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Mailing Addresses
CUUPS-TwinCities
c/0 FUS
900 Mt. Curve Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55403
The Pagan Institute
P.O. Box 6809
Minneapolis, MN 55406
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Imbolc 2010 |
Blessed Be!
You've found the new URL for "the local news section" of Paganistan's hometown paper, TwinCities Pagan News. It's a place to celebrate new developments in co-creating local Pagan culture, to share joys and concerns,
and news of all the little civil rights victories -- companies that
honor our holydays, etc.
For the past nine years, CUUPS-TwinCities has provided TwinCities Pagan News to publicize local Public Pagan Events. Our goal has been to help build the local Pagan community by becoming Paganistan's "hometown paper."
Maybe you think that what you're doing isn't of interest to anyone else; but your actions can inspire others to do likewise. Knowing that we have Pagan neighbors we can be proud of is important to building community.
What's newsworthy for us as a little "hometown" paper? To begin with, anything that members of the community can be proud of: public service, political action, interfaith participation, awards won by Pagans, news stories in the Media, published letters to the editor. We'll carry news of volunteer opportunities for local Pagan organizations. We hope you'll also share
news of all the little civil rights victories -- companies that
honor our holydays, etc.
We're thrilled to announce any service projects by Pagan groups, but since there aren't many Pagan institutions YET, if you did something through a secular or other organization and want to announce it here under your religious name, that's fine, too!
We also want to announce new stores, opportunities to collaborate, Pagan-focussed music events, and memorial services.
To share your efforts, discoveries, and accomplishments here on the
Paganistan news page. Send us the stories of YOUR accomplishments and challenges.
We get the community we co-create for ourselves.
Each one of us has something to contribute. Goddess knows there's no shortage of things to be accomplished!
We can do so much more when we can find one another and collaborate. In that spirit, we hope you'll use this 'zine to build the TwinCities Pagan community.
Merry Meet!
Christa Landon, ed. |
On this page.....
- Sacred Paths Center First Anniversary Celebration, February 13, 2010
- UMPA Co-ordinates Pagan Soldier Package Program
- New local Pagan Event list established
- PAGAN PRIDE Days October 2 & 3, 2010
- Witch Hat Tower opened to the public, Friday June 4, 2010, 5 - 8 pm
- CUUPS Midsummer Ritual at UU General Assembly, Sat, June 26 at 1 pm
- Sacred Harvest Fest, August 7-15th, 2010, http://harmonytribe.org/
- Our Honored Dead
- Update on UMPA's Adopt a Highway program
- Local resources for Living
on this Sacred Earth
Contact Your Minnesota
Government and Legislators
- Attn: Local Pagan Newsmakers!
Old News
History is old news, as edited with hindsight.
- First Pagan Veteran's Grave in Ft. Snelling has Pentacle on Headstone
- Non-Abrahamic Religions Recognized: Paganism included in local Interfaith Education Event at U Law School
- Coldwater Springs Labyrinth Desecrated
- Little Falls Pagan Group forming!
- What is COG? by Grace Morgan
- Pagans Adopt a Highway! Finally a way for the Wiccan/Heathen/Pagan community to come out of the closet!
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Sacred Paths Center Celebrates 1st Anniversary
Bringing anything into birth involves labor, long, difficult, risky, and transformative. Doubly so in the Pagan community because "perfect love and perfect trust" depend on transparency, accountability, and boundaries, and such a culture is hard to create when privacy and autonomy are absolute values.
After Evenstar Books was no longer economically viable, Teisha and Paul along with folks from many of the larger local groups, set forth to create a Pagan community center. They chose the former office space of the Obama campaign headquarters at 777 Raymond.
While Sacred Paths Center is in process to get a 501 c 3 nonprofit status, they are using a complex financial model.
A consortium of alternative healers raised some of the start-up money and have first option and a discount on renting space to meet clients. Readers of various types also rent space by the hour.
