News

Pagan Community Notes: May 8, 2023

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MANCHESTER, N.H. – The U.S. Postal Service released a Forever stamp honoring the beloved “Strega Nona” author Tomie dePaola on Friday at a ceremony marking the occasion in New Hampshire. de Paola was a long-time New Hampshire resident whose illustrations of Strega Nona and her magic pasta pot have been a staple of children’s literature and a reference in the part of the Pagan community for five decades since her first publication in 1975. de Paola’s work earned him a Caldecott Honor and his book has been voted one of the “Top 100 Picture Books” by the School Library Journal. The stamps are available now for 63 cents each at the USPS website.

image credit: Pixabay

The British tabloid newspaper, The Sun, published by the News Group Newspapers division of News UK, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp published a story that “Witches and pagans from across the country will gather to cast a spell in support of King Charles in a special coronation ritual.” Reports said that 2,000 people were expected at the ritual event.

The ritual was reportedly conducted by Julie Aspinall and her coven, the Coven of Gaia, for King Charles on Saturday, May 6, 2023, Coronation Day.  The Sun reports that the spell involved “lighting blue, red and white candles, burning incense, scattering rose petals and giving magical gifts to each other.”

Aspinall and her Coven of Gaia in Warwickshire have been active in the past educating the community about Witchcraft and Paganism and holding public rituals.

The Sun quotes Aspinall working a spell for good weather on Coronation Day. She noted that King Charles has always been supportive of the Pagan community noting that the coronation invitation included a Green Man.

“There are plenty of people in this day and age who think there is such a thing as witchcraft,”  said Connecticut state Rep. Doug Dubitsky (R-47) in a recent phone interview with the political news site 538. “I don’t happen to be one of them.”

Dubitsky’s statement was prompted to clarify coverage of his objection to a bill currently before the Connecticut state legislature to exonerate Connecticut residents who were convicted of crimes related to witchcraft in the 1600s.

Dubitsky says that the cover made him look like a “rube.”

The bill in Connecticut is part of a legislative trend in New England to exonerate individuals convicted of witchcraft 400 years ago during the era of the infamous Salem Witch Trials. The bill was spearheaded by historians and descendants of those accused of witchcraft in order to right the name of ancestors unjustly convicted.  Jess Zaccagnino, a policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, testified in favor the Connecticut bill said “There’s a lot of families out there that really want closure.”

Last year, Massachusetts exonerated Elizabeth Johnson, Jr. the last person in the Salem Witch Trials whose name had not been cleared.  Eunice “Goody” Cole’s name is pending exoneration in her home state of New Hampshire via a bill currently pending in the New Hampshire House.

Zaccagnino added, “Even though this happened back in the mid-1600s, that kind of reconciliation is important, because there are still families right here in Connecticut that are hurting from this.”

Saurona triangula comb.n via Systematic Entomology

A new genus of butterflies has been discovered in the Amazon region and named Saurona, in honor of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.  The butterflies were given the name for the obvious eye spots on their wings. The study classifying the two new species of the newly named Saurona genus was published in the journal Systematic Entomology. ‘Giving these butterflies an unusual name helps to draw attention to this underappreciated group,’  says Dr. Blanca Huertas, the Senior Curator of Butterflies at the UK’s Natural History Museum one of the study authors and who named one of the butterflies. ‘It shows that, even among a group of very similar-looking species, you can find beauty among the dullness.’ She added ‘Naming a genus is not something that happens very often, and it’s even more rare to be able to name two at once. It was a great privilege to do so, and now means that we can start describing new species that we have uncovered as a result of this research.’

 

Upcoming Events:

  • The 31st annual St. Louis Pagan Picnic will be held on Saturday, June 3, 10:00 am – 7:00 pm and Sunday, June 4, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm (CDT) in Tower Grove Park. The event is free and family-friendly, featuring a variety of workshops, musical performances, rituals, and vendors. The event also offers a Kid Zone that will include crafting and other activities for children.

  • The Philadelphia Pagan Pride announced that they are accepting applications for entertainment, vendors, volunteers, and workshop presentations. The 11th annual event will be held on September 2, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm in Clark Park B in Philadelphia. The event seeks “to bring together Pagans of all traditions to advance understanding, communication, and fellowship among the various communities.” More information about the event can be found on the Philadelphia Pagan Pride website.

  • The EarthSpirit Community announced its 45th Annual Rites of Spring with the theme Reaching for Connection: With the land, each other, and all beings of the Earth.  Among their presenters are Byron Ballard, Orion Foxwood, Andra Corban Arthen, Bright Hawk, and artist Martin Bridge. The EarthSpirit community writes ” Join us as together we Weave the web of community; Share in ancient traditions and new rituals; Look forward toward what we can create in the world” Information about the event is available on the EarthSpirit website.

  • Cherry Hill Seminary (CHS) announced it would be holding its Summer Intensive at Mystic South 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia on July 14-16. More details can be found on the CHS website.

