Topic:  Druidry-Green Way of Wisdom – January 17
Guest facilitators Lori and Shane share their learning from studies with OBOD (Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids).

Join us at our new location at Grecian Gardens!

It’s craft night at the Pagan Round Table! Bring a dollar or your own package of Femo/Sculpy polymer clay and we will make Egyptian amulets.
Every respectable mummy had numerous powerful amulets wrapped into its linen sheathing, and most Egyptian citizens wore an amulet around their neck – some for protection, some to help divination, many to increase virility and fertility. Our 2010 goddess amulet craft night was a big hit and you asked for another, so be there or be square!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011 6:00 – 8:00 PM

As we draw closer to Samhain, many of us consider the elders and ancestors who have made us who we are.  Indigenous people around the world have always honored their ancestors, but it seems we moderns have forgotten.  Who are our ancestors?  How do they interact with our lives?  Why and how do we reverence them?  Alicia draws on her Native American roots to lead the discussion.

Location: Mayflower Bistro (formerly called Queenstown Bistro), 1420 Colonial Life Boulevard (right by Dutch Square Mall, next to Melting Pot, across from one of the old Sounds Familiar stores which is now closed) plenty of parking.  All are welcome.

Bring a friend, and come prepared for a great discussion

Autumn is one of the most poignant times in the Pagan annual calendar. Harvests, hurricanes and Hallowe’en (or Samhain for many of us) make this a time for both solemn ceremonies and witchy fun. Bring your best ritual or party idea to share with the group. 6-8 PM at Mayflower Bistro in Columbia, SC.

Charleston artist and mystic Cookie Washington has imagined what life might be like as a water goddess, ruling the seas and the hearts of men. “African-American women don’t honor ourselves enough,” she says. “I don’t mean we should have beauty pageants every day, but we haven’t seen ourselves in art, history, or painting.” When she came across stories of black mermaids she thought, “These trace back to black goddesses. People worshiped them. They were strong. They could cause storms and bring fertility. They could be benevolent and bless your fishing harvest. I wanted little girls to see these amazing spirit beings.”

Location: Mayflower Bistro (formerly called Queenstown Bistro), 1420 Colonial Life Boulevard (right by Dutch Square Mall, next to Melting Pot, across from one of the old Sounds Familiar stores which is now closed) plenty of parking. All are welcome. Questions, 803-798-8007, or sekhmet@osireion.com, or visit Pagan Round Table online.

Bring a friend, and come prepared for a great discussion, keeping in mind the following group agreements:

• We’ll announce the topic and/or guest for the evening at 6:30. We recommend that you order your food as soon as possible since we start discussion at 6:30.
• The facilitator will introduce the topic for the night with a question. After this introduction, all are invited to participate by sharing comments and/or questions of your own.
• Please limit your comments to no more than two minutes . A facilitator will call on people, if needed, e.g., if many try to speak at once or we have a very large crowd.
• No personally-affrontive comments are tolerated. Open disrespect of others, or of other religions, will earn you an escort out of the room for the rest of the evening.

From winning the first annual Vista Queen pageant in the 90s to training in 2010 at the Iraqi Police College, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott has set a standard for community involvement that is matched by few elected officials in the Midlands.  Sheriff Lott is passionate about serving crime victims and has often been in the forefront of addressing needs that others did not recognize, for example, forming a department LGBT task force in 2004 and in 2006 designating a special contact for Pagan and other religious minority victims’ concerns.

Sheriff Lott will be joined by another bright light in our community, Veronica Kunz, Executive Director of the S.C. Victim Assistance Network.  Kunz has tenaciously fought for assistance and support for victims of crime, their families and those who serve them, for more than a decade.  SCVAN advocates on behalf of victims of crime, establishes a communication network, enhances public awareness, facilitates research and evaluation, serves as technical support, facilitates quality training, coordinates policy development, and administers six grant-funded programs providing direct services to crime victims. Ms. Kunz serves as Vice-Chair of the SC Victim Services Coordinating Council, USC’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice Advisory Board, SC Criminal Justice Legislative Coalition, and has served as an instructor for SC State Victim Assistance Academy and the Carolinas Institute for Community Policing, and many others.  A survivor of family and sexual violence, Veronica is a passionate advocate for the rights of crime victims.

