Community Notes; January 23-29

These Community Notes are created from the information gathered for the Twin Cities Pagans Yahoo group calendar, the most extensive Pagan community calendar in the nation. You can check it out and be in the know at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TwinCitiesPagans/

Star of the North Tarot Conference is less than two weeks away. It’s pretty exciting that there’s going to be a new local tarot conference. Learn more and register at http://www.tctarotcollective.com/

Paganicon is less than two months away, March 16-18. This Twin Cities based Pagan Conference was astounding last year, and looking even better this year. Learn more at http://tcpaganpride.org/paganicon/ and register at http://paganicon.eventbrite.com/

John Michael Greer is returning to the Twin Cities for a weekend intensive at the Eye of Horus next weekend. Greer was last year’s honored guest at Paganicon, and was so loved that the Eye of Horus is bringing him back. http://shop.eyeofhorus.biz/Ceremonial-Magic-for-Pagans-p/cls-jmg1.htm

There was a really good article in the PNC this week about a local student who was supported by her school when she wore a pentacle necklace. A substitute teacher told her to tuck it in, and the substitute was immediately reprimanded. It’s so nice to see when the system actually works. You can read about this at https://pncminnesota.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/quick-response-by-local-school-over-pagan-necklace/

There’s going to be a new metaphysical store in Brainerd, MN. Ancestral Paths, is targeted to open on March 1st, 2012, at 207 South 7th st. Brainerd, MN. It’s a bit outside the Twin Cities, but we definitely wish them well.

About eight years ago I created a thing called the Pagan Daily Calendar, which attempted to find the Pagan celebrations linked with different days, because every day there is cause for celebration. This required researching the holidays to find out how they were practiced. I would find a description of a tradition, but then further research would reveal that it was only practiced that way in one particular village. Eventually it became clear that Paganism is really about the practices of communities. To understand Pagans, you have to understand the communities in which they practice. Every day, this community has wonderful ways in which it celebrates its Paganism. This is a great community for Pagans.

PNC – MN Sunday Cartoon

Cartoon by Shea Thomas at Noland-Comics

Quick response by local school over Pagan necklace

A St. Paul Public School substitute teacher was disciplined after asking a Pagan elementary student to tuck her pentacle necklace into her shirt, a request not made to other students wearing religious necklaces.

Grace wearing her necklace

Tasha-Rose Mirick’s daughter, Grace, is a 4th grader at Galtier Magnet School in St. Paul.   Ms. Mirick says Grace proudly wears a pentacle necklace every day as a sign of her inner held beliefs, much like a Christian wears a cross or crucifix.  Grace says the necklace has a special meaning to her in addition to it being an outward sign of her faith, “I told my friends a story about a Goddess and my mom heard me thought I was ready for the necklace.  I was old enough to wear a sign of my faith.  I was so excited that I was jumping around.  It means a lot to me.”

She had worn the necklace to school everyday since the start of the school year.  It wasn’t until she had a substitute teacher that Grace  experienced any problems,  “After lunch we went back to our room and our substitute teacher said I needed to put my necklace in my shirt.” Grace says she complied, but asked the teacher why she needed to do this.  She says he told her, “because things like that should be kept to yourself.”  Other children in the class had necklaces on, some of them with religious symbols, yet no request was made of them that they hide their necklace.  Grace continued to keep her necklace hidden but was upset at being singled out.  When she got home, she talked to her mother.

Mirick says she contacted Deborah McCain, Principal of Galtier, and the Minnesota Dept of Human Rights.  Mirick said that Principal McCain took fast action, “She let me know that the substitute teacher will not be teaching at Galtier any longer and the likelihood exists that he will no longer be teaching in the St. Paul Public Schools.”   McCain also gave Grace’s mom the phone number for the districts ombudsman to contact for followup.  “This was same day action,” Mirick said, “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Grace and her mother feel good about the prompt action taken by the school to guarantee equal treatment of all students.  Mirick feels this could have been a misunderstanding or something that could have been corrected with education.  Likewise, Grace said, “I feel bad for him that he has a bad record, but I feel my principal did the right thing and showed that she really cares about us.”

