Interfaith Alliance Launches National “The Vote Is Sacred” Bus Tour
Circle Sanctuary logo
MADISON, Wis. — Interfaith Alliance launched its 2026 national The Vote Is Sacred bus tour this week, bringing together faith communities and religious organizations from across the country in a nonpartisan effort to encourage voter participation, protect voting rights, and strengthen American democracy.
The national initiative, The Vote Is Sacred, is a multifaith campaign focused on four key areas: election education, getting out the vote, election protection, and providing resources to faith communities and civic organizations. The campaign emphasizes the importance of civic engagement and the role religious communities can play in supporting free, fair, and accessible elections.
The bus tour has attracted national media attention, including coverage on The Rachel Maddow Show on MS NOW. During the segment, the Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance, discussed the importance of voting and the responsibility of faith communities to help defend democratic institutions.
Circle Sanctuary, a Wisconsin-based Pagan religious organization, is among the faith communities and religious institutions supporting and participating in the national initiative.
Circle Sanctuary ministers Rev. Selena Fox and Rev. Becky Malke will participate in the bus tour’s Madison, Wisconsin, event on Friday morning, October 9, 2026, joining representatives of other religious traditions in affirming the importance of civic participation and religious diversity.
The campaign reflects a growing commitment among participating faith communities to encourage voter engagement while respecting religious differences and maintaining a nonpartisan approach to elections.
Cherry Hill Seminary Mourns the Passing of Longtime Faculty Leader Dr. David Oringderff
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Cherry Hill Seminary mourns the passing of Dr. David Oringderff, a longtime faculty leader, educator, mentor, and influential advocate for Pagan religious communities, who died on October 6, 2026.
Affectionately known to generations of students as “Dr. O,” Oringderff began teaching at Cherry Hill Seminary in 2002. Over more than two decades of service, he helped shape the institution’s academic programs and its approach to professional Pagan ministry. He chaired the Department of Pastoral Counseling and Chaplaincy for approximately a decade, contributed to the development of the Community Ministry Certificate, and worked with the academic dean to establish curriculum standards for his department.
His contributions extended well beyond the Seminary. Oringderff was co-founder and executive director emeritus of Sacred Well Congregation, an international Pagan religious organization. He was also instrumental in establishing a Wiccan circle at Fort Hood, Texas, which became the focus of national media attention and controversy surrounding the religious rights of Pagan military personnel.
“But his stellar work on behalf of Cherry Hill Seminary was just one facet of David’s extraordinary life,” said Cherry Hill Seminary Director Holli Emore.
“Biographies that emerge in the wake of his passing will more fully detail all of David’s accomplishments. But I knew him as a co-founder and executive director emeritus of Sacred Well Congregation, an international Pagan coalition, and as the person behind the Wiccan circle at Fort Hood, Texas, when a national media firestorm erupted.”
Emore also recalled Oringderff’s longstanding involvement with the COMISS Network on Ministry in Specialized Settings, an organization concerned with professional ministry and chaplaincy in specialized settings.
“But I remember him best for always making himself available to students, his colleagues, and to me,” Emore said. “We could always depend on David to follow through with whatever he committed to, quietly sharing his wisdom when asked.”
A Legacy of Education, Mentorship, and Service
Members of the Cherry Hill Seminary community and colleagues from across the Pagan and interfaith communities shared remembrances of Oringderff’s life and work.
Vivianne Crowley recalled their early professional relationship and his commitment to supporting Pagan military personnel:
“I first got to know David when he was a U.S. Army major, and he requested that I become his Europe-based doctoral supervisor during his NATO posting in Europe. His dedication to Paganism and Earth-based traditions, and to ensuring that those in the military have access to the spiritual resources that they need, was outstanding.
“His legacy lives on in the military in the form of the Sacred Well Congregation and the generations of chaplains, students, and Pagans that he has inspired. He will be greatly missed by his friends in Europe, the States, and beyond.”
