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Page: Profile: Group
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Group Stats
Formed?: 3-25-1985
New Members OK?: Yes
Incorporated?: No
501* Cert.?: No
Wvox Stats
Group Id: 19598
Poster Id: 134517
Posted: Aug.18.2003
Total Views: 4168
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Nigheanan nan Cailleachan
Age Range/Type: Adult
Located in: Amherst, Massachusetts
Key Contact: Kathryn NicDhàna
Spiritual Path: Celtic Reconstructionist (CR)
Status: Established Group
Community Support: Teaching Available
Group Overview: Formed in 1985, Nigheanan nan Cailleachan (formerly Moonstone Circle) is a Celtic Reconstructionist household and extended family, practicing the Pàganachd Bhandia tradition of CR.
Formerly known as Moonstone Circle, we began as a mixed-gender group affiliated with Flaming Crones Coven and the Queer Heathens network. As our group became involved in the founding of Celtic Reconstructionism, our practices and structure evolved from eclectic to culturally specific (Gaelic) . Over the years we have also incorporated some members of our families of origin, and some of the practices and beliefs they inherited from their parents, grandparents, and more distant ancestors.
Since the late ‘80s our focus has been on developing a woman-identified and Goddesses-focused branch of Gaelic Polytheism, with an emphasis on a personal relationship to the Goddesses and the practice of Filidecht (devotional, poetic nature mysticism) .
Though we have an emphasis on women-only traditions, a few pro-feminist, fey men are part of our family as well (our Men's Auxiliary, aka "The Hagettes") . We do both women-only and mixed-gender spiritual work.
Our tradition is Pàganachd Bhandia, a Gaelic branch of Celtic Reconstructionism devoted to the Celtic Goddesses, the Ancestors, and the Spirits of the Land. We are the founding household of PB, and some of the other founders of CR are part of our extended family.
Our rituals are improvisational and ecstatic within a traditional Pàganachd Bhandia framework. We work with establishing relationships of mutual affection and respect with the Deities and spirits, divination, trance, drumming, singing and praying in Gaelic, and various Celtic visionary techniques .
We believe one's Matron/Patron Deity chooses Their devotee, that the priestesshood is a calling, but being a priestess is only one of many ways of serving one's Goddess. We know that not everyone is on the priestess path, and that all roles in community have their value.
The understanding and fulfilling of one's destiny and soul-purpose is an important focus for us; as is learning to be one's authentic, powerful and fabulous self - in harmony with one's community in this world and the Otherworlds. We have a strong creative current - with writers, musicians, dancers and visual artists among our household and extended family.
We work collectively as much as possible, but honor is given to those who are more experienced and who have the most responsibility, time and energy invested in the tradition. We've sometimes described ourselves as: Collective in spirit, semi-heirarchical in function. Everyone's feelings and input matter, but we don't assume everyone has the same level of skill or experience, or is capable of the same degree of responsibility. These things are earned over time.
In the ‘80s we were very involved in organizing and co-priestessing large rituals at gatherings and demos (we are radical politicos) , especially in the Women's and Queer communities. But during the nineties we stayed close to home and worked on developing our tradition. Though we now have a solid CR foundation and framework, in many ways we are always in an ongoing state of research and development. While this makes perfect sense in the context of an evolving, ecstatic, visionary tradition that also seeks to balance our mysticism with historical research, it is quite different from the Wiccan underpinnings of most Genero-Pagan groups. If there’s any Wiccan trad that we’re similar to, it would be ReClaiming or Feri; but that’s more in terms of attitude and some ecstatic practices rather than ritual structure or cosmology.
Currently we're rather small and intimate, though occasionally our numbers swell when other CR elders, practitioners, family and interested friends are in the area.
We are not currently doing much in the way of public events, but are open to changing that in the not-too-distant future.
While we would love to welcome in some new members, to join us one must be committed to doing a certain amount of reading and practice on one’s own, in addition to group work. We love collaborating with highly motivated people, and will give feedback and guidance to those newer to our path, but we don't have the energy or inclination to be anyone’s parents.
We prefer to work with smart, fiesty, feminist women and pro-feminist men, especially those with some prior experience with Celtic and/or women's traditions, and those who are past their Saturn return. But we would consider someone who's newer to the community, younger, or more casual about their spirituality if they fit in well with our quirky pack.
For more on CR, check out The CR FAQ - An Introduction to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism:
http://www.paganachd.com/faq
For a shorter, but less thorough (and in places flawed) intro, there is also the WitchVox Traditions entry for Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism (CR) : http://www.witchvox.com/trads/trad_cr.html
We also have a personal website: http://bandia.net but it is in desperate need of updating. Most of our current work is going into our new domain, http://www.paganachd.com
If after all that we still sound like a group where you might belong, feel free to drop us a line.
If you are looking for a CR group in another part of the world, we *might* be able to help you out, but I'd suggest first checking the online resources here: http://paganachd.com/faq/basic.html#resources
Beannachd Bhrìghde Leibh!
Website: http://bandia.net/
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