Two Pagans now hold office in these United States

The first is Dan Halloran a Lawyer who was elected to New York City council on the Republican ticket.

Blogspot is being a pain with links right now so untill I can get them to work there in plain text.

http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=4957

"NY-23 wasn’t the only race on Tuesday night in New York, city residents also voted to fill a vacant city council seat to work alongside that bastion of conservatism Mike Bloomberg. A Republican won the seat; Dan Halloran became the first openly pagan city councilmen

Dan Halloran became a city council member for New York’s 19th district despite having one thing going against him that his opponent tried to use. Dan Halloran is a pagan, an openly practicing pagan who worships Odin and other Norse gods. All of you comic book buffs out there know Oden as the father of Thor. Maybe he helped Dan Halloran bring it home on Tuesday.

Halloran was raised Catholic but had an epiphany after his father died when he was a senior in high school, that’s when he started to study his family heritage which ultimately led him into the religion of Theodism. Theodism is a form of Norse Paganism that worships, like I said before, comic book character’s fathers. (I’m sure I’ll catch it for that one)

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The other is Jessica Orsini. A Transgender woman who got elected on the Democratic ticket in City of Centralia, Missouri,

http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=&c=words&id=13666

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How cool is this!?

What is a Pagan anyway?

Many people define Pagan in different ways. This is mine.

Pagan: A person that honors and worships many Gods and Spirits including spirits of the dead and of nature. Believes in one or more spirtual realms. A pagan normally but not always practices magic and divination.


There you go. What do you think folks?

Underground Christian sect with ties to the Goverment.

What was that about this stuff being a conspiracy theory?

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/98841/DCs_invisible_army_for_Christ

Wild Hunt interview on "The Family"

http://wildhunt.org/blog/2008/07/interview-with-jeff-sharlet.html

And in another blog at Belief.net:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/apagansblog/2009/07/saurons-minions.html

Pass the word on and my thanks to A Heathen's day for alerting us to this!
http://alheithinn.blogspot.com/

Pre-meal prayer

"I give thanks to the Spirits.
Who have given me this food with there life.

I give thanks to the Ancestors.
Who have made this meal possible.

I give thanks to the Gods.
For there infinite blessings."

Variant:

"I give thanks to the Kindred of the Land.
Who have given me this food with there life.

I give thanks to the Kindred of the Sea.
Who have made this meal possible.

I give thanks to the Kindred of the Sky.
For there infinite blessings."

Guess who is back?

I just got a new computer my old one having finally gone to the realms of the dead. It is now giving the dead internet access. RIP computer.

Other things going on for me is that I hope with the help of the Gods, especally one Dinoysos who seems to have taken an interest in me, I will be in college again next year.

My spirtual life has taken an interesting turn, somedays I feel like the Powers are passing me around one to the next. Kind of like a big family gathering where you keep being sent around to meet your relatives?

Somedays that's how I feel in my Paganism.

Pro-Pagan Game: Deepolis

I ran across this game via a few advertisments the basic idea is the world has been flooded and mankind now lives underwater. The interesting thing for Pagans is the good guys (Scion) are a Pagan faction with a Polytheistic mythology based on Celtic Myth and Autherian Legend.

The game is browser based an one moves around via mouse clicks, I'm currently in the early stages so once I'm really into it I will post a better review as a browser game of course most sides don't care for the backstory hopefully there will be some RP servers soon, if you want join in at www.deepolis.com/ and join the Scion faction!

Why the Triskelion should replace the Pentagram as the main symbol of Neo-Paganism

The pentagram has for sometime been used as a generic symbol for Neo-Paganism, just about any product intended for all Pagans will have a pentagram or a pentacle somewhere. Look at just about any modern tarot deck, I had a former friend that would go on a rant anytime I called the Earth suits disks or coins.

I do not believe I have to explain the symbolism of the pentagram to a reader but for the few non-Pagans that make up my readership the Pentagram is a five pointed the star that once represented the five wounds that Christians believe Jesus sufferend on the cross, it also appears in Taoism, the Baha'i Faith, Babylonian mytery traditions, Thelema, Satanism and a host of other faiths. A good article on the Pentagram can be found here: http://wicca.timerift.net/pentagram.shtml

A Pentagram

These days when one sees a pentagram one tends to think Wiccan, or at least a Wiccan-esque Paganism. That is Duotheism, triple Goddess, Horned God, Law of Three, Harm None and Wiccan styled rituals. For this reason I feel the Pentagram is not a good symbol for the whole of Paganism. As a large majority of Pagan faiths Druidry, Asatru, Kemeticism, Hellenism, Roman Paganism and the rest of the family do not share these features. Many such as ADF Druidry lacks even a believe in the five elements the arms of the Pentagram represent.

