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Officers
of Avalon, PO Box 22, Baraboo, WI 53913-0022 |
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e-mail: webmaster@officersofavalon.com |
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To contact us: |
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Volume
1 No. 5 Mabon/Alban Elved/Mean
Foghamar/Winter Finding 2006 Editor: Kerr Cuhulain |
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Be glorious! |
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On
13 September 2006 a lone gunman named Kimveer Gill entered Dawson college in
Montreal and started a senseless shooting spree that resulted in one death
and injured 19 others. Officers of
Avalon extends our most sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of
the victims of this mindless crime. The suspect, who was killed at the scene
by police, had posted pictures and comments on the
VampireFreaks.com web site.
This has led to speculation that what he did might reflect the
attitudes of the Vampyre and/or Goth community. This issue of Dispatches includes a brief
description of Vampyre spirituality to help head off some of the adverse
reactions that misinformation may create for the Vampyre and Goth
communities. You can find more
information at the web site of
House Kheperu or
founder Michelle Belanger’s
web site. |
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Dispatches: Official Newsletter of Officers of Avalon |
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Wiccans call the Autumnal
Equinox Mabon, after the Celtic deity Mabon, son of Modron (“mother”), who is
mentioned in the story of Culhwch and Olwen.
His name translates simply as “son”.
It is also known as Alban Elved.
Mabon is a Lesser Sabbat which is the third and last harvest festival
of the Wiccan calendar. It is a time
of thanksgiving for the bounty of the earth which will sustain the people
through the Winter. Neither Mabon, nor
any other Neo-Pagan festival on this date involve any sort of blood ritual. Warnke need to check his Christian
calendars: Michaelmas (September 29) is held in the British Isles
to honour the archangel Michael. The
Druids had nothing to do with it. The
Autumnal Equinox is known as Mean Foghamar (“autumnal equinox”) by the ODU,
as An Fhomhair by the ADF, and as Alban
Elfed (“light of the water”) by OBOD. Mabon is the
second of the Celtic harvest festivals:
It marks the end of harvest-time, just as Lughnasadh marked its
beginning. Both Wiccan and Druid
ceremonies on this date give thanks for the fruits of the earth and for the
goodness of the Mother Goddess. It is
a time of canning and drying the fruits of the harvest and drying the herbs
needed in the winter months. |
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Montreal shootings |
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O of A Member Elected to Office Our former Treasurer, Guardian (the
gentelman with the sword on the left-
photo from the Samhain Florida Pagan Gathering in 2005), just got
elected to the Daytona North Development Committee. It is his first job
in a elected position. “I'm going to
do my best to get more and better services from the county for the people in
my zone while keeping the taxes as low as possible,” Guardian tells us.
We wish him every success in his new position. |
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O of A Supports Injured LAPD Members On August 4 O of A member Marco
brought to our attention the tragic incidents involving the shooting of two
on duty police officers in Los Angeles.
Officer Kristina Ripatti was critically wounded June 3, 2006, during a
shooting with an armed robbery suspect.
Officer Ripatti is 33 years old and has been with the Los Angeles
Police Department for ten years. She is married to LAPD Officer Tim
Pearce, also a ten-year veteran of the department. They have a
15-month-old daughter. On July 11, 2006, a shooting accident paralyzed
10 year LAPD veteran Enrique Chavez. Chavez was accidentally shot by his 3
year-old son. You can help Kristina at:
http://lapfcu.org/news/ad_officer_ripatti_fund.html Officers of Avalon sent donations to
both of these funds and wishes both officers a speedy recovery. |
