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Plus Two Leads Worldwide, and a Nickel’s Worth of Free Advice.

We are pleased to have not one but two circles celebrating the Spring Equinox (called “Ostarra” by many Pagans). They are both indoors, and in the Rochester area that’s important this time of year! They are also both on this coming Saturday, March 20^th in the City of Rochester at Psychic’s Thyme 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm, and the second one, in Williamson, starts at 7:00, so, technically, if you really want to be a road warrior, MapQuest does say it’s precisely a 35 minute drive… not recommended, though.

Psychic’s Thyme Ostarra Celebration
Saturday, March 20, 2010: 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Psychic’s Thyme
439 Monroe Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607

The first one, which is within to the city of Rochester, is held at Psychic’s thyme (“Char’s Place!”) at 439 Monroe Avenue. While your friendly neighborhood clergy can not claim that either Rev. Adrian or I have worked with the high priest that’s scheduled to lead this ritual (Doug Gill), Char and her shop have stood as one of the pillars of the local Pagan community for a long time. Char herself is an out-loud-and-proud Pagan and active supporter of Second Chance Pet Rescue (Warning: her shop contains several kitties, all of which will want to be your friend!). When a shop is this public and active in the community, several folks need to come together for it to work. Even though it would be silly for us to clam to know every single person who has lead a ritual through Psychic’s Thyme, Char has always come across as very sober, reasonable, and knowledgeable in any of our dealings with her.

Details about the Psychic’s thyme Ostarra Celebration can be found by clicking here.

For more about Psychics Thyme, please click here.

Spark of Divinity Ostarra Celebration
Saturday, March 20, 2010: 7:00 pm
Meddy’s Musings
4122 Main St
Williamson, NY 14589

The second circle is at a lovely, cozy small-town church that had us at “hello,” and in spite of the half-hour drive from Rochester, both the Rev. Adrian and I have found that the Spark of Divinity Congregation in Williamson, NY is where we go when we need to just sit quietly in the audience and re-charge our own batteries. They hold a weekly Sunday service, open to all regardless of belief or practice, with healing and spiritual messaging as regular weekly elements (features?) in the service. While some seasoned Pagans will find mediumship yesterday’s news (many Witches claim it’s vital as part of the “advanced course” in Witchcraft), the less experienced Pagans may be in for a surprise or two, as both Jeff and Meddy, along with many members of their congregation, have this skill and are willing to share their “Gifts of Spirit,” and share their teaching and guidance with the willing. The shop, “Meddy’s Musings,” and the conjoined “Ushered Path Wellness Center,” will be celebrating their third anniversary earlier in the day from 11 am to 5 pm.

Even though the Sunday service is open, accepting, and very interfaith, I have no worries: these folks are very knowledgeable about all things Pagan/ Witchy/ Native/ magickal/ etc, and I have no doubt their Ostarra will rock the house just as hard as if all they ever practiced was Pagan.

For more about Meddy’s musings and the Spark of Divinity Congregation, please click here. Their calendar (which is full of great events!) can be found here.

Worldwide:

If you are not in the local area, there are several ways to find groups close to you. Witchvox has an exhaustive list, separated into what the group’s focus is, what type of group it is, and more, hopefully giving a better idea of what a new participant is likely to experience. The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) is a nation-wide umbrella group, dedicated to recognizing “Pagan paths as a valid expression of spirituality and a legitimate path to religious truth for individuals,” with all the clout of the (much larger) Unitarian Universalist Association to back it up.

Afterward:

When deciding if a new group is right for you, I would advise anybody to contact the group’s liason ahead of time, speak with them, and consider a first meeting or an “open” or “public” circle (such as one of those described above) while  maintaining an open mind.  This is a great way to get a better idea for the sort of group we’re talking about.  A look at the categories available on Witchvox reveals a dizzying array of choices, and each of them is perfectly valid for somebody. After all, somebody put the required time and energy into writing up that page, creating that entry, and flying it up the flagpole on a witchy website, risking flame-wars from a community that doesn’t suffer fools well.

With that understanding,  please do not feel intimidated into being silent and not asking questions! As long as those questions are presented in an open and respectful manner (preferably BEFORE or AFTER the circle, so as to cause minimal disruption), the high priestess or priest (HP) should have no difficulty answering “why we did it this way.”

Beliefs can be dearly held, precious things that we’re wiling to protect and defend with our lives, so please remember a little compassion can go a long way. Even if the best answer they can give is , “because the big, blue book said so,” that’s not necessarily wrong, but this is an indicator of the nature of the HP who will be leading these rituals, their level of experience within the Craft, and their thought process. Do you enjoy working this way, or would you prefer something else?

