{"id":4370,"date":"2015-11-15T16:00:25","date_gmt":"2015-11-15T22:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=4370"},"modified":"2015-11-15T11:34:12","modified_gmt":"2015-11-15T17:34:12","slug":"symposium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2015\/11\/symposium.html","title":{"rendered":"Symposium"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"photo<\/a>
photo by Cara Schulz<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Last night, 15 members and friends of Denton CUUPS gathered for our third symposium: a leisurely evening of food, wine, and conversation. We got the idea from Cara Schulz<\/a>, who got the idea from the formal dinners of the ancient Greeks. Cara\u2019s symposia have been glamourous white (or gold) tablecloth events<\/a>, because that\u2019s who Cara is. Ours are a little more relaxed.<\/p>\n

The idea is simple. Everybody brings a dish \u2013 just sign up in advance, so you don\u2019t end up with four desserts and no main courses. Dishes are served one at a time and portions are small. This isn\u2019t a fill your plate and stuff your face potluck, it\u2019s a long, leisurely dinner.<\/p>\n

Before each dish is served, a bottle of wine is opened. The person serving the dish pours a libation to a God, ancestor, or spirit of their choice. We\u2019re not just feeding ourselves, we\u2019re including the Gods, ancestors, and spirits in our meal and in our conversation. Then the wine is poured to the participants. You don\u2019t have to drink the wine \u2013 those who can\u2019t or don\u2019t want to drink alcohol aren\u2019t excluded. But the wine really is a conversational enhancement.<\/p>\n

Then the person who brought the dish presents a question for discussion. We place no restrictions on the questions that can be asked, but typically they\u2019re of a theological or philosophical nature.<\/p>\n

Some of our questions last night asked everyone to answer in turn. Others were more free flowing conversations. While there were no arguments, there were several questions \u2013 particularly those involving theology \u2013 where we had some significant differences of opinion. I was very happy to see that \u2013 it showed there was\u00a0serious thinking behind the opinions. Nobody\u2019s taking anything as unquestioned truth.\u00a0It also showed\u00a0the respect and trust this group is building.<\/p>\n

\"Denton<\/a>
Denton CUUPS Symposium \u2013 November 2015<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The symposium allows everyone to sample a lot of different foods and a lot of different wines. This is one of the times we embrace the Texas stereotype and do things big. We had plenty of food and wine left over, so nobody went hungry or thirsty because there wasn\u2019t enough of their favorite.<\/p>\n

We got started about 7:00 last night with hummus and cheese. The second dessert was done just before midnight.<\/p>\n

The obvious logistical challenge is that after a long evening of drinking even small amounts of wine, no one needs to be driving. Our first symposium was held during one of our camping trips, where all anyone had to do was wander back to their tent. Our second and third symposia were held at the home of two of our members who have spare beds, couches, and lots of floor space. Cathy and I brought sleeping bags and pillows.<\/p>\n

A few people couldn\u2019t stay overnight \u2013 they either didn\u2019t drink at all, or limited themselves to one glass early in the dinner. You might think that with wine flowing freely things would get silly, but they never have. In vino veritas<\/em> (or in Greek<\/a>, \u1f18\u03bd \u03bf\u1f34\u03bd\u1ff3 \u1f00\u03bb\u03ae\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1): in wine there is truth.<\/p>\n

15 people is about the upper limit for a symposium. Any more and it\u2019s hard for everyone to get into the flow of conversation, and it\u2019s hard to split a bottle of wine 15 ways. On the other hand, we had a nice variety of questions and opinions. And there was nobody we could have uninvited \u2013 on the contrary, there were several more we wish had been there. Such is the reality of even a closed event in a large group.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t something we do frequently \u2013 we have a full calendar of group events, as well as plenty of individual interests and obligations. Plus doing this infrequently makes it a truly special occasion. About once a year is enough.<\/p>\n

You can run a symposium as a fancy dinner or more informally, with one master chef or with everyone bringing their favorites, with precise wine pairings or with \u201chey, this looks good.\u201d Mainly what you need are a group of people who want to relax for a long, slow evening of food, wine, and conversation.\u00a0 Try it \u2013 you never know what you\u2019ll learn\u2026 and how your community will grow.<\/p>\n

\"Plato's_Symposium_-_Anselm_Feuerbach_-_Google_Cultural_Institute\"<\/a>
Plato\u00b4s Symposium \u2013 Anselm Feuerbach \u2013 1869. Image via Wikimedia Commons<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part of being Pagan is re-creating the customs of our ancient ancestors. On Saturday evening, a group of Pagans in Denton, Texas re-created the Greek custom of the symposium: a long, leisurely evening of food, wine, and conversation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":4373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[272],"tags":[584,535,4,5,8,814,815],"class_list":["post-4370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-2","tag-cara-schulz","tag-denton-cuups","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism","tag-symposium","tag-wine"],"yoast_head":"\nSymposium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Part of being Pagan is re-creating the customs of our ancient ancestors. 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