When I reported on the presentation By Bill McKibben on Sept 13th, he stated he would be back in California to attend the Moving Planet march and rally in San Francisco on Saturday September 24th, 2011, and I told our readers that I would cover this event. 

“Moving Planet is a day to put our demands for climate action into motion—marching, biking, skating—calling for the world to go beyond fossil fuels. At over 2000 events in 175+ countries, we’re letting leaders know that a movement is rising to move our planet forward to a clean energy future. ”

The event began at  at Justin Herman Plaza. When I arrived there were a number of people in hard hats and orange shirts unfurling a huge earth banner on linen. They were from  Sungevity, a residential solar panel installer.  A few minutes later people began to que up for a march down market street. and terminating in front of San Francisco City Hall.  About half way through the march while taking pictures of the front of the parade I looked behind me and saw one man walking down the middle of Market street toward the march.  Bill McKibben had arrived.

At the Powell street BART station the march was joined by a large contingent from the Sierra Club. They then added their banner to the front of the march.

A few minutes later all the marchers arrived at their destination,  the plaza in front of City Hall.A large solar powered stage was set up and folks began to hear from a long list of speakers beginning with two quick introductions  from supporting women’s, organizations, and San Francisco Supervisor, Ross Mirkarimi, who talked about how San Francisco became the first city in the world to ban plastic bags.   Then we heard from State Assembly Man – Mark Leno discussing the  Community Choice Aggregation plan to put clean power in the hands of the people, and he urged Governor Brown to pass AB 684, a bill that would  allow farmers to grow industrial hemp.

Sierra Club Director Michael Brune talked about the importance of SB 375, a proposed California law requiring  California’s Air Resources Board  to organize  the creation of regional plans to reduce emissions from vehicle use throughout the state. Here follows his presentation:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzSQ8DsuyQs&feature=related

Then Bill McKibben,  350.org’s founder, spoke. You may view his speech at this link:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA-ie-LI52k&feature=related

Let me leave you with Bill McKibben’s indroduction to the reason for organizing these 2000+ events around the world”

“On 24 September we’ll be figuring out the most meaningful ways to make the climate message move, literally. We’ll show that we can use our hands, our feet, and our hearts to spur real change. In many places, people will ride bicycles, one of the few tools used by both affluent and poor people around the world. Other places people will be marching, dancing, running, or kayaking, or skateboarding. Imagine the spectacle: thousands of people encircling national capitals, state houses, city halls.


“But we won’t just be cycling or marching–we’ll also be delivering a strong set of demands that can have real political impact. They’ll differ from one country to the next, of course, because the steps we need to take depend on how much fossil fuel we already use…

Our friends in Tunisia, Egypt, and throughout the Middle East have proven that change can come quickly. The greatest achievements have been without violence, but not without sacrifice. They’ve done it with bravery, and also good humor; with the internet and also with face-to-face organizing. They’ve got things unstuck in countries that seemed rusted shut. They’re our inspiration for the months ahead.”



For more photos of this event 

Greg Harder reporting for Bay Area PNC

We welcome all women and girls to join us for the Daughters of the Goddess Annual Spiral Dance on Friday, October 28, 2011, at the Orinda Masonic Temple, 9 Altarinda Rd. in Orinda, CA. The Marketplace with beautiful goods and services for sale will open at 6:30 and the ritual will begin at 7:30. The ritual will be led by Daughters of the Goddess High Priestess Leilani. The ticket cost is $23.00 if paid in advance by October 24^th,  or $29.00 if paid at the door. Student and Crone discounts are available. Please bring your drums and rattles, as well as pictures of your loved ones who have passed on for our Ancestor altar!

The veil is thin and once again women come together on this cool Fall night to celebrate those who have crossed over to the other side. We honor and offer reverence to all of those who have passed before us. Pictures of loved ones and those who have influenced our lives cover the walls and the altars. Each woman comes up for her own sacred communion with the dead. Some women’s grief is fresh and obvious while others have moved to a place of celebrating the lives of those gone from this world. As Sisters, we hold, honor and celebrate each woman’s journey. We dance the Spiral Dance to once again remember the cycle of life and celebrate together in sisterhood.

Established on the Summer Solstice in 1996 by High Priestess and Kahuna Leilani Birely, Daughters of the Goddess is a Dianic Temple and community that is dedicated in the Spirit of Aloha to the preservation, perpetuation, and promotion of multicultural Goddess culture, public ceremony, ritual, and Women’s Mysteries. Of European and Hawaiian heritage, Leilani holds a Master’s Degree in Feminist Spirituality from New College in San Francisco and dances hula with Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu. 

We look forward to celebrating and dancing with you! She of Ten Thousand Names welcomes you with open arms on this day of magic and reverence!

For tickets,or questions :
Contact: Leilani Birely  Leilani@DaughtersoftheGoddess.com
phone: 925-787-9247

The Bay Area Pagan Alliance will sponsor its First Annual Conference on Earth based, nature Centered, Polytheistic and indigenous faiths. The 2011 theme is “Gender & Earth-based Spiritualities” and will be held on Saturday, September 24^th from 9am to 8pm at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco at 1187 Franklin Street.

