Earth Religions Coalition East


[ERCE]

  • What is ERCE?

  • Who are we?

  • Statement of Faith

  • Faiths represented by ERCE

  • Structure of ERCE

  • Contacting ERCE

  • Events in NS

  • Erce mail-list

  • Out of town contacts list

  • Links to other Earth-Religions sites

  • Links especially for children

  • Join ERCE

    • direct hotline to info on open circles.

    Link to a statement on official ERCE Clergy.

    What is ERCE?

    ERCE stands for Earth Religions Coalition East. It is also a word found in an Old English charm from a manuscript compiled by a scribe in the 11th century C.E. The charm itself is likely to be several centuries older. The charm is for the fruitfulness of the Earth, and begins...
    Erce Erce Erce earthan modor
    (Erce Erce Erce Mother Earth)
     It is likely that this word "Erce" was an old name for Earth -- Earth as Lady, and Goddess, as the one who is fruitful and who nurtures all of us. In our modern ERCE, we have come together as members and adherents of Earth-Centred Religions to create an organizational structure for Earth-Centred religions in the Halifax, NS, area. You can find out here the date, place and time for the next ERCE business meeting, or review our bylaws and the minutes of the last AGM.

    Who are we?

    We are members of many different Earth-centred religions. We have in common a love and concern for our planet and its creatures and plants, that is central to our spirituality. Some of us are practising members of the religion known as Wicca. Some of us are involved with the Women's Spirituality Movement or Goddess Spirituality. Some of us base our practices on reconstructions of prechristian religions of Northern Europe, such as Asatru, or Celtic paganism. Some of us are involved with the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS). Some of us do not belong to any group, but study and worship on our own: they are known as solitaries.

    Statement of Faith

    There are many different groups within Earth Religions Coalition East. Each group has its own specific faiths or beliefs, its own deities, Gods and Goddesses. The following statement represents those beliefs which we hold in common and which are basic to our membership of ERCE.
    1. Our faith is founded in Mother Earth, and our respect for her. We believe in the divinity of Earth and her creatures and peoples.

    2. We believe that every person creates her or his own understanding and love for Earth. Each of us therefore has the right to worship in our own way, and to declare that which is sacred to us. Each person should develop her or his personal relationships with Deities and the Divine, as that person perceives Them.

    3. Rights bring with them responsibilities. It is the responsibility of each of us to learn about Earth, her creatures and plants and her peoples. It is the responsibility of each of us to manifest our growing knowledge in our daily living.

    4. Every day of our lives, we acknowledge the Earth as a Goddess: we are part of Her, as She is part of us.

    Faiths represented by ERCE

    Note: information about many local groups within the Halifax area, and the people involved in these is available through the Goddess Knotwork.

    Wicca:

    encompasses a set of related religions or traditions based on the worship of a Goddess and God who represent duality of the universe. Wicca includes Gardnerian Wicca, Alexandrian Wicca, Dianic Wicca or Wicce (which often focuses on The Goddess alone), the Reclaiming tradition and Faerie, and other groups or traditions. All have some basis in the work on Gerald Gardner, though this is most obvious in the Gardnerian tradition. Readers may be familiar with the books of Starhawk, the most renowned proponent of the Reclaiming tradition, and one of the most publicly known witches in North America. Some Wiccan groups focus on particular cultures and base their worship in deities associated with these: thus, Celtic Wicca, Norse Wicca, Isian, etc. Several Wiccan traditions are represented within ERCE.

    You can link to information about Gardnerian Wicca, made available by a local group. For more general information about Wicca and its traditions, try the website of the Covenant of the Goddess, an official church in the US.

    For information on Faerie, and many other links, try Francesca's Wiccan and Faerie Grimoire.

    Goddess Spirituality:

    focuses on the need to reclaim a balance in modern religion by rediscovering Goddesses or the Goddess and introducing Her into our lives. Overlaps with Women's Spirituality, Wicca, Wicce, and Asatru. Several groups in Metro focus on Goddess Spirituality or Women's Spirituality.

    You can link from here to the webpage of Sagewoman, a Journal of Goddess Spirituality.

    Women's Spirituality:

    focuses on the Goddess in Women, and emphasizes a need to reclaim the Goddess and to see women as central to society and to religion. Overlaps with Goddess Spirituality, Wicca, Wicce, and Asatru: however Women's Spirituality may also be found in other religious traditions, such as branches of Christianity.

    CUUPS (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans):

    A pagan group particuarly associated with Goddess Spirituality, comnnected with the Unitarian Universalist church. CUUPS has branches throughout North America, and there is a Halifax CUUPS home page on the Chebucto Community Net.

    Asatru:

    A set of modern religions hased on the traditions, mythology, poetry and magic of Northern Europe (including Scandinavia, Holland, Germany, Britain and Iceland). Asatru means "true to the Aesir", generally interpreted as all the northern gods, spirits and ancestors, including Aesir, Vanir and Disir. For some further information on Asatru as an Earth Religion, try Hail Earth that Givest to All..., by Diana Paxson.