Dr. Margo Wolfe, Academic Dean of Cherry Hill Seminary, reflected on his contributions to Pagan theological education and a recent recognition of his achievements:
“Only last December 2025 I was privileged to present David with the Hypatia Award for Excellence in Education in recognition of lifetime achievement and his service to the Cherry Hill Seminary community. During that time, he advised and taught scores of students, and mentored the first Master of Divinity graduate.”
Dr. Valerie Cole, a fellow psychologist and early instructor in the Seminary’s counseling program, remembered his compassion and leadership:
“As a fellow psychologist and an early instructor in the counseling program, I respected and admired David’s leadership at Cherry Hill. David mentored and guided students to achieve successful and satisfying careers as pagan counselors. He was compassionate and sincere, and a joy to work with.”
David B. Plummer, a former chair of the COMISS Network, recalled Oringderff’s integrity and commitment to interfaith engagement:
“As a fellow chaplain endorser, I always knew David to be friendly and truthful. A person of integrity, he was not afraid to engage with myself or others of differing faiths. And I do remember him well as an endorser and colleague. I am a past Chair of the COMISS Network, and he attended during my tenure. I respected him.”
Shane L. Nelson, M.Div., offered a personal remembrance of a cherished friend and mentor:
“David has been a close friend and trusted mentor for many years. In many ways, he served as a father figure. He will be well remembered in this realm, and may he be well received in the next.”
Funeral Arrangements
Cherry Hill Seminary extends its deepest condolences to David’s wife, Willow, his family, friends, colleagues, students, and the many people whose lives were enriched by his teaching, guidance, and friendship.
A visitation will be held on Thursday, October 15, 2026, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., at Mullinax Funeral Home in Butler, Missouri.
Funeral services will follow at 11:00 a.m. at the funeral home. Burial will take place at Fort Scott National Cemetery in Fort Scott, Kansas.
About Cherry Hill Seminary
Cherry Hill Seminary is a leading provider of education and practical training in leadership, ministry, and personal growth within Pagan and Nature-Based spiritual traditions. Through transformative education, the Seminary empowers students to advance academically, develop professional skills, and serve their communities as spiritual leaders.
For more information, visit Cherry Hill Seminary.
Hail the Traveler!
AI Enters the Tarot Reading Room
A candle and a Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck displaying the Wheel of Fortune, with the Empress, Death, and three of swords also visible. [subarasikiai, Pixabay
NEW YORK — Artificial intelligence has entered another unexpected corner of spiritual practice: tarot reading. A recent article in VICE examines how some tarot practitioners are incorporating AI chatbots into their readings, raising questions about intuition, authenticity, and the relationship between technology and divination.
In an article published earlier this year titled “Your Next Psychic Reading Might Secretly Come From a Clanker,” journalist Luis Prada discusses research presented at the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems examining how tarot readers use artificial intelligence.
Researchers interviewed 12 tarot practitioners from the United States, Canada, and Mexico who already incorporate AI into their readings. Participants described using ChatGPT to interpret card combinations, explore alternative meanings, and accelerate the reading process. Some acknowledged turning to AI because they lacked confidence in their own interpretations.
Although the study was small and exploratory, its findings prompted broader questions about whether AI can meaningfully participate in a practice traditionally associated with human intuition and spiritual insight.
Prada approaches the subject with considerable skepticism and humor, questioning whether a chatbot trained to recognize patterns in language can provide anything resembling genuine spiritual interpretation. He wonders whether practitioners who delegate interpretations to AI are inadvertently suggesting that machines possess some capacity for mystical understanding.
The article also highlights resistance within online tarot communities. Some discussion groups have prohibited AI-related content amid concerns that reliance on automated interpretations could gradually undermine practitioners’ confidence in their own intuitive abilities.
Prada connects these concerns to broader debates about technological dependence and the potential erosion of human skills when tasks are increasingly delegated to artificial intelligence.
