Monthly Archives: March 2015

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PMP: Bone Poets Orchestra

Christopher Bingham and Sue Tinney of Bone Poets Orchestra joined RevKess and KaliSara for a fun conversation about their music and more. Right off the bat, at the request of several listeners, RevKess asked Sue if she is related to our musical friend Betsy. The answer is yes. They are sisters-in-law.

Even with some connection and technical issues, everyone had a great chat about the music, the history, and the future of BPO. KaliSara was quiet for the show as she was battling a head cold.

Chris and Sue spoke at length about the history of Bone Poets and the music that Chris writes for the eight piece band. Once called Gaia Consort, BPO evolved into what it is today. With a collective of talented artists and 40 years of musical experience behind him, Chris has developed a sound that is uniquely Bone Poets. You can find some of Chris’s early solo work at his own website. He’s also been working on an orchestral piece for the last 35 years. The Octava Chamber Orchestra performed the working piece last summer and he is looking forward to the opportunity to have it performed in its entirety by a full orchestra sometime in the near future.

When asked about touring outside of the Pacific Northwest, Chris and Sue said that the would love to. But, the expense of transporting all the instruments, the band members, and tech crew is rather expensive. Got $13,000 to spare? BPO will perform anywhere in the lower 48 for that fee. Not exactly affordable, but not entirely out of the question for a music festival.

All eight members of the band have a long background in music, many of them with degrees related to music.

  1. Bone Poets Orchestra – Seven Sisters – Ecstasy in the Ruins
  2. Gaia Consort – Cry Freedom – Secret Voices
  3. Bone Poets Orchestra – Yes Yes Yes! – Belladonna Smiles
  4. Bone Poets Orchestra – Why Can’t We Just – single
  5. Gaia Consort/Bone Poets Orchestra – Face in the Clouds – Vitus Dance
  6. Gaia Consort – Ravens (live 2007)

BPO is working on their next album. Six songs have been written, one has been recorded already. Check back with the BPO website frequently for updates and find out how you can adopt a track and help the Poets record their next album!

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PWN 2015.3.4: Here we go again

This week’s edition of PWN had a few hiccups. For that we apologize. We do want to thank you for muddling through our audio issues and listening to the show, nonetheless. KaliSara was a bit under the weather and was unable to participate. RevKess managed to slog through on his own. Talking about everything from RFRA’s to Workers’ Compensation, from Pagan music news and upcoming book releases. this edition will tackle a lot of bad and some very good news.

RevKess and KaliSara welcome your comments both here and on the Facebook page for Pagan Weekly News.

Links to Articles and Topics Covered

Music

  1. SJ Tucker – Go Away Godboy  – Sirens
  2. Heather Dale – The Poachers – The Green Knight
  3. Wendy Rule – The Serpent of Silver – Guided by Venus
  4. Jenna Greene – Spring Love – Crosroads
  5. Tuatha Dea – The Sky is Falling – Tuatha Dea

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PMP: DiversiTree with Hollis Taylor

In this week’s edition of Pagan-Musings Podcast KaliSara and RevKess were joined by the publisher of a new blog’zine called DiversiTree. The sight is devoted to inclusive spirituality. What does that mean? Inclusive spirituality, in this case, is about being open and embracing to all sexualities, gender identities, and gender expressions. DiversiTree is also very sex-positive.

The “about” page on the site reads, in part, “Hollis [Taylor] and Arial [Taylor] were inspired to bring together a group of writers that have the potential to consciously support the evolution of the human race. […] Bringing together some of the most spiritually diverse queer sex positive people to write on the evolutionary movement towards inclusive spirituality. Hollis and Arial reached for the soul searching queers, sluts, freaks, weirdos, dirty hippies and other consciously evolving humanitarians and environmentalists willing to share their experiences with the world. They reached out for those bringing a conscious message of love, peace and inclusive spirituality. Spirituality that not only tolerated or accepted who but also celebrated our differences. Spiritual paths invented by mixing the best parts of many paths into a path specifically built for each individual.”

art by Rowye

The page continues with “All our writers have explored a wide variety of spiritual paths including Wicca, Buddhism, Judaism, Paganism, Ravers, Queer Spirituality, Christianity, Burners, Home Free, Yoga, Drumming, Community Evolution, Alchemy, Witchcraft, Unitarian and many other paths traditional and undefined. The one thing everyone has in common is a willingness and a determination to practice inclusive spirituality. We want to include everyone so that EVERYONE feels welcomed and celebrated!”

