Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Ardantane offering: Astrology series $60.

ASTROLOGY FOR PAGANS ONE
School of MAGICK AND WITCHCRAFT – Fee $60
March 4, 11, 18, 24, 2014; 9pm EST8pm CST7pm MST6pm PST
Barbara Millios, creator of the popular online column The Mystic Moonbeam

Astrology doesn’t have to be hard! If you are interested in the stars but daunted by the complicated terminology and math, this is the class for you!
Explore astrology from a down-to-Earth Pagan perspective, including your relationships with the planetary deities, becoming aware of the energy tides around you, and how to perform astrological divination. Evaluate your personality using your unique birth chart, and experience the night sky in a whole new way.

Prerequisite for Astrology for Pagans II, which starts on April 29.

See Ardantane.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Interns sought for Cauldron Farm in central Massachusetts.

Cauldron Farm
Location: Cauldron Farm, Hubbardston, MA
Website: cauldronfarm.com
Description: Nestled in the shadow of Mount Wachusett in central Massachusetts, Cauldron Farm is an organic pagan-owned farm and homestead on 18 acres of densely wooded swamp. We (Raven, Bella, Josh, Julie, Elizabeth, and various and sundry other visitors/family/animals) run this place on very little money and a whole lot of love and faith. We keep goats, sheep, chickens, and rabbits. We experiment with alternative energy; and host retreats. We are activists for the transgender and intersex communities. We do handcrafts of various kinds, and make pagan prayer beads. Cauldron Farm hosts several retreats every year for various groups. We have a large ritual field out back with a laid stone labyrinth, a large fire pit, and primitive camping for around 80. Cauldron Farm is the centerpoint of the First Kingdom Church of Asphodel, an eclectic neo-pagan group that holds regular open ceremonies and rituals in central Massachusetts. We also run Asphodel Press, a publishing collective for small-market pagan books and religious devotionals.
Applicants: Cauldron Farm welcomes interns to live on the farm, help with chores and handcrafts, facilitate retreats and rituals, and work for Asphodel Press. The only limitations are the Cauldron Farm House Rules, available on the Cauldron Farm website.
Application dates and deadlines: Available on a rolling basis. Application deadline open.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Call for Writers– Bringing Race to the Table: An Exploration of Racism in the Pagan Community

