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We are a group of people who connect with and honor nature, the rhythms and cycles of the earth, our ancestors, both local and Indo-European deities, and our human community. We are a part of the Bloomington, IN community, and are a Grove of Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship.
We began in the fall of 2003 and became a chartered grove of Ár nDraíocht Féin on August 21, 2009. We have remained one of the only ongoing neo-pagan groups in the Bloomington area to offer regular public rituals for the eight neo-pagan High Days: Samhain, Yule (Winter Solstice), Imbolc, Spring Equinox, Beltaine, Summer Solstice, Lughnassa, and Fall Equinox. We have meetings twice a month (check our calendar), some of them open to the public.
We strive to protect our mother the Earth, to establish relationships with the deities we work with through both personal work and scholarship to understand the cultures from which they come, and to establish a strong and creative spiritual presence in our local community. Our name honors the American black bear, Ursus americanus, which was once native to the forested hills of southern Indiana. Through the magical and mundane work that we do, we hope to call the power, wisdom, and resourcefulness of the black bear– and perhaps someday the bear itself– back to this region.
We don't require that you have a certain set of beliefs to join us because we feel that what you do is what is important (For what we expect of you at ritual, go here.). To get a feel for what we believe (in general), it is best described by ADF Archdruid Emeritus Robert Lee (Skip) Ellison in his book The Druid’s Alphabet (2003).
We believe that divinity is both within and all around us, immanent and transcendent.
We believe that it is most important to pay attention to the divinity within ourselves at this critical juncture for the Earth.
We believe in a multiplicity of Gods and Goddesses, equal in power and status, as well as in a host of lesser beings, known by many names (Nature Spirits, Fairy Folk, Ancestors, etc.).
We believe it is necessary to honor and respect the Earth Mother as the living being she is. We also hold ecological awareness and activism to be sacred duties.
We believe that ethics and morality should be based on love, joy, self-esteem, mutual respect, the avoidance of actual harm to others and ourselves, and to the increase of public benefit.
We believe that humans were meant to lead lives filled with joy, love, pleasure, beauty, and humor.
We believe that with proper training, we are able to perform most of the magic and miracles we are ever likely to need.
We believe in the importance of celebrating the solar, lunar, and other cycles in our lives.
Most of us believe in reincarnation with a time of resting and learning in between incarnations.
We believe that to live in society, you must give back to society through community service.
Black Bear Grove honors the Deleware, Miami, Potawatomi, and Shawnee ancestors of the land we worship on.
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