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GROVE COUNCIL MINUTES

starting from the most recent.....

Topics: Regarding the implementation of a Training Program, setting membership parameters, rewriting the bylaws to accord with the new changes in Cedar Grove, adjusting the language to reflect Cedar Grove as an Order in her own right, renaming Cedar Grove.

I: Regarding the Training Program proposal.

All present concurred with the third draft, content and intent. Some changes. Training fee is set at $30.00 per grade, open to payment plans.

II: Membership parameters.

Order Fellows:

“Fellowship” is no longer an accurate reflection of the new Cedar Grove as a whole, though the open public face of the Order remains as is for those members who choose to remain casual friends, or “Fellows”, of Cedar Grove. Public fellowship, open membership/congregation. Need not be Druid, just friendly intent to join us in all public activities and discussion. Only requirement is joining the existing cedargrovedruids yahoo group. For most current cedargrovedruids yahoo members this will be no different than it has been these last three years.

Order Members:

As defined in the Proposal. Annual dues of $20.00. Dedicated membership into the Druid Way. Optional Training Program, non-public rituals/etc., allowed to vote and serve in Council if local.

III: Rewriting By-Laws.

Our Mission and By-Laws will have to be rewritten to reflect this new grove structure. All present asked to start working on ideas for new bylaws.

IV: Renaming Cedar Grove Druid Fellowship.

New name: Cedar Grove Druid Order. CGDO.

Other names considered and voted out:

The Order of Cedar Grove

The Order of Cedar Grove Druids

The Druid Order of Cedar Grove

Umm…and……

The Cedar Order of Grove Druids

The Grove Order of Cedar Druids

The Order of Cedar Druid Grove

The Order of Cedar Grove Bards Vates Druids Fellowship Emeritus

Help me if I left any thing out guys…………..J

V: Separate Discussion forum for Order Members.

As proposed in the Proposal- see it for details.

After reviewing possible formats, it was decided that another Yahoo group will work just fine for now, until if and when we grow to dominate the earth and need something more involved.;-/

Non-public communication within our Membership, providing identity protection for those wishing to stay in the broom closet, facilitate all communications between members of a personal nature, Council communications, Training communications involving the personal nature of student’s learning, center for online voting.

This will be up soon for the use of Order Members.

VI: Misc.

We will establish a PO Box near the current location of Grove offices, Mother Rest Sacred Grove.

We will establish a bank account for the proper management of dues and other income and expenditures.

We will wait to apply for ‘church status’(ie tax exemtion) until we are a full time Druid Order, with all that that implies, both in finances and activity.

Pacific Druid will redesign our logo to reflect our new name, Cedar Grove Druid Order.

Aspen will look into having the highway sign changed to the correct new name.

Gryffyn will inquire into the use of Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship for our Imbolc ritual.

VII: Open Positions.

Must be a Cedar Grove Order Member, and local(ish- able to attend meetings and activities), to apply (only requirement).

We are looking for the following:

A Chief Pursewarden (to replace the current one)

A Chief Scribe (to write Minutes like this among other tasks)

A Chief Administrator (out of three positions, to be filled only after we have our new Pursewarden and Scribe.)

VIII: A new 4^th draft of the Training Proposal will either be included in this post, or follow it.

by Aspen, A Chief Administrator of CGDF

A training program provides a service that would propel Cedar Grove into substantiation as a Druid group. This is a response to interest in a training program by members and prospective members. Available sometime in 2007.

No Druid group can claim true original teachings of our Druidic predecessors, save from historical, archaeological, primary and secondary source material. And, of course, personal revelation and journey work.

This material is available to all of us anyway.

When we give of our money, time, and trust to a groups’ training program (many of which are wonderful and come well recommended- i.e.; OBOD, AODA, ADF, etc), we are receiving nothing secret or otherwise unavailable from our ancient Celtic ancestors. We are, however, receiving the particular modern theologies and philosophies of a particular group- non of which can rightly claim ‘Druidic authenticity’ other than the notion of ‘evolving spirit’. Many of today’s groups are influenced by decidedly non-druidic disciplines; ie, Gnostic Christianity, Qabalah, Theosophy, Hermetic magic, Romanticism of the early Druid revival, early Masonry, Egyptian and Classical magic, Eclectic Wicca, Buddhism, etc..

I certainly do not wish to imply here that these things are ‘bad‘, nor would I suggest that they not be part of an ever evolving modern Druidism, just that there is no reason to believe that already established groups should have the monopoly of Druid-identification validation via training-program, based on teachings that are of relatively modern origin, and certainly are not of ‘secret’ original Druid wisdom, much of which has been lost in the mists of time. Nor is the ground very strong which attributes some sort of exclusive validation to various groups who are currently established and recognized within the global Druid community.

However, it can be rather daunting to approach the vast amounts of material that is available to the student of Druidry without a little help from those who have been there.

