Pagans.net Blogs

Pagan networking: Federation of Circles and Solitaries in Downriver Detroit

Pagan networking: Federation of Circles and Solitaries in Downriver Detroit: “Along with networking and education, their mission includes environmental preservation through volunteer efforts such as Adopt-A-Road Cleanup.  Charitable activities include the Pagans In Need program to help provide food and other items for families and individuals and the Adopt a Shelter program which donates time, money or goods to at least one different shelter chosen annually.”

(Keep reading at Examiner.com.)

New Age 101 - Brief history of the Celts, major precursors to New Age beliefs - Part 3

Examiner: “In the book ‘Celtic Magic’ by D.J. Conway, we are told that ‘The Celts were a very clean people, using soap long before the Romans did. The Celtic men and women of Britain sometimes wore swirling blue tattoos or paintings on their bodies. All Celts played lyres and harps, loved song, music, and recitation of legends and epic adventures. They used metal or ornamented natural horns for drinking.

Children took their mother’s name and daughters inherited her possessions. Virginity was not highly valued; twice the dowry was given for a woman previously married or with children. Abortion and choice or change of mate was a woman’s right.

Both sexes loved jewelry: brooches decorated with gold filigree, cuttlefish shell, garnets, lapis, and other stones; buckles of gold filigree and stones; pins and linked pins with animal-style decoration; necklaces of amber, granulation and chip carving. They wore torques, pendants, bracelets, pins and necklaces. The women sometimes sewed little bells on the fringed ends of their tunics. The elaborate intertwining of their artwork was a guard against the evil eye or curses.”

Keep reading at the Examiner

The witch job that earns £50,000

BBC NEWS: “A Job Centre is advertising a ‘witch’ vacancy with tourist site Wookey Hole, in Somerset, for £50,000 a year.
The witch, who has to live in the site’s caves, is expected to teach witchcraft and magic.
Wookey Hole staff say the role is straightforward: live in the cave, be a witch and do the things witches do.
The advert for the post, placed in the local press as well as job centres, says applicants must be able to cackle and cannot be allergic to cats.”

(Via BBC.)

Pagans litter Stonehenge as 35,000 celebrate the summer solstice

mirror.co.uk: “The summer solstice passed off peacefully at Stonehenge with only a few arrests and litter proving the biggest bugbear from the record 35,000 crowd.

There was a carnival atmosphere as pagans, Morris dancers and others gathered at the ancient stone landmark on Salisbury Plain to celebrate the longest day of the year yesterday.

Druid Jim Saunders, 33, from Reading, said: ‘It is upsetting to see so much litter, and some people can be disrespectful. But it is nice to see a lot of people here. There is no better place to learn about our culture and history.’

Crowds began to gather at 7pm on Saturday.

There was music and dancing all night and cheers to greet the 4.58am sunrise.”

Proud pagans party for magical time

ajc.com: “The annual Atlanta Pagan Pride festival draws hundreds of Wiccans, witches and other earthy worshippers to Decatur’s Glenlake Park. Last weekend, the fourth celebration brought together 800 colorful characters.

As in Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream, ’ fairies showed up —- the youngsters wearing synthetic wings made of wires and see-through cloth. ‘Lords’ and ‘Ladies’ walked amongst commoners. Children danced the maypole.

Pentagram amulets, ponytails and tattoos —- the quarter-moon on the forehead —- were everywhere. Vendors hawked Doritos, detachable horns and magic potion —- actually bath salt that promises to spike your income for $3.”

Family tree leads some to witches, naked queens, Romeos

AZCentral.com: “Winnifrid Benham was tried in 1600s in the last Witch Trial in Salem, Massachusetts and Benham even found a book containing a transcript of the trial.

Meanwhile, his wife Anne claims that her paternal ancestor, William Wainner, made shoes for Tom Thumb, the real life, diminutive character that inspired the folk tale.

Genealogy can be akin to solving a mystery, as many Gilbert residents have found out. They say you’ll never know what you’ll discover after poring over the manuscripts and databases available at the Mesa Regional Family History Center at the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints Temple in downtown Mesa.”

Summer solstice at Stonehenge

The Frame: Summer solstice: “STONEHENGE, England (AP) — Pagans and partygoers drummed, danced or gyrated in hula hoops to stay awake through the night, as more than 35,000 people greeted the summer solstice Sunday at the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge. Despite fears of trouble because of the record-sized crowd, police said the annual party at the mysterious monument was mostly peaceful. Stonehenge, which sits on Salisbury Plain about 80 miles southwest of London, is one of Britain’s most popular tourist attractions, visited by more than 750,000 people a year. It was built in three phases between 3,000 B.C. and 1,600 B.C. Mystery surrounds the monument’s original purpose. The solstice is one of the few times during the year that visitors can get close enough to touch the rocks. (25 images)”

(Via http://www.sacbee.com.)

Ask Phyllis…Astrology and Beyond

Dear Phyllis:

Did something just change astrologically? I feel kind of hopeful and excited. But so many things have fallen apart in the past few months I’m almost afraid to believe life could be moving ahead.

Signed,
Tentatively Excited.

Dear Go ahead and be Excited…

Yes! New possibilities and fresh energies are forming that can help us (finally!) move forward in our relationships, attitudes and goals. Venus the planet of Love, and Mars the planet of Action are both entering the dynamic sign of Aries. They can work wonders to awaken a gutsy empowerment that urges us to initiate something new and exciting in our lives.

Venus in Aries through June 6th can really enliven our relationships! Many will feel more assertive and adventuresome with others. Sexier, too. Since Aries is the ‘Me First’ sign, we’ll also be more likely to speak up for what we really want and need. Done with loving, this can refresh existing relationships and spark compelling new connections.

Read more: Phyllis F. Mitz: Ask Phyllis…Astrology and Beyond

(Via The Huffington Post | Raw Feed.)

Meacham: The End of Christian America

Meacham | Newsweek.com: “It was a small detail, a point of comparison buried in the fifth paragraph on the 17th page of a 24-page summary of the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey. But as R. Albert Mohler Jr.—president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the largest on earth—read over the document after its release in March, he was struck by a single sentence. For a believer like Mohler—a starched, unflinchingly conservative Christian, steeped in the theology of his particular province of the faith, devoted to producing ministers who will preach the inerrancy of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only means to eternal life—the central news of the survey was troubling enough: the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent. Then came the point he could not get out of his mind: while the unaffiliated have historically been concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, the report said, ‘this pattern has now changed, and the Northeast emerged in 2008 as the new stronghold of the religiously unidentified.’ As Mohler saw it, the historic foundation of America’s religious culture was cracking.”

(Via Newsweek.)

100,000 Atheist Britons Seek ‘De-Baptism’ from Christianity

100,000 Atheist Britons Seek ‘De-Baptism’ from Christianity: “Some of these atheists argue that they were baptized when they were too young to make the decision, and now that they’re able to make a choice, they want to renounce their Christian baptism.

‘We now produce a certificate on parchment and we have sold 1,500 units at three pounds ($4.35) a pop,’ said National Secular Society (NSS) president Terry Sanderson to Agence France-Presse.

NSS’ de-baptism initiative follows closely behind the British Humanist Association’s ‘There’s probably no God,’ bus ads. Dozens of buses across England carried the atheist ad that encouraged people to stop worrying and enjoy their life since there is probably no God.”

(Via Christianpost.com.)