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Witch at Large: Ruminations from a Grey Perspective
Seeing Paganism in terms of being a movement, explorations of our history, societal context, comparisons to other religious movements, and general Pagan culture.
Aline "Macha" O'Brien
Aline O’Brien (M. Macha NightMare), Witch at Large, has circled with people of diverse Pagan paths throughout the U.S., and in Canada and Brazil. Author of Witchcraft and the Web (2001) and Pagan Pride (2004), and co-author, with Starhawk, of The Pagan Book of Living and Dying (1997), Macha has also contributed to anthologies, periodicals, textbooks, and encyclopedias. A member of the American Academy of Religion, the Marin Interfaith Council, and the Nature Religion Scholars Network, Macha also serves as a national interfaith representative for the Covenant of the Goddess (CoG) and on the Advisory Board of the Sacred Dying Foundation. Having spent the last eleven years developing and teaching at Cherry Hill Seminary, the first and only seminary serving the Neopagan community, Macha now serves on its Board of Directors. An all-round Pagan webweaver, she speaks on behalf of Paganism to news media and academic researchers, and lectures at colleges, universities and seminaries. www.machanightmare.com
Last week I attended an Interfaith Gala Dessert Reception to help the Yezidis Facing Genocide, featuring a delegation of Yezidis in exile here in North America and hoping to regain their homelands.
Held at Peninsula Sinai Congregation in Foster City, California, the room featured peacock feathers on each table and walls adorned with Yezidi (Yazidi) flags. The screen upon one wall featured a large image of Melek Taus, the Peacock God of the Yezidis.
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Yesterday we (the Wiccan circle at San Quentin State Prison) did a combination Midsummer and Fathers’ Day celebration, after the noisy Juneteenth celebration in the main prison yard. We have to meet when and where permitted, and with limited access to such things as water for bathing or bonfires. (There is water for drinking.)
Most times we meet in a little storage room off the breezeway where the Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Islamic chapels are. It is literally a storeroom, with stacks of folding chairs and tables and old file cabinets. Since I’ve been going there the file cabinets were moved. At this point, it’s been cleaned out enough that we only have two tables and a bunch of stacked chairs. It’s considered to be the Minority Faiths Chapel.
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Upon my initiation as a Witch, I swore a vow that I assume many others have also sworn, which is to always protect and defend “my sisters and brothers of the Art.” Now I’m wondering over the longer term exactly what that means. Or what it might mean to me.
Who are my sisters and brothers? Who are my kin? This is a topic worthy of further exploration. However, while awaiting that further exploration, I want to speak of my main takeaway from the 2015 Parliament of World Religions.
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This year's theme was Social Justice.
Sunday, January 25
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I will be attending the 2017 conference, can't wait to meet all of you! http://PaganConference.com for details :-)
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Twelfth Conference on Current Pagan Studies at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California.
Longtime pal Anna Korn and I shared the long drive to the Los Angeles area for this annual event that feeds my soul. I’ve attended several times since I was invited to be a keynote speaker in 2009. Last year was the first time Anna went now that she’s retired.
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We'll have to persuade them to invite you as a keynote. ;-)
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W.oman, do you never rest? Thanks for this. Someday I hope to attend
