Depending on where you entered our page from, you may have already seen a lot of this material, so please bear with us. Here's what we have, so far.

1. If you do want to join us, wonderful, we look forward to meeting you, but there are a few things that you must do first.
   
   
   

   1. You MUST find a partner of the opposite sex. This is not necessarily a romantic or sexual partner. In fact, we'd suggest that you choose a platonic friend who you trust and care about, but are not interested in dating.
   
   
   
   2. You join us, not as an individual, but as part of a couple. You and your partner. If s/he leaves, for whatever reason, you have to reapply.
   
   
   
   3. You have to set up a meeting, so we can get to know you. Don't sweat it, this isn't an exclusion thing. We're not checking to see if you're 'cool' enough. Mainly, we just want to make sure that you're a pleasant, reasonably sane and intelligent individual, who won't drive others off.
      
      Mainly, we're trying to keep the "creep factor" under control. You'll be invited to a few parties, maybe make a few new friends if everything works out. When we feel comfortable with each other, that's when we start talking about skyclad rituals. Make sense?




2. Given who we're worshipping, some of our rituals will involve partial or full nudity. The nudity will be mandatory for the men, and optional for the women. We encourage the women to opt for nudity, during those rituals, if only because making everything equal will make the men feel less awkward. Those women who don't feel comfortable with that are offered the alternative of wearing a blindfold until the ritual is over and those who wish to get dressed have had a reasonable chance to do so.
   
   No, it's not a 'kinky bondage thing'. It's just a compromise put in place to make everybody feel comfortable.




3. Some of you may be invited to set up rituals of your own. This group is about participation, not about passivity. However, it's not about exploitation, either. No ritual set up by a member, shall ever involve mandatory intercourse, photography in a state of undress, or make any other demand that might reasonably be viewed as being a form of sexual harassment, even if the law doesn't deem it as such. This does not include ritual nudity requirements, but it does include many practices taken for granted in much of the Neopagan community, such as mandatory kissing and caressing. That which customarily (in a non-pagan setting) would be viewed as being a sign of sexual or romantic interest must always be voluntary.
   
   Plays and other dramatic productions are not considered to be "rituals" for the purposes of this rule. The normal expectations of decorum and professional between director and actor to be found in the non-religious theatre then apply. Even then, there are to be no surprises. Scripts are to be made available in advance for potential actors. Participation in any such production is purely voluntary, and non-participation shall not be an acceptable reason for denying the non-participant comfortable access to any future event.



4. In general, all aspects of a ritual that the organizer might reasonably expect to be found off-putting by somebody taking part in it, will be announced in advance.




5. Membership in this organization is a private matter. One may not reveal another's membership in this organization without his consent. The only exceptions to this shall be :
   
   
   

   1. When a crime, or other violation of the legal or generally agreed upon social rights of some individual have been violated, and this information must be disclosed so that

      1. The victim may be made aware of the situation
      2. One may testify against the offending party
      3. Proper action may be taken.
      4. Harm to another may be averted.

      In other words, there will be no code of silence put in place to shield criminals or those violating the rights of others from the consequences of their actions. This is not a cult, or the Mafia. It's also not a safe place for those who wish to cheat on their spouses or significant others. Common decency will be respected.
   
   
   
   2. When serious harm to another is likely to occur, unless this information is disclosed. For example, yes, if one of our members is on a ledge, yes, of course we'd call the fire department. That's just common sense.





6. Members will accept that while this is a permissive place, good manners and reasonably tasteful behavior are to be expected. Self-gratification, the propositioning of guests, misplacement of bodily fluids, and the multitude of other behaviors associated with adult moviehouses will not be tolerated. The standards are those of mutual respect, and of simple aesthetics. We aren't concerned with the "immorality" of onanism, it's simply an ugly thing to watch, and anybody with an ounce of sense would know to expect most to feel that way. Those with less than an ounce of sense don't belong here.
   
   "Good taste" includes civility, a willingness to treat each other as equals (and with respect), and a good faith effort to be reasonable, among other things.




7. Oaths will be honored, within reason. We will never accept somebody who cheats on his or her mate, without that mate's knowledge and consent. (*)




8. All present will accept that this is a specifically heterosexual group. Homosexuals and Bisexuals may not join, but are pointed in the direction of a number of local Pagan alternative lifestyle groups, any of which are better prepared to serve their needs, anyway.




9. Traditions will be honored. This is a Traditionalist group, not a Neopagan one, and the character of this group is to be respected.




10. This is not a democracy, or an anarchy. One is to respect the established hierarchy here, because without it, a group like this would evolve into something truly unpleasant. It is not a dictatorship either, however. When authority is exercised, it is only to be exercised with good reason, and a minimum of restraint is to be imposed. The Host, Hostess and their appointed assistants are never to forget why they are here : to create an environment in which individual freedom is fostered, not to direct the choices of others, or to provide "spiritual guidance". The day we forget that, is the day this group should be disbanded.

As you can see, most of this is just simple common sense. We wouldn't bother to even mention most of this if we didn't feel it necessary to assure those coming, that we remember what common sense is, and that it will be respected.

Click here to return.

(*) Formerly, the rules stated "We might accept a couple that wishes to swing, as much as we might question the wisdom of their choice". Looking back, we wonder what we were thinking about as we wrote that. On a Libertarian level, the one we were approaching this from, the argument seems clear : both parties consent and so there are no victims and there is no offense. On an ivory tower level, that is persuasive enough, but on a more practical one must consider the kind of people one will be attracting by adopting such a policy. On a theological one, one must also consider what it is, that one is encouraging in the couple.

Truthfully, we suspect that we have spent far too much time with Neopagans for our own good, and that the time has come to do a little soul searching.