Claremont Pagan Studies Conference - III

Peter Dybing gave Sunday's keynote speech, "Stirring the Cauldron of Pagan Sensibilities."  A worthy pursuit to my mind.  In an animated talk, Peter emphasized that Paganism was not a monolithic institution.  He also spoke of the need for boundaries, avoiding what he called "the 2 a.m. crisis."  During feedback, I reminded folks that one of the required courses for degree-seeking students at Cherry Hill Seminary is Boundaries & Ethics.  I took the proto-class from Cat Chapin-Bishop back around 2000 and found it one of the most valuable classes I've ever taken.

He itemized several issues and then compared the attitudes about them of older Pagans and to those of younger generations.  He said that older Pagans generally held tightly to beliefs whereas younger ones welcomed debate.  I think this is true of any social phenomenon when it achieves some years; however, I don't think it's universal.  I count many Pagans, myself among them, as being open-minded, adaptable, and willing to engage on current issues, far from being hidebound.

It was helpful for me to hear, even though it's obvious, that we bring with us the cultural attitudes of our times.  I know that the feminism that underlies my being, religious and otherwise, has informed my views and practices.  I know that my experience pre-Second Wave Feminism is very unlike the experience of women who, for instance, grew up in a world where reproductive choice is a given.  And that's just on one issue.  I know that the zeitgeist of my formative years differs from the zeitgeist of subsequent generations.  Sometimes hearing something stated clearly from another person gives the fact a more crystalline ring.  Thank you, Peter.

There was a contention Peter made with which I disagree.  He showed photos of about six prominent Pagans and said how important it was to respect them.  (I think 'respect' was the verb he used.)  In any case, the sentiment was that we should excuse bad behavior among Pagans who've had a strong positive impact for many seekers.  (Peter, I welcome clarification of this if I've misunderstood.)  Respect cannot be forced.  There are some I simply cannot respect.  That doesn't mean I'm gonna run out and trash them all over the place.  I see no benefit to anyone.  On the other hand, if a sincere question comes my way concerning some incident or behavior and I have personal experience of the party(ies) involved, then I can't in good conscience ignore what I consider damaging, or potentially damaging, conduct and turn my back to the querent.  My answer may be oblique and avoid specifics, but it will not whitewash.  That said, such problematic individuals are thankfully rare.

We live in a culture of celebrity.  None of us, including Pagan leaders, is immune to its allure.  So it's understandable (1) that people might have a tendency to hero-worship those they perceive as Pagan celebrities, and (2) that prominent Pagans might succumb to the glamor of being 'celebrated.'

Indeed, it behooves us to show our appreciation for the gifts of our more visible and activist Pagans, be they artists, musicians, writers, or whatever, and to treat them with respect.  At the same time, I believe everyone is accountable to her or his community (whoever that may be and however that is defined).  With leadership goes responsibility. 

For all of my high-mindedness from up here on my horse, I cannot say what any individual has to learn from another.  Teachers and teachings sometimes come in unlikely packages.

Remember, though, young and haler Pagans, to notice if some greying person near you might need a chair, would welcome a place at the front of a long food line, or could use a hand with that luggage.

* * * * *

The final session consisted of four presenters: Sam Webster on "Pagan Soteriology," Tony Mierzwicki on "Pagan Warriors Past and Present," Amber Dineén Gray "On Racism, Misogyny, and Homophobia in Pagan Reconstructionist Communities," and Helen Hye-Sook Hwang on "Field Research of Collecting the Oral Stories of Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea, and Uncovering Her Magoist Implications."

Having a concern for the well-being of returning military veterans,1 I found Tony's presentation especially interesting.  Again, my notes are fragmented, but I jotted down "betrayal of those in power," "guilt for surviving," and "alienation on return," all of which are common among the battle-worn.   Tony claimed that the key to avoiding PTSD is to adhere to a strict moral code.  He explained that it's the custom among warriors to say prayers in unison and to pour libations before entering battle.

Tony's sources reveal that there are approximately 20,000 Pagans in the U.S. Armed Forces.  I know from reading and from hearing from service members that chaplains often lead prayers with those about to enter combat, and also that there is pressure put upon all military to accept some form of Christianity.  Their mission is evangelic.  The job of chaplains is to serve the spiritual needs of all their clients regardless of their religions.  Unfortunately, that's more the stated expectation than the reality.  The largest portion of military chaplains in today's forces are Southern Baptist who have a goal of bringing people to their way of thinking about Jesus Christ.  (This latter imbalance I have learned from my interfaith involvement.)  I don't think I need to say how dangerous it is to enter battle, and how critical it is to feel the bond with one's unit that means everyone has everyone else's back.  Because of this imbalance, as a priestess, I'm open to opportunities to help military Pagans feel more supported.

