Open Ways - Beltane 2011

pen Ways

Gateway to the Pagan Communities Beltane 2011

Issue 153

Sabbat Journeys Dancing in the May by Heidi Shewchuk

Sacred Spaces Witches Cauldron

Community Perspectives plus much more

Beltane 2011 1

How to Contact Open Ways www.ninehouses.org

pen Ways

Email: editor@ninehouses.org

Gateway to the Pagan Communities

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Beltane 2011

Issue 153

Mail Po Box 11183, Portland, OR 97211

The Nine Houses of Gaia is a non-profit organization incorporated in 1992 to sponsor the Northwest Fall Equinox Festival and publishOpen Ways.

Submissions Open Waysserves as an introduction to and an anchor for pagan communities in Oregon and Articles, letters, poetry, artwork, etc., are the Pacific Northwest; a forum for the exchange of scholarly, practical, or experiential solicited from the community. We reserve information, knowledge, and wisdom; a tool for instruction and communication; a journal the right to edit for length and content. Email or send self-addressed stamped envelope of events, announcements, ideas, poetry, prose, illustration — anything of benefit or interest to pagans, wiccans, or other nature spiritualists. for Writers Guidelines. Type-written (singlesided) or word processed manuscripts are welcome, electronic submissions via email preferred.

Jonathan & Bethany Moore-Garrison Jonathan & Bethany Moore-Garrison We’ve got exciting plans and we need your help! Contributors are a vital We publish Open Ways 8 times a year on the quarters and cross-quarters. part of each Open Ways publication; please consider sharing your wisdom The Open Ways is an online magazine and resource for the Northwest and experiences pertaining to the Pagan community.

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Available

Beltane

March 15th

April 15th

Summer Solstice

May 1st

June 1st

Lughnasadh

June 10th

July 10th

Fall Equinox

July 20th

August 20th

Samhain

September 10th

Oct. 10th

Yule

November 1st

December 1st

Brigid

December 10th

January 10th

Spring Equinox

Feb 1st

March 1st

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Table of Contents

Welcome to the first online only edition of Open Ways. We hope you enjoy the variety of articles that we have gathered for you. Many changes are still in the works as we still just getting off the ground in this new format and as new editors.

Crone’s Moon EarthHeart Treasure

We welcome all your feedback and support and we are always looking for more contributors to make this publication even better.

Sabbatt Journeys

We are both dedicated to living on the path, fostering community and building a community newspaper that brings our community together.

We’d love to hear from you about what you’d like to see in the paper, or how you’d like to contribute. Feel free to contact us at openwayseditor@gmail.com

Witch’s Cauldron Artist Spotlight Community Perspectives Bard’s Circle

Blessings!

Sacred Spaces

Jonathan & Bethany Moore-Garrison

Community Directory

For more information about Jonathan and his work, visit www.bluebuddhabodywork.com For more information about Bethany and her work, visit www.kivastudiopdx.com

Community Events

Beltane As we are each a local yoni of the pleasure body of creation, we praise the Earth clitoris of us, in the circling round a fire that has burned in perpetuity in her-gasms of life. Each culture and sacred tongue, every shamaness and shealer, whole tribes, ancient peace dwellers for tens of thousands of thirteen-moons, praised creation as creation praising pleasure and life.

On this day we jump the fires of life and praise the central impulse of creation: celebrating our bodies as the honed and blessed portals celebrating hearth and health, pleasure, wholeness, and life. What is groundswelling and kindling in you? How can your wish as you firejump be a galactic wish, worthy of tens of thousands of years of Goddess cultures, that large, that holy? How can our walk and dance bring pleasure to the Earth, our toes the touch of lovers to the lover Earth? Praise Earth as Earth’s central praising has gifted us these pleasure bodies, out in the fields, blessing the harvest of coming peace.

Marna © Mother Tongue Ink 2010

www.wemoon.ws 3

Crone’s Moon : Our Lady

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s we celebrate the mystery of Beltaine, the time when the powers of creation merge to bring forth new life, I've been thinking back on the traditions that formed my sense of being on our Lovely Mother Gaia.

Growing up in an Irish Catholic family with all the pomp and circumstance of pre-Vatican II, Catholic ritual was mixed with strong influences of Irish/Celtic earth religion. On May Day, dedicated to Our Lady, the Blessed Mother, my sisters and I would build an altar to Her. We would carry the 4 foot tall statue of the Blessed Mother from our backyard garden and place it on the big front porch of our turn-of-the-century farm house. We treated Her statue as a living presence. She was so beautiful with a crown of 13 stars and a crescent moon under her feet, and a mantle of blue with her arms outstretched in blessing.

Catholicism and sanitize it by ending the high Latin mass, ending all the pomp and circumstance, the numinous quality of incense and bells and ritual garments. It was at that time that the custom of the May altars to our Lady began to vanish.

And it was then that I began my studies in Feminine Spirituality. Merlin Stone's “When God Was a Woman” opened up my mind and heart to Our Lady's presence in every part of the world and at every time, and, within myself. Diving deep into my studies it was easy to merge with the Divine Feminine because as a child I performed the rituals of a priestess to Our Lady in building Her May Day shrine, with candles and flowers, green branches, holy water, rosary beads, and offerings of sweets and fruit.

When my sisters and I would see the crescent moon in the sky we would shout: “Our Lady's Lantern!” Not realizing that for millennia others had seen their Goddess in the crescent moon sailing through the night sky.

She was our May Queen and this feast day was one of my favorites. We sisters would make her a crown of roses and festoon her shrine with every flower and flowering plant. Evergreen branches and leaves from hawthorne and elm and oak would frame Her. Lilac and roses, forsythia branches, iris, daffodil, and even lowly dandelions would be placed all 'round. We filled plates with fruit and nuts, candy bars and Hostess Twinkies to offer to Our Lady.

We kept the altar all through the month of May, keeping fresh flowers and branches and tending the offerings and lighting votive candles and eating the Hostess Twinkies.

Whenever I smell the fragrances of a flower garden, my mind takes me back to those long ago May Days and Our Lady's Altar.

As we celebrate Beltaine on May 1st, the New Moon will be dark and the fires will burn very bright that night reminding us of the union of the God and the Goddess of the Season of Life. As the Beltaine fires burn on May 1st, we are drawn back over many centuries to Brigid's fire burning brightly day and night in Kildaire Ireland.

It was years later, after my childhood, when Vatican II decided to take away all vestiges of the pagan roots of 4

No weapon was allowed near the fire or her Sacred Oak tree. We travel in our imagination back to ancient Scotland on Beltaine night where young lovers chose lots for the oatmeal cake broken in pieces, the one finding the piece marked with charcoal would then leap three times across the Beltaine fire to bring blessings of fertility and luck to all. We consider the meaning of the May Bush in Wales where a tree or bush is decorated with ribbons and charms and prayers, then used to fuel the Beltaine fire.

We might also consider the tradition of Our Lady conceiving the Light of the World at this time of year, as the Light of the World made manifest at the Winter Solstice.

The Deer's Cry (trad. Celtic prayer)

I arise today Through the strength of heaven, light of the sun,

On May 17th is Lunar Beltaine with the Full Moon in Scorpio. Celebrating this holy month continues as we plant a moon garden full of white and glowing plants and flowers to enjoy throughout the long warm nights of Summer and Autumn. In the moon garden place a mirror to reflect the brilliant full moon, and a pottery bowl to see the future reflected in the rain water by the light of the Full Moon. In this holy and merry month of May sleep outside, wash your face in the morning due, have a crowning ceremony of your dearest May Queen and May King, decorate a May Bush with your prayers and gratitude, make a garland, build an altar to The Sacred, leap the bonfire, and in each of these living and life giving rituals, we bless and pray for and hold sacred all things who dwell here. -KKH

Radiance of the moon, Splendor of fire, Swiftness of wind Depth of sea stability of earth Firmness of rock.