While the research does not establish whether AI improves or diminishes tarot practice, it raises a question increasingly relevant to contemporary Pagan and divinatory communities:
Harvard Independent Cover 2026
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Who gets to practice magic, and whose magic is considered dangerous? In an October 8 article for The Harvard Independent, titled “Which Witch Is Which?”, Anika Gupta examines how race, colonialism, and popular culture have shaped perceptions of Witchcraft and spiritual traditions.
Gupta begins with Tituba, an Indigenous woman enslaved in the household of the Rev. Samuel Parris during the Salem Witch Trials. Although historical records identify her as Indigenous, later literary portrayals transformed her into a Black woman associated with African-derived magical practices. Gupta argues that this transformation helped establish enduring associations between Black spirituality and malevolent magic.
The article traces these stereotypes through colonial history, including the suppression of Vodou in Haiti and Indigenous religious ceremonies in the United States. Gupta distinguishes Vodou, an established religion, from Hoodoo, an African American tradition of folk magic and healing, noting how both have been misunderstood and stigmatized.
Hollywood further reinforced these racial divisions. Films including White Zombie, Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, and The Craft frequently portrayed Black spiritual practitioners as villains, caricatures, or supporting characters. Meanwhile, productions such as Practical Magic, Charmed, and Sabrina presented predominantly white Witches as empowered, sympathetic protagonists.
Gupta also examines contemporary #WitchTok culture, where practices originating in marginalized communities are sometimes repackaged as fashionable wellness trends. She questions the commercialization of crystals, rituals, and spiritual traditions without acknowledgment of their cultural origins.
The article ultimately challenges readers to recognize how racial privilege influences which spiritual practices are celebrated, condemned, or commodified.
As Gupta concludes, these choices determine “whose magic is sacred, whose is spooky, and whose is just for sale.”
Survey
By David S. Soriano – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=125089281
Author Yvonne Aburrow is asking questions about the intersection of AI and Paganism and proposing a new book.
AI is shaping up to have a significant impact on human society and our relationship with Nature, each other, and our humanity.
Following on from their previous call for contributions to an anthology of Pagan, Heathen, polytheist, and animist responses to generative artificial intelligence, Yvonne Aburrow is now conducting an online survey to canvas a broader range of opinion on the subject.
The survey is completely anonymous. Please follow this link: https://forms.gle/U58AykemajoJRvU78
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Community Announcements
Hekate’s Sickle Festival Returns This November to the Salish Sea for a Three-Day Rite of Devotion, Mystery, and Community
The Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) announces the return of Hekate’s Sickle Festival, a three-day Witch Retreat devoted to Isis, Hekatean practice, sacred arts, and community ritual, to be held November 6-8th at Camp Moran State Park on Orcas Island, Washington.
Set amid evergreen forest and wide water views in the San Juan Islands, Hekate’s Sickle Festival invites practitioners, seekers, and dedicated devotees to step into a concentrated weekend of ritual, teaching, devotional practice, and fellowship. The festival’s programming centers on reverent engagement with Hekate through guided rites, workshops, and community spaces designed to support both newcomers and long-time practitioners.
“While the amenities of the hotel are comfortable, Witches want to be in the wild woods, under the moon, with firelight, and drums,” said Belladonna LaVeau, Archpriestess and CEO of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church. “Hekate’s Sickle is a witch retreat, dedicated to magic, deepening your connection with deity and each other, so we can return to our lives strengthened by shared mystery and sacred work.”
Register now, as space in the camp is limited and spots are filling up fast. The Weekend Registration is all-inclusive; we feed you and give you a bed in the camp cabins for the weekend for only $299.
A Festival Designed for Real Bodies and Real Lives
ATC acknowledges that rustic state-park lodging can be a barrier for some attendees. The park does not have ADA-compliant facilities in the cabins. In response to community feedback, ATC is highlighting nearby off-site lodging options that offer a higher-comfort environment while keeping attendees close to the heart of the event.
