Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Cherry Hill Seminary; Tarot Ban Lifted; TWH Fall Fund Drive and more!

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — Cherry Hill Seminary (CHS) has announced the launch of a new Community Ministry Certificate. In partnership with the Sacred Well Congregation, the new 15-month program is designed to lead to ministerial credentials. The program covers such topics as ethics, leading ritual, diversity understanding, family dynamics, addiction and more. As we previously reported, CHS has recently found itself at a crossroads. Director Holli Emore has said, “Unpredictable cash flow has compromised our ability to be sustainable.

News

Break out at Academy of Arcana

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Santa Cruz, Calif. – At 11:30 pm on the night of Sunday, April 17, police in Santa Cruz responded to an unusual call. Somebody was breaking out of a business at 428A Front Street in the city’s downtown area. This is the location of the Academy of Arcana, the latest venture of Oberon Zell and business partner Anne Duther. Founded in October 2015, the Academy is the physical campus of The Grey School of Wizardry, the magickal education center founded by Zell in 2004.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Circle Sanctuary, The Troth, Academy of Arcana, Isis and more

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Circle Sanctuary has announced the launch of its new membership program. Since its founding in 1974, Circle has been an open organization that has relied predominantly on donations, volunteerism and community support without any form of official membership needed. At Imbolc, organizers officially changed Circle’s traditional structure. In a press release, they wrote, “By creating a more formal membership program, we can open stronger channels of communication; learn from our members about how we can support their spiritual and personal development; and focus on members’ needs now and in the times to come.” Membership is open to a wide variety of people, limited only by a willingness to agree to “a set of three basic ethical tenets” involving nature, respect and inclusivity.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Dallas’ Diversity Day, Witch’s Athame, Academy of Arcana and more

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Texas Local Council’s (TXLC) Diversity Day was a success for the organization and people involved. In mid-November, the Dallas TX-based local council for Covenant of the Goddess sponsored a Diversity Day to confront and discuss social privilege and to bring greater awareness to “the challenges and struggles of others.” The event, called “We Can Make a Difference,” was held at the Arlington Unitarian Universalist Church on Nov 14. Doctor Beth Fawcett, PhD, MPH led “participants through a powerful exercise known as a Privilege Walk,” followed by an extended community discussion. TXLC organizers explained, “[Dr. Fawcett specializes in race and ethnicity courses and walked the attendees through a series of questions designed to show, in a very physical way, how we go through our lives with or without ‘Privilege’ even when we are unaware of it.” The event was also a fundraiser for the nonprofit organization Black Trans Men. TXLC reports that they raised over $525.00.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Deborah Schoenfeld, Circle Cemetery, Academy of Arcana and more

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It has been reported that the Air Force Equal Employment Opportunity office at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, has dismissed Deborah Schoenfeld’s religious discrimination complaint. In a story we brought to you in October, Schoenfeld had allegedly been subjected to verbal harassment by co-workers, and after lodging a formal complaint, was fired from her position. In response, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) stepped in as her advocate and filed its own complaint with the EEO. Military.com is now reporting that this “witch” complaint has been rejected. According to the article, the office said that “she filed too late and … the individuals she claimed discriminated against her are not Air Force employees.”