The last day of PantheaCon always has an element of sadness. People are packing and going back home. Virtually everyone is requesting a late checkout and it takes hours to get one of the trolleys to move your things back to your car. Attending workshops becomes a challenge, but I managed to get to two.

The first was “Oracles and Divination in Ancient Egypt” by Richard Reidy, who is the author of Eternal Egypt: Ancient Rituals for the Modern World. Richard’s approach to the practice of ancient Egyptian religion is a bit different to that of Tamara L Siuda (whose workshop I attended on Saturday morning). Richard’s approach is that he limits himself solely to source texts. As I have previously discussed, this seems to me to be largely a matter of taste. While I think it is important to have a well researched core to your own practice, whether or not you choose to “improvise” is a personal choice. Richard is someone who is obviously devoted to his practice, and I felt quite inspired listening to the relationships he had forged with his primary deities over a lengthy period of time. I also enjoyed listening to his thoughts about some of the Demotic magickal texts dating back to late antiquity which we both use – there simply aren’t many people using this stuff, so it’s definitely not something you hear everyday.

The last workshop that Jo-Ann and I attended was the very last one put on by Patrick McCollum called “Creating the Sacred Oil: The Origins of Magical Oils in Ritual.” Patrick was actually involved in eight workshops all up, and he had a very large group for this one. One of Patrick’s missions in life is to prevent craft secrets from being lost – much has actually been lost in just the last couple of generations as pagan elders die off. To this end, he taught us how to manufacture the original Sacred Oil used by witches in ancient times. The workshop didn’t end there, as Patrick told us how to modify the Sacred Oil recipe to turn it into Flying Ointment, but requested that we not upload it to the internet. The composition of Flying Ointment is normally a closely guarded secret, so to be honest, I was quite surprised when he revealed it to the group. But, at least this way, the composition will not be lost any time soon.

After some sad goodbyes to our friends who were still there, including the ever gorgeous Orion Foxwood, it was time for Jo-Ann and myself to drive back home.

Tony Mierzwicki

posted by Tony Mierzwicki @ 4:23 am
filed under: Events, PantheaCon
email this post | 4 Comments »

I presented my first workshop on the morning of Sunday 14 February 2010, at PantheaCon. This was quite a special day, being both Valentines Day and my second wedding anniversary. My workshop was titled “Magickal Initiation in Ancient Egypt.” The workshop went quite well, with a large group experiencing an authentic Graeco-Egyptian ritual.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find that there were two workshops on Neoplatonism, one following on from the other. The first, “What is Neoplatonism & Why Should I Care?” was presented by Don Frew, who is widely known for his interfaith work. Don’s workshop was very easy to follow and was an excellent introduction to Neoplatonism. Don showed just how important Neoplatonism was to Gerald Gardner, and by logical extension, to the practice of contemporary Wicca.

Lunch was a lot of fun. Jo-Ann and I joined Frater Barrabbas, Steven Posch and HiC [a tarot reading Kemetic Wiccan] for an hour of wit and frivolity.

Just after lunch I participated in the Immanion Author panel. A number of the Immanion authors at PantheaCon were part of the panel, including Taylor Ellwood and Lupa, Erynn Laurie, Sarai St Julien, Crystal Blanton, Frater Barrabbas and Denny Sargent a.k.a. AION 131. The panel was an informal chat with authors discussing their backgrounds and how they got onto their present path. The common thread was that all of us were unable to find what we were looking for in published material and so put together our own systems.

Following this, there was a panel featuring a number of well known Weiser authors titled “Earth Based Religion: Are We Really?” The panel was moderated by T Thorn Coyle and included Diana Paxson, Z Budapest, Orion Foxwood and Lon Milo DuQuette. It was fascinating hearing authors from widely divergent traditions giving their take on just how “earth-based” their spiritual modalities actually are. At the end of the panel, future pagan authors in the audience chatted to the two Weiser acquisitions editors, trying to get an idea of which way the publishing winds were blowing.

