Celebrating freedom within spirituality can be a rewarding way to engage with beliefs and build healthy dynamics with other Pagans.  After coming back from Pantheacon 2011, I am once again reminded about how important the celebration of diversity is in the community and how much this plays a valuable roll in the way that our collective sense of community develops.  Walking through the Con made it easier to see the developments in the Pagan community within the last several years and how more acceptance is becoming a theme for the interconnected values that often get confused within a community that prides itself on being accepting of others.

While so much time within the community has been spent on fighting the perceived constraints of hierarchy, we lost the ability to see the beauty in systems and how this can connect to the consistent opportunity to build dynamics around the values that we set for one another.  How ironic that there were so many conversations this weekend at Pantheacon that dealt with witch wars, discrimination and group sustainability.  This directly correlates with the Pagan society that we are building and then integrating our children into, hoping they are able to find spiritual connectedness among others.  Is it conceivable that we cannot teach our children to celebrate freedom, diversity and values within themselves and with others if we cannot do that for ourselves and for others?  This is the million dollar question that Pagans have to continue to ask one another while we are concentrating on building a sustainable religious community together.

Creating a sense of connection as a Pagan in our homes is something that is very important and it is important to remember that it will not replace a sense of connection within the greater community of Pagans.  Mirroring in our homes the same sense of importance for others as we do in society will help to create a healthy web of support, perfect love and trust for each of us  as Pagans and will help to show our children that we are responsible for continuing with ethics, honor and respect everywhere that we go.  We have to give it, honor it and accept it to have it.

In other news, Ask a Pagan Counselor is still waiting for some questions to kick start this part of the blog.  Please feel free to email me at crystalblanton@thepaganhousehold.com.