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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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On this page...
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Dec. 26, 2009
By Nels and Judy
Sixteen generous Pagan activists braved difficult driving conditions Dec. 25th to again serve meals provided by the Union Gospel Mission to
Elderly and Low Income.
George, Jrob, Patricia, Erin, Geoff, and Albrecht
served the Cleveland Avenue location. Dwight, Nathan, Marty, Max, Nels,
and Judy served the Central Ave. location. A third group arrived after we
had already left including Joni O., Amber O., Amber H., and Rebecca.They
were offered a THIRD building whose group had not showed up.
They took
their costumed dogs and served an additional location on Wabasha Ave. What
initiative! We were the only group which served three buildings. All
together we served over a hundred meals. Each group had a wonderful time
interacting with the residents. The Cleveland residents prepared our Pagan
servers a special thank you card!
Thanks to all who took the time to aid those in need!
This UMPA project has become an annual event.
Consider planning on participating next year! ---cl, ed.
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UMPA organizes aid to Pagan Soldiers
By Nels and Judy
Dec. 27, 2009
UMPA is again receiving active requests from Pagan Soldiers in Iraq, and now
in Afghanistan as well. We need activists who believe in aiding active duty
Pagan Soldiers to get involved in the management and execution of this
program. Without your involvement the need will go unmet. Please contact
UMPA http://www.umpaganalliance.com/contact.shtml immediately if you can
establish and manage pickup points, secure donations, pack and ship boxes,
and help expand this program!
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UMPA Cleans Up Adopted MN Highway 10 in Anoka
This community has proven itself once again!
Greetings Pagan Activists!!
Besides a wintery ritual at the State Capital, and a wildly successful benefit for a deeply deserving elder, yesterday was the finest day for our Pagan community I have experienced. Nearly fifty people met at the Jarvinen's, from many paths and traditions. Old, young, and everywhere between. About 40 of them divided into six groups for actual cleanup with the balance offering child care, food preparation, and hiway support to those on the road.
There was still a hint of drizzle when we got on the hiway about 10.30am, but it ended once we got working. This was the perfect day for this job. Early enough to see what was there before the new growth, and not too hot. While it looked trashed out driving by, our work last year clearly made a difference. There was trash of course, but not at the levels when we first took on this site. There are always adventures on the hiway, things found, discoveries made, mysteries unfolding. One of the best was a wallet found, and returned today. Umpa received a $20 donation in gratitude. We had a lunch time support run refuel us with sandwiches, bars, and water. By shortly after 2pm, all six groups were gathering to return to Jarvinens, having completed our whole 2.8 mile stretch on both sides! We had lined our roadsides with between 175 and 200 bags of trash, as well as piles of tires, mattresses, metal, and other large objects for pickup.
A few had to run right after the cleanup, but for most an afternoon feast, and the telling of roadside tales filled the balance of the day. The biggest mystery was who the marvelous baker was that left the tastiest cake, decorated with the new UMPA t-shirt design....if you know his identity...let us know!
I want to thank the Jarvinens, great hosts each time we gather! So many helped out, it was hard work made a joy with all the diverse participants. We won't need to gather for this purpose until September, but folks were happy to have this Spring time excuse. GRATITUDE to all who participated :
Ken/Liz MacCaskie Ra, Joe/Tracy, Mary O, Traci A, Ronnie/Scott C, Carissa/Keith O., Jeremy P., Connie M., Geri f., Chad/Babs/Essence/Promise S., Bear/Drake, Patricia/Jrob Z., Joe/Domyno/Jimmie/Jordan/Angel/Aiden Z., Brian S, Cindy C., Todd F., Kevin W., Carol H, Durkin, Denise S., Holly, Brook, Penny T. and boys, Chad D., Brandy S., Shelbi S, Nick and Nathan, Mick S., Lisa S., George E., John S., Tony C., Nels/Judy and apologies to those I missed!
Plan on participating in the fall!
Sweet blessings, and
~~~ clear visions ~~~
Nels and Judy
To learn more about the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance, visit U-M-P-A@yahoogroups.com
Why this project is so important
Pagan PR Near the Halloween Capital of the World!