I propose that it is time for Cedar Grove Druid Fellowship (Now Cedar Grove Druid Order) to offer a training program to those aspiring Druids in NW Washington who do not wish to receive training from our much esteemed aforementioned fellow groups, and wish a varied modern approach to Druidic training which caters to the diversity within our population who walk varied modern paths of the Druid Way, many of which are Solitary paths.

This training program will be of a comparatively high quality, focusing on the interest and motivation of our students, allowing our students to seek learning in a highly individual and self motivated fashion, with the notion that the education should match the individual- not the other way around. Thus the structure of curricula will be very non-intrusive and give the student the freedom to seek and satisfy both spiritual and intellectual needs pertaining to each of the three traditional grades: Bard, Vate, and Druid.

Each grade will have this same basic structure:

I- Independent Study (w/ proscribed topics, and suggested bibliography, relevant to the grade)

II- Seminar work (as available)

III- Assigned a Mentor

IV- Check with Mentor once/month, minimum.

V- Keep and submit a journal (to be returned to student after review).

VI- Submit a thesis/review/paper (optional format) at end of studies, at such time the student feels ready to demonstrate a certain mastery of relevant material. This will be kept on file with the Grove.

VII- Ultimately a Certification of completion/recognition as Bard/Vate/Druid of Cedar Grove Druid Order. This is validation by a jury of peers.

VIII- Each grade would take about a year minimum to complete. Time limits???

IX- The Druid Grade, and a proposed Seminary Level, may involve some sort of volunteer work (environmental, wildlife, activism, counseling internships, etc.).

How would this effect the membership criteria of our Grove? This has been of great concern when discussing this topic over the last year. Currently the Grove is an open fellowship with an evolving door membership; open, respectful, egalitarian, minimal authority. While this is a refreshing change from membership that is demanding and exclusive in other groups, this has also made for a group with little to offer the individual practitioner. Essentially there are no membership requirements or parameters to speak of. We do not wish this to change drastically, though some change is inevitable.

Even less change is desired regarding our Council structure as it is felt that no one should be Arch- anything over other fellow travelers of the Druid Way within our membership. Thus, we have no ‘Chief Druid’, no ‘Arch-Druid’, no personality-centered leadership. We have a Council of Chief Administrators (ideally three) and Chief Pursewarden and Scribe. While a degree, by virtue of government and functional structure, of authority is inherent in these positions, they are positions emphasized by the notion of service- not authoritarian posturing.

Why “Cedar” in Cedar Grove Druid Fellowship/Order? Cedar Trees have no anchor root, relying instead on the combined energy of the whole root system. We are a group rooted in our combined effort in mutual support.

A training program might upset this delicate ideal within the membership itself. The concern with starting a training program is that it might create two different types of members- some sort of general member, and some sort of ‘inner-circle’. A certain dichotomous membership will unavoidably occur, this is true. Can we start a training program, become an Order in our own right, and maintain our egalitarian dynamic? We do not want to require training as a mandatory requirement of membership, but we do wish to create a dedicated membership of those who are willing to facilitate a supportive environment that encourages growth in the Druid Way. Can we be both a structured Order and an egalitarian Fellowship?

It is believed that this is entirely possible. But only if the training does not consist of a group ‘secret’ dogma that must not be shared with the uninitiated. This is the case with many other groups. We can be different. We have already seen that all things Druidic are readily available to the astute researcher and spiritual practitioner, the ‘secret’ teachings of modern groups are indeed modern constructs- and thus conceivably expendable to the earnest student of Druid and Celtic studies.

So the pedagogy prescribed above is one that both caters to the individual students’ learning needs, and omits elitist structures such as ‘secret’ teachings of a modern group. Our membership can remain on equal ground. An analogy: In a Christian church there are church going members, and those who also attend the Bible study. Non are ‘better’ or more initiated than others. It remains an open congregation. So with us, within our Membership; and extending out to an open Fellowship that is still public in nature. This is detailed below.

An additional Seminary Level is proposed as well for those interested in seeking ordained ministry/priesthood within Cedar Grove, and wish to pursue such leadership roles one finds in the ministry, and/or start a branch of Cedar Grove of their own in another community.

This training program is geared towards those individuals who are self-motivated, can be self-directed, who do not require a lot of structure to dictate the course of study. Guidance is given by mentors whose job it is to assist, guide, ensure the student does stay within the general learning parameters, offer support, and advocate for the student. Regular communication with the mentor is suggested, but 1ce/month contact is the minimum required use.

The training is offered and mentored by Cedar Grove members who have many years of training and experience in other established Druid groups and/or as Solitary Practitioners, and have met the basic criteria of this training program, and have been credentialed accordingly by submission of relevant work, demonstrating that at least this basic criteria has been met, for our peer review and acceptance.

It is the mentors job to assist, guide, ensure the student does stay within the general learning parameters, offer support, and advocate for the student upon time for ‘graduation‘.

It is not the mentors job to control or administer a specific curriculum, or to push ones own agenda and/or beliefs onto the student.

