Flaming chalice basic lesson

SOURCES BASIC LESSON

Written by Nita Penfold

Materials:

• 
  7 Promise triangles in rainbow colors (see Flaming Chalice Basic Lesson)
  
• 
  7 objects to match to colors (see Promises Basic Lesson)
  
• 
  Circle 36” in diameter, yellow felt underlay
  
• 
  Brown or black felt tree (see template or photo)
  
• 
  2 ½ ” circles of cardboard covered on back with silver glittery laminate with following symbols: Flaming Chalice (U.U.), star with spiral (sense of wonder), Figure with heart (men & women), circles within a larger circle of world religion symbols, cross and Star of David on heart (Judeo-Christian), atom (reason and science), and tree (nature and cycles of life).
  
• 
  Large gold circle 9” in diameter to fit under tree with some showing.
  

Presentation:
Words for you to say are in italics; actions are in plain type.
Take out underlay and lay on floor.
This is the circle of Unitarian*Universalism.
Take basket with promise triangles and place in front of you in circle.
These are our principles, the promises we make to each other about how we are going to treat each other, so that we all get along, and do what’s right.
Name each one as you lay it down across the top of the circle underlay edge nearest you from your right to left.
Take out red triangle. Place on underlay at top of circle, pointing toward edge.
Our first promise is red for Respect People. Each person is special just by being his or her self. Each person is like a gift. You are special just by being yourself. You are a gift.
Take out red gift box and place on upper edge of circle across from red triangle, pointing toward edge.
We don’t know all the wonderful things about each other until we learn about each other, find out all of our gifts. We are all precious so we treat each other as a little part of the Mystery.
Take out orange triangle. Place on underlay to left of red triangle, pointing toward edge.
Our second promise is orange for Offer Fair and Kind Treatment to All People. Since we believe that all people are gifts, we need to be kind and fair to them.
Take out orange heart and place on upper edge of circle across from orange triangle.
This heart reminds us to be kind to all people.
Take out yellow triangle. Place on underlay to left of orange triangle, pointing toward edge.
Our third promise is yellow for Yearn to Accept and Learn About Ourselves, Others, and the Mystery.
Take out yellow flame and place on upper edge of circle across from yellow triangle.
By thinking about ourselves and other people and learning & celebrating our differences, we are reminded by this flame that we are all connected to the Mystery that some people call God.
Take out green triangle. Place on underlay to left of yellow triangle, pointing toward edge.
Our fourth promise is green for Grow by Exploring What is True and Right in Life.
Take out flower and place on upper edge of circle across from green triangle.
It’s sometimes hard to decide what is true and right, so this flower reminds us that we grow as people by exploring answers to our questions. We may find different answers to the same questions, or questions that have no answers, but we keep on asking.
Take out blue triangle. Place on underlay to left of green triangle, pointing toward edge.
Our fifth promise is blue for Believe in our ideas and Act on them.
Take out bell and place on upper edge of circle across from blue triangle.
Once we figure out what is right and true for us, this bell reminds us that we have to try to do what’s true and right, not just talk about it. The bell is that little voice inside us that lets us know when something we do is right or wrong.
Take out dark blue or indigo triangle. Place on underlay to left of blue triangle, pointing toward edge.
Our sixth promise is indigo or dark blue for Insist on a Peaceful, Fair, and Free world for all. We try to do what’s right and we want all people to have freedom and justice in their lives. Justice means being fair to everyone. Peace means living together in harmony.
Take out dove and place on upper edge of circle across from dark blue triangle.
The dove reminds of us peace for all.
Take out violet triangle. Place on underlay to left of dark blue triangle, toward edge.
The seventh and last promise is violet, a kind of purple color, for Value our home, Earth, that we share with all living beings. We value each living being as a gift just like we do people.
Take out Earth ball or picture and place on upper edge of circle across from violet triangle.
This Earth reminds us again that we are all connected in our lives. We need to be careful of what we do so that all living beings on Earth will have clean water, and clean air, and enough places to live. We need to remember that we are only one being on the Earth and that there are many others that we need to respect.
(Alternatively, you can simply name each triangle as you put down at top of circle:
Red—We promise to Respect All People
Orange-- We promise to Offer Fair and Kind Treatment to All
Yellow-- We promise to Yearn to accept and Learn about ourselves, others, and the Mystery
Green-- We promise to Grow by Exploring what is true and right in life
Blue-- We promise to Believe in our ideas and Act on them
Indigo-- We promise to Insist on a Peaceful, Fair and Free world for all
Violet-- We promise to Value our home, Earth, that we share with all living things )
Count the triangles around the top of the circle, touching each one.
There are seven promises we make to each other to help us be in community. They remind us that we are connected to each other and to the spirit of Love or Mystery which some people call God. (pause)
Unitarian Universalists didn’t just make these promises or principles up one day. They came from many different ideas about how we should live that people have been talking about and studying for a long, long, time.
If this tree is the Unitarian Universalism religion,
Take out tree shape and roll out below triangles. Place round U.U. symbol on main part of tree.
Then the promises would be the leaves and the seeds on the tree. They have grown because we have many roots feeding us.
Point to triangles. Point to roots on the tree.
The roots of our beliefs are called our Sources.
There are six of them that Unitarian*Universalists have chosen.
Place circle with star with spiral on top of furthest right root nearest tree trunk.
Our beliefs come from our sense of wonder. We learn by asking why.
Place circle with figure with heart on the root to the left of the last one.
Our beliefs come from the women and men of long ago and today whose lives remind us to be kind and fair. We learn by hearing their stories.
Place circle with world religion symbols on the root to the left of the last one.
Our beliefs about how to live together come from all the world’s religions. We learn from many cultures.