Editor’s note:  Tasha-Rose Mirick is a contributor at PNC-Minnesota

PNC-Minnesota joins SOPA and PIPA Blackout

Reddit announced they would blackout their site on January 18th to protest House Bill SOPA and the Senate version PIPA.  SOPA and PIPA were created to combat online piracy, but in actuality bring the high price of sweeping censorship to the internet.  (More information on both Bills are at the end of this announcement)

Instead of the normal glorious, user-curated chaos of reddit, we will be displaying a simple message about how the PIPA/SOPA legislation would shut down sites like reddit, link to resources to learn more, and suggest ways to take action.

PNC-Minnesota, along with our sister bureaus PNC-Texas, PNC Bay Area, Capital Witch  joins Reddit and hundreds of other websites in the blackout.  We oppose SOPA and PIPA  for the same reason Craigslist opposes both Bills:

Corporate supporters of HR3261 (SOPA) and S968 (PIPA) want the ability to take down any web site that affects their profits — without due process or judicial oversight — in the name of combating “online piracy.” Hoping you won’t notice or care, your Public Servants are preparing to give them that right.

Noted author and teacher T Thorn Coyle has announced her intent to join in the blackout:  “My website will go dark this Wednesday in solidarity with all of those trying to get the attention of US Congress before the Jan 24th vote.(Let’s fight SOPA and NDAA and Social Inequality too! Let’s stand for the world we wish to create, while we’re at it!)”

Public opposition to both Bills has already started to turn the tide against SOPA and PIPA.  The House has agreed to shelve SOPA until greater consensus is achieved.  Some Senators have started to oppose or drop support for PIPA.  However, it’s not over.  SOPA can be picked up again at any time and PIPA is moving forward in the Senate.  If you would like to join in the blackout, here are a few suggestions:

Pagan and Poly – A Single Mom – Last in an Interview Series

Michelle is a busy single mom. She has a ten-year old daughter, and two adult sons, one of whom lives with her.

How long have you known you are poly?
I ended a marriage about five years ago. After that I just knew marriage wasn’t going to work for me. I didn’t know what to call it until someone told my what poyamorous was. When I was dating  after my divorce, it just seemed silly to have to make a decision about who I wanted to have a romantic relationship with. Why did I have to do a choosing? If everyone was agreeable why couldn’t we have more than one relationship?

What was the discussion like when you talked about polyamory?
I had tried dating a few times but  the first time I clicked with anyone he lived about 70 minutes away. We decided to try an ‘open’  relationship, because of the distance. He was presuming we each might have a ‘casual’ encounter now and then, but not an additional ongoing romantic relationship. I didn’t know what polyamory was, or have any definitions. It was a little more difficult to adjust to when I found an additional romantic relationship, because of our casual definitions.  I had to find my own way, negotiating into polyamory. He got over it. In the other relationship, he was polyamorous, and knew how it worked. For him it was , “Yup, that’s great!” He is a lot closer, he only lives a few miles away.

Community Notes; January 16-22

The monthly Druid Gathering at Merlin’s Rest pub is in need of a new host. Until they find a new host, the gathering has been suspended. So, if you’re a druid, and you want an excuse to hang out at Merlin’s Rest once a month, post your intentions at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grovegather/

There’s a Valentines Day giveaway for tarot lovers: http://amethysttarot.com/valentines-day-giveaway/#

It’s only 2 weeks until the triumphant return of John Michael Greer. http://shop.eyeofhorus.biz/Ceremonial-Magic-for-Pagans-p/cls-jmg1.htm

PNC Sunday Cartoon

Cartoon by Shea Thomas at Noland-Comics

Pagan and Poly – Beyond a Marriage – An Interview Series

photo: frugivoremag.com

Jimmy and Michelle have known they were poly since their marriage, they have been in a blended family with a child together, and each having a child from a past relationship. Until recently, they have lived with their poly partners together as a family of seven. They have just decided to get a divorce.

How long have you known you are poly?

Michelle (M) : We started talking about it seven years ago when we got married, but we didn’t go into it right away. We decided to open up our marriage around October of 2006, five and a half years ago, when Jimmy was deployed to Iraq.

Jimmy (J) : From the beginning we thought of ourselves as poly. We went to one “swingers party” and looked at each other and said, “This is not for us.”

