Special Report: Hurricane Irene Causes Cancelations of Area Events

George Mason Bridge at 4:00pm today

As it bares down on the East Coast, Hurricane Irene is shaking up the magickal community calendar this weekend. Though most of the region is only expected to get lots of rain and high winds, event organizers canceled a range of activities from Baltimore, Maryland to Arlington, Virginia. This in an effort to keep their communities safe and not encourage people to travel in dangerous conditions.

A message canceling the Pagan Pride Divination Party scheduled for Saturday night to raise funds for the Northern Virginia Pagan Pride Day was sent on Thursday evening. Event organizers said, "Just a note that this event has been canceled. It is unlikely we will have time to reschedule before the NOVA Pagan Pride Day on October 1st. For more information on that event, visit http://www.novappd.org"

The William Blake Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis, based in Baltimore, Maryland, canceled it's weekend activities. Among those canceled was a Lingere Party and Gnostic Mass for members planned for Saturday night, as well as a business meeting, Gnostic Mass and clothing drive, and an EGC discussion group. A representative from the lodge sent out this message on the lodge's Facebook page: "Hurricane Irene is expect(ed) to cause dangerous weather conditions in Baltimore. As a result, this weekend's events at William Blake Lodge are canceled. Please don't try to travel in this storm!" There is no word yet on when these events will be rescheduled.

Sacred Circle Books in Alexandria closed down at 3:00pm today, four hours before normal closing time. Old Town is expected to be in the most danger for high flooding concerns. We have been assured that the shop is in an area of King St. that has good drainage with little risk for floods.

The Crystal Fox canceled a Wicca 101 class that was scheduled from 7pm to 9pm Saturday night, which is just before the worst part of the storm was expected to hit the DC region. Shop owner Sterling Foxmoore sent this message out on the Crystal Fox email list: "I don't want anyone to feel obligated to come out tonight with the weather, so I rescheduling the Wicca 101 start class to Sept. 10th. :-)"

The Firefly DC Pagan Meetup canceled Astrology 1 and 2 classes scheduled for Sunday morning and afternoon, and then condensed an all-day Saturday tarot workshop into a shorter tarot brunch. Meetup organizers sent out this message: "We are sorry, all. We are disappointed to have to cancel, but the weather is likely going to be too bad to ask you all to travel for it. We will reschedule once the DC Pagan community center opens."

We hope that everyone has a safe weekend.