The Devine Witch
The Devine Witch Mission
Seven Core Principles
Community
When it comes to the community it is the foundation to which we are founded upon and adhere to. Our mission is to help uplift our community thru engagement and action either within our group, locally or abroad.
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Education
When it comes to providing education both spiritually or publicly, it is our duty to provide information to those who seek it. As representatives of not only TDW but of pagans and witches alike.
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Action
When it comes to the safety and well-being of our community we will be present both publicly, privately, and spiritually for those in need.
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Respect
Anyone within and in attendance at our events will show respect to those around them regardless of past or present issues faced. The goal of TDW and the community is to create a safe space for anyone no matter race, gender, sex, or identification.
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Support
We will aid any of our brothers and sisters who are in need of support and this can take many forms such as events, information, resources or helping hands. This is for both public and private affairs agreed upon by TDW. When it comes to supporting within our community this may take many different forms from fundraising as well as a collection of perishable and nonperishable items. While providing a list of resources for anyone within our community that may be in a time of need.
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Path
We will not judge nor infringe upon individual or group spiritual rights or practices as we acknowledge each of us worships differently. We will protect the right of those in our community to be unafraid to share their path.
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Truth And Integrity
We hold every member of our community within TDW to uphold truth and integrity within our community both publicly and privately
The Devine Witch Standard
Open Dialog
When it comes to our events/gatherings we tend to talk about what we see in our community and try to find ways to make positive changes. By having these discussions we realize we each have opinions on our community and the world that may not align with others. As part of our mission to create more of a united pagan community. We ask that when we have discussions on topics have a variety of opinions that if you decide to engage to remain calm during these times. Everyone is given the same respect as we would want towards us during our discussions. We follow the debate style method of engagement and allow everyone to have a set amount of minutes to discuss their point of view.
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Cleanliness
When it comes to the spaces in which we occupy we all have a part in maintaining the area. If you come to an event/gathering we ask that if you see something help us out by throwing it away. Keep the spaces in which you occupy clean from debris or tripping hazards. If you bring items to an event take it back with you after the event. If you bring a food dish that is disposable and know its empty or no longer in use dispose of it before leaving. When we are at camping events we will be doing checks before you leave as we wish to keep the space clean. We are currently working on containers for trash to be stored in at events to help combat these issues.
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Awareness
When it comes to the spaces in which we hold our gatherings we ask that the community to help us have a successful event. By being aware of not only safety concerns, but also the areas in which certain workshops, presentations, rituals, and discussions are taking place. If you are in a designated area in which you are not participating in we ask that you find an area away from these spots.
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Mental Health Awareness
When it comes to mental health we realize it can take many forms and there is no one size fits all. Each of us has things we struggle with and for some, it can show more than others as coping mechanisms are a thing. We ask that you do your part to be aware that you never know what someone's issues may be and to not place judgment upon those around you. Here at The Devine Witch we realize when it comes to mental health having care techniques and pastoral care options available are important. If you or anyone you know may be struggling please feel free to reach out. We are not medical advice professionals and cannot diagnose or treat a medical diagnosis. But what we can do is offer support to those who are in need and will help any way we can. As we also have in our network a list of different social workers as well to help advocate and locate resources.
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Disabilities
When it comes to disabilities they take many forms and some even require assistance or accommodations. Here at The Devine Witch we do our part to try and be as helpful and thoughtful towards this in our community. As we ourselves have a variety of issues that we deal with some on a daily while others are at random. We believe in providing space for anyone in our community to come to an event and be a part of our event. We do not limit our friends with disabilities to rules that would find for the average world as we know how disheartening it can be.
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Helping Hands
The Devine Witch believes we all need a little help here and there and sometimes in our community its hard to find help. We offer our helping hands to any group or coven to help alleviate some of the issues we all face when planning events. Our helping hands movement is not only defined by being a couple spare hands at events. But also deals with helping our community in all forms from but not limited to the following:
Clothing
Food
Toys
School Supplies
Elder Care
This is based on volunteers and resources we have available at the time.
Basic
Sometimes we know life happens or mental health may beat us down at times and if requested we will help someone in need within their home to help tidy up.
Rideshare
The rideshare is our community's way of helping find rides to our events and gatherings based upon our resources available.
When it comes to our helping hands movement we are limited by two things, one being funding and two being volunteers. In the next coming months, we will be launching our google docs where members of our community can become volunteers for The Devine Witch. Each volunteer who signs up agrees if they are able to help either in an event or by helping hands. We go with the method of the phone tree based on the location and availability of our volunteers.
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Safety
When it comes to any of the events/gatherings that is either done by The Devine Witch or spaces in which we are present safety is our main concern. At each event, we have evacuation plans and layouts of all our events in case of emergency. Some of our members do have licenses to carry firearms and have been mentally evaluated to be able to carry those items at our events. This is in case the gods forbid that someone outside or within our community threatens us with a gun. When it comes to any event where we have a fire we have safety procedures in place. When it comes to the pagan youth we rely on parents to listen to staff when concerns are brought forth. Along with making sure children are not playing around the fire pit area or parking lots or lakes we are close to. Each member of our security team and members of staff have walkie-talkies on them at all times. This is for our communication purposes along with the safety of our event in case one of our security team needs us. When we have events we ask everyone to sign in and out and this is mandatory and must provide valid ID. This is in case someone comes into the community to enact harm and is for our records in case of evacuation do to fire or otherwise. For some, this may seem like a lot for an event or gathering for us it is about protecting our community from harm. Out of all the local groups within the area we have the strictest safety rules. Because we know in this day and age anything is possible and even if you cant plan for everything that may happen. We can prepare for what we know is possible and could happen at events and wish to do our part to keep everyone safe.
