Lammas 96

Greetings and Happy Lammas

We hope that everyone has had a balanced and productive summer and that this year's harvest will satisfy the intentions of the Spring. Many of you may be wondering why you are receiving this issue of EarthSpirit, the newsletter of the EarthSpirit Community, even though you're not official members. Well, the reason is simple; after such a fantastic Rites of Spring and Suntide, we wanted to make sure we stayed in touch with all of you, let you know that you're important to us, and fill you in on the other activities EarthSpirit has done and is planning to do.

This Spring and Summer have been active and exciting seasons at EarthSpirit. Beginning with our Beltaine ritual at the Middlesex Fells, our connection with the fertility of the growing season has been palpably present and energizing.

About 100 people attended EarthSpirit's Beltaine ritual this year. We sang together, danced the Maypole and shared the changes in our lives with our community. The potluck picnic followed, and our combined efforts to string up tarps for shelter from May showers only served to bring us closer together.

The energy of the maypole continued at Rites of Spring, which was, from all accounts we've heard, one of the very best ever for many of the participants. The programming this year included an especially wide selection of intensives as well as over 40 workshops - creating a broad spectrum of depth and content. The rituals, which centered around fertility and community, along with the music and dance enlivened and directed the energy raised toward growth and prosperity for each individual and for the community as a whole.

Another important aspect of Rites of Spring this year was the presence of Jacque Omi Zaleski from the Church of Iron Oak in Florida and Oberon Zell from the Church of All Worlds in California. These Pagan leaders brought their experience and perspective to the gathering for the first time this year, and the growing connections between EarthSpirit and their communities were strengthened through discussion of common concerns and through the simple sharing of experiences during the week. These threads continue to grow stronger as EarthSpirit forms a formal alliance of support with the Church of All Worlds, and as Jacque Omi returns to New England to lead a Clan at Twilight Covening this Columbus Day weekend.

At Suntide, over 50 of us shared our visions of healing with each other, sang and joked around at an impromptu Bardic circle, and worked and played together as we made symbols of our healing selves to charge at an Ocean Mother Blessing ritual on the beach the following morning.

In addition to our own festivals, EarthSpirit representatives and MotherTongue have travelled this summer to other events across the country - offering workshops and building deeper connections with a wide network of other Pagan communities. Andras and Aine travelled to Stones Rising at Four Quarters Farm in Pennsylvania to participate in this year's raising of the Stones; Sue and Adair were at the Free Spirit Festival in Maryland this June; Andras was a featured speaker at Sacred Space this July; and a large EarthSpirit contingent, including many members of MotherTongue, attended Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG) in Wisconsin.

At PSG, EarthSpirit offered a total of three concerts, five workshops and a major ritual, in addition to actively participating in many of the traditional PSG events such as the Earth Mother ritual set in the dark inside a large cave. It was a wonderful experience to bring the Web-weaving ritual we have used so often at Rites of Spring to a different community and feel the links among us as we weave our lives and intentions together.

Closer to home, EarthSpirit continues its regular activities. MoonCircle, the open ritual group which meets on the night of each full moon, is looking for a new permanent location, but for the summer is gathering monthly at different locations. (See Events.)

MotherTongue performed at both Rites of Spring and PSG. It is rehearsing weekly, has accepted some new members and is looking forward to its major performance at the First Annual Pagan Music Festival in Pennsylvania this Labor Day weekend, as well as to EarthSpirit's Samhain ritual in October.

This Autumn, EarthSpirit will again sponsor classes, concerts and workshops and present open rituals and ritual performances. Andras Corban Arthen will travel as a featured speaker to Between the Worlds, A Grand Magickal Congress October 24th - 27th in Delaware. Twilight Covening will be an opportunity for many of us to ritually move into the winter months together. The presenters of some of the Intensives at Rites of Spring are returning to lead Clans at Twilight Covening this year (see information elsewhere in this website) and it promises to be a powerful experience all around.

EarthSpirit's commitment to furthering the development of a viable Pagan community continues through all of these activities. Whether we are deep in discussion of stimulating topics, offering the songs of our heart to the mother Earth, or dancing with joy around a sacred fire with Pagans from all around the country, we are weaving threads to strengthen the fabric of our connections which hold us and nurture us as we grow.

So those are just a few of the things we have going on; please check out the newsletter for even more dates and events. Enjoy this copy of the newsletter and please let us know what you think. If you like it and support what we are doing in EarthSpirit, please become a member -- our members are what keeps us moving forward.