September 11, 2022 From 12:30 to 1:30 ish. Meet at Culver’s at 236 N. Phelps, Rockford, IL (near St Anthony’s Hospital)
A no stress, no reservations, social event. Come and have a burger and some cheese curds! (Everybody pays for their own.)
SUNDAY, JULY 3, 2022 FROM NOON to 2:15 at UU Rockford, 4848 Turner Street.
Due to health issues, we are forced to cancel the picnic. Everyone stay home, enjoy your weekend – and don’t shoot off fireworks in your living room please.
May 1st, 2022 at 12:30pm at UURockford, 4848 Turner Street, Rockford.
Please join us for a fun family friendly Beltane event. We will have a brief ritual that will honor the season and the fae around us. We ask that you bring something to offer the fae that is biodegradable, such as flowers, leaves, or seeds. We will then have a wish making activity for the coming Spring and Summer months. Hope to see you here! More info at https://fb.me/e/3aGgg5paa
Please join White Oak Grove CUUPs as we go back to the beginning and discuss the Wheel of the Year on April 3 at 12:30 in Deale Hall. We’ll talk about Pagan Seasons and Sabbats. Why do we celebrate what we celebrate? And why do we do it on those dates? RSVP on the Facebook event page at https://fb.me/e/2x26kdgPb
Dress is Casual – masks are optional. (We do require that you wear shoes and other clothing, though.) We’ll make coffee if people want it. You might want to bring a notepad if you feel the need to take notes.
Next Monday (January 17th) we enter the full moon cycle for the “Wolf Moon”.
Why Is It Called the Wolf Moon? According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the wolf moon is named as such because of legends from long ago. “It’s thought that January’s full Moon came to be known as the Wolf Moon because wolves were more likely to be heard howling at this time,” it says. This Wolf Moon is all about protection, security, and empowerment. Concentrate on self-care. It’s a good time to identify the the previously-unseen roadblocks that stand between you and your 2022 goals, and start letting go of the 2021 baggage you may not have even realized you were holding onto until now.
This Saturday is New Year’s Day. Here are some traditions to think about –
Be Choosy About Your First Guest – The first person you allow through your doors in the New Year may set the tone. In Scotland, the Isle of Man and some other parts of Northern England, the “first footer,” as it was called, was extremely important. Tradition in those parts of the world states to select a man who is tall and dark (as a protection against Vikings), who would come with simple gifts of coal, salt, shortbread and whisky, representing the basic needs of heat, food and drink. Choosing wisely meant good luck for the upcoming year. Make sure the “first footer” has coins in their pocket to ensure prosperity next year.
Make a wish jar – Write your wishes for next year and store them in a jar. Read them next New Year’s Eve. (Some traditions suggest you burn them in your New Year’s bonfire – I think it will be waaaaay too cold for that this year!)Ring bells and make noise at midnight to chase away the bad spirits. Open a window or door to invite in the good spirits.
Eat a pomegranate. Count the seeds – that’s how much good luck you’ll have. Sprinkling salt in front of your door will bring peace. Sprinkling sugar will bring goodness.
Eat 12 Grapes – Yes, exactly 12, one at each stroke of midnight. That’s what they do in Spain — pop one grape for every month of the New Year. According to Atlas Obscura: “Eating one grape at each of midnight’s 12 clock chimes guarantees you a lucky year — if and only if you simultaneously ruminate on their significance.
Eat Noodles for a long life. Eat pork and peas and greens for prosperity. Eat fish for Abundance.
And have a great New Year!
Winter Solstice is Tuesday December 21st. Here’s a few books about the Solstice. (What are your favorites?)
The Winter Solstice by Ellen Jackson (Author), Jan Davey Ellis (Illustrator)
The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer (Author), Jesse Reisch (Illustrator)
The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper (Author), Carson Ellis (Illustrator)
The Solstice Badger by Robin McFadden
On the Shortest Day by J C Artemisia (Author), Sarah A Chase (Illustrator)
Grandmother Winter by Phyllis Root and Beth Krommes
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2021 AT 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM
The Unitarian Universalist Church, Rockford, IL
4848 Turner Street
Bring your own feast gear (we hate doing dishes at church) and a dish to pass (with a serving spoon, if needed). (Label your ingredients, please.) Gift exchange! (Bring a wrapped Pagan-ish gift to trade. One for each person over the age of 13. $10 maximum, please. Let us know if you are bringing children and how many – we’ll provide a gift for each of them!) We will meet in Deale Hall. Masks are still required.
