Cauldronville

[treekisser]

but now that I have a partner and the possibility of children in about 3 and a half years

The first thing that sprung to mind was ALIEN PREGNANCY! *facepalm*

[Morag]

The first thing that sprung to mind was ALIEN PREGNANCY! *facepalm*

Dude, if my kids have white hair and freaky psychic powers I will be all kinds of proud.

[EJay]

Something you should be aware of - we have this particular discussion, or permutations of it, every two or so months. Someone has an idea involving a pagan commune of some sort, or pagan school, or something else that *isolates*. And most of us here look at that and go "ugh". So .. if it looks like we're flippant, it's because we've been there, done that, refused to buy the shirt.

I understand this an established board and there's probably very few topics that seasoned members haven't seen twelve-billion times.

I have questions I'm trying to work through. I also sometimes take on issues that are volatile because I'll find I'm unsure of where I stand in my own beliefs. By bouncing them off others, finding out viewpoints that I hadn't thought of, helps clarify my own thoughts. I have no problems when people disagree with me--I enjoy it, in fact--if it doesn't get personal because I really do like trying to see things from a whole different vantage point.

I will take this as a lesson, I suppose. If the post goes flippant, it's best to just open the archives.

Best~
EJay

[sugarmagnolia]

Okay. I've just bought 1500 acres in Texas (theoretically) with the idea of creating a real life township of like-minded pagan individuals/families living together in a self-sustaining, real-world environment.

How should we set it up?

First, I think we should have a community lawnmower. Why the heck does everyone need a lawnmower?!!

Second, I really don't think we need a lawnmower as I'd like to see more xeriscaping, anyhow.

Third.... just wondering if you'd even want to live in a township of like-minded pagan individuals/families? Is it possible in real life? What would it take? What type of government (or lack thereof), resources, jobs, transportation, education........

I've got my own ideas which I'll sprinkle in later, but was curious first if folks here would want to take this type of community into real life.

Best~
EJay

Does it have truck parking? Better yet, is there a place to drop a trailer or 2 and bobtail home? Will my man or my friends get towed for parking their trucks in my driveway? Personally, I'd love to have another Pagan or 6 living less than 1 1/2 hours away.

Oh, I want a senior daycare center there too. And a HUGE library where the librarians don't look at you funny when you ask where the science fiction and fantasy is shelved. And a store that sells fabric that's not walmart.

[EJay]

Does it have truck parking? Better yet, is there a place to drop a trailer or 2 and bobtail home? Will my man or my friends get towed for parking their trucks in my driveway? Personally, I'd love to have another Pagan or 6 living less than 1 1/2 hours away.

Oh, I want a senior daycare center there too. And a HUGE library where the librarians don't look at you funny when you ask where the science fiction and fantasy is shelved. And a store that sells fabric that's not walmart.

***shaking head, but holding a very slight grin***

Alright. I'm going to change the title of this thread to "Put In Your Quarter and Let the Genie Grant Your Every Wish."

So far, I've got truck parking and lots of yarn, some red hats, and preferably no pagans within a hundred-mile radius.

Honestly, these weren't the things I thought would be in the newly established covenants of Cauldronville, but the masses have spoken!

So let it be written, so let it be done!!

Best~
EJay

[Wood Rose]

***shaking head, but holding a very slight grin***

Alright. I'm going to change the title of this thread to "Put In Your Quarter and Let the Genie Grant Your Every Wish."

So far, I've got truck parking and lots of yarn, some red hats, and preferably no pagans within a hundred-mile radius.

Honestly, these weren't the things I thought would be in the newly established covenants of Cauldronville, but the masses have spoken!

So let it be written, so let it be done!!

Best~
EJay

LIBRARY!!!!!

Oh and a store just of counted cross stitch stuff, and puppies lots of puppies and kitties and rain it must rain.

I need a house like a cave, all dark inside with lots of shade on the outside.

I want to see the funny red hat on Mel, and the others. Oh and we need toothpaste and deoderant that is a must, but no fufu smelly stuff. I can't breath when there is a lot of perfume and aftershave. Batdorf and Bronsin coffee shipped in daily. MMMMMMMMMM coffeeee

[HeartShadow]

I understand this an established board and there's probably very few topics that seasoned members haven't seen twelve-billion times.

I have questions I'm trying to work through. I also sometimes take on issues that are volatile because I'll find I'm unsure of where I stand in my own beliefs. By bouncing them off others, finding out viewpoints that I hadn't thought of, helps clarify my own thoughts. I have no problems when people disagree with me--I enjoy it, in fact--if it doesn't get personal because I really do like trying to see things from a whole different vantage point.

