From the President  Over the years, I have been asked why I am a Pagan. Often I would say that Paganism just rang true to me, that being Pagan was my core self. As true as this answer is, it is incomplete. I made choices early in my life to turn towards Paganism because I felt that it answered my questions about life better than what I knew from other sources. What were those answers?
Engagement with the natural world, building relationships with deity, and creating conscious communities. The world around me was not some poor reflection of reality nor was deity something outside of nature. However, it is the building of conscious communities that keeps drawing me inwards. Pagans are community, whether with fellow humans or the multiplicity of nature. Our communities do not stop at human social relationships but continue with the wider world. Pagans may have different understanding of what a wider world is but, I think, many of us try to build our relationships to include our unique understanding of nature. Our classes at Cherry Hill Seminary encourage students to explore, understand, learn, and develop these themes. Our Foundations and Pagan Community Education classes permit all who would like too deepen their understanding to join us, and I invite you to do so today. Thank you all for the work you do in your communities. - William Blumberg |
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Join The Hypatia Society and become a part of the growing Cherry Hill Seminary family. A true passion for learning and service light these virtual halls. As a member of The Hypatia Society, you carry the light of knowledge further and higher.
Benefits for joining The Hypatia Society and supporting Cherry Hill Seminary are as follows:
$20 Astronomer - Vinyl CHS logo decal 5" square
$45 Mathematician - Enamel CHS pin 3/4" round, plus Astronomer benefits
$95 Philosopher - 10% discount on one Foundations course, plus Mathematician benefits
$150 Teacher - 20% discount on one Foundations course, plus Philosopher benefits
$250 Mystic - Free registration at any CHS one-day event, plus Teacher benefits
$500 Beloved - Glass Yule commemorative ornament, plus Mystic benefits
$1,000 Divine Guide - Online link as sponsor, plus Beloved benefits
Cherry Hill Seminary gratefully acknowledges the kind permission of artist Max Dashu to reproduce her haunting painting of Hypatia. Click here to order a printed poster of Dashu's painting.
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Call For Papers - 8th Conference on Current Pagan Studies
Identity and Community
February 4&5, 2012
Claremont, CA
For this conference we are contemplating the concepts of Identity and Community. What is our broadly defined community thinking, researching, or feeling about these concepts?
For some of us, entering into communion with this identity, this way of being in the world, is in part the divine work we essay if we dare: in what way can I manifest my identify into my life, into the world, with responsibility, integrity, passion, and compassion? In what way does this being in the world reveal and manifest the telos of my existence?
For others of us there may be other visions. What are you doing as a part of the community? Where do you think our energies should be directed in building a future? Are we part of making this world a better place to be? How is our work shaping academia or being shaped by it?
We are looking for papers from all disciplines. A community needs artists, teachers, scientists, healers, historians, philosophers, educators, thinkers, activists, etc.
As usual, we are using Pagan in its most inclusive form, covering pagans, wiccans, witches and the numerous hybrids that have sprung up as well as any indigenous groups that feel akin to or want to be in conversation with Pagans.
Abstracts should be no longer than 350 words and are due by October 15, 2011. Go to our website for advice on presenting papers. Please submit all papers via e-mail.
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Important Dates
For Students
August 21 - End Summer Classes
August 26 - End Fall Registration
September 6 - Begin Fall Classes
September 19 - Drop/Add Last Date
For Faculty September 5 - Summer '11 Grades due to office September 12 - Spring '12 Course Information due
Foundations Courses
July 11 - August 6, 2011 - Foundations Summer Three
September 11 - October 8 - Foundations Fall One
October 10 - November 5 - Foundations Fall Two
November 7 - December 3 - Foundations Fall Three
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Fall Registration Now Open
 Why Why Magickal Thinking Isn't Crazy taught by York Dobyns, PhD. Fall 1: Sep 11 - Oct 8, no meeting
Introduction to the Goddess Path taught by Candace Kant, PhD. Fall 2: Oct 10 - Nov 5, no meeting
Pagan Elders and Ancestors: Aleister Crowley taught by Grant Potts, PhD. Fall 3: Nov 7-Dec 3, no meeting
Introduction to Druidry taught by Robert Patrick, MDiv, PhD. Fall 3: Nov 7-Dec 3, no meeting
Find more information on Foundations courses being offered here, and when you're ready, register for your fall courses here.
ETP500 Call of the Dark Mother taught by Vivianne Crowley, PhD & Jennifer Bennett, BA. Meets Wednesdays, 8:30pm ET with the Master's-level course, M5040 / P5000 Death, Dying & Grieving: Call of the Dark Mother
T570 Myths of World Cultures: Creation and Destruction taught by Nickie Stipe, MDiv, PhD. Meets Tuesdays, 9pm ET with the Master's-level class, T5700 / N5020 Myths of Creation and Destruction
M562 Pagan Leadership I taught by Chandra Alexandre, MBA, PhD. No regular class meeting; one-on-one instructor conference may be required. Meets with the Master's-level class, M5620 Leadership I
MP500 Rites of Passage taught by Sue Curewitz Arthen. Meets Tuesdays, 8:00pm
Find more information on Pagan Community Education courses here, and when you're ready, register for your fall courses here.
