News

Pagan Community Notes: Little Witches Ball, Luark, Alabama and more

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DETROIT – While a Witch Ball is not uncommon in October, it is uncommon to find one dedicated to children. Members of Michigan’s Pagan community are doing just that. The Detroit Conjure Folk Magic Festival, together with the Michigan Witches Ball, will be hosting a Halloween party just for kids. Little Witches Ball  Hocus-Pocus, as it is called, will be held in Roseville, Michigan, on October 12 at the American Legion East Detroit. Organizers write, “Merry meet, Little Witches and Pagans of all faiths, this is going to be a blast for the children this Halloween Season.” They also note that they will be serving soft drinks and pizza, and have music for the kids to enjoy.

Living

Treating depression in a Pagan context

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(Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in January 2015. It has been one of our most popular articles since that date.)

UNITED STATES — It’s become fairly commonplace for articles about Blue Monday to come up at this time of year. According to a formula concocted for a now-defunct travel network, the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year. While that designation was most likely created to sell vacation packages, it does serve to focus attention on a complex, often intractable condition. Pagans are certainly not unusual in suffering from depression, but since their worldviews can differ widely from that of the over culture, the tools and techniques for treating depression may also differ.

News

Pagan Community Notes: EarthSpirit Community, Florida senate race, solar eclipse and more

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BOSTON — The weekend’s scheduled “Free Speech Rally” was overshadowed by thousands of counter-protesters. According to reports, there were only a “few dozen” rally attendees, who were eventually escorted out of the area to the sound of the crowd cheering. The event’s organizers have claimed that the rally was not related to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, but protesters were unconvinced and showed up in force. Among the crowds were a number of people from the Pagan community. Specifically, members of the EarthSpirit Community, which is based in Massachusetts, were on hand with their own signs.

Pagan Voices

Pagan Voices New Year’s Edition!

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Pagan Voices is a spotlight on recent quotations from figures within the Pagan community. These voices may appear in the burgeoning Pagan media or a mainstream outlet, but all showcase our wisdom, thought processes, and evolution in the public eye. Is there a Pagan voice or artist you’d like to see highlighted? Contact us with a link to the story, post, audio, or image. To begin 2017, polyanimist Aldrin shares a prayer to Janus in Tagalog:
Pagbati sa Iyo ng may galak at tuwa,
O Haring Tarangkahan na may dalawang mukha;
isang pakanan at isang pakaliwa,
Poon ng mga pintuan, mula langit hanggang lupa.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: U.S. Army, Eron the Wizard, Brid’s Closet and much more!

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Despite six years worth of requests, the U.S. Army officials has not yet added Heathenism or Asatru to the list of faith group codes as originally reported. In January, the Open Halls Project was informed that both Heathenism and Asatru had been approved. However, a short time later, that approval was put on hold, and the Army has yet to add the terms. As reported in a recent Army Times article, “The Army sidelined all such requests, pending the findings of a Defense Department working group investigating how to create a single set of faith group codes across the service.” In response, the Open Halls Project and the Norse Mythology Blog have issued a Call-to-Action. Dr. Karl Seigfried writes, “Today, soldiers who follow the Old Way of Odin, Thor, Freya and the other Germanic gods and goddesses are still denied basic religious rights available to faiths that are recognized by the Army.”