Council of Magickal Arts


The Council of Magickal Arts, Inc. is a Neo-pagan organization in Texas, and runs one of the USA's largest bi-annual Neo-pagan festivals in the Southern United States.

History

Founded in 1980, the CMA is a 501 non-profit corporation, registered in the state of Texas. CMA's festivals are held on a parcel of land called Spirit Haven Ranch, which is owned by the corporation. CMA produces an online quarterly newsletter, The Accord. CMA promotes spirituality based on Pagan beliefs, and is open to people of all traditions who are interested in celebrating nature, spirit and community.
Starting out as a joint camping event of several covens and some solitary practitioners, as of 2012, CMA had a membership of nearly 1000 people and festival attendance of 500 or more at each festival.

Mission statement and principles

The Council of the Magickal Arts, Inc. is a spiritual and civic organization and multi-cultural foundation that is committed to promoting spirituality based on spiritual, nature-centered, magickal beliefs and practices.
Through multiple fundraising and community building endeavors, CMA supports, organizes, and hosts a variety of religious and educational programs as well as gatherings for members and interested public to celebrate the holidays of Beltane, Samhain, and other religious holidays.
CMA offers organization opportunities to increase a sustainable community by promoting, educating, researching, and supporting green technologies. We promote and educate members and the community at large in environmentally friendly construction and life practices.

Principles

These are the guiding principles of the CMA are:
Accountability: We acknowledge the inherent accountability to the community as the key to organizing effectively and with integrity.
Confidentiality: We safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of our members within the limits of United States and Texas law. CMA will always defend the legal right to privacy under United States laws.
Neither member identities nor personal information will be revealed without the member's express permission.
Inclusiveness: We understand that our effectiveness is based upon the participation of our members and we are open to people of all traditions or religions who wish to celebrate nature, spirit, and community,  and who are on or wish to explore a spiritual or magickal path.
Liberty: We support personal responsibility as well as individual freedom of thought, belief, and action. At our gatherings, CMA strives to create the least restrictive environment possible while preserving safety and privacy for all who attend.
Stewardship: We strive to enhance the quality of life of our members through responsible stewardship of resources, teaching, and supporting the implementation and utilization of green technologies to provide the least amount of impact on the biodiversity and ecological integrity of the planet.
Tolerance: We strive to operate in a spirit of harmony, goodwill, and acceptance towards others and to be accurate and nonpartisan in our communications with our members and the general public while expressing the unique value inherent in following a spiritual or magickal path. CMA neither advocates nor promotes any religion, tradition, or spiritual path, and takes no position on credential of any practitioners or clergy.

''The Accord''

The Accord is the online quarterly periodical of the corporation, and contains a wide range of articles by members. In the past The Accord was a medium quality magazine periodical with national distribution, but printing costs and the expenses of land ownership have caused CMA to move to a paperless, online publication, which may be read on the corporation's website www.magickal-arts.org..pdf format.

Festivals

CMA hosts a Beltane and Samhain Festival every year. These are generally held a couple of weeks before Beltaine and Samhain. This is allows for members of The Council of Magickal Arts to celebrate the solar holidays in their own personal ways and to not compete with other pagan festivals and events that are of interest to their membership. CMA are known for their Beltane and Samhain Festivals. CMA also works closely with the Pagan Pride Day organization and helps to organize the Pagan Pride Day Events in Cities across Texas.
For many years the festivals were held at a commercial camping property in the hill country of Austin, Texas. In 1999 CMA purchased land of their own, called [|SpiritHaven], located near the community of Cistern in Central Texas.
A typical festival starts with setup on Wednesday for vendors and early arrivals. The main attendees arrive on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Each night a public main ritual is held, presented by different volunteer members and their groups, and, weather permitting, a bonfire is lit. The bonfire serves as the main public area for those who wish to stay up late into the night, drumming, dancing, and talking. Personal and group campsites also host gatherings at night.
During the daylight hours of Friday and Saturday, a full schedule of workshops are presented, some by members and some by guest presenters which, in the past, has included such notables as Patricia Telesco, Fritz Jung and Wren, Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, and more.
Along with the workshops and the evening rituals and bonfire, the main stage is used to present regional and national Pagan artists, such as; Wendy Rule, , Ginger Doss, Dreamtrybe, Canvas, Spoonfed Tribe, SONA, Lisa Thiel, Darwin Davis, Spiral Dance, and others.
The corporation's business meeting, called Great Works, is held on Sunday after the festival.

SpiritHaven

Often referred to as, simply, "The Land", Spirit Haven Ranch is just outside the town of Cistern, Texas, which is a few miles north of IH-10 and the town of Flatonia, Texas. Although some improvements have been made, such as a water well and electricity for some critical needs such as a First Aid Building, and Ritual Areas, the land is mostly rough. The camping areas are wooded with Mesquites and other native trees, while the Sacred Spaces are more densely wooded with oaks and other native trees.
Maintenance between festivals, and the majority of the work to ready the land for each festival, is done by the volunteers of the Spirit Haven Ranch Team, and all members are welcome to come out on the work weekends as part of the team, as well as interested persons wanting to learn more about CMA.
Tent camping is the only form of lodging available at Spirit Haven Ranch. RV space is limited and without amenities.
Members may reserve campsites on a yearly basis, reserving their group's placement during Festivals. These sites are reserved for the reservation holder and their associates.