The Northern Nevada Pagan Pride Day will be held on October 4th this year at Deer Park in Sparks, Nevada.

Theme for this year: Celebrate the Child Within.

The celebration will be done with a carnival type atmosphere that focuses on the younger generation of Pagans. Some events include: Tic Tac Toe, Coin Toss, Bean Bag Toss and for the adults another rousing year of the Haggas Toss and Hammer Throw.

Some event presentations include a puppet show by The Child Assault Prevention Team and a self-defense course by Zai Martial Arts Studio.

Non-perishable food donations, clothing and such will be accepted for the local Pagan Pantry.

For more information, or to get invovled in this years NNPPD please contact Susanna at 813-6653. Also, have a visit to their website www.paganpridenevada.org

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Carson City has a new Pagan e-group now. This is great news, since the last local e-group has had a pending status through yahoo going back through Yule of last year.

If you are a Carson local or in the greater Reno/Carson City/Tahoe follow this link to sign up with the e-group: CarsonPagan-Wiccan

The group was started by Erin Renee, Carson City’s local Pagan Medium and Jessa who is Carson City’s local Pagan Tribal Fusion Belly Dancer and owner of Dark Moon Dance.

Erin and Jessa have also began a web show called The Real Witches that you can watch over on youtube here: The Real Witches

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Summer is coming and the snow is almost gone away from the Sierra Nevada range. Pagans are coming out to gather and build community while enjoying the warmer weather here in Nevada.

The majority of happenings listed below are not found on Witch Vox but only through groups here in the state. So, without further ado… here is Simple Abnormality’s list of current Pagan Nevada events, groups and contact information.

1. First off we have the “I AM” campaign from the PUC that is set for all of us political Pagans to get our post cards out by Summer Solstice. Here in Nevada the campaign started out well with the distribution of the main PUC press release for “I AM”. The Nevada Pagan Unity Campaign is starting fresh this season and I am hoping to make “I AM” noticeable here in our state. If you would like to join the NV PUC e-group to stay updated with all the latest Pagan politics in Nevada while meeting other like minded Pagans, then have a visit over at our main page: Nevada Pagan Unity Campaign

2. Avalon’s Gate, which is a Pagan shop located in Reno is one of the only shops left in the greater Reno area that still has a storefront. Some shops have been hard it with the economy here and three have closed this year; two of them that had been local staples for the Pagan community for years. Avalon’s Gate holds various classes as well as being a shop and the ladies running the place are quite active in the Reno Pagan community. Some of their activities for this month are as follows:
June 7th: Herbal Craft at 11:00 a.m.
Deepening Divination at 3:00 p.m.
June 10th: Dragon Magic 2 at 4:00 p.m.
June 13th: Spell Crafting at 11:00 a.m.
Deepening Divination at 3:00 p.m.
June 15th: Otherkin Meetup at 7:00 p.m.
June 17th: Dragon Magic 3 at 4:00 p.m.
Witches Meetup at 7:00 p.m.
June 20th-22nd: Midsummer Camping Trip
June 24th: Dragon Magic 4 at 4:00 p.m.
June 28th: Spell Crafting at 11:00 a.m.
Deepening Divination at 3:00 p.m.

Have a stop by their main shop site: Avalon’s Gate

3. Silver Dawn Chapter of CUUPS in Reno is having their monthly meeting this Sunday, June 8th at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northern Nevada. For more information you can give them a call at: 775-851-7100

4. Northern Nevada Pagan Pride Day is having a fund raising bake sale this Saturday, June 7th in Golden Valley at 7515 Hillview Drive. For more information give Susanna a call at 813-6653. She is the coordinator of the sale and all proceeds go to putting on this year’s Northern Nevada Pagan Pride Day which is set for October this year. Go check out their e-group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NNVPPD

5. The Pagan Alliance of Nevada is taking part, as most pagan groups in the area are, of the new Community Garden that is being form. Right now the garden is in the starting stages but the goal is to help grow food to support the local community and add more food to the Pagan Pantry in Reno. For information about the Community Garden and to volunteer your time for planting stop by the e-group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pagan_alliance The Pagan Alliance e-group is not apart of the Pagan Alliance of Nevada which has just gained it’s non-profit status. Click here to learn more about the Pagan Alliance of Nevada