Rent of the large room for rituals, lectures, or intimate performances provides income. WICCOM rents the main room on the Saturday evenings near every Festival in 2010, according to the SPC calendar. Because SPC is closed on Sunday evenings, other groups aren's able to hold weekend evening worship.
There's also a large basement which could be developed if code allows and adding adjacent ground-level rental space is being considerd.
The SPC store sells new and donated used books, jewelry and other NewAge/Pagan items. It's also an important "front door" for folks seeking to connect with the community.
SPC encourages membership, offering discounts on space rental. purchases from the SPC store, and various alternative health treatments, depending on the size of your monthly contribution. Members are permitted to observe SPC Board meetings and vote for directors as the current ones cycle off the SPC Board. As of this writing, membership dues cover most of SPC's rent bill, but not other expenses.
A number of fund-raising events and outside presenters bring income as well. Executive Director Teisha is not yet salaried.
February 13, 2010
http://sacredpathscenter.com/ |
UMPA Coordinates Soldier Support Packages
Did you know that Paganism (including all flavors) is the fourth largest faith group among US military? Wartime conditions inspire questioning, as does young adulthood, so many of these folks are new to Paganism and have no local bookstores or occult shops to help them begin.
Pagans in the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones need our support to practice our faith. The Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance, an open service group for Pagan activists, is collecting personal and magical supplies and shipping them for us to meet urgent requests.
Most requested items are:
HERBS:
Mugwart, Angelica, Bone Set, HoreHound, Holy Thistle, Roots of Mandrake, Juniper, Aloe, Pepper, Musk, Vervain, Saffron, five finger grass, heather, rue, high john root, sea salt
BASIC PAGAN BOOKS
Candle magic
Basic Wicca
Norse Path
Moon magic
spell and charm book
Pagan magazines
BASIC RITUAL TOOLS
Black, White Altar cloths
Small Wands
Small travel chalices
Small God and Goddess statues
Stones : small for weight!
~ any type quartz crystal ~ obsidian points ~ hematite
CANDLES:
pillars
in jars
wrapped tapers
tea lites
In magical colors
INCENSE AND OILS
dragons blood, frankincense, myrrh, red sandlewood, high john, sage, white
sage, sweet grass, cedar, patchouli, elemental or directional oils
PAGAN MEDALIONS:
Pentacles, Ankhs, Awen symbols, Thor's Hammers, Sun symbols, Moon symbols ,
Goddess and/or God symbols, Green Man/Woman symbols, Wheel of the Year symbols
OTHER ITEMS
CDs & DVDs OF Pagan music, meditation:
Gift cards that ship international
PERSONAL ITEMS:
Toothpaste
Blank greeting cards
Prepaid phone cards
Lip balm
Instant coffee
Gum
Breakfast bars
Instant soup mixes
Sunglasses
Remember, this project is not about supporting the wars, it's about supporting the religious life of our own people; it's about welcoming many new Pagans into our community.
For more information about drop off sites and the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance, visit their website at: http://www.umpaganalliance.com
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New Pagan Event Calendar for TwinCities
JRob is cross listing a WEEKLY DIGEST of local Pagan events on 8 Yahoogroups, Facebook, and Myspace, will make wider publicity simpler for groups while facilitating more seekers to find our F2F community AND freeing chat groups from "bulletin board announcement clutter."
All local Pagan events can be listed in brief with a link.
Send your events and subscribe at: twincitiespagans@yahoo.com |
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Pagan Pride WEEKEND: Oct 2nd & 3rd, 2010
In the TWIN Cities, it takes 2 days!
The 12th year of Pagan Pride Day Minnesota was a great success.
And the Magick for 2010 is already brewing!
Plans are in the works for events, vendors, programming, and
entertainment all on the first weekend in October at the Sabathani
Community Center in Minneapolis.
But big events take lots of help! If you're ready to make Magick, contact:
info@tcpaganpride.org
Watch this space for news as available.
programming@tcpaganpride.org
You can also find out information about the event at our website
(http://tcpaganpride.org). They'll also be posting announcements to the TCPagans
and Paganistan email lists and to Witchvox when there's news. |
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Tell the stories
you observe
by becoming a reporter!
