Introduction from the author: When Calafia asked me to serve as Public Information Officer for the local council, I thought it would be fun to write a column as a way of sharing news and information I gather throughout the year. What's Brewing is the result. It is my hope to provide you with a brief overview of what is currently brewing in the Wiccan community, and when possible, point you toward sites where you can obtain further information. I'll be awarding from one to five wands to those mentioned in my column who are Wiccan-friendly. The others will be the recipients of anywhere from one to five toads. We plan to update the column on a regular basis, so please visit us again soon.

The Witches Voice needs your voice: 
Those of you who are Wiccan or Pagan have surely visited The Witches Voice web site on many occasions, and likely plan to do so in the future. It is one of the most visited web sites in the world for Pagan information and advocacy, with over 27,000 pages viewed each day, and has supported the Wiccan and Pagan community in many ways.
     Now The Witches Voice needs your support. Because of the large amount of web space needed for their site, and the huge amount of traffic the site generates, they have to pay a fee for the 200 meg of hard disk space they now occupy. This has put The Witches Voice in the red to the tune of $100 per month, threatening to put the site off the internet.
     If you are a part of a Wiccan or Pagan community who would like to see the future of The Witches Voice secured, visit their sponsorship page at http://www.witchvox.com/twv/sponsor.html . For a very small donation, you can help support the Wiccan and Pagan community in a big way. We all know that The Witches Voice deserves five wands for their efforts over the past years. If you become involved in helping to save this valuable resource, those five wands belong to you also.

Virtual Spiritual Sanctuary: 
Spiritual Sanctuary started as a one-page web site about Paganism, and according to the founders, took on a life of its own. Recently, it has been turned into a non-profit organization, dedicated to offering educational resources in earth-based religions and to dispel religious intolerance. They plan on having a grand opening in October on Samhain.
     Spiritual Sanctuary is in the process of holding two fund raising events to help support their organization - a children's art contest and a contest for Pagan cooking recipes, which they plan to publish in a book at the end of the year.
     As of June 15th, 2000, their new web site will be up and running, and will include information on the contests, grand opening, and their plans for the future, which include actual sanctuaries where Pagans can come to learn and share spiritual experiences.
     Visit this very attractive site at: http://spiritualsanctuary.org.

Pagan Service Provider: 
I recently learned of a Pagan service provider called AriadneSpider and thought I'd pass the information along. They are geared specifically toward Pagan needs, with an occult-oriented search engine. AriadneSpider also provides a dating service, free email, free server space for pages of Pagan content, website hosting, links, chat, shopping, community forums, and a whole lot more. I'm feeling generous today. I award them five wands.
     To learn more go to http://www.ariadnespider.com.

Book Store Pulls Pagan Titles: 
Wiccan rumor has it that many of the Hastings Bookstores nationwide have recently pulled Pagan and Wiccan titles from their shelves. I have tried to contact management to find out if this is true, but have gotten no response yet. The Wiccans who contacted me about this said they have bought much of their reading material from Hastings in the past, but if Hastings does not change their policy on Wiccan and Pagan books, they will spend their money elsewhere in future. If you are a Hastings customer and would like to contact them yourself, here is the email address: service@hastings-ent.com. Good luck!

Witchfest in New Orleans: 
If you live in New Orleans, or plan to visit in July, here's an event you won't want to miss! Coven of Thessally is sponsoring Witchfest in New Orleans on July 14th, 15th, and 16th, 2000. The event will feature The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magic with Dr. Raymond Buckland. Get all the details by visiting their site at: http://www.angelfire.com/wi/monte/witchfest.html.

Lady Diana
Lady Diana, HPS of Misty Vale Coven, is the current Public Information Officer for Calafia, local chapter of CoG. She teaches an ongoing series of Wiccan classes at Starcrafts in San Diego. You can contact her at mistyvale@home.com or visit the Misty Vale website at http://members.home.com/mpadilla

Read the What's Brewing Archives.