Culture

Column: Spirit is Free, but Community Priceless

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DARLINGTON, Md. –Free Spirit Gathering is one of a growing number of festivals which has been held for more than 30 years, making it a touchstone for Pagans and polytheists seeking to connect with like-minded people. That kind of longevity also means that loss is part and parcel of the community. After several beloved members left this life behind in a short period of time, this year’s coordinators sought a ritual team specifically to aid in the grieving and honoring of those blessed dead. I always go to festivals with my reporter’s pad at the ready, but I attended this one of several priests from the Hellenic Temple of Apollon, Zeus and Pan who were tasked with providing an opportunity to venerate community ancestors, including those freshly minted.

Culture

What lies ahead: preparing Pagans for long-term care

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TWH –Pagan and polytheist religions, or at least the modern versions of them, have only been publicly practicing for a few decades at best. Therefore, a relatively small number of practitioners have entered into an elderhood which requires residence at a nursing home or other long-term-care facility. Those numbers are only likely to grow in the coming years. Timothy Anderson (Timotheos) is a program director for an assisted living facility, and while he isn’t aware of any Pagans or polytheists at his job, the issue is close to his heart. Anderson recently made a presentation on Paganism at a conference of the National Certification Council for Activity Professionals, to help his peers recognize people who practice one of these minority religions.

Living

A parting of companions around you: Pagans and divorce

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TWH –Much of modern Pagan practice is barely half a century old, which means there’s only a fraction of unbroken traditions to draw upon to address life’s problems. That’s particularly relevant in the case of ending a romantic relationship via divorce of some other mechanism. The institution of marriage has changed considerably in the centuries or millennia since some Pagan and polytheist religions were last widely practiced, and how to end those arrangements must also be adapted to remain relevant. “When relationships break apart,” said Rev. Sean Harbaugh of Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship, “the experience is mostly traumatic. Dealing with divorce and the end of a committed relationship is like dealing with death. The emotions are the same.

News

Breaking bread as ritual to heal rifts

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WOLVERHAMPTON, England –The political fight over whether the United Kingdom should remain part of the European Union or not was bruising to people on both sides, a situation which has been echoed in other world events such as last year’s presidential election in the United States. One British Quaker has found what she feels is an important reminder of the common ancestry humans share, and she’d like Witches and other Pagans to join her in expressing that bond: the power of bread. Rachel Arnold “discovered Paganism and the power of Witches,” she recalls, “while recovering from a traumatic experience in the Remain campaign.” It was during that healing process that she hit upon bread as a common thread for all humanity, and began to express that understanding through painting and poetry. From there she decided that breaking bread should be a movement, one in which people share that common history in spontaneous gatherings.

News

Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche lauded as hero for dying to protect others

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PORTLAND, ORE. –The stabbing attacks on a Portland train Friday, which were preceded by a hate-filled tirade by the assailant, have raised tensions in the Muslim community and, at the same time, local area Pagans have lost a beloved friend and family member. Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, one of two men who died trying to stop what police are describing as “ranting and raving” and “hate speech” directed at two teenage girls, had close ties to the Pagan world, although it is not yet clear what is own religious identity was. Namkai Meche grew up in Ashland, Oregon, where he graduated high school. A childhood friend, Christopher Landt, told a reporter for the Oregonian, “If he knew he was going to die, he still would have done what he did.”