 M5040 / P5000 Death, Dying & Grieving: Call of the Dark Mother taught by Vivianne Crowley, PhD, & Jennifer Bennett, BA. Meets Wednesdays, 8:30pm ET with the Pagan Community Education class, P500 Call of the Dark Mother.
T6475/N6125 Indigenous Religions and Cultures taught by Grant Potts, PhD. No meeting time. Fulfills the Area I requirement for a course addressing a regional or place-based tradition. Required for all TRH majors on the Text, Tradition, and Interpretation track.
M5620 Leadership I taught by Chandra Alexandre, MBA, PhD. No regular class meeting; one-on-one instructor conference may be required. Meets with the Pagan Community Education class, M562 Pagan Leadership I. Fulfills the Area III requirement for a course in group dynamics, leadership, or nonprofit management. Required for all MAL majors on the Public Ministry & Expression track.
P6210 Psychology of Religion in a Pagan Context taught by Vivianne Crowley, PhD. Meets Sundays 4PM ET every other week beginning September 18.
C500 Orientation to Cherry Hill Seminary taught by Selina Rifkin, MS. 1 meeting, time TBA. Required for all incoming matriculating students. Recommended for students who enrolled in a degree or certificate program prior to Fall 2011
T5700 / N5020 Myths of Creation and Destruction taught by Nickie Stipe, MDiv, PhD. Meets Tuesdays, 9pm ET with the Pagan Community Education class, N502 Myths of Creation and Destruction.. Fulfills the Area I requirement for a course on spiritual formation and creativity or a course in an area of theology and practice.
M5790/P5075 Survey of Chaplaincy taught by Chris Highland, MDiv. No meeting time. Fulfills one Area II requirement for a Master of Divinity.
C5121 Contemporary Global Paganisms taught by Sarah Whedon, PhD. Meets Mondays, 8:00pm ET. Required for all Master's degree programs.
Find more information on Masters courses here, and when you're ready, register for your fall courses here. |
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Candace Kant Releases New Book
 Candace Kant, Ph.D., has edited a new book called Heart of the Sun: An Anthology in Exaltation of Sekhmet, along with Anne Key. The book is a look at Sekhmet's guises as soon through the perspectives of her modern-day devotees and offers multiple ways of understanding and connecting to Sekhmet. You can purchase the book on Amazon.com.
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Michelle Mueller Accepted in PhD. Program
 Beginning in August, Michelle Mueller is moving back to the San Francisco Bay Area to begin her Ph.D. studies at the Graduate Theological Union in the Cultural and Historical Studies of Religions. After serving a Unitarian Universalist church for 2.5 years, Michelle will also be working part-time as the Director of Religious Education for the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Stockton, CA. Michelle hopes to resume CHS teaching in Summer 2012 with new and existing courses.
Congratulations, Michelle, and we look forward to seeing you again!
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CHS Student Laura Anderson Visits Ireland
My husband, Sean, and I got married on Lughnasadh last year, and were given the chance to travel to Ireland on our honeymoon. I had been to Ireland once before, when I was fifteen, but this time was a very different trip. I was here to celebrate a wonderful life change, to take my first vacation with my husband, and to pay my respects and honor to the Tuatha de Danann. I'm a heathen now, but I started my pagan path with Celtic Reconstruction, and I raise my horn to the Irish gods as often as to the Norse. We spent eight days in Dublin, and every day that we were there, we walked through St. Stephen's Green, pictured below. The Green was situated between our hotel and almost anywhere we wanted to go, so we spent a lot of time in the park. We visited museums, Trinity College, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Kilmainham Gaol, and Dublin Castle. 
But as lovely as Dublin was, Galway held the magic for me. I live near the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and when I look out my window, I see the mountains jutting up into the sky. But when I looked out my window in Galway, I could see Galway Bay a five minute walk away and the Connemara mountains gray in the distance. I've never beheld a more beautiful sight in my life. 
Sean and I took two bus tours in Galway, one to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, and one to Connemara and Cong. On the way to the Cliffs, we stopped at Ballyalban Fairy Fort, below. To see something that lore has said was actually built by the Tuatha de Danann - well, I was awestruck. 
The trip to Connemara and Cong wound up being the one thing we did that stands out most in my mind, simply because of the beauty of the area we went to. We stopped at Kylemore Abbey, which had once been a castle build by a man for his wife and later was gifted to the nuns to use. 
When we weren't busy on our bus tours, we would take the city bus down into Galway City, walk around for an hour or so, buy some sandwiches, and begin the walk back up to our bed and breakfast. Technically, it was an hour long walk, but we always made it last most of the day. And one day we were even able to spend some time playing at the beach. The gods have long been kind to Sean and I. And walking along Galway Bay, seeing the Fairy Fort, and looking out at the Connemara mountains, I felt blessed once more by the Tuatha de Danann. - Laura Anderson
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