Due to scheduling conflicts, our Winter Finding circle has been moved up 1 week, from September 20 to September 13.
This will be our second celebration of Winter Finding, an observance of the Fall Equinox which honors our Norse, Germanic, and Anglo-Saxon ancestors and the deities they worshipped.
Please join us at 12:45 on Sunday, April 21 for our bi-monthly Adopt-a-Spot cleanup. We’ll pick up trash on Fulton Street from Crescent to University as part of the Keep Denton Beautiful program. It takes 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how many people we have.
Come out and help us care for our little corner of Mother Earth!
Afterwards (or about 2:00) we’ll move to Cynthia’s house for a potluck lunch and our Spring Social Gathering. Contact Cyn or John for the address.
Please bring a dish to share for a potluck lunch.
This is primarily a social gathering, but we’ll also discuss plans for Summer classes, Fall circles, and other gatherings.
New members and friends are especially encouraged to attend.
See you on the 21st!
Our Imbolc Circle is moving to Friday, February 1. Gathering begins at 7:30 PM and the circle will begin promptly at 8:00.
Imbolc was previously scheduled for Saturday, January 26. However, Denton UU minister (and CUUPS member) Rev. Pam Wat was chosen to participate in a local version of “Dancing With the Stars” to benefit the United Way of Denton County. We’d hate to ask people to choose between supporting Rev. Pam and celebrating Imbolc, plus moving to the following Friday lets us hold it on the exact date of February 1.
Please adjust your calendars and plan to join us for Imbolc on Friday, February 1.
Last night’s Winter Solstice ritual was everything I had hoped it would be: a good turnout, lots of participation, the presence of the gods and ancestors, and a very strong response to the Call to Action in the main working.
For those of you who couldn’t be there, here’s the Call to Action. The Old Gods and Goddesses are still calling…
the altars and priestesses of Danu, Cernunnos, and Morrigan
We all know what happens when a species’ predators are removed from its environment. Reproduction increases, resources are consumed at an ever-increasing rate, and competing species are crowded out. Eventually the population exceeds the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. Then individuals and groups fight over scarce resources, starvation begins and many die.
Our natural predators of disease and famine are not gone, but they have been beaten back. War still kills too many, but it kills far fewer than at any time since civilization began. Aided by the fear of scarcity, the myth of dominion, and ordinary greed, the human population has exploded and is consuming resources at a rate that cannot be sustained.
Some feel the Earth would be better off without us; if we drove ourselves to extinction and some other species took our place. I think they’re wrong. Any species that came after us would be shaped by the same evolutionary forces that shaped us and would likely behave much like us. The best chance the Earth has of evolving intelligent, compassionate life is for us to grow up.
Tonight, one Mayan long count calendar comes to an end and another long count calendar begins. Tonight, one era, one aeon ends and another begins – not because it is written in the stars but because we will make it so.
We are not alone in this great work. Our goddesses and gods, our ancestors, and the spirits of Nature stand ready to inspire us and guide us and assist us. We are their hands, making the Divine manifest in this world.
Tonight, three ancient deities have joined our circle. Danu asks you to help her create new ways of living and being. Cernunnos asks you to help him nurture these new ways so they can grow and expand. Morrigan asks you to help her protect the new aeon from those who are so invested in the old era they can’t see they’re leading us down the road to extinction.
If one of these deities is speaking to you, if one of these roles calls to you, I ask you to come forward, choose a token and be blessed by the priestess. You will take no oaths and you will make no obligations. But you will declare your intent to help create a world that is intelligent, compassionate and sustainable.
Come, be blessed, and become a part of this New Aeon.
The second flyer for our Winter Solstice circle on the 21st. Please circulate!
