Author Archives

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PWN: 2015 State of the Union and more

RevKess and KaliSara discuss the 2015 State of the Union Address from President Barack Obama. On  Tuesday 20 January 2015, President Obama delivered his annual State of the Union Address to Congress and the nation, indeed to the world. It was televised and streamed live on the internet, video recording and audio are available on various websites. RevKess watched the live stream from the White House YouTube channel. You can read the full transcript and listen to the audio through NPR. You can also read and hear Sen. Joni Ernst’s official GOP response on NPR. If you wish to fact check the State of the Union, visit this site.

Though Obama addressed many issues and plans for the administration moving into the next year or so, KaliSara and RevKess only addressed a handful of them. In just under an hour, Obama talks about many issues that are important to both the Pagan community and the citizens of the United States. In a two hour broadcast, your hosts only had time to discuss a few of them.

  • Minimum Wage

    NYTimes.com – Click to Enlarge

  • Housing
  • Health Care – including daycare expense
  • Net Neutrality
  • Community College for 2 years
  • First SOTU reference to Civil Rights for the gay, lesbian, AND bisexual, AND transgender community in the United States
  • Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
  • Some of the 2016 Presidential contenders respond to SOTU

RevKess was personally pleased to hear the inclusion of both bisexuals and transgender citizens when Obama addressed civil rights for all. As KaliSara sarcastically said (with humor, not derision), “He thinks they’re human!” Previous Presidents may have mentioned gays and lesbians, but this the first time a sitting President has included bisexuals and transgender people in such an important speech.

Other News

Many news stories of interest to the Pagan community were left out of this week’s edition due to time constraints. Tune in next week for more news and views for the Pagan minded.

MUSIC
  1. Chronilus – The Wild in Me – Threshold
  2. Celia – Mysterious Shaman – Shaman Journey
  3. Tuatha Dea (feat. Damh the Bard) – Irish Handfasting – The Tribe
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PMP: Back to the Basics, What Good is It?

RevKess and KaliSara go back to the basics with an episode about Old Wives’/Wise Tales and other subjects. What’s so special about ritual/magickal tools? Why do some use caraway seeds to protect against thievery? What’s so lucky about a four leaf clover?

Your hosts have tackled the basics many times throughout the five and half years they have been broadcasting. This time they delve a little bit more deeply into the topic of correspondences. Throughout the show you will hear about how various herbs, stones, candles, and other things can correspond to each other and for certain uses. They also talk about how some of those correspondences may have come into common use.

A discussion of correspondences:

These and thousands more can be found in tables of correspondence on the internet, in books, perhaps in your own Book of Shadows or grimoire. RevKess mentions two books during the show that he refers to often when needing correspondences. Scott Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs and Luisah Teish’s Jamabalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals. Herman Slater’s Magickal Formulary was also mentioned in brief.

There is a poem that almost all modern Pagans are familiar with, it is the closest to “doctrine” that Wiccans have. The Wiccan Rede contains a list of correspondences for nine sacred woods.

Nine woods in the Cauldron go, burn them fast and burn them slow.
Birch in the fire goes to represent what the Lady knows.

Oak in the forest towers with might, in the fire it brings the God’s
insight. Rowan is a tree of power causing life and magick to flower.

Willows at the waterside stand ready to help us to the Summerland.
Hawthorn is burned to purify and to draw faerie to your eye.

Hazel-the tree of wisdom and learning adds its strength to the bright fire burning.
White are the flowers of Apple tree that brings us fruits of fertility.

Grapes grow upon the vine giving us both joy and wine.
Fir does mark the evergreen to represent immortality seen.

Elder is the Lady’s tree burn it not or cursed you’ll be.

These same woods are held sacred or special by most everyone in modern Paganism

MUISC

  1. Damh the Bard – Land, Sky and Sea – Cauldron Born
  2. Kari Tauring – How Do We Honor You – A New Yuletide Celebration
  3. Wendy Rule – Dark Wings -The Wolf Sky
  4. Mama Gina – Selah – Solitaire
  5. Dale Bacon – Zombie Gerbil Apocalypse – unreleased single
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PWN: KaliSara joins the show

After an unfortunate hiatus, Pagan-Musings Podcast Channel is pleased to announce the return of the Pagan Weekly News. Zaracon’s health has prevented him from devoting any time to podcasting right now, so KaliSara has volunteered to fill his seat for PWN. Everyone at PMPChannel hopes to hear Zaracon return to the internet airwaves very soon. On her debut edition of PWN the hosts discuss many issues that have some bearing on the Pagan community.

