Neopaganism in Minnesota explained

Minnesota's Twin Cities region is home to a large community of Wiccans, Witches, Druids, Heathens, and a number of Pagan organizations. Some neopagans refer to the area as "Paganistan".[1] [2] [3] In the Handbook of Contemporary Paganism, Murphy Pizza characterizes the Minnesota Pagan community as "eclectic" and comprising "many different groups - Druid orders, Witch covens, legal Pagan churches, ethnic reconstructionist groups, and many more solitaries, interlopers and poly-affiliated Pagans".

History

In 1961, Llewellyn Worldwide, an independent publisher of books for the New Age, Pagan, and occult audience[4] was moved to Saint Paul[5] by the new owner Carl L. Weschcke. At the time they were simply an astrological publisher.[6] Llewellyn is "one of the country's oldest and largest independent publishers of Pagan books."

In 1963, Carleton College in nearby Northfield, Minnesota established a rule that students had to attend religious services of some kind. The RDNA (Reformed Druids of North America) formed in response and they continued to meet even after the rule was rescinded.[7] [8] [9]

In 1971, Llewellyn hosted the "First American Aquarian Festival of Astrology and the Occult Sciences" which went on to be known as Gnosticon. Llewellyn's publications and Gnosticon drew more attention to Witchcraft, contemporary Paganism, and their connection to the Twin Cities.[10] This led to the creation of the American Council of Witches in late 1973.[11]

In 1975, Burtrand and Aura, initiates of the Weschckes via Lady Sheba, founded the Minnesota Church of Wicca.[12]

In 1987 the Druid group called "Keltria" was formed when Tony Taylor initiated a schism from Isaac Bonewits' ADF.[13]

In 1994, the Omphalos Pagan Community Center estimated that there are between 3,000 and 10,000 Pagans in Minnesota, "one of the largest concentrations in the country."

During the fight for Pagan veterans' rights against the Veterans Administration, a nationally-publicized rally and ritual took place at the Minnesota State Capitol Mall on February 24, 2007. The rally and ritual were organized by the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance.[14]

The Sacred Paths Center, which opened March 13, 2009, was at the time the only full-time non-profit Pagan community center in the United States.[15] It closed its doors in early 2012, amid allegations of financial malfeasance. The Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance, formed to fight for Pagan civil rights during the "pentacle quest," adopted a stretch of highway in 2008 which Pagan volunteers kept clean.[16]

On April 9, 2011 the Star Tribune reported that "the Twin Cities metro area -- dubbed "Paganistan" by Wiccans for having one of the highest witch concentrations in the country—has an estimated 20,000 witches who meet in 236 different covens or groups..." in an article about a Wiccan prisoner suing the State for his religious freedom.[17]

In 2020, the Asatru Folk Assembly opened a Baldurshof in Murdock, a heathen hof dedicated to the god Baldur.[18]

The Minnesotan Pagan community is the subject of a thesis by Doctor of Anthropology Murphy Pizza.[19]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Clifton , Chas S. . AltaMira Press. 0-7591-0202-3. Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca And Paganism in America. 2006-06-08. 68. Today, the Twin Cities area of Minnesota is referred to by some American Pagans as 'Paganistan.'.
  2. News: Gihring. Tim. Welcome to Paganistan. Minnesota Monthly. 2011-05-23. April 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20110929225158/http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/media/Minnesota-Monthly/April-2009/MNMO-Recommends/. 2011-09-29. The name originated as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the flood of pagan believers who began arriving in the early 1970s for the annual witchcraft conventions known as Gnosticons, sponsored by Woodbury-based Llewellyn Publications, the world’s largest independent occult publisher..
  3. News: Sawyer Allen. Martha. Pagans seek respect and a place to call their own. Star Tribune. 2023-05-09. 1994-04-23.
  4. Buckland, Raymond; "The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism", 2002, p. 509, Visible Ink Press
  5. Web site: About Us: History: The 1960s. Llewellyn Worldwide. 2011-05-23.
  6. Buckland, Raymond; "The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism", 2002, p. 507-8, Visible Ink Press
  7. News: Susan . Hogan/Albach . Pagan's Progress: Halloween is a sacred holiday for growing Pagan groups . 1996-10-31 . 2023-05-09 . . en. In 1963, several students at Carleton College in Northfield started the Reformed Druids of North America to protest a requirement that they attend religious services. Their action inspired the formation of Druid groups around the country..
  8. Web site: 2018-03-16 . Druids - Admissions - Carleton College . 2023-05-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180316211924/http://apps.carleton.edu/admissions/activities/druids/ . 2018-03-16 . In order to protest the mandatory Christian chapel services that Carleton used to have way back when, a group of students semi-jokingly created the Reformed Druids of North America. This quickly evolved into a fairly large, completely serious religion, and at one point the head Druidical religious leader of North America lived at Carleton..
  9. Book: Adler, Margot. Drawing down the moon : witches, Druids, goddess-worshippers, and other pagans in America. 2006. Penguin Books. New York. 0-14-303819-2. 298–303. Rev. ed. with expanded appendix..
  10. Book: Grimassi, Raven. The Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft. 2000. Llewllyn. St.Paul. 1-56718-257-7. 394.
  11. Book: Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The encyclopedia of witches and witchcraft. 1999. Checkmark Books. New York. 0-8160-3849-X. 362.
  12. "A Brief History of Neo-Paganism in the Twin Cities", 2002, Minnesota Pagan Press, pg. 19
  13. Book: Hopman, Ellen Evert. People of the earth: the new Pagans speak out. 1996. Destiny Books. Rochester, Vt.. 978-0-89281-559-3. 20. Bond, Lawrence.
  14. News: Haynie. Devon. Witches launch PR campaign for Wiccan war dead. Naples Daily News. 2011-05-23. 2007-03-04.
  15. Saint Paul Pioneer Press, October 31, 2010, Page: E4, "In the Twin Cities, several businesses create community for the pagans among us"
  16. News: Editorial shorts: Desire for clean highways shared by many faiths. StarTribune. 2011-05-23. 2008-07-12.
  17. Web site: Wiccan prisoner sues state, claiming religious rights violated . . 2011-05-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110413163120/http://www.startribune.com/local/east/119516524.html . 2011-04-13 . dead .
  18. Web site: Baldurs Hof in Murdock, Minnesota. Pagan Places. 24 June 2020. 2020-09-11.
  19. Book: Pizza, Murphy . Paganistan: Contemporary Pagan Community in Minnesota's Twin Cities . 2023-05-09 . Routledge & CRC Press . en . 2014 . 9781032242897.

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