Chapter 5 of Animism: Respecting the Living World engages with various aspects of Eco-Paganism.

	The chapter begins with some comments about Selena Fox's way of introducing Circle Sanctuary, a Pagan land preserve in Wisconsin.
			Selena outside the old house
	Selena showed some slides of Circle Sanctuary land and talked as if she was introducing a community — which of course she was
	Here are some of my pictures from Circle:

	Circle: valley and woods		Circle: prairie
	Circle: wetland		Circle: ritual circle
	Circle: rock outcrop and view of woodlands (oh, and me)		Circle: Dennis and Joyce admiring woodpecker skills
	Circle: barn and offices		Circle: maypole and mugwort circle

A reminder: these are photos of communities within the larger community of Circle (itself within a larger community of its bioregion and its situation in a continent and a planet). Some members of the community are permanent residents in this place; others are visitors from other communities.

Click here for Circle Sanctuary's website.

Although I have no pictures of the conference in which Selena introduced Circle Sanctuary by way of introducing herself and her presentation, I do have the following two photos of some of the conference delegates before or after a ceremony at the wonderful stone circle at Castlerigg in the English Lake District:

				As I'm in one of these pictures they're obviously not mine. If someone will remind me who took them, I'll gladly acknowledge them here!
	Among others, here are Geoffrey and Philip and Penny		and here's Susan and others ... Sorry, terrible memory for names ... anyone recognise themselves?!

Among other animist eco-Pagans noted in the book there are several groups who've been involved in contesting the destruction of life to make way for more traffic.

Here are a couple of pictures from the tenth anniversary of the commencement of work on the Newbury Bypass (early January 2006).

	we gathered at Middle Oak		planted some more trees
	made points about values		and walked together to Donnington Castle to lament our losses

There's more about Newbury, and Jesmond Dene, St. Catherine's Hill, and the Dongas and Flowerpots and Earth First! (including links to more detailed sites) on my other website, for which click here.

My eco-Paganism chapter also notes that its not all protest. Even "activism" is largely about proffering alternatives, or crying that we should be seeking alternatives. But its also about celebration, enhancing the diversity of local places, taking a break to have fun and show respect. On the other hand, carnivalesque celebrations should not be mistaken for escapism or quietism. They can be the primary locations for some of the most significant and hopeful encounters between humans and other-than-human people. Anyway, here's a couple of photos of an event organised by the Secular Order of Druids in a flourishing grove near Bath.

	working in the grove at the Wildwood Camp		Tim, Chosen Chief of the Secular Order of Druids, and a tree, ready for carnival and ritual
			Tim died on 1 Feb 2007 (Imbolg) and is greatly missed.

Click here for a link to an interview with Tim Sebastion in which he presents a part of his vision.

Finally, for now, here are a link to the websites of two people mentioned in my chapter — Barry Patterson and Chas Clifton. Then I've added two further sites because they're of a similar ilk.

	Barry Patterson’s Redsandstonehill site invites engagement with places and people - with a trickster blend of wisdom and foolery — and a blend of scientific and spiritual expertise in several traditions. Barry's book The Art of Conversation with the Genius Loci is a fine and wonderful thing.	Barry's logo
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	Chas Clifton's "Letters from Hardscrabble Creek" contain a wealth of good stuff.	Chas' datura photo
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	Dragon Environmental Network inspire and resource eco-activism with a powerful magical participation.	Dragon's bindrune
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	Like Barry, Gordon “the Toad” MacLellan is an environmental educator, performer, inspirer — patterner is his word. A real shaman in an age of mediocre shams. His Creeping Toad work is showcased here. Gordon's books are also wonderful - there are poetic ones and "how to do" environmental education ones and a guide to shamanic living.	Gordon from his website
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These links are also part of my other website: the bit where I link to some of the activist and information sites that inspire me (click here for more).

There are, of course, lots of other eco-Pagans. I'll add more elsewhere in the "more ethnography" section when I have time. For now all I've tried to do is illustrate some of what I've said in chapter 5 of Animism: Respecting the Living World.

Last updated 2 July 2007

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