Your hosts spent a good deal of time talking about Charlie Hebdo and freedom of speech/expression. On Thursday 15 January 2015 RevKess published an article on PaganActivist.com giving his opinion on the shootings and how people should realize that freedoms have consequences. You can read that article here, read his addendum in comments on that page.

In advance of the 2015 State o the Union Address they dwelt a good portion of the show on some of the topics that President Obama will discuss in his address.

  • Net Neutrality
  • Community College
  • Racial Tensions
  • Housing
  • Minimum Wage

KaliSara  and RevKess also discussed news items that have a direct bearing on the Pagan community, especially in the United States.

Mention was also made on upcoming events such as PantheaCon and the Between the Worlds conference. As well as music and book news.

  • Alex Bledsoe announced that at least three more books are in the offing for Tufa Tales
  • Mama Gina is scheduled to release her third CD in February – tune in on Sunday 25 January at 7pm Central to hear an interview with Gina about her musical career and her newest CD release on the Pagan-Musings Podcast with RevKess and KaliSara
  • Celia is working on a children’s story CD
Music
  1. Crow Women – In the Fire – Crow Goddess
  2. Damh the Bard – Sons and Daughters of Robin Hood – Antlered Crown and Standing Stone
  3. Crow Women – Healing Circle Song – Crow Goddess
  4. Mama Gina – Waking Panther – digital single
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PMP: Mike Nichols

RevKess and Kalisara were thrilled to present for their listening audience a visit with Mike Nichols, one of the first Pagan broadcasters in the United States. He is also the author of The Witches’ Sabbats and the website of the same name. He’s been teaching, writing, lecturing, and more since 1970. Last year he even provided a link to the audio from his Pagan broadcast in 1973 to help celebrate the 20th anniversary of Murphy’s Magic Mess on KZUM in Lincoln, NE – the world’s longest running Pagan content radio program.

From the author listing at Acorn Guild Press: “Mike Nichols is the celebrated author of The Witches’ Sabbats book and www.WitchesSabbats.com—the ultimate Mike Nichols Photoresources on Pagan holidays and related writings—and a contributing author to Creating Circles & Ceremonies. Mike has been a featured speaker on National Public Radio, Spiral Dance Radio, and Eclectic Pagan Podcast (episodes 16 and 22) on iTunes. He does extensive online teaching and writing, occasionally guest lectures at Pagan festivals, and performs in a Pagan band called Spellbound.

“A pioneer in the American neo-Pagan movement, Nichols taught classes in Witchcraft for twenty years continuously, from 1970 to 1989, in Columbia and Kansas City, Missouri, through the Communiversity and at his bookstore, The Magick Lantern. He was also the editor of The Lantern’s Light , the store’s in-house publication. A founding member of the Coven of New Gwynedd, Nichols was the first Wiccan representative on the Kansas City Interfaith Council.

“Nichols is a lifelong student of the Craft and, after years of research, writing, and teaching, he still considers himself a student. He received his BA from the University of Missouri, with a double major in communications and psychology (specializing in parapsychology). He has done graduate work in the field of library and information science.”

RevKess had prepared a list of topics for Mike to give an idea of what was to be discussed. They stayed to the list, but in a rather circuitous manner, skipping around and going back to things from time to time. KaliSara remained quiet for most of the conversation, keeping herself busy in the chat rooms.

Mike is clearly a fount of knowledge when it comes to the history of Paganism and its varied history. Admitting that he’s not read many current publications, he nonetheless has vast amounts of information at hand in his library and on his website. With tomes ranging from the early writings of the modern movement back to the heyday of “secret societies” and 19th Century spiritualism, he indicated that his most inspirational reads while maturing on his path were the collected works of such notable figures as Madame Blavatsky and others from that time period.

Throughout the conversation the listener can get some insight into how how earlier leaders in the modern movement gained their knowledge and shared their information with others. From the publication of such magazines as Green Egg and the in-house newsletters of local new age and metaphysical shoppes to the correspondence between Pagans after meeting at local and regional events.

