Community Building Tip: New Baby

In today's fragmented world, people can improve it by reaching out to each other. Here are some ideas for building community in your neighborhood.

Welcome new little ones to the neighborhood. When I was growing up, every time one of the families had a new baby, the neighbors would decorate the families’ front porch with pink or blue ribbons. It was a small gesture, but a way of simultaneously announcing to everyone the baby’s birth and welcoming the baby into our community.

I would add, it doesn't have to be gendered.  A stork will get the message across.  Consider that a birth in the neighborhood is also a good time for other parents to clean house and ask if the new ones would like some baby things.  In most families, the stuff barely gets used before it's outgrown, so passing it around makes sense.

Lammas Ritual

Today we went to a Lammas ritual.  One of our covenmates has a big yard with a corn crib.  It has a roof, floor, and two slatted walls but is otherwise open.  So this was our first time using that as a ritual space.

We called quarters with four different grains, and cast the circle with nonalcoholic beer.  It was really nice to have sheltered outdoor space to do messy stuff like that.  We invoked several harvest deities.  We did some chants.  We shared beer and bread.

Then we went indoors for the feast.  That included chicken with rice and seeded wheat bread.  We brought a jello mold for our contribution.  Other folks brought peach cobbler, bread pudding, and buttermilk pie. \o/

We had a lot of fun.