Christa Landon
As part of past generation's concern about Halloween houlighanism, Anoka instituted a Halloween costume parade; it's a wonderful event. Area Wiccans and other Pagans have long been bemused about the city's retention of this custom, since the area is notoriously conservative, religiously speaking. As far as this reporter knows, no Earth-centered/Pagan/Wiccan/Heathen or New Age organization has ever been representedAS SUCH in the Anoka Halloween Parade. Of course, how would the city fathers know if some of those cute little witches and wizards gathered afterwards with their parents and friends "in a place wild and lone..."?
Tracy Jarvinen, local Pagan and UMPA member notes,
"Religious prejudice is still alive and well up here 25 minutes north of North Mpls. 2 miles west of our home and approximately 7 miles west of where the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance highway sponsor sign will hang is a semi-trailer that is parked right along Highway 10. It reads "WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?" in letters that are big enough to fill the side of the parked trailer. Across form it about a mile down is another sign that reads GOT JESUS?
So please understand how important it is that the sign be on the highway up here. Please understand how important it is that we clean and care for the earth. To show, that which we espouse to, IS what we do! "
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UMPA's membership is open to individual Pagans of all flavors. Members discuss concerns through a list serv.
For more information about the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance, visit their website at www.umpaganalliance.com.
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UMPA Membership Drive - We Want YOU!
by "Penny R. Tupy"
It's that time of year again....
The birds are signing.
The trees are budding.
The snow is gone (and will, hopefully, stay gone for a long while).
And UMPA is bursting with ideas for the year and wants YOU to come and play.
New this year - your paid membership (still only $15) gets you a free T-shirt featuring commissioned artwork by local artist and community member, Joe Jarvinen. See it here - http://www.umpaganalliance.com/images/SHIRTLG.jpg
Ways you can join:
- Online at - http://www.umpaganalliance.com/joinus.shtml
- At various Pagan stores around the city (add'l $5 to cover stores' expense)
Under discussion and on tap for this year:
- Ongoing service to the Earth with our highway clean up project
- Meals on Broomsticks - delivery to low income and senior high rise in conjunction with the Union Gospel Mission - usually Christmas Day
- Summer Picnic and Drum Jam
- Possible Pagan Radio under discussion
- Continuing support of our military overseas with Pagan Care Packages
- What would you like to do??
Learn more about UMPA's doings farther down this page, and here and here.
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Henny Pentagram says,
"Who will help me
bake the bread?"
Little_Red_Hen.htm |
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Pagan Pride WEEKEND: October 3rd & 4th2009
Become a Player! Volunteer!
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Each year, the Twin Cities' Pagan Pride event seems to get bigger, more diverse, and more important as the biggest face to face networking opportunity in Minnesota. This is a free program, run entirely on a volunteer basis. ed.
Plans are in the works for events, vendors, programming, and
entertainment all day on October 3rd and 4th, 2009 at the Sabathani
Community Center in Minneapolis.
If you're ready to make Magick, contact: info@tcpaganpride.org
We'll report new developments here as they become available. |
First Freedom First
Roberta Stewart,
widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, shared her story about the Pentacle Quest lawsuit.
Now, you can see it online.
Please visit First Freedom First online and sign the petition!
http://www.firstfreedomfirst.org/ |
Secret Santa Program Cancelled
For several years, the Secret Santa program has served local low income Pagan children by fulfilling their wish lists as provided by parents. Children's anonymity is carefully protected. Wiccan, Heathen, and Pagan kids of all "flavors" qualify.
CUUPS-TwinCities has managed this project with the help of other area Pagans and UUs.
In 2007, we developed and tested software, so we could more efficiently serve more families; we developed interactive pages for Santas and parents. Grace from Higher Grounds in Stillwater identified both Santas and recipients in the east Metro area. Also in 2007, UMPA and COG co-sponsored the Secret Santa program with generous donations.
Through this project, dozens of local, low income Pagan children have had their Yuletide wishes fulfilled, and many adults have had the pleasure of being "possessed" by the Jolly Old Spirit of Santa!
The Board of CUUPS hoped to expand this program, and developed templates for organizing a larger scale project. We dreamed that Heathens, Wiccans, and other Pagans would build on what we did, referring needy Pagan families, becoming "Santas," and helping with distribution in December.
