Pagan Community Notes: Lady Cybele, American Academy of Religion, PantheaCon and more

HOLMEN, Wis. — The Wisconsin Pagan community lost one of its elders last month. Carol Lee Wiggins Olson Gainer, known as Lady Cybele of Rowangrove, died Nov. 26 at her home. Lady Cybele followed the Family Tradition Craft, was a longtime member of Circle Sanctuary and the Society for Creative Anachronism.  She regularly attended Pagan Spirit Gathering until her health made it difficult.

Lady Cybele was born in 1942 in Winona, Minnesota to Leland Edward Wiggins and Mabel Cecilia Johnson. After high school, she earned a bachelor’s degree from LaCrosse State University and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison.

Pagan Community Notes: Patheos, PantheaCon, the awen and more.

TWH – The tensions between bloggers and the Patheos company continued this week as former Patheos writer John Halstead announced that he and others would be demanding that their material be taken off the site. Their joint letter begins: “We the undersigned former and current Patheos Pagan contributors hereby request that you remove our names, likenesses, and our intellectual property, including our writing, art, and images, from your site. We previously gave Patheos license to publish our writing, but Patheos is no longer the company that we contracted with.” The letter continues on to list the writers’ grievances and detail why the group feels that Patheos is no longer the company that it once was. In its conclusion, the letter says, “We should not be forced to affiliate with or be seen to support, through our work, organizations which are inimical to our values and which, in many cases, are hostile to our existence…” 

Currently eighteen bloggers have signed the document.

Pagan Community Notes: Women’s March, Coru blood drive, Nigel Bourne, and more!

TWH – Saturday’s historic Women’s March on Washington has reportedly set records for attendance around the world. The estimated numbers are still being tallied for both the main march and the reported 673 sister marches. News media is currently reporting that the organization’s original prediction of 200,000 marchers in Washington D.C. alone was more than exceeded with numbers now estimated to be around 500,000. Similarly, other cities are also reporting larger crowds than predicted. Pagans, Heathens, and polytheists were in attendance across the country, reporting in throughout the day over social media.

Pagan Community Notes: Norse Art Competition; Berlin Attacks; Wreaths Across American and more!

TWH – In November, the Norse Mythology Blog launched its annual art contest. Now in its seventh year, the competition is an opportunity for artists of all ages to show off their talent and their knowledge of Norse mythology. The 2016 contest theme was Midwinter Spirit. “During the winter solstice on December 21, those of us in the northern hemisphere will experience the shortest day and longest night of the year. This may seem early in the season, but it’s really the middle. […]Throughout Northern Europe, there are local traditions that celebrate midwinter. Some of these practices preserve very old rituals.”

Pagan Community Notes: Bryan David Zell, Good Morning Washington, Wisconsin Department of Corrections and more!

[Here are this week’s Pagan Community Notes!  Each Monday we feature events, book releases, and important news stories coming out of our collective Pagan and Heathen communities. If you enjoy articles like this, please consider donating to The Wild Hunt. We are now at 42% with 12 days left. You make it possible for us to continue to provide a platform for our communities’ important news.