SPIRALSCOUTS signup meeting
Date- March 15th
Time 12:30-2
Where- First Universalist Society of Salem Church Salem Ma.

General meeting to discuss interest of the community in regards to having your child be a part of SpiralScouts.
This is a perfect time to sign your child up and talk about what dates/times are good for future meets.
Please join us for this meeting and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me at nehani36@hotmail.com

Wendy Rule is coming to Salem!!
April 25, 2009
Please come and join us for an intimate evening with Wendy Rule at the First Universalist Society of Salem Church where she will be performing music from her brand new cd as well as from her others.
She will be available to sign CDs and will be joining us for Beltane Ritual!

Doors open at 4 for meet and greet with light refreshments and ritual. Wendy will perform later in the evening.
Email me at nehani36@hotmail.com if you are interested in seeing her live. Performance is by ticket only which is priced at $20.00 for the entire event!

CUUPS Open Ritual-Ostara
March 21st at 6pm
First Universalist Society of Salem Church
*Enter thru Ash St entrance*

Open ritual with potluck dish of the season to be shared afterwards. Please bring with you a packet of seeds to be part of the ritual offering.
donation of $5.00 at the door to help fund future events.

CUUPS/First Universalist Society of Salem Congregational service Beltane
April 26th at 10:45am

Congregational/ritual to celebrate Beltaine. Join us in the celebration of Spring with the dancing of the Maypole along with a annual congregational celebration which will be held in Bolles Hall and in Sanctuary.

Donation is free for this event however canned goods for the food pantry would be gladly accepted.

This lesser Sabbat is celebrated on the Vernal or spring equinox on or around March 21st

The name for this Sabbat comes from the Teutonic Goddess Eostre. Her chief symbols are the bunny to represent fertility and the egg as it represents creation.

Ostara is a time to celebrate spring and the rebirth of nature itself and the coming of Summer as well. This is the time when light and darkness are equal but light is starting to take over the darkness.

This is an excellent time for personal growth, for mending old conflicts and ensuring the continued growth of treasured friendships. This is a great time of the year to start learning something new as well and taking advantage of skills already learned and becoming more adept at them.

According to the Wheel of the Year Ostara signifies the time when the Great Goddess who was a virgin at Imbolc is now joining with the Sun God, she conceives a child which will be born at Yule.

Ostara is a fertility festival that celebrates spring and the reawakening of life in and on earth. Everything begins to emerge from its slumber that the winter months have brought.

Deities that are invoked on this Sabbat would be Eostre; the Saxon Goddess of fertility and Ostara; the German Goddess of fertility. Some traditions also invoke the Green Goddess and the Lord of the Greenwood as the Goddess blankets the earth with fertility and the God starts to grow into maturity. He will walk to earth and take in all its beauty.

Other appropriate deities would be any youthful and virile Gods and Goddesses, Sun Gods, Love Goddesses, Moon Gods and Goddesses as well as fertility deities. Examples of these may be Blodeuwedd, Persephone, Aphrodite, Athena, the Green Man, Cernunnos, the Dagda, the Horned One, Osiris and the list goes on.

There are many ways to celebrate Ostara. They range from lighting a fire at sunrise to ringing bells to decorating hard-boiled eggs, which is an old Pagan custom, associated with the Goddess of Fertility. During those times the eggs were gathered up and used as talismans and were then broken and eaten.

There is a great deal of symbolism behind the egg as the golden orb represented the Sun God and the white shell was seen as the White Goddess and its entirety symbolized rebirth.

Ostara is seen as a time of renewal so it is also an excellent time for “Spring Cleaning” not only to clean the physical realm but also to clear away negative influences as well. One way of clearing unpleasant energies from the home might be to hand wash all the floors while rubbing in a “clockwise” direction as this is thought to bring in positive energies and encourages growth.

In keeping with the Wheel of the Year Ostara is a time to celebrate new beginnings and opportunities. So now is a time to start putting into action some of the plans you started to make during Imbolc. This is an excellent time as well to do spell work for improving communication and group work as well.