T. Thorn Coyle, author of "Kissing the Limitless" & "Elementary Witchcraft," will be teaching a class at Breathe Books in Hampden this Thursday at 7pm. Cost: $20.
Autonomy and Will: Bringing Intention into Action
Not sure if I'll be in attendance, but check it out if you're available! I've heard amazing things about this progressive Witch and her work.
Thanks to David over at Capital Witch for the head's up!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
In Search of Community: The Baltimore Pagan Meetup
The frequency with which I've updated this blog as of late pretty much sums up my magickal experiences in Baltimore. The lack of activity (or at least activity open to the public) is severely limited. Even an email to the committee for Baltimore's PPD proved futile - I remember the first time fondly helping with NYC's PPD, where my offer to volunteer was accepted immediately. As an organizer, I'm all too aware of the importance of volunteers. So having an offer of "I'll do anything to help!" fall on deaf ears strikes me as downright bizarre. Ah well. Perhaps I'll move to DC, home to the soon-to-be-opened Pagan Community Center (congratulations, Open Hearth Foundation, on signing the lease!!!) Until that day comes, I'll continue tooling around looking for a few good witches...
This is not to say the City of Baltimore is without magickal folk: there is an ambitious and quite welcoming group of people who sponsor a monthly Meetup at The Life of Reily, a charming Irish pub with a sizable private upstairs room. From palmistry workshops to Tarot basics lectures, HPS Iris and Meetup attendees provide an invaluable service free of charge and full of enthusiasm.
I've been to 2 events: one a tarot event, the other on past life regression. My familiarity with the tarot helped my enjoyment of the first meetup, serving as both review and practice session. I never cease to learn new details or techniques in pretty much any class on the Tarot, this meetup being no exception. Though clearly nervous, the guest speaker did a lovely job of summarizing the cards' significance before yielding the floor to a reader teaching different spreads. (Ego is clearly not an issue with this group, which is always refreshing!) The past life regression lecture and workshop, led by HPS Iris, was nothing short of a revelation. Not only did the group regression prove intensely effective, but it quelled any/all doubts I'd had about the validity of pastlife regression prior to that evening. The quality of content of these Meetups is high enough to make a former Wicca school teacher return to her books.
The structure of the meetup is logical, though not without drawbacks. Iris encourages others to lead and share, often I'd venture, to the detriment of the pace/focus of the meetup. Lectures did not begin until well after 9pm, allowing a full two hours for gathering and socializing (which, even by Pagan Standard Time..er..standards is a bit extreme.) The material presentations have on both occasions run well past midnight, and after discussions (I'm told) can last up until the bar's closing time of 2am. This doesn't seem to phase most members: it seems an attempt to combine a social meetup with a class. For Baltimore Pagans, whose outlets for this community seem extremely limited, it makes sense that every second counts - a 7 hour (!!!) meetup may seem extreme to an ex-NYC Pagan with numerous opportunities to meet with other local Witches, but probably not to someone with a mere one night per month.
All this considered, its worth checking out. The people are lovely and well-intentioned; the knowledge is offered generously and without charge; the material seems painstakingly well prepared; HPS Iris is clearly a seasoned and inspiring leader and magick-worker providing a gift to her community. And its in a bar. With beer. And an assortment of fried Maryland-esque (read: crab-full) edibles that I've heard are quite delicious to non-vegan folks.
I'm not sure when next I'll appear at one of these meetups: limitations to both attention span (esp on a Friday night) and transportation in turn limit the frequency of attendance. But I'm in awe of their efforts, and thankful for both establishing some semblance of faith in Baltimore's Pagan community and helping illustrate the needs of the community, both those met and those yet to be.
For details and/or to join the Meetup, visit:
Baltimore Pagan Meetup Group
or
Baltimore Witches Meetup Group
This is not to say the City of Baltimore is without magickal folk: there is an ambitious and quite welcoming group of people who sponsor a monthly Meetup at The Life of Reily, a charming Irish pub with a sizable private upstairs room. From palmistry workshops to Tarot basics lectures, HPS Iris and Meetup attendees provide an invaluable service free of charge and full of enthusiasm.
I've been to 2 events: one a tarot event, the other on past life regression. My familiarity with the tarot helped my enjoyment of the first meetup, serving as both review and practice session. I never cease to learn new details or techniques in pretty much any class on the Tarot, this meetup being no exception. Though clearly nervous, the guest speaker did a lovely job of summarizing the cards' significance before yielding the floor to a reader teaching different spreads. (Ego is clearly not an issue with this group, which is always refreshing!) The past life regression lecture and workshop, led by HPS Iris, was nothing short of a revelation. Not only did the group regression prove intensely effective, but it quelled any/all doubts I'd had about the validity of pastlife regression prior to that evening. The quality of content of these Meetups is high enough to make a former Wicca school teacher return to her books.
The structure of the meetup is logical, though not without drawbacks. Iris encourages others to lead and share, often I'd venture, to the detriment of the pace/focus of the meetup. Lectures did not begin until well after 9pm, allowing a full two hours for gathering and socializing (which, even by Pagan Standard Time..er..standards is a bit extreme.) The material presentations have on both occasions run well past midnight, and after discussions (I'm told) can last up until the bar's closing time of 2am. This doesn't seem to phase most members: it seems an attempt to combine a social meetup with a class. For Baltimore Pagans, whose outlets for this community seem extremely limited, it makes sense that every second counts - a 7 hour (!!!) meetup may seem extreme to an ex-NYC Pagan with numerous opportunities to meet with other local Witches, but probably not to someone with a mere one night per month.
All this considered, its worth checking out. The people are lovely and well-intentioned; the knowledge is offered generously and without charge; the material seems painstakingly well prepared; HPS Iris is clearly a seasoned and inspiring leader and magick-worker providing a gift to her community. And its in a bar. With beer. And an assortment of fried Maryland-esque (read: crab-full) edibles that I've heard are quite delicious to non-vegan folks.
I'm not sure when next I'll appear at one of these meetups: limitations to both attention span (esp on a Friday night) and transportation in turn limit the frequency of attendance. But I'm in awe of their efforts, and thankful for both establishing some semblance of faith in Baltimore's Pagan community and helping illustrate the needs of the community, both those met and those yet to be.
For details and/or to join the Meetup, visit:
Baltimore Pagan Meetup Group
or
Baltimore Witches Meetup Group
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)