<\/p>\n
The Saturday <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our third Despite our diversity, our group was top-heavy with NeoPagans, I think because other The first part Next a Our final We then entered The final By the time all After lunch we The connections Alejandrino’s I think this is Their While religious After questions \n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Saturday before Thanksgiving the United Religions Initiative’s People of the Earth gathering took place in San Francisco’s Presidio. This was the third in a series of meetings seeking to build mutual awareness and respect among the practitioners of many earth oriented religions, from the most traditional indigenous peoples to the most technologically savvy NeoPagans.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,106,105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interfaith","category-pagan-culture","category-pagan-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nbefore Thanksgiving the United Religions Initiative’s People of the Earth<\/a> <\/span>gathering took place in San
\nFrancisco’s Presidio. <\/span>This was the
\nthird in a series of meetings seeking to build mutual awareness and respect
\namong the practitioners of many earth oriented religions, from the most traditional
\nindigenous peoples to the most technologically savvy NeoPagans. I would have
\nwritten about it earlier, but Thanksgiving travels and a general disinclination
\nto blog after returning from Utah have gotten in my way. <\/span>But People of the Earth is an important
\nevent in the growth of a wider appreciation for Pagan spiritual traditions, and
\nI want to describe what happened there in hopes that other Pagan groups in
\nother parts of our country will attempt similar events.<\/p>\n
\nmeeting had representatives from a great many traditions. <\/span>Representatives of Romuva (a Baltic
\nPagan tradition), Hinduism, Umbanda, Daoism, Shinto, Animism, as well as
\nvarious NeoPagan and Western esoteric traditions all participated. <\/span>In addition, Alejandrino Quispe Mejia<\/a>, <\/span>a leader of traditional indigenous
\npeople in Peru, was the guest speaker, talking about indigenous traditions in
\nthe Andes.<\/p>\n
\ntraditions tend to be in either largely immigrant communities or among our own
\nindigenous populations, both of who are not strongly oriented towards
\noutreach. <\/span>The first is focused on
\nserving their own communities, the second on that and also wary of getting too
\ninvolved with a larger society that has treated them so abominably. <\/p>\n
\nof the meeting featured opening blessings in many of these traditions. <\/span>It began with a Romuva<\/a> ritual of
\npassing a sacred belt around a group to create sacred space. <\/span>The belt had been woven with sacred
\nsymbols, each added at an appropriate time throughout the year. <\/span>After the belt was passed around a
\ncircle the space was consecrated.<\/p>\n
\nrepresentative of the Sahajayana Siddha Hindu tradition made a “Kolam<\/a>” as an offering to the creatures of the earth. <\/span>In making a Kolam rice flour was sprinkled on the ground in
\nfront of the doorway. The flour formed symmetrical designs honoring harmony,
\nand afterwards people walked through them in entering and leaving. <\/span>The rice provided food for other
\ncreatures. While certain patterns were traditional in India, there was no hard
\nand fast rule, and others in our group made Kolams using symbolism from their
\nown traditions. <\/span><\/p>\n
\noutside blessing was from Brazil’s Umbanda<\/a> <\/span>tradition. <\/span>Exu, the guardian of doorways and
\nfacilitator of connecting with the Orixas (deities) was honored with song, rum,
\nand M&Ms. <\/span>I am fascinated with
\nhow often many spirits like alcohol and sweets and in different contexts have
\nhad contact with Exu myself.<\/p>\n
\nthe interfaith chapel and continued the blessing ceremonies. Several involved
\ndifferent NeoPagan traditions honoring the four elements and directions. <\/span>While details varied, they were all
\nquite similar to one another. <\/span>In
\naddition a Lesser Pentagram
\nBanishing ritual <\/a> was performed, rooted in Ceremonial Magic<\/a>. <\/span>Some other NeoPagans used chants,