There has been a great deal of discussion in 2011 around diversity within the Pagan community, especially with the transgender population. The community has carefully watched this conversation among various Pagan factions explode after a recent situation at Pantheacon 2011. It was at this year’s Pantheacon that a women only Lilith ritual was only open to those who were born woman, excluding transgendered women. The Pagan Alliance is one of the organizations that is working to be a part of opening dialog and conversation in an attempt to increase understanding and tolerance within the Pagan community.

In a recent interview with JoHanna White, Board President of the Bay Area Pagan Alliance, she states,

 Due to the major controversy and ensuing dialogue around gender and Paganism that happened after last year’s Pantheacon, the Pagan Alliance decided to put on this conference as a response. The Pagan Alliance is a very diverse organization with several kinds of Pagans, Wiccans and Druids among us. Since we had so many opinions about the great gender controversy of 2011, we decided a Conference or symposium was the right response. Since we couldn’t afford enough chaise lounges and grapes to do a symposium (we have a Hellenic reconstructionist that advises us), we decided to go with a Conference. The Pagan Alliance is committed to education of the general public with the intention of changing public views, opinions and response to the Pagan Community. We present workshops and a speakers representing different traditions. We hope these offerings will lead to the creation of increased acceptance and understanding, and to dispel common misconceptions. We are committed to justice, and eliminating prejudice and ignorance in all communities, including all ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, age, size, and class affiliations. We hope the Conference will continue the discussion and help everyone to recognize the variety of viewpoints that are available in the Pagan Community.

 As might be expected, the upset that followed this year’s Pantheacon led to varied interpretations of the actual event. People became increasingly more vocal about their stance on the inclusion of transgender participants in “women only” events. Many individuals and organizations, including Pantheacon and Come As You Are Coven, in reaction to the previously mentioned Pantheacon 2011 mishap, released statements on inclusion or exclusion of groups within their community.

While these discussions continue, the Pagan Alliance plans to provide space and programming to approach this from an academic and progressive perspective that hopefully promotes growth.

In a recent interview with Yeshe Rabbit, Presiding HPS of CAYA Coven, she answered questions about the upcoming event, her involvement in this event and reflections on this past year of controversy. Not only is Yeshe Rabbit a presenter at this event and the current keeper of the light for the Pagan Alliance, she has also been working through the community fall out over the controversial issue around inclusion of transgender women in “woman only” rituals since the Pantheacon 2011 upset. In responding to how this has affected the community at large and her personal community, she states laughing a bit, 

How has it NOT affected EVERYONE?  Seriously, I could go on and on…this has been a year of tremendous growth for the entire pagan community. Interestingly, I feel that although the core issue of this debate has been gender, the larger issue that has emerged is actually about the need to establish effective social contracts.  It’s no longer possible for pagans to really remain insular, isolated, and uninvolved with one another. In the past, we were forced or had the choice to remain anonymous and separate. But now, due to this galvanizing issue and also due to the emergence of many pagans savvy with new media, we are being asked by the Powers that be to connect on a deeper level. We can’t just get away with the polite, sterile niceties of “Merry meet” and “Blessed be” in our real –   time or online relationships with other pagans any more. We actually need to learn how to effectively talk with one another and listen to one another, and to establish a common protocol of courtesy and kindness.” She went on to speak about some of the turmoil post the event that she encountered. “ I, personally, received death threats, threats of violence, long letters shaming me and CAYA Coven (often for things that had not actually happened), and a HUGE onslaught of really inappropriate commentary that was vicious, cruel, and unhelpful to the already-escalated situation.

With clarity and words of conviction, she continues,

The issue of gender inequality in the pagan community addresses a problem, to be sure: a problem of education,understanding, privilege, and biological determinism. But the issue that really showed itself to be the disease of which the gender issue is but one symptom was that of a lack of shared set of guidelines with which we can approach challenging topics together safely, compassionately, and mindfully.

Her closing statement was one of hope and excitement,

I hope, personally, that I and everyone who attends the event has a wonderful time, grows and learns a lot, and feels that they have both been heard and have heard others, profoundly. I pray that the existence of this event and others like it that may yet emerge signifies a new dawn of potential understanding and healing for every pagan who has struggled with gender-related violence, mockery, or prejudice. My heart lifts with that hope.

Yeshe Rabbit has published her answers in their entirety on her blog http://way-of-the-rabbit.blogspot.com/2011/09/full-text-of-my-interview-with-pnc.html

Many notable Pagans have worked with the Pagan Alliance to produce this event, including Diana Paxson, T. Thorn Coyle, and joi wolfwomyn. joi wolfwomyn is representing the Holy Order of the Epicene at this conference and is connected with the Radical Faerie, Fellowship of the Spiral Path, Pagan Alliance, and is a Covenant of the Goddess affiliate. In a recent interview with Pagan Newswire Collective, joi wolfwomyn referenced the tension that has existed over the years between the Transgender community and various traditions that have held a strong stance that excludes Trans people from gender-specific rituals and events.  Most notably, Z. Budapest has a history of taking a strong position on this issue against the inclusion of Trans women and their participation in the rituals around women’s mysteries.   She states:

There has been a long standing rift over gender and trans-inclusion that has kind of come to a head with these recent events. In discussion her current involvement with the conference, Joi Wolfwomyn states, “I am giving the opening address and teaching a history class.  I have been working with JoHanna to support with the development of the event.