6. Carson City’s All World Magick Circle is hosting a Spirit Social to come Party with the Dead on June 7th at 600 E. College Pkwy, which is the Clubhouse of the Parkway Manor Apartments. This event features a meet and great type thing with Erin Renee, a local Carson City witch and medium. For more on Erin visit her site here: www.erinrenee.net

7. Carson City’s All World Magick Circle is hosting a Spirit Social to come Party with the Dead on June 28th at the River School. Visit here for directions: www.riverschool.info
This event features a meet and great type thing with Erin Renee, a local Carson City witch and medium. For more on Erin visit her site here: www.erinrenee.net

8. Tribal Belly Dance Classes by Dark Moon Dance, ran by local Carson City witch and professional dancer Jessa, is held every Wednesday from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Each class is only $5.00 and is open to anyone regardless of dance history. For more information you can give Jessa a call at (775) 721-1869.

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Letter to the editor of the Nevada Appeal

To whom it may concern:

I was highly disappointed to read staff reporter Rhonda Costa-Landers’ article on The National Day of Prayer. The article, I feel is not only exclusionary but also misleading in its lack of research on the presentation of The National Day of Prayer.

The first issue that I have with the article to be addressed is the following: ‘National Day of Prayer has become a day for Christians to organize and gather to pray’-Rhonda Costa-Landers 57th annual National Day of Prayer is Thursday.

The National Day of prayer is for all people of all faiths to organize and pray or to pray in private. There is no government mandate that allows for the day to be one only attributed to Christians.

To publish that it has become a day for Christians is both highly erroneous and divisive in a community that consists of residents from various faiths. Here in Carson City there are people who are Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Gnostic, Unitarian and Pagan.

I would also like to point out the requirements made by the select Christian groups who have over taken this day. The National Day of Prayer Task Force does not have as it states the “official” website for the National Day of Prayer. There is no government mandated “official” website or group that represents the National Day of Prayer. The task force was born out of the National Prayer Committee that was a private group that helped to influence the legislation that President Ronald Reagan signed in regards to The National Day of Prayer back in 1988. The task force is also housed in the Focus on the Family headquarters and ran by the wife of the president for the Focus on the Family organization.

All three of the above organizations are privately funded evangelical Christian groups whose main goal is to change the laws that format the religious freedoms for all citizens in this country. The National Prayer Committee, the head of the group was formed in 1979 from a subcommittee of the International Congress on World Evangelization.
The National Day of Prayer Task Force’s mission states that part of their goal is in ‘mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family.’ They ask that to be apart of any of their events that you sign a belief statement; a statement in which excludes many other denominations of Christianity that do not align with the Evangelical view point.

Another point to be made here is that there is no government sponsored theme for The National Day of Prayer. Neither the President nor Congress develops a theme to be followed for this day. The theme was chosen by the task force and they make no distinction as to the difference of where the theme comes from for they imply that it is a government sanctioned theme. It is also interesting to note that President Bush, who is an Evangelical Christian, adopted this theme in his proclamation dated for April 22nd 2008 while our own governor adopted the theme in his proclamation dated for February 8th 2008 before President Bush even endorsed it.

There are a few more points I would like to make that have seemed to have been over looked by the local media regarding May 1st.

May 1st is also celebrated for being May Day, International Workers Day, Beltane and Walpurgis. These celebrations have occurred every year in various parts of the world but this year have news wise taken a back seat to The National Day of Prayer.

Another celebration of mention is that President Bush on April 30th 2003 declared that May 1st of every year will be recognized as Loyalty Day. President Bush stated: I call upon all the people of the United States to join in support of this national observance. I also call upon government officials to display the flag of the United States on all government buildings on Loyalty Day.

So not only have the other May 1st celebrations been ignored due to the media attention over The National Day of Prayer but our own President and Congress has overlooked their own declaration for our country to come together and celebrate in lieu of letting The National Day of Prayer Task Force over take this day.

I am not against having a National Day of Prayer, as long as it is promoted and endorsed as it was originally intended and that was to be a day of prayer for all people of all faiths. What I am against is both the local and national media outlets perpetuating misinformation to the exclusion of many of our country’s citizens. On this day we have a unique opportunity to show more openness for interfaith gatherings and we are letting that opportunity pass us by. I do hope that next year more people will gather from all faiths to share their beliefs and help to make the day a more cohesive one for all Americans and not just a vocally select few.

Thank you,
Laura Jean Karr
www.simpleabnormality.com

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