Monthly Archives: October 2011

Blessed Samhain

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Metro – Something Wicca this way comes

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  katie turner/metro

Tracey Braun, pictured in Riley Park, says paganism is a nature-based religion, with many of their holidays centring around the moon and sun, and the changing seasons.

Which is witch

  • Witches typically do not try to recruit others to the faith, Sally Patton says, but leave people free to choose their own path.
  • Patton says she is not offended by Halloween and its portrayal of witches. In fact, she buys into the fun, donning a pointy hat for the occasion.
JEREMY NOLAIS
METRO CALGARY
Published: October 31, 2011 5:52 a.m.
Last modified: October 30, 2011 11:49 p.m.
When you’re a witch, the phone seems to ring a little more around Halloween, Calgarian Tracey Braun says.“It’s just that Halloween has become the thing that people associate witches with, so it’s usually around this time people start to call around and say, ‘Hey, do you know any?’”The stereotypical association of witches with Halloween can be frustrating because most people don’t understand the underlying religious beliefs, Braun says.

“When I was Christian, it’s not like everyone called me at Christmas and said, ‘So tell me about Christmas.’”

Sally Patton says that when she and fellow Calgary witches get together they don’t fly around on brooms.

“We would if we could,” she adds with a chuckle. “We would love to be able to do all the things they do on Bewitched. Unfortunately, they only work in Hollywood.”

Fun aside, Patton says her beliefs fall more into line with the pagan religion Wicca. She believes in equality and in a God that is both male and female in essence. And she has been known to conjure up and share herbal recipes.

“It’s not that witches just pop out of the woodwork at Halloween,” Braun adds. “We have holidays throughout the year.”

With files from katie turner

“Safety in Parking” – Vote Today!

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Aviva Community Fund

Hey everyone. Bow Cliff Seniors (one of the centres I work with) is proud to be participating in the Aviva Community Fund competition again this year, and they need your help. Their project – “Safety in Parking” – builds on two years of fundraising toward a new and improved parking lot, including:

  • south side sidewalks (so seniors don’t have to walk behind parked cars)
  • centre walkway (allowing safe access to all parked cars)
  • speed bumps and barriers at ends of the lot
  • signs (speed limit, handicapped parking and information)
  • landscaped planters
  • security cameras

How You Can Help

First, register for an account at https://www.avivacommunityfund.org/users/registration/register. (You can’t vote unless you register for an account.)

Then, starting Monday, October 3, 2011 (12pm ET), you can vote by clicking on the “VOTE” button at our Aviva Community Fund site (Bow Cliff Seniors “Safety in Parking” Project) or, if you’re on Facebook, you can vote at their page (https://www.facebook.com/avivacommunityfund/.

Once you start, please keep going! The first round lasts 15 days (October 3 to October 19) and each person registered can vote once a day. The top 90 ideas will make it into the semi-final round and the top 30 into the final round, and every vote counts!

And please, share this information with friends and friends! Post it on your Facebook wall, tweet about it, write a blog post or two, text your kids, share via intra-office email – whatever you can do to get the word out. The more people who hear about this project and vote, the more likely that BCS will win the competition.