Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Carole Kitchenwitch, Standing Rock Update, Doreen Valiente on BBC and more!

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ONTARIO – On the evening of Sunday, Oct. 16,  Ontario’s Pagan community lost a much-loved and cherished friend. Carole Kitchenwitch, a force of nature and energetic volunteer at festivals, died peacefully at her home with her family and partner Mike by her side. Carole had served on the kitchen staff at Wic-Can Fest for about 25 years. She will be fondly remembered for heartily encouraging all those who attended the dining hall to bless the meals by shouting, “Thank the gods for food!” This custom has now become part of the fabric of the festival.

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.

Culture

A glimpse into history: “A Spell of Witchcraft” radio programs re-released

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SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND –The year was 1971 and, despite the death of Gerald Gardner some years before, Wicca was continuing to gain adherents. The high priest and priestess of the Sheffield coven of witches, Arnold and Patricia Crowther, who had been initiated by Gardner in 1960, were emerging as strong voices of the movement. Their voices were markedly amplified when they produced A Spell of Witchcraft, a show on BBC Radio Sheffield, explaining to listeners through a half-dozen twenty-minute segments what modern witchcraft was really like. Those programs have recently been made available online by the Centre for Pagan Studies (CPS). Patricia Crowther provided the original cassette recordings, which were digitized and, with approval of the BBC, upload for public consumption. Arnold passed on in 1974, and Patricia was on holiday and unavailable to be interviewed directly.

News

Maureen Wheeler 1938 – 2015

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On Jan. 8, Maureen Wheeler, fondly known as Aunty Bunty, passed away after a long battle with cancer. Maureen was a Witch, High Priestess and Elder member of the U.K.’s Pagan community. She trained and was initiated by Gavin Bone in the early 1990s. By 2001, she had birthed a legacy of more than a dozen covens around the country.