M :     The reason we did open up our marriage, when Jimmy went to Baghdad, was we believed that we could love other people, and still love each other. Neither one of us believed that love needed to be limited, right off, from the beginning. I wanted Jimmy to have any comfort and solace in Baghdad any way he could get it. If there was someone he found over there,  I told him to please take it. He told me he wanted me to have the same thing, solace and comfort, while he was gone. We knew that being with other people didn’t change how we felt about each other. Love is infinite and not limited by how many people you love.

We have had poly partners in the past  who have been single, had kids, and also who had other relationships. At one time we were in an extended long distance relationship where they also saw each other,  so essentially a quad.

Open Table UCC offers mental health support to GLBTQA of all faiths

Priscilla’s Place meets every Saturday from 1-2:30 pm at the Living Table United Church of Christ. 4001 38th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55406. All faiths and non-faiths welcome.

The GLBTQA (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Allied)  community has witnessed its share of devastation from suicides, with the organization Soul Force reporting that queer-identified youth are three times more likely to commit suicide than their peers. While the National Institute for Mental Health  collects no data on the specifics of GLBT and mental health as a population of study, the data published on suicide statistics states, “Homosexuality has also been shown to be correlated with suicide attempts among youth.” The Institute does not mention collection of data for older GLBT adults.

Last year, the Living Table United Church of Christ (formerly known as Spirit of the Lakes UCC) lost one of its own members to suicide. Kimberia Sherva, a peer counselor for the church’s mental health support group, says that in response to this loss, Pastor James Pennington enlisted the aid of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Minnesota (NAMI-MN)  to establish a peer support group at his church. With the help of two volunteer peer counselors, one of them the Pagan-identified Sherva, the group now runs every Saturday from 1-2:30 pm in the church basement.

The group, called “Priscilla’s Place,” has a small core membership, with occasional drop-in attendees. “They talk, we listen, offer support and suggestions, and try and let them know they’re not alone,” says Sherva.

Sherva elaborates on her role in the support group, “As a member of the GLBTQA community myself, and as someone who has a mental illness, I understand where our group members come from. I am going to school to be a therapist one day, and the training I’ve received from NAMI-MN and the ongoing group facilitating I do has been priceless. I am not a therapist for the group. This is a peer run group whose facilitators went through training through NAMI-MN.”

The group supports people of any religious identification. “The Living Table is a welcoming community and it is a non-denominational church. In its services, it often refers to God/Goddess. I have told Reverend [Pennington] that I am more comfortable with the mention of the Goddess and he has put it into his services more. I find that comforting and welcoming. People of all faiths (or even non-faiths) are welcome at the church. [Priscilla’s Place] itself is not based upon any religious credo. The members can range from Christian to Pagan to atheist to agnostic and anything in between. The most important thing is that we are here to support others who are living with a mental illness (or illnesses) and who are GLBTQA,” says Sherva.

Pagan and Poly – A Poly Couple, and Friends – an Interview Series

I talked with Iacchus and Delta about their long-term polyamorous experience and relationship. They are former members of the Church of  All Worlds, and Iacchus is an ordained Priest in that tradition. Delta is an ordained Priestess of SweetWood Temenos.

How long have you been poly?

Delta (D) :    That is complicated. About 1990, we realized before our marriage, that we were poly. Both of us had considered polyamory before we even had met each other.
Iacchus (I):      I was into the Horned God at that point.
D:     We were both into open relationships, so we did it consciously.

Are you legally married?
D:    We are married.
I :    We celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary on new years eve.

What has your poly experience been like?
D:    I wouldn’t say we have had a large number of relationships. We now have a circle of five, three others besides us two, as active lovers.
I:    We have a ‘condom compact’ with those three as active lovers.
D:    We have had everything from short-term relationships to a few flings once in a while. We have ground rules within our relationship, so we ask each other first. We  make sure we let each other know what is going on all the time.
I:    Early on we spent a lot of time  ‘cocooning’  with each other. We are really into our relationship, and still are. We talk about what we are comfortable with. In most of the cases, when we bring someone in, we have spent a lot of time talking.
D:    We were functionally monogamous for about three years, not that it was a conscious choice, that is just how it was.