Gaia Community

Fittingly, in this year spent under the shadow of pestilence and war, we have turned our attention to the Ancestors, the Mighty Dead, to learn from those who have gone before, the secrets to surviving and thriving in, and even perhaps turning the direction of adversity.  This Sunday, we recognize that eventually, and ideally later rather than sooner, WE will be the ancestors to people who come after us.  Who will they be?  Who will we be for them?  What wisdom, what advice will we offer them?  What will be our legacy?  We will travel through time into the future and explore. You will need only a chalice, writing materials, and something that measures time: (a watch, calendar, clock, hourglass, sundial…) and perhaps something to drink and eat to ground yourself during the work.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86439985719?pwd=NjU1cDNKRmNFVGNpWnVVSTVoTmpsdz09

:Hail ye and welcome Gaians to the venerable, honorable, and execrable Rite of the Holy Day of Chaoflux, [Barbara to insert discordian date here] wherein we shall, or possibly shall not, worship the goddess Eris in a manner consistent with the Principia Discordia. [Devin, write some words here about it being an ADF ritual and they might want praise offerings] {Nah, it’s cool, I think they know-D.} To participate, we encourage you to have handy whatever you damn well please, except that you really should bring a beverage which you enjoy, which ideally shall be both pungent and sweet and if possible, orange. And a chalice, because we are not throwing out every single scrap of bureaucracy here.” General chat starts at 3, ritual starts around 4.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82058329646?pwd=ZTFLNGROL0g0TCs0c0oxWGFUclVHZz09

This Sunday we will be discussing not only the care and feeding of the compost pile for fun and soil, but also some reasons why we as individuals/households should compost, how we already compost and may not know it, and what groups in and around the Kansas City area compost on a large scale.  If you have specific questions about composting, please send them to dscrogum at gmail dot com and we will be sure to answer them in the class!

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81508718527?pwd=emJYa3RIaGFxQUMvaVExL3owRG5PUT09

We are halfway there…Imbolc is the milestone halfway through the darkest time of the year, from the longest night at Yule to the point of balance at Ostara.  Imbolc is traditionally a time to turn to Brigid and seek her support.  We will encourage participants to prepare a place to welcome Brigid’s presence, make offerings to her and seek her help and blessing to get through the rest of the hardest times.  For the fullest participation, we invite you to gather together: candles; a small amount of some type of oil (a fragrant oil, or neutral oil like olive or even vegetable oil is fine); herbs or spices from your kitchen (cinnamon, bay leaf, basil, lemon verbena, cayenne, ginger, rosemary); a cloth such as a scarf, bandanna, or handkerchief; some small strips of cloth (ribbon will work).  We will encourage you to enjoy some food and beverage, and prepare to offer a portion of these to Brigid as well.  Milk, or something made from milk, is traditional at this time.  And since this time is particularly auspicious for divination, your favorite divination tool.

Our virtual space opens at 3pm for chat, and the ritual will begin at 4.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88333466608?pwd=QkxMR3JsUGJkQ3BxU1pXamY2aXV2QT09

There are so many questions to ask and so many Tarot spreads to answer them!  What makes a good question to ask?  What makes a good spread to answer it?  Do you have a favorite Tarot spread you use for answering questions related to career, health, relationships, a period of time ahead, or anything else?  This will be a participatory class/forum.  If you have a Tarot spread you’d like to talk about during the class, I’d love to have a picture of the layout I can show while you’re talking about it.  Please email your spread to songbird at skunkmountain dot com to have it included. We should also have time to each pick a spread to try and then share our thoughts about how it worked or what you might change.

We open our virtual space at 3 pm for general chat, and the class will start at 4pm at the link below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85189228920?pwd=dDBYZmVKd3pYV3hPUlNxR1dHR0huZz09

Earlier this year, we surveyed our members and friends to find out what they thought about when it might be safe to return to in-person services, and what those services ought to look like. Many things have changed since then, so we wanted to take another read on how people were feeling about in-person services, how we can continue to serve people online even when we do return to in-person services, and some related topics.

If you are interested in Gaia Community’s services, either online or in-person, you’re invited to take the new survey: https://forms.gle/RmrPAnuLRaTf2suX6

We will collect responses until 12/5/2021.

Gaia Community UU Congregation is not holding in-person meetings or events right now in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. When we start to meet in-person again, we will require each person who attends to be vaccinated if they are eligible. By doing this, we intend to protect our community, especially people with chronic illnesses and disabilities, in support of our UU principles. We urge our members and friends to get vaccinated, and we cannot in good conscience provide any statement of religious exemption for the vaccine.

What awaits us after death? Join us on a journey to one possibility: a vast, timeless city, where we’ll meet with the Mighty Dead, our patron for the year. Please have the following on hand: an offering (general or specific) to the Mighty Dead, journaling supplies, a bit of dirt or salt, a chalice to light, a drink, and a snack. In choosing your offering, you may want to honor a specific person or any of the Mighty Dead. A more general offering might be one associated with a tradition you are called to.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83440547194?pwd=RXdFUFFncjhqWVkzTGZSaXFQdndaQT09

Do you remember learning about the exploration of the New World in your American history classes?  Bold explorers sailing into the unknown, planting the flag and claiming the newly discovered lands for their home country.  Brave settlers crossing the ocean and making a home for themselves in the new land.  Pioneers crossing the prairie in covered wagons to settle newly opened lands in the west.

But, something is missing from this picture.  This continent was not empty.  The history of this continent is very different when told by the indigenous peoples who already lived here.  It’s time to upend some of our long held perceptions and look at how it came to pass that taking over an inhabited continent and enslaving and removing its peoples was perceived by the majority culture as acceptable.  Join us.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81562330631?pwd=OWJ6QXB1NlU3ZFBRTWpDQXVkVWR4UT09

This week, we continue our work with the Mighty Dead by considering the realms of the dead. The question of what happens after we die is a source of endless speculation, fascination, and/or anxiety throughout history and around the world. In this class, we dig into the stories of underworlds, otherworlds, and afterlives described by our ancient and modern Pagan forbearers.

We open our room for general chat at 3 pm, and the class will begin at 4.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87643718631?pwd=WE14Qkt1MGVhbUFETUg1ek5jZVpadz09