NatureSpirit
NatureSpirit is a group for people who feel nature is a vital part of their spirituality. We explore spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature. Click here for a current list of dates and times of activities.
Although we include people from many different traditions of spirituality, our method of practicing worship as a group tends to be co-creative and ecstatic. We give plenty of room for our members to define and name their own spirituality for themselves, and our cocreative methodology allows us to adapt easily to accommodate a diversity of people and faiths. Historically, we've had key members of our group who were Christian, Humanist, Hindu, and Pagan (and that's by no means all inclusive).
Members rotate responsibility for making sure the room is unlocked, cleaning, closing up, and submitting upcoming activities to the church newsletter. Activities are usually decided by a process of suggestions and consensus of the people who show up to events. The content can vary widely depending on who choses to be part of the planning process, but they may include everything from wildflower identification, to African drumming.
Most of all we consider ourselves a caring community where we share our passion for the natural world and earth-centered traditions, and can grow in our own spiritual development.
See below for more specific information, or contact us.
Events
The goals for Nature Spirit in the coming year are four-fold:
Education – Because this form of spirituality is based on experience rather than faith, we will share with each other our personal experiences of the divinity of Nature.
Celebration – We will joyously express our gratitude for this amazing life and our endlessly diverse experiences of it.
Community – As we grow and learn together, we will create a strong support network of like-minded people.
Action – We will do our part together to heal and protect this divine Nature.
For regular public meetings, please be prepared to share your personal experiences of the month's topic. Bring an object, story, poem, song, chant, gesture, dance, musical instrument, passage from a book, etc. We'll publish the monthy topics in the monthly bulletin and on this website where possible.
Sample Meeting structure
Below is a sample of what a typical monthly meeting might look like. Keep in mind that participants shape the content of the meetings, so the actually structure can vary quite a bit depending on who shows up and what the group feels called to do. We also do outdoor activities, like paw paw hunts, hiking, camping, and have guest speakers from specific earth-centered spiritual paths.
- Grounding. To begin the meeting we will gather in a circle and do a grounding exercise. This helps to clear away the stresses of the day, traffic getting there, etc, and allows us to find our core selves, to be fully present in the moment.
- Purify with sage
- Cast the circle to create Sacred space
- Call in the Elements, East, South, West, North, Center, Goddess, God
- Introduction of current month's focus, then a free flowing presentation to the circle of our personal experiences, sharing the items we brought, with maybe some impromptu insights.
- With our full awareness now on this form of Nature, we will join in whatever form of thanksgiving we feel called to: silent prayer, circle of bows in gratitude, drumming, chants, etc.
- Forming a circle, we will now each be given the chance to share with the group what is happening in our lives, what we are working on, what we would like support with. This will be a time for in-turn speaking and unconditional listening and will help us form our community.
- There will be a form of activism that can correspond with the monthly element we have been exploring. We will now further plan and discuss this activity.
- Brief reminder of next months focus.
- Thank and release the elements
- Open the circle
About Paganism in Charlottesville
Several notable people in the larger Neopagan movement have lived in the Charlottesville area over the years, including Gleb Botkin, who established one of the earliest legally recognized neopagan groups in America in the 1930's. He was a survivor of the Russian Revolution who's father was killed by the Bolsheviks. Botkin was of the opinion that patriarchal society had caused many of the problems plaguing humankind. His Church of Aphrodite, celebrated the Divine Feminine and many of the members of his church went on to become influential in the larger Neopagan movement. Gleb and his church is mentioned in past issues of Cavalier Daily. He was also a prolific writer, but unfortunately many of his books are now out of print.
Another notable Neopagan who lived in Charlottesville was Raymond Buckland, a student of Gerald Gardner, who was very influential in popularizing Wicca in America. He lived in Charlottesville in the 1980's and started his publishing company here, Taray Publications. It is also reported that he had a group here as well but very little is known about the group and it is not known whether there are any surviving members of it left in Charlottesville (but there are still quite a few rumors about that). Although both he and Botkin lived in some of the same places (here and Long Island) there's no evidence that they had any influence on each other. Botkin was apparently aware of Wicca though, but had no interest in being associated with it.
NatureSpirit started in 2000 as the Piedmont Area NatureSpirit Alliance, and according to our records is now one of the longest running public Neopagan groups in the area, possibly second only to Mr. Botkin's Church of Aphrodite (which ended sometime in the 1960's after his death). There are, however, a few closed or private groups in the area that are far older than NatureSpirit, and several of the members of these groups continue to serve as respected elders in the larger community.
Contact information:
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Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church
717 Rugby Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903
(540) 456-6239
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