I am reposting it because he is discontinuing that page and I don't want to lose this information.

"If we do not hang together surely we shall all hang separately." -Benjamin Franklin.

A SITUATION IN CLEVELAND, OHIO

Frank Giglio, an eclectic Pagan herbalist, owns the property at 2280 & 2288 W. 14th St in the Tremont District of Cleveland, Ohio (adjacent to I 71, which masks noise from drumming at the property). For ten years he had organically cultivated his land, building it into a spiritually powerful, living ecosystem that has been used for Pagan ceremonies and drumming circles for about eight years. The power of the land was further enhanced by abstract Goddess statuary that Frank created and placed on the property.

From the outside, it looked like a rain forest with some metal things visible within. From the inside it looked like an arboretum, with abstract statuary, brick and stone lined walkways following natural paths, a fire pit, benches, etc. Franks Victorian home (in need of repair) sat on part of the lot, mostly hidden by vegetation.

A large community of Cleveland areas Pagans, artists, etc. have regularly celebrated Equinoxes, Solstices, Samhain, and Lammas at this land thru ceremony, drumming, and festivity. The community started celebrating Beltane there in 1998, after the previous site in Ohio City was harassed.

After being the high priest at a public Beltane on Public Square in Cleveland, in 1998, Larry joined dozens more at a Beltane at Franks, where festivities included a bonfire, drumming, a ritual, etc. That evening, he also worked with the nature sprits (the consciousness of his ecosystem) on Frank's land and had a truly magical experience. Certain locations on his land ranked among the most impressive power spots he had ever visited.

Frank earned a small income a cab driver. Most of his time and resources went to his beloved land. Over the past five years, police and city inspectors have been to Franks house questioning him about being a Witch while investigating housing code violations, etc. Frank's relationship with most neighbors remains good. However, rumors of ritual sacrifice (all false) circulate in the general neighborhood. Local developers have targeted his property, zoned commercial, for becoming a bed and breakfast and/or a parking lot.

The land had been cited by the City of Cleveland for Weeds and Debris, and was scheduled for a pretrial hearing on September 14, 1998. Frank's defense focused on first amendment rights to freedom of religion. The "weeds" were his herbs, bushes, trees, and other plants that belong there; and the "debris" his statues, benches, tables, bee hive, landscaping materials and lawn and garden equipment--all an integral part of his religious practice. In addition, he had a doghouse. a licensed and running 1973 Super Beetle, stacked building material for home repairs, and a bin of collectable cobalt blue bottles.

On September 1 1998, Frank awoke to the sound of his dog barking, and discovered a city front-end loader bursting through his fence and city workers proceeding to destroy the organic ecosystem that he built over a decade. The only paperwork that they produced was a document by the Division of the Environment, associated with a departmental order to remove weeds and debris from his property -- the validity of which was subject to challenge in a pending trial. The provided the document after they broke through his fence and started to cut trees. The city had no court order allowing them to enter his property.

After he ran to get his dog out of the way of the machinery, he was maced, arrested and thrown into jail on charges of resisting arrest and aggravated disorderly conduct. The City proceeded to destroy his herbs, plants, statuary, trees (except for a few old trees that were butchered with chain saws), car, walkways, etc. They removed the top three inches of topsoil, to obliterate the entire ecosystem and crushed and spread the glass bottles throughout his property. The land looked like it had been nuked. Money he had set aside to repair his house had to be spent on attorney's fees, replacement of yard necessities, the purchase of vegetation and bulbs, etc., and his home has fallen into increasing disrepair.

Frank is a generally mild mannered individual of limited means, making him seem to be an easy target. It is apparent that some within the City of Cleveland think that they can ignore Frank's rights and, without due process, destroy his property and the ecosystem built in cooperation with nature, as had been done to First Nations' peoples and their environment.

Frank's attorney called Larry in September, shortly after the City destroyed his land. Larry provided him with background material collected by EPA (Natural Landscaping for Public Officials: a Source Book) and the John Marshall Law School (Weed Laws Article on Landscaping (John Marshall Law Review)) on natural landscaping.

He also provided the Earth Religions Assistance List Intake Form that could be used to help document the case for other attorneys and request their assistance, along with other information .

It was horrible to see what was done to the land.. The majority of Frank's Time in the Fall of 1998 was spent dealing with broken sidewalks and driveways, and planting herbs, trees, groundcover, bushes and bulbs -- along with his legal situation.

Larry began networking with environmental and Pagan activists and attorneys about the issue. He found other individuals nearby facing similar problems. The City harassed a Unitarian Church Board member over natural landscaping. A Hindu Priest of Kali, in Parma Ohio, had a stone circle that was allowed to go wild inside as an offering to the Goddess, until cut without his permission. An environmental activist in a nearby suburb was similarly harassed. Larry provided this individual with the same information that he sent Frank's attorney, and it helped this person's attorney obtain a temporary restraining order preventing authorities from intruding on his garden.

