49 Degrees: Canadian Pagan Perspectives

Canadian Paganism has a style all its own. Have a look at events, issues, celebrations, people, trends and events north of the border from the eyes of a Canadian Wiccan and Witch.

  • Home
    Home This is where you can find all the blog posts throughout the site.
  • Tags
    Tags Displays a list of tags that have been used in the blog.
  • Bloggers
    Bloggers Search for your favorite blogger from this site.
  • Login
    Login Login form
Sable Aradia

Sable Aradia

Sable Aradia (Diane Morrison) has been a traditional witch most of her life, and she is a licensed Wiccan minister and a Third Degree initiate in the Star Sapphire and Pagans for Peace traditions. Author of "The Witch's Eight Paths of Power" (Red Wheel/Weiser 2014) and contributor to "Pagan Consent Culture" and "The Pagan Leadership Anthology," she also writes "Between the Shadows" at Patheos' Pagan channel and contributes to Gods & Radicals. Sable is just breaking out as a speculative fiction writer under her legal name, and a new serial, the Wyrd West Chronicles, will be released on the Spring Equinox this year. Like most writers, she does a lot of other things to help pay the bills, including music, Etsy crafts, and working part time at a bookstore. She lives in Vernon, BC, Canada with her two life partners and her furbabies in a cabin on the edge of the woods.

Remembrance DayHello there, hope you all had a good Remembrance Day (or Veterans' Day in the US).  I though I would drop a quick note to share a link to an article I wrote at my other column, "Between the Shadows," because I figured this was definitely relevant to a Canadian Pagan's perspective.

"Spontaneous Ritual": Sable and a small conglomeration of local Pagans went to the cenotaph in their city to honor their war dead in a Pagan way. Instead they were witness to the birth of a communal ritual that brought their city together. Lest we forget.

Last modified on

From the Wild Hunt:  Robert Rudachyk is seeking the nomination to become the Liberal Party of Canada‘s candidate for the federal riding of Saskatoon West. What makes this run for office unusual is that Rudachyk appears to be the first openly Heathen candidate to run for public office in Canada.

Last modified on
Video shared by on in Culture Blogs

Wishing you all a Happy Samhain in the Northern Hemisphere; and Happy Beltane in the Southern Hemisphere!

Samhain article at my new blog, which I would post here except that it isn't Canadian per se: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/betweentheshadows/2014/10/samhain-song-for-the-dead/.

Blessed be!

Last modified on

For those who may not have heard, a ceremonial guard on duty at the Canadian National War Memorial on Parliament Hill was shot and killed this past week.  The shooter claimed to be a Muslim and in support of ISIL, but there is no evidence he was working with any sort of organized group, and it seems as though he was mentally ill.

As a symbol, he could not have chosen a better target.  It was our National War Memorial.  The ceremonial guard was a young man who didn't even have any bullets in the gun he was armed with.  His companion tried to chase the culprit down.

...
Last modified on
A New Face in Canadian Pagan Music: Tara Rice

Tara Rice is a brand-new Pagan artist from Toronto, Ontario.  She contacted me via my website to ask me to listen to her new single.  I was enchanted!  I immediately invited her to join our Canadian Pagan music anthology project (now set for this November) and asked if she'd be willing to do an interview.  She's a friendly and enthusiastic but professional young woman and I was impressed with her thoughtful answers.  You can find more information on her or her music at her website: www.tararice.com.

Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

Niceville City LimitI was going to write about something related but different in my next column.  But I read Shauna Aura Knight’s excellent post about her stance on the Frosts this morning, and the controversy she has encountered has encouraged me to change focus.  It seems to me that much of the criticism and condemnation boils down to, "She's not playing nice."  Well, here's the problem with "niceness."  I must tread carefully to protect privacy so much of my language is deliberately vague.

One of our tradition members – an initiate of an initiate – contacted my husband and priest.  She said that her teenage daughter had told her that her husband had sexually abused her.  The couple have been married for many years; the girl in question is the man’s daughter genetically.  The mother was, quite understandably, in tears.  She wanted to know what she should do.

...
Last modified on
Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Christopher Blackwell
    Christopher Blackwell says #
    I agree with you about our being to nice and not wanting t rock the boat and our not wanting to find out bad things about our memb
  • Taylor Ellwood
    Taylor Ellwood says #
    Good article, and good on you for reporting him.
  • Sable Aradia
    Sable Aradia says #
    Thanks for the support, T-Roy and Taylor.
  • Sable Aradia
    Sable Aradia says #
    Shauna Aura Knight also posted a related post some time ago on her blog, I just saw. Here's the link: http://paganactivist.com/20
  • T-Roy
    T-Roy says #
    Let me mention that that 'niceness' may also have been part of why that man stuck around long enough to be caught. Such men tend t

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

Kerr CuhulainKerr Cuhulain is an influential Canadian Pagan author. The first openly-Pagan cop in North America, Kerr’s work with the Vancouver Police Department, and his regular column at Witchvox, “Witch Hunts,” along with his book, “The Law Enforcement’s Guide to Wicca,” probably did more to help eliminate the systematic persecution of Pagans from the Satanic Panic than any other source. Recently retired from his involvement with the law enforcement to the Sunshine Coast, Kerr has retreated into a quiet life of writing and contemplation. I caught up with Kerr when discussing Vancouver Pagan Pride Day:

Question: Thanks for agreeing to do this interview! Tell us a little about yourself. Who is the man behind the story?

...
Last modified on

Additional information