Karen Hannegan has traveled and studied worldwide with teachers and healers from many traditions. She received initiations into esoteric practices in Buddhism and Taoism.Her family of origin's Celtic roots influence her love of the arts, story telling, and magic.Karen has worked with individuals and groups utilizing energy work, meditation, movement, breath work, and other modalities to assist those seeking a deeper experience of their life path through times of change.

Her expertise includes tai chi and qigong, chakra meditation, intuitive and spiritual guidance. She especially values the deep healing properties of Nature as a means to health and wholeness and spends as much of her time as possible hiking in the beauty of wilderness areas of Oregon and Washington.

She can be reached at karenhannegan@gmail.com.

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Frog Moon (Cree).

Ponies shed (Sioux).

Bright moon (Celtic).

Waiting Moon (Hopi).

Mulberry Moon (Greek).

Ninth Moon (Wishram).

Idle Moon (Assiniboine).

Big Leaf Moon (Mohawk).

Panther Moon (Choctaw).

Grass Moon (Neo-Pagan).

Planting Moon (Cherokee).

Corn Planting Moon (Taos).

Little Corn Moon (Natchez).

The White Goddess

Green Leaf Moon (Apache).

by Robert Graves

Corn Weed Moon(Agonquin).

I am formed from nine blossoms,

Field Maker Moon (Abernaki).

Nine buds of various kinds,

Blossom Moon (Anishnaabe).

From primroses of the mountains, Broom, meadow sweet and cockle, Together intertwined,

Shaggy Hair Moon (Arapaho).

Green Leaves Moon (Dakota).

Fat Horses Moon (Cheyenne).

Leaf Tender Moon (San Juan).

From the bean in its shade bearing,

Hare Moon (Medieval English).

A special white army

Milk Moon (Colonial American).

Of earth, of earthly kind,

Strawberry Moon (Potawatomi).

From the blossoms of the nettle,

Hoeing Corn Moon (Winnebago).

Oak, thorn and bashful chestnut,

Alewive Moon (Passamaquoddy).

Nine powers of nine flowers,

Ninth Moon (Dark Janic), Mothers Moon (Full Janic).

Nine powers in me combine, Nine buds of plant and tree, Long and white are my fingers, As the ninth wave of the sea.

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Flower Moon, Corn Plant Moon, Milk Moon (Algonquin)

an alchemical adventure into the spirit and matter of Love with Sharon Wesolowski, M. Div.

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here do you go to listen to your heart? Is it the outer journey you take that brings you deeply within, or the inner exploration you engage in that offers connection to a rich outer life?

EarthHeart Treasures is an ongoing adventure into the loving partnership of spirit and matter… into finding one in the other and the other in One. This is a personal discovery and communal celebration of the exquisite treasure we each are, and through this realization how each of us acts as a sacred vessel allowing and inviting the unifying and transmuting of all things into the existence and expression of Love.

again to my direct experience of intimacy and childlike wonder with nature as I came into more intellectual and varied approaches and traditions for learning about one’s spiritual essence and the interdynamic relationship of life.

To the experience of our direct vulnerability we are drawn to discover the truth.

It was in childhood I first greeted the treasures of the EarthHeart. Being the youngest of four daughters, I was regularly on my own as my elder sisters attended school, spent time with peers, and engaged in activities I couldn’t keep up with. I would venture to nature… to be amongst the trees, with the rocks, to listen and learn from the wind, rain and sun. As I grew I discovered nature had imbued and awakened an eternal connection to Her wisdom that was accessible if I quieted down and simply asked for it.

It became something I did not know as separate from myself. A life-long connection anchored inside even as I looked around and perceived the natural beauty of an outer environment. It was during childhood I experienced my heart and the heart of life as one.

The great mystics and sages received divine inspiration while on their sojourns into nature, and most often people describe spiritual awakenings happening within a natural context… an interchange with a sunrise or sunset that leaves the body in waves of ecstatic sensation, a moment of increased capacity to see beyond the veil while hiking, a softening into inner heard voices or palpable guidance while resting beside a tree or body of water. Our own personal connection with nature takes us unbiasdly into the spirit within matter, and the matter of spirit. We become an experiential point where these two seeming unique energies engage together and can be felt as one.

This discovery whispered (and oftentimes yelled!) within as I grew and explored other spiritual and personal growth paths and perspectives. I would return again and 7

This is a great forum for discovering the truth of who we are and how to live as love.

invaluable component of the great whole, truly worthy of being who you are.

And so I invite you into this realm… one you each already know intimately, intuitively and innocently. It is a realm in which you may return to a child-like state of wonder, into the mystery and vulnerability… into direct discovery, feeling and finding out for oneself. I offer you full permission to claim this as respectable, worthy ground for discovering truth and enlivening this part of your life no matter how or where you live or what you have prior called it. It is this realm of being the unifying treasure of spirit and matter we must personally claim for our sacred power to be authentically awakened here on earth and through us. This does not take month-long sojourns into the woods alone. Enter here now… it is the time and passage of this season and global cycle to uniquely discover and know oneself as the direct link to and force of Love.

Invite nature’s wisdom to bless your heart with the heart’s truth of us all. It is an innocent, powerful and vulnerable path for it always comes back to you… to your willingness to know yourself as worthy of life’s fullest love.

Let us play together in the richness of our entreasured existence. There is endless beauty to discover, unbounded love to experience, and unmatchable relationships to be awakened within and around.

Sharon Wesolowski, M. Div. is a heart wisdom guide, writer, mother and spiritual peace minister residing in Portland, OR. Here she shares her unique blend of support services, For Sacred Family Living, through her private practice, Ministry of the Mother. This is a resource of divine feminine wisdom and nourishment in support of each one of us discovering our open-hearted capacity to live within the realms of I and We in no separation from Love. Visit her website: www.ministryofthemother.org to learn more or contact: 503 789 2466 sharon@ministryofthemother.org.

Love is coming into its own right and light now… seen as the great unsurpassing force it is. Collectively we have misconstrued the power of love as a passive expression, something attainable only from outside of us, if we are lucky. Love has been seen primarily as soft, serene and compassionate. Within Love’s realms there is no static experience. Softness in its original nature contains gentile forces and also hard, firm edges… here Serenity is both still and also dynamically moving… Compassion is not only bestowed on a perceived outside other, but also upon the self. Such things go beyond our idle notions of claiming Soft as less than Hard… or Compassion as less than Detachment. Such truths can not be seen by and in a world that believes existence is separate and works alone.

Into the world of your own EarthHeart Treasure you are invited to travel and remember, permitted here and destined to find the truth… to discover the edgeless place of total surrender and dynamic free will in which you know yourself as a unique, distinct being, and also as an

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Venture outside at a time and place you feel works well into your day. Gaze towards the sky, breathing in the vastness of what you can and cannot see. Wiggle your toes and look at your feet upon the ground, breathing in the vastness of what you can and cannot see. Place your hand on your heart and simply become present… receiving the feeling of yourself as a great vessel that unifies the forces of spirit and matter here and now. Honor this most cherished role and right you have to discover how spirit and matter dynamically work within and through you. Look to your feet and notice the heavens below… look to the sky and see the soil of the earth within stars, clouds, sun and planets. Breathe in the non-static forces of life moving, changing, unknowing, flowing into the next form… and feel how you are a part and source of this and so much more. Breathe in such simplicity… into your EarthHeart vulnerability.

