As a Samhain rite, Amanda has honored Durham’s civic and local ancestors by leaving flowers at one of Durham’s historic cemeteries. Civic work is a huge focus in Alisa’s personal practices, which includes more than a week of rituals at the Bull Plaza in Durham in November.
Polytheist writer and blogger, Galina Krasskova, wrote about Civic Ancestor work over at Gangleri's Grove. She has some great insight and ideas for those who are interested in Ancestor work - blood, spiritual, or otherwise.
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The Pagan portal over at Patheos has been abuzz with discussions on environmentalism, climate change, and Pagan responsibility and theology. There are dozens of articles and essays that have been published on this topic, so check out this link that will connect you to all of the articles on this topic.
http://www.patheos.com/Topics/2014-Religious-Trends/Pagan.html
How can Pagans in the Triangle Area contribute to this topic? What can we do to address the growing concerns of environmentalism and climate change?
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Beloved journalist, author, and priestess, Margot Adler, passed away on July 28 after fighting a battle with cancer. Her death came as a shock and a tragedy to the Pagan community, and many heartfelt and loving memorials and memories have been shared throughout Facebook and other networking sites. A collection of some of them were collected by Anne Niven over at Pagan Square, but these are just a fraction of the sweet sentiments that the Pagan community is sharing about their beloved priestess, who was an inspiration to many.
A professional of Margot’s, Ken Barcus of NPR, has this to say:
Many of you have asked about ways to honor Margot’s memory. After discussions with a few of her closest friends, it’s been decided that collecting donations toward buying a memorial bench in her name in Central Park is the best plan. It’s something she spoke of in her final days. As you know, she lived on the edge of the park nearly her entire life and walked through it daily. She bought a bench for her husband John, when he passed away, and one for her mother years earlier. Both are situated in the park, close to her condo. The cost of doing this through the Central Park Conservancy is $7,000. If we raise more than that, the excess will be put toward planting a tree in Central Park in her name. If anyone wants to donate toward this, I’ll be collecting the money and then forwarding it to the conservancy. Checks should be made out to: Margot Adler Memorial Fund and mailed to this address:
Ken Barcus NPR
3109 Mayfield Rd. #207
Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118
Margot traveled in so many different circles, that I’m sure I’ve left many people off this email who would like to know about this effort. Please feel free to forward along this note to them. Thanks - Ken
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On Sunday, July 20, TAPA hosted a workshop over at Thaumaturgy 777 in Durham. We discussed the Spirits of Place, which included the historical precedence of working with land spirits, what to do and what not to do, house spirits, city spirits, and included a great meditation written by Alisa that focused on the land and city of Durham.
For those of you who missed this great workshop, we will offer an abbreviated version at this year’s Central North Carolina Pagan Pride Day. More details will be announced closer to the date, but if you are curious about land spirits, genius loci, and the spirits of place, check out this great piece by a Pagan blogger over at Patheos. They write about their own experiences with the land, including their frustrations, and failures.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/asenseofplace/2014/07/buying-land/
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Finally, TAPA is very pleased to announce that rather than only hosting quarterly events, we’ve reached the point when we will be able to offer monthly rituals, workshops, or gatherings for the Pagans of the Triangle area. More will be announced soon as we finish up some final plans, but we have a full schedule of really great activities for the rest of 2014 and into 2015, so we hope to see you there!
In the meantime, what events would you like to see taking place in the Triangle area? Do you have any fun Pagan activities you’d like to share, or you’d like to see happening? Have you read a thought-provoking article or found something really cool you’d like to share with the community? Email us at [email protected] because we’d love to hear from you!
Until next time, clear skies!
- Amanda