Community
Understanding Builds AcceptanceCommunity Guidelines
Welcome to The Grove
The Grove is a learning community where pagans of all experience levels can explore, ask questions, and grow together. These guidelines help us maintain a welcoming space that honors our mission: Education Builds Understanding.
Our Foundation
Core Values
- Respect for All Paths: We welcome practitioners from all ethical pagan traditions
- Academic Integrity: We value accurate information and proper sources
- Cultural Sensitivity: We honor both open and closed practices appropriately
- Ethical Practice: We do not support harmful, discriminatory, or appropriative behavior
- Supportive Growth: We help each other learn without judgment
- Truth: We prioritize facts over feelings when discussing history and traditions
Who This Space Is For
- Newcomers exploring paganism for the first time
- Practitioners deepening their knowledge
- People researching different traditions
- Anyone seeking respectful, evidence-based pagan education
Who This Space Is Not For
- Those promoting hate, discrimination, or extremist ideologies
- People seeking to exploit or appropriate closed practices
- Anyone unwilling to engage respectfully with diverse perspectives
Community Standards
Be Respectful
Do:
- Disagree with ideas while respecting people
- Use kind language, especially with beginners
- Acknowledge when you make mistakes
- Give others the benefit of the doubt
- Use people's stated names and pronouns
Don't:
- Attack, insult, or belittle other members
- Mock someone's questions or experience level
- Use slurs or discriminatory language
- Make assumptions about someone's practice or background
Be Accurate
Do:
- Cite your sources when sharing information
- Distinguish between historical fact and personal belief
- Specify which tradition you're discussing
- Admit when you don't know something
- Correct misinformation gently and with sources
Don't:
- Present personal UPG (Unverified Personal Gnosis) as historical fact
- Share misinformation or make things up
- Claim something is "all pagan" when it's tradition-specific
- Speak authoritatively about traditions you haven't studied
- Dismiss academic research in favor of unsourced claims
Be Constructive
Do:
- Share resources that helped you learn
- Offer encouragement to those who are struggling
- Ask thoughtful questions
- Engage in good-faith discussions
- Help create a positive learning environment
Don't:
- Derail conversations or hijack threads
- Engage in bad-faith arguments
- Repeatedly debate the same topics after consensus
- Trauma-dump without warning or consent
- Make every discussion about yourself
Be Inclusive
Do:
- Welcome all ethical pagan paths and traditions
- Recognize that practices vary by tradition
- Make space for different perspectives
- Support practitioners at all experience levels
- Use inclusive language that doesn't assume everyone shares your path
Don't:
- Claim one tradition is superior to others
- Dismiss someone's path as "not real paganism"
- Gatekeep who can or cannot be pagan
- Assume everyone follows the same practices or calendar
- Speak for entire traditions unless you're sharing documented information
Be Culturally Sensitive
Do:
- Research whether practices are open or closed before adopting them
- Listen to members of specific cultures about their traditions
- Ask respectful questions when you want to learn
- Acknowledge the origins of practices you discuss
- Direct people to appropriate resources for closed practices
Don't:
- Appropriate from closed practices (example: smudging, specific Indigenous ceremonies)
- Claim you have a "right" to any culture's closed practices
- Dismiss concerns about cultural appropriation
- Cherry-pick from living cultures without proper context or permission
- Conflate different cultures' practices
Specific Guidelines
Questions and Learning
- No question is too basic. We were all beginners once.
- Search first when possible, but don't hesitate to ask if you need help.
- Be patient with responses. Community members volunteer their time.
- Accept multiple answers. Different traditions may have different perspectives.
Personal Practice and UPG
- Share your experiences, but label them clearly as personal.
- Don't present UPG as fact or expect others to accept it as truth.
- Respect that others' experiences differ from yours.
- Keep an open mind while maintaining healthy skepticism.
Debates and Disagreements
- Focus on ideas, not people. Attack arguments, not individuals.
- Know when to disengage. Not every debate needs a winner.
- Use "I" statements. Share your perspective rather than making universal claims.
- Agree to disagree when needed. Not all questions have single answers.
Safety and Privacy
- Don't share others' personal information without explicit permission.
- Be cautious about sharing identifying details about yourself.
- Report concerning behavior to moderators privately.
- Don't contact members outside this space without their consent.
What We Don't Allow
Zero Tolerance Issues
These result in immediate removal:
- Hate speech, slurs, or discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, or national origin
- Sexual harassment or unwanted sexual content
- Threats of violence or harm
- Doxxing or sharing private information
- Promotion of racist ideologies
- Sexualization of minors
- Malicious impersonation
Serious Violations
These may result in warnings or removal:
- Repeated promotion of harmful misinformation
- Persistent cultural appropriation after being educated
- Scamming or financial exploitation of members
- Encouraging self-harm or dangerous practices
- Spam or excessive self-promotion
- Intentionally derailing educational discussions
- Recruiting for extremist groups
Problematic Behavior
These result in warnings and education:
- Sharing unverified information as fact
- Speaking authoritatively about unfamiliar traditions
- Dismissing others' legitimate concerns
- Being consistently combative or argumentative
- Ignoring moderator guidance
Tradition-Specific Spaces
Some channels focus on specific traditions (Norse, Celtic, Wiccan, etc.).
In these spaces:
- Stay on topic for that tradition
- Defer to practitioners of that tradition
- Ask learning questions respectfully
- Don't compare traditions judgmentally
- Recognize that traditions have internal diversity
Remember:
- You can participate in multiple tradition channels
- General channels welcome all traditions
- Tradition-specific doesn't mean tradition-exclusive for learners
Supporting The Community
How to Be a Great Community Member
- Welcome newcomers warmly
- Share reliable resources
- Ask thoughtful questions
- Offer encouragement
- Model respectful behavior
- Admit mistakes and learn from them
Community Leadership
We have volunteer community roles:
- Community Mentors: Help guide newcomers
- Council Members: Support community oversight
These members volunteer their time and deserve respect. They don't have all the answers, but they're here to help.
Temple Guardians
Our supporter tier helps sustain The Pagan Temple. Guardians receive community benefits but no special treatment regarding guidelines. Everyone follows the same standards.
Living Guidelines
These guidelines evolve as our community grows. We update them based on community needs and feedback.
- Questions about guidelines? Ask moderators.
- Suggestions for improvements? We're listening.
- Unsure if something's appropriate? When in doubt, ask first.
Our Commitment to You
We commit to:
- Enforcing guidelines fairly and consistently
- Explaining our decisions when appropriate
- Listening to community feedback
- Creating space for learning and growth
- Maintaining transparency in moderation
- Protecting your safety and privacy
We ask you to:
- Read and follow these guidelines
- Help others learn them
- Report violations you witness
- Engage in good faith
- Contribute to a positive learning environment
Quick Reference
Core Principle: Education Builds Understanding
Three Key Values: Education. Understanding. Acceptance.
When in Doubt:
- Is it respectful?
- Is it accurate?
- Is it inclusive?
- Does it build understanding?
If yes to all four, you're probably on the right track.
Welcome to The Grove. Let's learn together.