- Doe Bay Resort (approximately 12 miles from Camp Moran): https://doebay.com/
- Rosario Resort (approximately 9 miles from Camp Moran): Rosario Resort | 1624 Rosario Road, Eastsound, WA, USAÂ https://www.rosarioresort.com/
Because November is a quieter season in the San Juan Islands, these properties may be open to negotiating rates, and ATC can help coordinate pickup and drop-off between the festival site and either lodging location.
Registration
Registration is open now, and discount tickets are still available for a limited time.
- Register: http://sickle.atcwicca.org
About Aquarian Tabernacle Church
The Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) is a 501(c)(3) religious organization serving a broad Pagan community across the United States, Canada, and South Africa. ATC supports spiritual education, seasonal festivals, devotional practice, and community-building through local branches and online resources.
Monthly EBSAT meeting on Monday, October 12, 2026
7:00 PM Central Time /
6:00 PM Mountain Time /
5:00 PM Pacific,
and last 30 minutes.
For The Love of Books
An online day about books for Pagan book lovers
On Saturday, October 17th, Ardantane presents an online program for Pagans who enjoy reading and all things bibliophilic. The program will take place starting at 10:00 am Mountain Time (9 am Pacific, 11 am Central, and 12 noon Eastern). It will wrap up about 4:30 pm Mountain Time.
The day will include short workshops on:
- Meet Seshat, the Egyptian goddess who is Mistress of the House of Books
- Ancient Scribes: Enheduanna, the Sumerian priestess who is the first known author in human history. Listen to a reading of her “Hymn to Inanna.”
- Ancient Praise: a smattering of hymns and praise for the Divine Ones from various ancient texts.
- Manuscript Art and Illumination: the Book of Kells, fun with marginalia, and more
- How to make your own Book of Shadows: Making inks, papermaking, embellishment, illumination process, resources
- Organizing and Caring for Your Library
- Writing and Publishing YOUR Book, with authors Amber K and Azrael
- Freedom to Read: activist tips for fighting book bans
There will be breaks between workshops, and a longer lunch break. Participants can attend the whole program or any portions they wish.
And fun! Enter several drawings for door prizes—mostly books!—which will be mailed to lucky winners after the event.
The program is organized by the Stewards of Seshat, Ardantane’s library committee. Seshat is the ancient Egyptian goddess Who is our library’s patron deity.
To sign up, visit Ardantane. The fee for the whole program is only $15; which goes to Ardantane, a non-profit Pagan school and retreat center based in New Mexico. Registration closes at 5:00 pm Mountain Time on Friday, October 16.
“Bring us Witches with agency. Bring us transformation. Bring us rot and bloom.”
California — Coreopsis Journal has announced an international call for submissions for Spellbound, the first volume of a planned three-book fantasy anthology inspired by The Coven, a series of paintings by Ukrainian fantasy artist Inna Vjuzhanina.
Vjuzhanina, who lives and continues to work in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, created The Coven as part of what organizers describe as her personal spiritual and artistic journey. She is collaborating on the anthology with the team behind Coreopsis Journal. The project is being published by an independent Canadian publisher, with the first volume planned for 2027.
Each of the three proposed volumes will feature nine of Vjuzhanina’s paintings accompanied by original fiction and poetry inspired by the artwork. For Spellbound, writers select one of nine paintings and create a work in which the depicted Witch is essential to the story. The figure may be interpreted broadly—as protagonist, antagonist, deity, familiar, machine, memory, place, or something else entirely—but editors emphasize that the work should not function without the Witch at its center.
Submissions are open to writers worldwide. Fiction of up to 15,000 words and poetry of up to 50 lines will be considered, along with shorter and flash fiction when appropriate to the selected artwork. The project offers a token payment, with organizers hoping to increase compensation through fundraising.
An optional priority-reading process is available for Ukrainian and Ukrainian-diaspora writers and writers currently living in or displaced from war zones.
