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Nikki Bado 1954 – 2016

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“The casting of the Circle is complete. You are led to the edge of the Circle, where Death, your challenge, is waiting for you.” – Nikki Bado, excerpt from Coming to the Edge of the Circle

After a long illness and sudden heart attack, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Iowa State University Nikki Bado died April 22. A noted scholar and Wiccan Priestess with over 40 years in the Craft, Ms. Bado was perhaps most well known for her book Coming to the Edge of the Circle: A Wiccan Initiation Ritual. The book was written as a “challenge to the commonly accepted model of ‘rites of passage.’ Rather than a single linear event, initiation is deeply embedded within a total process of becoming a Witch in practice and in community with others.” Bado straddled the difficult line between being an academic and a practitioner.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Morgan McFarland, Yule in Paris, Operation Circle Care and More

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It was announced that Morgan McFarland, co-founder of the McFarland Dianic tradition, died Dec. 7, 2015. Together with Mark Roberts, Morgan established the tradition in 1971 in Dallas, Texas. Several covens were eventually born, and Morgan began to write down all of her teachings. In 1977, Mark, who had served as High Priest, left the tradition to follow his own path.