Pagan Community Notes: Solar Cross helps, solstice in Iceland, conference season begins and more

During the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, members of Solar Cross Temple took some time out to offer assistance and comfort to others within the Portland community. Hosted by Direct Action Alliance and Rose City Black Guards, the event brought people together to support “those most in need.” The two groups invited people “to come out to [Battleship Memorial Park] and support each other in the best way we know how, by helping.” They offered hot meals, and were collecting living essentials and clothing to give to the houseless.  The gathering was held between 12-3pm, which happened to be the scheduled time of another event: Patriot Prayer rally. In the Facebook event invitation, DAA and RCBG said, “They are trying to hide their hate fueled fascist ideology behind a banner of Jesus and religiousness.

Michigan’s successful 2017 Pagan conference opens with tributes and tears

DETROIT, Mich – Last weekend at the Dearborn Double Tree Hotel, more than 1,000 delegates gathered for the 22nd annual ConVocation convention. The theme this year was “The Seeker of Wisdom Must Release the Illusion of Knowledge.” ConVocation was founded in 1995 by the Magical Education Council (MEC) as a way to bring together practitioners of various spiritual paths and faiths for teaching and the promotion of promote fellowship among all esoteric traditions. Last May, the Detroit community was shocked to learn of the sudden and untimely death of ConVocation chairperson Michael Wiggins. The MEC board had charged him with the task of shaping the theme for this year’s event.

Pagan Community Notes: Patheos, PantheaCon, the awen and more.

TWH – The tensions between bloggers and the Patheos company continued this week as former Patheos writer John Halstead announced that he and others would be demanding that their material be taken off the site. Their joint letter begins: “We the undersigned former and current Patheos Pagan contributors hereby request that you remove our names, likenesses, and our intellectual property, including our writing, art, and images, from your site. We previously gave Patheos license to publish our writing, but Patheos is no longer the company that we contracted with.” The letter continues on to list the writers’ grievances and detail why the group feels that Patheos is no longer the company that it once was. In its conclusion, the letter says, “We should not be forced to affiliate with or be seen to support, through our work, organizations which are inimical to our values and which, in many cases, are hostile to our existence…” 

Currently eighteen bloggers have signed the document.

Pagan Community Notes: Norse Art Competition; Berlin Attacks; Wreaths Across American and more!

TWH – In November, the Norse Mythology Blog launched its annual art contest. Now in its seventh year, the competition is an opportunity for artists of all ages to show off their talent and their knowledge of Norse mythology. The 2016 contest theme was Midwinter Spirit. “During the winter solstice on December 21, those of us in the northern hemisphere will experience the shortest day and longest night of the year. This may seem early in the season, but it’s really the middle. […]Throughout Northern Europe, there are local traditions that celebrate midwinter. Some of these practices preserve very old rituals.”

Gordon Ireland, pillar of Michigan Pagan community, retiring from service

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