“Why are some pagans saying Paganism is not a religion? For the Pagans who identify as Witches, is there any liminality left to them? Is the Goddess an oppressive concept, if gender is not binary, as science suggests? What’s the role of mystery in an information age? Pagans in 2011 engage with these issues, consciously or unconsciously; tonight’s speaker surveys the main areas of contention and challenge within Paganism today.”

This lecture was recorded at Treadwell’s on Thursday, July 28th. You can download the audio file of the entire talk, here. I’d like to thank Dr. Harrington for sharing her knowledge and expertise with my audience. If you are ever in London, few places surpass Treadwell’s for events and lectures appealing to modern Pagans and occultists, so do look them up.

Pagan Japan Relief Project a Success: As of this writing, the Peter Dybing-initiated drive to raise money from within the Pagan community for Doctors Without Borders’ work in Japan has raised nearly $10,000 in three days. Here’s a message from Dybing about the drive that was posted yesterday.

“Pagans from all over the country have donated and stepped forward to endorse the project. We received donations from individuals as well as organizations. To all those who stepped forward THANK YOU. We still have been unable to generate significant numbers of small donations. It continues to be the goal of this project to engage the entire Pagan community in a unified effort. If you are concerned that you do not have the funds to donate consider just a few dollars. Each of us can only do so much in these tough economic times. What is important is participation not the donation amount.”

The Pagan Japan Relief Project is working towards a goal of $30,000, and it looks like this target may be reached sooner than anticipated. Major figures within modern Paganism like Selena Fox, Thorn Coyle, and Starhawk have already been spreading the word on Facebook, and Peter Dybing says that statements from well known Pagans about this effort will published today. This is a hugely positive cooperative effort, one that we can all take pride in. So continue to spread the word, and be sure to read about the work Doctors Without Borders is doing on the ground in Japan.

You can find all The Wild Hunt’s coverage on this issue, here.

ADDENDUM: Please see this update on the Pagan Japan Relief Project from PNC-Minnesota.

More Pagan Voices From Madison: Nels Linde at PNC-Minnesota has posted more interviews with Pagans taking part in protests against anti-union initiatives enacted by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and state Republican lawmakers.

“I’m a teacher and I’m here because I am very passionate about what is wrong with our democracy today. I am a Druid, I have been practicing for about 12 years now, with a group out of the Twin cities. It is very powerful to be here today because the energy is just so intense. There is so much pride and hope. People are coming together, it brings tears. I have already signed my petition to recall my Senator, Sheila Harsdorf, and also for Walker. I am involved in some local community protests, next in Hudson on the bridge, Sunday. I have been through all the emotions, you know, shock, anger, and despair. I’ve cried. You start with one group and target, demonize them and once they are taken out, there is another group. Most Walker supporters do not like non-Christians, so it is very, very scary.”

Nels has been doing amazing and essential work covering Pagan involvement in these protests, and I urge everyone to head over to PNC-Minnesota and catch up on his reports. Here’s his installment on Saturday’s events. More is promised on Thursday.

You can find The Wild Hunt’s previous coverage on this issue, here.

Checking In With Treadwell’s: In a final note, the Guardian interviews Christina Oakley Harrington, proprietor of the well-regarded esoteric bookstore Treadwell’s, about her shop and the unique spirit of London that makes its success possible.

“London is a place for unusual people who need to find other unusual people. Cities are where misfits always go. If you can’t manage in the village with the curtain-twitchers – if you can’t live like that because you’re gay, or you’re massively artistic, or because you have to talk to angels and demons and spirits … Where else are you going to go to find others who might be like you? You go to London. Could Treadwell’s exist anywhere outside of London? No.”

Treadwell’s recently moved to a larger space, the very building where Mary Wollestonecraft wrote Vindication of the Rights of Women. Congratulations to Christina and Treadwell’s on their continued good press!

That’s all I have time for at the moment, have a great day!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYjI6m3g3bM

Back in 2007 I did a blog post on the store where I said (somewhat hopefully) that Treadwell’s raises the standards for future occult-oriented shops. I only wish there was a shop like this near me! When you’re done with that video, you might also want to check out OddcultTV’s other interviews, including one with the Keeper of the Stones at Avebury.

A customer inside Treadwell’s Bookshop.

“Although you’ll find the usual magical bric-a-brac there … what sets Treadwell’s apart from other occult shops is that, since it opened in 2003, it’s become a centre where people from different backgrounds with an interest in paganism and related subjects can meet and exchange ideas … Regulars at Treadwell’s are as apt to be working on a doctorate as they are on a solstice ritual, or invoking a thesis subject as much as a guardian angel. The nucleus of this pagan salon, which draws in skeptical professors and devout practitioners alike, is Treadwell’s guiding spirit, Christina Oakley Harrington.”

I’m particularly fond of the mission statement for Treadwell’s given by Harrington.

“To provide a place for people who have a spiritual, or occult, or pagan interest, but who don’t want to thrown their brain out the door. A place that can link the pagan and occult world to the world of literature, art, and philosophy. To the thinking world.”

That sure sounds like a place I would enjoy frequenting, too bad it’s on a different continent. But the existence of this new store (opened in 2003) leads us to perhaps hope that expectations and standards are starting to change by those wanting to open occult/Pagan book stores. When most of the mass-market books on magic and Paganism can be easily found at Borders or online, stores catering directly to the Pagan/occult market need to raise the bar and provide something different and more in-depth.

If I simply wanted to buy the latest Llewellyn releases I know I could go to any major book chain and find (or order) them, but it takes a special sort of store to stock the autobiography of Patricia Crowther or a history of British Magick after Crowley. I can only hope this article is an omen for the future, and not an isolated bright spark.
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