Living

Mistletoe Festival in England grows, honoring ancient tradition

By |

UNITED KINGDOM — Every year, the sleepy little market town of Tenbury Wells, near the border of England and Wales in the county of Worcestershire, hosts an annual Mistletoe Festival. Mistletoe is an important product in this corner of England, due to its numerous apple orchards. Worcestershire and neighbouring Herefordshire mark the start of cider and perry country, which covers most of South West England). As Suzanne Thomas of the Mistletoe Foundation states: “Viscum album, the English mistletoe is such an amazing plant. It has a wonderful energy and to see it growing in the trees locally is just so lovely.

News

Indigenous voices to grace Paganicon stage

By |

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn.. — When the doors to Paganicon open next March, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from two important representatives of native peoples, Sharon Day and Arvol Looking Horse. What makes their attendance particularly unusual is that the cost of bringing in these speakers was raised directly by members of the community, and in relatively short order. Headliners at Paganicon are usually selected a year in advance and have their expenses paid for by the convention budget, but Looking Horse and Day were only confirmed within the last few weeks.

Canada

Wigglian Way host joins actions planned against Canadian pipelines

By |

CANADA – On Nov. 29, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an announcement that the Canadian federal government was going ahead and approving two highly controversial pipeline projects. Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline project and Enbridge’s Line 3 project, could see as much as a million barrels more per day of various petroleum products from Alberta’s oilsands traveling through Canada, to the West Coast, and also over the border, into the United States. A third project, the Northern Gateway pipeline was rejected. This was a victory for protesters, as this pipeline would have crossed an environmentally sensitive area known as The Great Bear Rainforest.

Canada

Dragon Ritual Drummers winter solstice event cancelled last minute

By |

ST. CATHERINES, Ont. — A Canadian Pagan group says their Winter Solstice celebration was cancelled for being “too overtly Pagan.” The Dragon Ritual Drummers, a musical troupe headed by Witchdoctor Utu, planned to host a solstice ritual and concert at the Niagara Cannabis Club, but says the club canceled the event just hours before it was to start. The Winter Solstice Witches Mass and Concert is an annual Ontario event, during which the Dragon Ritual Drummers usually perform. This year the group decided to host it themselves, and they picked the town of St.

Paganism

Column: An Interview With Dianne Daniels

By |

There are many Pagans doing amazing things throughout the world. Dianne Daniels happens to be one of them. Daniels has currently taken on the intricate balance of holding the work of service within differing communities. This week 53 year old Daniels stepped into the highly public position of branch president within an historic civil rights organization, and she is also a practitioner of modern Paganism. Daniels, a Detroit born native now living in Connecticut, was just elected to the position of the NAACP branch president for its Norwich chapter. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a organization that was founded in 1909, and is considered to be the oldest civil rights organization in the United States.