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PaganSquare is a community blog space where Pagans can discuss topics relevant to the life and spiritual practice of all Pagans.

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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in community work

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Mystic South - 2018

Well, magical folks. It’s been about a week, and now I finally have enough time, energy, and understanding to share about my experiences at Mystic South 2018. Wow! What an event! It takes a whole week (or more) to process experiences like this – a Southern Pagan conference full of love, learning, magic, healing, and mysticism.

I arrived to Atlanta “a day late and a dollar short” (as Grandpa used to say). Despite missing a day of workshops, as well as literally losing hours to Atlanta traffic, I was able to settle in nicely on Friday night. The kind, patient, and smiling folks at the registration table set the tone for the rest of the weekend – everywhere I went I was greeted with friendly smiles and welcoming energy.

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Posted by on in Studies Blogs
A Little Help

 

Help isn’t always helpful is a lesson I learned from Annie Lomax of blessed memory back in the 70s when she was training me to work on a hotline. Sometimes, help is offered as a sedative when someone else is having strong emotions that make you uncomfortable. Sometimes, help undermines another person’s sense of autonomy or sense of accomplishment. Sometimes, help makes it more comfortable for someone to stay stuck in a situation that is slowly but surely diminishing them. And yet despite all the potential pitfalls involved in the offering of help and support, Annie taught me that when help is offered with a clear mind and an open heart it has the potential to encourage not just comfort or healing but true growth. Let me reiterate the part about the criterion of having a clear mind and an open heart. The mind and the heart don’t always agree, but if both are in agreement you might be doing the right thing. My time on the hotline at the Wellspring program taught me many things that I still use to this day.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Anne Newkirk Niven
    Anne Newkirk Niven says #
    Wow! Ivo, I am moved beyond words by this post. Now that you are writing a regular column for W&P, I'd love to see this sort of ma
  • Ivo Dominguez Jr
    Ivo Dominguez Jr says #
    Thanks!

Posted by on in Studies Blogs
Patience & Fury, Part 3

 

This is the third of a series of blog posts on how to move more gracefully through the turbulence of current events in the world. Each post can stand alone, and the order does not matter, but I suggest reading the whole series as they support each other. I am calling this series “patience and fury” though other words are just as applicable. This is the last in this series so let’s add “pertinacity and indolence”,“action and reaction” and “focused and frazzled”.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Here we go again | A tale of two paganisms

The Pagan net has been abuzz after beloved and noted elder, Luisah Teish said some not so polite things about the trans-community on Tuesday. Some took offense, others defense, while those who took no side were in for quite the show. In the end it wrought in its wake a lot of old discussions and old wounds. Before I knew it I was left feeling like we (the community) dropped the ball and that we failed to protect our own.

 

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Aline "Macha" O'Brien
    Aline "Macha" O'Brien says #
    Thanks for your even-handed approach to this sensitive subject, Devin. I wrote a longish response and then lost it. Blessings, M
  • Tia Ryan
    Tia Ryan says #
    Ifa isn't Paganism.
  • Anne Newkirk Niven
    Anne Newkirk Niven says #
    Tia, I didn't see anything referencing Ifa in this post. Are you referencing another post or ...?
  • Wendilyn Emrys
    Wendilyn Emrys says #
    Even among Pagans there is fear of the other and the unknown. For me, the body is a meat puppet, what matters is the person insid
  • Anne Newkirk Niven
    Anne Newkirk Niven says #
    Macha (Aline) posted the following on her Facebook page about an hour ago. "Recently I thoughtlessly signed an online petition at

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Writing IS Work

Gift is for every man / a pride and a praise / help and worthiness / and of every homeless adventurer / it is the estate and substance / for those who have nothing else. - Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Sebastian Lokason
    Sebastian Lokason says #
    Thank you. THANK you. THANK YOU. As someone who is Pagan and financially challenged, I also despise The Cult of Free Paganism -
  • Erin Lale
    Erin Lale says #
    I agree. Writing is real work, as is art. Organizing events is real work, too, but I don't see any way to ever get paid for that,
  • Julia Hayes
    Julia Hayes says #
    Heather~ Thank you for your post. You've got my wheels turning. I appreciate your raw critical perspective on not only the publish
  • Sable Aradia
    Sable Aradia says #
    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2014/04/seekers-and-guides-why-free-events-discriminate-against-the-pagan-poor/. Yes, people n

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