Om Shanti -SW

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Y

You have come to do this – it is your purpose because holy consummation is my only outcome.

Burn the world of my mind send the earth of my belly into scorching flames deep, red, wild, untamable.

ou scorch my lips burning up and down my spine into the space between my legs raising hell fire in my heart.

It feels I will die never recognize this being I claim as Self again.

Take me then Take me now until I cannot understand I could ever be separate from You from Love’s fire from flaming truth.

I’ve danced around you eyeing with uncertainty letting tips of smoking tendrils twist and writhe about my wrists giving me just enough, just enough to always feel the Heart even in my smoldering radiance.

You destroy the world I have lived in I consent, in trepidation.

We come undone as I follow the spiral claiming the I that knows how to see without need to explain.

How this union has tempted me.

I trembling believing in responsibility as Eve’s daughter to make the Right choice.

Burn me to oblivion until I am left in ecstasy’s undulation formless beauty creating new skin from ashen renewal luminous and transparent burning eternal flowing wild and free.

What if I really let You loose let You burn through barriers I didn’t even realize were there?

I felt protective… thought it was for the world, afraid embodying my own wild fire would destroy the earth leave everyone homeless and hungry desperate and alone.

Consume me forevermore, I know nothing as more holy.

~ sharon wesolowski

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Sabbatt Journeys A timer beeps and brewing coffee replaces the smell of cool fresh air. I can hear the coffee maker gurgling away in the kitchen. Better get the Hubby up...time to get dressed, to get going. Its 4:10, I don’t want to be late; Not that traffic will be a problem. On Beltane morning you get up when the farmer does or else you’ll miss the magic, the tradition of honoring the awakened land, and celebrating the forces of life. You will miss the fun.

-Robert Plant, Stairway to Heaven

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Fun? Depends on what you mean by fun. Feeling excited that it’s not “just another day”, and celebrating it. I mean dressing up all warm and festive. The Hubby wears his best kilt for the occasion. I don my bowler and putting a sprig of hawthorn in the hat band. Then I grab a travel mug full of coffee for the road and a flask full of single malt to share with friends. To keep the morning chill away of course. Outside in the cool of the wee hours, I stop to wash my face in the clean, May morning dew.

This is part of the tradition on May Day, and it links me to my ancestors.

By Heidi Shewchuk

t’s 4am, and I am awake before my alarm goes off.

From an open window I can hear the first furtive chirping of birds as the scent of dew and wet earth fills my nostrils.

I try to open my eyes but they are glued shut. I didn’t really sleep much, too excited thinking about the day to come. It’s Beltane. May Day. Finally! After a long wet winter it’s time for summer, thank the Gods. I open my bleary eyes, and click on the bedside lamp. Soooo tired.

We went to bed at midnight, after an evening of ale with friends at the pub. Like good Celts we started the eve before. I lie in bed a little longer, wishing I had gone to bed at 8pm instead of midnight.

Then it’s into the truck, driving through the darkness to the appointed place, at the appointed hour, to gather with others who delight in this day. Young couples and old couples, single folks, children and babes who rose up from their beds to witness the rising of Sunna.

We mark this day with the joyous sound of concertina, fiddle and drum. The Morris dancers clashing with sticks or swords.

Happy people dancing around the Maypole, twisting and turning. Weaving, and laughing. The song birds lustily singing high in the trees all the while. The eastern sky turning golden as May Day dawns, cold dew yet clinging to the wild roses bloom. Then suddenly the sun crests triumphant over Mt. Hood, and the crowd cries out”Huzzah!”

The promise of summer fulfilled, it has returned and you are here to be a part of it.

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You and so many others connected by this magic, down through time.

At this time of year the winter sewn wheat covers the fields like a green carpet. The hedgerows are lush with new vegetation and alive with the chatter of nesting birds.

In the orchards the bees are busy flying from bloom to bloom. Sunna has returned to warm the land. The season of work begins, of planting, reaping, preserving, and herding. After a long, cold winter our ancestors, from the Italic peninsula to the British Isles, held rituals and festivals to honor this time of year. To the Celts this festival was Beltane, a high holy day that marked the start of summer and the start of battle season. To the Romans it was the month of Maius; it started with the Floralia a celebration of the blossom Goddess Flora, and ended with the Ambarvalia, or purification of the agricultural fields.

“Hal-an-tow, jolly rumbalow We were up long before the day-O To welcome in the summer, To welcome in the May-O, The summer is a-coming in And winter's gone away-O!”

We still honor this season, this holytide of passion, warmth and life. It’s just that it’s been transformed over the centuries. The pre-Christian rites have been distilled down through a filter of time and place to become the folk traditions we know today. Yet at its heart is the ancient need to celebrate the rising life force. To the secular world this need is met by the festival days of May Day and Walpurgisnacht. So many cultures have had a hand in shaping our modern Mayday celebrations you can’t tease out their individual threads completely, I won’t even try. For Neo- Pagans it is one of the holy days when the secular and the overtly pagan come together and cultural heritage overlaps with spiritual traditions.

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Morris Dancing

dancing is linked to fertility rituals of the seasons. Others believe it has roots in a more pagan past.

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Morris dancing is danced in America not so much as a ritual dance but as a fun activity and a performance art.

Morris dance groups, called sides dance traditional and newly created dances in what are called “sets”. A team will typically dance in a few traditions; a particular style of dancing that comes from a specific village. Newly created dances are also often influenced by a particular tradition.”

y personal experience has been with the traditions that hail from Great Britain, England in particular. For many years now I have made getting up at the crack of dawn on May Day morning part of my Beltane tradition. To go and watch the Morris dancers, grown men and women leaping around waving hankies and bells.

They perform intricate dances, waving ash sticks in the air; they bring them down to clash together, with a shout, the dancers leap into the air. The higher the dancers leap the higher the crops will grow they say. Then everyone heads off to a day filled with dancing, ending at the pub to sing songs and drink ale. What’s not to love?

-Renegade Rose Morris, About Morris Dancing How old is it? Where it did it come from? No one knows for sure, but scholarly types within and without the folkdance world have their theories.

From the booklet “What you didn’t know about the Morris”, by Roy Domnett “Despite a century of academic searching, there is still no evidence to support the postulated direct link to any ancient pagan or fertility rite. Some people would claim that there must have been something before Morris under another name. Whatever it may have been, if it ever existed, its function in society was absorbed by the Morris, not the other way around.”

Morris and Mayday are so intertwined I can’t imagine one without the other. However Morris is danced at other times of the year, as part of the Yuletide/New Year festival cycle for example.

What exactly is Morris Dancing? I think this passage from the website of the Renegade Rose Morris explains it better than I could.

And this history from The Morris Ring website; “Morris dancing is a form of English country dancing from the Cotswold region of England with strong links to traditional rituals and seasonal events. Morris is often danced in conjunction with those events. Some Morris teams (or “sides”) are all women, some all men and some mixed (co-ed) men and women. Some people believe that Morris

“Morris Dance has been part of English life for at least six hundred years and may be much older. As to the origin of the dances, this is a matter of continuing dispute and argument. Recent historical studies place the earliest Morris records in the time of Henry VII (1500), and firmly in with 13

proudly Neo-pagan, participating in sacred dance and ritual for the benefit of all. They are all participating in a cultural tradition, one that is a hell of a lot of fun.