In her account of the effect this past year of controversy has had on the community, joi states,

This has seriously affected the community because it is making us face these issues.  It has affected me in a personal sense because people have come to me to make a statement “for the trans-community” and I cannot speak for the whole trans-community, i can only speak for my own experience.  That kind of unnerved me.  It was interesting to watch how the larger community has been dealing with this.  I have been doing my work in this process since Pantheacon. ultimately, my position is that we don’t have to demonize each other to get through things like this, and this is a thing we all have to deal with. i for one am really glad to see the overall community responding well to this issue, and for the most part acting and speaking with respect to each other. that for me is the crucial point, is in how we engage with each other, especially over issues that can be so volatile.

There has been an unspoken rift in the past, and it is crucial that we start to talk about these things. When neo-paganism first began its building of community, there were no models, and spaces and time were really scarce.  Now that we have such diversity of option in the community we need to talk about some of the language we use to describe what all of this means.  This is a really good opportunity to start these conversations and hear from a wide variety of people where these new ideas are intersecting with some of the earlier ideas; recognizing how many of these things originally started and the foundation that they have been built on.  Things have been unspoken and assumed for so long that as soon as some parts shift people often end up reacting in negative ways.  We need to sit down and talk to each other about what these things mean in respectful ways.

In closing, joi wolfwomyn offered her hope for this type of event:

I would love to see there be more and more discussion and community building within the subset of the Pagan Community that does identify as Trans.  It would be really good to feed this conversation and keep it growing.  We can do, find, and talk about things that help us heal these rifts.  There is no reason why we can’t all come to a place of reasoning and respect.  I want to have everyone come out of this with more understanding and respect for each other.

This event is being cosponsored by Circle of Dionysos, Solar Cross Temple, Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, CAYA coven and the Earth Medicine Alliance.

Presenters for this event include joi wolfwomyn, Lady Yeshe Rabbit, Diana Paxson, T. Thorn Coyle, Dr. Charlie Glickman, MamaKoatl Chantiko,Jason Mankey, Derik Cowan & Dr. Hayden Reynolds of the Circle of Dionysos. Vicki Noble, author of Motherpeace tarot and activist, will be delivering the keynote address.

When asking what next year’s theme for this new annual event will be, JoHanna White answered,

“We have to wait and see what the next big issue is before we decide on next year’s theme. Suggestions are always appreciated. The UU SF is a pretty setting for a conference and we look forward to partnering with them again.”

For more information about programming and associated costs, you can visit the registration website for the event.

Crystal Blanton, PNC Bay Area

Central Valley Pagan Pride was held in Fresno, California on September 17, 2011 in Woodward Park. The long drive to Fresno was well worth it and this event was full of different practitioners, organizations and covens from the whole Central Valley Region. 

Being a presenter at this festival, I decided to take the whole family for this three hour ride to Pagan Pride in the Central Valley and brave the complicated drive from the East Bay to Hwy 99. I was not sure what to expect on this adventure but figured I couldn’t go wrong with a bunch of Pagans in nature.

Needless to say, we missed the correct freeway twice before we were going in the right direction. Arriving 30 minutes before my talk, I did not have the luxury of enjoying some of the incredible workshops that happened prior but heard a lot of positive feedback from those present. Joseph Nichter and Robert Hager were some of the other presenters in this festival.  

I showed up and was greeted by a host of really warm and supportive people, a park full of tents and lots of great energy. The mixture of Pagans circling this event were diverse and very welcoming. There were numerous people I noticed of minority ethnicity and that is something I am always excited to see.    

There appeared to be about 20-30 people who sat in on my “West Side Story Witches; How Gang Wars Destroy Community” workshop. The workshop was fun and lively to deliver; the audience was engaged and participatory in the discussion.

The row of vendors could be dangerous for any Pagan with a few dollars; I was no exception, although I did well.

The highlight of this event was meeting Pagans from the Central Valley area, including those who traveled from Bakersfield and Visalia to be at this event. There was a nice, open atmosphere generated and the coordinators of the event were present and willing to engage in continuous problem solving in order to make the event as comfortable as possible to those in attendance. Several different sources have quoted an estimated attendance of about 400-500 people who attended the event, quite successful for an event of this type. I would suggest a more contained design that did not separate the vendors from the main stage of activities as much as it did and a potential author or presenters table where those who are doing workshops can make it easier for others to locate their works.

It was a fun day in the sun with lots of engaging people and workshops. I hope to see this event continue to build with their thriving community for years to come.

Crystal Blanton, PNC Bay Area