• Address: New York, NY 10006 (map)
• Date Posted: 10/30/09

Spiritual Children of New York (Manhattan, Financial District) This group is for children under the age of 15 (of course at their parents consent and accompanied to meetings by a parent or guardian) who are growing up in households with parents who are occultists, spiritualists, healers, mediums, witches, voodooists etc, and who are looking for peers who understand what it is like to not be raised in any of the "major religions". The purpose is friendship, safe communication without judgement, and a comfortable peer group. We have found that our daughter, who is 10 at the time of this writing is regularly judged by children who do not understand that not everyone is Christian, Jewish, Muslim etc..... She is often asked about her belief in god, and even the nicest children in her life do not have the tools to understand that she is not a member of what are thought to be the major religions. I thought it would be nice for children living in spiritual non conventional households to be able to join together and forge friendships. I chose the age of 15 and below because I feel that this is the age group that has the hardest time "explaining" their beliefs. I would like to see children of all ages up to 15 join this group. If the group gets large enough we can break into age groups. Parents are welcome to sit separately from their children and discuss their experiences having children that go to schools with children who have either mocked or just not understood the spiritual lives of our children. This group is not intended to educate the general public, (if that is an outcome, then that is a lovely bi-product). It is meant to find a safe place to allow our spiritual children to find comfort, security, knowledge and most of all FRIENDSHIP with Peers who will not judge them or their beliefs. This is a brand new group, and this is my first posting to organize it. Please send an email to me if you are interested. This idea came from the experience of having a few of my 10 year old daughter's friend sleep over last night. They are lovely girls but just don't know how to handle that we are not members of what are considered the major religions. Last night at dinner and this morning at breakfast they tried to get her to "say grace", and it was very uncomfortable. One of them tells her that she has to accept "the one true christ" and this is becoming upsetting to our family. I have plenty of space to meet in my apartment in Manhattan's Financial District, near so many trains that it is so simple to get here. In warmer weather there is a roof deck so this group will have plenty of room to grow. I hope to get this group started right away.