Tony described two military traditions from the ancient world2 that seem more humane to me than what I know of more modern practices.  He said that the defeated side in a battle was allowed to collect its dead, and that the shrines of the defeated side were not defaced or destroyed.

I'm grateful to Tony for giving me a better understanding of the religious dimension of ancient warrior culture.

Others have reported on Amber Dineén Gray's unsettling experiences with racism, misogyny and homophobia in a reconstructed tradition.  I concur with them that she was brave to share her knowledge, and I hope we were able to reassure her that her experience is not typical of most Pagans.  In a way, what Amber encountered relates to the Pagan fundamentalism of which Dr. Magliocco had spoken the previous day. 

~~~~~~~~~~
1.  See "Beyond Memorial Day: Understanding the Hidden Wounds of War," an interfaith event in which Don Frew and I were the only Pagan participants.

2.  I'm not sure exactly which ancient world, although I suspect Mediterranean, because Tony had way too many written words on Power Point slides for us to get all the juicy information offered.  Several presenters in addition to Tony had to skip over interesting work due to time constraints on each presentation.

Claremont Pagan Studies Conference - II

Day Two, Session Five, was a panel on Bringing Pagan Sensibilities into Classroom Pedagogy, and featured Zayn Kassam, Jennifer Rycenga, and Dorothea Kahena Viale. 

Jennifer Rycenga's talk, "Richard Jeffries and F.C. Happold: The Presumption of Nature's Naïveté," introduced us to the work of English nature writer and mystic Richard Jeffries.  She quoted some beautiful passages of his soul's awakening from The Story of My Heart. available online at Project Gutenberg.

Dorothea Kahena Viale described her current teaching innovations at Cal Poly-Pomona using art, movement, and rhythm in "Drumming, Dancing, Masks and Circles in the Academic Classroom"

The next panel was on the Pagan History Project, an idea that arose out of last year's conference.  Armando Marino (Murtagh anDoile) initiated this project, and he and I have discussed it in interim -- I did not attend the conference last year -- with a plan to join our resources for the enrichment of the effort.  Tagh emerges from NECTW in New England while I emerged only a few years later on the West Coast.

In Tagh's talk, "Reconsidering Magic and Witchcraft in America Before Gardner: Grandmother Stories Reconsidered, or 'Don't Throw out the Baby with the Bathwater," he spoke of the emergence of Craft in the 1950s, its flowering in the 1960s; how groups adopted such things as working in circles, watchtowers, and a divine dyad to give themselves some sort of legitimacy; and how they became progressively more secretive.  The people he spoke of were Lady Gwynne/Gwen Thompson (Phyllis Healey, d. 1986), her grandmother Ariana Porter, and the influences of Spiritualist Emma Hardinge Britten, folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland, anthropologist Margaret Murray, James George Frazer, and Aleister Crowley.  He cites the appearance of The Rede after Doreen Valiente in 1964, and also the research of Robert Mathiesen.

Sabina introduced each speaker and moderated this panel.  When it came time for my presentation, "Elders and Oldsters, Ancestors and Teachers," she gave such a glowing introduction I was stunned and surprised, especially by the applause the followed, even before I spoke.  This provided me the perfect opportunity to preface my talk by telling why and how I happened to be there that weekend.  I said I'd been invited by some of the organizers, and helped in the effort to get there, because, as they told me, they sympathized with how rootless I'd been feeling since cutting myself off from my long-time community and they wanted me to know that they, too, were one of my communities, and that they appreciated and loved me.  I was deeply touched.  You can see why this weekend was restorative and healing for me.

Sam Webster followed with "Theurgy and the Ancient Origins of Today's Pagan Religion," in which he spoke of Iamblicus, Agrippa, and the Golden Dawn; theurgy = possession, channeling, drawing down, aspecting, from the Chaldean Oracles; anagogy = ascending into "the one"; solar worship = ascending into the light); and photogogia = bathing in the light.

With all of these presentations, information I wanted to note was coming fast and furious, thus what I was able to capture is frustratingly limited.  Also, many presenters had more slides in their Power Points that time allowed, so they were forced to omit stuff and they rushed the slides along faster than note-taking could accommodate.

Part III to follow shortly.

Claremont Pagan Studies Conference - I

I join the chorus of voices reporting on the general wonderfulness of the 9th Annual Claremont Pagan Studies Conference.1  I found the overall quality of presentations exceptionally high, as they were the last time I attended two years ago.

I arrived Friday night after a long solo drive from the SF Bay Area to Los Angeles, through rain and the hairy Grapevine Canyon through the Tehachapi Mountains, stressed and with intense pain between my shoulders.  Cranky, in other words.  Soon Lauren cheered me up.

Saturday morning's first session consisted of four speakers.  Joseph Nichter, an Iraq war veteran, spoke of using Tarot in healing PTSD.  I loved his ideas about what he calls "peripheral exploration," wherein the querent draws a single card, places it on a larger sheet of paper, and draws a scene that embeds the image in the card in a larger picture.

