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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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Beltane is without a doubt the sexiest of pagan High Holidays and is anticipated greatly throughout the year. Witchy ones celebrate this holy night which falls on the last eve of April, and it is traditional for celebrations to last the entire night. This is a festival for feasting, singing, laughter and lovemaking. On May Day, when the sun returns in the morning, revelers gather to erect a merrily beribboned Maypole to dance around, followed by picnicking and sensual siestas. The recipe below is befitting for this special time of the year when love flows as freely as wine.
At this time, celebrate the festival of Ostara, the Saxon goddess who is the personification of the rising sun. Ostara is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Eostre or Oestre, and her totem is the rabbit. Legend has it that her rabbit brought forth the brightly colored eggs now associated with Easter. At this time the world is warming under the sun as spring approaches. Every plant, animal, man and woman feels this growing fever for spring.
This ritual is intended for communities, so gather a group. Tell everyone to bring a “spring food” such as deviled eggs, salads with flowers in them, fresh broths, berries, mushrooms, fruits, pies, veggie casseroles or quiches. Have the food table at the opposite side of the gathering area away from the altar, but decorate it with flowers and pussy willow branches that are just beginning to bud. These are the harbingers of spring.
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I'd like to point at the title above and say, "That's it; that's the post." But I know I'm going to have to explain.
No one owns the gods: That means that no one can tell you how to interact with them, how to experience them, what to believe about them. Your spiritual experience is your own, filtered through your psyche as a part of your personal life.
...As it becomes clear that the Pagan community is not at all immune to harassing, abusive, and bigoted behavior, we need to respond by crafting safety (or anti-harassment) policies for our groups and our events. And, learn how to properly enforce these. This post is not meant to be all-inclusive, but rather, a start to the conversation. I hear from folks all the time that are overwhelmed at the prospect of adopting a safety policy.
TL;DR-- At the end, I'm going to post links to a few examples of safety/anti-harassment policies. I'm also going to dig around for some inclusivity policies. Sometimes those are separate, sometimes they are together. These are useful to pull from as a template so that you aren't starting with a blank page.
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