  • The Atheopagan Society announced Jarod K. Anderson as the keynote speaker at their upcoming Web Weaving Conference, scheduled to take place online on Saturday, June 3 from 10:00 am until 8:00 pm (PDT), and Sunday, June 4 from 10:00:am until 5:15 pm (PDT). Mark Green, from the Atheopagan Society Council, told TWH, “Jarod K. Anderson, the Cryptonaturalist, creates such beautiful and thought-provoking writing about nature that we are completely thrilled he has agreed to be our keynote speaker.”  Anderson is an author, poet, and creator of “The CryptoNaturalist Podcast.” On his website, his work is described as, “Ranging from optimistic contemplations of mortality to appreciations of single-celled organisms, Jarod is forever writing love letters to the natural world.” His poetry collections, Field Guide to the Haunted Forest (2020) and Love Notes from the Hollow Tree (2022) reflect his fascination and wonder with the natural world. Anderson also has a forthcoming memoir about chronic depression and reconnecting with nature that will be published in 2024 by Timber Press. The Web Weaving Conference is a weekend Zoom gathering for Atheopagans, that offers a variety of entertainment, community-building, workshops, and socializing opportunities. The conference will feature workshops on diverse topics such as “Sarcastic Tarot;” recovering from religious abuse; LGBTQ+ allyship; and includes a children’s circle. Registration is open and more details, including the conference’s programming schedule, are available on their website.

  • Cherry Hill Seminary’s lecture series, “Coming to the Center” will host Jo Carson on May 20, 2023, at 3:00 pm (EDT). Information on the lecture and how to register is available on the CHS website. CHS provided this background on Carson, “Pagan priestess Jo Carson seeks to create positive visions of the future through Feraferia, A Love Culture for Wilderness. She is Chair of the Board of Feraferia, which she joined in 1972. She also holds the rank of 7th Degree in the Order of the Temple of Astarte, having been initiated in 1970. She was active in a Reclaiming-inspired Wiccan circle called Eye of the Crescent for 17 years. Jo holds a master’s degree from UCLA in film production, and her professional life has included camera work on many feature films. She directed and produced the documentary feature Dancing With Gaia: Earth Energy, Sacred Sexuality and the Return of the Goddess, plus documentary shorts A Dance for the Goddess about Feraferian rites, and Himalayan Pilgrimage: A Visionary Journey. She authored Celebrate Wildness: Magic, Mirth and Love on the Feraferian Path, an introduction to Feraferia through art. She is currently working on a Feraferia Tarot deck and book.”

  • Circle Sanctuary announced last week that registration for Pagan Spirit Gathering is now open. The annual event includes a variety of vendors, workshops, music, and rituals.

In other news:

  • Documentarian Rama Rau released a new film called Coven (part of Toronto’s Hot Docs festival). The documentary explores the lives of three women who identify as witches, evolving in their spirit and feeling more empowered. “I grew up in India and for us, in India, the supernatural has never been something different, it was always part of our everyday lives,” Rau told Yahoo Canada. “In fact, even when we were young girls, we were always told that there’s a strong female spirit protecting us, or we would go to temples and there would be shamanistic rituals that we would observe.” The story follow several witches on their journey. “I think there’s a spectrum for everything and I think this film especially hopes to explore some of those spectrums of reality and supernatural and magic. I really honestly think that magic exists, we just have to look for it. We can find magic in anything we do. … It’s all part of who we are and part of the rhythm of the universe. If I can open people’s minds just a little bit, … that would make me very happy.”

Positively Noteworthy

Editorial Warning to FL legislators:  The following section discusses penises. 

Pranksters have sown a giant erect penis on the lawn of the Royal Crescent in Bath, UK, a UNESCO World Heritage city.  SomersetLive reported that “the rather large member has made its appearance just two days before the Coronation of King Charles III.” The crop-circle-like attempt may be an image of the royal scepter which looks nothing like what has been etched in the much-lauded lawn.

A spokesperson for the Crescent Lawn Company which maintains the impeccable green at the Royal Crescent said: “The Crescent Lawn Company owns and maintains only the semi-elliptical area above the ‘ha-ha’ on behalf of the residents of the street; the area below (i.e. south of) the ha-ha is part of the Royal Victoria Park, which is owned and maintained by B&NES Council.” The “ha-ha” is not what you might think.  It is a sunken fence that was popular in the 18th Century.

Twitter was alive with outrage over the damage done…

and a head on view…

at least one onlooker was impressed by the size and “very straight lines.”


Tarot of the Week by Star Bustamonte

Deck: Tarot Grand Luxe, by Ciro Marchetti, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Card: Queen of Cups

The incoming week is likely to call for trusting one’s intuition and honoring what is heartfelt, even if it seems to go against what seems rational. The watery element of the week is a reminder of how something viewed from above the surface can be distorted, and a trip to the bottom is often where the truth resides.

Conversely, avoidance of acknowledgment or expression of what is felt will only compound existing issues, create more stress, and hold the potential for a meltdown.

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