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NOTE: Also posted to the "Ottawa Pagans" comm.
GAIA GATHERING: The National Canadian Pagan Conference
What:
A peer-to-peer gathering of Pagans from across Canada (with visitors from other countries, as well) centered on the question of “What makes our Paganisms uniquely Canadian?”.
From the website:
“It is a ‘peer-to-peer’ Conference, rather than a festival or ‘camp’. Pagans from across Canada share their experiences, exchange information and learn from and with each other. The Conference is based on the principle of dialogue and discussion, rather than the ‘leaders and learners’ workshop/seminar model.
‘Peer-to-peer’ means a large portion of conference programming consists of moderated panels and round tables of participants discussing subjects they themselves suggest. Panelists from all across Canada volunteer to participate together in areas of personal interest or expertise, and the panel may or may not have a designated ‘facilitator’ who has helped pull that panel topic together. Topics, ideas, suggestions all mix together to assist the Board in constructing the event that the participants want to attend.”
Last Year’s Website: http://www.gaiagathering.ca/
(It will be updated with this year’s information as we get/develop it).
Date: The May Long Weekend (May 19th, I believe), 2008.
Yes, this conflicts with Midgard.
(A thought: Could Midgard be moved to one week later, just for this year, so that the Ottawa community can participate in both the national Conference and the local Fest? You might – maybe – get some cross-country, or out-of-country, folks hanging around, wanting to maintain the fun, who might be up for attending Midgard as well. ;-)
Theme: This year’s theme is “Trade Winds and Portages”
This theme is both a nod to Ottawa’s being a traditional meeting place (neutral territory, if you will) for many cultures, AND a reference the whole idea of cultural and inter-trad/path cross-pollination.
Programming:
The conference will include an academic stream – which will take up about 1/3 of the weekend’s programming.
Right now, we’ve got ideas for a bunch of Goddess-related suggestions – including (if we can convince them) a discussion on Pagan Activism as done by Canadian Reclaiming groups.
We're also in the process of roping (or trying to rope) Charles de Lint into working with us on Gaia – so, with any luck, there will be a story- and/or music- related section of the programming.
Additionally, I’ve heard tell of a “Pagan Parenting: The Practice” panel about how one deals with things like Santa-mania during midwinter and all the rest of the stuff that comes up when you’re raising a kid in a society whose dominant religion isn’t yours.
Beyond that, though, it’s up to you.
Because Gaia moves around, it allows each host city a chance to really shine. As such:
Keeping the theme in mind, what do YOU (yes, you!) want to see at Gaia?
Would you like to see panel discussions or round-tables (or what-have-you) on various different paths – some of the Reconstructionist Paths, for example?
What about a discussion on the retelling and adaptation of myths and stories for contemporary use/inspiration? (In Ritual, or otherwise).
How about any of the hundred things that I haven’t thought of, but that YOU want to know about or (BETTER!) that you want to *talk* about?
:-D
That’s right! We’re looking for VOLUNTEERS. :-D
If you have an idea for a segment, comment HERE or e-mail me PRIVATELY and let me know.
If you have an idea for a segment and are willing to organize it, that is EVEN BETTER. In this case, please just e-mail me privately, so that we can stay in contact: Let me know what you want (and/or are willing) to do.
If you have no ideas off the top of your head, but really want to help and be involved, that’s excellent, too. Again, e-mail me privately about that so that we can keep in touch. :-D
My e-mail: amazon_syren[AT]yahoo[DOT]ca
We really want to get the program laid out BY the end of November, so the sooner I hear from all of you, the better. :-) Do talk to me, ASAP. :-)
Lastly, if you have any questions, e-mail them to me and I’ll try my best to get them answered. (I’m not one of the organizers, I am merely their mouthpiece. ;-)
I look forward to hearing all of your wonderful ideas.
- TTFN,
- Allison/Amazon
GAIA GATHERING: The National Canadian Pagan Conference
What:
A peer-to-peer gathering of Pagans from across Canada (with visitors from other countries, as well) centered on the question of “What makes our Paganisms uniquely Canadian?”.
From the website:
“It is a ‘peer-to-peer’ Conference, rather than a festival or ‘camp’. Pagans from across Canada share their experiences, exchange information and learn from and with each other. The Conference is based on the principle of dialogue and discussion, rather than the ‘leaders and learners’ workshop/seminar model.
‘Peer-to-peer’ means a large portion of conference programming consists of moderated panels and round tables of participants discussing subjects they themselves suggest. Panelists from all across Canada volunteer to participate together in areas of personal interest or expertise, and the panel may or may not have a designated ‘facilitator’ who has helped pull that panel topic together. Topics, ideas, suggestions all mix together to assist the Board in constructing the event that the participants want to attend.”
Last Year’s Website: http://www.gaiagathering.ca/
(It will be updated with this year’s information as we get/develop it).
Date: The May Long Weekend (May 19th, I believe), 2008.
Yes, this conflicts with Midgard.
(A thought: Could Midgard be moved to one week later, just for this year, so that the Ottawa community can participate in both the national Conference and the local Fest? You might – maybe – get some cross-country, or out-of-country, folks hanging around, wanting to maintain the fun, who might be up for attending Midgard as well. ;-)
Theme: This year’s theme is “Trade Winds and Portages”
This theme is both a nod to Ottawa’s being a traditional meeting place (neutral territory, if you will) for many cultures, AND a reference the whole idea of cultural and inter-trad/path cross-pollination.
Programming:
The conference will include an academic stream – which will take up about 1/3 of the weekend’s programming.
Right now, we’ve got ideas for a bunch of Goddess-related suggestions – including (if we can convince them) a discussion on Pagan Activism as done by Canadian Reclaiming groups.
We're also in the process of roping (or trying to rope) Charles de Lint into working with us on Gaia – so, with any luck, there will be a story- and/or music- related section of the programming.
Additionally, I’ve heard tell of a “Pagan Parenting: The Practice” panel about how one deals with things like Santa-mania during midwinter and all the rest of the stuff that comes up when you’re raising a kid in a society whose dominant religion isn’t yours.
Beyond that, though, it’s up to you.
Because Gaia moves around, it allows each host city a chance to really shine. As such:
Keeping the theme in mind, what do YOU (yes, you!) want to see at Gaia?
Would you like to see panel discussions or round-tables (or what-have-you) on various different paths – some of the Reconstructionist Paths, for example?
What about a discussion on the retelling and adaptation of myths and stories for contemporary use/inspiration? (In Ritual, or otherwise).
How about any of the hundred things that I haven’t thought of, but that YOU want to know about or (BETTER!) that you want to *talk* about?
:-D
That’s right! We’re looking for VOLUNTEERS. :-D
If you have an idea for a segment, comment HERE or e-mail me PRIVATELY and let me know.
If you have an idea for a segment and are willing to organize it, that is EVEN BETTER. In this case, please just e-mail me privately, so that we can stay in contact: Let me know what you want (and/or are willing) to do.
If you have no ideas off the top of your head, but really want to help and be involved, that’s excellent, too. Again, e-mail me privately about that so that we can keep in touch. :-D
My e-mail: amazon_syren[AT]yahoo[DOT]ca
We really want to get the program laid out BY the end of November, so the sooner I hear from all of you, the better. :-) Do talk to me, ASAP. :-)
Lastly, if you have any questions, e-mail them to me and I’ll try my best to get them answered. (I’m not one of the organizers, I am merely their mouthpiece. ;-)
I look forward to hearing all of your wonderful ideas.
- TTFN,
- Allison/Amazon
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