July 14th - (9am-4pm) Lunch Provided
at
Izaak Walton Clubhouse - 18 Sunset St., Longmont CO 80501
Please join Mountain Ancestors Grove, ADF at this year's Summer Symposium!
For this year's fundraiser & lecture series, we will be gathering together the best in our community, from myriad traditions, to share the wisdom of their paths and perspective. This year we'll be focusing on the challenging topics surrounding Incorporating Paganism into Modern Life.
There's a distinction between espoused religion, which can be problematic when brought beyond the bounds of one's church, grove, or circle, and catalytic and foundational religion. Catalytic religious expression is personal and includes practices like meditation and prayer, while the foundational emphasizes generalized statements of religious wisdom that cross boundaries and traditions, like the Golden Rule, tales from our histories and lore, as well as stories of love and sacrifice like that of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It can be very important and helpful to bring catalytic and foundational religion to public life, from the leadership level on down, while espoused religion should be left at the door.
Our presenters will explore these topics from a religious/pagan/human rights viewpoint, as well as a secular/quotidian one. Mountain Ancestors Grove's THIRD Symposium promises to inform and challenge,
We Hope you All Join us!!
For this year's fundraiser & lecture series, we will be gathering together the best in our community, from myriad traditions, to share the wisdom of their paths and perspective. This year we'll be focusing on the challenging topics surrounding Incorporating Paganism into Modern Life.
There's a distinction between espoused religion, which can be problematic when brought beyond the bounds of one's church, grove, or circle, and catalytic and foundational religion. Catalytic religious expression is personal and includes practices like meditation and prayer, while the foundational emphasizes generalized statements of religious wisdom that cross boundaries and traditions, like the Golden Rule, tales from our histories and lore, as well as stories of love and sacrifice like that of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It can be very important and helpful to bring catalytic and foundational religion to public life, from the leadership level on down, while espoused religion should be left at the door.
Our presenters will explore these topics from a religious/pagan/human rights viewpoint, as well as a secular/quotidian one. Mountain Ancestors Grove's THIRD Symposium promises to inform and challenge,
We Hope you All Join us!!
Presenters & Speakers
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KEYNOTE - Melitta T. Stafford (she/her/hers) - The Intersectionality of Transgender Identities & Contemporary Pagan Cultures
What does it means to be Transgender and why is a spiritual support system imperative to the transition process for those who also identify as Pagan/ Polytheist? This brief survey of the observable growth and awareness of gender identities and their inclusion into sacred space, polytheist theology, and cosmology. The research for this presentation spans six countries, and relies on an array of gender perspectives to piece together the "T" on what it means to be a Transgender Pagan in 2018. Included is a call to action, what can you do as as a ally and pagan (leader or otherwise) to raise awareness and promote visibility for transgender individuals, and through that work, also dismantle the rigid gender stereotypes perpetuating toxic gender roles. For transgender individuals specifically: What is it that we can do to educate and secure our inclusion into our spiritual traditions? What are the signs and symptoms that a religious organization may be transphobic and toxic; what are the first signs to look for? Transgender activist, Devotional Hellenic Polytheist, Transwoman, and Friend. Vegan and long time ally of all life, Melitta identifies as an earthling and a eco-spiritualist. In the past, she has partnered with the Cumberland Gender Advocacy in Putnam County, Tennessee, The Human Rights Campaign, and The Tennessee Equality Project; as a presenter/ lecturer. She has also presented at Unitarian Universalist congregations on Contemporary Pagan practice and Transgender Spirituality, and has helped implement the gender inclusive practices of gender neutral language in religious settings and the normalization of pronoun usage and gender inclusive language into local church organizations in the Chattanooga area. Melitta has been also been active with Mercy Junction helping to serve Transgender youth in the Chattanooga area. |
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Jean Loomis & Jordan Beard, NCCR -Building Bridges Across Religious Boundaries: Interfaith Relationships Within the Pagan Community
Religion is an aspect of our need for societal structure and companionship within a faith based context. There is such great potential for faith to lead us further, to be better, to create peace and unity. Yet all too often religion is used to divide rather than to unify. To separate the Us from the Them. How can we flip that script and start to see our faith as a unifying force, and build bridges between diverse communities? Building these relationships makes it possible for groups of differing faiths to serve a common good and elevates the personal growth of everyone involved. The larger Pagan community of Colorado has a great opportunity, with such a variety of circles and groves and kindreds, to foster dialogue, education, and humanitarian work. How can we manifest these dialogues and better work together towards common goals and a brighter future? |
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Rev. William E. Ashton, ADF - Relationships Beyond the Community: Interfacing with Non-pagan Family & Friends
Paganism and polytheism offer people a more inclusive way of looking at divinity, Cosmology, and relationships, not to mention as a whole, pagans and polytheists talk about religious topics as much as, if not more, than devout adherents of other religions. What happens when the excitement and zeal of the convert (statistically, most pagans/polytheists are still converts) crashes against the non-zealous... specifically one's non-pagan family and friends? Why does it matter? Relationships, and how we foster them, are the whole of our practice. This course will reframe "relationships" in more inclusive ways, and with luck, allow space for connections to happen between two very different theological groups. |
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Rev. Sara K. Blackwelder, ADF - Fostering your own Home-Hearth
Keeping the Sacred Flame of the Hearth has been a practice Rev. Sara has embraced for many years. In small ways, this Sacred Fire would manifest in her life as she became the "Fire" that would warm others and offer them comfort. This class will cover setting up your own personal, hearth-centric, practice as taught through the model of devotional polytheism. Exploring common practices of hearth and home, reviewing practices we already have that speak to the hearth-model, and building ongoing, sacred, home-rites that honor the inherent sovereignty Hearthkeeping offers will all be explored in this work. |
Lunch has been graciously provided by:
