| ACTION - Beltane 2010 |
ACTION
The official newsletter for Alternate
Religions Educational Network
Founded Samhain 2004
Christopher Blackwell: Editor
Sandy Brundage: Copy Editor, Advisor
and domestic Correspondent
Glen Goldentree: Cartoonist
Bill Kilborn: Web Guy
| 1) Life of a Witch Interview with Laurie Cabot By Christopher Blackwell |
Laurie Cabot is someone every Witch hears about and she has always been in the midst of the community. She has created her own colorful style. She been both controversial and respected as pioneer of so much of what we think of today as being Witchcraft and Wicca. She has seen the community grow and change from the inside. I knew that she would be a fun person to interview, for Laurie could never be is dull. She kindly gave permission for this interview. Christopher: You have been involved in so many things that are now history in the Craft. How did it all start? How were you drawn to Witchcraft? When and where did your training start? ..........More |
| 2) Celebrating the Release of "The Druid Isle" and "Making Kitchen Medicines: A Practical Guide" An Interview with Ellen Evert Hopman By Christopher Blackwell |
I have in the past reviewed a couple of books by Ellen Evert Hopman, but this is the first time I have had a chance to interview her on two new books. She is a modern day Druid, cofounder of the Order of the Whiteoak (Ord na Darach Gile ~ http://www.whiteoakdruids.org, an Herbalist and teacher as well as the author of Druid related books. Christopher: Could you give us a bit of background on who you are and your experience? Ellen: I am at present co-Chief of the Order of the Whiteoak. In the past I was Vice President of Keltria for nine years and one of the five people who originally dreamed up that Order. I was also one of the first few members of ADF, back in 1984. ..........More |
| 3) Back to the Religion of the Ancestors Interview with Ogin Konung By Christopher Blackwell |
Recently through some of my European friends I began to find out about the Pagan movement in Russia and the surrounding areas. Yggeld, who I interviewed earlier, was kind enough to mention some of the other people including Ogin Konung of the Slavic community know as The Great Fire. It is one of the older groups registered as a Pagan religion with the government of the old Soviet Union back in 1990. So I contacted Ogin and asked permission for this interview. Christopher: Perhaps you can tell our readers a bit about Yourself and how you developed you interest in the old Pagan religions of your area? ..........More |
| 4) Complex Trip of Magic, Bears, and Romance Interview with Mo By Christopher Blackwell |
I often get suggestions of famous people to interview, and sometimes people forget that stories in our community cover more than the famous. Despite our training that you have to be famous to be important, most of the people in the world are more ordinary and they make up the meat and potatoes of our community as they do of the rest of the world. These are the people that we meet more often and interact with. Mo is one of the people that I communicate with over at the Pagan Federation in Europe and so I asked to interview him and see what his life is like. ..........More |
| 5) Book Review "The Secret History of Vampires Their Multiple Forms And Hidden Purposes" By Christopher Blackwell |
This is the second book that I have reviewed by Claude Lecouteux, a former Professor of Medieval literature and civilization at Sorbonne in Paris, France. In first one that I reviewed back in Samhain 2009 issue of ACTION. He taught us our ancestors believed in the very different idea of the dead. The dead lived a parallel life in his grave, or tomb. If all went well the dead would be quite happy with their new "life" and stay where they should. But if unhappy, they returned, not as wispy ghosts, but as powerful full bodied dead and wrecked havoc on the living, even killing them, destroying their land and cattle. These were the feared returning dead, the Revenants. ..........More |
| 6) Old Ways Interview with Jeffery Pierce By Christopher Blackwell |
Suggestions send me all over the place. This interview came because of a suggestion to me by one of the men over at the Pagan Men forum. This led me to contact Jeffrey for this interview about himself and a web site called Old Ways. Christopher: Jeffrey how would you describe yourself? Jeffrey: If they handed out diplomas for such things, mine would read "shaman." I had the great honor of studying with a Mi'kmaq woman for approximately two years back in the early 1990s who introduced me to the traditional approaches of the path. ..........More |
| 7) "Ancestral Folkways" A Journal of Indo-European Myth, Culture, and Religion Interview with the editor By Christopher Blackwell |
I was informed of a scholarly journal on Indo-European native spirituality entitled Ancestral Folkways. So I asked for permission to interview its founder. Christopher: Could you tell us just a bit about yourself,how long you have been on your path? Editor/AF: I have self-identified as a Heathen/Pagan for well over a decade now, after a departure from a rather traditional Catholic upbringing. In many ways my own personal yearning to gain the broadest possible understanding of the spiritual traditions I sought to connect with culminated in the conceptualization of Ancestral Folkways. ..........More |
| 8) Author, Lecturer and English Teacher Interview with Scarlett Ross By Christopher Blackwell |
This was another one of those suggestions that my friends and readers give me. She is an author, lecturer and perhaps even more scary, she is a English teacher. Never the less she was kind hearted enough to agree to this interview. Christopher: How would you describe yourself? Scarlett: Normally I wouldn't describe myself at all. Since you asked, however, I am a passionate and powerful woman who is humbled by the universe. Currently I prefer the title of "Domestic Goddess," but I answer to just about anything. I have been a high school English teacher, a mime, a candy striper, a high priestess, a godmother and a mother. These are merely roles I have taken over time, but all roles tell something about our reality as a person. ..........More |
| 9) Wiccan, Writer Author, Publisher and Blog Talk Radio Host Interview with Theresa Chaze By Christopher Blackwell |
One of my friends suggested Theresa Chaze as someone she knew one of the groups that she belonged to. I checked out her main web page at http://www.theresachaze.com , then I contacted Theresa and got a chance to interview this lady who seems to be the epitome of what we sometimes call a multi-tasker Christopher: I wonder if you could give us just a brief background of who you are? How did you come to be a Wiccan? Theresa: I was born an intuitive and empath with a very special connection to nature. I have always been able to see and hear things others couldn't. But I grew up during a time before there was so much information available. ..........More |