\nincluding a Christian Witch chant.<\/p>\n
\nopening blessings were from some of Asia’s earth based traditions. <\/span>A Daoist<\/a> showed us all how to do QiQong <\/a>movements which were focused on the body’s integration with the world. <\/span>Finally a Shinto<\/a> blessing honored the four directions plus a number of others. <\/span>Both of these are difficult to
\nimpossible for me to describe, but were wonderful. QiQong is powerful stuff, it was instrumental in my rapid recovery from a stroke<\/a> in 2008.<\/p>\n
\nthe opening blessings were concluded it was lunch time, and we gathered at
\ntables having been asked to eat with people and traditions we knew little
\nabout. <\/span>I ate with Prudence Priest,
\nthe representative from Romuva. Our conversation went from how it survived both
\nChristian and Communist persecution (Lithuania remained Pagan until the 14th<\/sup>
\ncentury, so less was lost, and the Communists suppressed the Christians, which
\nmeant that they were less able to eliminate what remained after the fall of
\nCommunist power.) <\/span>They have their
\nown equivalent to our Samhain, Velines<\/a>, <\/span>which has been as long as two weeks,
\nand now focuses on Nov. 2. <\/span>The
\ndead are invited to eat, and when they are the table cloth is turned upside
\ndown before the settings are made. Today many who practice largely do so for
\ncultural reasons, but for some it remains a strong Pagan tradition. Wild Hunt
\nhas some good articles <\/a>on Romuva. The Gods willing I will eventually make it to Lithuania myself for I have a very soft spot for the Lithuanians I know, and I like what I’ve learned about Romuva.<\/p>\n
\ngathered to hear Aejandrino’s talk, preceeded by Don Frew’s account of how
\nPeople of the Earth originated. <\/span>He
\nand other NeoPagans had encountered Alejandrino and other indigenous South
\nAmerican Pagans while attending the Parliament of World Religions held in Rio
\nde Janeiro, Brazil, in 2002. <\/span>They
\nhad gotten along well, and when he left, Alejandrino had told Frew “I will go
\nhome and tell my children that the Wicca are people just like us.” <\/span><\/p>\n
\nAmerican NeoPagans made at that Parliament and subsequent ones led to forming
\nPeople of the Earth for as we met one another we discovered that while our
\ntraditions were different in many respects, at the most crucial we all felt at
\nhome in one another’s ceremonies. <\/span><\/p>\n
\ntalk was fascinating to me primarily because he made it clear that the Andean
\nQuecha speaking community did not distinguish between spirits and physical
\nnature. <\/span>The earth is a living
\nbeing, and as such, so are mountains, rivers, and the rest of the world. <\/span>They are presences in themselves, not
\nsymbols for disembodied entities. <\/span><\/p>\n
\na reference to the Presence some of us feel when in particularly powerful parts
\nof the natural world, and for the Quecha this presence seems more subtly
\nexperienced and interacted with. <\/span><\/p>\n
\ntraditional ideal is to live in harmony with all this life, and to give back in
\nofferings, particularly in August, when “Nature is hungry and opens its gates
\nin sacred places.” <\/span>Giving offerings
\nenables life to continue, with good ultimately over coming evil. <\/span>As he spoke it was obvious that many
\nNeoPagans, including this one, would feel quite at home in their cosmology.<\/p>\n
\nfreedom now theoretically exists in Peru but the schools teach only
\nCatholicism. <\/span>They often have to do
\ntheir rituals at night in order to avoid being invaded by Christians,
\napparently especially evangelicals.
\n<\/span>(It seems some things never change.) <\/span><\/p>\n
\nand answers, we had a final session where Don brought up the future of People
\nof the Earth. <\/span>All present wanted
\nto meet more than annually, but for this to happen more Pagans would need to
\nget involved in the planning of these sessions. <\/span>It seemed as if there was interest enough that this would
\nhappen. <\/span>Finally we discussed how
\nto encourage Pagans in other parts of the country to create similar gatherings,
\nand it is to this end that I hope some reading of our sessions will be inspired
\nto organize one of their own. <\/span><\/p>\n