News

Pagan Community Notes: Florida Pagan Alliance, Ásatrú Ibérica, Global Wicca Conference and more

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FLORIDA — The Florida Pagan Alliance president has removed Florida Pagan Gathering and its host organization the Temple of Earth Gatherings from its community initiative roster. Alliance president Michele Webster wrote, “It is our determination, based solely upon facts, that Temple of Earth Gathering/Florida Pagan Gathering is in direct violation of the community not competition initiative,” created by the alliance members in 2017 unify “the community, both Pagan and non-Pagan,” and foster ways to “to work together towards common goals.” Organizational leaders sign on and agree to certain terms.

The alliance board reportedly discovered that, while the FPG organizers had signed the initiative, they had not complied. One reason cited was the changing of the dates of the organization’s big Samhain event, which now conflicts with other local events. The location of the Samhain celebration was recently changed, according to the TEG board, due to construction at the old site; this shift required a date change as the new location was booked up.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: BBC petition, Cherry Hill Seminary, Arnold Crowther, and more

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As we reported in the past, a U.K.-based petition has been making its way around the internet. Its mission is to urge the BBC to be more considerate of Pagan religious views. Created in January 2018 by Druid Stuart Jeffrey, the petition, which is titled BBC should make Pagan voices heard, has garnered closed to 2,000 signatures. Jeffrey believes that the station should contain occasional programming that explores Paganism and that “they should feature a Pagan voice on Thought for the Day at least once a year.” He writes, “The BBC recently published a review of its religious programming however despite getting the views from a range of religious leaders, no Pagans were consulted. Thought for the Day (T4tD) goes out on Radio 4 and despite it being multi-faith it has no Pagan voices on it.”

In a press release, Jeffrey announced that the petition will be delivered to the BBC Tuesday, July 17 at 11am. He said, “Almost 2,000 people have call [sic] on the BBC to make Pagan voices heard.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Summerland Spirit Festival, protests continue, Mystic South and more

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CLAYTON, Wis. — The popular Minnesota camping event Summerland Spirit Festival has been cancelled for 2018. According to the event website, the organization has lost its venue. Since its maiden voyage in 2011, Summerland Spirit Festival has been held at Turtle Creek Glen in Clayton, Wisconsin. While that first festival was a stormy one, Summerland has grown to become a popular destination on the Pagan festival circuit, attracting recognizable speakers and performers.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: the Binding, the Unnamed Path, Cherry Hill Seminary, and more

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TWH – The NRA Institute for Legislative Action published an article in reaction to a documentary film titled the Binding that depicts modern Witches performing a binding spell inspired by Michael Hughes’ work. First reported on by The Wild Hunt, the film, which was produced and directed by Patrick Foust, features members of the Firefly House and includes author and activist David Salisbury. Foust told TWH that the inspiration for The Binding came when [he] saw news footage of Witches conducting a binding ritual on President Trump in February 2017. The NRA ILA reaction to the film was published June 15, and has since triggered a number of other media articles, including one in Fortune magazine and another at Raw Story. After the NRA writer discusses the film’s content, he or she reports that the organization “has not experienced any uptick in paranormal activity or supernatural suppression of [their] affairs.”