Place circle with cross, Star of David and heart on the root to the left of the last one.

Our beliefs come from Jewish and Christian teachings that tell us to love all others as we love ourselves. We learn from our past history.
Place circle with atom to the left of the last one.
Our beliefs come from the use of reason and the discoveries of science. We learn by using our minds.
Place circle with tree to the left of the last one.
Our beliefs come from the harmony of nature and the sacred circle of life. We learn by knowing we are a part of nature and the cycles of life.
Point to the promise triangles and then to the sources circles.
Our promises come from our sources and what we have learned from them. But they come from somewhere else too—
Slide large gold circle under whole bottom of tree with sources.
Our sources come from the Spirit of Love and Mystery, which some people call God.
Ask some of these Wondering Questions (as time and interest allow):

I wonder if you have ever seen or heard any of this before?
I wonder which part is most important?
I wonder which part you like the best?
I wonder what makes these roots grow?
I wonder how big these roots can become?
I wonder if one root is more important than the others?
I wonder if one Promise is more important than the others?
I wonder if you took one root away, could the tree still grow?
I wonder what the roots need to grow?
I wonder what the branches need to grow?
I wonder if there are any other sources that we as Unitarian*Universalist draw our ideas from?
Choices
Say something like:
In this classroom you are able to choose what you would like to do with your time here after the story and before class is over.
Today’s choices are:

• 
  Retelling the story to yourself
  

• 
  Song & Movement: Standing Like a Tree
  

• 
  Learn the Sources Song
  

• 
  Copying the storyboard (paper craft)
  

Or other activities you have chosen as the teacher. It is up to you whether to give totally free choice to each child individually (this will work best when you have enough adults to assist any child who needs help with a chosen activity without too much waiting) or whether to help the class as a whole decide on one or two activities to do together. Whichever you decide, be sure to let the children know clearly what choices they have (and do not have).

Activity Directions
Retelling the story independently:
Coach children to take turns, and to treat the materials with respect so that they will be available for other children and teachers to use in the future. For older/reading children, provide a copy of the script (above). For younger/non-reading children, provide a photo of the finished storyboard.
Song & Movement: Standing Like a Tree:
This song goes well with the tree motif and is a chance to get up and moving.
Here are the lyrics and motions:
Standing like a tree

Stand very tall and straight with you hands relaxed by your sides

With my roots dug deep

Open, close, and wiggle your fingers like roots pushing through the earth.

My branches wide and open

Starting with your fingertips between your breast, sweep your hands out to the side and even a little back to open the chest as wide as possible.

Down come the sun

Fingers spread wide, bring the hands from point at the extent of your reach above your head down to your sides.

Down come the rain

Same motion, with the fingers wiggling like the patter of raindrops

Down come the fruit

Reach up over your head again, grab a round fruit and bring it down to your heart

To the heart that is open to be

Hold it there over your heart

Standing like a tree.