The student must be left to make personal decisions concerning their own take on belief, nurtured by the mentor- not dictated by the mentor. Meaningful sharing, not proselytizing.

As yet undetermined. Some form of gift or compensation should be involved in exchange for the time and energy supporting the students’ education. Any money received should benefit CGDO’s ministry or grove activity expenses. $30.00/grade

Students are responsible for purchasing their own books and materials.

Changes made to our Mission and charter would be inevitable.

The current Mission Statement would see certain revisions, especially regarding membership parameters, and Council structure. Consideration will be made for the possible future expansion of the Grove into an Order consisting of multiple Groves, ie; “Cedar Grove Druid Order, Seattle Grove“, for example. Should such growth occur, as a result of our training program, the infrastructure should be in place to support such growth.

Possible changes:

New Title- Cedar Grove Druid Order (CGDO).

Education Panel- to be staffed by a minimum of three (involving the respective students’ mentor), all of which should be credentialed at a training level higher than that of the student.

Cedar Grove Council- One small change, still open to any CGDO Member to apply/run for, save that at least one of the three Chief Administrators in any given CGDO Grove be a CGDO Clergy member.

The new membership may be defined as follows:

Open to all who join us in good will, regardless of spiritual path, open door. All current members on our Yahoo discussion group fall into this category. This is the public community extension of the Order. This is also a great way for new members to try us on for size. Yahoo group discussion, Public Grove rituals, full Membership and training program available by application, public seminars, public volunteer opportunities, etc.

In short: no one on the yahoo discussion group will really notice any change, or much difference between Fellow and Member memberships, as most of our activities are public anyway! Those that aren’t, aren’t. Essentially not much change, just an infrastructure facilitating Druidic practice and training.

Simple requirement: Join the currently existing cedargrovedruids @yahoo.com discussion group.

This is a public forum: no guarantee of member identity protection- that is up to the individual members to self regulate.

Or “Peregrine”. Coined by Sutton and Mann, Druid Magic. A Spanish word meaning “pilgrim”, being a tribute to the Iberian Celts, for the Solitary Practitioner.

For members who wish to have access to both the public and ’closed’ grove activities.

Not a secretive fraternal inner circle (no secret teachings or secret dogmatic mysteries), but a dedicated membership into the Druid Way of this, the Cedar Grove Druid Order. A dedicated membership facilitates safety, trust, confidentiality, and discipline within our ranks and our rituals as a community of Druids, allowing for a mutually supportive learning, magic working, and worship environment within a specifically Druidic context. Membership involves an application, questionnaire regarding why Druidry is an interest to the individual, and annual dues (kept reasonable- $20.00). Council reserves the right to refuse or retract membership based on the ethical parameters set forth in our Mission/By Laws. All Grove activities and rituals are available to the Member, both public and non-public, including our Training Program, vote at grove meetings, and the right to hold office. Training Program not required for Membership.

There will be a separate online forum for Members, in order to facilitate communication in the environment described above.

This forum provides identity protection as it is not public.

It can be a safe place for Pagan Druids & CGDO members who wish to stay in the ‘broom closet’.

This forum will help facilitate all communications between Members of a personal nature, Council communications (currently done via emails anyway), communications touching on Pastoral Counseling confidentiality between clergy, Training communications involving the personal nature of students learning, center for online voting, or any communications you don’t want in the local newspaperJ .

TRAINING PROGRAM

1 yr.

These topics are covered at least in Survey:

Celtic and Druidic History

Anthropology/ European Archaeology

Intro to Shamanism

Basic Ritual and Spiritual Practice/discipline

Intro to Meditation

Lore/Myth

Celtic World-View

Art (music, poetry, painting, drawing, sculpture, dance, storytelling, etc-- How does Awen inspire you?)

*A suggested bibliography will be provided.

I- Independent Study (w/ proscribed topics relevant to the grade)

II- Seminar work (as available)

III- Assigned a Mentor

IV- Check with Mentor once/month, minimum.

V- Keep and submit a journal (to be returned to student after review).

VI- Submit a thesis/review/paper (optional format) at end of studies, at such time the student feels ready to demonstrate a certain mastery of relevant material. This will be kept on file with the Grove.

VII- Ultimately a Certification of completion/recognition as Bard of Cedar Grove Druid Order. This is validation by a jury of peers.

VIII- This achievement may be ritually celebrated by the grove, if desired by the student.

(It is understood that Bardic work continues throughout the student’s Druidic life, so topic redundancy is kept to a minimum.)

1 yr

These topics are covered at least in Survey:

Seership/Divination

Ogham applications

Magic

Celtic Wisdom/Lore

Healing Modalities (Herbalism, Shamanic healing, etc.)

Shamanism

*A suggested bibliography will be provided.

I- Independent Study (w/ proscribed topics relevant to the grade)

II- Seminar work (as available)

III- Assigned a Mentor

IV- Check with Mentor once/month, minimum.

V- Keep and submit a journal (to be returned to student after review).