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Eclectic Group
The Devine Witch is not a group based upon a certain pagan path as we are a group where all paths meet. Many of our members follow one or multiple paths that could be considered individualized to them and their spiritual needs. We believe every part of our community should have a space in which can be used for representation and education. By going with this model we are able to showcase the diversity within our community and give opportunity for groups, covens and individual practitioners the ability to educate others on their path. We do not believe anyone or any path is superior to the other and ask that those who attend do not push a such ideology. That they remain aware that they are in an open setting and any remarks made against a spiritual path no matter how small or big will be addressed. By being an open group of spiritual paths we allow people to be seen who otherwise have no representation. We believe that in the pagan community, our views and paths are different but we are all part of this community. Each of us has value to the community between our knowledge and experiences.
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Community Relations
When it comes to our community we are not naïve about relationship tensions that happen within our community. When it comes to issues provided in our community we ask that you leave them at the door or start the way of resolution. The Devine Witch spaces are about building and repairing a community and not tearing it apart. To help do our part in this mission we will be creating a private space at our events that will be known as the resolution circle. This is the area where two parties can come in without interruption and find resolutions to conflicts they face. A pastoral member of The Devine Witch will act as a moderator and witness so no accusations or conflicts escalate.
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Being Seen
In this day in age we realize that we all have things we like to be known as or called. Sometimes this takes form in pronouns or the use of spiritual names versus our names of birth. In our group, we do not believe in undermining anyone's use of self-used identifiers. But we also realize that the universal energy of three which goes as follows male, female, and twin spirit. We do not belittle someone's gender or sex or the struggles each one faces. But we do recognize the power of energy and the many forms in which energy may take. If you identify as one or the other or prefer to not define the energy that is up to you. All we ask is when you are speaking with the community let others know what you want to be known as or by.
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More than just practice
When it comes to representing the pagan community we want to represent more than just what is seen. We want to expand on the open dialog of the following:
Pastoral Care Methods
Prison Ministry
Pagan Business
Pagan Crafters
Pagan Musicians
Pagan Authors
Goals
Every community has goals and listed down below are some of the goals that we would like to achieve as a group.
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501c3
One of the major goals we have had for the last few years is to obtain our ability to become recognized as a 501c3. Over the years we have been close to the filing process and always become limited due to member limitations. For a 501c3 you need a certain number of board members and also a certain number of helpers to keep the 501c3 running smoothly. A pagan group is alot of work and a 501c3 is a lot more work. For us to go thru with a 501c3 in which we feel will pass the requirements we need stability with our team. In our time we have had a lot of wonderful souls help us in our group and unfortunately, commitments changed due to health, location ext. If we were to file and not have all the ducks in a row we could face rejection. This means the money spent that could have gone toward our community was wasted due to our neglect. Right now we are working on becoming more defined in the structure of our group and in public relations to it. Down below is how we are working towards this:
Handbook
This handbook will have all of our structure laid out so any member current or future will know our procedures in place and the policies we adhere to.
Creating a board structure that is broken up into three parts
Council
Staff
Volunteers
Starting in 2024 we will be opening public positions for staff to our community to bring more diversity into our structure. All positions will be based on matching the right criteria to the right individual along with a vote.
In 2024 we will start making public announcement records every quarter on money gathered by The Devine Witch donations, such as our Patreon, or from the community. Where those funds are going and what funds have been personally put in by the council.
Nondenominational Pagan Temple
Once we are able to obtain our 501c3 we want to work towards acquiring a space that we own. We want to offer this space to not just one part of our community but to all parts of the pagan community. As a community, we struggle to find places in which we can afford to hold our gatherings or events. We need more representation in the form of public temples that we have access to as a community that is not dictated based upon the spiritual path. Our goal is to make it where our community has a place they can access for events, gatherings, rituals, and classes or covens, without a huge overhead cost. We would like to have a place in which resources can be gathered and distributed. Have the ability to help those in our community outside of the pagan community during colder seasons and open our doors to them. Along with bringing a place where anyone can find information on paganism without discrimination. We want to create a space within the Middletown, Ohio community that allows an interfaith conversation to form from it. Allowing us to not only be a place for our community but a positive representation of all paths and their diversity.
Practice Diversity
One of the goals of our group is to find different paths and give them a chance to be seen while helping others understand that path. In paganism, there are multiple paths that exist and we want to continue to do our part to work with different paths on providing a space to be seen. When it comes to our approach we always leave that up to the community in who would like to represent their practices. This is how the concept of Guide To The Gods originated as in providing a space where people could learn about new gods, and new paths and gather information from practitioners and resources. We want to find new forms of helping with education and path awareness by expanding this concept. We are going to work on creating more discussions within our community to help us connect with the right individuals to make this possible.
Community Engagement
We try to do our best when it comes to the community engagement of the local pagan community. Community engagement takes many forms in our community from discussions, workshops, classes, events, and gatherings. When it comes to engagement with our community the goal is to provide things that progress the community forward in what it would like to see. As we use social media and our events as our ability to learn what the community wants, we are trying to beat the algorithm of limitations. To make this possible we need to create new ways of community engagement, yet we realize we can only do so much. This is the group project that we all need help with when it comes to our group. It's hard for us to plan or achieve goals without community engagement to allow us to know what the community's needs are. So we ask our community to help bring forth ideas and share information in the community.
Growth
For us, growth is both individualized and brought thru experience and the lessons learned from that experience. As part of our permanent goals, it is important to work towards being a better person both spiritually and beyond. We know that we will never adhere to all expectations put forth towards us individually or as a group. But we will work continuously to improve to be the best we can be for our community. As we grow and learn we will make changes to ourselves and the group to find better ways in being better. When faced with issues either internally or externally we will do our part to be transparent to our community.
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