Covenant of the Goddess at PantheaCon 2014

NCLC invites everyone coming to PantheaCon to visit our hospitality suite hosted cooperatively by CoG and two other witchcraft organizations, The New Wiccan Church (NWC) and the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn (NROOGD).

Our hospitality suite will be open every day and evening for conversation, snacks and relaxation. Pantheacon authors and presenters often drop by to say hello.

In addition, the suite hosts organized activities as listed below. Stop by for one of these events or just to meet members of CoG. This year we expect to see CoG members from all over the country. Our extensive schedule includes children's activities, receptions for European dignitaries, discussions, workshops, an after-hours party and an auction. 

Some people spend most of their time at Pantheacon hanging out with us!

Schedule for 2014 CoG /NWC /NROOGD Hospitality Suite, Room 957:

Friday
1 pm	Suite opens
5-6:30 pm	COG Meet & Greet  Meeting and reception for COG members and interested Witches. This is a meeting of the Northern California Local Council, allowing those who cannot usually attend meetings to do so. It will also give anyone interested in our organization an opportunity to meet us and ask questions. Visiting members from other parts of the country are welcome, too!
Saturday
9 am	Suite opens
11 am	Children’s Magical Belt of Protection Ritual with Hillary Pantheacon can be chaotic and confusing for many attendees, especially children. HPS Hillary will lead children through the creation and empowerment of a Magical Belt that will surround them with protective power and help to keep them grounded.  Parents are strongly encouraged to attend with their children.  All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult!
12 noon	Bring your own lunch and hang out
3 pm	Taylor Ellwood: Magical Identity  Your identity is the connection you have to the universe and the manifestation of your reality in this world. This workshop explores your identity, the role it plays in magical work, and how you can consciously work with it. Discover how changes in identity can help you proactively manifest possibilities into reality. We'll explore the role of internal work in shaping identity, and how this work can help you live a more conscious and present life. Taylor Ellwood is the managing non-fiction editor of Immanion Press, and the author of Magical Identity, Space/Time Magic, Pop Culture Magick, and other books. He can be found sharing his ideas on the evolution of magic athttp://www.magicalexperiments.com
6-7 pm	Reception with Morgana Sythove          Morgana is a Gardnerian HPS and Coordinator of Pagan Federation International, the international branch of the Pagan Federation, founded in the UK in 1971. Come find out about Pagan outreach & organizing overseas!
7:30 pm	BTW gathering with Morgana    Session closed to BTW Initiates.
After midnight	Late Night Gathering, hosted by Dark Forest Coven   Usually the Suite closes around midnight. This year we are staying open late Saturday night—come hang out and chat!
Sunday
9 am	Suite Opens
11 am	Children’s Magic Grove    The children of Dark Forest Coven offer a ritual for children, by children, to help bring rain. Each child should be accompanied by a responsible adult. Best for ages 3-12.
12 noon	Bring your own lunch and hang out
3:30 pm	Engaging “Wiccanate Privilege” (Discussion)  Recent discussions on The Wild Hunt and other “Pagan” blogs have questioned the extent to which “Paganism” is no longer viable as a name for our movement, and even if we are similar enough to be described as a “movement” at all.  At the same time, voices are challenging what is being called “Wiccanate privilege,” or the way in which aspects of Wiccan ritual and theology are assumed to be normative for Paganism as a whole.  The language we use to describe ourselves is in flux.  Don Frew, a National Interfaith Representative for the Covenant of the Goddess, invites all those interested in this topic to a discussion.  Hellenic, Heathen, Celtic, Baltic, Egyptian and other traditions are especially welcome to attend.  We want to hear from you!
6-7:30 pm	Reception with Geraldine Beskin   Geraldine and her family run London’s oldest independent occult bookstore, The Atlantis Bookshop, which is over 90 years old. Aleister Crowley, Austin O. Spare, and Gerald Gardner were friends of the original owner, Michael Houghton. Geraldine is happy to carry on the tradition of helping Witches, Pagans, magicians, occultists, and authors, whether new to the scene or established.
7:30 pm	Fundraising Auction
Monday
9 am	Suite packing up!

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COG/ NROOGD/ NWC Member Presentations at this year’s PantheaCon:

In addition to programs in the Suite, COG / NROOGD / NWC members are giving many other presentations at this year’s PantheaCon. Look for these names in the program: Margot Adler, Crystal Blanton, Dark Forest Coven, Dragon’s Weyr Circle, Don Frew, Amber K & Azrael Arynn K, Anna Korn, Sabina Magliocco, Diana Paxson, Hexeba Theaux, Ruth Temple, Glenn Turner, Valerie Voigt, and Brandy Williams and more.

For more information on Pantheacon, visit their www.pantheacon.com
For more information on Northern California Local Council, visit www.conjure.com/CoG/
For more information on Covenant of the Goddess, visit www.cog.org

Covenant of the Goddess at PantheaCon 2013

(Edited from the NCLC reports)

PantheaCon 2013 was an overwhelming success. The CoG/NWC Suite saw more folks this year than we yet have seen. While the guest flow varied, at times fewer and at times more, there never was a time when the suite was without visitors.  

NCLC was able to secure the Presidential Suite and that was a huge success. Many people took the time to actually tell us how comfortable they felt and how really welcoming we were.  Over the past few years, we have been working to expand our suite offerings with some great programming, plentiful food and down home hospitality.

This year Sara, our newest CoG member and current chair of the NWC, and her husband tended bar for the entire day both Saturday and Sunday (almost twelve hours each day) as well as Friday evening. The Mondavi wine tasting was an absolute smash with all of the bottles emptied. The Vice President of sales, Paul, offered to come back next year and host another wine tasting.

On Friday evening we hosted a Covenant meeting with some folks we hadn't seen in a while and a few members from out of state. It was primarily an excuse to introduce ourselves to one another with a little business discussed.

On Saturday we hosted Vivianne Crowley.  The event was a great success with many folks bringing books to be signed by her.  Afterwards she hosted a discussion with British Traditionalists on developments in the United Kingdom.  Those of us who attended learned quite a bit about what is currently happening across the Pond and discovered that it is much different than we might have expected.

On Sunday, we hosted a film screening of The Winnipagans, a documentary of Pagans in the Winnipeg Canada area. We had talks on Dragons and the hero myths of several cultures down through time. We lunched with a large group of Pagan Writers including our own Crystal Blanton.  River Higginbothen dropped in to visit as well. 

Our most popular offering was the panel on the subject of Privilege and what that means.  While all of our other workshops were moderately attended, this one was full to overflowing.   

NCLC PHOTO ALBUM

PantheaCon has truly evolved into a National Pagan event. Attendance was pushed beyond capacity with so many things to do and not enough time.  In the CoG suite, we had folks from Connecticut, New York, Florida, and many states in between.  We saw so many familiar faces but we also had many new visitors -  young people, from all over, stopping in to ask about NWC and CoG.  We were complimented, time and time again, for our work. 

We look forward to seeing you all there next year.

CoG at PantheaCon

This February Covenant of the Goddess will be hosting events, as organized by Northern California Local Council, at PantheaCon 2013. CoG will be sharing the Presidential suite, rm 1054, with NWC and NROOGD.  The schedule of events is attached below in PDF form.

On the same file, you will find a listing of all the PantheaCon events presented by CoG members including discussions, rituals, and workshops.

CoG Schedule at PantheaCon