VI- Submit a thesis/review/paper (optional format) at end of studies, at such time the student feels ready to demonstrate a certain mastery of relevant material. This will be kept on file with the Grove.

VII- Ultimately a Certification of completion/recognition as Vate of Cedar Grove Druid Order. This is validation by a jury of peers.

VIII- This achievement may be ritually celebrated by the grove, if desired by the student.

(It is understood that Bardic and Vate work continues throughout the student’s Druidic life, so topic redundancy is kept to a minimum.)

1-2 yrs

These topics are covered at least in Survey:

Cosmology

“Celtic Culture” and Cultural Appropriation- Taking Responsibility.

Survey (familiarity/ritual use) a Celtic Language

Ritual Construction (geometry and choreography)

Liturgical Design (composition/content)

Celtic Law

Theology/Poly-

Eco-Theology

Survey of Philosophy

Druid Philosophy (Ethics, Triads, elements of the wisdom tradition)

Natural Sciences

Survey of Human Ecology (Wildcrafting, Permaculture, Bioregionalism, etc.)

*A suggested bibliography will be provided.

I- Independent Study (w/ proscribed topics relevant to the grade)

II- Facilitating/teaching Seminars (for the grove, or open to the public)

III- Assigned a Mentor

IV- Check with Mentor once/month, minimum.

V- Keep and submit a journal (to be returned to student after review).

VI- Submit a thesis/review/paper (optional format) at end of studies, at such time the student feels ready to demonstrate a certain mastery of relevant material. This will be kept on file with the Grove.

VII- Ultimately a Certification of completion/recognition as Druid of Cedar Grove Druid Order. This is validation by a jury of peers.

VIII- The Druid Grade may involve some sort of volunteer work (environmental, wildlife, activism, counseling internships, etc.).

IX- This achievement will be ritually celebrated by the grove.

1-2 yrs

Basic Counseling*

Pastoral Counseling*

Death and Dying*

General and Applied Psychology*

Eco-Psychology*

Church Government

Tax Law

Event Organizing

Fund Raising

Comparative World Religions

Interfaith Networking/Dialogue

Public Relations

Conflict Resolution

Ecology and Human Diversity

Starting a Grove

*A suggested bibliography will be provided.

I- As a clergy member of Cedar Grove Druid Order, one is a public representative of Cedar Grove, and in a position of trust and great responsibility. Therefore an application, essay, and questionnaire process must be completed, including an in-person interview (unless other arrangements are necessitated) with Cedar Grove clergy, and the submission of a resume including verifiable personal and professional references.

II- Independent Study

III- Facilitating/teaching Seminars (for the grove, or open to the public)

IV- Assigned a Mentor

V- Work close with Mentor regularly in the operation of the Grove.

VI- Training in some form of counseling: ie; Substance Abuse, Hypnotherapy, NLP, previous ministry experience (youth, nursing home, etc.), Pastoral Counseling, Chaplain Training (Clinical Pastoral Counseling Education), etc.

VII- Keep and submit a journal (to be returned to student after review).

VIII- Submit a thesis at end of studies. This will be filed with the Grove.

IX- Ultimately a Certification of completion/recognition as Ordained Druid Priest of Cedar Grove Druid Order. Ordination (ULC if not yet offered by Cedar Grove).This is validation by a jury of peers, upon meeting qualifying standards.

X- The Seminarian Level will involve some sort of volunteer work (counseling internships, humanitarian volunteer work, etc.). This requirement may be waived if the seminarian has already demonstrated experience, current or past, verifiably, in volunteer or professional work.

XI- This achievement/Ordination will be ritually celebrated by the grove.

*Those interested members who have completed training in another Druid group/order, may submit written work for transfer in equivalency. CGDO respects the validity and legitimacy of other Druidic trainings, and is willing to honor such training by CGDO members. It is expected that the student will honor those respective groups’ wishes to not divulge any secret teachings in any work submitted to CGDO.

*Those who have completed relevant coursework at a college or university may also submit written work for transfer in equivalency.

*Life experience may be considered as credit for any given topic, by resume/references, on a case by case basis.

*Solitary Practitioners may challenge each grade by early submission of relevant written work, and resume/references if relevant.

Pass/No Pass- for early challenges of any of the three grades by Solitary Practitioners. (all fees still apply, paid only once).

Pass/Re-do- For all three grades, Bard, Vate, Druid. (fees paid only once, though.)

Pass/Fail- Seminarian. Fees may apply for work redone toward Pass.

- Listing of topics with relevant info

- Written work, Thesis/summary/review (format optional, unless otherwise specified)

- Resume (for those challenging)

- Plans for, and commitment to, Continuing Education.

- Annotated Bibliography

There may come a time when we may fill a need for distance training, and our Independent Study format will translate nicely to such a curriculum if implemented.

