Pagan Community Notes: Summerland Spirit Festival, protests continue, Mystic South and more

CLAYTON, Wis. — The popular Minnesota camping event Summerland Spirit Festival has been cancelled for 2018. According to the event website, the organization has lost its venue. Since its maiden voyage in 2011, Summerland Spirit Festival has been held at Turtle Creek Glen in Clayton, Wisconsin. While that first festival was a stormy one, Summerland has grown to become a popular destination on the Pagan festival circuit, attracting recognizable speakers and performers.

The ethics of ‘pay to pray’

The debate may be as old as the concept as money itself. Is it ethical to require payment for spiritual services? The question has emerged again in Pagan communities, thanks to a widely-shared article on the subject. Those who support payment for services such as divination, spell-casting, crafting and consecration of magical and/or sacred objects and the like often frame their arguments in terms of energy exchange. However, the underlying message appears to be, “I cannot afford to do this for free.”