Frank is a friend of the Earth and of Pagan and artistic communities; and our communities have been growing in strength. In early March, 1999 two covens indicated that they wanted to help replant Frank's property and that he needed help. Larry met with Frank, found that he was changing attorneys, and that he needed more physical, financial and legal help than his immediate contacts and he could provide. At a Northeast Ohio Earth Religion Assistance Association (NEO-ERAA) meeting in Cleveland, members, Frank, and supports of Frank met and discussed the situation. The most important aspects of the situation are:

• The destruction of an organic, ecosystem used for religious, cultural, and artistic activities and the removal of underlying topsoil under false pretenses without due process (in effect, the desecration of a private chapel of the Goddess in nature)

• Vague and environmentally unsound weed laws, and

• Rumors about Witches, ritual sacrifice, etc. on the land

• A pattern of harassment of poor homeowners whose property is targeted for gentrification.

A Call to Action briefly summarizing the situation was sent out on the Internet March 19, 1999.

By the end of March, over 240 pages of responses were received. They included offers of assistance, pertinent information, questions, demands for all information from everywhere, and flaming, rumormongering rants based on no direct knowledge of the situation.

On March 20, 1999, The Pagan Awareness Coalition-PAC (the group that organizes Beltane and Samhain Rituals on Cleveland Public Square), responded to the call to action. They decided to:

• Join in Beltane celebrations at Frank's property after its main ritual at Public Square,

• To help raise funds for the restoration and protection of the land

• To publicize and encourage participation in an Earth healing and Planting ritual Sunday April 25, 1999.

The sincerity of Frank's religious beliefs and the essential role his garden played in his and other's practice of their religion was well known among many long-time Cleveland area Pagans. As of April 23, 1999, seven Greater Cleveland Area Pagan Clergy (officially recognized by the State of Ohio) have indicated their willingness to ordain Frank as a priest of the Goddess and Spirits of the Earth and help him obtain State recognition, if needed. Based on an attorney's advice, affidavits, petitions and other forms of recognition are now being considered.

The call to action has begun to reach non-Pagan communities. Many people driving by the site, thought it was a beautiful city park, and were shocked to see it devastated. Several contacted City Officials.

On Wednesday 3/24/99 the new Commissioner of the Cleveland Division of Environment spoke with Larry and thanked him for helping her figure out what some of the scattered records she has gathered for the new Health Director were about. The previous Environmental Commissioner and Health Director (in place when Frank's land was devastated) had been fired after EPA fined the City of (concerning ineffective air pollution control). Two days later, she no longer communicated freely. On April 2, 1999, Larry sent the City a public records request for all pertinent documentation, under the authority of the Ohio Public Records Law. As of April 22, 1999, they had not responded, although they provided a reporter with many pertinent documents between these dates.

Thursday evening, March 25, 1999, Bill Obbagy, the Editor of the Cleveland Citizen (the Oldest Labor newspaper in the United States and the major labor newspaper in Cleveland), and Larry decided to organize Gaia Rising, an organization focused on:

• Restoring and protecting sacred land, vegetation, etc., especially when used in worship, meditation, shamanism with nature spirits, and honoring the Goddess in Nature

• Minimizing and overcoming legal barriers to those whose practice is to maintain, restore and/or create complex nature-friendly, organic ecosystems on their property

• Assuring that all funds donated or granted are properly accounted for and used efficiently for their intended purposes, with a reasonable minimum of administrative and overhead costs

• Associated activities, including fund raising, administration, disbursement, publishing, electronic communications, PR, meetings, events, etc.

On March 28, 1999, the Association for Consciousness Exploration (ACE, the organizers of Starwood and Winterstar) provided $200 to help the situation by providing soil, plants or other material to help rebuild the land. It came with the following message to Frank: "Sorry to hear about your troubles, and we want to offer you our support in hopes that you will be able to restore your land in a manner that benefits your community." Support from others began arriving, in the form of tools, seed, plants, etc. Bands and astrologers have offered their services to help raise funds for legal action. Gaia Rising recently received an offer of 50 silver pentagrams and 20 spiral goddess pendants form the Goddess 2000 project to help raise legal funds. A bank official has even offered to help, along with several attorneys -- some offering limited pro bono expert assistance, or assistance at reduced rates.

However, much more help is needed to restore the land and protect it under the law. Donations of plants, seeds, soil, manure; compost and materials should be sent directly to

Frank Giglio
2288 W. 14th St
Cleveland, Ohio 44113

After contacting him at (216) 687-9733 to discuss what is needed and associated logistics.

Until Gaia Rising establishes its own Bank Account, donation checks should be made out to Larry Cornett and sent to:

Larry Cornett
890 Alhambra Rd
Cleveland, OH 44110
(216) 692-2124
lcorncalen@aol.com

or, for those who prefer donating directly to the organization, checks can be made out to Gaia Rising. Checks will be deposited when the quantity of donations designated for Gaia Rising is sufficient to justify the overhead expense of a Gaia Rising bank account. We anticipate this will happen when major fund-raising events occur.

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