Author:

Rev. Kipp D. Trembley (aka Aspen), A Chief Administrator, CGDO Clergy

Contributing Authors (2^nd and consequent drafts):

Rev. Darrin Rankin (Gryffyn), Chief Purswarden, CGDO Clergy

Pacific Druid, Acting Council Member

Kismit, Acting Council Member

Concerning what is ‘public’ and what is not:

We are looking at March for our first Celtic mythology study group/seminar. Either Darrin or Aspen will be our first facilitator.

No Fees required, open to the general pagan community, no limit set on # of participants.

Recommended/Required text- expensive but worth every penny (30.00) this is a mostly re-paganised collection:

“The Chronicles of the Celts: New Tellings of their Myths and Legends”, Peter Berresford Ellis, Carroll and Graf Pub., New York, 1999. ISBN: 0-7867-0606-6.

Suggested texts: any variety of translations for interpretive comparison, personal favorites of participants.

Topic of first meeting: to be determined. Likely topics: premise of mythology, cultural context, interpretive process, dealing with Christianized material, shamanic imagery, first myth in the text- The Ever-Living Ones.

We all agreed that, though interesting, and very relevant, it is too much to take on at this time, and will wait until there is more involvement in the group, or till someone steps up to the plate to facilitate such a seminar.

OTHER: We are looking for facilitators. It needs to be understood that these are not classes with teachers (unless we have a qualified teacher), but seminars with facilitators- a facilitator does not need to be an expert in the field, just a fellow student who is willing to organize curriculum, meetings, and prepare in advance for the meetings to help ‘facilitate’ the group study process.

We need a home. MRSG would not be a home, but there has been discussion concerning the offer for use of space. All present like this idea very much. MRSG is deeply respected among members present, and the notion of teaming up with MRSG in sacred space use, or anything else, is popular. A ‘collection plate’ would be utilized to benefit MRSG on ritual/space use occasions. This is also a popular idea. Is there a means for reserving dates at MRSG? We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Thumbs up.

Thumbs up. Some technical difficulties, such as how to manage hate/inappropriate postings and sundry. Lets see how it works out.

Here is what it looks like, very rough sketch:

http://cedargrove.netfirms.com/Nemeton.htm

We need more postings on our yahoo group on this topic to provide the diversity of view required for this page. Its design would take the form of the dialogue on our group, offering a unique presentation of druidism, in its diversity, to site visitors. A new slant on the discussion topic- what isn’t druidism?

A page to help visitors understand the mechanics of the ritual year. What makes a solstice a solstice? Etc. Pacific Druid gracefully accepted being volunteered by AspenJ , as our resident astronomer, to provide material relevant to the mechanics of seasonal changes of druidic significance.

Other topics for this page- Astrology (need an astrologer to volunteer).

Colegney Calendar.

Pros: Something to offer members- recognized druidic training, legality, recognition, support network within an order, maybe clergy training.

Cons: Loss of autonomy/self direction, restricted membership parameters, probably some membership fees, other restrictions specific to an order.

OBOD: training is expensive, though discounts are offered for groups/ seed groups. It is a magical order so does not offer ordination. It is very liberal/flexible/progressive, yet also more insular and protective of its training material. Good or Bad thing for Cedar Grove?

ADF: Most of us present are OBOD, and very happy with OBOD, yet we all felt that ADF might better suit Cedar Grove. Our bylaws/mission statement are inspired by ADF material, and the language used is more religious than magical in nature (ie: ‘priests of nature’). ADF is famous for its focus on scholarship. ADF is a religious order and does offer an ordination training- which is very appealing. In principle it would be a relatively smooth transition. There also seems to be more openness and sharing of ADF material, and this is in a similar spirit of openness that Cedar Grove already has.

Aspen has a reservation with the clergy training program, it doesn’t seem to be functioning yet, and has been ‘in development’ for years., with only a small handful of the original founding members being clergy. This based on information from ADF sites.

Both groups compliment each other very nicely- but should we do this, we can’t do both as a grove.

The following groups have yet to be looked into:

BDO:

ADOA:

Henge of Keltria:

ETC:

Discussion concerning the development of an independent grove/fellowship will continue until such time we decide an affiliation is in order, or is not.

Aspen is now the High Priest Master Arch Druid Supreme Super-sized (ok…jokingJ )

We have vacancies: Chief Scribe, at least one- probably two Chief Administrators.

Secular positions of service, not religious positions of spiritual authority.

Some interest- carpools and funds are among factors influencing this, sounds really nice to everyone, though.

Too fancy. A moderator should have lee-way using tact and discretion when handling serious issues on the group, and some simple rules suggesting moderator discretion would suffice, not an elaborate and complicated rule-set.

Also the Yahoo group rules should be separate from the actual grove bylaws, unless we had real membership restrictions requiring an application process to the grove and Yahoo group. They should be in harmony, just different.

Is there a difference between an active member of the Grove, and a participant on our Yahoo group?

Should there be a difference? Is that useful?

If we create a real membership methodology, do we then become an order, or a closed group? Or a closed group with a public yahoo discussion group?

What purpose would this serve?

If we affiliated with an existing order, this sort of membership structure would be in place anyway, what are the benefits?