Here in Portland we have several excellent Morris Dancing sides or troupes who uphold the tradition of dancing in the May. These groups of dedicated artists are Renegade Rose Morris, Bridgetown Morris men and Iron Mountain Sword. Along with them are the lovely Wild Rose Garland dancers or the Portland Revels. These groups dance at many cultural events in and outside the area, Folklife Festival up in Seattle being one of the biggies. All of these people love what they do, happily giving their energy to the dance.

the Court masques and entertainment. From the Court it seems to have spread into popular entertainment, first in large houses, then to village celebrations, where it became associated with Church Ales and other seasonal festivities. In the 1500s Morris was also a European phenomenon with versions in other European Court entertainments. Before the fifteenth century? Who knows?”

Yet it’s on May Day morning that the magic of their art captures me. When folk tradition and spiritual ritual start to merge. Beltane has arrived. The dancers get up even earlier than I, to dress in their ritual garb, gather their families, musical instruments, and their strength. Then

Who knows indeed, but even if Morris dancing doesn’t actually have its roots in pre-Christian fertility rites, so what? It has come, in the hearts of many, to symbolize something magical and connected somehow with our pagan past.

I don’t personally think Morris dancing is an unbroken line to our pre-Christian ancestor’s religions, but I do think it is an expression of our human need to make ritual. To celebrate the holy days, and turning of the seasonal wheel. Does it make my crops grow? I say yes, yes it does. Because good ritual, or ritual performance, filled with energy and passion will tap into the forces of life. Or wake up the Gods and landspirits... Even if some people are uncomfortable with that.

drive though the dark up to the Intl. Rose Test Garden in the West hills of Portland. Where waiting in the darkness are people like myself, some more awake than others, ready to dance the summer in and to welcome in the May O’! Without this Beltane just wouldn’t be Beltane for my Hubby and I.

Many, not all, Morris dancers are Christian or secular people who love the folkdance tradition, and see nothing “pagan” or mystical about it. A few are even hostile to the idea. However some Morris dancers are overtly and 14

whirl and dance through the crowded streets of the town. Led by their Teazer, or handler, to the throbbing drums and singing of the May Day song.

Pastow= http://www.cornishlight.co.uk/padstowobby.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW4myZI7aiM

If you would like to join all of us mad folks up in the West hills on Beltane/May Day morning, please dress warm and bring something hot to drink. It can be nippy up there on the hill. I would also recommend a chair to sit on. People gather in the upper section of the International Rose Test Garden around 5am ish, near the fountain and the Gift Store. Dancing starts with the Abbotts Bromley at 5:30 am. The address is 850 SW Rose Garden Way, Portland, 97205. Give it a Google, and check out the map for directions. Park by the tennis courts on SW Kingston Ave. across from the Japanese Gardens. Look for people wearing bells and ribbons. They are the dancers they know where to go, just ask.

The Hastings Jack in the Green, May Day festival= http://www.hastingsjack.co.uk/ More Greenman info, and May Day history= http://thecompanyofthegreenman.wordpress.com/2011 /04/04/campaign-for-the-preservation-of-may-day/ The very pagan Hunters Moon Morris, of Eastbourne, UK= http://www.huntersmoonmorris.co.uk/

Check out these link to the sites of the Morris sites mention here, and for some links to other events relating to Beltane and May Day. Renegade Rose Morris= http://renegaderose.net/ Bridgetown Morris Men= http://www.portlandmorris.org/bridgetown.html Iron Mountain Sword= http://home.comcast.net/~IronMountainSword/ Wild Rose Garland= http://wildrosegarland.org/ May Day events= http://rgoldman.org/morris/mayday.htm Folklife= http://www.nwfolklife.org/ Events in the UK= For a lusty, passionate, explosive Beltane nothing comes close to the Beltane Fire Societies event, the Edinburgh Fire Festival. In Scotland, on Beltane eve, throngs of people gather for the massive, throbbing, sacred drama that is the Edinburgh Fire festival, to await the return of the May Queen and Her retinue. Thousands of people and all the forces of nature process to the top of Calton Hill to take part in the mysteries of Beltane. It is a truly spectacular and powerful rite.

Beltane Fire Society = http://beltane.org/ http://youtu.be/VLfTKrJYu-8 In Pastow Cornwall they await the arrival of the Obby Oss on May Day. There are two Osses, or Horses, who

Heidi Shewchuk Dan Klug White Hart Forge 503-353-6695 www.Whitehartforge.com

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Gods & Goddesses of Beltane

Beltane Trees Hawthorne & Willow

Artemis Bes Bacchus Flora Hera Kokopelli Pan Priapus (pictured)

Shiela- Na- Gig Xochiquetzal

Green Man’s Garden Reminders: Plant remaining seeds and plants in the garden!

Check your herbs….if you intend to keep and use them, don’t let them flower.

Frankincense

Start gathering and drying rose petals.

Lilac Rose 16

Witch’s Cauldron

History in the Brewing

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Beltane 2011

By Jaclyn MacKinnon

ver wondered what Vikings drank? What was served at Pre-Christian Celtic feasts? What did ale taste like, say, in 1000 BC? In what I hope will be an ongoing series I will examine ancient brewing, with emphasis on, but not limited to, Northern European traditions. With a balance between history, folklore, seasonal relevance and practicality I want to produce recipes that capture the essence of the ale and mead of long ago but can be easily replicated at home with minimal equipment. If you’ve never brewed before I recommend consulting a good home-brewing book for more detailed instructions as well as for information on priming and bottling, which I won’t get into here.

In this first installment I want to focus on traditional wedding-feast fermentations in honor of Beltane and the union of the God and Goddess celebrated at this time.

Mead was the obvious choice, having put the “honey” in “honeymoon” millennia ago as well as being a traditional May Day drink in many northern regions. I ran across this excerpt from the Finnish epic The Kalevala, illuminating the use of a mix of barley, hops and honey to produce a wedding brew.

From The Kalevala, c. 1000 BC On the fire she sets the cauldron, Boils the barley, hops and water, Lets them steep and seethe and bubble, ………...

Osmotar, beer-preparer, Placed the honey in the liquor; Kapo mixed the beer and honey, And the Wedding beer fermented; ………..

Time had gone but little distance, Scarce a moment had passed over, Ere the heroes came in numbers, To the foaming beer of Northland, Rushed to drink the sparkling liquor 17

Braggot A beer-mead hybrid: barley, hops and honey, is called Braggot. Dryer than mead with honey flavor and hop bitterness, braggot is a beautiful thing. Any place beer and mead were made, braggot was likely made too.

A popular feature in traditional northern brews, possibly predating the use of hops, is juniper. In addition to its unique flavor juniper has in many cultures been associated with purification, cleansing and the banishment of bad spirits.

Juniper is sometimes thrown on Beltane fires to increase their purifying powers. Indeed juniper has antiseptic qualities and these beliefs possibly arise from the observation that when used in brewing the rate of spoilage of the beer decreases.

Heat water in large (at least 4 gal) pot.

Place melanoidin malt in muslin bag and steep while water heats up. Remove grain before water boils. Add malt extract and honey to the hot water, stirring to dissolve.

Add 1 oz blackberry leaves at 50 minutes (10 minutes after start of boil) 1 oz each of juniper berries, rosehips, blackberry leaves and hops 0.25 oz raspberry leaves at 30 minutes 1 oz juniper berries, in muslin bag, 0.25 oz raspberry leaves, 1oz hops at 10 minutes.

