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April 2nd 2004 Rollright Stones Vandalised On April 1st 2004 the well known stones in the cotswolds were daubed with paint in a mindless act of vandalism. The custodians do not believe that there was any religious motive for the attack on the stones as no religious symbolism was aparent. Help has been requested from English Heritage and the National Trust regarding the removal of the paint as these organisations have had previous experience of paint being used on other monuments. Pics of damage can be found on this temporary webpage -Rollright Vandalism" February 8th 2003 Pagan Experiences Archive Project Wolverhampton Moot has launched a new Project. This is a collection of experiences written by Pagans. The aim being to provide an archive of experiences that new and developing Pagans can dip into to enhance their understanding of their beliefs and hopefully prove that they are not alone in having odd experiences. Written by and for Pagans this archive will be available to anyone. Submissions are invited from Practicing Pagans these will be kept anonymous though contact details name and postal address must be included for legal reasons, a separate confidential list of contributors will be made and kept separate. Headings already included on the archive are
These will be developed and any suggestions for new titles encouraged. Submissions should be free from names and other items identifying any other people who were present. If in doubt ask those who were in attendance before submitting.
A small fee of 50p is required for the full archive and this includes updates. The money will go towards Moot funds. In order to spread this idea as widely as possible and help moots to build up their funding this archive will be made available to other moots should they wish it. Further information and for a sample of the archive please contact the Wolverhampton Moot organiser .. Further information will be shortly available at the Pagan Midlands web site September 22nd Pagan ceremony goes ahead despite ban. Essex Pagans defied a council ruling following their request to use Gosbecks Park for an Autumn Equinox ritual. The Council had refused permission due to concerns about public safety. Full story from the East Anglian Times. It does beg the question as to whether the council just said no or proposed another venue. Article added September 26th Item by Singe Mercia Heathen Gather. Despite the difficulties of speakers and stalls pulling out the Gather was held as planned on the 21st September. The event though modest and less formal than some other events went down well and Pagan Midlands is told that the event was kept small by intention to judge support. Talks were given on a variety of subjects including Local and national groups, a workshop on community (which could have run for days) and Seidhr and wights. A full report by the organiser will be available shortly at the Mercia Heathens website. Plans for another event next year are underway. Article dated September 22nd Item by Ned September 4th Milennium Flame Extinguished. The milennuim flame, a symbol of hope for world peace, donated at a cost of £72000 by churches in the city of Birmingham has been doused. The flame which was also under threat last year around this time due to council cut backs, costs around £12000 per year to run and fuel. The events of September 11th saved it then. Funding was passed from the churches to the council at the end of 2000 but now the City council feels that the money could be spent more effectively on other projects. The Churches are currently looking for a sponsor for the flame and the structure may be moved to some corporate headquarters. Article dated September 4th Item by Singe August 26th Druid Forum Success. The Druid Forum 2002 has been hailed a complete success. The event held on Saturday 23rd August at Stourbridge Town Hall was a complete sell out and according to reports from various email groups was a very enjoyable event. So will there be another one? One of the organisers has stated August 14th New Group Launched. Pagan Midlands has received word that a new internet based group has been formed. The Organisation called Pagan Web UK is a general networking group with free life time membership. The founders have stated that June 21st Wychbury Yew Destroyed. A Five hundred plus year old Yew Tree has been destroyed on Wychbury Hill. The Yew known in the Pagan Community as the Altar Yew was apparently set attacked within the last two weeks and the resulting fire made it unsafe leading to it being cut down. Nearly ten years ago the Yew was the focal point for the ceremonies that helped to protect the Hill against the Western Orbital Motorway for the West Midlands. It was much better known however for seasonal festivals and handfastings. Pictures available the images are no bigger than 270KB but slow connections may take