The listener can also get an idea of how some of the early essays and articles from that time period later became published works, specifically Mike Nichols’ own essays and articles that would become the book The Witches’ Sabbats. Ellen Cannon Reed, a spiritual mentor to RevKess through her own published works, was the first to ask Mike to have his essays and articles on the Sabbats compiled into one volume. Some years after her passing the book had gone out of print and the owners of Acorn Guild Press approached him to have the book rereleased under their imprint. Today the articles and essays can be found in the book as well as much of that same content on his website. Though he does agree with the idea of copyright in regards to certain published works, he also feels that his articles and essays should be available for free, and much of that content is available through his site. There is some information in the book not found on the site and vice versa. RevKess has most of the articles and essays on the Sabbats printed out from a dot matrix printer and in one of many volumes of his BOS.

Nichols continues to work on articles and essays that are of interest to him, and he hopes to others. A recent essay on atheism and nature religions can be found both on his site and via WitchVox. Many other articles on other topics, including a filmography of witchy tastes, can be found at his site.

Music and other Audio

  1. Gaia Consort – Every Sacred Thing
  2. KOPN Beltane 1973 – Mike Nichols broadcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qg8zlrblDo
  3. Bell Book and Canto – Orpheus’s Song – Songs of the goddess: A Pagan Music Compilation
  4. David Pendragon – Spiral Dance – Book of Shadows

Other Links of Interest

 

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MMM: Set List for 1/11/15

ad bannerMurf, *K8, Michelle and Phil were all around the table this morning for the second 2015 edition of Murphy’s Magic Mess on KZUM in Lincoln, NE. With a hodge podge of New Age, Pagan, and fun music and stories they shared their laughter, their time, and their joy with the listeners.

A note to those who were listening, Yes by Bone Poets Orchestra did not actually play during the two hour time slot, it instead was the launch song for Lavender Hill as the musicians are a poly family and that fits right in with the general theme of LavHill on KZUM.

  1. Deity – Wendy Rule -Deity
  2. Patterns Of Sun and Shade – Kathryn Kaye – Patterns of Sun and Shade
  3. Last Dance – Neil Tatar & David Darling – Where Did the Time Go
  4. Tesla’s Dream – Timothy Wenzel – Summon the Wind
  5. Other Planets – Erik Scott – Spirits
  6. Ys – Alan Stivell – Renaissance of the Celtic Harp
  7. King of the Faeries – Aine Minogue – The Twilight Realm
  8. Fairies Last Song – Waterboys – Appointment with Mr. Yeats
  9. Grey the Day – Betsy Tinney – Release the Cello
  10. In Our Place – Carmen Rubino – Aquarian Dream
  11. Two Monks – Jim Weise – Tales from Cultures Near and Far
  12. Dreamtime – Elvendrums – Gateway to Faerie
  13. Yidaki – Elvendrums – Gateway to Faerie
  14. Mishiamagu – Tuatha Dea feat. Celia – The Tribe
  15. Rite of Passage – Douge MacLean – Rite of Passage
  16. Allein Duinin – Tuatha Dea – Tuatha Dea
  17. Wisp of a Thing – Tuatha Dea – Tufa Tales
  18. The Goddess of Letting Go – Mama Gina – Goddess Kiss’d
  19. Sisters Waiting – Mama Gina – Goddess Kiss’d
  20. The Wild in Me – Cronilus – Threshold
  21. Urban Druid – Cernunnos Rising – Urban Druid
  22. Yes – Bone Poets Orchestra – Belladonna Smiles

Michelle is a “new” addition to the Mess. She is not officially a Minion yet, but she is getting some training on the boards and is encouraged to bring in some of her own music selections for use during the show. Michelle hails from the Order of the Red Grail, a local Wiccan church, and has been regularly guesting on the Mess for some time now. Murf recently extended the invitation to her to join the crue and make a Mess of things with the rest of us. Murf and her Minions are looking forward to get her trained on the boards and making her a permanent addition the Mess.

KZUM is coming up on their Spring Donation Drive, one of the two or three times a year the station asks the listeners to donate and support community radio. The drive is from 5 February to 12 February 2015, in time to celebrate the 37th anniversary of KZUM. You can find more information at the web site. The Crue of the Mess will be sharing more information as it becomes available through their Facebook page and during the live broadcasts.

