Circle Sanctuary, also known as Circle, has grown and changed quite a bit over the years since I founded it in October 1974. It began as a vision that included the name Circle, our logo of a circle of twelve circles around a central one, and the concept of a center focused on bringing together people of many paths that honored Nature in a sacred way. Since that time, Circle has evolved as a Wiccan church and Pagan center doing networking, publishing, events, religious freedom activism, charity endeavors, interfaith collaboration, Nature preservation, and other work. We have grown from providing services for a dozen people in 1974 to thousands the world over.

In recent years, I have been guiding the organization through a renovation process in order that Circle more fully matures as a non-profit institution that continues to serve Pagans worldwide in the years to come. One of the most important changes has been delegating more administrative responsibilities and getting additional staff involved in managing and helping with various facets of Circle's services.

2004 was a year of major renovation. Our staff has changed and expanded. We also have upgraded our office equipment and physically reconfigured our offices. In addition, we have upgraded our on-line presence and services. We have expanded the number of events we hold to more than fifty a year, including eleven festivals. We also have also increased Circle's participation in events sponsored by other groups. In addition, we have done more building and grounds renovation.

This change process has been labor intensive and time consuming. And because of this, we decided to publish only two issues of CIRCLE Magazine in 2004. Therefore, this issue is for the second half of the year, Fall and Winter, and we have adjusted subscriptions accordingly. All subscriptions have been extended by one issue in order that all subscribers receive four issues. We plan to return to publishing quarterly in 2005.

We are thankful to all who have been helping Circle in its change process by contributing ideas, donations, and other support. Your continued support is appreciated and will help us with more change and growth in order to better serve Pagans and other Nature Religions practitioners worldwide.

Staff Transitions

In May 2004, Dennis got a full time job as a tenure track assistant professor in psychology with the University of Wisconsin. He has turned over most of his administrative duties to others because of the intensive demands of his new job. In late August, Mari Powers stopped working part time in our office as well as took a sabbatical from most of her Circle prison ministry work in order to provide support for family members undergoing personal transitions. In late October, Kel Moss left her full time position with us in order to move to northern Wisconsin with her husband due to his job transitions. In early December, Nancie Gibson joined us as our full time Center Assistant, and began assuming responsibilities that Mari and Kel once had performed. Nancie, who has been affiliated with Circle Sanctuary for many years, moved to the Mt. Horeb area from Kentucky with her partner David and son Christopher.

Kitka joined our staff in August as our full-time Office Manager and CIRCLE Magazine Managing Editor. Since that time, she has been working with me in guiding office renovation and staff expansion. MoonFeather is now part of our year-round staff as Manager of the Pagan Spirit Gathering, our largest event of the year. Georgette has taken on more publications duties, including writing, editing, and proofing, plus doing cybernetworking for our various events. Angie produced some of our events and also helped with community development work this Fall, including spearheading our computer upgrade fundraising drive. Jerrie is now managing Lady Liberty League.

Our web team has continued to develop Circle's websites and on-line resources. Skye Ranger's work with us has expanded to include revamping Circle's entire on-line resources shop as well as helping with our computer transitions. This Fall, breeze added a survey component as part of Community networking and began work on our new Temple section. Aspen has been working with audio files as well as archiving.

Michelle has expanded on-line registration capabilities and Windwalker has been working with our Community events calendar and pages.

Office Changes

We have been upgrading equipment in our offices in order to improve our services. In September, we added a new photocopier and a spiral binding machine. With this new equipment we have begun doing some of our own printing and bindery work. From Samhain through Yuletide, we did a special fundraising drive to replace old computer equipment. Thanks to everyone who contributed and made it possible for us to reach our goal. Our new equipment was purchased and installed by Aspen in December. We already have begun raising funds for the next phase of our computer transitions, which includes getting a laptop to use at PSG and other events off-site, and projection equipment that will give us the capability of producing and displaying digital slide shows.

Buildings & Grounds

We have continued to expand and maintain our gardens, and the new orchard, which we began at Beltane, is doing well. The Garden Circle purchased a cider press, which we used at our Welcome Fall Festival and at other times. The Garden Circle also purchased a set of chimes that were installed at Samhain near the Barn Garden area. This Fall, we did more cleaning of debris left on the land from when it was a farm many years ago. We recycled old scrap metal and also participated in the Township's clean sweep community event.

Events

Our Fall and Winter festivals at Circle Sanctuary Land met with good response. Our Welcome Fall Festival was held on Saturday, September 18, our Samhain Festival on the weekend of October 29-31, and our Community Yule Festival on Saturday, December 18. We also sponsored our annual Winter Solstice Pageant in Madison on Friday, December 17. We did our annual charity food drive at both Yuletide events and collected 28 bags with nearly 400 food items. We are continuing to hold monthly study circles and workdays, and in November and December, I taught a series of Shamanism classes.

In addition, Circle has participated in events sponsored by other groups. These included the Greater Wisconsin Pagan Pride Day in Middleton, Fellowship of Isis Convention and Crafty Crafters Expo in Chicago, Between the Worlds conference in Delaware, and Temple of Diana Yuletide Craft Fair in Madison, Wisconsin. In December, Circle was among the religious organizations participating in the Interfaith Awareness Week at the State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. We contributed a Winter Solstice display to the world religions exhibit in the rotunda and Selena Fox was among the religious leaders speaking in the noon time interfaith program there on Thursday, December 9.

Pagan Spirit Gathering 2005

Our annual grand gathering, Pagan Spirit Gathering, turns 25 years old in 2005. Our theme is “Enchanted Celebration” and we have a variety of special events and guests already planned. Joining us this year will be a variety of Pagan authors, presenters, and musicians who have been part of PSG in the past. More information as well as registration forms are on-line: www.circlesanctuary.org/psg. They can also can be obtained by contacting the Circle office. A free occasional email news bulletin, PSGNEWS also is available. Subscribe on-line at www.circlesanctuary.org or contact the Circle office with your email address and request to be subscribed.