(If you are bringing kids, email the hosts at whiteoakgrovecuups@gmail.com so we make sure we have a gift for them.)
Check out up to date details and RSVP at whiteoakgrovecuups.com or on our Facebook event page at https://fb.me/e/dz7AU1Av1
Check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/whiteoakgrovecuups/
Thanksgiving is next week – and it’s one of my favorite holidays! Food, fellowship, and PIE – what could be wrong with that? Like many of us, I grew up in a non-pagan household – but my mother certainly had pagan leanings! We donated food to those who were less fortunate. Once or twice we worked at the local shelter on Thanksgiving instead of eating our own feast. We welcomed people to our table who were without family of their own with whom to celebrate. We ate (along with the traditional foods) the three sisters – corn, beans, and squash. And, perhaps most important of all, we gave thanks for what we had. Each year’s meal started off with a discussion of what each of us was most thankful for. (And no cheating and saying that you were thankful for pie!)How do you celebrate? Are there any rituals you follow on this holiday? And what are you thankful for this year?
To distract wandering spirits from settling into their homes and farms, Celts once carved faces into turnips and set candles inside; this was a rudimentary form of today’s pumpkin carvings. Turnip lanterns lined roadways to light the way and also caution passing spirits.
Celts believed placing lit turnips outside would guide family spirits home; simultaneously, scary carvings repelled evil spirits.
There is also evidence that turnips were used to carve what was called a “Hoberdy’s Lantern” in Worcestershire, England, at the end of the 18th century. The folklorist Jabez Allies outlines other derivations of the name, “Hobany’s”, which is most likely derived from “Hob and his”, with other variations including “Hob-o’-Lantern”, “Hobbedy’s Lantern” and “Hobbady-lantern”.
A jack-o’-lantern (or jack o’lantern) is a carved pumpkin, turnip, or other root vegetable lantern, commonly associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the reported phenomenon of strange lights flickering over peat bogs, called will-o’-the-wisps or jack-o’-lanterns. The name is also tied to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a drunkard who bargains with Satan and is doomed to roam the Earth with only a hollowed turnip to light his way.
Jack-o’-lanterns carved from pumpkins are a yearly Halloween tradition that came to the United States with Irish immigrants.
In a jack-o’-lantern, the top of the pumpkin or turnip is cut off to form a lid, the inside flesh is scooped out, and an image—usually a scary or funny face—is carved out of the rind to expose the hollow interior. To create the lantern effect, a light source, traditionally a flame such as a candle or tealight, is placed within before the lid is closed. However, artificial jack-o’-lanterns with electric lights are also marketed. It is common to see jack-o’-lanterns used as external and internal decorations prior to and on Halloween.
https://www.rareirishstuff.com/blog/an-original-jack-olantern-c1850.6078.html
Are you interested in helping to shape the policies and events of White Oak Grove CUUPs? The best way to do this is to become a voting member! And we have a special deal for you – no dues through Samhain 2022! Becoming a voting member is easy – just fill out the form and either mail it to the Church address on the form or scan it in and email it to whiteoakgrovecuups at gmail.com.
White Oak Grove CUUPS Membership Application
I would like to become/remain an active member of White Oak Grove CUUPS, Inc. I understand that as an active member of CUUPS, Inc., I will be able to vote on matters of policy in our group and run for Board positions. Through October 31, 2022, all local chapter dues are waived.
This is:
- A New Membership
- A Membership Renewal
Membership Type
Please select one:
GENERAL MEMBER / Youth Under Age 16 – anyone who expresses an interest in gathering with and or communicating with the members of the White Oak Grove CUUPS chapter.
VOTING MEMBER – for White Oak Grove CUUPS and are members of CUUPS National and/or a member of a UU congregation.
VOTING YOUTH MEMBER – Youth ages of 16-18, If they should wish to have to have a vote, must maintain membership in White Oak Grove and have a parent/ guardian who is also a voting member.
In place of dues for 2021/2022, donations will be happily accepted.
Total: $ ___________________
Confidentiality Information: At no time does CUUPS, Inc. sell or promote the use of the Members List for commercial purposes. This list is used for membership purposes only and CUUPS, Inc. business only. To ensure this, we are offering three levels of confidentiality.
