A reader says, I read about a public Pagan temple that started up in Minnesota. I think this is awesome. Why can't we have public Pagan temples everywhere, like the Christians have churches?

Why can't we? We can. But for many people, Why can't we actually means Why Doesn't Someone Else? Want a Pagan temple in your community? Get out there and start one. No one is stopping you. Just like with Pagan businesses, Pagan events, and other needs that haven't been met, every venture starts with one person finding a hole and filling it. If you want to see a Pagan temple -- and by this, I mean a physical place where people can go worship -- in your community, here are a few things to keep in mind: Starting a Pagan Temple.

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There's a nice little feel-good piece from the Shreveport Times, taking a look at how a Christian and a Wiccan can still manage to find the balance required for a happy marriage. The article profiles Michael and Cindy Diaczynsky. She's a Christian, and when they married, he was too - but eventually he began studying Wicca, and realized that his spiritual journey was leading him away from his Christian roots.

Cindy says her friends and family have come to accept that she's married to a practicing witch - Michael is an ordained high priest in his local coven - but what I find really telling are the comments made by the couple themselves. Michael says, "I always tell people, I've never met a better Christian than my wife... She is what true Christianity was meant to be."

Michael also makes the comment that while his wife "may not necessarily agree with the Wiccan religion ... she likes who I've become with it."

Anyway, it's a nice little story. It does seem as though interfaith marriages are on the rise, at least in the US, and I know that a lot of our readers here at About Pagan/Wiccan are married to someone who's Not Pagan. I'm married to a Pagan-friendly atheist myself, and it seems as though most of my Pagan friends are not married to other Pagans but to people of other faiths.

Can interfaith marriages work? Absolutely: Interfaith Marriages and How to Make them Work.



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Sometimes I look at the ongoing stories we cover here at About Pagan/Wiccan and think to myself, "Really? How long are we going to drag this one out?" The continuing saga of the Maetreum of Cybele is one of those, because the town of Catskill just seems to be digging their hole deeper and deeper. I won't rehash the entire case, because it's covered at the link above, but in a nutshell, the Maetreum has federal recognition as a 5013c tax-exempt organization - but the town of Catskill refuses to accept this, and keeps trying to force the group to pay taxes.

And now, they've announced that once again, the Maetreum of Cybele has been denied property tax exemption for 2012, which means MORE COURT.

According to an update on the Maetreum's website:

Despite claims to the press for several years that Catskill did not question our legitimacy as a religion, the entirety of their case was exactly that we were not a legitimate religion under the IRS guidelines. Again despite the IRS recognition we are. We proved in court we met every one of the IRS "fourteen points" for determining what is or isn't a church.

As if this wasn't bad enough, the group has about ten grand in unpaid legal fees still outstanding. The city of Catskill, however, has spent over a quarter of a million dollars fighting this exemption. If you'd like to make a donation to help the Maetreum of Cybele out with their legal costs, you can click the Paypal button on their page.

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It's May, and that means that the Flower Moon will appear this week. This is a time of fertility and new growth, and May is a fiery month indeed -- full of lust and passion! In addition to the obvious sexual connections, this is a good time to focus on new beginnings in your career and finances.

This month's correspondences include fiery colors like red, orange, and yellow, and gemstones such as the amber and ruby. Prickly trees like the hawthorn and rowan come into play, and lusty deities take center stage, with Priapus, Flora, and Kali being honored this month. For magical workings, try a fire divination under the full moon, or do rituals related to jobs and prosperity. Take the seeds you planted in April, and watch them bloom this month, under the Flower Moon!

While May itself is passionate and fiery, the season of Spring is often a wet one. Use the element of water to connect in this Spring Full Moon rite, and celebrate the way our bodies connect to the moon and its phases.

This month's full moon is a little extra potent, because it's considered a "super moon." That's the term applied when the full moon is a lot closer than normal, making it look larger and brighter. We had one back in March 2011, and everyone was worried about extreme weather, but this year's super moon won't be quite as large.

The Farmer's Almanac says, "A SuperMoon occurs when the Moon is at least 90% of the way to its perigee position at the same time it is full or new. An extreme SuperMoon is when a full or new Moon happens at the same time the Moon is close to 100% perigee. May's full Moon will occur within an hour of the Moon's perigee."

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