1.8 kg (4 lb) pale malt extract 0.9 kg (2lb) honey (I used raspberry honey) 224 g (0.5 lb) melanoidin malt, cracked 56 g (2 oz) Chinook hops (in the future I would consider using hops with lower alpha acid content) 84 g (3oz) juniper berries, 50 g cracked, 25 g reserved for later use 84 g (3 oz) blackberry leaves, fully dried and shredded 28 g (1 oz) raspberry leaves, fully dried and shredded 28 g (1 oz) rosehips, dried, seeds and inner hairs removed

After an hour cover, cool and transfer into your waiting fermenter. I dump it through a strainer to aerate it and to get all the bits out. If you used a boil pot too small to boil a full three gallons, you may want to add additional water at this time. When cool, pitch your favorite yeast.

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Before people understood about yeast, fermentation was generated from yeast on equipment, in the environment or from the residue of a previous batch. While I plan to explore wild yeasts and sour beers in future installments, today I’ve opted to go to a brewpub with a clean mason jar and ask for yeast. I pitch about 250 ml (1 cup) dense cell mass for a 3 gal batch.

After fermentation slows, between five days and a week after start, transfer braggot to a sanitized fermenter. Place remaining ingredients into a sanitized mesh bag and throw them in! You may want to weigh this down for maximum utilization. I have a nice chunk of tumbled quartz I think excels at this. Whatever you Boil water, honey and sugar. Place lemons in sanitized use, make sure you can 1.5 Gallon water fermenter. Pour hot liquid over lemons and allow to sanitize it and it won’t react cool. When cool pitch yeast. After one week add with your brew. Lots of the 1 cup honey dextrose, place five raisins in each bottle and bottle the aroma of the juniper, 12 oz white sugar mead. When the raisins float it’s ready to drink. blackberry and raspberry 12 oz brown sugar leaves will have blown off 2 lemons, washed, peeled, pith removed, sliced, peel reserved during primary fermentation. This process raisins makes up for that. yeast Introducing this “dry-herb” ¼ cup dextrose (as opposed to “dry-hop”) before fermentation totally stops, insures your braggot has a healthy immune system to counteract any bacteria or wild fungus introduced at this point.

My braggot is still fermenting at time of writing. I’ll provide an update on the final product in the next edition.

Three thousand years after The Kalevala, mead is still popular in Finland and is still the drink of choice on Vappu, the Finnish term for May Day. I haven’t made this one yet but I will!

Happy brewing!

Jacyln

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Finish May Day Mead

Artist Spotlight

Katie Simpson Spain artistic life. Having grown up in a small forested community next to the salad bowl of america, this seems a perfect spot for me. Being in the midst of so much growth, taking care of so many plants, gives me strength, inspiration and peace. It's magic, really, the combination of earth and care. I have been an activist, an educator, a scholar. I enjoy working with the elements to create life, this gorgeous biological process which constantly changes us and our world.

-K.S.S.

M

y art is inspired by life, my life is inspired by art. The growing changing world gives me plenty to work with. I love making. I love painting, illustration, sculpture; the process of making, that magic that emerges with creation.

I studied art at Portland State University, and have since shown art consistently in many various venues. I’ve moved through figurative, abstract and representational styles trying to find this body of work. I recently painted a huge body of abstract acrylic landscapes, as well as simultaneously creating a large series of abstracted plant sculptures from reclaimed plastic bags. These elements merged and germinated – my current work emerged from that.

I recently found organic farming. I’ve loved the natural world my whole life, loved gardening and growing things - so this was a natural step, one which has nourished my 20

That damp bark scent redwoods drying in sideways sunlight that afternoon – walking toward the hilltop.

A tour, what is & what was.

Past the black bamboo and silted ponds – the place the abandoned house wilted; grew ferns, bedsprings, moss, mushrooms & nightmares.

Above the seeping spring.

We walked into the flat needled clearing & found no four leaf clover, where the fallen tree has been growing ivy since 1986 – the storm I mistook for a flood. Like my dreams. The ocean coming miles to meet us.

Sweet swollen creeks over all these years built thick bars of mud and stone in the trees. Cobbled bottles and lacey cans rusting between roots.

The bee boxes are gone, the koi and the house on stilts. No boards remain.

Fallen porches and plastic tarped roofs, in the dark below these tall trees.

The hilltop horses & hammocks given way to atvs and gravel. Still the spanish moss, the oaks, the oxalis, pebbled with redwood cones.

Still the gulch & the melting stumps, notched by loggers.

-kss 21

-kss

22

Community Perspectives strength and in personal grace-- and to appreciate coming face to face with our deeper selves. Who are you, when everything else is stripped away? I’ll bet you are stronger than you thought, more resourceful, more committed to your loved ones.

O

ne of my best friends is always angry at the universe for all his bad luck. And yet, when he tells me all the things that have "gone wrong" for him, I work to keep a straight face-- it all sounds like GOOD luck to me!

It was only when I was nearly killed, and escaped with my life, that I came to truly appreciate being alive, to appreciate each breath I take as a bit of grace in my life.

And it was through that experience that I realized I didn't have time to pretend everything was okay. I have to face my problems, and work through them, and move past them, in order to live the life I want. What a gift that realization was. Knowing myself, being honest with myself, and appreciating what I am actually capable of (quite a lot, really)... it is such a gift. Such a bit of grace in my life.

For example, at work one day he was asked to get a couple of extra radios for his crew. Radios that everyone hates and wants to replace because they are constantly breaking. My friend picked up five radios, checked their battery levels, and distributed them-- keeping one for himself. Of the five his was the only one that didn't work.

And to top it off, his radio was knocked off its clip during a climb, and shattered. He sees this as two examples of very bad luck.

So although the experience itself was shattering-- what it shattered was my acceptance of a life half-lived. It shattered my willingness to put myself in dangerous situations, and pretend everything was okay. And I came away from that horrible time with a cup that is nearly overflowing with appreciation for the life I've spent the last five years creating for myself (I'm not done yet). A life in which I actually like myself, and am intentional about my choices, and am open to the possibility of something more. A life that continues to unfold. A hard life, but a life in which every day holds wonderful possibilities, and opportunities, and challenges. An authentic life.

I think it's great that of the five, he didn't give anybody ELSE a radio that didn't work. And how perfectly LOVELY that the malfunctioning radio was the one to be broken! No harm done. I see it as a bit of luck, really.

Every day is full of possibilities for appreciating what we have, learning something new, and seeing the grace that fills our lives. We can choose to see our life experience as difficult and fraught with frustrations-- or we can choose to see the bits of grace that help us overcome those difficulties, and that inject our world with some wellplaced humor.

I have finally taken responsibility for my own happy endings. For all that horrible experiences ARE HORRIBLE, I hold a measure of appreciation for all the good that I have been able to draw from living through them. I know that– because of the strength and grace needed to survive those experiences (and overcome them)—I like who I am today a whole lot better than who I was before. And I’m less afraid of the world. More willing to trust that good given out will return, and that

How funny that the broken radio was the one to get smashed!

Now, there are terrible parts. Horrible situations and painful outcomes. Moments when we just want to curl up in a ball and scream until it all fades away. I've had a lot of those times, too. And I've come to realize that those times– which I wouldn't wish on anyone-- are an opportunity to become something more. To grow in 23

my guides and guardians and Goddess (by whatever name) are active in my life. I could not have survived this long without them. And for that sure knowledge, I am grateful, too.It's all a matter of perspective.

