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We, as the
Temple of the Sacred Grove,
are responding in faith
to the call of the Divine,
desiring to unite together
to worship,
administer rites, rituals
and sacred functions.
Each in our own way,
but united in
spirit, trust and love.


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Criticisms, suggestions for improvement and submissions are welcome.
Speculations on my private life will be met with dignified silence or a large concussive blast.
(Mood dependant of course)


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Temple Events Just Past

Ottawa Pagan Conference #8 – Not a huge attendance this year, but a lot of interesting events and programs were discussed and expanded on. Thanks to all that showed up! Farrell did an outstanding druid Ritual for closing, many thanks to him!

Beltane Ritual – Kris G performed this years Beltane ritual, it went very well, and we had a good turn out. 24 attendees.

AGM held 22nd March 2008. Old board / new board switch set for 29th of March. 15 attendees.

Ostara – 22nd March 2008. Marie B with help from the Schola crowd performed a lovely Ostara ritual to 22 attendees. Big thanks to Marie for her hard work!

Imbolg / Imbolc (Candlemas) – 02 February 2008. Nobody showed up.

Yule – 15 December 2007. Marc of Carnac and Doug T. graciously ran the Temple's Yule Ritual at the Fairlea Co–op Common room this year. Marc tells me that about 12–15 people showed up. Sorry we missed it. Happy Yuletide to all...

Samhain – 03rd November 2007 – A 2pm gather for a 2:30pm Ritual. Priested by Rick D. with a Shamanic Samhain Ritual. 11 members attended. Attendees got to participate in an introductory Shadow meditation. My thanks to Louis for the drum support!

Mabon – 22nd September 2007 – Rick and Marie, Jim and Laurie performed this Shamanic ritual for Mabon. The ritual is a guided meditation and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
This marked the end of submissions for both the New Temple Logo and the website contest. Results are pending review by Temple Board.

Lammas – 28th July 2007 – Apparently due to lack of interest/participation, the Temple's Lammas ritual was dropped.

Litha / Midsummer – 23rd June 2007 – 2pm gather for 2:30 pm ritual start. Rick and Marie priested this ritual. Vincent Massey Park in the grove, 18 people attended! Nice gathering. Good to meet new faces!

Beltane – 28th April 2007 planned at the Fairlea Co–op back lot with a fall–back into the Common room in the event of inclement weather. 2pm to 5pm.
...and OF COURSE the weather didn't cooperate, so we were inside. We had fun nonetheless. 28 attendees. Much thanks to Pat B. (finally out of the woodwork after how many years#63;?) and Rayne for making him come along for an excellent ritual.


Events Past – 2007

Yule Craft Fair was 17th & 18th November – Saturday & Sunday!! The craft fair was a success and although Tracy hasn't told me how much was raised by the fair, donations were made to the Ottawa Humane Society. For further details contact: Tracy

Montreal MPRC / CUPS Yule Ritual and Yule Craft Fair 01st December 2007. (MPRC – Montreal Pagan Resource Center) Location: Upstairs at the Melange Magique (Magical Blend) 1928 Saint Catherine's St., Montreal, Quebec. Starts at 10am, ritual at 6pm. Great fun was had by all. Hey they made me call a quarter. (I did it in Latin) surprised them all... ;–) (Evil grin). – R. Infest – at Gina's land in McDonald's Corners. 31st August – 03rd of September. Great small festival. Attended by about 35 new and returning friends! Looking forward to next year!

Kaleidoscope Gathering – 01st – 06th August 2007 at Whispering Pines Campground.

Litha / Lammas Craft Fair – was unfortunately cancelled due to conflicts on location booking.

Ottawa Pagan Conference – Sunday the 15th of April 2007 @ 1:00 pm. An interesting conference was had by all who attended. Location – University of Ottawa, @ 70 Laurier East. The conference was well attended. Much thanks go to the driving force Denis F. and his team of volunteers for organizing it this year!

Men's Retreat – 20th – 22nd April 2007 Organizer "Pagan Owl". 11 attendee's and the weather was excellent!


Workshops in the works

None on the horizon.

The Ottawa Pagan Schola (OPS) has run another series of 100 / 200 courses.
A couple of 300 series courses are in the middle of development and testing.


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Beltane 2008

Temple of The Sacred Grove

· Email Temple of the Sacred Grove Communications ·


Current Board Members

Executive

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Past Presidents

To contact someone on the board, send an e–mail. If its for a specific member, please include the name of the Board member in the subject line. Criticisms, suggestions for improvement and submissions are also welcome and wanted.^.^


Merry meet, again!

This is the twelfth issue of the Temple of the Sacred Grove's
Echoes from the Grove.
At the last Annual Temple Meeting, it was decided that the temple become Semi–closed. This change means that in order to attend Temple rituals, one must be a member of the TOSG, or be a guest of a member of the Temple (you can bring up to 3 guests). Also, contributions to this newsletter will be greatly appreciated and expected.
We do, after all, depend upon you for our content!

What are we looking for???

Please submit your articles and work to the Echoes from the Grove Newsletter at Editor @ Echoes.
– Chantelle


Temple Events & Events Upcoming

Men's Retreat 2008 – Thornhaven (Upper Canada Pagan Gatherings)

Invite only. You have to be a man who identifies as a man who knows a man who's been to a Men's Retreat who also identifies as a man who can claim to be both a man and a man who has previously attended a "Men's Retreat" who can therefore invite you to attend the Thornhaven Men's Retreat where you shall identify to the other men that you are a man who identifies as a man…
oh, you get the picture.
Ask someone who's been there.
9th, 10th & 11th of May 2008.
And no Hobbes, I'm not posting the directions here!

