Tribute To A Friend
James L. Bianchi, 1949-2015 

I first met Jim Bianchi in January 2006 at a remote camp in the
redwoods of northern California, my first Cherry Hill Seminary
intensive. 

The wonderful photo below was taken by another student while we were out hiking one day. I've always thought it beautifully captures the inner spirit which drove Jim to do all the myriad things he did to serve others. 

So it was with a heavy heart that we received the news, first, of Jim's final illness, then of his untimely passing on May 11. 
An attorney by trade and an activist at heart, Jim taught about religion and the law for CHS for more than ten years;  he was very excited about the new spring course he had developed (called "Moral Advocacy:).

But what I will remember is Jim's deep well of caring, compassion and giving.  I don't remember his ever telling me no, nor ever complaining.

I think of him always with that boyish smile, looking forward to another ritual or drum circle or community project.  Gone too soon - may the gods welcome you, Jim, to the most glorious drum circle of your life, and then, may you return to us in love, another time, in still another loving guise.-- Holli S. Emore, Executive Director





Important Dates
 
For Students
Jun 14 Insights 1 classes end
Jun 22 Insights 2 classes begin
Jul 19 Insights 2 classes end
Jul 27 Insights 3 classes begin
Aug 23 All summer classes end
Sep 7 Fall classes begin
Sep 16 Drop/Add deadline
Oct 4 Insights 1 classes end
Oct 11 Insights 2 classes begin 
For Faculty
Jun 28 Insights 1 grades due 
Jul 13 Spring course proposals due 
Aug 2 Insights 2 grades due 
Sep 6 All summer grades due 
Sep 28 Spring 2016 course proposals due 
Oct 17 Insights 1 grades due 
Wisdom of Hypatia Webinar

Thank you, Bruce MacLennan, for the excellent online salon on May 30, about Hypatia and how Neoplatonic philosophy may be adapted to Pagan practice.  Thanks also to Victoria Selnes, our own fabulous tech-jockey!

Last but not least

CHS will soon begin phasing out use of Thinkwave online
student records system except for those actively enrolled in a degree or certificate program.  We have found it is not being utilized sufficiently to justify the ongoing cost. All records are saved in multiple secure backups, and the CHS Catalog gives instructions on requesting an official transcript.

The CHS 2014 Annual Report is now posted here.  You may also visit Guidestar.org any time to review IRS 990 reports and other information for all years on record.


Cherry Hill Seminary is the leading provider of education and practical training in leadership, ministry, and personal growth in Pagan and Nature-Based spiritualities.

For more information, visit www.cherryhillseminary.org, or contact CHS@cherryhillseminary.org.
New CHS Program For Military Chaplains and Leaders


2016 CHS Environmental Symposium

 

Cherry Hill Seminary and the University of South Carolina

announce "The Greening of Religions: Hope in the Eye of the Storm," a symposium to be held on the USC campus in Columbia, SC, April 1-4, 2016. 

 

 

Laurie Zoloth, bioethicist and president of the American Academy of Religion, has called climate change the greatest moral issue of our time.  Increasingly, voices from a variety of religious and spiritual traditions are bringing the link between religion and climate change to national and international notice, from the Green Seminary Movement, to the expected Papal encyclical, to conferences ranging from the purely academic to those like the World Parliament of Religions, and to the growing emphasis on environmental justice.

 

This conference welcomes proposals that go beyond acknowledging climate change as a moral challenge to explore if and how religious and spiritual traditions and their practitioners engage with this challenge, its effect on their behavior and thinking, and if theological reflections have been modified in any way to adjust to the climate changes that confront us.

 

We are looking for proposals from a broad understanding of religion, including the Abrahamic, the Dharmic, the contemporary Pagan and the Earth-based, as well as from diverse methodologies: theoretical and practical, qualitative and quantitative, normative and descriptive. Abstracts should be limited to 600 words and are due by September 30, 2015.

 

Keynote address and other programs will be presented by

Bron Taylor

, author of Dark Green Religion, Avatar and Nature Spirituality, Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, and more.    

 

"Welcome to Bron Taylor's gateway to the study of nature-human relationships and the global struggle for biodiversity, conservation and environmental sustainability, including as discussed in Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future and his most recent book Avatar and Nature Spirituality  

 

"Explore the emotional and spiritual connections people have (and do not have) with nature. Consider the ethical and political dimensions of grassroots environmental movements, including Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front. Discover what surfing (oceanic not internet) might have to do with spirituality and environmentalism. Analyze how environments shape human perceptions and how human perceptions shape environmental and social systems. Consider whether a new post-Darwinian nature spirituality is emerging that will decisively shape the future of religion and the earth."
CHS Peeps In The News

"Goddesses Alive! A Ritual with Masks" was selected to be performed at the upcoming Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah, in October 2015.  Originally created in celebration of the Goddess 2000 Project by CHS Advisory Board member M. Macha NightMare and current CHS artist-in-residence Lauren Raine, this ritual draws from several different contemporary and historical Pagan paths.  Incorporating music and singing, chant and narrative, dance and direct interaction with attendees, 13 embodied indigenous, ethnic, and historical faces of goddesses speak to the issues of climate change and care for creation, respect for women and Nature, and can bring an experiential awareness of the divine feminine.

Selina Rifkin was the featured guest May 13 on New Normal podcast with host Tchipakkan, talking about Pagan seminary education. Listen here. 

Valentine McKay-Riddell and colleagues from the Emergent Studies Institute will present a film, The Burning House, at the Eurotas Festival in Milan, Italy, in June.

Robin Murphy presented the workshop, "Beloved, Love Within," at Heartland Pagan Festival.

In the 2014-15 year, Michelle Mueller has been the Christine Downing Dissertation Fellow of OPUS Archives (Santa Barbara, CA), where she has done special research in Marija Gimbutas, Christine Downing, and Joseph Campbell collections.

Byron Ballard was one of the headliners at the recent Pagan Unity Festival near Nashville, TN. She taught three classes--"Simple Practical Magic," "More Willful Bane" and "Healing Magic," and coordinated rituals for the event. Her classes were the most heavily attended for the second year in a row. Byron also attended St Louis Pagan Picnic for the first time and presented three short workshops there, including the basic Appalachian folk magic class--"Hillfolks' Hoodoo."

 

David Kling presents a workshop titled "
Anam Cara: The Art of Spiritual Care," at Wisteria's Summer Solstice Festival in Ohio, June 18th - June 21st.

Francesca Howell's chapter, "Bellisama & Aradia: Paganism Re-emerges in Italy,"has just been published in a new volume by Dr. Kathryn Rountree, Contemporary Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Europe -- Colonialist and Nationalist Impulses 

Holli Emore appeared on a South Carolina call-in radio show, OnPoint With Cynthia Hardy on May 17, along with Dr. Carl Evans, Emeritus Chair of the USC Dept. of Religious Studies, and Jason Heap, national director of United Coalition for Reason in Washington, DC. Guests were asked to comment on the rising numbers of Americans who say they are spiritual but religiously unaffiliated.  
   
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