Pagans and police: what you need to know

“Just because you have rights doesn’t stop anything from happening to you.” – Don Frew, consultant on ritual crime

GRAPE CREEK, Texas – Nikki Featherston was driving home after stopping at a convenience store when she saw police lights in her rear-view mirror. She didn’t think she was speeding or committing any other traffic violation, but pulled over to the side of the road to await the sheriff’s deputy. Their exchange during the stop highlights the misunderstandings which can take place when Pagans have something they consider ordinary in their possession, but police consider suspicious. Ms. Featherston, a solitary Green Witch, gathered her driver’s license and proof of insurance as the deputy approached her car, and then handed them to the officer.

Pagan Community Notes: BLM Down Under, Donald H. Frew, Pagan Dawn and more!

MELBOURNE — The Black Lives Matter movement has reached Australia. So far, there have been rallies in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Brisbane. The ABC, Australia’s state-owned and funded national public broadcaster, reported that 3,500 people attended the Melbourne rally on Sunday, July 17. The movement, which began in the U.S., has a struck a chord with Australia’s aboriginal people. Although aboriginal people make up only about 3% of the Australian population, they reportedly make up 26% of the prison population.

Pagan Community Notes: Druid Network, City of Refuge, URI, Indigenous People’s Day and more

[Pagan Community Notes is a weekly feature that highlights short stories and notes originating from within our collective communities. If you like reading this dedicated news every Monday, please donate to our Wild Hunt Fall Fund Drive today. We are now 40% funded. Help us raise that number! All of our articles take time, research and money to produce.

Deborah Ann Light 1935 – 2015

Priestess, ritualist and elder Deborah Ann Light passed away the morning of July 21, 2015. On Wednesday, her family announced:
Philanthropist Deborah Ann Light, a key figure in establishing Eastern Long Island’s Peconic Land Trust and pioneering Wiccan priestess, died Tuesday, July 21, 2015 in Gainesville, Florida, at age 80 after a long illness. Deborah was born in London to American parents Dr. Rudolph Alvin Light and Ann Bonner Jones, while they were both attending Oxford University. She was raised on a farm in Nashville, Tennessee, while her father taught surgery at Vanderbilt University. As she grew up, she lived in a variety of places, including Virginia, Italy, and New York.

Covenant of the Goddess: A Very Southern Merry Meet 2014

This year, the Covenant of the Goddess (CoG) held its annual business meeting, Grand Council, in the southern city of Atlanta, Georgia. The meeting was sponsored by Dogwood Local Council (DLC), the Atlanta-based chapter for the national organization. The two-day meeting is the center-piece of a full four-day conference event called MerryMeet. Before I continue, I must divulge my affiliation with the organization and event. I have been a CoG member for years, and I am currently serving as its National Public Information Officer (NPIO) – a position that I will hold until Samhain 2014.