RevKess’s first contribution to the site is the first article listed, “Clearing Away, Beginning Anew.” He uses this article to introduce himself, hopefully encouraging other contributors to do the same thing in the comments section. Hollis writes “Sprouting an Online Publication” in which Hollis talks about how DiversiTree came into existence. Talking about the journey of a lifetime, a major move halfway across the country, and the transformative power of Yoga to bring about a “divinely inspired” publication. In “Connection, Community, Commitment” contributor Elissa Rich writes about how connection to others leads to community which leads to commitment. Rich also quotes Angela Davis as saying “There can be no great triumph over racism without address capitalism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, the environment that we live in and the food we consume. We have to recognize all of these connections.” All three of these articles were published to the site for the grand-launch on Thursday 20 March 2015.

http://about.me/hollistaylor

DiversiTree publisher, Hollis Taylor

With categories or sections including Divinely Inspired, Inclusive Spirituality, Sacred Sexuality, Home Free, Personal Ponderings, Inclusive Parenting and reviews of events, books, music, and other art media, DiversiTree should prove to be a one-stop resource for personal and academic looks at what it means to be LGBTQIAA+ and spiritually minded. More categories will be cropping up as the need arises. A YouTube channel is also under consideration for those who are more comfortable with the spoken word.

Contributors to the site range from genderqueer feminists to drag queens to straight allies; from parents to young people to old fogies. Regular contributors include Hollis, Dirty Mother, Inara de Luna, Jaice Dumars, Mahria Potter, Missy Wilrecker and RevKess. “Casual” contributors include musicians, artists, ritualists, and more. One contributor will be doing a series on their transition from one gender to another – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spirituality. Some will contribute about living homeless – by choice – and transforming one’s spirituality into visual art of various kinds.

MUSIC

  1. Celia – Shine Your Light – RED Alabaster & Blue
  2. Omnia – Love in the Forest – Wolf Love
  3. Murphey’s Midnight Rounders – Make a Chain Around the World – I Am the Goddess
  4. Elvendrums – Dreamtimes – Gateway to Faerie

Links of Interest

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PWN 2015.3.1: Floating in a State of Confusion

For the week of Wednesday 4 March 2015 KaliSara and RevKess attempted to explain some of the murkiness that is in the world today. They may not have succeeded in anything other than shedding some of their own perspectives on the issues they discussed, but they hope that the listener gains some kind of an understanding of those issues.

Topics

  • Netanyahu before Congress: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his third appearance before a joint session of Congress in the United States. He was invited to speak before Congress by Speaker of the House John Boehner, bypassing the traditional invitation source of the White House and the Office of the President. You can watch the video of his speech through the New York Times YouTube channel and read the transcript on the Washington Post.
  • Hillary Clinton’s private email: The House Benghazi Panel is questioning former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email address to correspond with staffers, elected officials, and other politicians during her time in that office. Some question if she handed over print outs of all her official and work related emails when she left that cabinet post as well as if all official correspondence sent to government email addresses were indeed backed up on official servers. The Wall Street Journal has coverage. Jacob Gershman takes a legal view on the issue on the WSJ Law Blog.
  • AIDS – gorilla connection, abstinence: A recently published study indicates that 50% or more of the lineages of HIV-1 can be linked to the consumption of gorilla bushmeat in Africa and then transmitted through sex. A cost-benefit analysis study by Stanford Medical School student Nathan Lo shows that a ten year $1.3 billion dollar program to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa through abstinence and fidelity classes has been a failure, showing no “measurably change sexual behavior and was largely wasted.”
  • What are our world leaders really trying to do?
    • KaliSara and RevKess do not currently have any links for this topics. There are numerous opinions out there on what various leaders want to do. Both hosts agree that many political and world leaders say they have good intentions, and many of them truly do, but that many of those same leaders are also very human – self serving.
    • Next week’s edition of PWN will address this topic in a vague manner as the hosts discuss what, in the United States, religious and secular non-profits can and cannot do or say in regards to politics. Campaign season is starting for the Oval Office and other seats in federal, state, and local governments.

MUSIC

  1. Damh the Bard – Pagan Ways – Cauldron Born
  2. Sharon Knight – Song of the Sea – Song of the Sea Sharon Knight is conducting an IndieGoGo campaign to support her newest musical project, Portals, which will include a CD, a music video and an art book. You can learn more about her campaign at www.SharonKnightPortals.net.
  3. Arthur Hinds – The Water’s Rising – Dance in the Fire