News From Around the Covenant of the Goddess

Around CoG

Live Oak Local Council

Live Oak LC sent two members to help break the Guinness World Record for simultaneous sandwich making. The event was held in Dallas Feb. 22 and the effort was a success. Nineteen hundred people showed up. All 136,000 sandwiches were donated to the Food Banks that Live Oak normally works with such as NTFB and SoupMobile. Read more here.

Northern California Local Council



PantheaCon 2014 is now over and NCLC members can look back at another successful convention. Each year NCLC hosts a suite jointly with the New Wiccan Church and the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn. NCLC first officers said, "NCLC is grateful for the generosity of CoG members in other parts of the country who donated toward the expenses of the Hospitality Suite. Their help made this project much easier." 

NCLC members M. Macha Nighmare and Crystal Blanton will be participating in an "Alternative Spirituality" Panel on March 8 at the 2nd Annual Day of the Book. The event is held at John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, California and hosted by its Liberal Studies program.  For more information go this website.

Dogwood Local Council

Merry Meet 2014 Registration went live on Sunday February 24. Dogwood is looking vendors, workshop participants, sponsors and more. Follow the Merry Meet progress on Facebook.  Or go to Dogwood's website.

Dogwood Local Council will be attending the yearly Atlanta Pagan Market Place of Ideas held in Marietta GA each spring. The day-long indoor festival attracts people from all over the metro area and includes vendors, workshops and more.

Chamisa Local Council

This past Sunday Ardantane Pagan Learning Center, operated and supported by members of Chamisa Local Council, held its annual Ardantane Visioning Day. "Each year we gather to celebrate Ardantane’s past, do a reality check on the present, and imagine the possible futures of this community and its campus...[It is] one day to let our imaginations soar, and to discover our dreams and goals for the year ahead."

Registration has opened for Beltane Southwest 2014. "Join the merriment and celebrate spring's return to the Land of Enchantment!  Dance around the Maypole, cheer the May Royals, jump over the Bale Fire, enjoy workshops, vendors, feasting, drumming, dancing, and other rites of spring.  Beltane will be held May 1-4, 2014 in the Manzano Mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico."  Chamisa members regularly enjoy this seasonal event, serve on its Board and act as May King and Queen. For more information contact NMBeltane@gmail.com

Ardantane Launches Fundraiser: Sacred Land for Hekate

2012, Merry Meet Leadership Workshop at Ardantane

Ardantane Pagan Learning Center has launched a fundraising effort to honor Hekate with land and a ritual circle. Hekate, known as the Lady of the Crossroads, Keeper of the Keys, Queen of the Witches, Goddess of Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld, is one of the patron deities of Ardantane. The campaign is being managed through the Indiegogo online fundraising website, and will will run through December 31. Contributions will help pay off the down payment on land dedicated to Hekate… and bring donors unique thank-you gifts related to Her. The fundraiser's home page can be found at: igg.me/at/hekate

Ardantane Pagan Learning Center is located in north-central New Mexico, at the edge of the Jemez Mountains, about an hour’s drive from Albuquerque. The school has purchased over two acres of wild land adjacent to the campus, named it Spirit Hollow, and dedicated it to Hekate.Here a stone circle has been created for Her, and it is planned to add a shrine and processional way from the main campus. Ardantane also plans to hold a Hekate Retreat on the weekend nearest one of Her holy days.

2012, Merry Meet Leadership Workshop at Ardantane

However, financial help is needed. The down payment of $7428 was financed through a temporarily interest-free loan, and that loan is coming due in March. Ardantane asks supporters to contribute to the purchaseof Spirit Hollow and Hekate’s Circle, so that this land may continue to be a consecrated place for Hekate’s worship and celebration.

As thank-you gifts, Ardantane offers several items that will be treasured by anyone who honors Hekate: beautiful full-color altar cards, offering bowls, antique keys, ancient and modern coins, and more. All gifts will be mailed to donors within a week of the campaign’s close on December 31, or earlier. In addition, contributors will be notified when the first Hekate Retreat is held, and invited to participate.

Ardantane asks those who honor Hekate to contribute now, and tell all theirfriends to check out the site at Indiegogo… and also to mention the campaign on Facebook, Tweet, and other social media.


Submitted by:
Amber K, Executive Director, Ardantane Pagan Learning Center and CoG member, Chamisa Local Council.
Hannah Epstein, Membership Director and Campaign Coordinator, Ardantane Pagan Learning Center

Covenant of the Goddess: Looking Back and Looking Forward

Samhain has come and gone.  The weather is cooling off and the leaves are changing color.  As the seasonal tides turn, so do those of Covenant of the Goddess (CoG). On November 1^st, the newly elected National Board took office to help steer the organization through yet another year of advocacy and adventure.  This date also marks CoG’s 38^th birthday having been officially founded on October 31^st of 1975.

Over the past year, CoG and its local councils found themselves doing incredible outreach work in so many areas. A very small sampling of this work included:

•        Financially supporting the Council for the Parliament of World Religions, Cherry Hill Seminary and Ardantane.
•          Attending interfaith conventions and working with local and national interfaith groups.  (For details see CoG’s own Interfaith Blog)
•          Acting locally as advocates for Pagan rights in cases of religious freedom. (e.g. Florida’s Kyrja Whithers and Pahokee Summer Solstice Festival) 
•          Communicating with the media and others to offer supportive information and corrective feedback at a national level (e.g. Fox News, CNN and Facebook)  
•          Representing Wiccans and Witches in Global forums and within our local communities.
•          Acting as chaplains in prison and military environments.
•          Working with and showing support for Lady Liberty League and The Pagan Federation International
•          Attending and sponsoring Pagan Pride Events, local classes and seasonal festivals.

In August, CoG held its yearly conference, Merry Meet and Grand Council, in the historic town of Salem.  During the event the members held an impromptu ritual to honor those killed in the name of witchcraft.  During that ritual onlookers gathered and some even joined in the work.  It was a high-point in the year for many of members.

Our social media presence has more than doubled since last year. In mid December we had 9,287 Facebook likes, no Pinterest account and only 37 followers on Twitter.  A year later, we have 21,332 Facebook likes, 217 CoGTweet followers and 125 CogPins followers.

As we move into the Yule season, we will begin our festive postings “Yuletide with CoG” to share the warmth of the season from our members to the greater community.  

For more information about Covenant of the Goddess, please go to our main website at www.cog.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.  If you’d like to donate to our members’ outreach work, you can do so through by contacting any of our local councils, our national officers or through PayPal’s Giving Fund or eBay’s Giving Works (both formerly called Mission Fish.)