Monthly Archives: March 2011

The MPRC holds discussion nights every first Thursday of the month on random subjects pertaining to alternative spirituality/paganism. The discussions are open where all opinions are welcomed.

Upcoming Topic: Raising Pagan Children
Date: April 7th, 2011 at 18h45-20h45
Location: At the MPRC inside the Melange Magique (1928, Ste.Catherine St. West)
Cost: Free (donations welcomed)
Facebook Event

Let’s discuss:

April 2011: Raising Pagan Children
* How is the life of a pagan child different that a non-pagan child?
* Pagan activities for toddlers, children, teens
* What options do pagan parents have?
* How do children relate to their pagan parents?
* Do pagan children face discrimination?
* Can pagan parents be accused of child abuse?
* Do pagan practices put children in questionable circumstances?
* What if the child does NOT want to live a pagan life?

Saturday, April 16
10:00am – 6:00pm
Burritoville
2055 Bishop
Montreal, QC

Join us for a day of divination, music, massage, reiki, face painting and good food at Burritoville on Bishop opposite Concordia University.

This is the final fundraiser/fun-raiser that Montreal will be hosting prior to the conference.

Facebook Event page
Gaia Gathering website

Please join us to find out how the planning is going, and to provide your input into the planning process. And, of course, if you want to help, we’d be delighted!

Time: Monday, April 4 · 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: Concordia Multifaith Chaplaincy

The main focus of the discussion at this meeting will be on programming. What panels do Montrealers want to see? What panels can we put together as a community to share our skills and knowledge with he rest of Canada?

We will be upstairs in the lovely lounge area with the kitchen.

Facebook Event

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The Canadian National Pagan Conference (CNPC), Gaia Gathering, is held every year over the long Victoria Day weekend in May. Each year, the event is hosted by a different city, which is determined through a bid and vote process. Gaia Gathering is a place where people from across Canada and from across the spectrum of this country’s Pagan religions an come together to talk about who we are, where we’ve come from, and where we might be going as a religious community in Canada.

Past host cities include Edmonton, Halifax, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Vancouver. The conference features three days of discussion and workshops about Canadian contemporary Paganisms – our Asatru, our Druidry, our Wicca and so on — and brings together Canadian elders, community leaders, and interested Pagans or Pagan-curious for networking, discussion, and community. Legally, we are incorporated federally as a non-profit organization and operate with a national Board of Directors as well as a local host committee.

Registration is now open for Gaia Gathering 2011 conference which will be held in the beautiful, bilingual and metropolitan Montreal from May 20th to 23rd, 2011. Our conference venue is Concordia University and the theme is “Language to Liturgy.”

Pagan Art Exposition 2011
May 21st to May 22nd, 2011
Canadian National Pagan Conference, Gaia Gathering 2011
Concordia University: Sir George Williams Campus
Facebook Event page

The Montreal Pagan Resource Centre (MPRC) is proud to coordinate Montreal’s second Pagan Art Exposition as part of the Canadian National Pagan Conference, Gaia Gathering 2011. Our goal is to showcase artistic work created by pagan artists from our community, but also to give these artists a venue in which they can present their work to a larger audience.

The art exposition will be held on the 7th floor of Concordia University’s Sir George Williams Campus (1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. West).

The artwork should reflect pagan themes, but this is not a requirement. In the spirit of promoting artists within our pagan community, we are looking to work with artists who themselves follow a pagan spiritualistic path.

We must receive your application no later than April 30th 2011. You can submit your completed application, along with your $20 processing fee, to Le Melange Magique (1928 Ste. Catherine Street West). For the $20 processing fee, we accept cash, cheque, or money order (made payable to John David Hickey).

You can also email your completed application to mprccrpm@gmail.com.

You can download a copy of the application from here:
Word Document: http://www.documentia.ca/FTP/ArtShowArtistDoc_2011.doc
Adobe PDF: http://www.documentia.ca/FTP/ArtShowArtistDoc_2011.pdf

Roles and Responsibilities

* All artistic submissions will be reviewed by a jury that consists of MPRC volunteers. The MPRC jury reserves the right to choose the art works as they see fit. The MPRC jury will NOT select art that promotes violence or hatred of any kind.
* All artwork must be delivered to the exposition space by the artist or proxy after 12pm, May 20th and must be removed from the exposition space by 4pm, May 22nd by the artist or proxy. Any artwork not retrieved within a week of the Art Show will become the property of the MPRC.
* All art work must be ready for display.
* All pieces must be firmly attached to a base. For three-dimensional pieces, we suggest that the artist provide proper display supports.
* IMPORTANT: Artists are responsible to insure their own art works.  The MPRC, Concordia University, or Gaia Gathering is NOT responsible any for lost, stolen, or damaged works.