Others have written about Sabina Magliocco's keynote speech on Saturday on "The Rise of Pagan Fundamentalism."  I will only add a few notions I jotted down.  She spoke of the fact that foundational narratives foster group cohesion, and the core experiences are those common to all people of all religions.  She pointed out that the reconstructed traditions are growing faster than witchen traditions, and that their practitioners tends to disdain syncretism.  The fact is that those very ancient traditions "recons" seek to reconstruct were themselves syncretic.

During Q&A, I told a story about an encounter I had at Reclaiming's Dandelion Gathering this past August.

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

On the first morning at Dandelion there was nothing on my agenda, so I asked if I could sit in and listen to the discussions of the WitchCamp teachers.  Conversation turned to the subject of new ideas for teaching, at which point I asked if I could offer a suggestion.

I told of my experiences in different places around the country where there was a Reclaiming community of some kind that I'd been told did not socialize or collaborate or in any other way interact with other local Pagans.  How most (some would insist all) Reclaiming communities are very insular.  This comports with my experience locally as well, although here there are some exceptions for such things as the Berkeley Pagan Festival.  I recommended they consider reaching out to other Pagans in their areas, that this very likely would result in some cross-fertilization that could bring some fresh perspectives to their teachings.

Now if you know me at all, you know that networking seems to be hardwired in my makeup.  I cannot help myself when I see connections I see as having potential for enrichment, even collaboration.  So I have spent more than thirty years helping to foster Pagan solidarity.2  Suggesting this to Reclaiming WitchCamp teachers arose from my nature.

Later in the lunch line, one of these teachers told me that what I had described as exclusivity or maintaining an exclusionary attitude (often experienced, even within Reclaiming groups themselves, as cliquishness) was not really exclusivity.  She said they were "fundamentalists."  Huh?  This really took me aback.

In reply, I asked "Don't you have to have a doctrine or credo or some kind of orthodoxy to which to adhere before you can call yourself a fundamentalist?"  By this time we had reached the food and the conversation was dropped.  Still, I was nonplussed.  This conversation also plays in to my August disaffiliation from the trad.

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

When I related this at Claremont, the room erupted in laughter.  Sabina and I concluded this little interchange by clarifying that in this case, "fundamentalism" really meant "we're so cool and special."

Among the speakers after lunch, Alfred Surenyan discussed "New Directions in Pagan Music."  He spoke about different musical forms in which Pagans were writing and performing Pagan-themed music, beginning with rap.  He differentiated rap from hip hop, explaining that rap came from Africa and it had to do with rapping rhythmically with a stick.  Examples given were Belgian Mani De Bard and Canadian Dano Hammer.

He listed several compositions in classical modes by Seamus Gagné, including "Cantata for Beltain."  This cantata, with strings and chorus, was performed once, in 1990, on Vashon Island, Washington, for CoG's MerryMeet.  It was recorded at the time, but somehow in the intervening years the recording has been lost or destroyed.  I was present at that performance.  As I recall, the lyrics of the cantata seemed to be based on Lady Sheba.  Although I enjoyed the cantata and thought it well-performed, and I am disappointed the recording is no more, I think of Beltain as a time of wild abandon, a state this musical form does not allow expression.  I love the idea of Pagan-inspired cantatas; I would like to hear others for other soberer sabbats.

Alfred also Spoke of the "Missa Druidica," by Joseph C. Nemeth (Theman the Bard) performed by the Orpheus Pagan Chamber Choir in Denver. 

The Missa Druidica is inspired by "the great sung Catholic masses of the 18th and 19th centuries, combined with the beautiful modern Druidic liturgies of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD) of England."

To Alfred's investigation of Pagan composers and performers I suggested the "A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual," by Julie Middleton and S. Morgan-Appel, which has been performed in Philadelphia and other venues; and Pagan hip hop artist Slippery Elm from Vancouver.  

I have the greatest appreciation for these many new artists who are helping to make and shape Pagan culture.

Jeffrey Albaugh's presentation, entitled "As Above, So Below: Pagan Theology, Polytheistic Psychology, and Pagan Praxis," concluded with the creation of this pentacle.

Session Four, the final session on Saturday, was a panel discussion on Community Engagement through the Lens of a Pagan-Buddhist Perspective.  First to speak was Francesca Howell.  I was delighted to finally meet Francesca in person, since we have been online friends for some years, in the context of Pagan Studies.  During much of that time she lived in Italy; now she's back in the U.S.  Her talk was "Sense of Place and Community: An International Pagan Perspective."

Lauren Raine spoke on "Numina: Sacred Places and Pagan Pilgrimage."  You can get a sense of her presentation here. 

The day concluded with Marie Cartier's "Stories from the Yoga Mat," followed by a brief, much-needed yoga stretching.

A too-big gang of us moved to a too-busy and very noisy restaurant nearby to talk further.  I wanted to take this opportunity, while I was in Southern California and we were both in the same venue, to chat with Tagh about the Pagan History Project he's proposed.  We both think I have a lot to bring to the project.  More as things unfold.

That's it for day one, folks.

