[courtesy Grimassi family]
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – We are saddened to share that Raven Grimassi, Pagan scholar and author, has died. His wife, Stephanie Taylor-Grimassi, announced this afternoon on Facebook that he lost his battle with pancreatic cancer yesterday, March 10, 2019.
In her Facebook post Taylor said, “After a long struggle with pancreatic cancer and the complications from its treatment, he stopped all treatment in December and chose to spend his last days at home, on his work, and visiting with family and friends.”
Details for the service from the family are: Calling hours will be held at Hafey Funeral Services in Springfield, MA on Saturday, March 23rd, 2019 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm, followed by a memorial service at 7:00 pm to celebrate Raven’s life and legacy. Gifts of white and red roses for the service are welcomed. In lieu of flowers, a donation in Raven’s name can be made to the Temple of Witchcraft.
TWH will publish a full obituary for Raven Grimassi later this week.
What is remembered, lives.
* * *
[logo; Audrey Patten]
INDIANAPOLIS – A pop-up event sponsored by a local business, Plenty Lifestyle, featuring Night Rituals Occult products was permanently cancelled when some artists whose art and products are carried by Plenty Lifestyle threatened to pull their wares from the store. The event was the first of two events scheduled on consecutive weekends March 9th, and March 16.
In a post on the Night Rituals Occult Facebook page notifying their followers of the cancellation, “Due to certain individuals within the Indianapolis Art/Artisan community who do not “approve” of an Occult/Specialty Shop hosting an event, this pop up with Plenty has been permanently cancelled. We hoped our community had progressed enough past the fear of who we are, but it appears we still have a ways to go”.
Night Rituals Occult owner, Regina Eaton said, “This was to be our very first pop up event and the first place we would showcase our product in person. Essentially it would have served as a soft-launch for our website. The owner of the shop was very enthusiastic about the events. She even scheduled two separate dates.”
“It was only after the event page went public that a few artists and family/friends of the owner pressured her into cancelling the event by threatening to pull funding/product from the shelves. Only one person was named in the ordeal due to her being a nationally recognized artist featured on a popular HGTV show.”
Easton described her mission with Night Rituals Occult for TWH: “Our goal is to supply tools and knowledge to aid in spiritual processes for anyone. Be it ritual, spell, cleansing, or other tasks. If you just want a good custom made candle – we sell those too.
“Through spending a majority of my life studying and practicing, I’ve discovered the community is very small and very geographically spread out. This makes finding the supplies you need to complete whatever type of work you wish to do very difficult. I want to make everyone feel welcome and have the tools they need.”
TWH reached out to Plenty Lifestyle but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
* * *
Circle Sanctuary logo
BARNEVELD, Wis. – Circle Sanctuary announced it is expanding its podcasting with the launch of a network CSNP, Circle Sanctuary Network Podcasts. The focus of the new podcasting network will be connecting people of Nature-centered paths worldwide.
Their first show, Circle Talk, will debut live on Spring Equinox Eve, Tuesday, March 19 at 8pm EDT and will feature all five members of their podcasting team: Circle Sanctuary Ministers Jeanet & David Ewing of Virginia, Circle Sanctuary Minister in Training Laura Gonzalez of Chicago, Circle Sanctuary Minister Debra Rose of Kentucky, and Selena Fox, Circle Sanctuary Senior Minister of Wisconsin.
The CSNP network will be featuring six shows: Circle Talk hosted by Debra Rose twice monthly on Tuesday nights, Divining Dreams with Selena Fox weekly on Wednesday nights, Moon Magic with RedWolf twice monthly on Thursday nights, Paganos del Mundo (international & multilingual) hosted by Laura Gonzalez twice monthly on Saturday nights, Nature Mystic with Selena Fox weekly on Sunday nights, and Lunatic Mondays/Lunes Lunaticos with Laura Gonzalez twice monthly on Monday nights.
They also launched a new Facebook page last night: https://www.facebook.com/CSNPodcasts/ which will release more information about our podcasts shows and schedules this week. They can also be found on Twitter & Instagram by using the hashtag: #CSNP
In other news:
- Last week we reported about a 800 year-old mummy’s head that had been stolen from the crypt at St. Michan’s in Dublin, Ireland. An arrest of a 20 year-old man has been made after a tip was called into the Gardai (Irish police). They also recovered another head that had been taken at the same time.
- As reported by the Orcadian, the Orkney Heritage Society unveiled a memorial plaque honoring witch trial victims this past Saturday, March 9, on the top of a hill known as Gallow’ha where those found guilty of witchcraft were executed. 19 women and at least one man were put on trial between 1594 and 1645and of those nine were sentenced to death by hanging. The memorial plaque was designed by retired stonemason, Colin Watson.
- A Ugandan woman convicted of subjecting her 3-year-old daughter to female genital mutilation (FGM) and was sentenced to 13 years last Friday, March 8, 2019, marking the first conviction for FGM in the UK. The child’s injuries came to light when she brought to Whipps Cross University Hospital in London, and medics alerted the police. A search of the defendant’s house after she had been released on bail turned up evidence of witchcraft practice—two beef tongues wrapped in wire and with a knife piercing them, and 40 limes and other fruit which contained the names of investigators, the social worker, and other people connected to the case, seemed to indicate a working to silence those who had spoken out.
- National Geographic reports that archaeologists trying to locate a sacred well underneath Chichén Itzá, the ancient Maya city on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, have instead discovered more than 150 ritual objects in a cave system known as Balamku which means “Jaguar God”. The cave system was originally discovered in 1966 by local farmers and investigated by Archaeologist, Víctor Segovia Pinto. While Segovia wrote a detailed report of his exploration of the caves, he did not excavate. Instead, he instructed the farmers to seal up the cave and the records relating to the find disappeared. It is reported that there are seven ritual offering chambers contained within the caves. The contents of the caves are completely untouched and amazingly preserved. “I couldn’t speak, I started to cry. I’ve analyzed human remains in [Chichén Itzá’s] Sacred Cenote, but nothing compares to the sensation I had entering, alone, for the first time in that cave,” said Guillermo de Anda, the leader of the National Geographic Explorer team.
- Heathens may have cause to celebrate. The Royal Mail announced it plans to issue a stamp next month depicting the Norse god Thor. The image used is part of a series featuring Marvel Comics superheroes.
Tarot of the week by Star Bustamonte
Deck: Crow Tarot by MJ Cullinane published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
Card: Emperor, Major arcana (IV) four
This week there is a focus on security, and stability. Proper use of power and employing knowledge to benefit the greater whole also figures prominently.
Decks generously provided by Asheville Raven & Crone.
The Wild Hunt is not responsible for links to external content.
To join a conversation on this post:
Visit our The Wild Hunt subreddit! Point your favorite browser to https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Wild_Hunt_News/, then click “JOIN”. Make sure to click the bell, too, to be notified of new articles posted to our subreddit.