No end to this discussion……………………………….............

Cedar Grove is still trying to pin her identity down (Scribe comment).

Our Mission Statement/By Laws: A mechanism for making amendments needs to be included. Punctuation changes. Note ‘priestess’ as well as ‘priest’.

Not really discussed. Included to keep the topic alive.

Eco-Ministries going well enough for now. Should we fund-raise? Need to be non-profit? Networking with other pagan groups for ministries:

MRSG (Mother Rest Sacred Grove)

AAP (Alliance of Ancient Paths)

Interfaith Coalition (acceptance issue)

- A ritual at the Washington Stonehenge?

- Summer Star (Darrin, remind me what this is in reference too, please?)

- Have a meeting at a Highland Games?

- Funds transferred from the care of our 1^st to our present Chief Pursewarden.

In recognition of

valuable service rendered, personal sacrifice, and honorable contribution,

the following certificates were dispersed:

Much of what Cedar Grove has developed into is grounded on some of the initial decisions and group parameters that Angus helped formulate as the first Chief Pursewarden (emeritus) of the Council during our founding months, and our first real Grove meeting. Considering our slow but steady growth into a human-ecology ministry, with much promise in the near future, that is something to be acknowledged, and proud of.

For hard work in both our Adopt-A-Highway and Trail Stewardship ministries, frequent attendance at and valuable contribution to Council meetings. In all but name has done work of the Council.

For hard work in our Adopt-A-Highway ministry, Grove website consultation, Grove logo, frequent attendance at and valuable contribution to Council meetings. In all but name has done work of the Council.

For hard work in our Adopt-A-Highway ministry, frequent attendance at and valuable contribution to Council meetings. Has stepped up to the plate as Chief Pursewarden of the Council.

***Work is being done to create certificates for those who have, and do, participate in our ministry programs. Active participation will be deservedly acknowledged in a tangible way from here on out. Cedar Grove Druid Fellowship honors and respects those who help make it a true healing force in the world.

Hey guys, did I leave anything out? Let me know.

June/ Duir meeting and Trail Stewardship; Fragrance Lake trail, 8:00 am, Saturday, June 25th.Tree identification and sundry going in, meeting and picnic at the lake, trail clean-up going out.

Minutes from the Cedar Grove meeting on June 25th; Fragrance Lake Trail.

Present: Kismet, Merlin, Aspen.

After a vigorous hike through the misty forest, identifying trees and sundry, the following topics were touched on:

TOPICS FOR June 25th

I: Adopt-a-Highway List.

All who have participated and plan on participating must sign a piece of paper that the highway guy forgot to give us on our last highway cleanup.

II: Naturalist Training.

There is a program for naturalist training (ie: wildcrafting, tree/plant/bird/track identification, etc.) called WOLF. Should Cedar Grove get involved in this as an educational opportunity?

III: Lughnasadh.

Pacific Druid, through Kismet, suggested a potluck for Lughnasadh. Also, Kismet suggested that a separate post be made for asking for input in the construction of the ritual.

The meeting was adjourned when the food was gone.

Meeting was concluded just the same.

***These minutes prepared by  Aspen, acting Scribe, a Chief Administrator.

March/Fearn meeting; adopt-a-highway picnic, Cornwall Park, Saturday, on the 9th of April/Fearn.

Minutes from the Cedar Grove meeting on April 9th at 3-ish pm.

Present: Pacific Druid, Melody, Malia, Darrin, and Aspen

After some licking of wounds and sore muscles, the following topics were touched on:

TOPICS FOR April 9th

I: Beltane, Fire Festival. May 1st on the wheel.

So far; Sat. the 5th or Sun the 1st. We determined that we did not want to conflict with other groups' events if possible. Melody and Pacific Druid to follow this up. Location; Silver Lake, Cornwall, Whatcom Falls, Hovander, -favorites are Cornwall and Hovander. Ritual details, composition by Aspen and any who wish to contribute, etc. still to be worked out.

II: Alban Hefin/ Summer Solstice.

Maryhill Stonehenge?? Darrin and Malia to follow this up. Other Druid groups to do Solstice with there? Somewhere else?

III: Date/ Location of next Grove meeting/Hike (Beltane??)

A casual meeting is likely to follow a Beltane ritual.

Next meeting possibly on the 28th of May.

The meeting was adjourned mid afternoon.

Meeting was concluded mid afternoon.

***These minutes prepared by  Aspen, acting Scribe, a Chief Administrator.

February meeting: Feb. 26th, 2005, Saturday, 10:00am, location at Stewarts Coffee House.

Minutes from the Cedar Grove meeting on February 26th at 10:00 am.

Present: Pacific Druid, Melody, Malia, and Aspen

Opening: Blessing provided by the house coffee.

After the essential ceremonial breaking of cookie, the following topics were touched on:

TOPICS FOR FEB. 26th

I: Grove prayers/ liturgy/ Gaelic/ etc.