Just think of
the POWER!!!!
We're also looking for an assistant editor;
Dreamweaver knowledge
is a plus! |
Are you one of those folks who knows what's happening in the local Pagan community?
Do you know of news that especially impacts the Pagan
community and/or Pagan values?
-> violations of our religious freedom?
-> companies that honor our religious rights
-> companies which
discriminate religiously?
-> environmental news?
-> interfaith news?
-> civil liberties news?
-> First Nations news?
Or are you just blessed with "insatiable curiosity"?
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Need help?
United Way can tell you where to go. Just dial 211. |
Minnesota Government
Click here to find your Minnesota state representative |
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Minneapolis City Gov't
Minneapolis Mayor Rybek
(612) 673-2100 or
call 311 or
call (612) 673-3000 outside Minneapolis
Click HERE or HERE
Timothy Dolan,
Chief of Police
350 South 5th Street --
Room 130
Minneapolis, MN 55415-1389
(612) 673-3787
Fax: (612) 673-2613
E-mail: police@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Minneapolis City Council numbers:
Cam Gordon [Green Party]
(612) 673-2202
Cell: (612) 296-0579
Cam.Gordon@ci.Cam.Gordon@cCam.G
Cam.Gordon@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Paul Ostrow (612) 673-2201
Paul.Ostrow@Paul.Ostrow@<WBPaul.
mailto:Paul.Ostrow@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Diane Hofstede (612) 673-2203
Barbara Johnson Council President
612) 673-2204
Barbara.Johnson@Barbara.JohnsonBarba
Barbara.Johnson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Don Samuels (612) 673-2205
Don.Samuels@Don.Samuels@<WBDon.S
Don.Samuels@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Robert Lilligren Council Vice President
(612) 673-2206
Robert.Lilligren@Robert.LilligreRober
Robert.Lilligren@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Lisa Goodman
(612) 673-2207
Elizabeth Glidden
(612) 673-2208
Gary Schiff
(612) 673-2209
Ralph Remington
(612) 673-3940
Ralph.Remington@Ralph.RemingtonRalph
Ralph.Remington@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Scott Benson
(612) 673-2211
Sandy Colvin Roy
(612) 673-2212 Betsy Hodges
(612) 673-2213 |
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Old News
History is old news, edited with hindsight.
Items you may of missed,
retained because they make us so proud of our community! |
The holidays seem blessedly far away, but if they make you blue, or if you can't be with family, consider putting this on your calendar. ~ed.
Meals on Broomsticks Dec. 25!
What do Pagans do on Christmas Day?
Most of us visit with our families, and try to avoid discussing religion. Some of us work at jobs that have to be done by somebody every day of the year. And there are some who honor the Crone by making the day less lonely and sad for
folks our commercial culture tends to abandon.
UMPA -- the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance again in 2009, signed up with the Union Gospel Mission to serve meals to senior citizens. They have already made arrangements to continue. (Who says Pagans don't plan ahead! ;-)
Mark your calendar to help out next year!
Meals On Broomsticks, December 25, 2010, http://www.umpaganalliance.com
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Creating a Life Together:
Grounding the Sacred Land Dream
Robin Grimm wrote, "The time is right for the Twin Cities (and beyond!) Pagan communities to take the next step toward establishing institutions that will serve us into the future."
On March 28 & 29, 2009 Diana Leafe Christian, author of “Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities” presented a two day workshop based on her book and experience. The event took place at TIES Educational Center in St. Paul.
Harmony Tribe organized this two-day workshop to discover what it takes to create an intentional community.
While the hope was to fill all 100 seat with Pagans, Heathens, and members of other Earth-honoring traditions, others were also welcome. For more information please see www.harmonytribe.org/land.