~~~~~~~~~
1.  I have used the term Claremont Pagan Studies Conference because that's the name by which I first knew it.  Over the past few years the name has morphed -- Claremont Conference on Contemporary American Studies, Claremont Conference on Current Pagan Studies, and similar.  Since the only kind of Pagan studies there is is current, or contemporary, I've omitted the reference to time.

2.  My friend Oak has labeled my role as "ambassador," and I think she has a point.

Witches, Black Panthers & Sufis

Interfaith at Samhaintide

Marin Interfaith Council has been offering monthly interfaith contemplative services for peace.  The October gathering, at Sausalito Presbyterian Church, was to feature Pagan religions (specifically "Wiccan") in honor of the season of Samhain.  I had committed to conducting this hour-long service; however, I was also selected to be a Deputy Inspector at the polls and the mandatory training for that job was scheduled for the same evening.  So I asked my friend Gwion Raven, who had helped me at the Thanksgiving Eve service for the homeless (and their supporters) last year, if he would do it.  I had planned on two readings, which I suggested he use.  He did use them, plus taught some chants that the group did together.  In reflecting on his experience, Gwion said, "It really affected me...I had never experienced being recognized as a Pagan and been so warmly welcomed in a Christian church.  [Attendees showed] genuine curiosity." I thank Gwion for his work.

The following day, when I attended MIC's clergy luncheon, three people, including Paul Mowry, the new pastor at Sausalito Presbyterian, who had been to the contemplative service told me how much they enjoyed it.  I was glad to hear that and glad to relay that feedback to Gwion.

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

Interfaith as Matrix for Social Justice

The topic of discussion at the luncheon, held in the new Hannah Project1 Gallery space at Marin City,2 where we sat amidst an exhibit of photographs and other ephemera called "Architects, Activists, and Avengers: The Black Panther Party 1968, and featuring photographs by Pirkle Jones and his wife and collaborator, Ruth-Marion Baruch, was "The Role of Religious Communities in Movement Making."

I shared a table with two friends from Green Gulch Zen Center and Chris Highland, while we listened to three speakers.  Sister Colleen McDermott, Ph.D., told us of her study of the Highlander Center in Tennessee.

Founded in 1932 during the Great Depression in Tennessee as the Highlander Folk School, it began with programs to help rural women and organized different groups working for social justice and workers' rights. Among its founders and prominent participants were Myles Horton and his wife, née Zilphia Mae Johnson, Jane Wilburn Sapp, and Septima Poinsette Clark.  In the '30s and '40s the institute helped organize miners and textile mill workers.

In the 1950s Highlander taught desegregation and citizenship workshops with such participants as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Ralph Abernathy, and organized voter registration efforts. The ubiquitous movement song "We Shall Overcome" comes from Highlander, which has always included music and the arts in its programming.  SNCC (Student Nonviolent Organizing Committee) has roots at Highlander.

During the 1960s and '70s Highlander refocussed on Appalachia, organized protests against toxic dumping, and more recently it has featured LGBT programs, multilingual programs for organizing immigrants (Pueblos de Latinoamerica Justice School), and post-Katrina relief.

Sister Colleen pointed out that religious organizations such as churches have the institutional structure that's an important underpinning of efforts at social change.  Institutions grant the authority to speak up and engage.  Myles Horton's early seminary studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York informed his dedication to organizing for social justice.

This is one of my arguments for having Pagans establish institutions such as Cherry Hill Seminary.

Pastor Johnathan Logan, Sr., from Cornerstone Church of God in Christ in Marin City, spoke of his church's mission, quoted in part below:

Glorifies God by its standards of holiness, righteousness, and obedience to His Word. Demonstrates Christ's command to love one another. ... Worship God in spirit and truth recognizing that Jesus is Head of the Church  Recognize its interdependence with other members within the body of Christ which [sic] may not be of the same denominational affiliation. ...  Fulfills Christ's command to evangelize the world.

