Beltaine season is here! This month, Frederick CUUPS offers a fusion of online and in-person activities at our Congregation in Western Maryland. Please join us as we stay connected and come together to honor the Earth, Gods, Ancestors, and Wheel of the Year. Please email FCUUPS(at)gmail(dot)com for Zoom links.
Saturday, April 30th, 6:30 PM
At the UUCF Labyrinth
FCUUPS Kids is back! We’ve missed you!
Join us for our kick-off meeting Saturday, April 30, 6:30-8:00 PM at the UUCF. We will have a campfire and s’mores. This is a family event: a grownup for each family must stay to help supervise around the fire and meet with Robyn and Renee to talk about plans going forward.
Please email Naewimer(at)gmail(dot)com with any dietary restrictions so we can plan ahead for our s’mores. Feel free to bring your own roasting stick for marshmallows, beverages, and seating. The kick off event is social ~ a way for us all to come back together again before starting up with regular meetings.
Recommended donation of $5 per participant
FCUUPS Kids offers scouting from a pagan perspective. As we move forward, we will create our own badges and learn about the many paths that make up our community. A campout on the UUCF grounds is in the works for May and many more exciting events to come are being developed. We strongly encourage and ask for grown up involvement and assistance at meetings, though it is not required. We will follow all COVID guidelines set by UUCF and Frederick county regarding masking and indoor/outdoor activities. FCUUPS kids is fully inclusive for k-highschool. Facebook event here.
The 1st Sunday of the month at 4 PM
on Zoom
Join us for the Witching Hour, every first Sunday of the month at 4pm! This is an informal social time to enjoy a beverage of your choice, process the previous week, crack a dirty joke or two, and build relationships. We believe cultivating community care is an important facet of us not just surviving, but thriving in the times we live in. All are welcome in the spirit of hospitality. Hosted by Ursa Sylvest and Frederick CUUPS. The Witching Hour is currently on Zoom, Please email fcuups(at)gmail(dot)com for the Zoom link.
Tuesdays from 10 – 11 AM
One of the best ways we can stay resilient and healthy is to exercise and cultivate mindfulness. These donation classes with E-RYT 200 Irene Glasse are open to individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (two weeks past their last vaccination). At this time, masks are optional. An Advancing Beginners class is most accessible to people who have some basic familiarity with yoga and are able to comfortably take low lunge (lunge with one foot forward and the back knee touching the mat), tabletop, warrior two and other foundational yoga poses. Previous classes can be viewed here.
Saturday, May 7th, 7 PM
At the UUCF
Join Frederick CUUPS for an open, family-friendly Beltane Ritual! Beltane, or May Day, is the day for dancing around maypoles in honor of the fertility of the Earth made possible by the increased warmth of the Sun.
This year, we’re tapping into the Fire Festival aspect of Beltaine. In historic practice, two bone-fires (fires that included bones) were laid and cattle and livestock were driven through them for protection. The humans went through as well – for protection and health, but also to prevent theft from the Good Folk.
Prior to coming to the Beltaine celebration, people would extinguish all the fires of home, and would then bring back a burning brand from the Beltaine fires to relight their hearth fires. We invite you to turn off all the lights in your homes before coming to the ritual – we will send a (not on fire) representation home with you to refresh your own ‘hearth fire’ in the manner of your choosing.
Hand percussion is welcome! We’d like to have a strong drum bench for the Maypole dance. Please dress in fiery colors if you’d like to as well.
This High Holiday marks the return of our post-ritual snack/dessert potlucks as well. If you would like to contribute something to the potluck, please clearly LABEL it with the ingredients. We do not need the recipe, but we do need to know what’s in each offering so those with dietary restrictions and allergies can make safe choices.
If the weather is good, this will be an outdoor ritual. In the event of rain, we take our spiritual practice indoors.
Learn the chant we will be using with Irene!
