The Owl Nest Prepares for a Move

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current/old location

new location

Frederick, Maryland's metaphysical shop The Owl Nest seems to have outgrown its current location since opening back in 2004. One of the longest-running shops of its kind in the DC metro area, The Owl Nest carries everything you could want in a magickal supply store in addition to providing a great number of classes and services.

In announcements being sent this week through carious channels, the store operators state:

"We will be moving to 239 West Patrick Street into a charming, historical townhouse with three rooms of shopping, two healing and psychic reading rooms and a 300 square foot event and workshop room to host a variety of events including: bellydance & yoga classes, meditation & drum circles, seasonal earth celebrtions, keynote authors, musicial performers, workshops to educate and enlighten the body, mind and spirit and much, much more!

Over the next few weeks we will be busy at both shops, preparing to say 'good bye' to one and 'hello' to another.  We will be closing our current location with a Spring Equinox Sound Healing Concert at 7:30pm on Saturday, March 24th."

The store will then reopen at their new location on Monday, April 2. Then on April 7 from 7-9 pm, they're hosting a "Grand Re-Opening" with their full team of readers and practitioners.

Pagan Clergy in Maryland Celebrate Passage of Same-Sex Marriage Bill

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By David Salisbury 

Friends, families and allies all cheered and embraced as the Maryland Senate voted last night to pass a bill that will allow same-sex couples to legally marry within the state. The vote, 25-22, passed in the Senate last year as well but was defeated in the House. Gov. Martin O'Malley will sign the bill into law within the coming days. Its been an exciting month for supporters of marriage equality as similar bills passed through the legislature in Washington state and New Jersey.

Paganism could arguably be called one of the most equality-driven religious groups in the nation. A close friend of mine once told me "We [Pagans] have been performing marriages for same-sex couples since the 70's, before it was cool!." All joking aside, the Pagan clergy of Maryland have been awash in feelings of excitement and gratitude. I asked a number of Maryland clergy what their thoughts were on the passage of this historic bill.

Angela Raincatcher

Leanne Pemburn, High Priestess of Keepers of the Holly Chalice, said she thinks "it's marvelous, and if anyone asks, I will happily perform a handfasting for whoever needs one."

Angela Raincatcher, a celebrant in Becoming, had this to say about the news:

"The only reason I went through the paperwork of getting registered to perform marriages in DC was to officiate same-sex marriages there. I am ecstatic that Maryland is about to pass a marriage equality law and to be able to perform weddings for same-sex couples in the state as well. Last May we had a couple in Becoming who planned to get married in Maryland, when the legislation was up before. When it didn't pass, we had to do the legal ceremony in DC and the community celebration in Maryland as planned."

Orion Foxwood

Orion Foxwood, Founding Elder of Foxwood Temple in Maryland sent us this statement emphasizing his temple's respect for all people:

"Foxwood has also stood for diversity, equity and integrity. As such, we could not in due conscience support unequal access to the blessings of legal marriage. Love is a blessing for all people, all couples and it is a gift from our beloved Goddess. So, Foxwood took the stance that, out of respect to the full sanctity of marriage, we would not perform legal marriages in a state or the District of Columbia until this right was afforded to all loving couples in that location. We felt that no institution, legal or religious, had the right to withhold blessings to true love. We also felt that all taxpayers (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Heterosexual, etc.) should be able to access the same level of rights since all were paying the same taxes. Foxwood stands behind love....not hate. We were pleased when marriage equality was provided in the District of Columbia and immediately began to officiate marriages to all eligible couples there as soon as it became an option. We stand ready to open this service again in Maryland as the sanctity of marriage is opened up and accessible to all loving couples. We are grateful that Governor O'Malley and other elected officials recognized the diversity of religions in our state and the diversity of couples seeking not only religious sanctions of their marriages and unions, but civil sanction as well. We are so proud that Foxwood Temple has put its actions where its philosophy is, "love and loving union is a right (not a privilege) for all."