As such I feel a new symbol should be found and I believe the triskelion is a good choice to replace the pentagram as a symbol which all Neo-Pagans can in one way or another identifiy with.

One style of Triskelion

The symbol dates back to Neolithic times and can be found in virtually every culture in the world in some form or another. The spirals can have different meanings for different Pagans. I know it appears already in Germanic Paganism and Celtic Traditions, Druids can see the three realms represented in the spirals, Wiccas the Triple Goddess. Thus making it a symbol that is all things to all Pagans. Best of all no path claims the Triskelion thus as a universal Pagan symbol no would make the mistake of thinking Wiccans are the end all and be all of Paganism.

So what do you think reader? As Paganism hits the mainstream and other paths overtake Wicca as the most popular is it time we leave the Pentagram as just the symbol of one set of Paths and take the Triskelion which no path I know of claims as there symbol and make it the symbol of everyone?

Temples and why we need them.

Pagan's today have two features about them for which they are well known. One is a love for nature the seond is a distaste for anything even coming close to organization. For an example talk to some about the idea of building temples and so how fast they start talking about Nature the way Protestants do about needing nothing but Jesus.

Chris Orapello did a show recently on his podcast the Infinite and the Beyound located here: http://infinitebeyond.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=479546 that discussed the issue of Paganism and Nature. I myself plan to do a blog about Nature later down the road. For now let us just say that all to often Pagans tend to think of Nature as some Disney like setting of trees and bunnies, often forgetting just how deadly nature can be.

Awhile back I saw a Discovery Special about a pod of Orca that attacked a blue whale and her calf seperating and killing the baby. Many had to go into therapy saying nature was about love and healing not killing babies. These people before this time had always thought the term "Killer Whale" was just some mean nickname given to a gentle and loving creature.

Still this does not address the main issue why have Temples at all?

To start with if we ever want to get our Groves growing a place to meet and celibrate is a must, we cannot keep meeting at Myeddin and Morgan's place on every Holy day after all. A temple would provide a place for worshippers to gather (Plus Myeddin and Morgan will no longer need to worry about having property damaged or destroyed plus no more calls from the neighbors!)

In addition a temple provides a safe contact point between the Grove and the outside world. Myddin and Morgan I am sure would be very nervous about having any stranger just drop by there house, however strangers coming into the temple is another matter altogether. Classes can be held, a library maintained. A safe place to hold events and rituals. This is a place we wouldn't have to worry about having to constantly rent out or worry about avalibility. It would be OUR place.

Speaking of seekers and classes a temple would be a way to "fly the flag" for Paganism. A temple would make the statement, we are here to stay. We are serious about our faith and are not going away. As we grow and establish houses of worship people will start to take us more seriously and we will see our ranks grow as seekers come to take a look into what we believe.

To get here we as a community need to start growing up. We can't just "take a break" whenever the drama gets to hard on us, we can't constantly be self focused. Bills and expenses will have to be payed, land bought, a design agreed on and used, here I think we can take a note from the Catholic and Orthodox Churches and come up with a standard Temple design to be used at most times.

I'd love to see Pagan temples become a community center. Hosting in addition to rituals and classes parties and maybe even D&D and miniature games an LAN parties (charging a slight fee) along with sports, possibly even entering church or minor leagues and other such interests.

In times of tragedy people coming to the temple seeking healing and candle vigils.

Just think of it, the temple a popular hang out for people of all ages. Due to it's constant outreach programs and the fun events hosted it has grown in membership. Another 9-11 happens, or maybe something smaller, a local tradegy like a mine collapse. One of the Temple clergy is with the morning family possibly with a couple of members of the warriors guild to run off any Fundimentalist family members who in there spirtual arogance would dare to use this as chance to drag them back into the Church.

At the Temple lights are on, coffee, tea, water and sodas are brought out. The kitchen is in full swing preparing meals, the TV is locked onto a new channel. The meditation room and chapel are filled already. Beds are pulled out of storage and people are flocking to the grounds seeking healing, news reporters might even ask for a statement.

This is what we can be if we are willing to work for it.

Hwyl,
-Auberon

Introduction

Cyfarchion and welcome to this blog.I am your host Auberon Draenen Wen and this is The Orthodox Druid. I hope you enjoy the posts here and find what you need to grow in love and devotion to the Most Holy Powers of the Land and the Sky and the Sea.

Hwyl,
-Auberon