In 2008, the recession reduced the numbers of Santas and the number of children served. For 2009, the Board of CUUPS-TwinCities had hoped to move this program to a broader-based leadership which can expand the program to meet the growing need. Unfortunately, this did not develop.
We're proud of what we developed. If YOU would like to see Secret Santa in your community, and want a "template" to work from Click here for full Secret Santa details including links to interactive registration forms for parents of children AND for Santas.
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| Campaign for Coldwater National Park!
Who should own Coldwater Spring?
The Department of the Interior will soon decide what government agency will "own" Coldwater Spring and the surrounding land. Concerned citizens can advocate for who they would like to own the land. The Department of the Interior is close to releasing their ruling, so time is of the essence.
Who best can protect and preserve the Coldwater landscape?
At this time the National Park Service offers the strongest environmental and cultural protections, including federal recognition for Native Americans.
So Friends of Coldwater is asking for:
1) National Park Service ownership of a
2) 50-acre Coldwater Park featuring oak savanna re-vegetation
3) An urban wilderness designated as a Green Museum, a place where the land around this 10,000 year old spring is the museum.
Area Pagans including Susu Jeffreys support turning the site into a National Park, because that offers both recognition to Native Americans and best available environmental protections. When Susu and other Pagans met with the National Park Service officials, it seemed that the latter welcomed the proposal as well.
But time is short and the support of the public is critically important!
Please join the Friends of Coldwater in advocating for:
COLDWATER PARK: A 50-Acre Green Museum
If you agree, please email Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Department of the Interior at webteam@ios.doi.gov and let him know what you think about who owns Coldwater Spring.
Email is preferred, but you can call him at 202-208-7351
And please consider calling or copying your email to:
Congressman Keith Ellison
http://ellison.house.gov/ or 612-522-1212
Senator Amy Klobuchar
http://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/ or 612-727-5220
Friends of Coldwater is a Minnesota Non-Profit Organization h ttp://www.friendsofcoldwater.org |
| National Day of Prayer
The National Day of Prayer has been "highjacked" by Conservative Christian evangelical leaders -- mostly from "Focus on the Family" -- who operate a "task force" [http://www.ndptf.org/home/index.cfm?flash=1]. They run the bulk of NDP events, and exclude non-Christians from active participation.
"The National Day of Prayer Task Force was a creation of the National Prayer Committee for the expressed purpose of organizing and promoting prayer observances conforming to a Judeo-Christian system of values. People with other theological and philosophical views are, of course, free to organize and participate in activities that are consistent with their own beliefs. This diversity is what Congress intended when it designated the Day of Prayer, not that every faith and creed would be homogenized, but that all who sought to pray for this nation would be encouraged to do so in any way deemed appropriate. It is that broad invitation to the American people that led, in our case, to the creation of the Task Force and the Judeo-Christian principles on which it is based."
Sounds reasonable, right?
Can't the non-Christians throw their own party? The problem is that the NDPTF bills itself as the "official" site for the National Day of Prayer, and attacks any governor who won't support their efforts with an official proclamation.
In addition, Christian coordinators who attempt to throw an inclusive day of prayer [http://www.inclusiveprayerday.org/] under the NDPTF auspices are barred from running future events.
So JewsOnFirst is calling for citizens to lobby their governors to shun the NDPTF, and either not issue a proclamation, or issue an inclusive statement that doesn't empower such a narrow view of acceptable public prayer (or crib talking points from Focus on the Family).
"The National Day of Prayer has been hijacked! What began in 1952 as President Truman's declaration of a National Prayer Day for all Americans is now excluding and dividing us on religious lines. The "Task Force" excludes Jews, Muslims, Catholics and even mainline Christians from participation in the events it coordinates around the country. Many of those events are staged in government venues with elected officials, in a deliberate affront to the separation of church and state."
You can find contact information for your governor at
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Governors.shtml.
You can find a sample telephone script and sample letter and a listing of proclamations already issued on the
inclusive prayer day site http://www.inclusiveprayerday.org/sampleletter.html]
[What would happen if Pagans take part next year? Think of it!
May Poles EVERYWHERE!!!! cl, ed.]
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| Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance (UMPA) Sponsors Military Support Package Drive
for Pagans in Iraq, Afghanistan
There are hundreds of practicing Pagans in the armed services in Iraq
who can use our support. Earlier this summer UMPA shipped packages
weighing nine pounds each to five different groups and locations in the
Iraq war zone. And now we're ready to ship more!