Same as first line. Let the words and the motions form a nonending circle.

You can find a very rough video of children doing this chant/dance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppieUj8NDog (this will also teach you the basic tune.)
Learn the Sources Song:
We sing the Principles Song to the tune of Do-Re-Mi during each circle time. There are also lyrics for each Source; help the children learn them!
Copying the storyboard (paper craft):
Prepare small paper versions of the symbols used in the storyboard for this session (Principle/Promise triangles and symbols, sources symbols, tree, etc. Help children assemble them in a one-page reminder of the story.

Flaming Chalice Lesson with Animals and Plants Extension

written by Nita Penfold with additional wondering questions by Beverly Leute Bruce

Materials

• 
  Tray with: Flaming Chalice, gold circle that fits in chalice, battery candle or regular candle, matches; bright yellow felt circle at least 36” in diameter, folded; set people in basket, 7 Promise triangles
  
• 
  Basket with two each: mammals, plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, etc at least enough to put between your people in the circle.
  
• 
  Earth flag.
  

Presentation
Words for you to say are in italics; actions are in plain type.
This is the circle of our community.
Point around circle of children. Then take yellow underlay from tray and spread out on floor in front of you, smoothing it down.
This is the circle of our Unitarian*Universalist community.
You have heard this lesson before. But there is something different today.
Take Earth flag and spread across yellow underlay.
This is the circle of our Earth community. Earth is the planet on which we all live.
Pick up chalice and hold.
This is our Flaming Chalice.

It looks like a cup.
Run finger around circle of chalice. Put chalice in middle of underlay.
It’s a very big cup. I wonder what it could hold.
Pick up gold circle.
Some people feel that it holds the spirit of love and justice and truth or maybe the spirit of mystery which some people call God.
Put gold circle in chalice. Pick up candle.
We put a candle in our chalice because the flame is mysterious and beautiful and reminds us of the spirit.
Put candle in chalice.
It’s a very big cup. I wonder how many people could drink out of a cup this big.
Place basket of people in front of you.
These are the people of our community. This person could be in our community.
Hold up person and then place around chalice about 6 inches from chalice.

Continue to add people as you talk. Leave a space between them for the next part. Then look at all the people around the chalice.

But our Earth community is so much bigger than just our Unitarian Universalist community.
Take out basket with plants and animals and place in front of you.
Plants and animals are also in our community. This tree could be in our community, this giraffe could be in our community, etc.)
Hold up plant or animal and name, then place around chalice in between the people.
You may want to pass basket around to the children to place plants and animals. As you place these, you may have to widen the circle and make space for the other beings.
There are lots of people and plants and animals in our Earth community. We share the Earth and its resources with all of them.
Now it’s getting really crowded around our circle. You know, sometimes, it’s hard to be in our Earth community. One being might do something that another one doesn’t like. Sometimes there’s not enough room and you feel squashed. Other times there’s a lot of room that you feel belongs only to you and you don’t want to share it. Or you might not like a certain animal and not want it near you.
Take basket with triangles and put in front of you.
But in our Earth community we make the same promises to each other that we do in our Unitarian Universalist community about how we are going to treat each other, so that we all get along, and do what’s right. We call these our principles. These are our promises to our whole Earth community.
Take one triangle at a time, starting with red, then orange, then yellow, then green, then light blue, then dark blue, then purple, and place at base of chalice with one point into the chalice and two points to the people. Start to your right in the three o’clock position to you. You may name the colors as you put them down. With older children you may want to name each promise (see Promises lesson) but children will have a later lesson naming them. You may also want to touch the three points of the triangle before you put down.
Red—We promise to Respect All People
Orange-- We promise to Offer Fair and Kind Treatment to All
Yellow-- We promise to Yearn to accept and Learn about ourselves, others, and the Mystery
Green-- We promise to Grow by Exploring what is true and right in life
Blue-- We promise to Believe in our ideas and Act on them
Indigo-- We promise to Insist on a Peaceful, Fair and Free world for all
Violet-- We promise to Value our home, Earth, that we share with all living things
When you finish putting down the triangles, count them out loud all round the circle. When you say “connected” point to the two points of one side of the triangle pointing to the people on either side, then to the point that points to the chalice in the center.
There are seven promises we make to each other to help us be in community. They remind us that we are connected to each other and to the spirit of Love and Mystery which some people call God.
Let us enjoy the light.
Turn on Battery candle or light regular candle.
Ask some of these Wondering Questions (as time and interest allow):
I wonder if you have seen this anywhere else in our church?
I wonder what part of it you like best?
I wonder what part is most important?
I wonder how big this Earth community could really be?
I wonder how it feels to be in this Earth community?
I wonder where you are in this community?
I wonder if you have ever taken care of a plant?
I wonder if you have ever taken care of an animal?
I wonder how plants and animals can be part of our community?
I wonder how big our community can really be?
I wonder if you have ever made a promise?
I wonder what happens when you break a promise?
I wonder if there is one promise that is more important than the others?
I wonder if there is one promise that we could remove and still live together peacefully?
I wonder what would happen if the promises weren’t here?
I wonder if you have ever come close to the Mystery?
I wonder if you have ever felt the Spirit of Love and Mystery?
Choices
Say something like:
In this classroom you are able to choose what you would like to do with your time here after the story and before class is over.
Today’s choices are:

