I've really been trying to get active in my local pagan community lately, however it seems very...inactive and troubled. The local unity council just stopped hosting the monthly open circle in favor of "fun things" like Ren faire trips! (Possibly some drama and burnout?) We had one group study that just disbanded and another failed to really get a start.
I heard mention of one forming coven hosted by a college student without Priestess standing and no certain tradition to follow (I'm not really that elitist, but seems sort of like, "here, let's try this now!") I've been able to find no information on any active, established covens in the area. The last I heard was of one that disbanded around 2004, if memory serves. They used to be the PR agents for the local pagan community- in the news and everything. Now, poof, gone. No trace of very active groups for rituals on Yahoo, Witchvox or Meetup.com.
I went to the local Pub Moot last month to hear about a revolving door of organizers for the event, meet mostly a hodgepodge of older folks I have little in common with, and participate in a loose ritual that felt rushed. I was given a phone number for a study group that was no web presence and meets at someone's house (I'm very paranoid in this day and age). There are several very active groups in the area sort of... one to two hours away.
I do come here for a reason other than to vent, however. My question is if this is a more widespread issue among pagans everywhere, or if it sounds like we just had some bad seeds burn everyone out. Are people just busy? Maybe I'm being too judgmental and harsh? Not looking in the right places? I do live in a smaller metropolis in the Midwest, flanked by two hotbeds of liberalism two hours away. Maybe it's just a bad area for this sort of thing?
If anyone else has noticed this in your area, what do you think causes it? Are we just hard to lead by our very "walk to a different beat" nature? Are our lives too hectic now? Can people get online what they once had to meet for?
It's a large, resounding issue for modern paganism and I'm interest to hear some views.
I heard mention of one forming coven hosted by a college student without Priestess standing and no certain tradition to follow (I'm not really that elitist, but seems sort of like, "here, let's try this now!") I've been able to find no information on any active, established covens in the area. The last I heard was of one that disbanded around 2004, if memory serves. They used to be the PR agents for the local pagan community- in the news and everything. Now, poof, gone. No trace of very active groups for rituals on Yahoo, Witchvox or Meetup.com.
I went to the local Pub Moot last month to hear about a revolving door of organizers for the event, meet mostly a hodgepodge of older folks I have little in common with, and participate in a loose ritual that felt rushed. I was given a phone number for a study group that was no web presence and meets at someone's house (I'm very paranoid in this day and age). There are several very active groups in the area sort of... one to two hours away.
I do come here for a reason other than to vent, however. My question is if this is a more widespread issue among pagans everywhere, or if it sounds like we just had some bad seeds burn everyone out. Are people just busy? Maybe I'm being too judgmental and harsh? Not looking in the right places? I do live in a smaller metropolis in the Midwest, flanked by two hotbeds of liberalism two hours away. Maybe it's just a bad area for this sort of thing?
If anyone else has noticed this in your area, what do you think causes it? Are we just hard to lead by our very "walk to a different beat" nature? Are our lives too hectic now? Can people get online what they once had to meet for?
It's a large, resounding issue for modern paganism and I'm interest to hear some views.
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