Pagan Community Notes: Polytheist runs for re-election on city council, Britain loses two notable Wiccans, and more!

Cara Schulz

Cara Schulz

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – Cara Schulz announced last week that she had filed with the city clerk’s office to run for re-election.

Schulz is a U.S. Air Force veteran who served in the first Gulf War and first won a seat on the Burnsville City Council in 2016. She identifies as a practitioner of Hellenismos or Hellenic Polytheism. Schulz was a news reporter for TWH from 2014 through 2017.

Her campaign website bears the motto: “Fiscally Responsible & Socially Accepting – just like YOU,” and details a number of issues she is focused on. Among the issues listed: a clean up of the landfill which sits atop a natural aquifer, a reform of how property taxes are applied, and a revitalization of the city of Burnsville by continuing to shift zoning and limiting “excessive regulations.”

Schulz has been endorsed by Women Winning, a non-partisan organization that states its mission as: “…to encourage, promote, support and elect pro-choice women of all political parties to all levels of public office in Minnesota.”

Liberty Minnesota PAC has also endorsed Schulz: “Cara is a dedicated liberty activist involved with a variety of causes in and around her city. Cara is an Air Force veteran who does a wonderful job covering a variety of policy topics [that] …we think are practical, effective messages for citizens of any city.”

We will continue to follow Schulz’s campaign and report on the outcome of the election.

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ROME – The TEMPLVM Project conducted a ritual to Zeus on behalf of Jamison E. Painter last week. In 2017 the group dedicated the first public Roman temple in Rome for the first time in 1600 years. Their plan is to increase the size of the temple and to encompass a variety of Roman Gods and Goddesses.

https://www.facebook.com/templvm.org/posts/3172003602867048

 

Crossings of the Veil

Count Sir Ralph de Straet von Kollman, better known as Ralph Harvey, a senior Wiccan High Priest in Britain, passed away on Saturday evening surrounded by his family.

Harvey was well-known and much loved within the U.K. Pagan Community and was the founder of the Order of Artemis which is comprised of over 200 traditional Wiccan covens worldwide and was established in 1959. He was also initiated into the Fellowship of Isis by Olivia Robertson in 1978.

Harvey authored many books, perhaps most notably, The Last Bastion recently re-published under the title, British Witchcraft: The Suppression and Re-emergence of The Old Religion. He was one of the early practitioners who helped to resurrect traditional Witchcraft and present it in a way that appealed to modern Witches.

Harvey also had penned numerous scripts and screenplays, was involved with a television series, Wiccan Ways, and no stranger to the stage, as he played the character Captain Mainwaring (from the 70s TV series Dad’s Army) in stage shows. He also traveled and lectured regularly on the history of Witchcraft, magic, and faeries.

Harvey delivered the eulogy at Doreen Valiente’s funeral in 1999, and also presided over the ceremony of the placement of a historical “blue plaque” in 2013 to the apartment building where Valiente once lived.

Harvey and his wife Audrey were devoted supporters of the Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft and Magic and donated many items over the years.

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Frederic Lamond passed away yesterday. He was a member of Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente’s original Bricket Wood coven.

Lamond was raised by his maternal grandparents who fled from Austria to Switzerland shortly after the start of WWII. He attended a boarding school in England and later attended Cambridge University.

Lamond’s marriage to his first wife, Gillian in August of 1960, officiated by Lois Bourne, was noted by historian Ronald Hutton as the first known Wiccan marriage ceremony. Gillian died in 1986, and sometime during 1993 Lamond married Hildegard and relocated to Austria in 1994.

He was also a pivotal source for American Wiccan historian, Aiden Kelly and his book, Inventing Witchcraft: A Case Study in the Creation of a New Religion which was controversial with many Gardnerian Wiccans as it challenged the history of Wicca as presented by Gardner.

Lamond also authored three books:

  • The Divine Struggle (1990)
  • Religion Without Beliefs: Essays in Pantheist Theology, Comparative Religion and Ethics (1997)
  • Fifty Years of Wicca (2004)

Lamond was also a life-long member of The Doreen Valiente Foundation and was involved with two other groups during the 90s–Companions of the Rainbow Bridge and the Fellowship Isis.

What is remembered, lives! 

In other news:

 

Tarot of the week by Star Bustamonte

Deck: Tarot of a Moon Garden by Laura E. Clarson, artwork by Karen Marie Sweikhardt, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Card: Knight of Swords

The incoming week is likely to require a certain amount of bravery in the face of adversity, and walking a fine line. The tendency to rush into danger only pays off with an absence of fear and a single-minded focus. Conversely, impulsive and reckless choices can lead to ruin.

 

Decks generously provided by Asheville Raven & Crone.


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