It gives me great pleasure to announce that this year, for the first time, PantheaCon will be offering Sign Language Interpreters for Deaf individuals wishing to attend this event.
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO BOTTOM OF POST FOR INFORMATION FOR DEAF ATTENDEES & INTERPRETERS
The 15th Annual PantheaCon
Feb 13 – 16, 2009
President’s Day Weekend
San Jose Doubletree Hotel
2050 Gateway Place
San Jose, California
Preregister before January 15th for a discount!
$65 for all events for the entire 4-Day conference
Register on-line by clicking here
After January 15th, Conference Registration fees are
$75 for the entire 4-Day conference
$35 for a Single Day Pass
$20 for an Evening Pass
On-Line Registration open until February 1st
After February 1st, must register at the conference
The theme for the 2009 PantheaCon is “Gods and Goddesses”
For more information, check out the website at www.Pantheacon.com
What is PantheaCon?
PantheaCon is one of the largest, if not THE largest indoor Pagan conferences in the country. It attracts over 2000 people from all across the United States, as well as international participants. While many of the attendees are Pagan, this is not a requirement for attending this event. If you have an interest in alternative spiritualities or alternative lifestyles…you might enjoy PantheaCon. If you have an interest in Earth-Based Spirituality, Goddess-Focused Spirituality, or Women’s Spirituality…you might enjoy PantheaCon. If you have an interest in topics such as tarot and other forms of divination; natural healing; yoga; meditation; raising energy and practicing magick; ecology; mythology; and other similar subjects…you might enjoy PantheaCon. If you have an interest in sitting around with other like-minded individuals and engaging in some intelligent discussion; or drumming away in a drum circle; or participating in a ritual…you might enjoy PantheaCon.
There are all types of workshops you can choose from, happening through-out the day each day of PantheaCon. To give you an idea of what some of those workshops are like, check out the program schedule and workshop descriptions from last year:
PantheaCon 2008 Program Schedule
PantheaCon 2008 Workshop Descriptions
As you can see, there is something for everyone at PantheaCon!
PLEASE READ INFO BELOW THE PICTURE FOR DEAF ATTENDEES AND INTERPRETERS
Important Information for Deaf Attendees and Interpreters
This is the first year that PantheaCon has offered sign language interpreters for its conference. Ocean of Deaf Pagan Crossroads – who is herself a Deaf Pagan – is working closely with Glenn Turner of Ancient Ways to schedule interpreters for this event. Ancient Ways is a Pagan business located in the East Bay area which is responsible for setting up PantheaCon, and Glenn is the lead coordinator for such.
Due to the late time factor and the fact that no specific funds have been earmarked for interpreting services for this year, it is uncertain how many interpreters we can actually get for this year’s event, which means that we may not have the full access to various workshops of our choosing that we might desire, but we are making an effort to make PantheaCon accessible to the extent possible this year… with the understanding that we will work on improving these services for next year, so that more Deaf individuals will be able to attend.
We are working hard to try and provide the best possible services we can this year, but it may not be perfect. This year is sort of a “test” for us to see how we can actually work on making PantheaCon accessible for Deaf and Hard of Hearing attendees. We may not be able to offer full access, but we do believe this is a step in the right direction, and we ask for everyone’s support. Now that PantheaCon is aware of the need, we can all begin to work together to make things happen! Glenn has indicated that she is interested in setting up a committee to work on this issue for next year.
Nevertheless, we do want to welcome any and all Deaf individuals who wish to attend PantheaCon this year. There will be interpreters available, so we do encourage you to sign up! If you are a Deaf person who does want to attend, please contact Glenn or Ocean as soon as possible so we can get a better sense of just how many Deaf people are truly thinking about showing up, and figure out the logistics of interpreters. It may be that we will have to share terps for this year, which means a limited number of workshops will be accessible. We are making a particular effort to see that Starhawk’s workshops are interpreted – it is my understanding Starhawk will be there on Sunday, February 15th and Monday, February 16th.
If you are interested in attending PantheaCon, either for the full four days, or for a single day… please contact either Ocean or Glenn (or both of us!) and let us know of your interest so we can work with you to provide interpreters as needed.
We are also seeking interpreters for PantheaCon. If you are interested in providing such services, please contact Ocean or Glenn as soon as possible so we can discuss and negotiate a possible contract.
If you have any questions, concerns, ideas, suggestions, or whatever…feel free to email Ocean or Glenn. You can also leave a comment below here at this post.
contact Ocean at oshginva@gmail.com
contact Glenn at glenn@ancientways.com
LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT PANTHEACON!
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
wooo hoooo good news,im glad they came around. bb birch
As a Deaf Pagan myself, I am THRILLED to learn about this! Kudos to PantheaCon for recognizing the importance of Equal Communication Access for all!
