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My international folk dance group is not a heathen or pagan group. In fact, I’m the only Asatruar in it. Most folk dance groups, festivals, workshops, and cruises are secular and intercultural, except for the ones specifically associated with a particular ethnic group or church / temple. Our group’s mission is to preserve the world heritage of dance. And of course, also to have fun. But my dance group isn’t just a place to do an activity; it’s also a community.

I am reminded as we move closer towards the beginnings, the beauty and fertility of Spring that we are once again provided with the opportunity to seed a new way of “Being”...

Have We Forgotten To Be Kind? Have We Forgotten To Be Understanding? Have We Forgotten Compassion?

“You are not alone.”  - The Face of Boe, Doctor Who

And sometimes there’s nothing quite like the familiarity of a ritual you’ve attended every year, for half a dozen years, knowing that you’ll be attending the very same ritual half a dozen more.

I know that many will agree with me when I say that 2018 has been rough.  As this year draws to its conclusion, I’ve been looking through old journals and have taken note of previous entries.  2016 was confusing and filled with alarm.  2017 was a fighting and frightening year.  And 2018… Well.  We’re just tired now.

When you've been doing something for six months, and everyone around you has only been doing it for five, that makes you the elder.

Gods help us all.

That was the situation back in the early days of Paganistan. At the time, most of us hadn't been doing this for very long, but the fact that we'd been doing it longer than anyone else made us the de facto elders of the community.

Incredibly enough, the community survived anyway. It not only survived, but flourished.

You learn fast when you have to. When people around you expect you to be wise, it's surprising how wise you can actually be.

Well, sometimes.

It may well be that you yourself are in this same position: a premature elder in a young community.

Here's something that came up in my leadership/community building class at Pantheacon. When someone engages in poor behavior in a public setting, it must also be dealt with publicly. While there may be a private component to the process (mediation meeting, taking the person aside to offer them feedback, etc.) the behavior must still be dealt with in as public a fashion as it originally happened. 

Why? Because otherwise the other people who experienced the harm/observed the behavior have no idea what's going on. This becomes especially important as more organizations adopt safety/anti-harassment policies. If people in the group/at the event observe the safety policy being violated, then they must see how the safety policy is being upheld.