BOSTON – In March, Senator Elizabeth Warren sent an email to her supports that was titled “Murder, drugs, and pagan rituals.” Warren begins, “If you believed everything you read on the internet, you’d know that I was a serial killer who participated in [P]agan rituals to honor the gods of wind and fire. . . . These stories that snake through the sewer of the internet have popped up all over Facebook, Twitter, and Google over the past year – and they’re getting worse.”
While the email was written with the intent of discrediting the spread of fake news, Pagan supporters in the state are not happy with her use of “pagan ritual” to illustrate her point. Anomalous Thracian, a priest, spirit worker, and devotional Polytheist, said, “[Warren] represents my state and my party, and is running for reelection. This email list is primarily her campaign for reelection, statements of promise about what she stands for, and what her ethics are. Ethics which apparently include disparaging remarks about minority and indigenous world religions.” Thracian has reached out to the campaign office but, as of publication, has yet to receive a response.
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UNITED KINGDOM — April is here and that means it is National Poetry Month, and with that comes NaPoWriMo or National Poetry Writing Month, which is inspired by a similar campaign to inspire novelists. To participate in this annual celebration, the Pagan Federation Disabilities Team, based in the United Kingdom, is encouraging its members to send poetry to its email address. In a blog post, the organizers write, “The Disabled Pagans Voices Project (DPVP) is your voice, your project and we love you hear from you.” They add that if members don’t like to write poetry, they are invited to send in their reasons why, or suggest poems that they enjoy reading.
DPVP was founded in 2015 to “answer the rising needs of the disabled, carers and additional needs families of the Pagan community.” They hold online rituals and events for members, and encourage participation in actions and celebrations such as NaPoWriMo. On its blog, DPVP organizers write that they hope to eventually have a district disabilities liaison “for every Pagan Federation district and an active social network for the isolated and lonely in the community.”
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SALEM, N.H. – The Temple of Witchcraft is preparing for its annual summer retreat called TempleFest. The camping event is held in late August over three days in Hancock, New Hampshire. While the event has been well-known and attended by temple members, this year organizers opened registration to the public at the same time as for its mystery school members. We reached out to learn about the shift.
Nicole, one of the organizers, said, “By 2016, TempleFest was drawing 300-plus people at its original home. Last year was our first year at a new location, with a maximum capacity of 250, and we wanted to manage registration carefully so that the temple community was ensured spots in the case of a sellout. To do that, we had an early registration period just for TOW members before opening to the general public. Although we had an excellent turnout in 2017 (close to 200), a complete sellout did not happen, so we went back to the previous — and simpler — process of opening registration to all on the same date.” For its 2018 event, TempleFest will include author, Witch, and priestess Courtney Weber as its headliner, and will also feature speakers Christopher Penczak and Jhenah Telyndru. Registration is now open for all.
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In other news
- Bibliotheca Alexandrina is reporting that it will be publishing additional devotionals focused on the “gods of Greece and Egypt.” These upcoming anthologies include devotionals to Horus and the titans, as well as another focusing on the practice of modern Polytheism. Neos Alexandria is currently seeking submissions for all of these and other upcoming works.
- Equinox in the Oaks begins this weekend. The annual Florida camping event kicks off the U.S. Pagan festival season, which continues through Beltane going into the summer when weeklong festivals, such as Pagan Spirit Gathering, occur. Equinox in the Oaks is held on the east coast of Florida in Pierson.
- Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki will be back touring in the U.S. Ashcroft-Nowicki is an occult author, psychic, teacher, and esoteric practitioner. TWH interviewed her in 2016 for a two-part series on her history and her teachings. In April, Ashcroft-Nowicki will be offering her wisdom and experience in weekend event in Laurel, Maryland. Sponsored by the Sacred Space Foundation, the weekend workshop will be held at the Doubletree hotel in Laureal from Friday, April 20-22. She will focus on traditional English Craft practice.
- Since 2005, World Naked Gardening Day has been annually on the first Sunday in May. That only gives you one month left to figure out what to wear. Are you prepared?
Tarot of the week with Star Bustamonte
Deck: Faerie Tarot by Nathalie Hertz, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
Card: eight (8) of cups
Considering the state of things in the world, it is all too easy to feel fear and doubt. This week’s card tells us that things are not as bad as we might believe. You may find yourself challenged to let go of some things that no longer serve, and step off into a new, and unknown path.
[Decks provided by Asheville Raven and Crone.]
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