Many Pagans in my experience come to eventually work very deep, personal magic with their coven-mates, and this creates strong ties. These strong ties create lasting friendships, and we regularly hear our friends in various Pagan circles to refer to each other as “families,” using familial titles (such as “brother” or ”sister”) within the group. Can you see these folks becoming a sort of family over time? Do you “click” together, or do they annoy you?

Do not feel the need to “force it.” If you do not feel comfortable, welcome, or safe, there are plenty of other fish in the sea, and plenty of non-toxic groups!  Feel free to write to us if you have concerns or questions or concerns:

adrian@churchofancientpaths.com
tracie@churchofancientpaths.com

(Of course, spring has so much magic all on its own that our solitary practitioner friends will have plenty of energy to work with all by themselves… and they’ll swear this suits them just fine!)

Regardless of how or where you celebrate, Blessed Ostarra!

Julie Balavia is a great gal to have on your side.  A genuine, in-the-blood strega* (how often have you seen one of them?)  she is an incredibly talented psychic.  I’m willing to place betting-man’s odds the true believers will be impressed and the hardened skeptics will come away shaking their heads and puzzling over how exactly “she does it.”  Simply put, she’s the genuine article: a ruby shining in the modern world’s pile of gravel.

So, why is the Reverend writing about a psychic?  Psychics are a lot like psychiatrists, bartenders, and undertakers: when times are bad, they see a lot of business.

The economy has hit some rough times, and it seems to be on everybody’s mind: from Mr. President during his State of the Union to the neighborhood gossip. At the time of writing this, the latest jobless figures quoted are 1 in 10, but this does not take into account those who have been unemployed so long they have exhausted unemployment, or taken what they could to survive but are “under employed,” meaning they are not really using the full range of skills (ie: a lawyer washing dishes to get by, for example.)

The following interview with Julie by a local Rochester, NY based news team is re-printed for not-for-profit educational purposes only (and with the hope of providing some comfort and hope to the concerned.)

News 8 Reports:
Psychics see Boom in Tough Economy
Reported by: Matt Molloy
Wednesday, Jan 14, 2009
@09:35pm EST

Julie Baliva is a psychic medium with more than 40 years of experience. In this recession she says clients are more focused on finances than anything else.

“It’s not necessarily are they losing their jobs, they’re all terrified they are going to lose it,” said Baliva. So they come to her for guidance. “I try to tell people don’t be the person who waits until the job is over and it’s the end. Let’s take some action first and get you right into a job somewhere so there is not down time or time for you to worry about things,” said Baliva.

“My business has always been prosperous. Unfortunately, it’s busier when there are times of crisis. It’s simply the way it works,” said Baliva.

Jason Klaum has been a client for the past year. His focus most recently, “Success, my job, how well I’m going to do in the future,” said Klaum.

Klaum hopes future visits won’t focus so much on finances.

“I think if the economy’s better, everybody’s lives improve a little bit more and the outlook might be better as far as what I might find out,” he said.

In the meantime a shaky economy means more concerned customers for psychics like Baliva.

“I give people the faith in knowing that this is going to be very short term. That this isn’t something you need to go into a major panic,” she said.

***************************************

*Strega:  The word is simply Italian for “female witch” (male is “Stregone,” plural, “Stregharia.”). This ancient form of Italian witchcraft has been passed for generations through family lines, and I have often heard it is inherited through blood lines, and, unlike other systems of magic, can not simply be taught, despite several attempts to popularize and mass-market it.  Charles Godfrey Leland, an American folklorist from Philadelphia, took an interest in this, claimed to have found a genuine strega, and, in 1899, with Christian bias firmly in hand, wrote Aradia, Gospel of the Witches (available for free to read in its entirety here).  This began popularizing a mythic image of the Stregharia as devil worshiping sex-fiends or curse-casting crones lobing the malocchio at all who crossed their path. Whether her account was true or whether she was having a bit of fun at Leland’s expense is a mystery kept by the Stregharia alone.   I chose this link as it appears closer to  realistic, but can not fully endorse anything.  After all, I am not a Strega. (Julie is a much better resource!)

11/5/2009 4:04:38 PM

The New York state senate is expected to vote on the marriage equality bill shortly. I just contacted my New York state senator through the Human Rights Campaign. They’ve made it quick and easy to send a personal message to legislators. With all that has taken place in Albany, now more than ever state senators need to hear from you and other New Yorkers who support marriage equality.

This issue is very important to me, and taking action will only take a moment. Please join me in writing to your state senator today.
To take action on this issue, click on the link below:
https://secure3.convio.net/hrc/site/Advocacy?s_oo=Hw9JcUIg4Rhh8WmzzmBm9Q..&id=619
If the text above does not appear as a link or it wraps across multiple lines, then copy and paste it into the address area of your browser.

We are conducting an international survey of contemporary Pagans. If you are a Pagan we would appreciate your taking the time to complete this survey.