Gaia Gathering

U of Ottawa is hosting this event as well! 16th – 18th of May 2008.
See their WebPage (www.gaiagathering.ca).
Registration required.

Litha / Midsummer – 21st June 2008

Saturday at 2pm gather for a 2:30pm Ritual. Vincent Massey Park in the grove with the Rotunda as the weather backup.,br /> We are still looking for someone to submit a ritual for Midsummer!

First Temple member in good standing to submit a ritual and get it approved by the board gets to run the ritual!
There are two requirements have to be met: Keep it family friendly with no alcohol and submit the ritual in writing (electronically) to the TOSG board for review at least 30 days before the ritual.

Echoes Magical Music Festival 2008

Echoes is a Not–For–Profit Festival in its third year and going strong! They celebrate the sharing of talents by local performers! An intimate and interactive community of Musicians, Magicians and Fire Performers, create Magic and Joy while camping among the Whispering Pines! The Echoes Festival runs from June 27th, 4 pm to June 30th, 1 pm and is the perfect prelude to Canada Day and Blues Festival, in a safe, organized environment. With Children's Shows and Talent Contests held within a beautiful antique setting very close to Ottawa and surrounding regions. We have over Twenty Performances booked and confirmed with many Workshops offered for all attendees wishing to develop their natural talents, so bring your voice and instruments!!!

Their mission is to share the magic in the music!!! This year they are happy to announce Tim Smith's performance on Saturday the 28th of June! Tim's band Tim's Myth won the first Live 88.5 Big Money Shot, 2006. Other excellent performers include Ty Hall and the EZ3, Marshall Moonstruck Magic and The Balcony Puppeteers! Keep checking the Website for updates!

KALEIDOSCOPE GATHERING 2008

Wednesday July 30 – Monday August 04, 2008.

Fairies and Elves and Gnomes! Oh my! is the theme this year. They will be holding fest at Whispering Pines; a private campground that is being closed for our use. This site has a great beach, in ground pool, drive up campsites that are level and rock free. There is no bathing in the lake but there are two showers. We must respect the wishes of the owners of the campground as they live onsite. Admittance to the site is on Wednesday (if you come earlier, then be sure to register at the Whispering Pines office) and remember to register for the Kaleidoscope Gathering at our registration tent. Also, there are no pets, except seeing eye dogs. For more info, check their Website for updates.


Article on Paganism and Food

The Wheel of the Year: becoming better attuned with our agricultural cycle.

Paganism is a nature–centred religion as is often chosen by people who have a desire to re–connect with nature. Oddly enough, I see a lot of people in the pagan community who are happy to connect with nature on a symbolic level, but not in actuality.

As we all know, climate change is one of the biggest environmental issues of our time, produced as a result of burning fossil fuels. While many of us will make a greater or lesser attempt to cut back on car use, often forgotten is how our purchasing habits affect the planet.

The Sabbat cycle celebrated by Wiccans, Druids, and many other pagans is based on the agricultural cycle of northern Europe, which is much the same as the agricultural cycle in much of Canada. Yet few pagans are farmers, which makes it difficult to truly internalise the cycle and make it part of their everyday lives. ...read more


Pagan Poetry

Personal Goddess

Fat little goad, she swings through my mind
giddily, Technicolour–bright.
Colours shifting, she laughs and swirls around,
now red, now purple, now green, now blue.
She prods me, has no patience with my sulks,
turns somersaults when I look for her.
Her words to me are kind, but not sentimental.

She can grow big if I ask her to,
inflate like a Goddess–balloon to enfold me,
and then she softens at the edges, turns misty,
and I see her only on the mind's periphery.
She can contain me, and I her, at the same time,
like a set of nesting dolls that go on and on forever.

She gets sassy with me, or downright incomprehensible.
Sometimes I think she giggles far too much.
Still, I know she is always herself and there,
and that is no small assurance in any world.
She lifts me up even if I swear that isn't what I want.

Any resistance on my part just makes her chuckle harder,
as she waits for me to stop fighting with myself.
She whispers to me of all that I contain,
and smiles at me as I struggle with believing.

I can make her disappear, but she's impervious to my criticism.
When she appears, she does exactly as she pleases.
If I tell her she's my own creation, she says it doesn't matter.

I accept her without question, despite her irritations.
I trust in her intentions even as I’m swearing at them.

At her very smallest, she can still cradle me like a child...

– By Maureen H


Jokes

Lament of A Newbie Pagan

I have been lurking here for 26 minutes, and I thought that it was time to introduce myself. My name is Bastet RunningDeer MorningGlory MoonBeam SunSoar. I used to be just Bill, but during deep meditation and astral projection, I met my spirit guide, who I believe is Winston Churchill's mother while I was cooking marshmallows at my astral camp on Jupiter, and he told me this should be my new name. I'm thinking now of legally changing my name to this. What do you think?

BTW, there really are giant squid that swim about in the heavy atmosphere of Jupiter. Jovian giant squid are now my totem animal. It just feels right and we should always go with what feels right. Right? ...read more


For further contact, we have:
the Facebook group
the Yahoo group
and
Yahoo mail–outs.

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