Officers Of Avalon 2013 Board Of Directors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Amber Moon
ambermoonie@gmail.com


OFFICERS OF AVALON WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND WEBSITE

Florida (January 25 2013 ) – Officers of Avalon (www.officersofavalon.com) announced today the individuals who will join the newly structured Officers of Avalon Board of Directors and unveiled a new website.

President: Timothy Flanagan, who has been an member of Officers of Avalon since it's inception and a former Vice President, has now taken on the responsibility of the President. Tim is Wiccan and a retired police officer from New Jersey.

Vice President: Amber Moon, has been a member of Officers of Avalon for two years and is a current law enforcement officer from Florida. Amber is the group's web mistress and public relations officer as well as being a member of Ár nDraíocht Féin.

Secretary: Caroline Knowles has experience as a secretary and account manager in real estate. Caroline follows a Celtic path and has been a member of Officers of Avalon for 2 years.
 

About Officers of Avalon:
   
On 15 December 1999 Corporal Tricia Mullensky of the University of Massachusetts (Dartmouth) Police Department created the Yahoo e-group Officers of Avalon as a "way for Pagan law enforcement and emergency personnel to talk, discuss, vent or ask questions to others of like mind."

In its infancy, Officers of Avalon was a small e-group where Pagans in the emergency services could chat.

That all changed on 12 May, 2002, when Tim Flanagan posted on the e-group about forming a non-profit group.The initial burst of enthusiasm expanded the membership.

Officers of Avalon isn't just an e-group anymore. It has become a benevolent association for Pagan professionals in the emergency services. We will offer Pagan police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, military and rescue personnel a safe place to vent, to share ideas and to disseminate information that affects us. 

The Officers of Avalon is a fraternal, educational, and charitable organization. We seek to provide a community and network for Pagan first responders and to serve as a voice for them. We seek to provide accurate information and improve public perception about Pagan spirituality through education. We seek to defend followers of Pagan spirituality by working against misinformation, discrimination, defamation, harassment and intimidation. We are an outreach to Pagans in the Emergency Services. We also seek to demonstrate that Pagans are a charitable people. To that end, we work on the collection and distribution of donations to communities in need for natural disaster relief. Join us today as an Officer of Avalon or as a Friend of Avalon.

A Witchy vacation with some Baptists :-)

At the beginning of the month, I was lucky enough to get some time off work, load up my SUV with "Super Hubby" and the goofy mutt and go to South Carolina. My Dad  moved to S.C. back in April, after living his whole life in New England... he was having a bit of culture shock, so we went to visit.

Dad has a bunch of land out in the middle of "nowhere", and let me tell you that "nowhere" is beautiful. I hiked with the dog twice a day and never saw a soul. I saw black squirrels, heard mooing cows and even one night, when we were late getting back, a howling yi-yi sound of a coyote! I was not afraid! :-)

But there something that I was a little nervous about, everyone in town and I think, possibly in that section of South Carolina are Baptist. I don't know many personally, growing up in New England, everyone I knew was Roman Catholic. I did have a vague sense that they do not drink, and some do not dance or play cards...so a drinking, dancing, Texas hold 'em playing witch had just come to town....Interesting.

My Dad is Anglican, which is a tradition within Christianity, his wife was raised Baptist and they go to a Baptist Church.They are not hard to find in S.C., I counted 17 in town. So, everyone at church had heard that "Super Hubby" and I were coming for a visit and wanted to meet us. Yikes!

We were invited to the house of a church Deacon for lunch. "Super Hubby" could not contain his evil glee at the thought! I am very respectful when it comes to religion and while I do not offer my personal beliefs to strangers, if one should ask, I am always forthcoming about being Pagan. I just hoped no one would ask....

Oh, one little historical tidbit.....one of the last witch trails in the United States was in S.C., in 1813. Barbara Powers was tried on the charge of witchcraft, accused of turning a young girl into a horse and riding her. Interesting.......

We had a nice lunch, making small talk and such. The conversation turned to gardening and herbal tea and the Deacon's mother, who was in her 80's,  pulled me into the kitchen to show me her Grandmother's cookbook.

 Holy cow!!!! It had recipes for chicken and biscuits and every other food you can think of.... but guess what else? Folk remedies, and herbal medicine and gardening tips using moon phases.

When I asked about some of it, she got a little embarrassed and said her Grandmother came to the U.S. from Wales and was very superstitious. I told her so was I and I asked if I could write down some things from the book. She agreed and here is some of it....

There was a poem that young girls can recite while looking over their shoulder at a new moon:

New moon, new moon, let me see
Who my husband is to be;
The color of his hair, the clothes he wears,
and the day he is to wed me.

Sounds like a spell to me!!!!! LOL.

To cure a sore back, boil pine tree roots and pain ants ( I guess that means, the biting red ones) in a clean cloth and place it on the sore spot.

Got a sore throat? Put a live toad on your neck where the pain is.....Ewwwwwww!

There was a bunch more, so many of them witchy, like wear a ring with a green stone if you have eye problems....lots of things that she called poems but to me were definitely spells! :-)

Before my next trip up there, I will do some research about the folklore and witchcraft of that area....who knows what I will find. If anyone can suggest some books or websites about the folklore of the area, please let me know.

They Deacon never asked what religion I was, but I think his Mom knew.... :-)