Following on from Don Frew’s workshop was “On the One: Critical Remarks on Pagan Neoplatonism” by Nathan Bjorge, who is probably best known for his work in Thelema. Nathan’s workshop was far more technical than Don’s, but was greatly appreciated by those who already had a basic grounding in the subject matter.

While I was at Nathan’s workshop, Jo-Ann went to “Visceral Magick” by Peter Paddon. She thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and had a number of “light bulb moments.”

Twelve hours after my first workshop began, I gave my second workshop, “Greek Nature Deities and Gaia Consciousness.” This workshop was an expansion of the paper which I presented to the 6th Conference on Current Pagan Studies at Claremont Graduate University just two weeks previously. I felt privileged to have the presence of Lon Milo DuQuette at both workshops while Selena Fox and Elysia Gallo of Llewellyn were at the second one. At the end of the workshop Selena shared her deep love of Greek deities. Having been part of a classical education, the Greek deities are incredibly prevalent in our society – especially in popular culture, where they pervade advertising, literature and the cinema.

It seems that at every PantheaCon I manage to find someone with whom to have an incredibly cerebral conversation. This time around, it was with Jonathan Korman, whom I managed to separate from T Thorn Koyle, and other Feri folk such as Shade and Flame. Jonathan, who has contributed to Thorn’s Solar Cross project, is a practitioner of Western Hermeticism whose catchcry for completing the Great Work is “Know your dharma, live your dharma.” We had an intense discussion covering a broad array of esoteric topics, which will hopefully be one day continued.

While Jonathan and I were chatting, Thorn, her friend Amanda and Barbara McCollum abducted Jo-Ann, and took her to the party in full swing in Sam Webster’s suite for the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn. There was much to celebrate as Sam has just published his first book, Tantric Thelema. The party eventually broke up into smaller groups so as to keep overall noise levels down.

A word of advice for next year’s PantheaCon attendees – if you’re thinking of getting a room on the tenth floor which is party central and you like getting early nights, don’t.

Tony Mierzwicki

posted by Tony Mierzwicki @ 4:07 am
filed under: Events, PantheaCon
email this post | No Comments »

I decided to start Saturday 13 February 2010, at PantheaCon with “Ancient Egyptian Prayers” by Tamara L Siuda, the current head of the Kemetic Orthodoxy group. While Tamara holds two Masters Degrees in relevant fields she doesn’t limit herself to a purely academic approach of worshipping the ancient Egyptian deities. She and her group incorporate elements channeled through dreams as Unverified Personal Gnosis (UPG) and practice ancestor worship. UPG is a hot topic within reconstructionist circles. On the one hand it cannot be unambiguously verified from academic source texts, but on the other hand it restores the vitality which ancient religions had in their heyday. Ultimately all reconstructionists have to determine whether they will limit themselves solely to academic source texts or whether they will employ a bit of creativity. The highlight of Tamara’s talk for me was the singing of a hymn. The melody of the hymn came from Coptic liturgy, but the Copts themselves admit that the melody originally came from a temple of Isis. Tamara had channeled wording in keeping with the worship of Isis. No claims were made for authenticity, but it was hauntingly beautiful.

I then attended “AMHA 101: Primitive Hebrew Earth spirituality – the basics” by Elisheva Nesher. Elisheva is an amazing speaker – a font of knowledge about Hebrew tribal spirituality, which is a spiritual modality far removed from the better known Judaism and Qabala. I’m very fortunate to meet up with Elisheva twice a year – PantheaCon and Starwood.

Continuing my academic overload for the day, I attended “The Mysteries of Demeter and Persephone” by Charles Stein. Dr Stein covered a lot of ground in his talk, admitting that very little is known about the Eleusinian Mysteries, and rehashed the theory of entheogens being used to facilitate spiritual experiences. Dr Stein believes that there are valuable lessons that can be incorporated into contemporary life that can be obtained by studying what is known about the mysteries, which he claims led to a lessening of the fixation we all have on personal identity.