Thelemite Stephanie Olmstead-Dean of William Blake Lodge in Baltimore echos the reaction of sheer joy seen in many of the other clergypeople:

"When I heard that the Maryland Senate had passed Marriage Equality I was thrilled. I bounced around like a kid. I'm so excited for many dear people who have been excluded from marriage, simply because of gender. It took a few hours before I remembered that not only can I rejoice in these marriages, but also I can actually legally perform the ceremonies! As requested, of course. "

Ariana Lightningstorm

Ariana Lightningstorm, a Maryland eclectic minister and member of the band KIVA tells us:

"I have been working, calling representatives and constituents as well as demonstrating for the last 2 years to have the freedom to handfast or marry legally gay couples in Maryland. Freedom of choice in who we love is a very important issue for me. The very first handfasting I performed was for a gay couple almost 30 years ago and we all wished it could have been a legal wedding. Finally, it can be. "

Irene Jericho, a clergyperson from Frederick, thinks its time that the physical realities of marriage match the spiritual:

"As a resident and Pagan Clergy member of Maryland, I can't begin to describe the feeling of pride I have for my state today. In years past, I have performed same-sex Handfastings but they were always limited to the spiritual and emotional aspects of the ritual. It is wonderful to finally be able to offer gay Pagan couples the same legal services I have been able to offer their straight brethren."

Though we all share in the excitement of this historic news, its good to note that Maryland is a referendum state where virtually any legislative measure can be placed on a ballot for voter to decide if an opposing group can gain enough signatures. If that happens, marriages would be delayed until after the November elections. In either case, PNC-DC will keep you informed and will continue to present the reactions of Maryland clergy and the people they serve.

Winner of February's Contest Chosen

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The winner of our contest for free entry to the March T. Thorn Coyle Friday workshop has been chosen! Congratulations to Star Dansr who claimed the prize last night. She will be given free admission to the workshop Drumming up the Light: Rhythm as an Entry to the Sub-Conscious. 

Bummed you didn't win but still want to attend? You're in luck! We checked and there are still plenty of spaces at the workshop so you can register for the event on your own here.

Keep checking back on CapitalWitch for more reporting on this event along with future contest and giveaway offerings.

Local Mystery School Offers Six-Week Course

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In the capital area, we are very fortunate to have a great number of teachers suiting almost every type of student. However, it can be tricky to know where to start or how to jump into a teaching program. Pagan elder Katrina Messenger and others are working to ensure that as many people as possible have access to teachings in the sacred arts.

Elemental Mysteries is the first of four Foundation Courses that Reflections Mystery School is offering in 2012. This six-week course offers a deep understanding of the four ancient elements of Air, Fire,
Water, and Earth. Elemental Mysteries provides a primarily hands-on experience working with each element and its energy. The first class introduces elemental correspondences, with subsequent classes building students’ experience and skill in sensing, building, and manipulating
elemental energies. During the last class, students collaborate to
create and perform a ritual to integrate the work of the entire
course.


The Foundation Courses explore the underlying mysteries that weave throughout many magical, pagan, or esoteric traditions. Each year, Reflections Mystery School offers Elemental Mysteries, Language of Magic, and Language of Mystery in the spring and then two advanced courses on changing topics in the fall. This year’s topics will be Qabala for Pagans and Pathworking.

Elemental Mysteries is taught by Katrina Messenger, founder of Connect DC and Reflections Mystery School. Katrina Messenger is a Wiccan mystic with over forty years of experience in grassroots activism, community leadership, and teaching. She works extensively with mythology, dreamwork, ritual and trance as a means of self
exploration, self healing and self evolution. She believes that any
attempt to change the external world must be paired with the inner
work of a personal spiritual practice.

Elemental Mysteries will be held six consecutive Thursdays, 6:30pm –
8:30pm, starting March 22, at the Open Hearth Foundation center at
1503 Massachusetts Avenue SE, Washington, DC. Tuition is $100.
Registration is required. To register, go to reflectionsmyst.org.

More information about Katrina Messenger can be found at her web site katrinamessenger.com.

Red Dragon Feast 2012-Something Old, Something New.

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Somewhere close by, a drum sounds. Somewhere close by, a heartbeat pulses. It pulls us onward and inward. Something important is happening. Soon, the smell of red spicy foods fills our our senses. Friends old and new can be seen greeting each other, becoming acquainted and reacquainted. There is a heavy sense of purpose in the air. The Red Dragon is coming!

