The first Pagan festival for Atheopagans, nontheist Pagans, and naturalist Pagans is actually happening. It's called Moon Meet, and it will be August 4-6 of this year, on private land near Healdsburg in Sonoma County, California. The event is $90, which will include five meals.

For me, this is a dream.

There seems to be a trend in the naturalistic religion world right now: the drive to connect in real life. Shortly after announcing Moon Meet, I was invited to be a part of an email and Skype conversation involving many of the most prominent voices in the nontheist/naturalistic spirituality community about creating a conference or gathering in 2018. Imagine it: scientific pantheists, Atheopagans, spiritual naturalists of contemplative paths, all coming together to share talk and fellowship, perhaps ceremony.

I don't know how far we'll get, but I know this: five years ago, the suggestion of naturalistic spirituality—"religion without the supernatural"— was bizarre and foreign, and social media was just beginning the process of our far-flung community being able to connect across the Internet. Two years ago, we had a dustup in the Pagan community over whether nontheist Pagans even belong in that community

Now, it seems, we have moved beyond whether we exist, and whether we belong. Now we are talking about connecting beyond the Internet, seeing one another's faces. Thus, Moon Meet, and whatever may come out of that conversation I mentioned.

Where, I wonder, will we be in five years?

I guess we'll just have to wait to find out. But in the meantime, we ARE going to gather this August, and here is what the event will look like:

Friday Evening/Night

5:00 Arrival.
7:00 Dinner
9:00 Opening ritual and Bardic Fire--bring songs, stories and poems to share

Saturday

9:00 Breakfast
10:00 Workshop slot 1: Sacred World Dance by Dakini Uma Amitabha; Songs of Power by Hummingbear
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Workshop slot: Music and Dance in Ritual by Joe Veahman; Courting the Hero Within by Venee Lotusfire
3:00 Ritual planning session
6:00 Dinner
8:00 Main Ritual (planned that afternoon)

Sunday

9:00 Breakfast
10:00 Community Discussion: How do we grow and evolve the nontheist Pagan community?
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Workshop slot 3: Science & Paganism by Lupa
3:00 Hike or Excursion to Healdsburg (pack up)
5:30 Closing Ritual
7:00 Final Dinner (Nearby Restaurant, not covered in registration)

Workshop Offerings

Conduct Standards

At Pagan gatherings and conferences in the past few years, it has become customary to issue conduct standards for participants in order to create a safe environment and a clear understanding about how participants are expected to relate to one another.

Accordingly, here are conduct standards for Moon Meet.

We hope and expect that participants will conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the Atheopagan Principles; to act with integrity and to be respectful of others, to honor them as they are, to seek affirmative consent before initiating any form of physical contact, and to respond proactively to amend their behavior if they receive feedback that their conduct is making someone uncomfortable.

The event will not tolerate bigotry of any kind. Racism, sexism, classism, homophobia and transphobia have no place in Atheopagan community.

Participants experiencing violation of these standards are encouraged to come to me onsite and register their concerns. Any unsafe person will be asked to leave.

Now, knowing our crowd, I doubt that spelling out these standards is really necessary. But it is better to do so than not.

Mutual respect is the watchword, friends. Keep that in mind, and everything else just naturally falls into place.

It's going to be a fantastic gathering! Please register to join us this August.