In April 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the six-week abortion ban into law. Legislators specified that the six-week ban would only go into effect once Florida’s Supreme Court upheld the state’s existing 15-week ban, which had been in place since shortly after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Earlier this year, the Florida Supreme Court issued two rulings that could significantly impact abortion rights in the state. The justices upheld Florida’s 15-week abortion restrictions, which will trigger a 6-week abortion ban set to take effect on May 1.
On the same day, the court also ruled that Amendment 4, a proposal to protect abortion access up to 24 weeks, can be placed on the ballot for voters in November.
The amendment reads, “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”
If passed, the amendment would add the following language to the state constitution: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
A “yes” vote would support adding the following language to the Florida Constitution’s Declaration of Rights: “…no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” Amendment 4 would also retain the existing constitutional provision allowing for parental notification laws before a minor can receive an abortion.
A “no” vote would oppose amending the Florida Constitution’s Declaration of Rights to prevent the state from “…prohibiting, penalizing, delaying, or restricting abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
Catholic organizations are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to oppose a Florida ballot initiative aimed at protecting abortion rights, placing the Church at the center of one of the most contentious issues in this year’s elections.
The Catholic Church has taken similar actions in other states with abortion measures on the ballot, and its influence could play a significant role as voters head to the polls in November, with about one in five Floridians identifying as Catholic.
Catholic groups have contributed approximately $234,000 to Florida Voters Against Extremism, a political action committee opposing the measure known as Amendment 4, and are actively encouraging their parishioners to vote against it. However, these contributions are overshadowed by the much larger sums raised by supporters of the amendment, who seek to overturn Florida’s current six-week abortion ban.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that
The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, the church’s lobbying arm, is supporting the anti-abortion campaign, both financially and practically. It’s offered free political consulting services valued at nearly $108,000 to the campaign and used its website to share anti-abortion resources with parishes.
The Bishops have distributed cards that include a “prayer to defeat Florida’s abortion amendment.” In Orlando, the Cathedral of St. James’s July 14 bulletin featured the conference’s message in English and Spanish urging worshippers to vote no on Amendment 4 and calling it “dangerous” and “misleading.”
Former President Trump has mentioned support for the Amendment stating he as a resident of Florida would vote no. Earlier today, Bishop Frank J. Dewane of the Diocese of Venice (Florida) released a statement saying that,
This amendment allows for abortion for any reason, including consideration of the “patient’s health,” which is undefined in the amendment. Current Florida law includes an exception for when the pregnant woman’s life is in danger, among many other exceptions.
Further, Amendment 4 puts not only babies, but women and girls at risk. The amendment weakens the current medical doctor requirement, allowing “healthcare providers,” not just physicians, to determine if an abortion is necessary to protect the mother’s health. This is dangerous for women.
This week, the debate about Amendment 4 prompted Covenant of the Goddess’ Everglades Moon Local Council to release a statement opposing attacks on bodily autonomy.
For Immediate Release: Everglades Moon Local Council Urges Community Support for Bodily Autonomy.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, along with other international human rights agreements, clearly establishes bodily autonomy as a fundamental right. As Witches and Wiccans, the members of the Everglades Moon Local Council of the Covenant of the Goddess wholeheartedly support this principle.
At its core, bodily autonomy means the ability to govern oneself—being guided by internal considerations, desires, and characteristics that reflect one’s true self, rather than by external forces imposed upon them.
Autonomy is an undeniable and basic value, especially when contrasted with its opposite: being controlled by external influences that one cannot truly accept, which leads only to oppression.
Today, this fundamental right is under relentless attack in the area served by our Local Council. We have witnessed an alarming increase in social and political efforts to infringe upon bodily autonomy, particularly targeting women.
We will not be silent on this matter. As practitioners of a free-will spiritual path, we affirm that decisions concerning one’s body, including reproductive autonomy, are deeply personal and should be made solely between the individual and their god or gods. No external agent—whether governmental, professional, or spiritual—has the right to intrude upon this sacred relationship.
We urge individuals to resist patriarchal bodily oppression by actively asserting their rights through practical, political, and spiritual actions.
The new Temple of Ceres [Courtesy: Associazione Tradizionale Pietas]
Ceres is the Roman goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility, and motherly relationships. She is often associated with the nurturing aspects of the earth, and her primary domain is the growth and fertility of plants, particularly grains and cereals, which are essential for sustaining life.