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Our Own Honored Dead
Sgt Jason A. Schumann, a Wiccan soldier, was killed in action on May 19, 2007 in Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq whle serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was buried at Fort Snelling on June 1, 2007. He finally received his VA-issued pentacle headstone in December, 2007.
Area Pagans are encouraged to honor his grave on May 19, May 26 (Memorial Day), July 4, and Veterans' Day Nov. 11.
Blessed Be all
who helped to move the VA to honor Sgt. Schumann's faith.
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Loui Pieper, Pagan Elder, Passes
Loui Pieper, beloved wife, mother, teacher and founder of Evenstar Books, passed from this world Sunday night. Loui had struggled with her health for the past several years. In the end she passed quickly, at home, and in the company of her husband.
Loui will long be remembered as the best Tarot reader and teacher in the area, and was teaching advanced Tarot classes right up until the end of her life. Over the course of her career, she taught thousands of students in topics such as Tarot, Shamanism, Faerie Lore, and Ritual-work. Her entire life was dedicated to the service of the community of spiritual seekers and neo-pagans. She continues to serve as a role model to all of us.
Loui is survived by her husband and step-son, as well as several "adopted" daughters and goddess-children within the community. Details about the memorial services are forthcoming, and we will make sure to keep everyone informed.
Be at peace in the arms of the goddess, Loui.
-----Uncle JRob
A memorial service was held on May 16, 2009. |
Little Falls Area Pagans
Little Falls area pagans is a group of Pagans who get together on the Saturday closest to the full moon. We come together for fellowship and community service. They hope to become more open to the larger community in the hopes of dispelling fear and ignorance.
If you are in the area, please email Julie at snakedragons6@yahoo.com
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A solitary calls for more organization within the Pagan community
WHAT IS C.O.G. ANYWAY?
By Grace Morgan
Covenant of the Goddess, Northern Dawn Council, is one branch of a NATIONAL organization whose purpose is to bring community together in celebration. It also serves as an entity that can give credentials.
For 25 years, many of us have relied on COG to create meaningful, fun ways to bring us out into the open to commune with old friends and make new ones.
Gathering together is a custom as old as time. People have always sought out the company of like-minded souls. It is a way to re-affirm our place in the World.
Of course, most of us have a core group that we meet with on a regular basis; our own little "circles" as it were. That is what we are supposed to do. However, sometimes our "circles" end up confining us and as a result, they narrow the definition of who we are.
Circles can EXCLUDE as well as INCLUDE.
We are already excluded, for the most part, from the Mainstream out there! Why divide ourselves even more?
We are all looking for a higher vibration and the only way to find that is to keep hitting each tuning fork as it is presented to us.
Now, if you’ve already found your "Heaven on Earth" with a group – good for you! But what about that Soul out there, still searching? That one Soul might be looking for YOU and YOUR GROUP! They won’t find you if you just keep to yourself all the time.
COG offers you the chance to come out of your small circle and join a larger one that spans the Nation! They even allow each different group to put flyers on a table to let others know you are out there.
It’s called NETWORKING and it really does work!
We need to stop thinking about our differences and concentrate on our similarities.
We are part of a movement that has been whispered about for years. Believe it or not, there has been a book written about us! It’s called The Cultural Creatives (how 50 Million people are changing the World!).
The whisper is now a low murmur, but growing louder every day. Each new milestone raises the volume (or vibration!) just a bit higher. The election of our first working class, black man as President cranked the volume up A LOT! Look around, it’s happening everywhere!
There are MILLIONS out there looking for something that fits more the way they think and feel inside, and here we are still thinking that "organized pagans" is an oxymoron!
To be fair, in the last 5 years, I have seen us, as a community, progress A LOT. However, it is time for MORE! You can be a member of any one of the many groups in Paganistan and still be part of COG!
Already over-scheduled? Why not combine your groups next Sabbat with COG’s? That way you get to commune with your "inner circle", and you get to meet NEW people while providing a valuable service to your Community! There are four Sabbats each year that COG hosts – pick one and be a co-host!
The best way I can think of for you to show people what you are all about is to host a COG event!