I will take this as a lesson, I suppose. If the post goes flippant, it's best to just open the archives.

Best~
EJay

It's not that there aren't interesting questions out there, too - the biggest problem with this is that it's so broad as to *what* and at the same time too darn specific *where*.

If a bunch of my buddies all moved to this general area? Cool! But most of us are anti-isolationism - so while I'd love to have my friends move in nearby, I wouldn't want to kick out all the non-pagans that already live here! (there are some families I want gone, but let's face it - that's true wherever you live! There's always SOMEONE that just sucks).

For that matter, if it's an *intentional pagan community* what do you DO about the people that just suck? The weekend "tourists" that show up because "everyone knows pagan girls are easy"? The guy offering "spiritual cleansing" in his basement but won't tell you about it ahead of time?

pagan doesn't equal good. There are some I'd love to live nearby. There are others I'd really rather fell in an ocean somewhere.

[Star]

It's not that there aren't interesting questions out there, too - the biggest problem with this is that it's so broad as to *what* and at the same time too darn specific *where*.

I think also, though, that some of the issues we tend to have with this sort of discussion are a facet of this particular message board's culture. This is a place where we have a bunch of pagans all chatting with each other and being friendly and all that, so it might at first appear as though we'd be open to the idea of taking that principle, of pagans coming together and focusing broadly on a religious community, into the offline world as well. The problem is, though, that the regulars here are (not uniformly, but by and large) not entirely convinced that there is such a thing as cohesive "pagan community". We are *so* varied that we are all too aware of the difficulties of forming a community based on the word "pagan". To the point that I suspect many of us would find it impossible.

Because the thing is: This is pagan-friendly space where we can discuss pagan sorts of topics, but paganism isn't what makes TC a community. It's the people, the individual people, and the discussion style and the attitudes. Paganism is the subject matter, but that isn't the same as a uniting factor.

Ask about specific pagan religions--a Flamekeeping community, a Hellenic polytheist community, a Wiccan community--and you're more likely to get an answer that looks beyond "nope, not happening". Probably there will still be a lot of difficulties (geography and what to do with mixed-religion families come immediately to my mind), but at least you've got some common ground to start from and may be able to start up some good "theoretically, if there were enough people in your area" discussions. Just generic broad "paganism", though? That suggestion will get auto-filed under "not something I care about basing a community on".

[sailor]

(snip) The problem is, though, that the regulars here are (not uniformly, but by and large) not entirely convinced that there is such a thing as cohesive "pagan community". We are *so* varied that we are all too aware of the difficulties of forming a community based on the word "pagan". To the point that I suspect many of us would find it impossible.

Because the thing is: This is pagan-friendly space where we can discuss pagan sorts of topics, but paganism isn't what makes TC a community. It's the people, the individual people, and the discussion style and the attitudes. Paganism is the subject matter, but that isn't the same as a uniting factor.

Ask about specific pagan religions--a Flamekeeping community, a Hellenic polytheist community, a Wiccan community--and you're more likely to get an answer that looks beyond "nope, not happening". Probably there will still be a lot of difficulties (geography and what to do with mixed-religion families come immediately to my mind), but at least you've got some common ground to start from and may be able to start up some good "theoretically, if there were enough people in your area" discussions. Just generic broad "paganism", though? That suggestion will get auto-filed under "not something I care about basing a community on".

Here is another question for EJay.

Why do you want a pagan (of some sort) physical community that is all in one spot? What do you get out of it?

A Jewish community provides the ability to walk to shul on the Sabbath since you are not supposed to drive a car. Yeah, only Orthodox really do that, but that's the concept.

A Jewish community, even if spread out over a town, makes it more likely that you can buy kosher foods. I'm in southern Virginia and food for Pesach is expensive compared to NYC. For Muslims, it's probably similar with them being able to buy halal foods.

A Jewish community of any size makes it likely there will be a shul to attend with enough kids to have an eduction program.

With a very large concentration of Jews, the kids don't miss public school for holidays.

Try answering some of those questions, or types of questions for a specific pagan religion. The recon ones seem to make more sense since they are more likely to have open to join groups, especially ones that have dozens or hundreds of families in the group. A more stereotypical Wiccan coven doesn't have enough need or desire for large groups of pagans to worship with.

[Vermillion]

It's 105 (in Waco) as I type this.

'



104 here in Graham. Shoot me now. I'm ready for some snow. And, I hate snow.