Email for inquiries and submissionsCrystal Blanton
Megalithica Books, an imprint of Immanion Press (Stafford, U.K./Portland, OR, U.S.A) is seeking submissions for the Bring Race to the Table: An Exploration of Racism in the Pagan Community.
This anthology explores the topic of Racism and how Racism shows up in the Pagan community, as well as what we can do to recognize it and proactively work to change it by being consciously aware of race and privilege and actively applying that awareness to the Pagan community. We also examine cultural appropriation and its role in racism, and how we can approach issues of culture with conscious awareness that leads to genuine cultural exchanges instead of appropriation.
The vision for this anthology is to include a combination of academic and personally inspired pieces that show the experiences of racism, and the study of racism.
Here are some suggested topics to give you an idea of the focus of this anthology:
  • Your experience of racism and how it has impacted your ability to integrate into the Pagan community
  • Cultural Appropriation versus Cultural Exchange
  • How to recognize and confront Racism in your spiritual community.
  • Being an ally within the Pagan community for people of color.
  • Intersectionality of privilege, or examples of this within the community.
  • Experiences of a lack of cultural empathy, or sensitivity within Pagan groups, and how that impacts safe place for ethnic minorities.
  • Understanding how symbolism within Paganism reinforces racism and separation of diversity within Pagan groups.
  • Is preserving the lineage of hereditary practices and/or cultures racist? When is it not racist and what defines inclusion or exclusion in such cases?
  • How white power gangs are trying to infiltrate the Pagan community?
  • Definitions, understanding or experiences of symbolic, adversive, or systemic racism within the Pagan community.
  • Stereotypes and prejudice and the impact on spiritual or magic workings.
    Being the only person of color in a coven, group or community
  • Being a person of color at a pagan convention (and how convention organizers can be more conscious of this).
  • How Racism harms the Pagan Community, and how it shows up in the Pagan Community
  • How, as a community and as individuals, can we increase awareness of potentially harmful racial dynamics and proactively work to engage positive change.
  • What is equity and how does it show up in the Pagan Community practically (what are examples of how equity has been or can be applied to the Pagan community)
Rough drafts are due March 15, 2014. These drafts will be edited in a back-and-forth process with the editors. Essays should be 1500-4000 words, although if your work falls outside those limits, do submit it – we can discuss this during the editing process. Drop us an email if you are unsure whether your idea fits into the content. The sooner you start the communication process the better, as after the deadline we won’t be considering additional ideas.
Essay requirements:
• Citations for all quoted, paraphrased, or otherwise unoriginal material
• Bibliography of works cited
• Prefer APA format
Write in your voice! If you’re academically inclined or trained, feel free to be as intelligent and technical as you like. If your work entirely talks in the first person about your own experience, please include this also. There is a wide range of voices, and we are interested in being as inclusive of style as possible.
Accepted contributors will receive a free copy of the anthology when it is published and additional copies sold at 40% off the cover price to contributors. All contributors will be provided with a contract upon final acceptance of their essays, not when they are accepted for editing. If your essay is not accepted for the anthology, we will tell you after the first round of edits.
The anthology will be edited by Crystal Blanton, Brandy Williams, and Taylor Ellwood. Crystal is the author of two books with Immanion press; Bridging the Gap; Working Within the Dynamics of Pagan Groups and Society, and Pain and Faith in a Wiccan World.  She is also the editor of the first anthology, Shades of Faith; Minority Voices in Paganism, and the forthcoming anthology, Shades of Ritual; Minority Voices in Practice. She may be found online at http://www.crystalblanton.org and her email address for this anthology is crystal@crystalblanton.com .
Brandy Williams is the author of Ecstatic Ritual (published by Immanion Press), Practical Magic for Beginners and The Woman Magician (published by Llewellyn) as well as the editor of Women’s Voices in Magic (published by Immanion Press). She may be found online at http://www.brandywilliams.org
Taylor Ellwood is the author of Pop Culture Magick, Magical Identity, and other books on magic. He is also the managing non-fiction editor of Immanion Press. He can be found online at http://www.magicalexperiments.com
Immanion Press is a small independent press based in the United Kingdom. Founded by author Storm Constantine, it expanded into occult nonfiction in 2004 with the publication of Taylor Ellwood’s Pop Culture Magick. Today, Immanion’s nonfiction line, under the Megalithica Books imprint, has a growing reputation for edgy, experimental texts on primarily intermediate and advanced pagan and occult topics. Find out more at http://www.immanion-press.com.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Parliament Invites Young Adults To Compete for Two UN Passes Now Open to Canada, Mexico, and U.S.A.

The Interfaith Young Adult Challenge will award two young adults selected the chance to serve as the 2014 Parliament of the World’s Religions Youth Delegates at the United Nations through the United Nations Department of Public Information NGO body. This contest is now open to all young adults living in the North America aged 18 through 24.  Applications must be received by February 12, 2014.
Last year's speech delivered to the United Nations General Assembly on the state of educational inequality around the world brought Malala Yousafzai even closer to the hearts of global citizens, as many youth in the world's most democratic nations were shaken to realize the urgent needs for revolutionizing change is in many different regions of the world. United Nations initiatives act to diminish the disparities which exist, and so we count on them to make real human rights status quo for all. While the Parliament steps into the NGO community at the United Nations, we are ready to share and expand this platform with these emerging young leaders of today who will live out the vision of a just, peaceful, and sustainable world.

But Malala is busy, so the Parliament is seeking brave and poised young adults to stand up for this vision with us. Parliament Delegates to the United Nations will be believers in the principles of a global ethic, who aspire to working across faith-based and secular lines to achieve positive social change.

The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions is a member-NGO of the United Nations Department of Public Information which represents over 1,500 NGOs at the United Nations. The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions retains access Read more...