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During the first week of December, we celebrate Chalica, a Unitarian Universalist holiday honoring the Seven Principles. Each day, we encourage folks to light a chalice (a candle will do), contemplate one of the principles, and then do some action related to that principle. We’re also asking for folks to take time this week to gather donations of non-perishable food and household items for Harvesters, and warm winter gifts like hats, scarves, socks, and so on to be given to folks in need in our neighborhood. If you’re local to us, you can bring your donations to the service on Sunday, December 9, and we’ll get them out to people who can use them. For more about our Chalica celebrations and the principles in action, join the discussion at our Facebook group!

Friends, due to the weather, we are cancelling today’s forum on practicing gratitude. Please stay safe today and we’ll see you next week!

If you’d still like to talk about your practices of gratitude and appreciation (or anything else), pop on over to our Facebook group,

Want to hang out with Gaians and friends? We now have a hospitality hour each Sunday before ritual. This is a great time to meet people, ask questions, or just have some social time together. Warm beverages and snacks are available starting at 3pm every Sunday at Heart of the Dove.

This Sunday, September 9th, is Kansas City Pagan Pride Day!

We won’t be having our usual Sunday service at Gaia; please join us at Pagan Pride instead. We’ll be at Merriam Marketplace (5740 Merriam Drive, Merriam, KS 66203).

Pagan Pride is a full day of entertainers, presentations, pagan vendors, and kids’ activities to benefit local charitable organizations, raise awareness of Paganism in the community, and give us a chance to have some fun and learn some things. This year’s event will feature a charity auction to raise money for Spay and Neuter KC and a food drive to benefit Harvesters. The main ritual will be provided by Heimdall’s Hearth at 11:30, and our own Voices of Gaia will perform at 2:30. We look forward to seeing you there!

We are saddened to announce the passing of longtime member Jan Wilner. She passed into the world of the Ancestors on August 17, 2018. Jan was a beloved presence at Gaia, and served as a ritualist, board member, and community liaison. She loved music, and sang as part of Voices of Gaia. Her gentle energy and determined compassion will be much missed. Our thoughts are with Jan’s family at this time, especially her daughters Vanessa and Aeriel.

A celebration of her life will be held at the Heart of the Dove, on Saturday, October 20 at 6:30. Please check the event calendar for more details.

Gaia Community welcomes our Patroness for the 2018-2019 year: Freya, Lady of the Vanir! Over the next twelve months, we’ll honor the goddess of beauty and boundaries, fertility and magic. A series of rituals will be held in her honor (check the calendar), and her shrine will be present at each week’s ritual or other service. If you’d like to make an offering at her shrine, Erin tells us that Freya particularly enjoys amber, red jasper, cat representations, falcon representations, jewelry, poetry, magical items, flowers, bacon, chocolate, flowery wines, and rose water.

There’s a lot going on at Gaia!

1. The Beltane Edition of the Earth Healer newsletter is now available.
2. Our patron selection process for 2018-2019 moves forward with Freya, Freyr, and Prometheus entering the final round. We’ll see them at the God Auction on July 15! Our penny drive is now complete, and raised $532.27 for the community. Thanks to all who participated!
3. Thanks also to all who participated in the Project Drawdown EcoChallenge. Our team learned about residential solar power options, planet-friendly agricultural techniques, preventing food waste, and more. We reduced our junk mail, ate more sustainable meals, and sought out alternatives to plastics for products we buy and use. We were a small but mighty presence, and we have the opportunity to bring what we learned to the larger community.
4. Our annual pledge/membership drive continues. We’ll present a draft budget at the May Ritual for Business on 5/19.
5. This month, we’ve got some excellent Sunday events planned: we’re talking about spirits of nature, honoring Gaia, sharing our songs and stories, and building community ritual together. Check the events calendar for more details, and we’ll see you soon!

April 4-25, Gaians will participate in the Project Drawdown EcoChallenge, and we’d love to have your help! This game challenges us to learn about and take steps towards mitigating climate change. Participants will be challenged to make personal changes and to advocate for change in society in areas like food, transport, energy generation, support for women and girls, and others. To learn more, and to join our team, click here.

Each July, Gaia Community chooses a deity or other power to focus on during the coming year. We start by taking nominations from the community, until we have a field of 16 potential patrons. We then narrow the field down to three with a “Penny Auction” or penny drive – each power has a collection jar at our Sunday services, and folks support their favorites by donating change in the jar(s) of the power(s) they like. This part of the process starts at Spring Equinox and runs until Beltane. The top three contenders then advance to the next round. Nominations just wrapped up, and the Penny Auction begins today! Our contenders for 2018-2019 are:

• Artemis
• Athena
• Eris Kallisti Discordia
• Freya
• Freyr (Ing)
• Frigga
• Ganesha 
• Grendel
• Hecate 
• Neith 
• Odin 
• Prometheus 
• Rhiannon 
• Sif
• Taliesin
• Thor Odinson

Each week, we’ll count contributions for each of the powers, and post current standings. The top three will be announced during the potluck meal following our Beltane ritual on April 29th.

Each month, our building hosts a First Friday event, with artists, entertainment, and vendors. This month, Gaia Community will have a table selling baked goods, benefiting the renewal of our KidSpace program. Please join us and get some tasty goodies, and help us furnish and equip our new KidSpace room!
For more details, see Heart of the Dove’s event listing.