Community Money Meeting Notes

We met from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on May 9, 2015.

Present: Alex, Diane, Glimmer, Johannah, Karin, Kerry, Max, Paul, Song, Teri, Tom Bird

Our Intention for the day

To magically and practically vision Paganistan Reclaiming’s agreements about our community’s money.

What Occurred

Two Proposals

After much magical and practical activity, the meeting ended with two proposals that were enthusiastically consensed upon with much dancing.

Proposal 1

A self-selected working group of at least five people, who will function as a temporary board of the Upper Mississippi Valley Reclaiming Community, are empowered to determine how to get an EIN as a religious organization, select the institution and open a financial account by summer solstice with community input and feedback ending on June 1.
Working Group: Bird, Diane, Paul, Song, Teri.
(more info on this proposal shall be coming out around May 25)

Proposal 2

A working group will research organizational structures, existing and best practices, and also anchor the business and spiritual community meeting near Autumn Equinox to bring a proposal to broader community. (Volunteers are welcomed.)
Working Group: Alex, Johannah, Karin, Song.

Group Visioning and Share

This list of shared elements from the group visioning, including a word cloud, in which the most frequently used words are larger than those words used less frequently during the share.

• Basket of anarchy + fountain of replenishing money and resources + written principles with sliding scale (pdf on website) + place or resource to process discord or conflict
• Cooperative form of organization
• consensus based
• tithe in or buy in
• governance by consensus or representational consensus
• our structures are defined by our values and are clear and transparent
• Those who make decisions are known and supported by community
• wealth that is rooted in land
• a place in world where we have a transition town
• short-term sharing tools processes
• food available to those who need
• a giant cauldron in middle of circle of witches filled to the brim, constantly fed and stirred. Brew is color of money and shifts based upon who is stirring and who is adding to brew. A big communal cauldron.
• Can’t support things or processes that have gone wrong in other places
• Model of community that is something living; like a river, a forest, etc
• There are abundant groups, branches in this community that are lacking a solid trunk. We have roots but no solid trunk to hold the various branches
• Name community parts like part of a tree. A tree with branches and leaves
• Annual or bi-annual meetings
• part of our agreements are assuming good intention
• resources are increase and accessible
• connection and intimacy
• dreaming alternatives as do the current work
• value other things, skills as well as money
• what can we learn from structures that already exist
• educational resources about money and how to work successfully with it
• befriend resources as flow rather than burden
• acknowledge how we are already changing system
• name our intention and how we are dismantling capitalism, racism, etc
• cooperative structures
• posted schedules for transparency’s sake
• 501c3
• section on our website about money
• doing what we do will slowly allow us to realize our abundance
• collective, cooperative communal power trunk
• we have a culture, not a set of rule
• stability of a named community gathering where people get to know what’s going on in community
• would be good to have a guiding set of principles
• dreaming ways we are more connected
• how do we make things more transparent and ways to handle conflict
• Name values of what we are doing. Prescriptive rather than descriptive
• communal, cooperative structure similar to a tree
• values, principles, spells, and accomplishments are clearly stated
• balance structure vs. free form
• those who manage the structure have terms similar to the weavers
• best practices’ models are in place and can be change, replaced as needed
• we are in transition from now into what comes next
• language and intention behind best practices
• we are a spiritual community that hosts various rituals such as naming, birth, death, meal trains, healing.
• a business meeting twice a year tied in to seasonal ritual
• cooperative, nonprofit spiritual group
• keep money in a coop
• maybe made up of a multitude of intentional communities.
• we have showed up and there is a pressing need for a container for money in this community with a temporary board to meet this immediate need
• Assuming good intention even when disagreeing with decision
• Seed money increases accessibility for all in our communities
• Collective abundance, collective processes, there is connection and growth and intimacy in negotiating everyday needs, including money and resources.
• Dreaming alternative structures while working in the imperfect present

To learn more about Paganistan Reclaiming, read our We Are statement.