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PaganSquare is a community blog space where Pagans can discuss topics relevant to the life and spiritual practice of all Pagans.

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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in community building

Posted by on in Studies Blogs
Journey Bread

 

There is a practice that has been repeated often enough by some of our covens that it has begun the process of crossing that nebulous line into the territory of something that we think of as one of our traditions. There are many people in our covens, and our extended community, who practice some healing modality. Whether it is a healing ritual, a hands-on energy healing method, herbal remedies, a shamanic intervention, or any of a number of other approaches, the actual healing work tends to occur once injury or illness has taken place.

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Posted by on in Studies Blogs
A Sermon on John 6: 48-59

I am still deeply affected by the events of this week, and I'm struggling to reconcile my feelings around what is going on in our country right now. How larger themes of racism, sexism, xenophobia, transphobia, and hatred have permeated the fabric of our nation so completely. Working where I do in and amongst conservative Christians as a Pagan is a challenging and often times exhausting endeavor where showing up is half the battle. 

I was on call the morning after the election news broke, and in our case, whoever is on call that day delivers the morning devotional in Chapel that morning. I've done a variety of offerings from my tradition and they have all been warmly received, but on this day I wanted to present something that spoke to deeper bonds of fellowship and used common language I knew would connect with my colleagues and yet would remain true to my identity as a Pagan. I presented this piece I had written in my Gospel of John course at Iliff a few years ago:

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Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
Ley Lines of Life

Ripe Woman


Even in the land
of the starving
barren of nurturing
connection
of communal cohesion
and direction for
the lost children

I gathered
what bits of
connection
I could find
built and grew
made and found
meaning

My ripe fullness
can be painful
waiting to be
picked and made
useful
bursting with fine
synthesis

I dream of others
connected
in our similar
seed-bearing readiness
across the wasted
civilization
ley lines of life

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

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a bold Moon in the season of Imbolc

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Looking Deeper Into Forming a Goddess Circle

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Unsolicited Advice

There's a plague out there. Unsolicited advice--or, advice you didn't ask for--is often the first thing that comes out of someone's mouth when you talk about anything bad going on with you. And here's the thing--you probably do it too; I sure know that I do, and I struggle not to. It's an issue of leadership because it's an issue of communication and boundaries, and it also crosses over into pastoral counseling as well. It's certainly an issue that can impact how we function together within communities.

Unasked-for advice happens on autopilot, and here's how it usually plays out. 

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Recent comment in this post - Show all comments
  • Rick
    Rick says #
    So why do people offer unsolicited advice? One reason that you missed, IMO, is probably gender-linked. If you start lamenting abo

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

There's a cycle in the Pagan blogosphere that needs to be interrupted. This or that public figure of Paganism stumbles, mildly or majorly, anything from making an offensive statement to doing something seriously unethical and even illegal. More than half the time, I think to myself "Who is this person, and why should I care?" But one by one, many take it upon themselves to step up and denounce or defend to demonstrate their upholding of ethics, Real Paganism(tm) or Loyalty and Respect for Our Elders (tm) Then we get upset about which "sides" our favorite bloggers, authors, festival presenters have taken, or not taken and there's another wave of backlash. I admit to taking part in this, but this last couple times I hesitated. What impact does my speaking or writing on this have? Is this person accountable to me? Do they follow the same value system as me? Do they represent my tradition or organization? Can I have a face to face conversation with them? 

I often put more thought into my writing than my speech. I try to talk quickly to get in all the words I want to and end up sounder more foolish as a result. The Druidic virtue of eloquence is certainly one I need to work on! I know my Wiccan compatriots have a saying about "Speak ye little, listen much" and the title of this blog post refers to the Witches' Pyramid, To Know, To Will, and To Keep Silent. I guess To Speak falls under To Will- it's not my pyramid, so y'all might have to explain it to me.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • John Reder
    John Reder says #
    Maybe "cliquishness" is a word that is grossly underused as though seemingly an undramatic little word it does cut to the heart of
  • Mariah Sheehy
    Mariah Sheehy says #
    I agree we need to call people out for bigoted comments and behavior. Since I don't know any of the people involved in this partic
  • Lizzy Hood
    Lizzy Hood says #
    I agree with your approach, especially the "I statements" method. That said, I would like to see more voices raise up, not in judg
  • John Reder
    John Reder says #
    The main problem Lizzy is the matter of "elders" in the Pagan communities. In almost every community (or coven) one is subservien
  • John Reder
    John Reder says #
    Mariah is addressing confrontations that are directly hostile, such as most of the political discourse that appears on the interne

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