The Red Dragon Feast, which took place on Saturday, February 11, is in its 14th year here in Washington, DC. Each year, energy and money are raised in honor of the Red Dragon. The intent is to find a cure for blood-borne disease. In particular, the focus is on HIV/AIDS. This year, $1,000 was raised for Joseph's House, "a hospice home for homeless men and women who are in the end stages of AIDS and cancer." Though the recipient for funds raised and the makeup of the ritual change each year, this is an ongoing magical working. Between feasts, says organizer Eric Eldritch, people are invited and encouraged to do work at their own altars to continue the magic and then to join the feast the following year.

This year's gathering was pretty positive, according to organizer Nikki, and 50 people attended. All aspects of the Ritual, from food preparation to decoration to ritual creation, are handled "in house." The organizers and volunteers do everything themselves, all the while infusing the food and other materials with the magic of the Red Dragon.

The Ritual begins with drumming. R. Tigre Cruz leads a core of drummers to call people to start to focus on the purpose at hand, to come physically into Circle, and to ground and center with a heartbeat rhythm. At the same time, he is transforming the energy of the space, claiming the sanctuary borrowed from Westminster Presbyterian Church for the ritual at hand.

A blood orange is sacrificed, its juice drained into the cauldron. This is the Invocation of Blood. Its purpose is to remind people that we are all part of the cycle of life. Snowbaal reminds attendees: "Our magic is not a metaphor. It is real, it is personal, it is powerful!"

Once everyone is grounded and the circle is cast, the elements called in, Tigre comes to the center of the circle and, supported by the circle drummers, calls in the Red Dragon. The Dragon leads a spiral dance to raise a cone of power. Once raised, the power is sent out to amplify and support the work being done for the cure.

At the heart of the Ritual this year were the Well of Memory and Healing and a working to raise and integrate energy to aid in energizing the World Community Grid.

The Well of Memory and Healing is a working to honor and support people living with blood-borne illnesses (symbolized with red rose petals) and to remember and honor those who have died from them (symbolized by white rose petals.) The Well flows from the feet of the Dragon. People danced this year in the Well. (This working was last used in 2006, and I was lucky enough to be there for that one. It is a quiet and profound working!)

The energy working for the World Community Grid was new to Red Dragon this year, but it's a perfect application of techno-magic. By participating in the World Community Grid individuals donate idle time/energy from their computers to science to make these resources available to speed up research for cures. In the Ritual, the participants amplified the project's goal of using people's idle energy, through intent, to energize the work of the grid.

The second part of the Ritual featured Feasting and Toasting. People "eat red foods, drink red drinks to raise energy in an atmosphere of red that heightens awareness." The altar for the Feast is at the center of the labyrinth in the center of the sanctuary of the church. People are encouraged to get up and go to the altar and give toasts, each of which is met with cries of "All Hail the Red dragon! All Hail the Life-Giving Blood!" People toast loved ones, living and dead, doctors, institutions, and of course, the Red Dragon. This is always a very emotional part of the day.

The fundraising is accomplished via live and silent auctions. The live auction is always raucous and loads of fun. The auction team, this year represented by Fritter, Tophu, and Drew, first chooses "strumpets" from among Ritual attendees. The "strumpets" present each live auction item as bids are being taken. This year, there were some very exciting items on offer.















Highlights included a very elaborate, heart-shaped mirror in a round frame with two dragons and a Celtic Cross, a statue of the Dark Morrigan, and a silver urn, contributed by Radical Faerie Elder Peggy Lee, filled with seven homemade incenses. Each incense came with poetry and images that were meant to energize them. Several people make the items they donate for the auction, often working throughout the year on them. Says Eldritch, "We did all of this to deepen the magic."

Also new and exciting this year were Faeries who came from outside of the DC area. The Red Dragon Feast annually draws participants from Maryland, Virginia, DC, Delaware, and New York. This year, a contingent of Faeries from Philadelphia attended. Also, a Faerie named Husk brought a magical scroll--an acorn wrapped in magical cloth from the Kawashaway Faerie Community in Minnesota as an invitation for "cross pollinization." At the beginning of the ritual, a Faerie named Sizzle invoked all Faerie Communities around the nation and around the globe.

