PAGAN LIFE FOUND IN SPOKANE!

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by Janice Van Cleve

Pagans dancing in the snow! Beltaine photos in the mainstream daily news! Even public rituals, helping at food banks, and recycling. Can this be Spokane? Yes, it is, as I found out during an interview with several of the members of the Spokane Pagan Alliance.

It all started in February 1998. A reporter for Spokane's newspaper, The Spokesman Review, was checking in on the pagan scene. Covens had been meeting for some time in Spokane and the lesbian community had a long history of Dianic Wiccan circles. Shannon and Justin Harris granted an interview and the reporter published the article along with the Harris' email address. They got over 80 positive responses in the first two weeks. At Oestara they held a public ritual and 120 people attended. "That first ritual was full of mistakes," said Shannon. "Like we did a passing of seeds and it took forever to get around that many people. It was difficult to revive the energy."

That was not the only mistake. About 30 people stayed after the ritual to help organize this new public "thing" that had just come into being. They had no name for it, nor any organizational model. At first they tried organizing like a huge coven, but that got too complicated. The only theoretical framework they had was Starhawk's Dreaming The Dark. At one point, the Harrises considered moving to Seattle, but they reconsidered when they felt the Goddess was calling them to complete the work in Spokane. "We prayed for inspiration and guidance," said Justin, "and She helped us step by step." Others joined, including Phoenix Springwater, a librarian, whose organizational skills brought some basic operational functions to the group. By October 1998, the Spokane Pagan Alliance (SPA) formally incorporated as a nonprofit.

The mission statement of the SPA identifies the group as a collective of earth-based and life-affirming religions. The SPA welcomes all who are sincerely interested in its philosophies and practices regardless of age, sex, race, national or cultural origin, or sexual orientation. It maintains animosity only toward those who seek to deny the SPA's freedom to practice its own religion peacefully. SPA seeks to align its members with the natural forces of the universe by ritual, festival, play and song, and not through pain or the control of others. SPA accepts its responsibility for the environment by helping restore balance to the Earth. The group recognizes the divine in both feminine and masculine and respects both equally.

The alliance includes Wiccans, Druids, Shamanics, Nordics, Hearth Crafters, Shintoists, Hindus, Buddhists, and those who practice eclectic combinations of these and other religions. Diversity is SPA's hallmark. "Our population base is too small to afford internal divisions," said Shannon. Nor is it yet entirely safe in Spokane to be out as a pagan, says Ceilleigh Maxwell. "People have faced harassment and job discrimination because of their religion," she said. A 10-year-old girl was severely beaten by skinheads (the Nazi compound at Hayden Lake is only 35 miles from Spokane) and neither the police nor the media took notice.

They will take notice if Justin has his way. "One of our top priorities is to build a good reputation in Spokane," he says. SPA helps out at the downtown women's shelter, supports a drop-in center for youth, participates in World AIDS Day and Gay Pride. SPA has been active in recycling and environmental issues and maintains a prison outreach. SPA also takes care of its own. A food and resource bank has been established to help needy pagans. The newspapers are beginning to give better coverage. The Spokesman Review published color photos of Beltaine this year and The Stonewall Northwest News has begun a regular religion feature that includes pagans.

With so much work accomplished, the Harrises and the Maxwells are again thinking of moving to Seattle. Who will take their place? Justin is confident. "There are 10 members on the Council of Elders and more will come to do the work. The Goddess calls people with a vision in their heads and a fire in their belly."

The Spokane Pagan Alliance can be contacted through their website at www.mtlion.com/spa or via email to spokanepagans@hotmail.com. Mailing address is: Spokane Pagan Alliance, POB 10676, Spokane WA 99209, phone: 509- 482-8946.

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