Sometimes I really just don’t want to be around other Pagans. Part of it is my introverted personality. Part of it is the stress that just naturally comes along with running a group. And part of it is genuine irritation at the pettiness of other people, bringing out my own pettiness. There are times when …
Continue reading Everyone is Sort of Terrible: On Taking Breaks from Community Participation
So there’s a thing that happens whenever vocal Pagans show up in prominent public spaces, either online or in the flesh. The narrative is cliché and we all know it, whatever role we play. It goes like this: BIG PAGAN THING OMG WITCHES AND WICCANS AND PAGANISM! Pagan #1: OMG me too paganism witches so …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmlR57RJxZo (And can we please appreciate the thumbnail for this video. I love it when it's this awkward.) Back in my Teen Witch days I longed for a coven with the sort of desperate urgency that can only be generated by out-of-control hormones and the bewildering lack of self-awareness characteristic of overly-privileged suburban white kids. …
Just in case you were really determined to go to your first open ritual and alienate as many people as possible, I present these powerful tips. Also useful for sabotaging your attempts at starting your own coven, making friends online, or garnering any kind of long-term respectability amongst your local community. 1) Tell everyone you’re …
Continue reading How to make sure everyone at the open ritual thinks you’re full of shit
On occasion I receive inquires from seekers and friends as to why children are not permitted in circle. Poor Corvus, who runs an open group here in Charlotte, receives these questions from would-be attendees routinely, despite detailing Moon Circles' policies and the reasoning behind them on multiple websites. "Can I bring my children?" "I have …
Another successful Pagan Pride Day come and gone and all I can say is I sure am glad that I’m not an organizer. I was completely drained by the end of the day, just leading a workshop and speaking on a panel. If I had to do any more I’d probably just keel over and …
Piedmont Pagan Pride Day is fast approaching and I’m in the midst of workshop preparations. I’ll be leading a discussion concerning the role of nature/Nature in contemporary Paganism and, essentially, arguing that “nature” is as man-made a concept as any of our local skyscrapers. As both a happy urbanite (who desperately misses the roar of …
“Well, it is the Bible Belt.” This is a common lamentation uttered by Pagans throughout the Carolinas (and, I know, elsewhere). Nobody showed up to your first open circle? Well, it is the Bible Belt. Can’t find a coven to join? Well, it is the Bible Belt. No Pagan shops or public gatherings? Bible Belt. …
Continue reading Fertilizing the Lawn: Paganism in the Bible Belt
Holy shit, guys. Kenny Klein was arrested for possession of child pornography: Patheos As someone who spent a number of years with Blue Star and who continues to think highly of the tradition I find this news particularly upsetting. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it plays out. I think it's …
I had a realization yesterday after reading one of Ali’s entries in Foxfire’s commonplace book. We’d been having a conversation about why we’re Pagan. Given that Paganism isn’t really a definable thing, given that our beliefs and practices tend to be different from what I’ll call the Pagan “mainstream,” and given that we don’t always …
Thorn Mooney 