Women of the Wheel

Group Location
No set location as meetings occur in private residences

Contact Info
website: Women of the Wheel
email: womenofthewheel@gmail.com

History

Origins of the group: Women of the Wheel was established on March 6, 2006, co-founded by Scotia and another Pagan named Jill. With only three initial members, Women of the Wheel was originally intended as a women-only monthly discussion group where Pagan women could network and share experiences and knowledge.

Highlights of group's history: Initially the discussion meetings, called moots, were held monthly. However, it soon became apparent that this was too difficult for the members to maintain and the schedule for the meetings changed to two annual events in autumn and spring. Both events were Circles planned around activities, but the participation continued to be low and the organization of those two events proved to be too great a challenge for the founders of the group. The format and scheduling was again taken into consideration and has now changed to quarterly moots, which has been the most successful format thus far. Today, the group has grown to approximately twenty members and Scotia considers this growth in numbers, along with the level of commitment from the members, to be the group's biggest achievement at this relatively early stage.

Present Goals of the group: The biggest struggle for the group has been finding the format that worked for them. The goals for the future of the group are to remain focused on increasing membership and participation and maintaining the commitment of current members while continuing to provide a congenial space for Pagan women to come together to share experiences and knowledge.

Life in St. John's/in NL: Scotia describes the reception of Paganism in St. John's as a "good response … and no overt discrimination." Typically, she says she finds a general curiosity and acceptance, though she adds that her experience is limited to the metropolitan St. John's area.

Structure

Membership: As this group is a women's discussion group, membership is restricted to adult women. There are approximately 20 women on the contact list, ranging in age from about 18-50 years old.

Leaders and contacts: There is no formal structure of the membership as the group was always intended to be informal. However, one member is appointed to volunteer as Coordinator to maintain the blog, contact list, and actual organization of moots. The Coordinator can be contacted via email at womenofthewheel@gmail.com. The group's co-founder, Scotia, can be contacted via email at scotia.in.nl@gmail.com.

Facilities: None. Meetings are held in private residences.

Activities

Information: Since this group was not intended for religious practice, activities are limited to moots (discussion meetings) that are usually centered around a predetermined Pagan-related topic or theme. All upcoming events and news for Women of the Wheel are updated on their blog at Women of the Wheel.

Schedule of Events: Moots are held every 3 months and hosted at private residences. Upcoming moots are announced with exact date and time on the group's blog.