The Wild Hunt
Pagan Community Notes is a companion to my usual Pagan News of Note series, more focused on news originating from within the Pagan community. I want to reinforce the idea that what happens to and within our organizations, groups, and events is news, and news-worthy. My hope is that more individuals, especially those working within Pagan organizations, get into the habit of sharing their news with the world. So lets get started!
A Pagan Library Opens in Washington DC: PNC-Washington DC reports on the Open Hearth Foundation community center’s launch of the OHF Pagan Library this past Saturday. PNC reporter Maria Aquila notes that this was “the culmination of over 10 years of effort of fundraising, collecting and organizing books, and safely storing them until a physical space could manifest.”
“Since signing a lease for the space in October 2011, volunteers have logged over 1,500 hours organizing the collection, as well as preparing the physical space–painting, moving furniture, assembling shelves, and installing lighting. “None of this would have been possible without a dedicated group of volunteers who carried boxes, built shelves, sorted, searched, catalogued, numbered and shelved thousands of books,” OHF Library Trustee and Library Volunteer Coordinator, Aderyn Benvenga. […] “We have designed the OHF Library according to professional principles and best practices for a community library with full searching capability available online,” said OHF Librarian, Eric (Fritter) Riley.”
You can peruse the collection at: library.openhearth.org. It should also be noted that in addition to the local PNC bureau’s coverage of the event, the new library was also reported on by the Lez Get Real blog. Congratulations to the Open Hearth Foundation on this amazing milestone!
Northern Dawn Local Council Discusses Its Future: At PNC-Minnesota, Nels Linde reports on a recent town hall meeting to discuss the possible closure of the Northern Dawn local council of the Covenant of the Goddess (NorDCOG). The Covenant of the Goddess, formed in 1975, is a consensus-based religious legal umbrella organization for Wiccans and Witches that has engaged in important work for the rights of modern Pagans. Regional councils, like Northern Dawn, are how many people engage with and interact with the organization. Formed in 1982, NorDCOG serves Minnesota and Wisconsin, and has a long history of putting on public rituals and acting as a contact for local media and law enforcement. However, lately, the council has been moribund with several unfilled positions, leading to its current uncertain future.
The immediate cause for the meeting was the lack of participation that has become a crisis in functioning as an organization. Several board positions are unfilled, including a ritual officer, so no public rituals have been planned. Meetings have been unable to meet quorum standards, and this has prevented NorDCOG to conduct business or consider active solutions to be considered and enacted, including possible changes to the bylaws. As a local of the national organization, mandates of operation are also in place that may pose a conflict in some considered changes within the organization. […] Tim, NorDCOG first officer, offered this summation of the meeting, “We had a wonderful meeting with members of the community who came together to help Northern Dawn figure out what we need to do to survive and remain viable in the future. I think it was wonderful that we had so many diverse people show up tonight. We will be working on scheduling a followup meeting ”
In a closing commentary, Linde offers two scenarios for survival, the council can modify its bylaws and work at becoming more inclusive, or break away from COG entirely and reform as a general-purpose Pagan organization for the region. Looking at recent conversations at their Facebook group, it seems like both options have their proponents. COG is a vibrant organization that is doing important work in the Pagan community, and beyond, and it could be seen as a step backward for the national body if they were to lose a local council in what is commonly considered a thriving hub of Midwestern Paganism. What happens next is uncertain, though another meeting is scheduled for the Summer to discuss proposals. Stay tuned to PNC-Minnesota for future developments.
Z. Budapest Wants “Theft” of “We All Come From The Goddess” to Stop: Dianic elder Z. Budapest has issued a statement calling for an end to alternate versions and unlicensed recordings of her chant “We All Come From The Goddess,” saying that, quote, “It is my intellectual property. it is NOT a folk song, which by the way is the fate of many composers whose songs are stolen.” Budapest further stated that to “steal my song from now will have consequences. You put men into the song, like God, a hex will be activated.”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5Y73oMcS7w
“Theft is theft. I cannot be everywhere, but i have experienced women making up new words,attaching it to my song that NEEDS NO attachments. Have you ever heard a man writing a song about the gods, and then put females in it?? Never. So stop you generosity attacks with my songs, write an original .Men who had Mozart and Schubert amongst them,surely will come up with their own songs . Women like to give away and include but please do it with your own intellectual property. I wrote that song for the Goddess worshipping women. Its gone around the globe. I don’t mind you singing it, only selling it and not giving me credit. Its a sacred song, and i will protect it! Speak up when you hear this song abused, and write to me. Blesssed be!”
When asked for clarification, Budapest said that she “wanted the song to be OUT there and reach everybody. The Goddess includes all of us. Just don’t try to ad on ‘god’ stuff.” So I assume she means alternate versions like “We All Come From the Horned God” that have been created over the years. Does this “hex” also include “Hoof and Horn,” a chant often intertwined with “We All Come From the Goddess”? Certainly it is her right to assert copyright and demand fair credit, though I wonder if the toothpaste can be pushed back in the tube when it comes to variants and performances of them in the Pagan community.
Other Community Notes:
- Scholar and Patheos columnist P. Sufenas Virius Lupus has launched his own online, correspondence-based school, Academia Antinoi: The Academy of Antinous. Subjects include Antinous and Antinoan Spirituality, Queer youth spirituality, understanding syncretism, and reconstructionism as methodology. The first term starts May 21st. Lupus says that he’s “pretty happy with the reception thus far,” and he “may have at least two students for the first term” already lined up. Congratulations to P. Sufenas Virius Lupus on the new endeavor!
- Ben Hoshour, who writes The Pagan Perspective, and is also employed by Cherry Hill Seminary, continues his journey through articles that appeared in The Pomegranate, the international journal of Pagan Studies, with Margarian Bridger’s “Pagan Deism: Three Views.”
- There’s a new Pagan magazine in town, Modern Witch Magazine, edited by Devin Hunter and Rowan Pendragon of the Modern Witch Podcast. The first issue is out now, and available for purchase. Congratulations to Devin, Rowan, and all the contributors, good luck and much success on this new initiative!
That’s all I have for now, have a great day!
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