Here's how you can be part of this drive:
* Bring requested items to the UMPA meeting for collection.
* Sponsor a package by donating any amount for postage or
additional items.
* Spread the word!
* If you cannot deliver to the meeting, contact any board member at
board@umpaganalliance.com
Don't miss your chance to participate!
Requested Items:
~Pentagrams (those enclosed in circles are safer in combat).
~Basic pagan books, books on candle magic, spell charm books.
~Any item for setting up a basic ritual/altar.
~Stones:
any type quartz crystal ~ obsidian points ~ hematite.
~Herbs: mugwort, white sage, sweet grass, mandrake,
five finger grass, heather, rue, high john root, sea salt.
~Incense and oils: dragons blood, frankincense, myrrh, red sandlewood,
high john, cedar, patchouli, elemental/directional oils.
~Candles: pillars, in jars, tapers wrapped, tea lites, magical colors.
~PERSONAL ITEMS: Toothpaste, Blank greeting cards, Prepaid phone cards,
Lip
balm, Toilet paper, Razors, Instant coffee, Gum, Breakfast bars, Instant
soup, mixes, Deodorant, Sunglasses.
Note: Donated items must be accompanied by $8.95 to cover postage costs. Thanks to the generosity of past givers this is NO LONGER REQUIRED. Yes, you can give SOME items without giving a complete "kit."
Please stick to donating items on the requested list. Items not on the
list may be refused at the discretion of the board.
Thank you for your generosity - let's show our Pagan brothers and
sisters how much we appreciate their sacrifice!
For more information about the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance,
go to www.umpaganalliance.com |
Contact Your Local Government:
Government MN & US legislators for YOUR zipcode
http://geo.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/districts/start.html
Learn about MN Bills
How to Contact MN State Representatives and Senators:
tp://ww3.house.leg.state.mn.us/members /hmem.asp
How to reach your State Senator or Representative at home:
you can look up their home phone numbers here:
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/ housemembers.asp
http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/ alphalist.shtml
Governor Tim Pawlenty
130 State Capitol St. Paul, MN 55155
Tim.Pawlenty@state.mn.us
governor@state.mn.us
651-296-3391
Atty. General
1400 NCL Tower 445 Minnesota St.,
St. Paul 55101 attorney.general@state.mn.us
651-296-3353
Find local government officials anywhere in Minnesota:
www.lwvmn.org/LocalLeagues
City Government:
ST. PAUL
Contact your Saint Paul City Council Member:
http://www.stpaul.gov/index.asp?nid=553
MINNEAPOLIS
Minneapolis Mayor Rybek
(612) 673-2100 or
call 311 or
call (612) 673-3000 outside Minneapolis
Contact the mayor's office:
http://www.ci.http://www.chttp://www.chttp://www.cihtt (http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/mayor/office/index.asp)
phone 612-673-2100
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
Contact your Minneapolis City Council Member:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/
Minneapolis City Council numbers:
Cam Gordon (612) 673-2202
Cell: (612) 296-0579
Cam.Gordon [Green Party]
Paul Ostrow (612) 673-2201
Diane Hofstede (612) 673-2203
Barbara Johnson Council President 612) 673-2204
Don Samuels (612) 673-2205
Robert Lilligren Council Vice President (612) 673-2206
Lisa Goodman (612) 673-2207
Elizabeth Glidden (612) 673-2208
Gary Schiff (612) 673-2209
Ralph Remington (612) 673-3940
Scott Benson (612) 673-2211
Sandy Colvin Roy (612) 673-2212
Betsy Hodges (612) 673-2213
More addresses and information about how to write letters to power are at
Write-On!
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Are you or your group making Pagan
News?
> public service?
> political action?
> interfaith participation?
> awards?
> articles or letters to the editor at general media outlets?
Do you know of news that especially impacts
the Pagan
community and/or Pagan values?
> violations of our religious freedom?
> environmental news?
> interfaith news?
> civil liberties news?
> First Nations (Native American) News?
Send these and other newsworthy items to the editor.
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Got a Project Idea?
Post it here, free!
If YOU'd like to work with other Pagans to bring some change into manifestation in the material world, this page is for YOU! Let's work together! |
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