Pagan Media Links: Oregon Vortex Edition

I’m out of town today, attending a doctor’s appointment in Ashland, Oregon, so I don’t have the time to do my usual exploration and analysis of news of interest to the Pagan community. Instead, I’d like to offer some links from across the Pagan media world that have drawn my attention. So enjoy, I’m hoping to hit the Oregon vortex on my way home!

• Here at Patheos, columnist Eric Scott looks at the Missouri Public Prayer Amendment noting that “this language could invalidate any hope of standards or accountability in education—much less hope that education will foster maturity or intellectual curiosity.” You may also be interested in the Friendly Atheist’s take on the proposed amendment.
• Neoshaman Kelley Harrell, author of “Gift of the Dreamtime,” writes at HuffPo about being both a Pagan and a shamanic practitioner, and how outsider perceptions of one shape the other. “For many of these clients the idea that I’m Pagan is softened by knowing that I’m a shaman, as if that role somehow makes the truth of my spiritual path somehow more approachable.”
• My friend Cosette Paneque contributes a guest editorial to PNC-Florida about food, and her different experiences eating in America and Australia. “As individuals, we could be making better food choices and exercising more, but we don’t live in a vacuum. What is hurting us most is living in a society that does not value good food and healthy living. It values profits.”
• Another editorial, this time from Nels Linde at PNC-Minnesota, explores the theme “Dawning of a New Day” in relation to the Pagan community. “If being a Pagan is an excuse for anything, for personal failings, for being unable to serve others, for acting in destructive ways, well then I can’t call it part of being Pagan. Excuses are just self-realization and change waiting to happen, not part of my spiritual path, not Pagan.”
• P. Sufenas Virus Lupus has a column up discussing the virtue of being a good fellow traveler, and at his own blog muses about the recent transit of Venus (T. Thorn Coyle also has a Venus-transit-themed post up as well).
• The Greek magazine PHENOMENA recently featured an interview with the Pagan archaeologist Caroline Tully, which she’s been good enough to reprint at her blog. “In the early 2000s I became aware of the academic study of Paganism and found it so interesting that I had to make an effort to educate myself (by going back to university) so I could participate in this international scholarly scene. I guess my primary interest in that regard is in “Reception Studies”, specifically the reception of the ancient world by modern Pagans.”
• At the Daughters of Eve blog, Pythia Theocritos explores Pagan finance and supporting the Pagan community. “Anyone who tells you that money and religion don’t mix is either blind, naive, or some combination of the two.”
• The Witches & Pagans Magazine site reprints their interview with Llewellyn Worldwide head Carl Weschcke, who talks about his history, the Pagan community, and the business of selling books.
• Finally, if you haven’t seen it already, Boing Boing looks at five novels and their occult inspirations. “…the reader is not just playing “let’s pretend” but learning some insights into reality that are potentially life-changing.”

That’s all I have for now, have a great day, I’ll be back tomorrow.