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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in interfaith
Nine Jars of Compassion: A Folk-tale of the Latter-Day Dobunni

They say that He of the Horns looked upon his people and his heart was moved with compassion at their suffering.

For an age and an age, two ages, he wept, and the tears of his weeping filled nine jars.

And when his weeping was ended, he took these nine jars and, with their waters, extinguished the fires of Hell.

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PaganNewsBeagle Watery Wednesday Oct 8

Today's Watery Wednesday focuses on community news for Pagans, Heathens, polytheists, pantheists and all our allies! North Carolina Pagans in the spotlight; Pagan interfaith progress; a new book on devotional polytheism; real vs "fake" names on Facebook.

It's October, the season when mainstream culture focuses on Paganism. This week, the Tarheel state seems to be in the focus. Kelley Harrell describes contemporary Witchcraft in this piece at a Raleigh website. The Asheville Citizen-Times highlights an unique program that includes Witches (like H Byron Ballard) in a program that shares various religions in a once-a-year program to local high school students.

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PaganNewsBeagle Faithful Friday Sept 5

Its Faithful Friday here at the Beagle, and we have stories of faith from all religions. Interfaith work, an Indian temple, Jews & Arabs as neighbors, rewilding Paganism and everything you didn't want to know (but should) about "Islamic State."

Is interfaith work -- between Pagans and non-Pagans -- important work or just a distraction? Ryn Fox at the Wild Hunt discusses the issues.

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PaganNewsBeagle Faithful (Good News) Friday July 18

It's faithful Friday here at the Beagle, and what a lovely bouquet of positive stories we have for you! (Nice to have good news after yesterday's dual tragedies in Ukraine and Gaza.) Enjoy!


Cara Schultz covers the recent Declaration for European Indigenous Traditions and interviews Pagan leader Andras Corben-Arthen about the declaration for The Wild Hunt.

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PaganNewsBeagle Faith-Filled Friday

Happy Faith-Filled Friday -- and 4th of July!
Today we are concentrating on stories of how faith -- Pagan and otherwise -- influences our daily life. 

How should "sincerely held religious belief" influence the law? HuffPo religious editor argues against the recent SCOTUS decisions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-raushenbush/sincerely-held-religious-beliefs-and-the-fraying-of-america_b_4847018.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000055

Is Paganism in a critical phase of defining itself? John Beckett compares today's Pagan battles to the deliberations of 3rd century CE Christianity and points out that "s/he who shows up, wins."
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2014/07/showing-up.html

That most American of music -- jazz -- has a connection with modern Paganism: freemasonry.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/02/secret-jazz-freemason-history-duke-ellington-sun-ra?CMP=fb_gu

Is Heathenism naturally multi-racial?
http://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/summer-solstice-2014/asgard-as-a-multi-racial-society/

How can traditional Wicca work outside of standard gender models?
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2014/07/queer-of-swords-oh-what-a-great-rite/

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs


Family HugLike many other Pagans, I was the black sheep of my family.  My family were hard-working blue collar folk, with some low-level white collar aspirations here and there.  They believed in the ethic of hard work.  They were not at all religious, having had negative experiences with the Anglican church of their youth.  They didn’t understand the mystical bend that shaped my life and experience from the earliest time I can remember.  When I went to my best friend’s Mormon church for the first time, they sat me down to talk to me about it in the same manner that I later would experience when they sat me down to discuss drinking, drugs, and sex.

But I suppose the foundation of my Paganism was laid by the way in which I was raised.  Though my parents shunned the Anglican Church they embraced a lot of Anglican values, and I’m convinced that Wicca is what happens when you expose an Anglican countercultural folklorist to Hinduism.  I was a Brownie and then a Girl Guide, and as Ronald Hutton pointed out, the woodcraft movement was a powerful influence on the development of modern Wicca.  Through my father’s imagination, I learned a sense of wonder; through my mother’s love of the natural world, I learned to find the sacred more keenly in nature than in any human building.

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Recent comment in this post - Show all comments
  • Annika Mongan
    Annika Mongan says #
    Thank you for telling this story. Coming out to your family can be so hard and it is great to hear of of the positive connections

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

I'm so out of touch with the greater Pagan community--especially the American one--that I might as well have been living under a rock the past few months. Every now and again, however, news seeps down to me, and yesterday I was suddenly confronted with the news of Kenny Klein's arrest on multiple counts of possessing child pornography.

I don't know Klein; I've read some of his posts on PaganSquare, and I've heard others talk about him, but I have never exchanged words with him, not even written ones. I can make no statement to his character beyond his now-tainted image. I don't know anything about Kenny Klein, and yet the news of his arrest and the charges for which he will be brought to court have hit me harder than I would have expected it to.

The Wild Hunt has a relatively complete account of the circumstances, so for anyone wishing to know more about this situation, I would kindly ask you to read up there as I feel no need to repeat Jason's hard work. As of this moment, Klein is not convicted of anything, so I won't comment on his guilt--one way or another--but I do want to comment on the greater ramifications of a Pagan Elder being charged with not only possession of child pornography, but also facing multiple testimonies of people who have felt intimidated and unsafe in his presence during festivals. If you read the article, you will see accounts of many people uncomfortable by his push for physical contact despite being told 'no', and one person even testified to keeping an eye on any kids around Klein long before this turn of events on Wednesday.

This is the part where I warn you about triggers for abuse, rape, rape culture and (male) privilege.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Ted Czukor
    Ted Czukor says #
    Yes, it is a great piece. And it applies to people of all faiths. Years ago I was a member of a New Thought Church in which "hug
  • Courtney Weber
    Courtney Weber says #
    This is a great piece--thank you for sharing this. I really resonate with the "entitlement" aspect that comes in touchy-huggy Circ
  • Tabitha
    Tabitha says #
    Excellently said!!!
  • Jamie
    Jamie says #
    Ms. Temperance, I couldn't agree more. I myself am a solitary worshipper, but I've seen enough harassment in the workplace over t

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