Click to Listen

The 100th edition of the Pagan Weekly News aired late this week. RevKess has been working odd hours, more so than usual, at his bills-paying-job and was completely wiped at 9am CT Tuesday the 2nd of July. Zaracon was off celebrating the birth his new grandson and unavailable to contribute to this landmark edition. The birth of a new child is truly  more important than sharing in the general news of the Pagan community. Family is one of those things that can and often does out weigh the needs of the many. Congratulations to Z, his daughter, his new grandson and indeed to the whole family!

This past week brings us a lot of news from the political and governmental realms as well as equality issues from around the world and lots of news and events from the Pagan community. We will start as we did with the archived edition of PWN and move into some of the stories that RevKess did not find time for in the broadcast.

Links

• The Pagan community reacts to the SCOTUS decisions, an article edited by Jason Pitzl-Waters on the Wild Hunt.
• A follow-up from June 27th on the Wild Hunt, further reactions. This article contains a segment of an email that RevKess sent to Jason Pitzl-Waters with his first thoughts and reactions to the rulings.
• Amy Howe’s “in plain English” brief on the DOMA decision from SCOTUS.
• T Thorn Coyle’s article on her blog from March in which she speaks about her stance on marriage equality.
• A brief article on Doreen Valiente and how she stood in the face of resistance.
• Phyllis Currot, Vice Chair for the Parliament for World Religions posted this to her Facebook stream on 2 july 2013: “THANK YOU – from the bottom of my heart – o everyone who helped save the Parliament by donating, by getting the word out, by sending your thoughts and prayers!! Last week we all signed the Settlement Agreement in the Barcelona case and today the Judge signed the order dismissing it. Finally, our lawyers said that we could publicly make a formal announcement that the Barcelona debt has been paid and the battle is over!
  Collectively, and from all over the world, the Wiccan/Pagan community donated over $26,000 to pay off the debt that could have bankrupted the Parliament – that’s 10% of the total debt and an incredible, strong demonstration of our community’s appreciation for CPWR and our ability to give when we are needed.! We consistently led the way in fundraising, inspiring other faith communities to organize and donate. Wiccans, Pagans, shamanic practitioners, members of every tradition around from Italy, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Mexico and all over South America, Canada and of course the US made generous contributions.
  I’m so proud to be a member of this amazing community and to serve as Vice Chair of the Parliament. So many more opportunities await us as we take our rightful place on the global stage of world religions. Blessings to you all and endless gratitude.”
  • Read the statement from the CPWR here.
• The Argus has an article about Doreen Valiente.
• Over on the blog HecateDemeter you can read on perspective on why it is not a good idea to fall into the “denial” mode when discussing your Pagan path with others. “As long as you’re denying that you worship Satan (a Christian demi-god in whom Pagans don’t even believe; Satanism is a branch of Christianity), or eat babies, or cut the eyes out of newts for your potions, you, like LBJ’s opponent, are losing.”
  • Peter Dybing has a similar post on his Pagan in Paradise blog. “The time has come for our community to engage an alternative approach to these conversations. Answering the “devil” question should be viewed as a catastrophic way forward.  Alternative responses include, “Let me explain what the Wiccans I know believe” or even better “ Let me tell you a little about what Wiccans do”.  We must as a religious community cease to respond to the outlandish if we are to be viewed as a credible religious movement by wider society.  Such responses just feed the idea that Wiccans are the “other” and not engaged in a theology that has depth and meaning.”
• Professor Ronald Hutton takes some of his epertise on various topics to the small screen with a new 12 part series on British television.
• Some news of the weird from Nottinghamshire in England.
• Harvey Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk,  speaks up on marriage equality and other LGBT issues during the San Francisco Pride events.
• The National Geogrpahic website has an article about the recently discovered moons of Pluto and their new official names, William Shatner was disappointed with the final decision.
• The United Church of Christ (UCC) votes to divest itself of holdings in fossil fuels, make them the first Christian denomination in the US to take a stand on such ecological matters.
• Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) full survivor benefits for LGBT partners and families.

Music

1. Celia (as the Trestlefoot Faerie) – I’m Not Homophobic – Naughty in Pink
2. Leigh Anne Hussey – Harper David – Homebrew
3. Paradiso – Truth of Nothingness – Shaman’s Trance
4. Lorelei Greenwood – Gaullimaufry
5. Wendy Rule – Out of the Dry Summer – Guided by Venus 
6. Elaine Silver – Don’t You Know – Faerie Goddess
7. Heartbeat – Creation
8. Tuatha Dea – Hypocritical Mass – The Tribe (featuring Murphey’s Midnight Rounders)

Stories we didn’t have time for….

• 30 million bees found dead in Canada.
• Les Kinsolving, retired White House correspondent for World Net Daily makes outlandish statements regarding the SCOTUS decision, including comments about necrophilia and bestiality.