“Global Meltdown? McGyver 101: Pagan Survival Techniques” by Patrick McCollum was just the change of pace that I needed. Patrick talked about techniques for surviving in wilderness areas using common everyday objects, so as to produce warmth and water. He illustrated the importance of his workshop by recounting the story of a man who died from exposure despite having all the requisite everyday objects around him – a tragic death which could have been preventing with just a little knowledge. Patrick then went on to talk about combining excrement and urine over a period of a few days to produce crystals of potassium nitrate or saltpeter, which is a component of gun powder. Patrick’s talk showed just how much knowledge we’ve lost, as virtually everything he talked about would have been common knowledge a couple of generations ago.

After four intense informative workshops it was time to socialize and network. And who better to socialize with than Jamie Martinez Wood and her boyfriend, Jeep. We went off to dinner and found ourselves sitting next to Richard Reidy and his partner. Any hope that Richard may have had for a quiet tranquil dinner quickly evaporated!

Jo-Ann and I had an early night as both of my workshops were scheduled for the following day.

Tony Mierzwicki

posted by Tony Mierzwicki @ 3:37 am
filed under: Events, PantheaCon
email this post | No Comments »

On Friday 12 February 2010, PantheaCon kicked off. While I don’t know the exact numbers, PantheaCon is the biggest event that Jo-Ann and I attend, and typically attracts roughly 3000 pagans from all over the US, as well as a few from overseas. PantheaCon is put on by Glenn Turner of Ancient Ways, along with a small army of volunteers.

The problem with PantheaCon is that there up to a dozen presentations at any given time slot. Scheduling all these presentations is a nightmare. Presentations from particular genres are put on at different times, so those attendees who are interested in just one genre don’t have a problem. If, however, your interests are like mine and span a number of genres, then you’re going to have clashes. I found myself tempted by the huge variety of lectures on offer, and wished it was somehow possible to get my hands on Hermione Granger’s Time-Turner so that I could see everything which appeals to me!

Everyone’s experience at PantheaCon is different, and so I thought that I’d share mine.

As we were checking into the hotel a bit later than we hoped, we wound up missing the Opening Ritual and the first round of workshops at 1:30pm. The first workshop I attended was at 3:30pm and was “22 Steps of the Cycle of Initiation – Transformative Journeys” by Frater Barrabbas, which explored similarities between Joseph Campbell’s 22 stages of the Hero’s Underworld Cycle and the 22 Major Arcana cards of the Tarot. Frater Barrabbas devotes himself to innovative blendings and developments of various spiritual modalities, but primarily focuses on Alexandrian Wicca and the Golden Dawn system. Meanwhile, Jo-Ann attended “Ecologically Minded Pagans in Action” by Jamie Martinez Wood.

We then decided to have a break from the workshops on offer and socialized/networked with friends and authors we hadn’t seen in several months. It’s just so hard limiting yourself to the lunch and dinner breaks!

While the drink of choice at most pagan gatherings is mead, absinthe (Aleister Crowley’s Green Goddess) seems to have that distinction at PantheaCon. Because there were absinthe parties on offer, we felt it was important to be fully informed and to that end, attended “Absinthe Cocktails: Mixing it up with Le Fae Verte” by Jeff Winters. Jeff’s “show and tell” approach was wildly popular, with sample cocktails being shared around.

Jo-Ann and I left the absinthe workshop with Jamie Martinez Wood and her boyfriend, Jeep.[ Jeep is a fascinating guy who tags endangered birds of prey out in the wild as part of his job.] We wound up knocking on the door of the room occupied by William Blumberg [CHS vice president] and Angela Pearson, wheat weavers extraordinaire. Despite both being in their pajamas, they let us in and were incredibly hospitable. As we were leaving, we overheard Angela asking “Mr William” to fluff her pillows.

While many others continued partying into the wee hours of the morning, Jo-Ann and I eventually decided to call it a night as we had an early start the following day.

Tony Mierzwicki

posted by Tony Mierzwicki @ 2:54 am
filed under: Events, PantheaCon
email this post | No Comments »

On Thursday 11 February 2010, the day before PantheaCon started, Cherry Hill Seminary (CHS) held their Winter Conference. The conference, which featured Steven Posch, went really well with participants thoroughly enjoying themselves. Steven was his usually bubbly effervescent self.

