I am a member of CUUPS, the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans. I first heard about CUUPS when I read Margot Adler's wonderful overview of Neo-Paganism in America , Drawing Down the Moon . However, at the time that I read the book, in 1987, I was uneasy about joining group rituals or activities of any kind, and contented myself in working alone (solitary) and in the Dianic tradition (feminist, Goddess-oriented spirituality).

However, time passed, I married, and gave birth to 2 delightful (to me, anyway! *L*) children. Since I am married to a heretical Christian, I began to look around for some place where I felt our children could get a spiritual education and feel part of an accepting community that all of us would find comfortable. I found a Unitarian Universalist society near my home which has an active CUUPS chapter, I started working with them, celebrating the pagan holidays & preparing semi-annual open rituals for the congregation, and I'm now having the time of my spiritual life! I am going to present a little more information about CUUPS and UUism here, but it is not my intention to try to "convert" anyone,
it is simply an effort to make folks aware that such a faith exists.

For those of you who may not be aware of what Unitarian Universalism is about, I'll give you some of the details here. The Unitarian Universalist Association was created by the merger of two religious groups which had a history of liberalism and social action, the Unitarians and the Universalists. Congregations often have some degree of diversity of spiritual opinion within them, including, but certainly not limited to, Christians, Jews, Humanists, and more recently, Pagans. I won't bore you with any more of the history here. But I will outline the "Six Sources" which the UUA considers to be the basis of its/our spiritual tradition. I am quoting this from a small information card #7212 which I picked up at my meetinghouse.

The living tradition we share draws from many sources:

• Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life.
• Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.
• Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life.
• Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.
• Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
• Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

Looking for reference material?

One thing that seems to be a common thread among neo-pagans is our heavily-laden bookcases.
I have many, many books on the subject, and there are many more I'd like to read.
If you are seeking information about the pagan path, I heartily recommend works by the following authors:

• Margot Adler, especially "Drawing Down the Moon"
• Marion Weinstein, especially "Positive Magic"
• Scott Cunningham,(any book)
• Starhawk,"The Spiral Dance"and "Dreaming the Dark"
• Stewart Farrar,"What Witches Do"
• Margaret Murray,"The God of the Witches"and
• Gerald Gardner "The Meaning of Witchcraft".

If you are particularly interested in Dianic (feminist) Wicca, I also recommend

• Barbara Walker,(her "Women's Dictionaries...")
• Z. Budapest,"The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries"
• Ffiona Morgan,"Wild Witches Don't Get the Blues"
• Jade "To Know", and
• Diane Stein(any book, but especially "Casting the Circle" and "The Women's Book of Healing").
  

Note: For the most part-the Dianic-based books were the ones I read first,
so, be forewarned, some of the titles may have changed over time.

I have titles by all of these authors on my bookshelf, but these are only a few, and more books are being published every day.

By all means, READ! Find what rings your "inner bell" (Thanks MW!)
Look at different cultures- Native American, Celtic, African, Egyptian.
If you're in the mood to shop now, here's a handy link for you- just click on the Amazon.com icon below!

There are also several wonderful sites on the web with information about Wicca, Paganism, and ongoing activities for the Wiccan/Pagan community. Among those I visit often are:The Witches Voice, a comprehensive site to say the least. In my opinion, if you only visit one Wiccan site on the web, this should be the place!
Another site of interest is The Witches League for Public Awareness, a site dedicated
to ensuring witches their rights under the law.
Since I live in southern New England, I also visit The Connecticut Witches and Pagans Network,
and The Earthspirit Community homepage. If you live in Connecticut, you should definitely be aware of the former, and if in Massachusetts, I strongly recommend the latter. These are great sources of information
about activities in the pagan community in this area of the country.
Pete's Helpful Pagan Site has information on activities in NY, NJ, PA, and CT.
My dear friend Morgan Wolf also has a networking page for pagans, Moonsites44,
which you can access via the gif below.