Please select one:
- Level 1
Your name, address, e-mail address and telephone will only be available to the current voting members of the White Oak Grove CUUPs, UU Rockford Board of Trustees and their Agents.
- Level 2
Your name, address, e-mail address and telephone will be available on request to other CUUPS members for networking and other CUUPS related business.
- Level 3
Your name, address, email address and telephone are available to anyone inquiring about UU Paganism and local contacts.
Contact Information:
Name:
______________________________________________________________________
Address
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City ________________________ State/ Province _______________
ZIP Code ______________
Email Address __________________________________________
Telephone ( _________ ) ________________________
UU Congregation you attend: __________________________________________
as _______Member _______Friend
CUUPS National Membership Number ___________________________
Donation/ Payment Options (U.S. funds only, please.) (You may email inquiries about this form to whiteoakgrovecuups@gmail.com) Make your check out to The Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockford, and reference White Oak Grove CUUPs in the memo line. PayPal options are also available through the UU Rockford website.
Complete and print this form and mail to:
White Oak Grove CUUPs, c/o Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockford,
4848 Turner Street Rockford, IL 61107
whiteoakgrovecuups@gmail.com
https://whiteoakgrovecuups.com/
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For White Oak Grove CUUPs use only –
Application received _________________________
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Revised September 2021
Sunday October 3, 2021 from 12:30 to 3pm
Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockford, 4848 Turner Street
We will, in a brief, family centered ritual, celebrate those we have loved and lost. Bring mementos or photos of your beloved dead for the altar. Please note – Masks are required for all attendees!
The 7 Principles
(Adopted in 1960, the Principles, Purposes and Sources are incorporated in the Bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Association)
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:
The inherent worth and dignity of every person
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part
Six Sources
Unitarian Universalists emphasize the responsibility of the individual as well as the community for achieving spiritual growth and development. The complete statement of the Unitarian Universalist covenant describes the Six Sources upon which current practice is based:[49]
Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
The leaves are budding across the land
on the ash and oak and hawthorn trees.
Magic rises around us in the forest
and the hedges are filled with laughter and love.
Dear lady, we offer you a gift,
a gathering of flowers picked by our hands,
woven into the circle of endless life.
The bright colors of nature herself
blend together to honor you,
Queen of spring,
as we give you honor this day.
Spring is here and the land is fertile,
ready to offer up gifts in your name.
we pay you tribute, our lady,
daughter of the Fae,
and ask your blessing this Beltane.
Prayer to Honor the May Queen. ( Source )
Spring has come to the earth.
the land is fertile and ready at Beltane,
seeds will be sown, and
new life will begin once more.
Hail, great gods of the land!
Hail, gods of resurrected life!
Hail, Cernunnos, Osiris, Herne, and Bacchus!
Let the soil open up
and mother earth’s fertile womb
receive the seeds of life
as we welcome the spring.
Prayer to the Gods of the Forest. ( Source )
Hail, and welcome!
Green life returns to the earth
blooming and blossoming
once more from the soil.
We welcome you,
goddesses of spring,
Eostre, Persephone, Flora, Cybele,
in the trees,
in the soil,
in the flowers,
in the rains,
and we are grateful
for your presence.
Prayer Honoring the Goddesses of Spring ( Source )
Mighty Brighid, keeper of the flame,
blazing in the darkness of winter.
O goddess, we honor you, bringer of light,
healer, exalted one.
Bless us now, hearth mother,
that we may be as fruitful as the soil itself,
and our lives abundant and fertile.
Prayer to Brighid, Keeper of the Flame. ( Source )
“Magic, madam, is like wine and, if you are not used to it, it will make you drunk.”
~ Susanna Clarke, The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories
I’m someone who was raised as a Pagan throughout my childhood; The flavor may have changed over the years as my parents experimented and searched for their right path, but all in all, my childhood memories are filled with the rather interesting activities that come with being Pagan.
I was absolutely blessed in the Pagan parents department because my mom and dad both worked hard to make sure my siblings and learned about different parts of Paganism in ways we could understand. They taught us about the holidays and showed us ways to celebrate them, taught us the “rules”, answered our questions, helped us learn from books, but most importantly they included us in rituals and acts of magic. On top of that, everything was done in a way that really made everything normal for the three of us: it wasn’t weird, it just was.
Continue reading “Growing Up Pagan: Why the Pagan Community Needs to Embrace Their Youth”
White Oak Grove CUUPS 