a while. Article dated June 21st Item by Singe June 21st Stonehenge Solstice Celebrations attract 16000. The Annual Summer Solstice celebrations this year have attracted 16000 people and those being from many differnt Creeds. English Heritage Stonehenge director Clews Everard said: "There's been a really wonderful atmosphere and everyone seems to have been having a good time." Full Story BBCi report Pictures. MSNBC report MSNBC. Article dated June 21st Item by Singe June 18th English Heritage policy for a Good Solstice. English Heritage has posted it's wish list for those travelling to the Solstice at Stone henge this year it is available at Stonehenge behaviour this is not an imposition having been thrashed out between EH and the truth and reconcilliation committee. June 3rd Green Man for Birmingham. Sculptress Tawny Gray, from Herefordshire is creating the 40ft living sculpture which will be the tallest statue in the City will be unveiled in front of the gateway to arts and media complex, the Custard Factory. "Live willow and hawthorn will sprout from the Green Man, and water will drop 30 ft down from his raised left arm and the flames will dance on the surface of the water in the pool at his feet." The sculpture will be revealed to the public on 21st June and the rumour is that Emma Restall Orr will do the honours. Full piece from Fertile green man tallest art work in city. May 30th 2002. Item by Singe June 3rd Pagan - Defined! Trawling through the BBCi archives I found a little gem that I suspect will set many Pagans to frowning. A definition of Paganism. Ok it is a bit old but I don't think it has been picked up on. Full details at BBCi June 4th 2001. Item by Singe May 8th Danish Asatruar in recognition bid. Danish followers of the Asatru faith led by Forn Sidr the main asatru group applied three years ago to the countries Ministry of the Church for official recognition. On the 3rd May it was reported "The ministry has refused to recognise the organised worship of old Nordic mythology as an official religious denomination in this country." according to the Copenhagen Post May 3rd 2002. For the full report go to Pagans welcome to worship, but not officially May 8th 2002. Item by Singe May 5th Wolverhampton Moot new venue. We have finally found a new venue. The Linden Tree in Victoria Street, just up the road from Waterstones. It is a new pub which is only too happy to attract custom on a Tuesday evening. It has a function room upstairs which will be booked and used for talks etc. but does cost so talks will now have an entry fee to pay for both the room and the speakers expenses. More information from the Wolverhampton Moot page. May 5th 2002. Item by Singe May 1st Long Man's New appendage. The Long Man of Wilmington is celebrating Beltane in style this year with a 20 foot John Thomas! (Lucky begger). "Experts" are speculating that this may be part of some fertility rite or just a mindless act of vandalism. Kevin Carlyon is up in arms about this as "I've always said the Long Man was a woman." This just goes to show you that sometimes fee speach is not all it is cracked up to be!!! Details and full story from the Beeb May 1st 2002. Item by Singe April 30th Silbury Hill. Just look what I've found! A video stream link about the problems that Silbury has been having and includes some local faces from Birmingham and Andy Norfolk from the PF along with King Arthur. It seems to be a full program - 30 minutes -so allow yourself some time and try it at a "quiet time". It tells about the ways that English Heritage have been investigating the hill. Narrated by Magnus Magnusson. From the BBC South Today Further information from Silbury Hill Latest News April 30th 2002. Item by Singe April 23rd The creation of Penda's day by the Penda Patron Action Group (PPAG). The reason for this being that very few people were aware the is was supposedly St Georges day and even fewer cared. The reasons for this from the PPAG's point of view is that firstly we live in a secular society, how is a follower of Islam going to relate to a Saint who was at war with Islam. Even people from an Ethnic English background are less likely to be Christian than they would have been just one hundred years ago. It is not even certain he existed, he is most famous for killing a mythical beast and even if he did live a life of Crusading it is more likely that he never saw England. So the PPAG proposed a new Patron for England. An ancient King of Mercia who died in battle between the age of 75 and 80 when most of his fellows were lucky to live to the age of 40. He was also cosmopolitan allowing his supposed mortal enemies to spread their ministries across his land and carved out one of the largest kingdoms since the Romans. This was even reported on in the local evening newspaper the Express and Star.April 23rd 2002. Item by Singe top of page
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