Interesting article on pagan moots.

[norseman]

Copied with permission of the author

This is an article written by Gorden Mewse.
History of the Pagan Moots
4th November 1976 – on going
From The Griffin Hotel (Leeds, Yorkshire) to Around the World.
I have had the greatest of pleasure and the opportunity of attending Pagan Moots in the 1970's, 80's, 90's, 00's and now in the 10's.
Back in the October of 1976 I obtained a copy of the then new Cauldron magazine which was printed on 2 pieces of foolscap paper, stapled in the corner and priced at 15p. Within was a contact ad from a person in Bradford advertising a local gathering of pagans in the Leeds area. I wrote off, the address being the Nurses Home, Westwood Hospital, Cooper Lane, Bradford.
Now please take into account this was the un-politically correct 70's so I automatically thought anyone living at the nurse's home must be a female. Just how wrong could I be! I sent off my SAE as this was years before the internet. I received a prompt reply to my enquiry from P. Bailey stating that there was in Leeds a meeting on the first Thursday of the month, for pagans of all paths, in the public bar of the Griffin Hotel, Boar Lane, Leeds, and this was known as a 'Moot'. I decided to go.
Back then in the 70's we didn't have dolphins, crystals, dreamcatchers and the suchlike. The only means of identifying ourselves was to either wear an ankh or a pentagram. I plunged for the ankh and so on the 4th November 1976 I toddled off to my first moot and to meet P. Bailey.
Whilst I was at the bar I was approached by a young woman who asked me if I was for the moot to which I replied yes as I told her I had been in contact with a Miss P. Bailey, at which she gave a small grin, took my arm and introduced me to Peter Bailey. I felt such a fool but soon got over it.
The Moot had been set up by three people; Christine (Celemon), Stephen (Esten) and Peter Bailey (Cadeelin), in response to the lack of meetings for local pagans. Christine was then a member of the Pagan Movement and an ardent fan of The Tree, a book of Seax-Wicca, written by Ray Buckland, in which he used the Saxon word ‘moot’ to denote meeting/gathering. To the company of three this appeared to be the right word to describe the meetings.
Moots were all well attended in those days with people coming from all over the country. An average moot would number 25 to 30 people and it got to a stage where the hotel management actually appointed us our own wine waiter who would formulate new cocktails every month just for us. We even made the news, with the Yorkshire Evening Post coming to interview us.
With the success of the moot it was decided to organise a Northern Conference, so in 1977 was born the Northern Earth Mysteries Conference. We booked one large room at the Griffin Hotel and invited little known speakers of the day to talk on various subjects. Among these speakers were Nigel Pennick, Michael Howard, Marion Green and Paul Devereux. We also had one little stall at the back selling 'occult' items, this being the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
The conference was such a huge success that we decided to hold the following year’s conference at the Wellesley Hotel, also in Leeds, and book more rooms. This time we invited Pat Crowther as the main speaker. We had T-shirts printed and I supplied the conference catering.
From the Leeds moot sprang others. First in Manchester (Irlam), then in Bradford, next to York and one was even set up in Cambridge. It was tried in London for a while but it never seemed to take off at the time.
So 40 years later we have literally hundreds of moots. I can't think of a city that does not have at least one moot a month, some even having two.
And there we have it, a potted history of the formation of the moots. Where the moots will head in the next 40 years is anybody's guess and yet we still have a moot in Leeds, in fact we have two in the City Centre.
Gordon Mewse

