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From September 20 -
25 the Pagan Cluster will gather in Pittsburgh to add our energy to the human
confluence/convergence around the G20 Summit (Sept 24-25) and an
International Coal Conference (Sept 20-23).  We gather to honor the
carbon cycle that holds the energy of birth,
growth, death, decay and regeneration, enacting the world we want in the
midst of the one we have. 

Our intention is to interrupt the cycle of
despondency and destruction by:

--- Honoring all those who have died and all that
has been lost from years of greed: extraction, pollution, racism and war.

--- Awakening everyday solutions for sustainable
transformation to a radically different culture.

--- Sowing seeds for an abundant and healthy
future rooted in clean air, energy, water, land and
food.

Our ritual will celebrate the Equinox to bring balance back to our relationship
with the earth. We plan to build altars throughout the city to empower our
intentions and reclaim sacred space.  We do this political magic as
part of our spiritual commitment, to shift the energy in the streets and
offer grounding to the larger mobilization.

We hope you will join us as
we bring our life-affirming message.

·        
As global citizens, we demand power over the processes that affect our
lives, accurate information about positive solutions to our current
economic and environmental crises, and an end to the racist exclusion of
human rights because of nationality or citizenship
status.

·        
As inhabitants of occupied land, we demand respect for all indigenous
people.

·        As
residents of the empire, we demand an end to the genocide done in the name
of expansion and control.  

·       
As subjects of capitalism, we demand the
elimination of industrial pollution, water
waste and corporate welfare laws that reward industries for their crimes
against the earth.

·        
As workers, we demand secure, meaningful employment at a living wage and an end to all forms of
exploitation of labor. 

·        
As community members, we demand localized, sustainable economies. 

·        
As Pagans, we demand permaculture alternatives that honor the elements to
heal the land. 

·        
As human beings, we demand clean air, energy, water, and land. 

In the theater of the
possible, we all play a part.

The alarming reality of environmental destruction is taking its toll
throughout the world, and 2009 has become the year for establishing new
international climate change
regulations.  Although long overdue, this new round of G-20
talks has become another way to promote corporate-based technologies and
trade-able “carbon credits” as the answer to
a complicated crisis.  This business-as-usual approach creates the
false illusion that coal is clean and nuclear
reactors are safe and only perpetuates our current economic
catastrophe by funneling money into the pockets of those
responsible.

Pseudo-sustainable solutions
trick us into believing that we will not
have to truly change our way
of life or the culture we create.

The G-20, a group of the 20 wealthiest nations of
the world, have been meeting frequently in the run-up to united nations
climate talks that will take place in Copenhagen,
Denmark this December.   It is no accident that the G-20
has chosen to meet in Pittsburgh, in the heart of Appalachia where three great rivers
meet.   Pittsburgh’s coal and steel veins have been the
foundation of North America’s economy since
they were discovered.  The city is home to many exploitative industry
headquarters, responsible for some of the worst environmental and labor
disasters in US history.  Pittsburgh regularly tops the lists for
worst air, water and soil quality in the country, and coal is repeatedly
condemned as one of the main causes of climate change.  Coal is so
important that the local university hosts an annual international coal
conference to promote policies that protect its dirtiest practices,
including mountaintop removal and
longwall mining.  The G-20 leaders have chosen to meet in Pittsburgh
during this conference so they will be ready to defend coal company
interests at the up-coming climate talks. 

Climate initiatives have
failed in the past because corporations wrote
the
rules.

G-20 leaders are accustomed to hearing from
captains of industry and ignoring the voices of their
citizens.   These heads of state are happy with the status quo
that enriches the elites and exploits the rest.  From the Appalachian Mountains to the shores of the Congo
River, the indigenous poor are always the ones to suffer the consequences
of resource extraction; there is little
difference between longwall coal mining and
deforestation to the people whose lives and
homes are destroyed. All over the world, those affected by
environmental tragedies are gaining power and forcing the offending
corporations to pay the price for their unending greed and colonialist
practices.  From the most oppressive to the most open, governments
everywhere are conceding power to grassroots movements.

This time, the people will
be taking action. 


Join Us.

Pittsburgh          
September 20 – 25

http://www.3riversconvergence.org/                    http://g20media.org/