A print out was handed out containing common prayers likely to be found in most rituals, some in a Celtic language. Universal Druids Prayer, Invocation to Brigit in Irish, Divine Presence in Irish, Calling Directions in Welsh, Intent of Solidarity.

A reminder to all to keep eyes open for more prayers, chants, songs, etc. in Celtic language, for Grove ritual use, and the edification of individual members:-)

II: Alban Eilir

    a. Day: Sat. 19th, all dayish, music, picnic, sundry, open-public ritual at 1:00pm.

    b. Location: Hovander

    c. Ritual: provided by Aspen, member input encouraged.

III: Adopt-A-Highway.

    The following will be attempted;

        Mandatory Training time: on the 1st or 8th of April. (Fri's)

        Clean-up Day: on the 2nd or 9th of April. (Sat's)

        Stay tuned for developments.

All who want to participate, must take the training.

*Pacific Druid volunteered to announce the event to the general Pagan community with a general invite.

IV: Date/Location of next Grove meeting.

Fragrance Lake trail, AM, Saturday, March 26th.

        Tree identification and sundry going in, meeting and picnic at the lake, trail clean-up going out. (rainy-day plans pending) Who knew that we could squeeze in Druidic education, nature appreciation, and eco-ministry/stewardship all in a meeting!

(Unfortunately, not only for Cedar Grove, but for the entire Bellingham community,

Stewarts Coffee House is no longer in business. )

As a group of Pagans and Druids, we decided it is both desirable and appropriate to take our activities out to the woods. Those unable to attend actual hikes for time constraints or other reasons, will be able to chime in on meeting topics on line on our Yahoo group site. This way no one misses out on the actual content of meetings- in fact it is set up this way now.

ALSO: It has been decided that Grove meetings are still public and open. However they will only be advertised on our Grove Yahoo site for now.

**Aspen will post details and directions to Fragrance Lake trailhead soon. Know that it costs about five dollars to park around the trailhead.

V: Website.

Member contributions, listings, web security, web hosting, etc.

***Pacific Druid has volunteered to assist with some graphics( our logo) and to assist with establishing a domain and web host when the time comes (soon-ish).

The goal here is to have an ad-free website:-).

VI: Summer Solstice.

Maryhill Stonehenge???

Aspen offered to contact our friends in Spokan (Grove of the Whispering Well, and the military Pagan group) concerning a combined celebration/ritual somewhere. We all agreed that something this big would have to be on the regular agenda soon.

VII: MISC.

A; Pacific Druid offered to take care of some PR. Posting announcements of our events on various group[ sites and such.

B: The following was also agreed on;

Public Rituals- All Solar Festivals, solstices and equinoxes, may be public and open. Two Fire Festivals, Beltaine and Lughnasadh, also public.

Imbolc and Samhuinn shall be private, members and affiliates only,  Grove Rituals.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 PM.

Meeting was concluded at 2:00 PM.

***These minutes prepared by  Aspen, acting Scribe, a Chief Administrator.

January get together/meeting: Jan 15th, 2005, Saturday, 10:00am, location at Stewarts Coffee House.

Minutes from the Cedar Grove meeting on January 15 at 10:00 am.

Present: Pacific Druid, Melody, Darrin, and Aspen

Opening: Blessing implied through good conversation:-).

After introductions and sharing of interests, the following topics were touched on:

I: COUNCIL POSITIONS  

Three of our Council Members have stepped down, after serving the Grove with distinction during her formative months! All three will be sorely missed, and Honorary Memberships have been extended to them as a token of appreciation for jobs well done as Cedar Grove Founding Members!

This leaves three positions open to any who are willing to serve the Grove in an administrative capacity;

1. Scribe

2. Pursewarden

3. Chief Administrator (out of three)

These initial first years are provisional, these positions are not yet elected, but applied for during our formative years. Interest has been expressed by one of this meetings attendees, applications/inquiries are currently being accepted- email cedargrove@mail.com. Details for the positions are found in our Grove Mission. These are not paid positions. Preference will be given to those who are actively participating in meetings and rituals.

II: REGULAR, SCHEDULED OPEN MEETINGS, PUBLIC

We have all agreed that for Cedar Grove to be accessible, we should have regular monthly meetings. Since this one worked out so well, we have determined a schedule:

***The Fellowship will meet every last Saturday of the month, 10:00am, Stewarts Coffee House***

III: COUNCIL MEETINGS AS NEEDED

not discussed.

IV: SET RITUAL CALENDAR

The following has been determined by all present;

-The Grove should participate in Yule rituals and festivities of the general Pagan community.

-The Grove will hold her own Summer Solstice as a Druid Grove, and/or with other Druid Groves.

-The Grove will hold her own Samhuinn as a Druid Grove, and/or with other Druid Groves.

-Other ritual calendar dates not specified but; it is thought that Cedar Grove should host some rituals and invite the general community, and simply participate in some general community rituals.

-All major Grove rituals are still public, as with any open church organization.