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PMP: Old & New, the Year Past & the Year to Come

KaliSara and RevKess did a 2014 review in the first hour of the show followed by a look at 2015. Though you can find a 2014 review just about anywhere in the Pagan blogosphere, as well as in the mainstream, the hosts wanted to take a look at 2014 through the lens of the programming here on PMPChannel. In these notes you will also find links to previous shows in 2014 that pertained to the topics at hand.

2014

  • Kenny Klein: Late in March, the author, musician, and teacher, a strong leader of the Blue Star Tradition, was arrested on multiple accounts of possession of child pornography with intent to distribute. After the rather fleeting mainstream media coverage, many young women (and some no longer so young) came forward to the Pagan press and on social media to share their stories of uncomfortable situations with Klein, up to and including coerced sexual encounters. This lead to his ex-wife and son breaking their silence and visiting with the host of Green Egg’s podcast, currently not in production.
  • PaganPro and other organizations launched throughout the year to help address and combat issues similar to those brought to the fore by Klein and others. The hosts of PMPChannel visited with one of the founding members of PaganPro in December to learn more about this site and similar proactive groups in the Pagan world.
  • Community rally to support: It is clear that the Pagan community can and will rally to support each other and certain projects within the Pagan community. Over the years of this podcast the hosts have spoken with community leaders, artists, musicians, and others involved in various projects that were seeking the support, both financially and spiritually, to make those projects a reality.

2015

  • KaliSara and her husband Stormcrow moved into the new year by cleaning house, eliminating things they didn’t need, weeding out some of the toys their children had, creating more space within their home. Going with the idea of “less is more”.
  • The hosts discussed some off the future topics for the year, including a visit with author and historian Mike Nichols, a panel discussion on Racism in the Pagan community, and more.
  • KaliSara got personal with RevKess and asked him what his plans were for the year. RevKess revealed that he is looking for a better position in his employment and planning to spend more time writing. To that latter end, he will be writing a monthly article for PaganActivist.com – his articles will appear on the 3rd Thursday of each month starting with January 15.

MUSIC

  1. Cernunnos Rising – The Coming and Going – Wild Soul
  2. Leigh Ann Hussey – Witches Come Again – Homebrew
  3. Celia – Cleansing My Heart – Shaman Journey
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MMM: Moon Warrior 12/7/14

This week on the Mess we celebrated both the Full Moon and honored the memory of those who died in the bombing of Pearl Harbor 73 years ago. Phil supplied the Moon music and Murf the Warrior music (with two exceptions in the Warrior set). *K8 handled typing up the original set list for posting to our Facebook page. Next week will return us to our usual format, featuring 15-45 minutes of NEW new age music in the first hour.

  1. Belladonna & Aconite – Inkubus Sukkubus – Away with the Fairies
  2. Shine On Full Moon – Gandalf – Between Earth and Sky
  3. Crystal Moon – Ricky Kej & Wouter Kellerman – Winds of Samsara
  4. Lady of the Moon – Kate West & The Hearth of Hekate – Elements of Chant
  5. Moon Path – Kiva – A Call to Beauty
  6.  Hail to the Moon – Wendy Rule – World Between Worlds
  7. Wolf to the Moon – Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow – Stranger in Us All
  8. Silent Moon – Damh the Bard – Antlered Crown & Standing  Stone
  9. Mouse and the Moon/Ink Pah Tdah – Dovie Thomason & Ulali – Lessons from the Animal People
  10. Siren Moon – Sharon Knight – Song of the Sea
  11. Drawing Down the Moon – Gaia Consort – Evolve
  12. A Flame in Avalon – Anne Lister – A Flame in Avalon
  13. Mort d’Arthur – Anne Lister – A Flame in Avalon
  14. Avalon is Calling – Peter Conover – Metamorphic
  15. The Last Hero – Michael Longcor – Boarding Party
  16. Battle of the Clampherdown – Michael Longcor – Boarding Party
  17. Battle of New Orleans – Coyote Run – Coyote Run Pleads the Fifth
  18. Among the Heroes – SJ Tucker – Ember Days (Original motion picture soundtrack)
  19. Coloured Ribbons & Tarnished Brass – The Cundeez – (single release)
  20. Warrior Queen – Kellianna – Lady Moon
  21. Earth Warrior – Omnia – Earth Warrior
  22. All My Relations – Ulali – Mahk Jehi
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Dia Crabtree & PaganPro.org

2014 brought us many disappointments, but out of those cloudy events there is a silver lining.

