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From: "M. Macha NightMare"
Subject: TIME-SENSITIVE: Lady Liberty Chant
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 13:44:58 -0700

Here is a chant (audio: http://sfbayareapaganpride.org/2002/ritual_2002.htm) to Lady Liberty written by Vibra Willow for San Francisco Pagan Pride Day in 2002.  It¹s simple and easy to learn.  Patrick would like to include it in the DC rally so has asked me to circulate it to those of you who will likely attend, and others around the country.  We offer it in the hope that others will use it for any Independence Day workings they may be doing.


Forward as you will.  Pardon cross-postings.

Peace, Justice, Liberty,
Macha

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lady Freedom Among Us

don't lower your eyes
or stare straight ahead to where
you think you ought to be going

don't mutter oh no
not another one
get a job  fly a kite
go bury a bone

with her old-fashioned sandals
with her leaden skirts
with her stained cheeks and whiskers and heaped up trinkets
she has risen among us in blunt reproach

she has fitted her hair under a hand-me-down cap
and spruced it up with feathers and stars
slung over her shoulder she bears
the rainbowed layers of charity and murmurs
all of you even the least of you

don't cross to the other side of the square
don't think another item to fit on a tourist's agenda

consider her drenched gaze   her shining brow
she who has brought mercy back into the streets
and will not retire politely to the potter's field

having assumed the thick skin of this town
its gritted exhaust its sunscorch and blear
she rests in her weathered plumage
bigboned resolute

don't think you can forget her
don't even try
she's not going to budge

no choice but to grant her space
crown her with sky
for she is one of the many
and she is each of us

by Rita Dove, 1993

"Minnesota's most famous fraud" -- the Kensington Rune Stone appears to be a genuine, XIVth century artifact, linked to the Knights Templar, who were under persecution at the time it was made.  See World News page.

     


Networking among Festival organizers to make Pagan Festivals safe communities for all. When a sexual predator is banned from one Pagan Festival, now there is a way for other Festival organizers to be forwarned.


email:
       wasp_hasp@yahoo.com

 

Pagans working together Make Gains around the World
Lowell McFarland lowell@optonline.net

We are pleased at all of the reports of Pagan unity and public activities, in the US and Canada as well as Europe.

Selena Fox/Circle Sanctuary, has indicated that they had erected a burning log Solstice display on public property (officially sanctioned)  in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, amongst other religious displays, and gave official talks about the importance of the Solstice. Additionally, they just concluded a successful fundraising effort and now are upgrading their computers. Congratulations to Circle Sanctuary for showing that Pagan Solstice displays can be permitted on public property (with the correct planning) and that Pagans, like all other non-Pagan religious folks, are willing to donate money to Pagan causes.

Besides the work of WCER, the Pagan Federation in Europe indicated that they added Italy last year and hope to add Turkey soon - the first official Pagan group in a Muslim nation. Their magazine, "Wiccan Rede", has now been continuously published for twenty-five years. Pagan Pride is growing under great work and I saw an Italian article where Pagan Pride was celebrated in Italy last year.
 

© 3/15/05 Khrysso Heart LeFey
Used with permission.

I attended a UU seminary to find out how they
do it. Part of it is the selection process, of
course.  But a large factor is the covenant
among the UU clergy and the fact that UU
congregations belong to the membership and
not to the clergy.

Your thoughts on this subject are most
welcome. Please send them for publication to the Editor.

For more on the Headstone campaign, see Military and Paganism Page.

Conference on Contemporary Pagan Studies
Making a place for ourselves: 
Contemporary Pagan Studies and current theory:  A Call for Papers

Friday, Nov. 1, 2004
San Antonio, Texas, USA.

We are currently inviting papers for the first Conference on Contemporary Pagan Studies. 
Submissions are invited from researchers in all areas of academia.

CCPS seeks to bring together academics focusing  Contemporary Pagan Studies for an 
interdisciplinary examination of the field. We hope to focus on current work which can be understood 
within the context of its geographic, temporal and theoretical position.

This year we will be changing around the organization of the day. This will hopefully allows us more 
time for papers to be presented, as well as allowing for more discussion of each paper.

The schedule will be set up to allow for 6 papers. Each presenter will have 20 minutes to present
 their paper, then 10 minutes for questions.

http://paganstudies.org/confs/ccps/call.htm

Death Threats from Killers of Pagan's Parrot; Police investigate
By Christa Landon

According to an August 17, 2004  UPI story, police in Great Falls, S.C., investigated the killing of a Wiccan high priestess' parrot, which was beheaded and whose heart was cut out. A note had been attached saying, "You're next!"

Darla Wynn said, "I was frantic looking for his little head, and later I did find his heart."  "They want me to leave this town. I feel so responsible for this. I shouldn't have gone out to dinner."

But this wasn't the first case of vandalism perpetrated against Wynn. Police acknowledge that least eleven have been reported to police; none of which has resulted in an arrest, although  Falls Police Chief Mike Revels claims an investigation was continuing. About a dozen pagans attended the Great Falls Town Council meeting Monday to show their support for Darla Wynne.

UPI reported that Wynne, a Wiccan successfully sued Great Falls in 2001 for invoking Jesus Christ in council prayers. Federal courts ruled the prayers were unconstitutional and town officials, with the support of the state attorney general, have appealed the case.

source:  http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040817-040247-4231r.htm

A National Gathering For Intensive Pagan Leadership Skills Training
By Shea Thomas

Join us for the 2004 Pagan Leadership Skills Conference! Bringing together Pagans from across the country, the Pagan Leadership Skills Conference (PLSC) is a four-day gathering for networking, resource sharing, and intensive "nuts and bolts" training in the skills needed to create, maintain, and strengthen local Pagan initiatives.