Shamelessly promote your group by strutting your stuff! Tell us, through ritual and "theatre", what moves you about YOUR tradition! Perhaps it will move us too!
You can check out COG at the following web address: www.northerndawncog.org
Yours In Love and Light,
Grace Morgan
Solitary & Higher Grounds Group Moderator
& COG Volunteer & MNCoW Lifetime Member & Citizen of Paganistan
"If we change the World, let it bear the mark of our intelligence"
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We Finally Adopted a Highway!
How long have area Pagans longed to participate BY NAME in the Adopt a Highway program? For the past couple years, UMPA -- the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance -- has found a way for ALL of us to participate as a community. NOW, let's make Mom proud!
Pagans Adopt A Highway: MN HWY 10, Anoka
The Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance (UMPA) has contracted with the Minnesota Highway Department to maintain litter cleanup on a 2.8 mile section of State Highway 10, in Anoka. This is a highly traveled four lane divided stretch between Hansen Blvd and Foley Blvd. Highway 10 angles NW from above interstate 694, west through Anoka, and can be reached heading north on most Twin Cities Highways.
The Highway Department has been very pleased with the work UMPA has done and expects to continue for many years.
Here's where you come in! UMPA has organized this program to serve Mother Nature and to improve the Paganism's public's image. Participation it's open to all area Wiccans, Heathens, Druids, Shamans, and other Pagans. You can help collect trash, or support with water, transport, and food on the road. or readying the feast that follows.
For more information on how this developed, see our story on our new page devoted to local activism and service.
Click to learn more about the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance (UMPA). |
Community Supported Agriculture:
Get Your Share!
Community Supported Agriculture is a partnership between small local farmers and community members who prepay for a share of what the farm produces. The farmer is able to buy supplies and equipment and seed, and the buyer receives produce through the harvesting season, usually here between June and October.
Here is the website that lists the names/locations of farmers that are part of the CSA! I am sure there is one near you!
http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/csa.html
Thanks to Grace for sending this to Twin Cities Pagan News! |
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Attention All Newsworthy Pagans:
To one degree or another, we're all engaged in the
magickal transformation
of our culture,
restoring the
harmony between humankind and the Earth.
It's not easy, but it IS the most exciting game in town!
Do you know of news
that especially impacts
the Pagan
community?
> religious freedom violations?
> environmental news?
> interfaith news?
> civil liberties news?
> First Nations News?
Are you or your group
making Pagan
News?!
> public service?
> political action?
> interfaith participation?
> awards?
> articles/letters to editor
To share your efforts, discoveries, and accomplishments here on the
Minnesota Pagan News page, Send us the stories of YOUR accomplishments
and challenges.
Mother will be SO PROUD!
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| Are you blessed with "insatiable curiosity"?
Tell the good stories you observe by becoming a reporter!
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Green Witch News:
A GREEN Witch/Pagan/Heathen/Shaman is a person whose spirituality is deeply connected with the Plant Kingdom. Most practice some form of gardening or sustainable foraging/wildcrafting combined with restoration of native species as an essential element for creating and developing that bond. Herbalism, healthier eating, and plant/deva/dryad communication are additional aspects of this spirituality.
Goddess Greenhouse!
Have you heard about the revolutionary LOW COST
design which feeds 15 Families Greens for a TOTAL of $50 for Heat per winter?
Goddess Greenhouse is an experimental micro-business which created a
revolutionary passive solar greenhouse garden costing only $18,000 and
using less land than a 1 car garage!
In January, 2008, 50 gathered for a day-long conference was held in Milan MN to
study the Goddess Greenhouse. You can adapt it for urban
and rural settings!
A yahoogroup has been created for folks interested in this experiment in partial food independence: www.gardengoddessnetwork@yahoogroups.com
Check out the great story! |
Resources for Holding Sacred Ground.
During rapid climate
change, ecological and economic sustainability
will depend in part on individuals, families, and neighborhoods developing
local micro-agriculture. This would include victory gardens and
greenhouses for locally grown produce, but also a new "wild" first aid
horticulture to re-establish and support sustainable native species.