A final highlight to this year's Ritual was an indoor drum circle led and organized by Tigre, but not just any indoor drum circle: This was the first indoor drum circle to be held at the Open Hearth Foundation Community Center! This will very likely become an annual event.

From the new developments with the Feast to the visitors and their invitations to connect to the new drum circle, it is very clear: The magic is growing.

Many thanks to organizers Eldritch, Nikki, Tigre, Leland, Christy, and Drew for their time and dedication to this very important work and for the interview that has allowed Capital Witch to share the magic of the Red Dragon with the community! Anyone who would like to help to organize future Red Dragon Feasts is encouraged to contact Eric Eldritch at: eldritch@eldritchventures.org .

(Here is our coverage of Last year's Feast.)

Photo credits: Eric Eldritch

Win a Ticket to T. Thorn Coyle's DC Workshop in March

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Teacher and author T. Thorn Coyle will be coming to DC next month for a combination of classes based on her work. Hosted by The Open Hearth Foundation, she will be teaching a solo drumming and sacred dance class on Friday, March 23 with a separate weekend workshop on self-possession on the days following.

As a gift to our dedicated readers, PNC-DC is giving away one free registration to the Friday workshop Drumming up the Light: Rhythm as an Entry to the Sub-Conscious. This $30 value is yours with one simple action. All you need to do is post a link to this article on any social media outlet and let us know in the comments below. That's it! 

T. Thorn Coyle is an internationally respected visionary and teacher of the magical and esoteric arts. The author of Kissing the Limitless and Evolutionary Witchcraft, she hosts the Elemental Castings podcast series, writes a popular weblog, Know Thyself, and has produced several CDs of sacred music. Thorn’s teaching and spiritual direction practices help people worldwide. Pagan, mystic, and activist, she is founder and head of Solar Cross Temple and Morningstar Mystery School and lives by the San Francisco Bay.

Rules and disclosure: The contest will end this Friday, February 17 at noon. The winner will be selected randomly and announced the same day. You must be prepared to show proof of posting this article link if you are selected. This offer cannot be sold but can be given away by the winner to a friend if desired. As a note of disclosure, the author of this article is also involved with the organization of the event. Void in states where prohibited.

Imbolc Around the Capital

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By Maria Aquila 

This coming weekend marks Imbolc, or Candlemas, with several groups in the Baltimore/Washington area hosting open rituals to celebrate Brigid and the return of warmth and the increasing power of the Sun.

Friday, February 3

7:30PM, SE Washington, DC

The Firefly House and the DC Firefly Pagan Meetup Group are hosting an Imbolc ritual that is open to all. The ritual will be held at the Open Hearth Foundation in SE Washington, DC. A potluck dinner will begin at 7:30 with the ritual starting at 9PM, followed by poems, songs and stories in honor of Brigid the poet. For more information and to RSVP, go to: http://www.meetup.com/fireflydcmeetup/events/40825262/

Saturday, February 4th

4PM, Halethorpe, Baltimore, MD

Central Maryland Pagans will be hosting their Imbolc ritual in Halethorpe, MD. The event begins with a meet and greet at 4PM with the ritual beginning at 5PM, followed by a potluck dinner. Attendees are encouraged to bring items to place on the altar for the rite. For more information and to RSVP, go to: http://www.meetup.com/Central-Maryland-Pagans/events/45096092/

4:30PM, Arlington, VA

MoonFire and PotomacCircle Ministries including Circle Sanctuary Ministers, Jeanet & David Ewing, will be hosting Imbolc/Brigid's Day Community Ritual at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington. The ritual will start at 4:30PM with attendees welcome to arrive around 4PM.  A potluck will follow the ritual. Participants are also encourage to bring ritual tools they would like to (re) consecrate. Please see: http://www.meetup.com/NorthernVA-witches-pagans/events/48108842/ and http://www.moonfireuuca.org/Calendar.html for more information.

Sunday, February 5th

11:30AM, NW Washington, DC

ConnectDC will be holding their open Imbolc ritual at the Reflections Mystery School Temple in NW Washington, DC. The 2012 Imbolc ritual, Tempering Our Resolve, will begin at noon, with attendees asked gather at the temple at 11:30am. Participants are asked to bring a pledge to Brighid and an unlit candle for blessing. For more information, go to: www.connectdc.org