Ceres was revered as a protector of the harvest, and her festivals, such as the Cerealia, a seven-day festival held in mid-April, were important events in Roman society.
Neil Gaiman at New York Comic Con in October 2018. Photo Credit: Rhododendrites CCA-SA 4.0
TWH – Yesterday, Indiewire reported that Disney had “paused” development on Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, the story inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, about Bod, who is raised by a ghostly couple and a guardian after escaping to a cemetery as a toddler when his family is murdered. The film adaptation of the book by Disney had yet to enter pre-production, and Gaiman had no involvement in the film. His previous response to a fan about the adaptation was, “You know everything I know. And no, no control or say. Fingers crossed that if they make it, it’s good.”
However, Disney’s actions are notable. The “pause” is reportedly for a variety of reasons, but it comes in the wake of sexual assault allegations made against Gaiman.
Earlier this year, Tortoise Media, reported that he had been accused of sexual assault by two women in New Zealand and police were investigating. One of the women identified as Scarlet, reportedly says that Gaiman sexually assaulted her just hours after they first met in February 2022, while in a bath at his New Zealand residence, where she was employed as a nanny for his child.
A second woman, identified as K, was 18 when she reportedly first met Gaiman at a book signing in Sarasota, Florida, in 2003. She says that they began a romantic relationship when she turned 20, while Gaiman was in his mid-40s. K claims she endured rough and painful sex that “she neither wanted nor enjoyed.”
Gaiman has not denied relationships with the women but has denied allegations of nonconsensual sexual contact.
Since the initial accusations brought forth by Tortoise Media, three other women have now come forward.
Gaiman is not Pagan. In an interview in 1989, he said, “I think we can say that God exists in the DC Universe. I would not stand up and beat the drum for the existence of God in this universe. I don’t know, I think there’s probably a 50/50 chance. It doesn’t really matter to me.”
Gaiman’s writings and their adaptations, such as American Gods, The Sandman, and The Books of Magic, however, have been popular in Pagan circles.
Dr. Dan McClellan is a public scholar specializing in the Bible and religion. He earned his PhD in theology and religion from the University of Exeter, where his dissertation focused on the conceptualization of deity and divine images in the Hebrew Bible, using cognitive linguistics and the cognitive science of religion as methodological approaches. He is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints and makes clear this objective in his video is to clarify the academic study of the Bible. Since March 2021, he has been actively addressing misinformation about the academic study of the Bible and religion on social media.
Earlier today, McClellan released a video of a 3D-printed Taanach cult stand incense burner. Taanach (also spelled Ta’anach or Tanach) is an ancient city mentioned in the Bible, located in the Jezreel Valley of northern Israel. It was a Canaanite city before being conquered by the Israelites, and it appears in biblical texts as part of the territory allotted to the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 17:11). Taanach is also mentioned in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:19) as the site of a significant battle where the Israelites, led by Deborah and Barak, defeated the Canaanite forces of Sisera.
Archaeologically, Taanach has been excavated, revealing layers of occupation from the Bronze Age through the Iron Age. It was an important city in the ancient Near East due to its strategic location near trade routes and its fertile surroundings. Several inscriptions and artifacts discovered at the site provide insight into the cultural and religious practices of the region’s inhabitants over time.
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Happening this weekend!
Twin Cities Pagan Pride will once again hold its Pagan Pride event at Minnehaha Falls Park, 4801 South Minnehaha Park Dr, Minneapolis, MN on September 07, 2024, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Twin Cities Pagan Pride will once again hold its Pagan Pride event at Minnehaha Falls Park, 4801 South Minnehaha Park Dr, Minneapolis, MN on September 07, 2024 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (no rain date)
Minneapolis, MN, September 2, 2024– Pagan Pride is a free fall event, open to the public, that offers education about Paganism to the larger community. In keeping with Pagan Pride International’s guidelines, Twin Cities Pagan Pride has offered a fall event since 1998 that includes workshops, rituals, discussions, entertainment, vendors/ community groups, and a food drive. We’re excited to announce that our 2024 event will again focus on public education in an outdoor site that has tons of walkthrough traffic.