Gardeners,
wildcrafters, horticulturists -- your
comments are invited.
BOOKMARK:
http://www.mepartnership.org/
Green_Witch_Environmental Guide
Environmental News
Twin Cities Green Guide: http://www.thegreenguide.org
Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurants and Grocers by zipcode
If you know of a local resource your fellow Pagans might want to know
about, please send the contact info or URL to the Editor and we'll share it.
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| Non-Abrahamic Religions Recognized
Christa Landon
Minneapolis.
Nov. 12, 2007 On November 11, The Interfaith Bridging Initiative (IBI)
and The Human Rights Center at the University of Minnesota Law School presented an
Interfaith Panel on Non-Abrahamic Religions, entitled "Peace and Violence in Our Non-Abrahamic Traditions:
An Afternoon of Convergence" (A Sacred Season of Peace-Making Event.)
Representatives of the following traditions shared their outlooks on peace-making and its obstacles: Buddhism was represented by Roger R. Jackson, Stephen R. Lewis Jr. Prof. of Religion and the Liberal Arts, Chair, Dept. of Religion, Carleton College. Hinduism was represented by Anantanand Rambachan, Prof. of Religion, Philosophy, and Asian Studies, Chair, Dept. of Religion, St. Olaf College. Two American Indian Spiritual Traditions were represented: Dine/Navajo and Madison Mdewakanton Dakota. We were greeted in the Navaho tongue by Omie Baldwin, a therapist at University Health Services, Univ. of Wisconsin. The Madison Mdewakanton Dakota were represented by Darlene St. Clair: Assistant Professor/Director of the Multicultural Resource Center, St. Cloud University.
Wicca/Paganism was well-presented by Teri Parsley Starnes, Priestess in the Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft. Reclaiming has always had an admirably strong commitment to peace, civil liberties, and justice activism; not merely affirming diversity.
The Hindu, Buddhist, and Pagan representatives began thier presentations by saying how very diverse their traditions were, and how they could only speak in generalities. The two Native American representatives spoke of the diversity of indigenous peoples: 500 Nations in the US alone, plus more in Canada, Central America, and South America. My impression was that WITHIN any given nation, religious homogeneity was the norm, but BETWEEN the nations, religious ideas and practices varied wildly.
All also spoke of how each faith valued peace. Each presented their community's version of the Golden Rule. Most presenters noted that the concept of how religion addressed violence was complex. The Native Americans were especially conscious of the environmental violence which destroys habitats of whole ecological communities and the sustainability of whole species. This they distinguished from the measured, respectful, and sustainable violence involved in hunting, gathering, and agriculture which wastes nothing and honors the relationships of all involved.
After the panel discussion, experiential workshops and discussions were offered. Teri Parsley Starnes and Paul Eaves used their breakout time to share a lovely and very accessible Pagan ritual, co-lead by several folks from the Pagan community. For some who attended that breakout session, it was the first time they had ever actually met a Pagan, much less attended a worship circle with several of us.
The conference concluded with Dances of Universal Peace led by Hakim Bushnell. Accompanied by a drummer, he skillfully taught and led us in performing simple dances and inclusive chants from the Buddhist and Hindu traditions . He ended with dance and chant in Arabic affirming that only Allah was God.
(After the event, Bushnell said that all the Goddess dances he knew were too complex to use at this event. I offered to teach him the spiral dance and provide some chants.
(Historically, Dances of Universal Peace have avoided any references to Paganism or the feminine aspect of the Divine, and even their tape of Middle Eastern Goddess chants
(c. 1998) includes stern warnings of how dangerous Goddess material was.)
Aside from that last chant, the entire event was a wonderful and rare opportunity for Paganism to be present as an equal at the table of the world religions. |
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To learn how to talk back to that Federal agency or media moghul,
for Addresses of UN, Media, and other
VIPs, go to Write-On! |
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