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Constitution of
The Dragon Oak Grove

The Dragon Oak Grove

Dragon Oak Grove is a Clan of modern-day pagans and non-pagans who seek together to find common ground amidst all non-harmful spiritual loyalties, and who believe in the interconnectedness of all faiths. We offer a place of fellowship and support to those who wish to worship freely and who would not be limited by labels and dogma. We seek as well to build a teaching/worshipping community, where those who would walk the path of kinship with the infinite beauty, grace and diversity of the Divine, and can come together in peace and reverence.

OUR VISION:

In the way of the Ancients, we view ourselves as a Tribe - one people, united by ties of loyalty, honor, and vision, united by love and respect of each other, and the noblest of all human endeavors - the pursuit of truth. Our Grove is our family, and our members, our Clan. As a Clan, we reject the idea that there is only one path known to mankind as the only true path to reach the Divine; we reject any path that hold as its purpose to harm any living thing; we reject as a Clan prejudgement of any sort - be it racial, sexual, spiritual or philosophical and hold these ideas as being contrary to our path and our very reason for existence.

It is our purpose to blend together all non-harmful paths to create a new path. We will search for that which brings us together, rather than for that which separates us. We affirm that the path of balance and coalescence is a good, valid and useful road to walk - and we keep each other company on the way.

We recognize that on some level all things are one. Divinity lives within and without ourselves, flowing like waters that gives us life. Each person of the world is different and brings something unique to the Clan. We are all like leaves stemming from different branches but connected by limbs to the sturdy trunk of the same tree.

We recognize the polarity of diety; the equality and balance between The Mother Goddess and The Father God, and that they manifest themselves in infinitely many ways. We see Diety in many different aspects, both male and female. These different aspects of Deity each represent different aspects of life, nature and the seasons. We use appropriate aspects of Deity in rituals and in our lives to help us maintain contact. The idea that these aspects of Deity are separate from each other is called polytheism (many Gods). The idea that these aspects are part of a larger whole (often called the unmanifest and sometimes God) is called pan-polytheism. We accept both these ideas in the Dragon Oak Grove.

When we come together, we worship in ways derived from traditions and cultures that are the legacy of our ancestors, leaving the interpretations of such for each person to contemplate on their own. Our traditions bind us together, but they are neither static, nor hasty - rather, like a healthy tree, they continue to grow from the roots of our past to the light of the future wisdom.

We embrace wisdom in all of her forms and manifestations, and we encourage the pursuit of wisdom and the excellence contained therein - excellence of out-sight defined by scholarship, and excellence of in-sight, defined by intuition.

We appoint ourselves the keepers and guardians of our Mother Earth - for it is proper for children to honor their Mother, and to care for her with love and reverence. We hold ourselves as kin to all of the Earth's children.

OUR ETHICAL STATEMENT:

We believe that all things are of the Divine. Thus, we strive, to the best of our ability, to treat ourselves, and all with which we interact with, accordingly with respect and dignity and hold this statement in accordance with the central principle of the Pagan Rede: 'Do what thou wilt but harm none.'.

The Dragon Oak Grove feels the need to stress that we are a teaching and a worshipping community As it is our purpose to foster a community of pagans and non-pagans alike, we will honor all cultures, paths and traditions here. We feel that no path is the one path, therefore we will teach and worship through the varying paths of the ancients. We will learn and follow the lessons and traditions from all non-harmful paths including the Druids, Egyptians, Wicca, Shamanism, Hindu and will include more traditional paths, Christian, Hebrew and Islam as necessary.

CALENDAR:

As in the days of old, we honor the eight High Days (quarter and cross-quarter days), beginning with (in the Celtic Tradition) the Festival of Samhain.

For ceremonial purposes each High Day may be celebrated upon either the legal date, the astronomical date, or upon a date within a fortnight thereof, mutually convenient to the participants of the particular celebration involved.

In addition, members of the Dragon Oak Grove may honor other holidays associated with any other religion (i.e. Christmas, Hanukah, Ramadan, Easter, Jewish New Year, etc.).

MEMBERSHIP:

Membership in the Dragon Oak Grove is open to all pagans and non-pagans as well as to those of other religious or spiritual paths that do not hold harm to anything as its purpose.

There are no membership fees or dues.

CLAN COUNCIL:

The Clan Council is a temporary council, and in the tradition of our Ancestors, shall function to resolve all and any disputes within the Clan. The Clan Council shall consist of three (3) members of the Dragon Oak Grove.

Membership on the Clan Council is not mandatory and the position may be declined, whereupon, a new candidate will be chosen from members of the Clan.

Petitioning members filing a grievance with the Clan Council shall be given the opportunity to be heard and to submit their case completely. The Council shall then be responsible for resolving the grievance by simple majority vote.

The Council shall consist of a High Priestess, An Elder and A Brehon (Judge). Currently, these positions are 'grandfathered' until we have reached an acceptable number of members to the Clan.

MEMBER RIGHTS:

1. All members of the Dragon Oak Grove will be expected to abide by these customs, and furthermore by the local laws and regulations of the Commonwealth of Virginia when representing the Clan in public. All members are expected to uphold the honor and the integrity of the Clan and its members at all times.

2. All members of the Clan are entitled to the maximum amount of autonomy consistent with survival, identity, and well being of the Clan as a whole.

3. Members of the Clan are reserved the right to call upon the formation of a Clan Council in any event that they feel that they have been wronged or feel the direction of the Clan has gone astray.
Upon discussion and mediation with the Council, the Clan Council's decision is to be considered final. The Clan Council is the only governing body that may remove a member from the Clan.

5. Membership in Dragon Oak Grove and attendance at public or private activities shall not be denied to any person on the basis of race, ancestry, color, physical disability, age, gender, religious or sexual orientation. Membership in the Clan may only be denied to a candidate whose personal conduct is proven to be contrary to our Vision (as described above) and upon the majority vote of the Clan Council

6. Members have the right as individuals to not participate in any ceremony or ritual in which they may find personally offensive or as they see fit due to personal reasons. The sanctity of individual choice will be maintained.

RESIGNATION:

Members may resign from membership at any time for personal reasons, and will be eligible to rejoin Dragon Oak Grove, at a later date.

AMENDMENTS:

Amendments to these customs may be made at any time by a 2/3 vote of the entire Clanfolk membership or 2/3 of the 50% quorum votes.