Toronto where she attended the University of Toronto, Victoria College. She graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Geology.
In 1991, Margarian began the study of Witchcraft with the Calgary-based Covenant of Gaia Church of Alberta (COGCOA). A year later she was initiated into the Black Ring lineage of Branwen Stonecipher. She was elevated to the third degree seven years later, and went on to co-found the Evergreen Tradition, a blend of traditional and progressive Wicca, along with her husband, Stephen Hergest.
In their travels across Canada, Margarian and Stephen visited with other Pagan folk, forming connections, leading rituals and teaching workshops in ritual leadership in Calgary, Red Deer, Winnipeg Toronto ad Ottawa. Margarian served on the board of COGCOA from the 1990s through to the early 2000s, and also on the Calgary inter-aith Community Action Association board in the early 2000s.
She first became sick in 2008, and was then diagnosed with kidney failure in 2011. After that point, she lived in a nursing home, where she was able to receive regular dialysis and specialized care. Then, on Aug. 6, she died suddenly from heart failure.
Margarian loved to sing, read and write science fiction, and was talented in a number of handicrafts. She will be missed by her many loving family members and many friends around the country. What is remembered, lives.
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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Covenant of the Goddess held its annual business meeting this past weekend, during which it elected the incoming 2016-2017 board. New officers include Oberon, Thea Bristlebroom, Manny Tejeda-Moreno, and Morgana Raventree. Greg Harder, Zenah Smith, and Stachia Ravensdottir will remain on the board in varying capacities, along with Jack Prewett as First Officer.
It was also announced that next year’s Merry Meet and Grand Council will be held in Southern California, and the 2018 meeting will be held in Florida. The specific locations have not yet been decided.
Along with discussing the operations of the 41-year-old Witch and Wiccan organization, attending members also announced the CoG Award of Honor recipients. This award, established in 2014, is given annually at the meeting and recognizes “outstanding service to the greater Pagan and Heathen communities in areas such as religious rights, international peace, environmental protection, interfaith leadership and education, the creation of lasting institutions, and the promotion of social justice and civil rights.” This year’s recipients included Rachel Watcher, Greg Harder, Starhawk, Zenah Smith, Fritz Jung, Wren Walker, Wild Hunt founder Jason Pitzl and current managing editor Heather Greene.
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TWH — The Warrior’s Call: Pagans United Against Fracking has announced its fifth worldwide anti-fracking event titled “Voices on the Wind.” This new international action is scheduled for Oct. 15, 2016 and includes a “blessing and healing” ritual for the Earth. Organizers write, “We have heard the Voices on the Wind…from across the world, we have heard the people crying for the hurt done to their sacred Land by fracking, and we have heard their voices raised in resistance. Now we call on you to respond.”
Fracking has generated much press over the past few years, generating vocal protests from many diverse communities, which include Pagans, Heathen and polytheists organizations and individuals. As we reported in the past, the UK-based Warrior’s Call was born in 2013 after a group of Pagans staged a local ritual at Glastonbury Tor. Their attempt to raise awareness about fracking went global and, in retrospect, organizers said, “We felt it a shame to let the energy go to waste and so consolidated ourselves into a pagan anti-fracking pressure group; thus was the Warrior’s Call born.”
As with past actions, the upcoming “Voices on the Wind” ritual is not scheduled for a specific time. However, there are some suggested actions and workings. “Go to a windy place and create ritual space according to your own tradition,” organizers explain. “Make a sound of blessing and healing with your own voice or the voice of your musical instrument. Let the wind carry it across the Land and the World.” More details can be found on The Warrior’s Call website.
In Other News
- The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies has released its most recent issue (vol. 18. No. 1). The new edition includes three articles by Christopher Josiffe, Ethan Doyle White, and Gwendolyn Reece, and seven book reviews by various writers. The three full articles are accessible by subscription only. However, the reviews are open access and can be read online or downloaded in PDF form. “The Pomegranate is the first international, peer-reviewed journal of Pagan studies. It provides a forum for papers, essays and symposia on both ancient and contemporary Pagan religious practices.”
- Mystic South 2017 has opened its registration and application processes. The new conference is now preparing for its inaugural year, to be hosted in Atlanta, Georgia at the Crowne Plaza Ravnia July 21-23, 2017. Mystic South organizers are planning a three-day indoor conference with the theme: “theory, practice, play.” There will be vendors, entertainment, workshops, and presentations. Additionally, the organizers are hosting PAPERS (a Polytheist and Pagan Educational Research Symposium), which focuses specifically on academic studies. They are currently accepting proposals for this track along with non-academic presentations.
- The Occidental Temple of the Wise Lord, “a Western Zoroastrian organization made up of Zoroastrian converts to the Mazdan Way,” has just launched its website. The new site details the group’s mission, practice, history, and writings for all those interested in its work.
- For New Hampshire residences, a new metaphysical store has opened in Nashua.The store, called Tangled Roots Herbal, is the seven-year dream of owner Sheryl Burns, who has been a longtime student of herbology. This dream became reality when the store opened this summer on West Pearl Street. Burns sells both metaphysical products and services, including drumming circles, healing sessions, and a variety of workshops.
- Dragon Con, which is now celebrating its 30th anniversary, will be opening its doors Sept. 2, 2016. Over that weekend, three familiar Pagan performers will be playing at the world’s largest pop culture convention. Emerald Rose, who has been included on the DragonCon Walk of Fame, will be reportedly be performing its last concert as a group. Tuatha Dea and S.J. Tucker will also be performing live on one of the many stages throughout Dragon Con’s sprawling venue. The official schedule of performance times has not yet been announced.
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Congratulations to Award of Honor recipients Jason and Heather. They are well deserved.
Baruch, I well agree about Jason and Heather.
It was Starhawk’s book “The Spirial Dance” that started me on this path back in 1983.