Highlights
- Workshops, entertainment, and rituals
- Programming and performers that will focus on education and enrichment
Entertainment Stage featuring local musicians - Children’s Activity Tent featuring fun activities and face painting
- 106 vendors selling Pagan and non-Pagan wares (jewelry, herbs, hand-made goods, books, and more) and local community groups raising awareness about their organizations or causes
- Attendees will be encouraged to provide donations to our food shelf partner, Groveland Emergency Food Shelf
EBSAT Meeting 5:00 pm PDT to 5:30 pm PDT – Selena Fox “Greening the End of Life” (September 9, 2024)
As people who see the Earth as sacred many of us are called to have a green funeral. As the Director of Circle Cemetery, one of the first Green cemeteries in North America, Rev. Selena Fox has creative ideas on “Greening the End of Life: Green Burial & Green Cemeteries.” Join us to learn some of your options. This is the link to Join Zoom Meeting or, from Zoom, Meeting ID: 890 3027 2698 Pw: CCL
Courtesy [Broward County Parks and Recreation Division
- Noon – Meet & Greet
- 1 pm – Games & Kites
- 2 pm – Workshop – Occultism as Queer
- 3 pm – Concert w/Aerik Arkadian
- 4 pm – Ritual – Building Community
- 5 pm – Pot Luck Feast & Raffle
- 6 pm – Clean Up
Since 2000, Western MA Pagan Pride Day is one of many Pagan Pride Day events that take place worldwide. As a nonprofit organization, we strive to establish awareness of earth-centered spiritual traditions in our local communities. People of all faiths (or none) and walks of life are invited to join us on Saturday, September 28, 2024, from 10:00 am through 6:00 pm. There is no admission fee to the event; however, we ask that you bring a cash donation for our charity drive. We will be collecting cash donations for our favorite charity the Northampton Survival Center.
You can come expecting to find information about paganism in many of its forms, experience an open harvest ritual, musical entertainment, workshops (classes), and many vendors for a fun, family-friendly, community-driven event. There are several restaurants and cafes in the area so plan to come and stay a while! Check out our website for more info on workshops, performers, and ongoing events. 
This year we will be in downtown Northampton in the plaza at Kirkland Ave where the Tuesday Farmers Market takes place. This is between the Parking Garage and the back of Thorne’s Marketplace. There are new parking rules for the City of Northampton. Please see here for updates.
Note that the Armory Street lot which faces the plaza no longer has a 3-hour limit Mon-Sat. You can also park in the garage that overlooks our site; the cost is only .75/hour and the first hour is always free.
More info on Facebook and Instagram.
Twilight Covening (October 11-14, 2024)
The Earthspirit Community announced the Twilight Covening event last month and that they “have already filled more than half of the available spaces! Thank you. It feels good to know that so many want to attend again this year.”
They said “Again, we are prioritizing Clan assignments by week so that everyone has a reasonable chance of getting into one of their top choices. The first week filled up one Clan already, but there is space in many others – and frankly, all of the Clans that are on offer will provide something special to those who attend.”
The Earth Spirit Community wrote,
Twilight Covening is a continuous 3-day ritual that holds and shapes an intensive learning experience of Earth spirituality and a time to develop our collective wisdom in a shared sacred space as we move into the dark time of the year.
Each year since 1986, members of the EarthSpirit Community gather deep into ourselves and into communion with this time of year and with all of Nature. We explore the depths of a range of spiritual practices, learn new skills together and experience the joy and power of a living community ritual. We invite you to join us.
Twilight Covening is held in the autumn during the strong natural transition taking place all around us from light into dark, summer into winter, and outward focus to inward contemplation. During the gathering, we use this current of change, along with our focused practices, to find inspiration and insight that can feed us in the dark months to come and motivate us to make changes that we can use to deepen our own spiritual practice.
The intensive work of Twilight Covening takes place in practice-specific Clans of 10-15 people and in full-community rituals that flow together through the weekend.
More information is available on the EarthSpirit website.
Tarot of the Week by Star Bustamonte
Deck: The Woven Path Tarot, curated by The Changeling Artist Collective featuring the artwork of 91 artists, independently published.
Card: Ace of Cups – (Artist: Tangmo Cecchini)
The next seven days are liable to offer space for taking a risk by allowing compassion and the generosity of spirit to take the wheel for a bit. Being open emotionally has the potential for greater expression of creative ideas and endeavors, as well as paving the way for new relationships to form that are beneficial to all involved.
In contrast, past experiences that may have led to being closed off from others are suggestive of the need to take time for some healing and re-evaluation. Now might be the perfect time for lavishing some love and care on oneself inside and out.
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