Pagan Community Notes: Dragon Ritual Drummers, Pagan Freedom Day Movement, Rev. Patrick McCollum and more

It was announced this week that Dragon Ritual Drummer founder and elder Flint has lost is battle with cancer.  Flint was diagnosed July 2014. The doctor’s gave him only two months to live, but he fought hard, even performing with the band. Utu Witchdoctor posted on the group’s Facebook page, “Brother Flint was one of our founding members, a force to be reckoned with, a soul that touched so many, one of the best there ever was. Our man Flint was the grounding force in our troupe, kept all us youngins’ in place, he was our father, our brother, our best friend.”

Northern Ireland approves first Pagan priest in modern times

GLENGORMLEY, NORTHERN IRELAND — It took a combination of patience, paperwork, and publicity, but Patrick Carberry has been approved by the Northern Ireland government as a Pagan priest. His is the first person to be so designated in this country and, by some reports, the first “since the time of Saint Patrick.” Carberry is the sovereign of the Order of the Golden River, which he founded in 2009. Now he will be able to perform weddings and otherwise function as a member of the clergy for that group. According to a February report in the Sunday World, Pagans have been licensed to perform weddings in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland since 2009.