Unleash the Hounds! (Link Roundup)

There are lots of articles and essays of interest to modern Pagans and Heathens out there, sometimes more than our team can write about in-depth in any given week. So The Wild Hunt must unleash the hounds in order to round them all up. This month, author and Witch Byron Ballard found herself the center piece of a mainstream news story titled, “Meet the Appalachian spell-catcher.” Local journalist Dale Neal published his article in Asheville’s Citizen-Times, the main paper for the region. Neal wrote, “In her travels, Ballard found many people put off at first by the idea of a pagan priestess …

Pagan Community Notes: Max G. Beauvoir, the Parliament, Save the Deer, T. Thorn Coyle and More

Vodoun Priest and Supreme head Max G. Beauvoir died Saturday at the age of 79. Born in 1936, Beauvoir studied chemistry in both the U.S. and France, and eventually pursued a successful career as a biochemist. He worked at Cornell Medical Center, Tufts University as well as other private research institutions. According to a Washington Post article, Beauvoir was not initially interested in religion at all. However, he was called back to his home and to Vodou by his dying grandfather, who told him in 1973, “You will carry on the tradition.”

Pagan Community Notes: Robert Rudachyk, Fairy Survey, Many Gods West, Heathen Groups and more!

Heathen Robert Rudachyk has announced his candidacy for Canada’s Liberal Party of Saskatchewon. Rudachyk ran in 2014 and, in an interview with The Wild Hunt, talked about his goals and his work as an openly Heathen candidate. He said, “If I am able to become the candidate, I intend to run my campaign on the issues facing all Canadians, not on my faith. I will never hide who I am, but I will also not whip my hammer out in public and shove it into people’s faces.” This year, Rudachyk is running “to be elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly ( MLA) for this seat or district as you might call it. It is for the provincial government of Saskatchewan It is essentially the provincial parliament.” The campaign was just announced, and we will have more from Rudachyk in the weeks to come.

Pagan Community Notes: Summerland Spirit Festival, Equinox Publishing, Letter of the Year and more

Another damaging summer storm has a hit major Pagan festival. This time it is Summerland Spirit Festival held in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin. The intense winds and rain arrived Sunday night around 10 p.m. on the festival’s first full day. According to reports, tents were damaged or completely lost, and parts of merchant row have been destroyed. During a race to get into the permanent shelters, several people sustained minor injuries such as scrapes and twisted ankles.

Hospitality: a Pagan value?

The journey to report on the Sacred Space/Between the Worlds conference was difficult. What would have taken four hours on the road on a clear day was seven through a late-winter snowstorm on the Eastern seaboard, driving forty miles an hour past at least a dozen vehicles which hadn’t fared very well in those conditions. Journey’s end, however, included welcomes from familiar faces, introductions to local luminaries, and an invitation to lunch with a group of Southern witches who simply wanted to show some hospitality. Those warm gestures led to this question: what role does hospitality play in your tradition? Those who were able to respond created a rich tapestry of perspectives. Byron Ballard, Mother Grove Goddess Temple:
I always cringe in interfaith circles when we try so hard to find That One Thing that we all do.