Application Fees and Sales
The MPRC is asking for a $20 processing fee per artist who wishes to submit their work for the Art Exposition. If the artist’s work is not retained for the exposition, the artist will be refunded their $20.
If the artist has registered for the Gaia Gathering conference, there is no $20 processing fee.

For the $20 processing fee, we accept cash, cheque, or money order (made payable to John David Hickey).

If artists wish to sell their artwork, they must either purchase a vending space from Gaia Gathering, coordinate with other artists to reserve a vending space, or share a space with another vendor. Any sales of the artwork in the show must be made in the Gaia Gathing Vendor’s room between the purchaser and the artist.

The MPRC requests a donation of 10% of any sales made during the Art Exposition, which can be collected at the end of the exposition (Sunday, May 22nd).

Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact us at mprccrpm@gmail.com.

Although Montreal celebrates St. Patrick’s Day on a Sunday with its annual parade, March 17th is the actual St. Patrick’s Day, which in 2011 falls on a Thursday. Historically, St. Patrick is one of Christianity’s best-known and most-loved saints who is credited with banishing all snakes from Ireland.

Of course, there never have been any snakes in Ireland for St. Patrick to banish, so we understand that the snakes actually represent the pagans and their beliefs that were replaced by Christian doctrine. Critics often point out that this day is mainly an excuse for the population to drink excessively and wear garishly green clothing.

At face value, the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day has certainly been hijacked by boorish behaviour, but it’s certainly not the only holiday in which that happens. Let’s take a look at the other seasonal celebrations we have and consider their excesses:

* For Summer, we have St. Jean Baptist Day and Canada Day.

* For Fall, we have Thanksgiving and Halloween.

* For Winter, we have Christmas/Yule and New Year’s Day.

* For Spring, we have St. Patrick’s Day and Easter.

As far as I can tell, Easter is the only holiday where the worst thing that can happen is cracking a tooth on too much chocolate (Halloween can be accused of that too, but there is more boozing in scary masks than at Easter). So why does St. Patrick’s Day get all the criticism?

What are we really celebrating in March? If you take a look outside, you’ll no doubtedly notice that the snow has mostly melted away and the days are sunnier. The Vernal Equinox is nigh, signalling the coming of Spring and Summer, a time of growth, rebirth, and warmth. After three months of darkness and cold, St Patrick’s Day is our moment to cast off the dark shroud of winter and welcome the warmth of the sun and the rebirth of nature.

From a pagan perspective, many modern-day pagans refuse to celebrate or even acknowledge this day. The image of our pagan forefathers fleeing the threat of Christianity is not a pleasant thought. But just as our modern-day pagan pioneers attempted to reclaiming the word “witch”, I should think pagans can attempt to reclaim the spirit of the Vernal Equinox celebration known as St. Patrick’s Day. If we’re going to reclaim the mythology of this day, then we can tongue-in-cheek add our own take on the myth. If St. Patrick’s Day celebrates the day when the patron saint of Ireland seemingly drove all the snakes from Ireland, then we can celebrate “All Snakes Day”: the day the Druids tricked St. Patrick into thinking the snakes had been banished.

After all, we snakes are still here and we are thriving! We’re lean, green, Pagan machines who welcome the Sun God and the Green Goddess with open arms, excited with what the warmer seasons have to offer in terms of their bounty and boundless possibilities. Just like the snake who sheds his outer skin, so do we shed our warm, protective clothing and feel the warmth on our faces and skin. We may even hoist a horn of mead or ale to share with our kith and kin, bringing family and friends together to make plans and celebrate the friendship that got us through the darker winter days.

So Happy All Snakes Day to you, fellow pagans! Go out and revel in the heat that warms your snake skin. And I will raise a toast to you and yours while we enjoy the longer days together. As for St. Patrick himself? It’s only fitting that we extend him some Irish hospitality for his special day if he’ll lower his ash staff and share a pint or two with us.