5.30.2008
The Best of Green Egg
Guest post by Chas S. Clifton
Before there was the Internet, there was Green Egg.
Published since 1967 (with interruptions in the late 1970s and early 2000s), Green Egg shaped American Paganism, provided bridges between different groups, and, I think, went a long way towards nudging Wicca, in particular, which had crossed the Atlantic as a small-group mystery religion, into a broader and more eclectic "nature religion."
The only other publication (that I know of) nearly as long-lived is The Cauldron, a Witchcraft zine published in England since 1976.
In pre-Web days, Green Egg's lively letters forum let people know who was out there and what they were doing. I found my first coven that way, by responding to a letter the HP and HPS had posted, telling about their activities.
Green Egg was the official house journal of the Church of All Worlds, but it carried everyone's news: Gardnerian Witches, Druids, Egyptian Reconstructionists, and Pagans of all sorts.
Nowadays Green Egg comes as a PDF file.
But if you don't have all those earlier issues on your bookshelf, help is on the way!
Oberon Zell, the founding editor, is putting together a "Best of Green Egg" anthology, due out in December from New Page Books.
I am happy to say that I have been involved in this project since the beginning, which involved reading all the back issues and swapping selection lists with Oberon and others. Yes, the project's code name was Omelet.
It is amazing how well some of the articles hold up. People and groups come and go, some of the current-events mentioned may seem dated now (e.g., the Vietnam War), but the vision is still inspiring.
So we have chosen articles, short stories, poetry, music, art that still speak to a Pagan vision, gathered in such chapters as "Pagan Culture: Family and Tribe," "Gender and Sexuality," "Power & Politics: Changing the World," and "Gods of Nature; Nature of Gods."
We will be announcing it when it goes on sale, but right now, I need to get back to writing chapter intros!
(Thanks to Jason for letting me post here!)
Labels: Chas Clifton, Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Pagan writing
Comments:
And I'm in it!
When Oberon sent me a release, I was completely befuddled, like, "I wrote something good for Green Egg? Why don't I remember that?" And then it gave the title of the article, and it was like "Oh, yeah, I remember that. I think it was pretty good."
I've written...um...a few other things in the ensuing fifteen years.
I'm pretty excited.
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And I'm in it!
When Oberon sent me a release, I was completely befuddled, like, "I wrote something good for Green Egg? Why don't I remember that?" And then it gave the title of the article, and it was like "Oh, yeah, I remember that. I think it was pretty good."
I've written...um...a few other things in the ensuing fifteen years.
I'm pretty excited.
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