Bring your questions, ideas and suggestions for Sheriff Lott and Ms. Kunz, and bring your support for what may be the first time an elected official has attended a Pagan event!

Open facilitated discussion group at Mayflower Bistro,  1420 Colonial Life Boulevard, Columbia (near Dutch Square Mall) , 6:00 – 8:00 PM. Questions, 803-422-4565.  www.paganroundtable.org

Location: Mayflower Bistro (the recently renamed Queenstown Bistro), 1420 Colonial Life Boulevard (right by Dutch Square Mall, next to Melting Pot, across from one of the old Sounds Familiar stores which is now closed) plenty of parking.  All are welcome.  Questions, 803-798-8007, or sekhmet@osireion.com, or visit the Columbia (and the Surrounding Areas) Meetup atwww.meetup.com

Bring a friend, and come prepared for a great discussion, keeping in mind the following group agreements:

• We’ll announce the topic and/or guest for the evening at 6:30. We recommend that you order your food as soon as possible since we start discussion at 6:30.
• The facilitator will introduce the topic for the night with a question. After this introduction, all are invited to participate by sharing comments and/or questions of your own.
• Please limit your comments to no more than two minutes. A facilitator will call on people, if needed, e.g., if many try to speak at once or we have a very large crowd.
• No personally-affrontive comments are tolerated. Open disrespect of others, or of other religions, will earn you an escort out of the room for the rest of the evening.
• If you are not Pagan, thank you for coming, and you are very welcome to participate, but you may not evangelize or proselytize, or you will be asked to leave.
• At 7:45 PM, the facilitator will begin to draw the discussion to a close. If necessary, the facilitator will say how many more people have time for a comment, or point to the one, two or three people who may speak in the remaining time.

Early British modern witchcraft taught us to use polarity and gender for magickal purposes. Only a decade ago, gays were not welcome in many traditional craft circles. Now most Pagans recognize gender as a fluid quality and we celebrate the full spectrum of spirituality. How can we gain a better understanding of this Hermetic principle?

Open facilitated discussion group at Mayflower Bistro,  1420 Colonial Life Boulevard, Columbia (near Dutch Square Mall) , SC, 6:00 – 8:00 PM. Questions, sekhmet @ osireion.com.

Revisit the evidence, old and new, for the existence of a “Paleo-Pagan” tradition. Is there sufficient evidence to suggest the existence of a world religion more ancient than any other practiced by humankind over the past five thousand years?

Guest presenter Mark M. Newell, Ph.D., is an anthropologist with extensive research experience in comparative religion. He is also a practicing archaeologist with over thirty years experience in European and American archaeology.

The major religions of the world are ‘organized’ spiritual paths – that is to say, they are ‘man-made’ religions.  This is not to say any of them are necessarily false paths. Anything that provokes us to consider the world beyond our material existence, anything that provokes us to take that first step on the journey of the soul, is a good thing.  “Echoes of Cernnunos” provokes us to look beyond the organized religions of the world and invites us to consider the evidence for a world religion that existed in distant pre-historic times. The presentation looks at the sources of organized religions and the many ways in which it appears to have survived from the earth-magic of primitive cultures, to its influences upon historic and modern witchcraft and Hermetic Magick.  Should we be seeking the source of our connection to the Creator? Should this be the one true path for the journey of the soul?

Growing numbers of people serving our country identify as Pagan. Come together to discuss the special challenges, joys and issues of being a military Pagan.

Some experts say that religion is an organized belief system that recognizes a higher power or a spiritual dimension in humans. “They” also say that a belief system needs sacred texts, an organization, and rituals. How does this reflect your understanding of your Pagan path?