Editors say they are particularly interested in imaginative, emotionally engaging work featuring Witches with agency and transformation. They will not consider work relying on ethnic stereotypes, pseudo-Slavic caricatures, stock portrayals of Witches as evil hags or seductive villains, graphic sexual content, sexual violence, or gratuitous violence. Writers drawing upon living cultures or traditions outside their own are asked to approach the material with research and care.
Submissions for Spellbound close December 1 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
More information, the nine paintings, and submission instructions are available from the Spellbound project at Worldsmyths. Questions may be directed to publishing@worldsmyths.com.
And they shared some Magical Music to write by …
EarthSpirit Announces Fall schedule
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS — The EarthSpirit Community has shared its calendar of rituals and gatherings for the remainder of 2026, beginning with an Autumnal Equinox Ritual and Sacred Land Walk near EarthSpirit’s home in western Massachusetts.
Twilight Covening, EarthSpirit’s annual intensive spiritual retreat, will take place October 9–12 in the Berkshires. The community will return to Glenwood on October 25 for an Ancestor Ritual and Sacred Land Walk from 1 to 5 p.m., including a ritual walk at 1 p.m. and an Ancestor Ritual at 3 p.m.
EarthSpirit’s Samhain Ritual is scheduled for Friday, October 30, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Williamsburg Grange in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. The community will close its 2026 seasonal ritual calendar with its Yule celebration. Specific details below:
Twilight Covening
October 9-12, 2026
in the Berkshires of western MA.
Ancestor Ritual and Sacred Land Walk
October 25, 2026, 1 – 5 pm
at Glenwood, EarthSpirit’s home in western MA
Ritual Walk at 1 pm, Ancestor Ritual at 3 pm
EarthSpirit Samhain Ritual
Friday, October 30, 2026 7:30-9pm
Williamsburg Grange, Main St, Williamsburg, MA
EarthSpirit Seasonal Rituals in Williamsburg:
Yule – December 19
Events and Announcements
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Deck: Dark Wood Tarot, illustrations by Sasha Graham, art by Abigail Larson, published by Llewellyn Publications.
Card: Major Arcana (XXI), The World
This week could see a confluence of positive aspects coming together. For those who have been waiting for their ship to come in, it could be a very good week. Spiritually, it may feel like finally having moved past a dark night of the soul to emerge into a bright and fresh dawn. Overall, look for favorable outcomes, especially when it comes to the completion of projects that have been in the works for some time.
Conversely, now may be the time to release what no longer serves or deserves space in one’s world. Be it relationships, clothing that no longer fits, or something else, this is a good week to clean house—literally and proverbially. It may also be a favorable time to engage in interactions rather than merely functioning as an observer. But in order to do any of that, it requires acknowledging and embracing one’s true nature and not hiding from it.
This Week in the Night Sky
October brings several celestial spectacles, including meteor showers, planetary encounters, and a close meeting between the Moon and a brilliant red star.
The Draconid meteor shower peaks tonight, October 8–9, with approximately five meteors per hour expected under exceptionally dark, nearly moonless skies. Unlike most meteor showers, the Draconids are best observed during the evening rather than after midnight.
On October 11, the faint Delta Aurigids reach their peak, although observers should expect fewer than one meteor per hour.
October 12 brings a striking celestial gathering as a slender crescent Moon appears near Venus and Mercury shortly after sunset. Mercury also reaches its greatest eastern elongation, offering favorable viewing conditions, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Southern Taurids produce an early meteor shower peak October 13–14, potentially offering slow-moving meteors and occasional brilliant fireballs.
Finally, on October 14, the crescent Moon passes exceptionally close to Antares, the reddish heart of the constellation Scorpius. Observers in parts of South America and the South Atlantic may even witness the Moon briefly obscure the star.
Most events require no special equipment, although clear skies and locations away from artificial lighting will provide the best viewing opportunities.
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