The arrest of Kenny Klein on multiple counts of possession with intent to distribute child pornography, and the subsequent allegations of abuse of underage women and girls; the in your face reminder of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s complacency and alleged participation in child molestation while with her husband; continued discussion of Gavin and Yvonne Frost’s supposed support of the use of sexual initiation for minors; the list could go on and on.

As a response to these and other incidents within the Pagan community several organizations have been forming anew or adding councils and committees to address these types of situations. The Council of the Phoenix, started in part by Ariel Monserrat and Literata Hurley; the direct involvement of such groups and organizations at Pantheon Foundation and Covenant of the Goddess; state and regional groups such as Pagan Elders of Colorado. These and others have been forming or addressing this issues on their own.

Dia CrabtreeDia Crabtree and a team of others have taken a different approach and are working on creating an online database of elders, leaders, teachers, authors, performers, etc. This database would include background information and verification of claims regarding education, lineage (where applicable), curriculum vitae and much more. In other words, PaganPro.org would be available to the community as a means to vet leaders, elders, presenters, etc. Visit the site in progress to learn more and participate in surveys that can help build the site. Listen to the show in archives and hear Dia explain the reasons behind PaganPro and how the site will work when completed.

MUSIC

  1. Damh the Bard – Save Me – Spirit of Albion
  2. Omnia – Earth Warrior – Earth Warrior
  3. Cernunnos Rising – The Great World Tree – Urban Druid

Related Episodes of PMP from 2014

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From The Hum and the Shiver to Tufa Tales

Finally, after years of talking about it, KaliSara and RevKess got Tuatha Dea on the show. Joined by author Alex Bledsoe, Danny and Rebecca of Tuatha Dea talk music, inspiration, and taking a novel and making it into music.

From the back cover of the novel:

“No one knows where the Tufa came from, or how they ended up in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, yet when the first Europeans arrived, they were already there. Dark-haired, enigmatic, and suspicious of outsiders, the Tufa live quiet loves in the hills and valleys of Cloud County. While their origins may be lost to history, there are clues in their music – hints of their true nature buried in the songs they have passed down for generations.”

It was at a Pagan festival where Bledsoe and Tuatha Dea first met. As Bledsoe describes in the interview, he was sitting in his cabin, not intending to go to the concert hall, when he heard this amazing drumming echoing through the event site. He felt compelled to see who was making such a magical noise. When he saw Danny, Rebecca and the rest of the Tuatha on the stage he felt as if he was seeing the Tufa at one of their barn dances. After the concert he asked Danny and the family if he could include them in his next installment in the Tufa Tales. As one might say, that is when a legend was born.

Throughout the program, KaliSara and RevKess asked probing questions to get to the nitty gritty of creating not only the books, but the music as well. A true cooperative effort, Tufa Tales is an amazing mix of story and song, some of it taken straight from the pages of Bledsoe’s story.  In the program you will hear a small selection of music from the CD interspersed with back ground information and the inspiration of both projects. You’ll also learn a bit about Bledsoe’s other writings and the other music projects from Tuatha Dea.

THE MUSIC

KaliSara and RevKess focused on the music from the Tufa Tales release for this show. All of Tuatha Dea’s music worth a listen. At least in their opinions, and they are sure that you will agree. It should be noted that the version of Wisp of a Thing that was played on the podcast is available only as an mp3 download. The CD and video version of the song do not include the “siren” that starts the third portion of the set.

  1. Tuatha Dea – The Hum and the Shiver – Tufa Tales: Appalachian Fae
  2. Tuatha Dea – Wisp of a Thing (Part 1, Primal Flight/Part 2, Curnens Lament/Part 3, Alive!) – Tufa Tales: Appalachian Fae
  3. Tuatha Dea – Long Black Curl – Tufa Tales: Appalachian Fae

Additional Links

Review of Tufa Tales by David Banach from Witches&Pagans

Cooperhead Road by Steve Earle Bledsoe used Copperhead Road in a workshop to explain how music can tell a story that covers generations. Similar to how Wisp of a Thing tells a tale over many years.