Sunday, May 8th, 12 PM
At the UUCF Chapel
Join members of the Frederick CUUPS community for our monthly Earth Centered Spirituality Service. This time provides an opportunity to focus on the Sixth Source of Unitarian Universalism: “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.”
Recommended donation of $5. Please either bring cash to the Earth Service or donate online.
To donate, visit http://www.frederickuu.org/about/Support_UUCF
Click: To Donate Click Here
Scroll down to Adult Spiritual Enrichment. Type in your donation amount, then write “FCUUPS” in the memo box. Facebook event here.
Friday, May 13th, 8 PM
At the UUCF Labyrinth
Come enjoy the beauty and peace of the Labyrinth by the light of the full moon! If the weather is good, this will be an outdoor, drumming walk. In the event of rain, we take our labyrinth practice indoors, into the Chapel and our canvas labyrinth.
The first half hour will be a quiet walk, the remainder drumming, so feel free to bring hand drums and other percussion instruments.
If you haven’t walked a Labyrinth before, there is no ceremony or ritual. A Labyrinth Walk is safe, open Sacred Space for personal exploration. Please plan to arrive by 9 pm to allow enough time for your walk. For an in-depth article on Labyrinths and what to expect at one of our open walks, visit this link: https://pinkpaganpriestess.wordpress.com/…/an…/…
Recommended donation of $5. Please help support Labyrinth Walks at the UUCF. Facebook event here.
Wednesday, May 18th, 7 PM
At the UUCF and on Zoom
For LGBTQIAP+ people, certain “traditional” aspects of various magickal practices may feel somewhat alienating. When spiritual groups and texts lean on myth cycles and ritual aspects focused on fertility and virility and use heteronormative symbolism, it becomes difficult for us to see ourselves in the magick. In this interactive workshop, learn how myth cycles and ritual components can be adapted and viewed through a queer lens to be more all-inclusive and empower everyone, particularly people who are too often marginalized in our society. Facebook event here.
This workshop will be in person at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick and on Zoom, email FCUUPS(at)gmail(dot)com for the Zoom link.
Recommended donation: $10
To make a donation for the class, go to: http://www.frederickuu.org/about/Support_UUCF
Click: To Donate Click Here
Scroll down to Adult Spiritual Enrichment. Type in your donation amount, then write “FC – QMP” in the memo box.
Bio: Enfys Book is a high priestx (3rd degree) of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel. They have taught many classes on Tarot, Qabala, and queering one’s magical practice, including “Qabala’s Queer Connections” for Frederick CUUPS in 2022, “The Genderqueer Tree of Life” workshop at the 2019 Sacred Space Conference, and “Queering Your Magickal Practice” at Frederick Pagan Pride Day 2019. As a nonbinary, bisexual pagan, Enfys employs a queer lens to break down limiting binaries in magickal theory and practice, and advocate for bi-, trans-, non-binary/genderqueer-, queer-, and asexual-visibility and inclusion.They are also the creator of majorarqueerna.com, a website devoted to queer magickal practice with a focus on Qabala; and the author of “Queer Qabala: Nonbinary, Genderqueer, Omnisexual Mysticism and Magick”, to be published by Llewellyn in June 2022.
Saturday, May 21st, 1 PM
At the UUCF
The gods await you in the afterlife with open arms, but what will you leave behind? How will you prepare? Grave Concerns is an informal forum in which people are welcome to have these conversations. Demystifying and removing barriers and fears from end of life preparation is the goal for these chats. Resources for End of Life planning will be on hand. Light refreshments will be available in the style of an afternoon tea. Wear your best pointy hats and join us for Grave Conversations. Facebook event here.
Recommended donation: $5
To make a donation for Grave Concerns, go to: http://www.frederickuu.org/about/Support_UUCF
Click: To Donate Click Here
Scroll down to Adult Spiritual Enrichment. Type in your donation amount, then write “FC – Grave” in the memo box.
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