COURTESY
Our Pagan religion and our adherence to Celtic values does not in any way excuse us from the rules of common courtesy due one another. List members will treat each other with the same respect that they wish to receive from others. Name-calling and personal attacks are not acceptable behavior in the Nemeton at any time.
Please think about what you are going to post before you send it. If you are angry, take time away from the keyboard to calm down before you hit "reply." Many people here have strong opinions on many subjects. Feel free to express them, but do so politely. There will be no taking of heads and strewing of entrails on our nice, clean Nemeton.
It is understood that debates and disagreements can sometimes become heated. If this happens and the participants do not seem to be able to disengage in a reasonable amount of time, the moderator will post a gentle reminder regarding appropriate tone of post. Under ideal circumstances, this is all that will be required, the participants will take a pause from posting until tempers are settled, and all things will return to normal.
Should a gentle reminder not suffice to still brewing hostilities, the moderator will post a second, more sternly worded warning. If this is still not enough to cease hostilities, one or more parties may be removed from the mailing list at the moderator's discretion. If the party or parties return to the list to continue hostilities, they will again be removed, and a complaint will be filed with the postmaster at their originating sites.
If a person is repeatedly involved in situations where they have to be reminded of the rules regarding courtesy, thus having a pattern of disrupting the peace of the Nemeton, they may be removed at the moderator's discretion.
If you feel you are being harrassed by another listmember in personal email, there's nothing that the moderator can do about it. Should this happen to you, I recommend that you send copies of the offending email along with a complaint to the postmaster at the harrasser's originating net site.
TOPICALITY
The focus of this list is Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism and Druidry. As such, Celtic lore, literature and customs and their application to our modern Pagan practices forms the core of the list's discussion. It is understood that list conversations, like those in real life, will sometimes drift from the central topic. Diversion is fine, so long as it comes back to discussion of Celtic subjects eventually. The moderator may post a note now and then to try and bring a wandering thread back into the topic corral.
Wicca and its derivatives (Witta, Wita, etc) are not generally on topic for the list, as they have little to do with historical Celtic Paganism, and there is an ample number of places on the net where they may be discussed. The moderators will allow this to be discussed so long as it doesn't go on too long.
Celtic shamanism is on topic, but drawn out discussions of general shamanism are not. Again, there are already a number of places on the net where shamanism can be discussed.
Discussions of general spirituality, ecology, or current events should attempt to relate in some way to the overall theme of the list.
If things continue offtopic for too long, the moderator will suggest that the conversation be taken off-list as a courtesy to the other listmembers.
HUMOR
There's quite a bit of it here, and we all enjoy it, but remember that it can sometimes be difficult to tell humor from a biting personal comment or an attack. Rude personal comments with a smiley after them are still rude personal comments. Smileys (the colon and braket :) mark) do not excuse meanness and personal attacks. If the comment would be offensive without a smiley, don't say it with a smiley.
QUOTES
Please do not quote entire messages just to give a one-line response. Quote only what is necessary to remind folks of the issue you are replying to. People getting the digest (and the rest of us) don't really want to read the same entire message more than once. You have a delete key. It's courteous to use it.
All rules are subject to the moderators' interpretation.
Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any questions or suggestions about the rules, please email the moderators at the addresses above.
Originally written by Erynn; editted by Scott (1998) and Cathbad (2002).