Third to speak was Pastor Veronica Goines of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, a "historical multicultural congregation" also in Marin City.

I found the speakers demonstrated an inordinate underlying assumption of an Abrahamic religious viewpoint.  For instance, the name of Martin Luther King, Jr. was invoked frequently, yet no mention was made of such figures as Malcolm X and others in the Black Muslim movement that also arose from those fertile and changing times.  Neither was there acknowledgement of the African diaspora religions that also gained adherents since those transformative years of the '60s and early '70s.

Now I understand that Marin's population is predominantly white.  And I know that this program was not intended to reflect every change to have arisen from religious communities in the those times.  Further, local branches of the Black Muslim church have either dissipated or fallen into corruption.3

I wanted to mention this as I, a polytheist, sat there with my non-deist friends amidst the assumption of monotheism, but I couldn't come up with a constructive way to comment.  Having said all this, I will say I enjoyed the program; I learned a lot that I hadn't known before and may never have been exposed to otherwise.  The speakers provided insights and provoked further reflections.  It was worth every minute.

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

Visionary Marin

In a busy two weeks for MIC, we concluded with the annual Visionary Marin Awards Ceremony, this year honoring Dr. Nahid Angha.  Musicians played while people sampled delicious food prepared by the sisters of Brahma Kumaris and from Green Gulch Farm and elsewhere, and bid on an array of silent auction items as well as buying raffle tickets for several beautiful gift baskets.  A slide show of photos of religious activities by the member congregations of MIC demonstrated the rich variety of our membership.  I was pleased to see some photos of Pagans dancing round a Maypole that I had taken.

Among the many accomplishments that led MIC to give Nahid this year's Visionary Marin award is her  founding of the International Association of Sufism and Sufi Women Organization  , "an international humanitarian organization promoting universal human rights."

We learned more about Nahid from a Q&A session done with the Rev. Charles Gibbs, Executive Director of the United Religions Initiative.