-The appropriateness of some of the rituals as private or public was not discussed.

-Any dates that are to be set in a ritual calendar should be within the days approaching a sacred calendar day, not after.

-Any dates that are set, will be set with the general Pagan community activity in mind, with the notion that, if possible, we not conflict, allowing our members to chose or do both.

V: SHAMANIC WORKSHOP

State-Wide, Inter Grove effort (with Grove of the Whispering Well, etc.) Interest is still keen on this.

Celtic vs. Core Shamanism as the two possibilities for a Basic workshop.

VI: HERBAL WORKSHOP

Interest is still keen on this.

VII: ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY

 As of this writing, we have been assigned a section of highway, and are scheduled for our first clean-up in April, '05!!!

For details and volunteer opportunities with this program,  contact

Cedar Grove Druid Fellowship Eco-Ministry  at; cedargrove@mail.com

VIII: ECO-MINISTRY;

All of the following seemed to be of interest by all present, and are worth pursuing;

-TRAIL MAINTENANCE

-WATERSHED RESTORATION

-LOCAL ACTIVIST INVOLVEMENT (letter writing, behind the scenes activism, etc.)

        The potential sensitivity of involved politics was discussed.

-TREE PLANTING

IX: DRUID TRAINING PROGRAM?

Questions raised;

What are the costs of incorporating into OBOD or ADF or another established Order?

What are the benefits?

Not yet a serious consideration, if ever, just looking at our options.

X: CELTIC MYTHOLOGY STUDY GROUP?

Interest very keen on this!

A study group may start at the end of the school year.....( there's at least a couple of students among us..)

XI: BARDIC EISTEDDFOD

Musical get together! Uncertain interest- but I'm trying:-)

XII: SUMMER SOLSTICE

Talk to our Druidic friends in the East?

Stay local?

Big deal and Public.

XIII: IMBOLC

Date tentatively set for Sunday evening, Jan. 30th, public rented location. Darrin and Pacific Druid are inquiring into possible locations.

XIV-A: Pagan Alliance! Be involved and present in the local Pagan community. Darrin as our 'ambassador' present at Alliance meetings.

XIV-B: Outreach! We need to be accessible. Pacific Druid expressed our need for a P.O.Box and a reliable phone #/answering service.

Also promote and advertise: Flyers in bookstores (Pioneer, Village, etc.), Co Op, Coffee House, etc.

If we are not visible, then how are we to be of any service to other solitary Druids in the area who could use a community? Also, if we remain 'hidden', our various ministries may suffer impotency.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 PM.

Meeting was concluded at 1:00 PM.

***These minutes prepared by  Aspen, acting Scribe, a Chief Administrator.

Grove Business and Sundry Meeting; Saturday, Oct. 2nd,2004,  7:00pm

Minutes from the Cedar Grove meeting on October 2 at 7 PM.

Present: Turtlemoon, Reggie, Jamie, Aspen and Aylish

Opening Blessing given by Aspen

A lengthy discussion was held regarding the following:

What might Cedar Grove Druid Fellowship mean to you? Members present concluded that the Grove meant a place to meet others who were open to other forms of Pagan belief as well as a place for growth in the understanding of Druidism. Already, we are a diverse group with several Wiccans as well as Druid and Nature celebrants. We want the fellowship to be a place for mature and mutually respected discussions that will enable us all to grow in Spirit.

Any concerns over the content of the Grove Mission? A member asked that the mission be further explained as to what the perceived goals were. It was explained that the Grove seeks status as a non-profit recognized faith and that we will need certain structures set up in order to accomplish this goal. These structures include chief officers, a secretary and a purse. It was mutually decided that we all share the positions of the Chief, Jamie will fill the position of the purse and Aylish will fill the position of the Secretary.

Any ideas for public ministries? Turtlemoon has been doing great research on the highway litter patrol program which was decided should be adopted by the Grove. It was also suggested that we can do litter pickup on a section of trail through the Parks Department as well.

What should our role be in the local Pagan Community? It was agreed that the Grove will continue with our current web page describing new events happening within the Grove and that if people want to get involved, then they will. We are going to try to solidify the group that we currently have and include new people as they come to us. There will be an emphasis on the privacy of the members as well as strengthening the bonds between the people who are current members. There are other Pagan groups in the community that answer some of the diverse needs of the people involved, we only seek to add another place for people to come and grow in the Spirit.

What should our plans be for Samhain? It was decided that our first Samhain ceremony be an event that will remain semi-private for the first year. If you would like to join the ceremony, please contact the Grove through the website. In the future, we may decide to open the ceremony to the public at large through invitations and public postings. A concern was raised regarding the inclusion of children at High Rituals and it was wisely suggested that children under the age of 15 need the permission of the entire group in order to participate and that children any younger than 10 should be celebrated with separately at home.

The meeting was adjourned at 10 PM with a concluding blessing said by Aylish.

Meeting was concluded at 10:00 PM

***These minutes prepared by  Aylish, Scribe.

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