Paganism

Column: Restoring the Body, Mind, Spirit Through Vacation

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One of the hardest things to do in this fast paced world is to pause or to take a break from ordinary routines. June is symbolic of transitional pauses such as weddings, high school graduations, and summer picnics. It is a time for taking a day off work or attending a celebration. While weddings, graduations, and summer fun with the kids can last a day or maybe a weekend, the type of break that refreshes on a deeper level is extended time away to renew the body, mind, and spirit. Taking a full vacation, a weekend or just four or five days away from the normal routine of life can have a tremendous impact on how life resumes post-break.

Paganism

Column: Blossoming

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[Columns are a regular weekend feature at The Wild Hunt. Each Friday and Saturday columnists from various backgrounds and traditions share their perspectives and add their insights to the larger conversation in the community. If you like this feature, consider making a small monthly donation or make a one-time donation toward this vital global community venture. Either way, it is your help and your support that keeps daily and dependable news coming to your doorstep each day from wherever its origin.]

In the Northern Hemisphere, the start of May is a time when each of us, nature included, breaks free from winter’s restrictions to indulge in the tentative unfurling of spring. We dance, we play, we sing, we gather, we celebrate, and we create. For many, the lengthening days with more sunlight are an invitation to enjoy the increase in energy.

Paganism

Column: Paganicon as a Journey through Heathenry, Need, and Healing

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March can host blizzards, near-zero temperatures, early blossoming flowers, rainy days, or all of the above. The unpredictable nature of the beginning of spring after a harsh winter is the perfect time to gather with friends at a Pagan festival. Each March since 2011, Paganicon emerges after a difficult Minnesota winter as a celebration of all that is Pagan. While there is a challenge in hosting hundreds of participants, each year’s theme provides a new avenue for community exploration. This year’s theme, Fire and Ice, explored the Norse saga of creation and emphasized a focus on Heathenry.

Paganism

Column: the State of the Union – Where Will They Go?

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Almost a year ago, I organized and led a panel at Paganicon called “Pagan Clergy: How to Welcome Sex Offenders and Ex-Felons into Our Communities.” The overall convention theme was Through the Looking Glass: a Journey to the Underworld, so shedding light on marginalized communities within the larger Pagan community seemed appropriate. We do not always see what is beneath in the underworld until we begin looking. As a religious group leader and prison minister, I wanted to see how the larger community would respond to the most frequent question posed by the incarcerated: where can I go to ritual, or where can I find a group once I get out? The panel was a rudimentary attempt to bring together in an unofficial capacity representatives from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP), clergy who serve in prison ministry, and the larger community at Paganicon for a long-overdue discussion on what the reception of formerly incarcerated would be in our community.