An outgrowth of the Mid-Atlantic Pagan Leadership Conference series, the PLSC curriculum is based on guidance provided at these previous landmark gatherings and will offer solid instruction in community-critical topics such as event coordination, group facilitation, legal formation, library development, and financial management.

Open to everyone, the PLSC is one of the first events of its kind especially tailored for individuals 
starting (or already working with) a Pagan group. We encourage you to consider sending your board members, trustees, inner councils, and leaders to this important intensive in community organizing and community development.

With registration, each attendee will receive a discount on admission to the Saturday night gala, a 
spot at the opening and closing ceremonies, beverage service Thursday and Sunday, a continental breakfast Friday and Saturday, a catered lunch Friday and Saturday, and up to 15 hours of instruction in the topic of his/her choice.

Please make arrangements to attend soon as only two weeks remain to take advantage of the advance registration rates! Conference attendance fees are $125 until May 30 ($110 each for groups of 5 or more), $145 between May 31 and June 30 ($140 each for groups of 5 or more), and $155 after June 30 ($150 each for groups of 5 or more).

A joint endeavor of four different nonprofit organizations, the PLSC is sponsored by Carolina Spirit 
Quest, The DC Radical Faeries, The Open Hearth Foundation, Inc. and PagaNet, Inc. For more about the PLSC, as well as additional information about how you can help this important project, please visit us at: http://www.paganleadership.org

Lady Donna Cole Schultz completes a lifetime of service to the Gods

By Christa Heiden Landon

Donna Cole Schultz died on March 31, 2004. She was one of the very earliest Gardnerian Wiccans in the U.S and founded a Gardnerian coven in the 60's.  She was initiated and ordained by an HP and HPS who were themselves initiated and ordained by Gerald Gardner. Nonetheless, she dispensed with many original Gardnerian customs as inappropriate for Americans, including scourging and sexual acts and nudity in rituals.  With Herman Enderle she helped to organize the Pagan Way movement in the 60's and 70's, and wrote THE BOOK OF PAGAN  RITUALS, a Pagan Way Dedicant and First Degree notebook, published without their permission by Weiser. Her best known  student was Amber K, very early in Amber's career.  In fact, Donna's lineage probably comprised MOST Wiccans and Neo-Pagans in the Chicago Metro area well into the '80's.
                
I met Donna in 1970, when she and Herman Enderle were teaching together at Temple of the Pagan Way, and received 3 degrees of initiation from them and ordination from her. She was an earthy, intelligent, and powerful woman, sought after by physicians -- especially neurologists -- for  healing their more difficult patients.  When many others decried my seeking advanced degrees and attending the Unitarian Universalist seminary, she encouraged me.   That was when I learned that Donna herself had been a Unitarian at one time.

Donna was a founding member of the Midwest Pagan Council, which held some of the earliest regional festivals in the '70's. She also was a founder of the Chicago area COG council c. 1980.
              &n Professionally, Donna was a professor of clinical social work at the Jane Addamsial Work at the University of Illinois.

Hearthfire Guild

If you knit, crochet, or quilt and would like to use those skills to help someone, you'll be pleased to know that a Pagan organization now exists to facilitate that goal. The Hearthfire Guild is defined on their website as "a grassroots network of pagans, heathens, and polytheists who knit and crochet clothing items and toys for charity."

http://www.hearthfireguild.org/

Hellenic society funds course at University of NH
Friday, November 14, 2003

The Hellenic Society Paideia of New Hampshire has taken a major step to enhance the Hellenic studies at the University of New Hampshire. The Board of Directors of Paideia of NH has voted to provide the necessary funds to the University of New Hampshire for the development and teaching of a new course on women, gender and family studies in the ancient Greek world. Paideia of N.H. will also cover the cost of library acquisitions to create a solid core of materials for the course for use by the faculty and students. The course will be part of the UNH Classics Program and will be offered in the spring 2004 semester.

The University has selected Dr. Anna Newman to develop and teach the new course. Newman, who is
also the Presbytera at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox church in Dover, is a popular classicist at UNH
and has taught several other courses there, including "Greek Authors in Translation" and "Latin Authors in Translation."

On Nov. 18, 2003, Newman delivered a public introductory lecture of the new course, "Women in Antiquity," which concentrates on the lives of women in ancient Greece. There will be an overview of the life of women from the Bronze Age up to the Classical period. The lecture will discuss different aspects of life, such as religion, law, daily life, and the view of women seen in literature.

There are no annual dues for membership in the Hellenic Society. Membership is open to anyone who is at least 18 years of age without regard to race, ethnic origin, color or religious beliefs, and who is interested in and supportive of the purposes, principles, programs, and policies of the Hellenic Society Paideia of New  Hampshire. To be considered for membership or to be put on their mailing list for upcoming events, dances, or lectures, send your name, address, phone number and e-mail address to: Hellenic Society "Paideia" of New Hampshire, 25 Rogers St., Dover, NH 03820, or e-mail this information to PaideiaNH@comcast.net .

The Society does, however, accept donations for support of its programs. The Society is organized
exclusively for one or more purposes as specified in Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, and, as such, all donations to the Society are exempt from taxes. Anyone wishing to donate to
the Society may send a contribution to the address indicated above.

For information, visit www.home.comcast.net/~paideianh. 
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Accessed Nov. 17, 2003 at 
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/dover/d11_14g.htm

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