• 
  Retelling the story to yourself
  

• 
  Animal Name Game
  

• 
  The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) Dance Party
  

• 
  Census of animals and plants on our campus
  

Or other activities you have chosen as the teacher. It is up to you whether to give totally free choice to each child individually (this will work best when you have enough adults to assist any child who needs help with a chosen activity without too much waiting) or whether to help the class as a whole decide on one or two activities to do together.

Whichever you decide, be sure to let the children know clearly what choices they have (and do not have).
Activity Directions
Retelling the story independently:
Coach children to take turns, and to treat the materials with respect so that they will be available for other children and teachers to use in the future. For older/reading children, provide a copy of the script (above). For younger/non-reading children, provide a photo of the finished storyboard.
Animal Name Game:
Participants sit in a circle. Someone starts by saying their name, and animal that begins with the same letter as the first letter in their name (i.e. Chris the crocodile). The next person in the circle would say, ‘Chris the crocodile’ and then add their own name and animal. This carries on all the way round the group until the last person has to state everyone’s name and animal and then add their own. If you have more time, or older kids, or both, try having each participant ALSO choose a simple gesture or motion to go with the animal and name: for example, Chris the Crocodile could use both arms to make a snapping jaw motion.
The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) Dance Party:
See the extremely popular song/video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE
It’s rather surreal, which is interesting for older kids but may go over younger kids’ heads – but it’s a fun song to dance to either way. You can add animal masks/costumes to the mix if you’d like! Everybody dance!
Census of animals and plants on our campus:
Take small groups of 3 – 4 participants at a time to different areas of the campus with a clipboard and/or smartphone or camera. Allow 5 minutes for children to inventory as many different kinds of plants or animals or both as possible. The list may be written, or they may take photographs of the different plants/animals to share with the class when they return.

The Pagan Ceremony to Honor our Ancestors

Done at the turn of the fall season to winter, November 1st

Written by Joy Silver
Materials

• 
  Small container of salt
  
• 
  Large cauldron to contain the story objects
  
• 
  Black felt underlay 2’x 3’
  
• 
  Stars
  
• 
  Photos of ancestors and relatives and pets who have died
  
• 
  Black veil overlay 2’ x 3’
  
• 
  Golden circle 36” diameter
  
• 
  Image of a web, such as a spider web
  
• 
  Three wooden druids
  
• 
  Small black meshed circle
  
• 
  Harvested veggies and fruits
  
• 
  Sample of a withering plant
  
• 
  Small, ceramic or natural jack-‘o-lantern with a tea light
  
• 
  Matches
  
• 
  Chime
  
• 
  Clay sand tray with as many tea lights as there are participants
  

You can learn the song “Listen, Listen, Listen” from this video (or many others): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rICqbYD9mA

Prepare a sheet of paper with the following words to be read by a child (or an adult, if you do not have a strong enough reader in the group):
Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again

Who do I wish to meet?

Who do I miss with a great ache in my being?
Contact the families of children who will attend to invite them to send in photographs of the children’s ancestors or pets or friends who have died.
Presentation
Words for you to say are in italics; actions are in plain type.
Ring the chime.
The Circle is open but unbroken may the peace of our loved ones who are now in spirit be with us in our Hearts merry meet and merry part and merry meet again.

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