    The Ring of Troth is the best-known North American Asatru organization, with a branch in the Metro area.

    You can find out about a series of Rune Workshops being run in Halifax, and you can link to the official website of the Ring of Troth, an international Asatru organization. Many Asatru links are found on Corryne's Links. For information on a local kindred, contact Fiskiörn Kindred.

    Celtic Paganism:

    A set of modern religions hased on the traditions, mythology, poetry and magic of Celtic Europe (including Ireland and much of Britain). The most well-known Celtic reconstructionist religious group is Ar nDraiocht Fein; but we do not currently have an ADF group within ERCE.

    For more information, link to the main web page of Ar nDraiocht Fein. For information on the history of an ADF Grove, check out Mugwort Grove.

    Public Events...

  • Annual Avalon East Pagan Festival -- held this year on the weekend of August 21-23. Register via Little Mysteries Bookstore, (902) 423-1313
    Details of previous years' AEPGs are available from the Avalon web pages. Location is the same, so check out these web pages for info.
  • Check out date, place and time for the next ERCE meeting. This includes information about public events also known as Open Circles.
  • Check out events sponsored by Fiskioern Kindred.
  • Check out the Calendar of local events. This is run at goddess.knotwork.com, and local organizers can apply for a password, then add your own events to the calendar.

    • Structure of ERCE

    ERCE is structured as a non-profit organization. It has elected office-bearers, including co-presidents, secretary, treasurer, and membership representatives. Sub-committees of ERCE have responsibility for public relations, for organization of open rituals at festivals, and for accreditation of priesthood.
  • Contact ERCE at <ip-ERCE@chebucto.ns.ca>

    Erce mail-list

    There is an e-mail list, erce (at) chebucto.ns.ca, for discussion of topics relevant to paganism and Earth-Centred religions in Atlantic Canada. You can subscribe to this by sending a message saying ONLY the words subscribe erce to <majordomo@chebucto.ns.ca>. Please note that if you're reading this message through any means OTHER than the account you use for email, you'll have to add your email address, thus: "subscribe erce myname@host.domain". Your request will be forwarded to the listowner for you to be added to the list.

    A couple of people have given us email addresses that didn't work. If you've tried to subscribe and haven't heard back from us, please try again and make sure that the address you give us is correct and operational!

    Out of town contact list

    We are developing a list for people who are living out of the Halifax area and who would have difficulty going to meetings in the city. We will soon have a linked web-page for this list. However, just now please contact <seabird@glinx.com (SeaBird)>.

    Please note, however, that this service is for people who live in Nova Scotia, though we may extend it to other Atlantic Canada provinces if enough people are interested. If you live in another part of Canada, or in the US, you'd be much better checking out some of the links under Interesting web-sites, below.

    Interesting web-sites

    For more information on many of the areas indicated above, or for information on pagan/heathen groups elsewhere in Canada, in the US, and in the UK, you can link to:
  • Goddess Knotwork, a local experimental cyber-community
  • Nova Scotia Pagan Web-Ring (for sites see end of this ERCE page)
  • Temple of the Lady (BC)
  • The Earth Wisdom Home Page (many links)
  • Covenant of the Goddess (US)
  • Witches' League for Public Awareness
  • Francesca's Wiccan and Faerie Grimoire
  • The Lysator Religious Archives
  • Corryne's Asatru and Rune links (includes also sources for translations, and historical and archaeological material)
  • Spiral Dance (contains some info. about Starhawk and her book Spiral Dance)
  • Irminsul Aettir(Asatru links, and map)
  • DreamRoads Collective(includes material by Starhawk)
  • The Pagan Federation(in UK)
  • Rowanhold Bardic Circle (Music, stories, poetry, art, Celtic, Arthurian and much more...
  • Morrigan's Site (Celtic and Asatru links)
  • CUUPS links from local CUUPS group
  • Morrigan's FTP Site (files, Asatru and celtic materials)
  • Asatru ftp (J. Rumpelein's Site)

    • Especially for Children

    Parents and Kids take note of:
  • Kat's Wicca Pages with stories and lullabies for young children.
    • or:
  • Return to start of document

    • Join ERCE!

    Link here to a membership form, which you can print out and send in to us c/o Little Mysteries Bookstore, 1645 Barrington Street, Halifax NS, B3J 1Z9. Send it to us electronically as well, so we'll know to expect your membership.

    Contacting ERCE

    To obtain more information about ERCE you should contact us at one of the addresses below.
    for further information please contact: ERCE email: <ip-ERCE@chebucto.ns.ca>
    Information also obtainable through Little Mysteries Bookstore, 1645 Barrington Street, Halifax NS, B3J 1Z9, phone (902)423-1313

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    Last Updated: December 15, 1998