What life do you want to live? What lessons do you want to keep, and what experiences do you want to overcome? Are you willing to look for the greater good, or are you stuck tallying up all the little bads? In my perspective, life is worth celebrating! And every day offers us a choice of paths to take.

Be Well.

Staci Elliott --www.sanctuaryWEST.org--

There is again a gathering of forces, aligning to re-story ourselves; to go beyond Empire culture, and through the discomfort of not knowing exactly what shall come to pass, to oracle earth’s wisdoms, in preparation for the journey of coming Home to ourselves.

Angelica

Lilac

Blue Bell

Marigold

Clover

Meadowsweet

Cowslip

Primrose

Daisy

Rose

Hawthorne

Sorrel Woodruff

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Community is an interactive, cooperative effort. Like family members, we get along with some members better than others. We have more in common with some than others. We spend more time with some than others.

Sometimes we have issues or problems among us.

Communication and a willingness to work things out are important tools to keep communities together and strong.

We must learn to think before we speak, forgive unintended (or even intended) trespasses, honor the input of other members, and restrain harsh criticism if we are to retain and maintain a healthy productive community.

Humans are social creatures. Each of us lives, works, plays, and grows within a community or various communities. A community is a group of people who in some way have a common ground or values. Some characteristics that bring communities together are location, interests, beliefs, work, recreational activities, challenges, and self-image.

Our community needs the energy of the young and restless, the strength of the strong and stubborn, the teachings of the wise and garrulous. We need consensus, we need direction, we need energy, we need ability, and we need leaders who can hold it all together. We have similar views. Now we need cooperation.

Historically, village communities needed each other for survival. While the concept of survival has evolved, we still need involvement in our communities to increase our opportunities and chances of survival.

A strong, vibrant, supportive community that works and plays together can be a source of strength to its members. Membership in a community provides a sense of belonging, offers support and assistance, provides companionship, facilitates sharing, and allows us to become more than we can be alone. Community provides us with a close-knit group of people whom we have something in common with. It provides us a safe place to let our hair down and be ourselves, without the societal mask we need when dealing with the larger world.

How do we start?

By creating and attending events that strengthen our spirits and resolve.

By drumming, dancing, singing, and coming together in joyous celebration and caring camaraderie.

By bringing that care and the memory of that joy to the table when we have difficulties to overcome.

By focusing on the positive.

By being swift to forgive and slow to take offense.

By living honestly and true to our beliefs.

By promoting harmony whenever we can.

By being trustworthy.

By committing ourselves to the work of the Gods, Goddesses, and Spirit we believe in.

By contributing to activities that involve and support the community.

Community provides a means to network, finding information, situations, and support that we need to get by in today’s fast-paced world. Community provides resources through the actions and experiences of its members. We thrive through the common talents, skills, and efforts of our community members.

Community allows members to unite and work toward common goals and general interests that might be difficult or incomprehensible to achieve alone. Communities provide a means for under-represented groups to create a voice that can be heard and effect change in the larger environment. Communities can offer us protection.

By Mersandy

25

Bard’s Circle Dance

She Dances in the verdant wood waiting for Her Consort.

Long tresses gleam with titian flames, Spiral curls pirouetting in sunlight.

Crimson lips hint at the flush of her mood,

Seductive curves reveal a bounty in Her breasts.

Singing in the Summer heat, ready to embrace Her lover,

sweat, yes, blood

Her Dance is the Heartbeat of the Earth.

We bloom, women do... like flowers, we open...

The secret path to the sap is to make us swell, letting the skin tell its story in gold... one must be bold, at certain turns...

He Runs in the viridian forest eager for His Inamorata.

Raven locks glint aubergine under a dappled sun, Scarlet lips whisper Virility on the wind.

A Crown of Horn speaks to His Potency,

We ignite, women in flame when a certain hand knows what to do, then we fall, or leap it's the same synapse, the ecstatic collapse of reserve...

His wild, vernal zeal turns toward efflorescing days.

An Urgent Hunger for Her Kiss brings Him to Her, Yearning for Release is His Dance.

Beltaine revelers frolic, weaving inward, outward.

And we bleed, women will, through so many openings one can become lost without a guide...

Some girls want to hide, but their skin refuses to deny the drive, and instead, speaks in fluid tongues...

Ribbons of vermilion and alabaster undulate with Life,

While splashes of pine, sage and vivid green flash by.

Trees bear witness to the Magic of their Dance.

Everywhere Creation bursts forth,

A kaleidoscope of possibility in Bloom.

Sweat, yes... blood... maybe even milk and tears, in between, liquid silk from sweet laughter, or the sometimes heartbreak... so women bend, willows in the wind, and let go, scattered petals embracing sky.

Lucid Passion and Euphoria are within the Grove,

As Goddess and God Sing, Life becomes the Dance.

-Seanachai Moonfyre April 2010

debra yvonne mathis 26

Rise, music, out of the Earth!

I feel it below me and just beyond this world.

A cavern full of sound, a storm trapped beneath a mountain howls at the edge of my throat.

I burn to let it sing through me!

Rise up, music, in me and devour me— When I open my mouth I want a rainbow cloud to come out that covers my body from sight, and wipes away my face so that the song does not go by my name.

And from this cloud as thunder and lightning, fierce and ecstatic, crackling, roaring, drumming, brilliantly radiant, deep as the oldest stone, comes the music of the ageless universe, renewing itself, the infinite, revealing and creating itself.

Oh Spirit I beg that you fill me

inbetween the notes

and that you erase me!

Unhinge my jaw and open my mouth as wide as a serpent’s and let flow out from me the flood that presses against my heart

eyes of spirit view inbetween the ears

from beyond—music of the Other World, voices of thousands of beings expanding together into each note.

They who sang us into existence are singing our next age now, and their song can lift us—and make us ready.

gardens bloom anew see, sound sends sneaky signals

Oh Goddess, these songs are straining inside of me

down neural pathways dark

like wild angels!

When this music comes into the world,

starting sweet little fires

it will fill us and change us, we will understand the right way to live

full of sugar and spark,

and begin our lives anew, this time doing what we were meant to be doing

telling shadow stories

all along. Our hearts will be tuned to a true note

in song, in sign, in sound,

and we will learn how to praise, and never cease praising.

color and air a flurry,

We will know what to do to care for our precious world, and harmony and beauty will be the air that we breathe,

as silence sits, somehow bound.

and the ocean we all swim in will be love.

- Debra Yvonne Mathis

¤ Angela Galik 2009 From We’moon 2011 27

Sacred Spaces

Goddess Temple of Ashland, Oregon THE REACTIVATION OF THE SACRED FEMININE Goddess temples such as this one focus on inclusivity and demonstrate an eclectic synthesis of the world’s wisdom traditions, spiritual practices and healing arts.

Among the contributors to the temple are Priestesses, Ceremonial leaders, Energy healers, Prayerformance Artists, Shamanic practitioners, Body workers, Sound healers, Sacred dance teachers, Midwives, Watsu practitioners, artists, Tantra educators, Yoga teachers, and an Evolutionary relationship and Sexuality coach.

The opening festivities of the Ashland Temple on March 19th included performances, blessings, music and a community dance to invoke the balance of the male and female. “The day was themed around the five elements, with elders from various wisdom traditions leading prayers or performances to honor the elements”.

I

n his most recent book, ‘The Return of the Feminine and the World Soul’, Sufi mystic Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee says, “At this time of global transformation, we need to reawaken to the spiritual power and potential of the feminine. The mystical feminine holds the key to this work of redemption and transformation.” Mystic scholar Andrew Harvey recently heralded 2011 as “The Year of the Emerging Divine Feminine.” A wave of events has been occurring recently which seem to be very synchronistic with this prediction.