Everyone left feeling that their culinary, intellectual, and community appetites had been satisfied.  Plus we met our fundraising goal for the year.  Kudos to the Rev. Carol Hovis and her assistant, Allison Kirk, and the many volunteers who worked with them to make this event a success.


~~~~~~~~~~

1.  The Hannah Project assists African-American and other low-income students ages 8-22 and their families in efforts to boost academic performance and college graduation rates.

2. Marin City, begun with housing designed by the late Frank Lloyd Wright for the many workers who migrated here during World War II to work on the Liberty ships in the Sausalito shipyards. It is now home to the largest African-American community in the county.  Coincidentally, the famed architect's final commission was our Marin County Civic Center.

3.  See Your Black Muslim Bakery and murder of journalist Chauncey Bailey.

Bastardizing Expressions of the Sacred

Should there be some kind of censure or penalty for someone who massacres art?  Am I the only one who considers such an act sacrilegious?

When an artist puts heart and soul into creating a meaningful work of beauty, is that not a sacred act?

If someone went into a museum and painted mustaches over all of Vermeer's faces, Dégas' ballerinas, Rosa Bonheur's horses, what do you think would happen?  If someone tagged the Pietà, what do you think would happen?  

I ask because I have just witnessed this being done with some of what I consider to be our most beautiful Pagan songs.  The music director (using the term loosely) over-produced and “popified” these songs, altering the phrasing, and even presuming to change the melody in places, all done with off-key and weak solos, an out-of-sync chorus, and appalling synthetic keyboard masking as a piano.  To me, these changes were done in service of ego, not to enhance the listener’s experience.

Does this not disrespect the efforts of the artist?  Does it not disrespect the creative inspiration from the muses?  Does this serve to honor the memory of our ancestors and beloved dead?  Is such “reworking” worthy of our gods? 

I think not.  What say you?

My Five Dandelion Gatherings

As part of the process of explaining my recent painful decision to leave my religious community of 30+ years, I offer my experiences of the five Dandelion Gatherings[1] I attended over the past ten years.  The first four are here; the most recent DG, held near Portland, OR, deserves a post of its own.

I don’t know who first proposed doing an all-Reclaiming convocation (perhaps too formal a term for a more casual event).  I suspect it arose from within the WitchCamp[2] or teacher discussion lists.  Dandelion Gathering[3] is an all-Reclaiming gathering especially for the far-flung folks who identify with Reclaiming Tradition Witchcraft but open to all.  Regardless of whose idea it was, it was the intrepid Witches of Tejas Web who convened the first one in Texas hill country 2004.

Prior to the institution of Dandelion Gatherings, I had found a comfortable place for myself on the periphery of Reclaiming.  I actively worked in the Covenant of the Goddess (CoG), the oldest and largest organization of Witches of many denominations in the U.S., founded in California in 1975, for many years.[4]  I had been involved, off and on (more on than off) with the Reclaiming Collective in San Francisco, from whence sprang the tradition, from its inception until its dissolution in 1997.  During those years I had taught classes and participated in the production of public sabbat rituals.  I didn’t make a career of it; I had a family and a job.  I taught only when teachers were needed.  After I moved from San Francisco to the other side of the Golden Gate in 1983, I continued to participate in most productions of the annual Spiral Dance Samhain ritual.  I remained connected with most of my old colleagues, and participated in all of the Collective retreats that resulted in the issuance of Reclaiming’s Principles of Unity[5] and subsequent dissolution of the Collective, per se.

I did, however, continue to work in some of the “cells,” as small working committees are called, such as the e-cell that maintains the traditions’ Web presence and lists.  I did not participate in regular face-to-face meetings on task-specific matters such as teaching or public rituals.  The most recent basic series of classes I taught (co-taught with another teacher, per Reclaiming tradition) took place in Marin County where I live in the early 1990s.  I also participated in the Marin Ritual Cell that presented local public sabbats; that cell dissolved sometime in the mid-90s.  Some of the students in those classes have grown to be local and WitchCamp teachers.

I also applied to teach at three WitchCamps at one point (to be detailed in a future blog), because that was the venue in which I observed the tradition evolving and it felt only right that if I were going to be seen as speaking on behalf of the tradition to other Pagans and the general public, it behooved me to learn how it was changing, and to participate in its shaping, as I had done since before Reclaiming had emerged as a distinctly recognizable tradition in its own right.  I did not teach at any WitchCamp.  I will explore this topic in a future blog.

So when the announcement about the first ever all-Reclaiming gathering arrived, my curiosity was piqued.  I contemplated whether to go.  I talked with friends.  Between their encouragement and my curiosity, I decided to register.

Dandelion Gathering, Texas Hill Country, 2004

When I arrived at the site, I found a bed in a cabin had been reserved for me.  As an older woman with severe lumbar arthritis, I was really glad to have a bed in a cabin, with accompanying bathroom and shower.  I shared the room with Ann Flowers and Ursula, two Reclaimers from England.  Since then, Ursula has passed through the veil.

Opening Ritual:  At least one of the planners of the opening ritual and I had been in dialogue about it.  They (ritual planners) wished to begin by having the three of us who had been in the original Reclaiming Collective recite together the Principles of Unity.  This seemed to me like a good place to start, so of course I agreed.  We three were Starhawk, Rose May Dance, and myself.

Now I have to say that one of the things that really bugs me about Reclaiming public rituals is the general casualness and slapped-togetherness of them.  Only very rarely are they rehearsed, regardless of whether they contain new and/or unfamiliar parts or personnel.  (More about ritual in a future blog.)  I think that the gods we honor deserve the best we can provide, and that rehearsing a ritual offers the most assurance that it will be smooth and clean and beautiful.  In any case, we were rushed at the last minute and had no time.  Besides, we all knew them, we had a script, there was no extemporaneousness.