This survey builds on an earlier one completed over twenty years ago, primarily in the United States, which was conducted by Helen A. Berger and Andras Arthen (of the EarthSpirit Community) entitled the Pagan Census. At the time it was hoped that we could do a census of the entire Pagan population. Although that was not possible the data that was collected was the largest of it type and served as the basis of a book, Voices from the Pagan Census by Helen A. Berger (with Evan Leach and Leigh S. Shaffer). The survey data is now available on line at Murray Research Archive at Harvard University.

A number of scholars have noted that it would be helpful to have a follow-up of that survey to see if and how the community has changed or remained the same. The survey that follows uses many, although not all of the same questions that were in the original survey to provide that comparison. There are also new questions, for instance about the Internet, something that was of little interest 20 years ago but is now, and some from other studies, that again permit a comparison. This has resulted in the survey being somewhat long–we appreciate your taking the time to complete it.

We realize that the categories found in questionnaires like this one frequently do not do justice to the complexities of real life. For this reason, a number of open-ended items have been included that allow for more nuanced responses. You are also welcome to contact Helen A. Berger directly at HBerger@wcupa.edu

Please inform other Pagans about this research project and feel free to pass it along via e-mail or to post a link on appropriate blogs or websites.

Thanks for your help.

Helen A. Berger
James R. Lewis
Henrik Bogdan

(To get to the Survey, please click here.)

“There’s a Natural Mystic blowin’ through the air…”

-Bob Marley

Elsewhere, I have highly praised Christine Wicker’s Not in Kansas Anymore.  (I just found the whole book is available in e-book format here.)  I have stated that it should be in every hotel room in America, right next to the Gideon Bible.  I meant it.  I still do.

The following excerpt is offered as a wake-up call for anybody who has ever been suckered in by the power-hungry and fear mongering who try to tell us that “

America was founded as a Christian Country, on Wholesome Family Values!!”

America might have been “Christian” on paper, but for over 80% of her people, that’s where it ended.  Historic evidence shows that the real america was much more tolerant, broad-minded, and, yes, magical than we were ever taught in school.  When viewed in the grander context of American history, this current trend of Evangelical Fervor may become just a backwater eddy in the much larger tide of Religious History in

America .

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Greetings, Friends and Family!

This coming weekend, I propose a new “meeting place” for the annual business meeting.  This is one we haven’t tried before, but I believe it’s worth a try, given the short notice and the high cost of travel.  I propose a meeting in “Cyber Space.”  I have set up a new board on the forums for Church Business, and would encourage EACH of you to bring up any questions, suggestions, ideas and thoughts over the course of the next week.  If you go to http://www.churchofancientpaths.org, the LAST forum listed on the “Forums” page is “Church Business.”  Start threads, respond to threads, post ideas, get some discussion going.

Throughout the week, the Managing Director and I will do our best to be available on IM as much as possible.  I would encourage the other members of the board and clergy to do the same.   During the day, Rob and I are restricted to AOL IM (as caliginos and ladyportia, respectively).  However, AOL IM is available for free to download off of AOL’s site, and I would encourage each of you to create an account, if only to provide greater accessibility to our congregants.  In the evening, we can access Yahoo IM from home.  Regardless, email works around the clock, and the forums are an ideal way to share ideas.

My hope is that the board and clergy will work together to parse through the information and suggestions in order to find a shared vision that serves The Greatest Good.  If there is no contact, no posts, no emails, no nothing, it’ll be assumed that we all gave this our best shot, but the Church’s time has passed.  The site will be taken down, and any of our clergy who choose to maintain the title “reverend” will have to find another entity to back that title or cease using that title. 

We have options and possibilities.  There are great things w can do if we work together, but there needs to be interest in order for that to happen.  Please log onto the website, go to the forums, and make your voice heard.  I believe in you, and I believe in us.

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While I am still trying to figure out how over 1,000 posts about porn (somehow focusing on Christina Aguilera having Lesbian sex, of all things) ended up flooding the forums.  Yes, my mistake for setting these things so that “everybody” can post.  Yes, you now need to be a registered user, if only so that we’ll know you’re a human being.

 

I suppose, as internet catastrophes go, this really isn’t so bad.  We could have gotten trolls, flame-wars, or even death threats.  By comparison, 1000+ offers to see porn isn’t so bad…

 

But, still, it’s annoying.

 

Creating an account here shouldn’t be all that difficult, but if there’s problems, please feel free to contact the reverend at tracie@churchofanicientpaths.org or our managing director at rob@churchofancientpaths.org.

 

I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but, hopefully, it will be less inconvenient than sifting through thousands of offers for free porn.  As the author Rita Mae Brown famously said, “Lead me not into temptation, I can find the way myself.”

 

Love, Light, and Laughter,

 

Rev. Tracie Voss

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