Pagan Community Notes: Marin Interfaith Climate Action, update from Caroline Kenner, Beltane is coming, and more.

MARIN COUNTY, Calif. — A new interfaith initiative made its debut Sunday, April 22 — Earth Day — in northern California. The Marin Interfaith Climate Action (MICA) was founded by Pat Carlone in the fall of 2017 and has been building its foundation since that point. It is part of the larger Marin County Interfaith Council, which was originally founded in 1982. Working with Carlone on MICA’s steering committee is Aline O’Brien, also known as M. Macha Nightmare.

Victimized by virtual kidnapping scam, Witch seeks payback

SILVER SPRING, MD. — Caroline Kenner considers herself intelligent, mindful, and tech-savvy; she has been a Witch since 1980 and, with her husband Jason, run the Fool’s Dog, a company that turns tarot decks into mobile apps. Neither her mental acumen nor her wisdom prepared her for the call she received Friday morning, however. “We have your daughter,” is what the voice said, immediately after a scream that very well could have been Kenner’s child, who was due to board a plane at that time. As it happened, a gang of sophisticate criminals had spoofed her husband’s phone and gotten information about their daughter’s number and travel plans, which made it difficult to extricate herself from what was turning out to be a virtual kidnapping scam.

Caroline Kenner to retire from Sacred Space conference

HUNT VALLEY, Md. –When the doors are opened for this year’s Sacred Space conference on the ides of March, it will be the last time Caroline Kenner attends the opening ritual as a board member. Kenner helped relaunch and re-imagine the conference after it spent time in “dry dock” last decade, and she is the last of that group to remain involved. Her retirement quietly closes a chapter for the Sacred Space Foundation, the nonprofit through which the conference is organized, but her presence will remain: all but one of the remaining board members have been her students. There is a long tradition of esoteric gatherings in the shadow of the nation’s capital.

Pagan Community Notes: Damh the Bard, Nature’s Path, Mountain Magic and more

GLASTONBURY, England — Popular musician Damh the Bard made mainstream headlines last week after delivering a talk at the Occult Conference in Glastonbury. During that talk, Damh discussed a ritual that he once co-led during a weekend camp back in 2005. The Daily Express published the story synopsis with the headline, “Top druid ‘slit people’s throats’ in bizarre Pagan sacrificial death ritual held in U.K.” Writer John Austin writes that Damh said in his talk that the attendees “were left convinced they had died after his mock execution,” which was done when Damh ran his fingernail across their throats. The Wild Hunt contacted with Damh to find out what exactly happened at the conference and what he said in his talk. In an email interview, he told us that the reporter sat quietly, observing the entire conference without asking questions.

Pagans support Christian church violated by hate crime

SILVER SPRING, MD. –In the wake of one of the most contentious U.S. presidential elections in history, a rising number of hate crimes are now being reported against people of color. When an extremely multicultural Episcopalian church near the nation’s capital was targeted, nearly 30 local Pagans showed up at the following Sunday service to make it clear that the victims do not stand alone. According to reports, a banner advertising Spanish-language services at the Episcopal Church of Our Savior was slashed, and on the back was written the message: “Trump Nation. Whites Only.”