Hello norseman,

Originally Posted by norseman

Copied with permission of the author

This is an article written by Gorden Mewse.
History of the Pagan Moots
4th November 1976 – on going
From The Griffin Hotel (Leeds, Yorkshire) to Around the World.
I have had the greatest of pleasure and the opportunity of attending Pagan Moots in the 1970's, 80's, 90's, 00's and now in the 10's.
Back in the October of 1976 I obtained a copy of the then new Cauldron magazine which was printed on 2 pieces of foolscap paper, stapled in the corner and priced at 15p. Within was a contact ad from a person in Bradford advertising a local gathering of pagans in the Leeds area. I wrote off, the address being the Nurses Home, Westwood Hospital, Cooper Lane, Bradford.
Now please take into account this was the un-politically correct 70's so I automatically thought anyone living at the nurse's home must be a female. Just how wrong could I be! I sent off my SAE as this was years before the internet. I received a prompt reply to my enquiry from P. Bailey stating that there was in Leeds a meeting on the first Thursday of the month, for pagans of all paths, in the public bar of the Griffin Hotel, Boar Lane, Leeds, and this was known as a 'Moot'. I decided to go.
Back then in the 70's we didn't have dolphins, crystals, dreamcatchers and the suchlike. The only means of identifying ourselves was to either wear an ankh or a pentagram. I plunged for the ankh and so on the 4th November 1976 I toddled off to my first moot and to meet P. Bailey.
Whilst I was at the bar I was approached by a young woman who asked me if I was for the moot to which I replied yes as I told her I had been in contact with a Miss P. Bailey, at which she gave a small grin, took my arm and introduced me to Peter Bailey. I felt such a fool but soon got over it.
The Moot had been set up by three people; Christine (Celemon), Stephen (Esten) and Peter Bailey (Cadeelin), in response to the lack of meetings for local pagans. Christine was then a member of the Pagan Movement and an ardent fan of The Tree, a book of Seax-Wicca, written by Ray Buckland, in which he used the Saxon word ‘moot’ to denote meeting/gathering. To the company of three this appeared to be the right word to describe the meetings.
Moots were all well attended in those days with people coming from all over the country. An average moot would number 25 to 30 people and it got to a stage where the hotel management actually appointed us our own wine waiter who would formulate new cocktails every month just for us. We even made the news, with the Yorkshire Evening Post coming to interview us.
With the success of the moot it was decided to organise a Northern Conference, so in 1977 was born the Northern Earth Mysteries Conference. We booked one large room at the Griffin Hotel and invited little known speakers of the day to talk on various subjects. Among these speakers were Nigel Pennick, Michael Howard, Marion Green and Paul Devereux. We also had one little stall at the back selling 'occult' items, this being the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
The conference was such a huge success that we decided to hold the following year’s conference at the Wellesley Hotel, also in Leeds, and book more rooms. This time we invited Pat Crowther as the main speaker. We had T-shirts printed and I supplied the conference catering.
From the Leeds moot sprang others. First in Manchester (Irlam), then in Bradford, next to York and one was even set up in Cambridge. It was tried in London for a while but it never seemed to take off at the time.
So 40 years later we have literally hundreds of moots. I can't think of a city that does not have at least one moot a month, some even having two.
And there we have it, a potted history of the formation of the moots. Where the moots will head in the next 40 years is anybody's guess and yet we still have a moot in Leeds, in fact we have two in the City Centre.
Gordon Mewse

Do people still use the word moot? I've never heard of that word being used for a Pagan gathering to discuss and debate. I learned something new today.

I often wonder if any Pagans still use jewelry to distinguish their faith in public like the Christian cross, but then again there is religious discrimination and many rather remain 'hidden'.

Thanks for the article.

Blessed be,
Lepus

[Jenny Crow]

Thanks for that Norseman, it was interesting.

Yes, they still use the term moot in Ontario here.

[Howla Dark]

Originally Posted by Lepus

Hello norseman,



Do people still use the word moot? I've never heard of that word being used for a Pagan gathering to discuss and debate. I learned something new today.

I often wonder if any Pagans still use jewelry to distinguish their faith in public like the Christian cross, but then again there is religious discrimination and many rather remain 'hidden'.

Thanks for the article.

Blessed be,
Lepus

Yes they do use the word "moot" amongst Heathens, maybe not among Wiccans. Yes they do use, wear and even make their own jewellery, sculptures, clothing ect. Discrimination exists but I'm not ashamed of who I am and choose to wear my Mjolnir pendants. I say f*** off to everyone else who has a problem with it.

[norseman]

Lepus, I have not heard of discrimination over faith in Britain. I have just returned from our Mabon festival at our local henge [ 5500 years-old ]. It is advertised on Facebook and "civilians" are welcomed - there are many traders attend to sell their pagan wares. Any excess money raised goes to local causes e.g. local schools. This "Moot", we had archeological experts giving a talk of the long history of the henges. We dress in our finery for the event - photos to follow. I wear a pentacle and a Triple goddess medallion. You may have heard that our P.M. is proposing grammer schools and Faith schools - it's a fair bet that Pagan schools will be set up. There is no or little timidity over being pagan !

Hello norseman,

I live in a predominately Christian and Catholic neighborhood. I've had a couple of Evangelicals knocking on my door, which I don't bother opening. I even had a bible study group approach me in college for recruitment. I wouldn't hear the end of it if I had worn a pentacle around my neck. I told them, "not interested". But, they insisted to join whether, I didn't believe in a "god" or not. It lasted for about a couple of minutes trying to convince me, but I still wasn't interested.

This is why many Pagans in my area don't wear any jewelry associated with Paganism. There is proselytizing going on here, unfortunately. As well, there is a stigma attached to the word Witch. Thus, many remain 'hidden' and not seek public attention.

Blessed be,
Lepus