Our last article on Rita Moran, back in Lamas of 2007, she had been outed as a Wiccan by the Christian group who was angry over their Republican candidate losing in the last year's elections in Maine. SEE HERE

Now she is one the few Pagan delegates to the upcoming Democratic Convention. So I asked her for a interview and she graciously said yes.

Christopher: Well you are still here, still the head of the Kennebec County Democratic Committee, you still have your bookstore and now you are the delegate for the Democrat Convention. So I gather things did not go as badly as your opponents had hoped for. So what happened? Anything that surprised you?

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Some people seem to fill gaps left by others as needed. Such became the case of Kate Bailey when the local Pagan shop went up for sale so that the owners could move on. Kate and John Bailey bought it and soon became the new nucleus of the local Pagan community. I asked Kate for an interview and she graciously gave me one.

Christopher: Why did you and John end up buying the local Pagan store?

Kate: First off, I would like to say what an honor and a blessing it is for this interview. I have to warn you, though; I'm very passionate about what we do here and can get extremely wordy.

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Men sometimes complain that in Wicca there is no real position of importance for men, that besides being outnumbered by woman, the men sometimes feel that they are not really needed.

However, there are traditions where the man's role is every bit as important as the woman's. I asked a high priestess of the Stregheria, Arician Tradition, if she might explain some of the differences between her tradition and Wicca.

Christopher: Tell us a bit about yourself and how long you have practiced this tradition.

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The storyteller had an important place in ancient times, for they told the ethics of the tribe, the history and even stories of the gods. We are seeing the old tradition come back as some modern Pagans tell the stories that will guide our children.

One such storyteller is TaMara in Salt Lake City who tells the stories of the season for the young Pagan children and she does it for free. Always a sucker for a good story, I asked for an interview to get the story behind the Mother Goose Circle. She graciously gave me some of her time.

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Editor's Note, When I heard rumor of an incident involving the U.S. Forest Service and a Pagan group here in New Mexico, I contacted the South West Earth Festival Association and was given permission to reprint the report originally published in their newsletter, InnerConnexion. Robyn, the author, asks that before anyone reprints or forwards this report elsewhere, to respect her copyright and contact her for permission at- cashewnm@gmail.com

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In August South African Pagans were reminded that sometimes, evil does resurrect. The National Party [1] (formerly the New National Party - which merged with the ANC in April 2005, formerly the National Party which enforced apartheid on South Africans - both Black and White) was registered with South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission [2] on 28 August as a political party.

Under the direction of its most outspoken leader, Juan Duval Uys, [3] the National Party (NP) will campaign for the reinstatement of the death penalty (outlawed in South Africa in 1995), public executions, and the suppression or religious minorities regarded as offensive to Christian and Muslim supporters of the NP. Uys publicly declared his intention to change the constitution to enable the NP to implement its barbaric and prejudicial policies.

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Isaac Bonewits is one of our Pagan pioneers, He started the largest North American-based tradition of Druidism (Ár nDraíocht Fein: A Druid Fellowship) and is that group's first Archdruid Emeritus. He is a prolific writer having presently seven books in print, plus five others he has written forwards to. What makes him unusual is he is a trained scholar who has spent a life time studying and learning magic.

He has been a featured speaker and given workshops at Pagan festivals all over the country. I myself attended one of his workshops some 23 or 24 years ago here in New Mexico.

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You may have noticed that we had a lot more interviews than usual in this edition of ACTION. I think you will find that the range of people is also broader than usual.

This is not all because of me, but mostly from suggestions that you, our members and readers, have made on who they wanted to see interviewed.

I think when our readers become part of our newsletter, that we end up with a more interesting ACTION and I would like to continue to ask you who would you like me to interview? You, our readers, have become the eyes of our newsletter and helped me find people that I would not be able to find before. In this way we have started to become an interactive newsletter and not just dependent on my abilities as an editor/reporter.

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