Members present: Maria, Leigh, Grant, Heather, Christina; new guest: Kathryn.
This was our first organized open meeting, but we received little turnout (1 other person besides the five of us!). Although we would like to get more people out of the "broom closet", we're fine with a small group for now. We will try to have another organized meeting next semester, when finals are not pending.
The possibility of making Pennpagans a formal university group was discussed. We will have forms to fill out, and all officers in the group must be undergraduates. Hopefully, we can also turn this group into one that is mostly undergraduates; again, we will try to organize another open meeting next semester. We're way too intrigued by the idea of "pagans@dolphin.upenn.edu" not to try!
Our guest, Kathryn, asked for our opinions on what paganism is, which led to a lengthy discussion. We discussed a balance between the academic and the intuitive, and thought that we should sponsor groups in the future. We could have open panel discussion on the subject "what is paganism?". Our goals would include outreach on campus to prevent discrimination, and to explain the role of "neo-pagans" in education.
Grant then told us about his trip to Boston, and the conference he attended on Nature Religions. Topics had included [neo]pagans and the British, an inclusive definition of paganism, sacred material/human/transcendence, Wicca in Britain, and the concepts of insider/outsider and scholar/witch.
An open meeting for next semester was discussed. Flyers will be distributed again, with Leigh and Heather as the contacts. Messages about the meeting will also be sent to DVPN and the Broom Closet. Grant now has a staple gun, so hanging up the flyers should be much easier.
We decided that business meetings would be important once or twice a month, along with our other gatherings. Our priorities now will be doing the paperwork necessary to make the group official, including an application and a constitution. We will work on the constitution at a Saturday meeting next semester, using other online ones as models.
A psychic fair was proposed for when the weather gets better in order to make us more known on campus. We would also like to have an Imbolc/Brigid party, with mulled wine, candles, and spice cake, among other things. Our next meeting was tentatively scheduled for January 17, 2000.
Our meeting ended with an outdoors welcoming ritual, where intentions were stated for the growth of the group. We also celebrated the start of this group with our new friends.