Macha and Holley

I had assumed, mistakenly as it turned out, that we would be reading the words with some inflection, some conviction, some grace, some élan.  I was mistaken.  I tried to do this, while the other two just spoke the words flatly.  That meant that we were not speaking in unison.  I was way behind.  This should have been a clue to me about the disconnect that I couldn’t recognize at the point in time.

We concluded with a spiral dance, which I had agreed to help a newer person to lead.  I like to milk a spiral dance, to continue spiraling the line in and out a few times to build up the energy.  After a single coil in an out, some people began to drop hands and drum.  The spiral became fragmented and dissolved.  Both the leader and I were bewildered, and I think she was annoyed that I had urged her to continue beyond the first cycle.  In any case, I later figured out that in the WitchCamps, they evidently only do a single cycle.  I had just assumed we would dance as long as we could.  My mistake.  One that offers more evidence of disconnect on my part.

Macha and Andy

Pagan Cluster:  I don’t remember what particular street protests had been taking place around the country at that time.  I think they were around matters in the Middle East, and certainly the illegal war in Iraq was up.  In any case, among the attendees at Dandelion Gathering were several folks from what is known as the Pagan Cluster (“Earth-based Magical Activism”) 

I am not and have never been part of the Pagan Cluster.  According to its website, the Pagan Cluster is in some way affiliated with, or perhaps grew from or was inspired by, Reclaiming Tradition Craft.  Reclaiming does work to change things in the mundane world to make them more in accord with our values.  We do believe that we can help make the world a better place with our magic, and that religion and spirituality are not a refuge from “real life,” but rather an enhancement and enrichment of life.

Macha and Grove

That said, there is no requirement that one must work for change in any particular way.  I am not a street activist, except in some extreme situations like the massive demonstrations in opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2002.  I find my involvement in such things as the interfaith movement, advancing Pagan studies within academia, and working to establish the first Pagan seminary to be a more effective form of magical activism for me to be doing.  Others within the large, amorphous collective of Reclaiming communities are active in their many unique and different ways.

Mareena and Mac

I felt the general meetings went well.  I felt included.  I felt that everyone who wanted to be heard was heard.  I did feel that the presence of the Pagan Cluster sought to dominate, in the sense that they assumed that everyone should be doing the kind of activism they were doing.  I also found most of them, whom I had never encountered before, to be more focused on the political and less “witchy.”  For me, this was a gathering of Witches.  So again, I’m experiencing a bit of a disconnect, or perhaps an incompatibility.  I have no objection to the Pagan Cluster’s forms of activism; I just don’t share it.  I would hope for mutual respect for the efforts of those of us who do not choose that route.

Closing Circle on Overcast Day

Someone found a dead deer on the way there, so we had venison meatballs for those of us who eat game.  Someone built a compost toilet.  Someone created a bio-brew to remediate a place on the property where lots of oil had accumulated from vehicles and farm equipment.

Thistle and Macha

In the main, I did not attend the nightly rituals.  I was not alone in this.  I take great pleasure in one-to-one and small group conversations, and that’s what I indulged in at times when other things were happening.  Sometimes I took some down time.

The food was fine.  There were a few kids there.  I really liked having them there.  I got to visit with old friends like Thistle from Florida, and to meet with a CoG colleague who lived not to far from the campground and drove out for a visit.

One afternoon we danced a beautiful spiral in a meadow.

All in all, I had a pretty good time.  I left feeling a bit out of the mainstream of Reclaiming happenings, but overall retaining a sense of belonging. This was my trad and my community.

Dandelion Gathering, Western Massachusetts, 2006

The second DG was the one I liked best.  My old pal Penny Novack picked me up at the airport and drove me to the site, affording us the first of several opportunities to enjoy one another’s company.

People had created a beautiful altar in the center of the dining hall/main meeting room.  There were lots of kids, including some who mischievously got into the coffee and got jacked up one day.  We sang a blessing of the food and our work when we lined up for meals.  I visited many old East Coast friends.  I made some new friends like Jason.  Lisa Fithian and her partner gave us a report and showed a video about the work they’d been doing in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  I gave a brief talk about the interfaith work I’d been doing.  For the most part, we had interesting mealtime table discussions, although, to make the most of the brief time we had together, we talked mainly about prescribed topic.  Some of us met together to write each morning.

Like a witch’s cauldron, the bioremediation brew mentioned here sat at one side of the dining hall where it was stirred off and on throughout the weekend; the tub sometimes served as a tool in ritual.

This was the DG at which BIRCH (Broad Intra-Reclaiming Council of Hubs – a forced, awkward acronym, I must say) was formed.  I volunteered to serve on the “Identity” cell and to coordinate “History & Lore-Keeping.”  I was so encouraged by Reclaiming’s arrival at this attempt at creation cohesion, expectations, and accountability that when I got home I sent out an announcement to all the reporters, religion journalists, and Pagan studies scholars I knew.