One of the inspirations for the new Goddess Temples which have recently been created in the US, is the

The Goddess Temple of Ashland, which will serve as “a sanctuary for the nurturance of the Divine Feminine in all people”, opened its doors at the Jackson Wells Springs on March 19th, says co-founder Jumana Fallenstar.

28

In the Blackfoot culture, a woman's ‘moon time’ was held in a similar way as a Vision Quest for men: “A time of seeking, a time of listening to the spirits. If you listened, you could get answers not only for your own life, but for the whole community. Women are the keepers of relationship, if we don't listen to the spirits, we won't know what needs to be done or how. Both Blackfoot men and women know this and respect the wisdom that the spirits offer to the women during ‘nature's gift’, their sacred time of power.”

Goddess Temple in Glastonbury, England. The Glastonbury Temple was formally registered as a Place of Worship in 2003. This was the first time in approximately 1500 years that an indigenous Goddess Temple in the British Isles was granted this official recognition.

Another way that the sacred feminine is revealing itself in 2011 is through documentaries such as “The Red Tent Movie: Things We Don’t Talk About”, which is scheduled for release this year. In Red Tent communities around the world women are gathering to share wisdom, stories, healing and inspiration.

‘Feminine qualities’ such as acting from gentleness and compassion belong to both men and women. As we move through the great global shift that is currently underway, the rebalancing of masculine and feminine energies on Earth will provide timely balm for the wounds of our planet. And reawakening to our intuitive instinct to live from our hearts will provide much needed balm for the spirit of humanity as we navigate through these transformational times.

I recently discovered a book called “The Return of the Feminine- Honoring the Cycles of Nature” by Dr. Rebecca Orleane. Dr. Christiane Northrup said that the minute she started reading this book, she got chills. “Her body said a big ‘yes’ to this information”.

I sat in the bookstore and wept as I read about the importance of harmonizing with the cycles of nature and how a woman’s ‘moon time’ was traditionally treated as a sacred time and a holy ritual.

by Prema Gaia For more information: http://www.goddesstempleashland.com/

http://www.goddesstempleashland.com/

29

Community Directory Our study group meets on the last Friday of every month and up to 8 times a year for Public Ritual. Affiliated with ADF (Arn Draoicht Fein), adf.org. We are in pursuit of authentic scholarship and modern practices. See our website at .

We are an eclectic Celtic coven, with some Native American influences. We meet for Sabbaths, Esbats, laughter and support throughout the Portland/Vancouver area. Closed to new members Samhain to Beltane, we do keep a waiting list for anyone interested.

A Druidic order in the Arthurian/Celtic tradition, chartering groves meeting established criteria and dedicated to authentic Druidic principles and traditions. For those who aspire to the excellence of Druidry, Inc. in OR and or visit 501(c)3.

Coven Caer Wy'east is a traditional Gardnerian Coven that occasionally offers classes and training to the Pagan A place for uniquely gifted teens to Community. We also welcome celebrate and explore the gifts the :Lord questions and dialogue with all members and Lady granted us with. Site address: of the Pagan Community. Contact Person: Steward Creace E-mail: Tel. .

Serving the PNW since 1979. An interfaith church of Wicca and Earth Religions recognized and accredited worldwide. All welcome at Open Circles near Seattle at NM & FM. Info and , classes : schedule : , Pagan Youth Group: Spiral Scouts International. .

Get out of the broom closet and knock off the cobwebs from your hat! The witchy gals in Central Oregon have formed a social network for fun, friendship and support. Many traditions are represented and welcomed. Get on our mailing list for upcoming activities.

The Goddess Temple of Ashland is a sanctuary for the nurturance of the divine feminine in all people. Jackson Wellsprings, 2253 Highway 99, Ashland, Oregon. For more info, or to volunteer, please contact

Mystic Arts Gathering and Information Circle A 501(c)(3) Vancouver/Portland Small Milwaukie-based coven seeking based group that holds public rituals and new members, age 18-30 willing to meet gatherings throughout the year, teaches bi-monthly.Our group is very eclectic classes and workshops, ordains clergy, and tends to focus on energy work. and sponsors the Spiral Rhythms Teaching available. Please email us for or call Festival. an interview at for more information.

An eclectic spiritual group with frequent get-togethers to discuss various spiritual paths. Sponsors of The Mother Earth Gathering and The Middle Earth Gathering (June and September), Earth Awareness Festivals, honoring diversity and creating balance between wilderness and civilization. Contact info: or

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A non-profit organization incorporated to facilitate networking among pagans in the Pacific Northwest. Sponsors of Open Ways Newsletter, as well as Northwest Fall Equinox Festival. The NWFEF celebrates the great harvest, begun at Lammus and ending at Samhain. Contact info for Open Ways

A non-profit benevolent organization, representing Wiccans and other Pagans who work as police officers, and other professionals in the emergency services.

Membership dues $25/yr for full members $15/yr for associate members.

Newsletter The Dispatch. Registration formsavailable

We at Open Doors believe that healing is a collaborative process with practitioner, client, and Source. We believe that each individual has a journey of healing that is unique. Our goal is to provide assistance for realigning, re-connecting, and restoring the natural state of vibrational wellbeing. Our Practitioners are experienced in many varieties of healing modalities that help with this process. Visit for more information about our energy-work and other events.

A corporation organized to operate exclusively for charitable purposes, including, but not limited to serving the Pagan community through sponsoring the SunFest festival and purchasing land to be held in trust for the Pagan community. Email address: Website: Address:

An online community for Pagans in the Pacific Northwest, including Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska and British Columbia. When posting announcements for events in this group, please be sure they're in PNW.

Northwest Coast Medicine Johnny Moses teachings to all.

Portland/Vancouver area meetings. For information and location call or

The Sacred Cascade Grove of The Sacred Order of Gnostic Druidism A democratic, eclectic teaching/training offers a Druidic college in Central coven in three parts: A semi-private Oregon. Our order exists to serve the outer circle - by invitation only, two religious, spiritual and educational needs inner-core circles for PACT initiated. of its members within the Druidic, Lessons, degrees, and clergy training by Wiccan and pagan community. If you PACT university. For info and a waiting are drawn to a Celtic path and aspire to list: email l study with the Druids, we welcome you.

Contact us at This tribe is for heathens, pagans and free thinking individuals residing in or around Portland, OR, or other metro areas who want to communicate with other like-minded folk. Please no political rants, there are other tribes for that. A person has to sign up with Tribe.net for free in order to join this tribe. The tribe is moderated in order to keep out hate mongers and spammers.

Web address

A gathering for folks exploring options beyond monogamy. Discussions include open relationships, extended families, and intentional communities. Everyone interested is welcome to join us. For information and location Laury

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A Druid Grove in the Arthurian/CelticWiccan tradition. For those seeking a true Druidic path of knowledge, truth, justice, spiritual fellowship, and community service. Esbats, Sabbaths and tutorials. Members commit to both group and individual studies for spiritual growth. Now offering an outer circle. or For information call 5 .

A Shamanic Arm of the Red Witch Tradition. Includes Indigenous Shamanic training, pilgrimages and extensive herstory/history from the first century CE to the present. Prerequisite: Reiki 3 and 3 years magickal hands-on experience. Meets at Toad House in McMinnville Oregon.Contact info

A new site dedicated to worship of the Seattle based deity (As first seen in the "Summer of 2008 art book) "Let your love grow" is her prayer.

