gdp's Comments

Our Pantheons Way : Hole N' The Rock, Moab, Utah

Fri, 13 Sep 2013 15:03:45 +0000

Oh cool! I didn\\\'t know about that. Thanks Tommy! The weather forecast for today is calling for an 80% chance of rain and flood warnings for the Manitou Springs area so we might have to play it by ear on our plans for the day.

Our Pantheons Way : Please Don't I.M. Me

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 19:33:34 +0000

Thank you Pam! I do appreciate that. Sometime we all need to get together and have dinner or sit around the fire pit or something.

Our Pantheons Way : Pagan Leader

Thu, 15 Aug 2013 07:55:51 +0000

Actually I don\\\'t know about the volatility mentioned but I will say I can understand the Heathen\\\'s position of not wishing to be connected with CoG given their long term stance of being a Wiccan only organization but I don\\\'t know that what Michael proposed would necessarily be something I would consider a CoG spinoff. In any event, Michael\\\'s long bouts of silence on the subject and requiring a personal invitation each time he is asked to participate in this conversation, (such as the question you asked of him nearly a week ago now) is sending messages to me regarding his level of dedication to the project I am afraid.

Our Pantheons Way : Pagan Leader

Fri, 9 Aug 2013 15:03:30 +0000

Thank you.

Our Pantheons Way : Pagan Leader

Fri, 9 Aug 2013 15:02:56 +0000

Which is exactly why I arranged to have him come talk with us at the last PPD planning meeting. ;-)

Our Pantheons Way : Pagan Leader

Thu, 8 Aug 2013 16:19:19 +0000

Well at this point just about the only part I can be of this project is to promote it. The website hasn\\\'t launched yet and it is being worked on by someone else. The project itself is the brainchild of Michael who is my HP in Sacred Fire Temple. But at this, very early stage of development I don\\\'t know who one could actually consider to be \\\"a part\\\" of it. I will certainly support and help in any way that I can though.

Our Pantheons Way : Pagan Leader

Thu, 8 Aug 2013 16:15:05 +0000

There is one that I know of so far. Thank you for sending them along. :-)

Our Pantheons Way : Pagan Leader

Tue, 6 Aug 2013 22:55:13 +0000

Oh, I'm not downhearted. The Gods are my pals, I shall not sweat it as one notable elder once uttered. ;-) I emailed Michael and asked him to chime in on this question. Hopefully we'll get to read his thoughts soon. Please, turn those alarm bells off, they'll give you a terrible headache! ;-)

Our Pantheons Way : What I Like About Pagans

Thu, 25 Jul 2013 08:18:08 +0000

Ding ding ding ding! You are correct sir! He's the culprit. ;-)

Our Pantheons Way : What I Like About Pagans

Thu, 25 Jul 2013 08:15:27 +0000

I think the modern world has forgotten how important it is just let go and feel the moment with like minded people.

Very much agreed! I too enjoy the celebrations. Thank you for chiming in. :-)

Our Pantheons Way : What I Like About Pagans

Thu, 25 Jul 2013 08:13:50 +0000

Thank you Opus! Sorry I have been away for so long. I remember following your blogging and your posts on Circle Chat years ago. It's good to read you again! :-)

Our Pantheons Way : There Is Strength In Community

Tue, 23 Jul 2013 13:18:03 +0000

Michael\'s mother passed away a couple of weeks ago and he has not been ready just yet to move forward with SEA but says he does want to get to work on it very soon. The husband of one of our temple members is working on the website but it hasn\'t launched yet. Rest assured, when it does I will let the world know. Thank you for your interest and please stick around!

Our Pantheons Way : There Is Strength In Community

Sat, 13 Jul 2013 11:12:43 +0000

I feel I should further explain why I say that. As I mentioned previously I knew of and learned what little I do know about Heathenism from people I conversed with online in the past. Both of these individuals were rather headstrong which is an admirable trait to some degree. But I recall one who seemed to sit on the Yahoo! Group for the PPD planning one year and would go after any and everything it seemed that was part of the website design, entertainment, rituals, logo, etc. and complain about every detail that didn't fit in with the Heathen way of seeing things. I understand that he wanted representation and to point out differences but and I want to try to accommodate as many spiritual points of view as possible in this years Pagan Pride Day celebration. But at some point we have to all accept that there are going to be things going on that are not part of our personal spiritual practice as well. It can't all be one way or the other. All I am saying is, please meet me half way. Also if there is something about PPD that you don't like, show up and do something about it (I know, not practical for you personally Isadore but I mean anyone local). Rather than point out things you don't like, point out solutions. It's a volunteer effort and if you don't volunteer you're not putting forth the effort.