I am currently taking a hard look at my time and my budget to see if I can attend this conference…no promises, but I’m going to do my best. It certainly does look like an exciting event that I would LOVE to go to!
I’m curious…has a schedule of this year’s events been posted on the web yet? It would be helpful if I could see a list of workshops, etc. so I can make a better decision about whether or not I want to come.
In addition, having a program in advance will probably make it a lot easier for PantheaCon to schedule interpreters where they are needed – we could then let them know what workshops we are interested in, and they could secure interpreting services for those workshops.
Once again, hats off to PantheaCon! I hope more Pagan organizations will see this as a positive example, and start doing the same with their own events!
Wow!! I wish I had the time/money to attend and I think it is wonderful that they have decided to include the deaf community in their celebrations/rituals/training. It is extremely awesome that a long neglected portion of the pagan community be included. Kudos to The organizers and to Ocean whose activism made all possible!!
Nothing makes me happier to see that things are finally being done to allow EVERYONE to experience the once in a lifetime moments you receive when you attend a pagan event.
Every experience is breathtaking and personal and I’m glad to see that now its open for everyone to take part.
I only wish I could be a part of this life turning event, but unfortunately I cannot although I do want to say that I’ve never been more proud of someone as I am my mum, Ocean. The way she stands up for the things she believes in, that takes so much confidence and strength and the same to everyone who stood next to her. It is truly amazing to see real people make a difference.
Thank you.
Am THRILLED to see that this will happen. The simple step of providing interpreters sends such a strong, strong message to the millions of deaf and hard of hearing Americans around the nation. Inclusion is such a simple step, yet so many fail to do this.
HOORAY FOR PantheaCon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m definitely checking their conference out now!
Bravo!
In this day and age it is important to offer equal access to those wishing to attend such events. Although I am an individual who is hearing (and who cannot afford to attend the event this year due to finances), I will be more likely to attend the event in the future because this effort is being made to open opportunities for all!
A huge thank you to Glenn and Ocean!
-Kimber Marett
Congrats to PantheaCon for seeing the wisdom and wonder and value of having ASL interpreting at the upcoming conference
MLK Jr said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
thank u for ensuring that there is justice, equality, and humanity at ur event
Best wishes and have a blast
kudos ocean for pursuing this for urself, other Deaf pagans and pals, and for the pagan non-Deaf community as well
interpreters are valuable for both the non-Deaf and Deaf to ensure barriers are removed and connections can be made
peace
Patti
Ocean, all!
I look forward to seeing you all at PantheaCon!
As an interpreter-in-training, I can hardly wait to begin learning some of the sign vocabulary of the pagan path I have tread for some 25 years now. I hope to one day be an interpreter at the Con – a dream of mine!
I hope this will establish a standard of inclusion for deaf and hard-of-hearing in the pagan community nationwide – at events like the Pagan Spirit Gathering, Rites of Spring, and the Alchemical Fire Circles popping up all over the country.
See you in February in San Jose!
Huzzah! This is a huge step in the right direction. I think it is so important to open up our spirituality for everyone who is interested. I am an interpreter and I’ll be there! BTW Thanks to Ocean and to Glenn for making this happen.
Blessed Be!
I am so glad you are trying to provide ASL services. I am newly deafened, however, and, like most people who become deaf over time or suddenly, I never had need of ASL. Even though I am learning it, it takes several years. How I have had to have communication as I get adjusted to my cochlear implant is through real-time captioning. This can be done either by a live person or through the net. It involves the talk being typed out in real time. I too, before I became suddenly deaf following knee surgery, thought it was simply a matter of providing sign interpreters. But it is not. I hope you will continue the path you have begun, but take it further so that all who are either hard-of-hearing, late-deafened, or culturally or born deaf may participate.
Hi Mary ~
Thank you for your comment, and for making an excellent point that I think all of us need to keep in mind…
Not all deaf people who need communication access know ASL or use sign language interpreters. Thus a variety of services may be required to meet the various communication needs of deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, and deafblind people. This may indeed include captioning, or what is known as CART services – CART stands for Communication Access Realtime Translation.
For more information, check out this link:
http://www.cartinfo.org/
I work for an agency where we have a hard of hearing/late deafened specialist to work with such individuals… and she herself is late deafened and uses CART services during our staff meetings. It is our philosophy that whatever the person requires in order to satisfy their communication needs, we will provide it. Costly? Yes. But we see it as money well spent – because it’s an investment in people’s lives.
I agree that it would be nice if conferences such as PantheaCon could offer a wide variety of auxiliary aids which could include CART services. Unfortunately, we are just beginning to take the necessary steps towards full access and total inclusion.
It is my hope that in the future, anyone and everyone will be able to participate in these types of events with the knowledge that they can fully comprehend, participate, and enjoy such.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.