We were privileged to have Robert Brandon Longcrier of the Military Pagan Network in attendance. He recently came to prominence by establishing a worship area for earth-based religions at the US Airforce Academy in Colorado. The site was subsequently desecrated by Christians who surreptitiously left a huge cross in the worship area. Why are some Christians so obsessed with trying to force the world to believe what they’ve chosen to believe? Everyone should be able to practice their own religion as they choose without interference by intolerant minority groups.

One of the best things about the Winter Conference is that it is the event that brings together the largest number of CHS students, faculty and board members. It’s great actually meeting people who I normally communicate with via email and sometimes telephone. For photographs, check out CHS’s Facebook page.

Tony Mierzwicki

posted by Tony Mierzwicki @ 11:25 am
filed under: Cherry Hill Seminary, Events
email this post | No Comments »

Patrick McCollum has been fighting for years to overturn the State of California’s “five faiths policy”, which limits the hiring of paid chaplains to Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Native American adherents. The lawsuit began with Patrick and a number of pagan inmates claiming that it was unconstitutional for the state to deny the pagan inmates their religious rights, their religious materials, and their religious services through a pagan chaplain.

The defense is arguing that “traditional” faiths are first tier faiths and that those faiths were meant to have equal rights and protections under the United States Constitution, but that all of the other faiths (including pagans) were second tier faiths, and were not meant to have the same equal rights and protections under the United States Constitution as the first tier faiths.

A conservative activist organization called WallBuilders, argues that Patrick has no standing because modern pagans aren’t guaranteed the same Constitutional rights and protections as Christian or monotheist citizens:

“The true historic meaning of “religion” excludes paganism and witchcraft … paganism and witchcraft were never intended to receive the protections of the Religion Clauses.”

Should this argument be accepted, the equal protection of all religious minorities in the United States could be cast into doubt. The First Amendment is supposed to guarantee religious freedom. What is happening is clearly unconstitutional.

The most comprehensive outline of the whole situation can be found at the Wild Hunt, and is essential reading for all pagans. Elysia Gallo of Llewellyn has added her voice. Cherry Hill Seminary has issued a press release supporting Patrick. Circle Sanctuary has expanded upon the recommendations in the Wild Hunt for action to be taken.

This case highlights the absolute necessity of the need for pagans to stand together. As a recent example of what can be accomplished when we stand united, was the Air Force Academy chapel agreeing to add a worship area for followers of Earth-centered religions. The military has been adopting a more liberal attitude towards minority religions over the past few years. To quote a member of the Sacred Well Congregation, “If we speak together, we are a chorus to be heard. If we whisper alone, we are but a sigh in the dead of night.”

Patrick suggests that we should write our demands to Jerry Brown, the California Attorney General, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Mathew L Cate, the Secretary of the CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation).

The time to act is now. We must demand equal treatment, equal accommodations, and equal access to our religious items for institutionalized persons. Once the rights we take for granted are taken away, it will be too late.

Tony Mierzwicki

posted by Tony Mierzwicki @ 4:35 am
filed under: Legal, Pagan Issues, Politics
email this post | No Comments »

January 30 & 31, 2010 saw the 6th Conference on Current Pagan Studies held at Claremont Graduate University. Scholars and practitioners gathered to discuss Sustainability. Keynote speakers were Donald Michael Kraig and T Thorne Coyle. The conference was organized by Dorothea Kahena Viale.

While not every presenter was an academic, there were a large number of people who either had PhDs or were well on their way to being awarded their PhDs. In a world where there are many people who buy dodgy unaccredited online degrees in an effort to enhance their profile, it’s gratifying that old fashioned scholarship is still valued.

Cherry Hill Seminary was well represented by Macha Nightmare (who did not present this year), William Blumberg and myself. I presented a paper on “Greek nature Deities and Gaia Consciousness.” At PantheaCon, I will be expanding on this paper and incorporating an invocation of the nymphs.

I had a great time at the conference and found it a wonderful opportunity to network with pagan academics and “pagan friendly” academics. If you missed it this year, definitely check it out next year.

Tony Mierzwicki

posted by Jo-Ann @ 2:46 am
filed under: Events
email this post | No Comments »