Our Pantheons Way : There Is Strength In Community

Tue, 9 Jul 2013 14:48:20 +0000

I take it the folks you are referring to are the Heathen groups? I get it. I really do. But both sides have to be willing to compromise and work together for there to be progress. If someone comes along who is willing to work with me I will be happy to work with them but I can\'t be the only one giving and them only taking or vice versa.

Our Pantheons Way : Living It

Mon, 8 Jul 2013 19:32:43 +0000

Thank you so much. It is a pleasure to hear from you and hopefully we can build a nice little community here talking about things like this and sharing. :-)

Our Pantheons Way : There Is Strength In Community

Sun, 7 Jul 2013 11:20:03 +0000

I think the IntenseDebate plugin has a similar setting to the Wordpress comments system in which once a commenter has been approved once by an admin it will no longer bug them about needing to be approved in the future. Are you still getting these messages?

Our Pantheons Way : Pagan Pride

Sat, 6 Jul 2013 06:00:41 +0000

There actually used to be a couple who moved up here from Houston who held Pagan Night Out get togethers at local restaurants and such. I would like to see something like that going on again. I already have so many projects on my plate right now I couldn't take it on but I sure would promote it and try to make it to some if anyone would like to get the ball rolling.

Our Pantheons Way : Pagan Pride

Fri, 5 Jul 2013 14:23:28 +0000

That\\\'s an excellent point Tommy and I have heard from a couple of people that they felt rather \\\"unwelcome\\\" at a past PPD event that I attended. I myself am not a good candidate for being on a \\\"welcoming committee\\\" type of thing unfortunately. In person I tend to be slow to warm up to strangers and I take some time before feeling I can be comfortable around someone I just met. It\\\'s a personality trait I have been trying to work on but I am not quite there yet. But we have talked about getting a few of those friendly, out going, smiling, hey glad to meet ya types among our volunteers and getting them to welcome folks as they show up for the event. I do think this would be very beneficial.

Our Pantheons Way : Pagan Pride

Thu, 4 Jul 2013 11:45:20 +0000

Absolutely Gail! I will try very hard to make it out one of these Saturdays or Sundays to get some pictures to share. I really want to meet and talk with ya'll too. If you have any pictures that you would like to share with me to use for DFW PPD promotion please send them on to promotion@dfwpaganpride.org

Our Pantheons Way : Pagan Pride

Thu, 4 Jul 2013 11:10:15 +0000

Ah, finally a little quiet time and I also don't have to go to work today. Instead, we will be working on getting the house and back yard ready for a little grilling and pool party with some friends. They tell me there is some sort of holiday going on with fireworks and whatnot. ;-) So, I thought I might pop in and address some of these points you brought up the other day that got my brain matter working. As I stated earlier I did not attend the 2010 PPD and there was not one for 2011 or 2012. The ones I went to in the past, retail events? I don't know. I go to the Pow Wows at Traders Village in Grand Prairie (literally within walking distance of my house) every year and they could also be described as retail events by this person's apparent criteria. Perhaps it's an American thing? A lot of people do love to shop. I'm not a big shopper myself but at these events there certainly are several vendors. At PPD they were selling Pagan merchandise as they will be this year. Some of it is quite lovely. There usually are musicians (Pagan musicians by the way) and other entertainers. Dancers, drummers. But there have always been rituals. An opening ritual hosted by one group, a mid day ritual usually by another and a closing ritual by yet another group. There have always been workshops to attend. But this being a volunteer effort we pretty much work with what we've got. If what has been at past events doesn't appeal perhaps the following year they could come forward and let us know that their group would like to put on a workshop or event. There will, as in years past, also be an information table available where people can leave flyers, brochures and other information letting those who are interested know about their path and how to get in touch to learn more. Granted, no event is going to have everything for everybody but I would hardly call any PPD celebration I have attended "barely Pagan". If it's been biased to one tradition (Wicca or any other) it may be that the volunteers running it didn't have anyone from other traditions come volunteer to participate? I, personally could not begin to put on an Asatru workshop or ritual. I would have to have someone from that tradition show up to do it. If I don't have one, what can I do about it? I won't retract my comments about Anne Frank as I see her plight as a testament of someone who is strong in their faith and continues to hold true to it even when the whole world seems against them. The Trail of Tears is very close to my heart since my great great grandfather and his wife were on it and instead of continuing to the reservation in Oklahoma chose to settle in Limestone County in Texas to blend into the white man's world and become farmers. It is a part of my own heritage.