At this DG was my first exposure to a “healing ritual” that apparently is commonly performed at larger Reclaiming gatherings.  Confidentiality forbids me from describing it in any detail, but suffice it to say that my reactions were twofold and in opposition.  On the one paw, I found some of what I consider to be extreme gullibility, too much emoting on the part of both healers and healees for my sensibility, while on the other I found the chanting, drumming, and the amazing circle dance powerful and compelling.  I closely watched the ritual-- from the periphery, from a walkway above the main room, from among the dancers when I danced, and from within the center when I entered to attend to someone I felt called to give healing touch.

Dandelion Gathering, Northern California, 2008

Attending the third Dandelion Gathering was easy, since the venue was less than an hour’s drive from my home.  And since several of my pals were among the planners, of course I wanted to go, both to support them in their efforts and to see what was going on.

I enjoyed the opening ritual, for which I had been asked to do one of the invocations.  The sense I had from that ritual was one of warmth and camaraderie.  I had no big expectations for the rest of the weekend, since, as I’ve said, I’d been operating from the periphery.  I chose to remain open to whatever arose.

I attended a couple of workshops that I found worth my while.  I especially enjoyed singing kirtans with Evelie. I joined in most of the mealtime table discussions, although we didn’t stick closely to the agenda provided.  We celebrated a handfasting.  Towards the end there was another one of the healing rituals I’d first encountered at the Western Massachusetts Dandelion Gathering.  I shared a cabin and lots of good talks with my friend, and later initiate, Vajra, and made a special new friend, William.

It was fun to spend more time with my local friends, more than we do when we’re home and distracted by all the many things we do.  I left feeling pretty good, except for not quite understanding the pressure for changes.  I don’t remember gender identification being much of an issue, although there were folks that whose gender wasn’t entirely evident to me but who seemed comfortable with who they were and seemed welcome.  I do remember more talk about involving minorities.

Dandelion Gathering, Diana’s Grove, Missouri, 2010

Not such a good experience, see blog on hissing.  Even so, I got to hang out with some wonderful folks, two of whom are here: 

Jason, Macha and Matt

DragonWing and Macha

Macha and Grove

Dandelion Gathering, Molalla, Oregon, 2012

My experience at this DG borders on the surreal.  I will return to this topic in a future blog.

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[1]             There are several links to Dandelion Gatherings on the Web; none appears to be current.  This is the most recent.  I took some notes at the times I attended these events, but I don’t know where they might be so I’m writing this from memory.  It will necessarily be more impressionistic than specific.

[2]             WitchCamps are week-long retreats for teaching and learning Reclaiming Tradition Craft held around the U.S. and in other countries.  They began with a Summer Apprenticeship Intensive held in San Francisco around 1981, followed by a camping retreat at Jughandle Farm in Mendocino County, and from there camps spread to Michigan, British Columbia, and many other locations.  I have not been a part of WitchCamp culture, fodder for a future blog.

[3]             Point of Information:  All of the organizers of every Dandelion Gathering – Morgana, et al. in Texas; Beth, et al. in Western Massachusetts; my local community in Northern California; Jason, Matt, and Kris in Missouri; and Craig, Misha, Serenity, Otter, Topaz, Rosemary, Panther, horizon and Satya in Portland – have been courteous, professional, warm, accommodating, and pleasant to deal with.  Nothing that I write here is meant to be critical of any organizer.  They’ve all been wonderful.

[4]             I am only minimally active in CoG currently, being one of five National Interfaith Representatives.

[5]             I am not providing a link to the Principles of Unity because they have been changed as of Dandelion 5 and I made my decision to withdraw from the tradition prior to the adoption of the revised Principles of Unity.  However, the original PoU are included in the entry on Reclaiming Tradition Witchcraft on The Witches’ Voice.

Remembering the Homeless

 Photo  © Ron Greene*

 
Lest we get bogged down in my personal disappointments with Reclaiming, I remind myself and readers that there are bigger issues in our worlds.

In late July the Marin Interfaith Street Chaplaincy memorializes the homeless of our county with a gathering, march, and brief program.  If I am not away from home, I participate.  This year was a bit different, in that there was much less diversity among the interfaith participants.  After we are called together with drumming, often a Buddhist will light incense and offer a prayer to bless the endeavor.  There was no Buddhist there this year, although there are several Buddhist congregations and at least two prominent Buddhist retreats in the county.  Nor were there any representatives from any of the local Jewish synagogues, as there have been in the past.  Nor was there a contingent of Dominican Sisters like I'm used to seeing.  I'm guessing this is because the date conflicted with other important matters these folks needed to attend rather than being due to disinterest.  In any case, I was surprised that the only speakers from the religious community were about four Protestant ministers, including my colleague on the Justice Advocacy Team at Marin Interfaith Council, the Rev. Liza Klein of San Rafael First United Methodist Church; one priest from St. Raphael's; and one Pagan, yours truly.

We gathered in the plaza in front of St. Raphael's, near where a tree was planted by this same group about ten years ago.  I took the two photos below a few years ago; the tree has grown larger now.

My contribution was a prayer to the Mother of Justice, followed by singing of a beautiful round called "When We Are Gone," written by Anne Hill and Starhawk and published in The Pagan Book of Living and Dying (as is the prayer).  We have done this enough times now for some of the people to know the song, so the singing was fuller, richer, and sweeter than it's been in past years.

Sometimes people ask why I do this.  The answers are many, but the main one is that there are Pagans among our nation's homeless, and they have told me how much they appreciate seeing a Pagan face among the speakers.  They have also said they're glad to see acknowledgement of goddess worship.

 * * * * *

* Ron Greene has several entries on the homeless in Marin, accompanied by moving photos, on his blog site.  In this photo, I am in the left foreground wearing purple and a big pentacle.