Culture

Photographer captures Witches in America

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BROOKLYN – What if you discovered an ancestor was a judge at the Salem witch trials, and you also found out another ancestor, from the same period of New England history, had been accused of being a witch? No, it’s not some plot twist devised by the creators of Charmed, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina or some other witchy TV series. It’s the true story of photographer Frances F. Denny. That striking discovery sparked her latest photography project, Major Arcana: Witches in America, which is on exhibit through Nov. 24 at ClampArt in New York City.

Paganism

Pagan Community Notes: Awen-inscribed gravestone at Circle; Starhawk calls for action; Caroline Tully and more.

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BARNEVELD, Wis. — Circle Cemetery, a national Pagan cemetery located at Circle Sanctuary, will dedicate its first Awen-inscribed veteran gravestone. In January 2017, the Awen was added to the official list of approved symbols by the U.S. Veterans Administration, joining the pentacle and Thor’s Hammer.  The upcoming memorial will be for Druid Dan Moeller, who was known as Oakbear in the Pagan community. While Moeller has the distinction of being the first to be honored with the inscribed Awen gravestone at a Pagan cemetery, he is not the first in the nation. That distinction goes to Wayne Laliberte of Texas (1954-2013), who is honored at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery in Texas in 2017.

News

Pagan Community Notes: International Day of Peace, Parliament of the World’s Religions, Michael Hughes and more

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TWH – September 21 marks the International Day of Peace as declared by the United Nations in 1981. International Peace Day, as it is also called, has been celebrated for 36 years as a tribute to, recognition of, and call for peace worldwide. The 2018 theme is “The Right to Peace – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70.”  U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres writes, “It is time all nations and all people live up to the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human race.” The U.N. is calling for the world’s citizens to take action, no matter how small, toward peaceful resolutions of conflict, ending injustices through non-violent solutions, and promoting human rights. On September 21, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., the Secretary-General will honor the day in the Peace Garden at United Nations Headquarters by ringing the Peace Bell and observing a minute of silence.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Mountain Magic, Raleigh Pagan Pride Day, Vanessa Goldman, and more

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RICHLANDS, Vir. —  Mountain Magic and Tarot Shop will not be offering tarot readings within the store any time soon. The shop owners, Jerome VanDyke and Mark Mullins, challenged a local zoning regulation that prohibits “fortune telling” in the store. They asked the city council to consider changing the code so that divination would be permitted. At a standing-room-only meeting Feb.

Pagan Community Notes

Pagan Community Notes: Mystic South, Selena Fox, Margot Adler, and more!

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ATLANTA — Attendees at the new Mystic South conference spent Saturday with no running water. A pipe leading from the water main had burst, leaving the hotel dry and without air conditioning. By midday, the interior temperatures were pushing 80 degrees and in some places well over. The hotel brought in portable toilets, bottled water, and ice cream to assist the guests. Despite the problem, the conference, which was in its first run, continued on.