PNO The first PNO was held on August 25, 1992 in Houston, Texas, with barely more than a dozen in attendance. By the next year monthly attendance was closer to 50 with occasional special PNO's (such as Yule and Samhain celebrations) exceeding 120. History A PNO was started in the Washington, DC, area in 1998 when a resident from Houston moved to the nation's capital and wanted to offer a similar program for Pagans in the area. Originally sponsored by the now defunct Mystic District Planning Coalition, the DC area PNO is currently sponsored by The Open Hearth Foundation. The DC-PNO originally met on the 13th of each month and rotated locations among DC, Northern Virginia, and suburban Maryland. It now meets on the third Friday of the month. Today there are PNOs all over the world and in every major city in the United States, even one that meets on a U.S. aircraft carrier. The U.S military has been instrumental in this spread and most non-U.S. PNOs are found on or near military bases. Impact Even through the internet age, PNO's were one of the only places people could come out of the 'broom closet' and talk with other Pagans and Neopagans. For those that aren't associated with other circles or covens, this was a very helpful place for the solitary practitioner to meet others in their area face to face. Pagan's Night Out began social networking with unaffiliated Pagans which would allow others to share ideas, discuss activities and even hold open rituals. It is perhaps the widely most used medium for in-person networking in the Pagan social scene. Trivia Pagan Night Out is a song by Loke E. Coyote's Wiccabilly Circus. This song can be found on the MeGaPaGaTeXaPaLooZa CD which was recorded in April 2001 with songs from both SONA and Trickster on it. The band at the first two PNO's was the Celtic folk duo Céilí's Muse. This was not intentional, but merely serendipitous. References External links Council of Magickal Arts The Witches Voice Loke E. Coyote's Wiccabilly Circus Night Out Bulletin board systems 1990s in modern paganism Religion in Houston