Paganism

Column: Doing the Gods’ Work – a Conversation with Ben Waggoner

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Pagan Perspectives

Back in 2013 and 2014, when I was getting ready to start gathering sources for my masters’ thesis in Old Norse Religion, I realized something: while the vast majority of medieval Norse-Icelandic sagas were readily accessible in Old Icelandic, quite a few of them were hard to get a hold of in translation. Sure, I could have soldiered on, armed with only my trusty Old Icelandic-English dictionary and go through every single saga in the original language, but it would have taken such a long time that, had I done so, I’d probably still be at it today. What I needed were more general editions and translations, with enough notes and index-entries to quickly find relevant information. When it came to the more popular sagas, such as the so-called “family-sagas” (Íslendingasögur), I had little problem finding good versions. In my excessive exhaustiveness, however, I found a severe lack of material related to the more obscure sagas.

News

Eyeing an independent California

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CALIFORNIA — A new proposal to cut California loose from the other 49 United States has been getting more traction than most similar past suggestions, prompting the question of what consequences of an independent California might be for Pagans. Under the banner of “Yes California,” proponents of the so-called “Calexit” have secured the right to collect petition signatures. If they succeed in obtaining 365,880 by October, there will be a vote in 2020 on whether or not to open a secession discussion. A second vote a year later would be to declare California an independent country. The Pagan residents of the state reached for comment have no expectation that the measure would ever pass, but some of them were willing to imagine what it might be like.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: California fires, Raven’s Loft, Elaine Coleman, and more

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CALIFORNIA – For a second time this year, massive and catastrophic fires are destroying parts of California. The Thomas fire, which is the biggest, is currently being called the “fifth-largest in the state’s history,” and it reportedly continues to force “new evacuations in towns as far north as Santa Barbara.” The state’s famous Santa Ana winds have only made the situation worse. The state boasts a large Pagan population from south to north. The last set of fires, which occurred in the fall, brought local Pagans and many distant friends together to perform water magic in order to help curb the damage and stop the flames. As columnist Crystal Blanton wrote, “Rain magic and other forms of weather related workings have a long history in many different cultures.

Paganism

Column: the Weather Magic Used to Combat California Fires

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California was literally on fire this month, causing a ripple effect of destruction, devastation, and death. While there were multiple fires in Northern and Southern California, the fires in the Wine Country of Sonoma County are set to be the largest in the state’s history. Recent reports indicate that over 8,400 homes and buildings were destroyed, and an estimate of 42 lives were lost in the Northern California fires. News reports are currently stating that over 100,000 people have been displaced by the horror of the raging flames. The unimaginable fires started Oct.

News

Terror victim Daniel Kaufman to be honored with a memorial garden

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RIALTO, Calif. — The Incredible Edible Community Garden in partnership with The City of Rialto will plant a Healing Grove Memorial in remembrance of 2015 terror victim Daniel Kaufman June 4 at 2pm. The garden will be built in the city’s popular Fergusson Park

“I am extremely touched that this grove is being planted,” said Ryan Reyes.”I feel that it is a beautiful way to honor the memory of Daniel as well as they other victims by giving those of us left behind a place to go and remember them without having to visit a place such as a cemetery or other kind of memorial site that might carry too many sad connotations such as death and loss.” Reyes was Kaufman’s boyfriend when the terror attacks happened in December 2015 at the Inland Regional Center complex in San Bernardino. Kaufman worked as a barista at the Coffee n’ More shop inside that facility.