Child Helps Conference Attendees Calm their Inner Dragons

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – I turned my phone to silent and found a seat in a workshop at Paganicon, a Pagan convention held in Minneapolis, Minnesota over the Spring Equinox. I was particularly interested in this presentation and had it marked as one I couldn’t miss. It wasn’t the topic that caught my eye as I looked through the programming guide, it was the presenter – 9-year-old AuroraWolf. While some Pagan festivals and conventions have children’s programming, I haven’t heard of any that had programming presented by a child as young as AuroraWolf.

Pagan Community Notes: Katwood Sanctuary, Shekhinah Mountainwater Fund, Judy Harrow and more!

On Feb. 16, tragedy hit Katwood, a 40-acre Pagan sanctuary and sacred retreat nestled in rural southern Virginia. The homestead and all its contents were completely burned to the ground, leaving its full-time occupants, Priest Daniel and his wife Sue, without a place to live. Katwood has been the couple’s home for decades. Daniel, now in his 60s, is the founder and priest of Oak Tree Clan, a group that considers Katwood Sanctuary its spiritual center.

Culture and Community: Kickstarting the 2015 Pagan Conventions Season

The upcoming convention season brings about much celebration, many learning opportunities and face to face community interactions with other Pagan practitioners. Paganicon, PantheaCon, ConVocation, Sacred Space, Between the Worlds, and the Conference on Current Pagan Studies all happen between January and March. These large convention-style Pagan events have become an essential part of the community landscape. While these conventions can be more costly than camping festivals, they are packed full of programming and bring a diversity of people to the forefront of our community expansion. Part of the beauty of events like this include the combination of Pagan authors, speakers, practitioners, ritualists, healers, musicians, and emerging or locals talents.

Pagan Community Notes: Margot Adler’s Memorial, Time Magazine, Religion in Politics and more.

Pagan Community Notes is a series focused on news originating from within the Pagan community. Reinforcing the idea that what happens to and within our organizations, groups, and events is news, and news-worthy. Our hope is that more individuals, especially those working within Pagan organizations, get into the habit of sharing their news with the world. So let’s get started! 

We’ll start off Pagan Community Notes with a big thank you to all those people and organizations who supported our 2014 Fall Fund Drive. You helped us meet and exceed our goal, and for that we are very grateful.

WinniPagans: The Story Behind the Film

Winnipeg is a city of 691,800 people nestled in the Southern portion of Manitoba, Canada.  It is the capital of this central providence and the 8th largest metropolis in the country. On the map, Winnipeg is about 90 miles north of the U.S. border and 650 miles NW of Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to the tourism industry, Winnipeg calls itself a “little big city” and the “cultural cradle of Canada.”

Within all its hustle and bustle, Winnipeg is home to a group of people who call themselves the WinniPagans. It’s a catchy term; the origins of which are unknown. However, it is used endearingly to refer to a small, tightly-knit community of approximately 600 Pagans who live in and around Winnipeg.