The Solstice Celebration and the party were both excellent and spiritually enlightening.

I did a big event for Guides Canada on August 17 for Camp Odyssey 2001. Guides are going for a new theme "You go girl!" and put together a wonderful group of presentations for these young ladies. I proudly initiated the 1st Camp Woolsey Tarot Pack. Some of the participants were from Mexico, Phillipines and great Britain. It was a truly refreshing experience. I hope you enjoy this issue of "Future Endeavours". All is well.

Summer Solstice Celebration - June 21

When the gay liberation movement began in the 1960s one of the more popular slogans of these sexual revolutionaries was: "Out of the closets and into the streets!" Recently another hitherto-despised minority has adopted that cry and given it a wry twist. "Out of the broom closet" is the motto of Canadian pagans who seek a new respectability for their old, once-discredited, religions.

An Alberta group, the Covenant Church of Gaia, defines paganism as any earth-centred or nature-based religion and Wicca as "the revival of the worship of the Earth Mother, Triple Goddess and the old Gods in a modern context."

Wiccans are certainly the most publicity-conscious and articulate of the nation's pagans. Loosely organized under umbrellas such as the Pagan Awareness League, the Ontario Pagan Collective, and the Pagan Federation of Canada, their congregations practise a pseudo-antique spirituality harking back to an imaginary pre-Christian earth religion. Though they take "magick" names such as Ravenfeather or Star Hawk and often use the term witch or wizard, they are adamant that they have no connection to devil-worship. Their prime directive is: "If it harms none, do what you will."

Other North American pagans are not impressed by the mock medievalism of Wicca with its self-consciously quaint language or any other New Age rip-offs of old faiths. These groups insist that ancient religions not be trifled with. In 1993, for instance, a meeting of Canadian and American Sioux decried the appropriation of their spirituality by "hucksters, cultists, commercial profiteers, and self-styled 'New Age shamans'" and declared war on all purveyors of pseudo-paganism.

Pre-Christian pantheons

One such effort comes from the Julian Society (named for Julian the Apostate, the last non-Christian emperor of Rome who died in battle 1600 years ago). Their aim is a simple one: "to work toward reestablishing Pagan spirituality as a major religious system in the modern world."

These devotees of the "Religio Romana" do not undervalue such a return to the worship of Jupiter and Apollo. According to one believer: "It is a faith that demands steadfastness and devotion to duty. It involves working in harmony with the eternal gods and with universal order, for the benefit not only of ourselves but also the world around us; with right action and attitudes towards the gods, both the State and the individual will prosper." Other reconstructionist faithful want to revive the gods and goddesses of Egypt, Scandinavia, Celtic Britain and even Sumeria, professing to find in these deities old truths about humanity and the universe that should be restored to public consciousness.

Does any of this really matter? Aren't these neo-pagans just bored Yuppies with too much time on their hands? In fact, the attempt to connect to ancient faiths (or even make up new ones in the guise of old) tells us something important about the state of religion in Canada in the late 20th century. It tells us that there is spiritual hunger abroad that is not being met either by Christianity in its diverse forms or by secular consumerism. It also says that ecological concerns (mentioned by almost every one of these groups) form a part of the religious sensibility of many of those who hunger, as does a yearning for community and sharing. There is also a reaffirmation of Reginald Bibby's description of a cafeteria mentality among religious Canadians—we like to pick and choose in matters of faith and are losing old loyalties.

Gerry Bowler is a Winnipeg writer and historian.

Two Full Moons in one month make for once in a Blue Moon.

We did not have any Blue Moons in the year 2000 but the experts say that year 2001 will have an official "Blue Moon" in November. Your geographic location can make a difference to your experience of a Blue Moon. Depending on your longitude you may go through a date change prior to other locations which means the full moon is at the first of your new month and falls at the end of the preceding month somewhere else. The "blue" one is always the 2nd full moon in the same month.

The regular full moons of each month all have their own individual names as follows: Moon after Yule, Wolf Moon, Lenten Moon, Egg Moon, Milk Moon, Flower Moon, Hay Moon, Grain Moon, Fruit Moon, Harvest Moon, Hunters' Moon and Moon Before Yule.

Historically the Blue Moon was considered unlucky and a real nuisance when it occurred at various times of the year and upset scheduling of church festivals. In love songs the Blue Moon is often a symbol of sadness and loneliness. The first appearance in print of this expression goes back to the time of Shakespeare, when some folks felt that sometimes the moon visually appeared blue in the sky. Although the expression dates all that way back, it has only recently come to mean the second Full Moon in one month.

Blue Moon seems to be a truly modern piece of folklore,old folklore it is not, but real folklore it is.

Atham-Z publishes "The Psychic News", an excellent quarterly e-zine. Ads, subscriptions and readings are available by contacting her at nstn6717@... or by visiting her member page here.

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Don't forget the 10% discount on the Wisdom of the Four Winds Deck if you mention you saw it on our website. Access it here. Thanks to Kelvin!!!

Tarot Joke

Visibly shaken, Jennifer stared at the woman's lined face, then at the single flickering candle, then down at her hands. She took a few deep breaths to compose herself. She simply had to know. She met the tarot reader's gaze, steadied her voice, and asked: "Will I get away with it?"