Eric Arthen

tiny white flowers, a sequence of winter haiku
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tiny white flowers, a sequence of winter haiku

by Eric Arthen

Photo by Eric Arthen

Descending

    tiny white flowers
    cover the windshield
    a long wait for spring

        the snowblower
        finally starts
        blue sky

    the western glow
    before moonrise
    field of white

Deeper still

    foggy night
    a twisting step
    to test for ice

        snow drifting
        off the hemlocks
        frozen pond

    winter moon
    shining white curve
    instead of stairs

        after the blizzard
        between barred owl hoots
        silence

Emerging

    walking the dog
    to where the snowplow stopped
    late winter sun

        expanse of white
        loading firewood
        from the bottom row

    forsythia —
    vase of branches and buds
    forcing spring

—

Credits: Six of these poems have been previously published in Frogpond 2009 Sp/Su; HPSWM 2012, 2018; New England Letters 91, 117; Nor’Easter 19; Stone Walls II v1.

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EarthSpirit at the Salt Lake City Parliament

Indigenous women light the sacred fire at sunrise to start the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions

Indigenous women light the sacred fire at sunrise to start the 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions

by Eric Arthen

Many people from around the country and around the world have descended on Salt Lake City to attend the sixth Parliament of the World’s Religions [http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/parliament/salt-lake-2015], being held here from October 15 – 19.

Sixteen members of EarthSpirit are taking part in the Parliament (PWR), presenting programs, helping to make events happen, or staffing an information booth to tell participants about EarthSpirit and about the pagan traditions.

This takes a great deal of time and effort from many more members of EarthSpirit than just those who are going on the trip. We are so grateful for the support our whole community has given to make this happen. In particular, the funds we’ve raised over the past couple of years has made it possible for us to participate and send our delegation to the Parliament. All of those who are going are volunteers, and are paying for the trip out their own pockets, but the donations we have received certainly help to defray some of the expenses. We couldn’t do it without you!

You can follow along with both general news about PWR and more specific news about the EarthSpirit delegation on social media outlets. Posts on Twitter will use hashtags #2015parliament and #earthspiritcommunity. On Facebook, check “The EarthSpirit Community” page,
https://www.facebook.com/The-EarthSpirit-Community-119744788098439/
There will also be posts here on the EarthSpirit Voices blog (https://earthspiritvoices.wordpress.com), both during and after the PWR.

Here is the list of presentations in which EarthSpirit members are taking part. The overall number of pagan programs far surpasses anything that the PWR has included in the past:

Friday, 8:30 AM (Mountain time)
Shared Session: Diversity and Applied Theology in Contemporary Paganism
Moderator: Andras Corban-Arthen (EarthSpirit)
Subsession: Diversity in Contemporary Paganism
Panelists: Jeanine De Oya, Eblis Correllian
Subsession: Contemporary Paganism and Applied Theology
Presenter: Dr. Gwendolyn Reece
Panelists: Jim Dickinson, Ivo Dominguez, Jr, Drake Spaeth (Earth Traditions)

Friday, 12:15 PM
Women’s Rites – Honoring and Celebrating the Cycles of our Lives
Presenter: Deirdre Pulgram Arthen (EarthSpirit)
Panelists: Angie Buchanan (Earth Traditions), Isobel Arthen (EarthSpirit), Ruth Barrett (Temple of Diana, Inc.)

Friday, 12:15 PM
People of the Earth: The Surviving Indigenous Spiritual Traditions of Europe
Presenters: Andras Corban-Arthen (EarthSpirit). Inija Trinkūnienė (Romuva)

Friday, 7:00 PM
Plenary 2: Spotlight on Emerging Leaders
A number of speakers including: Isobel Arthen, Donovan Arthen (EarthSpirit)
Performers: Honey and the Sting, Taiko Drummers

Saturday, 7:00 AM
Devotional Chanting for the Earth
Speaker: Deirdre Pulgram Arthen (EarthSpirit)

Saturday, 3:30 PM
We Are the Earth: Pagans Respond to Pope Francis on the Environment
Moderator: Sylvia Hall Linton (Earth Traditions)
Panelists: Andras Corban-Arthen (EarthSpirit), John Halstead (Humanistic Paganism), Heather Greene (The Wild Hunt)

Sunday, 10:00 AM
Ancient Teacher: The Earth As Our Spiritual Guide
Moderator: Angie Buchanan (Earth Traditions)
Panelists: Andras Corban-Arthen (EarthSpirit), Ellen Bernstein (Rabbi, Hampshire College), Elizabeth Weigel, Ajisebo Ogunninhun Abimbola

Sunday, 1:45 PM
Sons and Lovers of the Sacred Feminine
Presenter: Drake Spaeth (Earth Traditions)
Panelists: River Higginbotham, Ivo Dominguez, Jr, Donovan Arthen (EarthSpirit) , Claudiney Prieto

Monday, 7:00 AM
Understanding Religious Traditions 101 – Paganism
Panelists: Andras Corban-Arthen (EarthSpirit), Angie Buchanan (Earth Traditions) , Donald Frew (Covenant of the Goddess), Ruth Barrett (Temple of Diana, Inc.), Starhawk (Earth Activist Training)

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Beltaine celebrations

by Eric Arthen, photos by Dawn, Moira Ashleigh
end of the Maypole dance
On May second and third, members of the EarthSpirit Community gathered at two celebrations of Beltaine. On Saturday, in the Middlesex Fells Reservation north of Boston and on Sunday, in Hampshire county in western Massachusetts, we reconnected with each other at this mid-point of Spring, danced around the maypole and shared food and company.


At the Fells, we did our annual “spring cleaning” by removing trash and leaves from the new grass. This Winterman was created from some of the debris collected as a magical symbol to help clean away our own winter debris and reconnect with the sacred ground.

New kid goats to be named.
Many people in the community come up to the maypole after the dance to tell of an important transition in their lives in this past year. These kid goats, just a few weeks old, were brought to the maypole to be introduced and to receive their names.