Eclectic coven that emphasizes increasing the power of the individual through strength of our Gestalt, focusing on diversity in beliefs and the practice of Magick. Members range from Portland to Hood River and Mt. Hood.

Please send letter of intent to HPS Belle Evergreen at .

If the bardic arts call to you, and your love of the Goddess and God speaks to you through Celtic and Arthurian-based mythology and lore, come walk our Pagan path with us as we renew our grove. Now in Vancouver, WA. Contact or or

A Celtic Pagan circle meeting for Sabbats, full and new moons, weekly class and more. Located in Battle Ground Additional. Info: email .

A community of self-identified women who gather together in sacred space to learn from each other and honor their own selves. Open circle monthly and a Deepening circle that is a quarterly commitment. E-mail or find us on facebook to be on our mailing list!

Dedicated to the enhancement of Magickal work within its membership.

Public meet-up at the Dancing Beans 1615 SE 12th Ave Portland, OR held monthly. Email for date and time. For more information: or

Eclectic women's spirituality group founded in 1985. SisterSpirit's purpose is to create a place where women of all spiritual backgrounds and traditions can celebrate women's spirituality. Through female imagery we celebrate our connections with nature. We come together to explore our own spirits, and learn, grow, and expand to fully realize the divinity within. website

Women coming together to celebrate the Goddess in Her many forms.. weekly meetings: Wings - Retreats (called Forwards) Summer Gathering.. Rituals / email/phone address

email/phone / address Mailing: Physical address: (Office, library, & small group space)

We are a circle of women committed to healing, education ritual and service.

(HERS) We celebrate the eight holy days of the wheel: Solstices and Equinoxes are for all genders and families; Cross quarters are for womyn only. For information .

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We are a feminist pagan community of women in the Dianic tradition of Wicca.

Our purpose is to mark the eight Sabbats of the year in ritual with likeminded women, to strengthen the Goddess connection within ourselves, to share this connection with others, and to bring wholeness to the world and to our journey in it as the Wheel of the Year turns. Seattle, WA email/phone: j

Provides free sacred energy healing to veterans, active duty military and their families. We also list practitioners offering sliding scale services to service members, veterans and their families.

Info:

Centered in the beautiful foothills of the Columbia River Gorge. Specializing in Esoteric research and Theology. Dedicated to tribal rites of passage as well as the Major and Minor Pagan Holidays & Festivals.

We love to explore the enchanted as well as the chilling. Contact Leanna at

The fair made who, the first of May Goes to the fields at break of day And washes in dew from the Hawthorne Tree Will ever after handsome be.

-Mother Gooose

or

Send your information to editor@ninehouses.org

, a traditional Gardnerian Coven, is pleased to announce the offering of our “A-Year-and-ADay Training” for 2011-12 for those interested in traditional Wiccan training.

Our training approach is experiential, educational, participatory, creative, and hands-on. Some of the topics explored include, the History of Traditional Wicca, Mystery Traditions & Initiations, the Wiccan Goddess & God, the Sabbaths & Esbats, the Witch’s Tools, Circle Construction (creating sacred space), Magick & Ethics (The Wiccan Rede), various forms of Divination, Herbology, basic Energy Raising and Spell Craft techniques, pathworkings and more… The training will provide a solid beginning foundation of the beliefs & practices of traditional Wicca. Our Outer Court meets on select Satyrdays from 7:00p.m. – 10:00p.m…sometimes later in S.E. Portland. This is a non-oath-bound training. As per custom, we levy no fees to teach the Craft. For those interested in such training please e-mail a “Letter of Introduction”, outlining your spiritual/religious history, and your interest and experience with Wicca to: Questions about our group or training may also be directed to this e-mail, or you may call 33

.

Community Events 7 pm. Bring your journal or come and start a new one. All women welcome. SisterSpirit office, 3430 SE Belmont #102. Call 503-736-3297 for info. $5+ donation appreciated. , 7 pm. All women welcome. SisterSpirit office, 3430 SE Belmont #102. Call 503-736-3297 for info. $5+ donation appreciated. , 7:00 pm. SisterSpirit Office, 3430 SE Belmont # 102. All women welcome. Come share your dreams and insights with other women! Call 503-736-3297 for info. $5+ donation appreciated. , 7:30 pm. SisterSpirit Office, 3430 SE Belmont #102. All women welcome. Call 503-736-3297 for info. $5+ donation appreciated. , 7 pm. SisterSpirit office, 3430 SE Belmont #102. All women welcome. $5+ donations appreciated. Call 503-736-3297 or email patmac31@juno.com for information. offers energy-work sessions on the first Sunday and second Saturday of the month. In an effort to make Energy-Work work available to all in need we offer these bi-monthly days by donation only. Visit for more information about our energy-work and other events.

– being hosted local, eclectic, loving, teaching coven. Please and times. Suggested $10 donation.

at

by

;a for dates

http://www.pdxecstaticdance.com/ http://www.writingportland.com/song-circles/ http://www.thesweetnest.com/our-sweet-nesters/events-and-offerings http://www.crystaltemple.org/calendar/calendar.htm http://www.witchvox.com/vn/ev/usor_ev.html

In the tradition of shamanic medicine circles, we embark upon a collective journey, an embodied creation story, that we breath, voice, chant, spirit-language, and ultimately, Sing Alive. This resonance with our evolutionary heritage opens a fertile imaginal space, allowing the deeper currents of Creation to sprout up, flower, and fruit the higher Octaves of our Human Beingness. This all in service to increasing activation of the Gaian Dream, of Our Dream, as it unfurls itself beneath the Sunlight of our Opening Hearts. May we all Flourish Omward thru these Transitional Thymes! Om Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu Those who don't think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim the birthright of a singing species.

( Worshops - Crafts – Rituals Lane County $180. includes lodging, food and program normahp@iglide.net 541-485-3654

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Send your information to editor@ninehouses.org

Fall Equinox Festival Call To The Community!!!

The Northwest Fall Equinox Festival is looking for qualified volunteers during and at festival in the areas of Cooks/Chefs/Dishwashers/Dining Hall Staff/Truck Crew/Security/Wood Crew/Musicians/ and more. Volunteers are granted partial scholarships to festival. If you are interested in any of these positions please write a 250+ explanation as to your interested post, your qualifications, and any special skills or talents and forward to Open Ways.

The Nine Houses of Gaia is now accepting proposals from the community, professionals, restaurants, and kitchen witches; for the NWFEF Kitchen 2011. All type written proposals must Please forward to the Open Ways. All proposals should include be received by your theme, ideas, staff leads, general menu for brunch service and dinner service as well as late night munchies.

Please note the following requirements: Individuals who are chosen to run this year’s NWFEF Kitchen must have restaurant or festival cooking experience (special dietary cooking experience encouraged.) All shift and meal leads must have a state issued Food Handlers Card. If selected, it is your responsibility to purchase groceries based on Nine Houses approved Kitchen Budget, and prepare all meals for 175-250 patrons, staff, and crew at this year’s NorthWest Fall Equinox Festival. You will be responsible with communicating to the Nine Houses of Gaia via a liaison throughout the year. *The Nine Houses of Gaia reserves the right to pre-screen and reject any potential kitchen staff member.

Please note that in a recent study, we have discovered our community is approximately 80% omnivorous and only 20% vegetarian/vegan – surprised?

Are you an Artist, Crafter, Bodyworker, Hair Designer, Make-up Artist, Costume Designer or ???

Share your talents with the community!

For more information, email: vendors@ninehouses.org

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