Gaia Community

Thanks to everyone who voted in the first ever patron selection primary election! Our top three candidates, who will go on to the next round of the process in July, are:

• Horus, the falcon-headed Egyptian god of the sky and defender of ma’at;
• Kuan Yin, the Bodhisattva of compassion who hears the cries of the world; and
• Scáthach, the Irish warrior goddess and mentor to heroes.

The three contenders were chosen from a field of ten by Gaia members and friends using ranked choice voting, a simple way to choose one or more winners from a large pool of candidates. In ranked choice voting, rather than selecting a single favorite candidate, voters rank as many candidates as they like in the order of their preference. Our election worked like this:

Continue reading “Patron Primary Results: It’s Horus, Kuan Yin, and Scáthach!”

This year, we have ten contenders for Gaia Community’s Patron of the Year title. They are, in alphabetical order:

• Athena
• Caffeina
• Columbia
• Ganesha
• The Green Man
• Horus
• Kwan Yin
• Ostara
• Scathách
• Venus

Now, we need to narrow the field to three contenders. We’ll do that by ranked-choice vote. All members of Gaia Community (whether currently active or not) can fill out an online ballot; members and visitors may fill out a paper ballot at any Sunday service. The election ends 4/28, following our Beltane ritual. All ballots must be turned in by that time. Only one ballot per person will count, so please vote in-person or online, but not both. Results will be tallied and announced on 4/28, so stay tuned!

Each year, Gaia Community selects a new patron power to study, honor, and work with for 12 months. We start by taking nominations for potential patrons. You can nominate a power that you think would be good for the community with our handy form, here. Nominations must be received by March 17 to be considered. Final selection of the patron will be in July — stay tuned for more information about the process.

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!