Samhain was a time of celebration here at Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve in Wisconsin. Circle Sanctuary turned 35 years old and I turned 60. Circle Sanctuary Community members from across the nation joined with those in the region for our Samhain Festival weekend.
This year’s Festival began on Friday, October 30 with a Pagan leadership training seminar I presented on creating and conducting Cross-Tradition Rituals. In the afternoon, Vic Wright, Paula Johnson, and Reed Cockrell presented workshops. Just before dusk was our Opening Ritual facilitated by PathWalker and me, followed by dinner. In the evening was our annual Witches Ball with music by the Celtic band Stone Ring. This year’s Ball included a celebration of my 60th birthday, complete with the surprise of a fabulous cake arranged by Bob and Georgette Paxton. At midnight, our Community Bard and Druid, Michael Doran, led us in a Toast to the Ancestors, which included ancestral honoring tributes by him, Shine, Mari Powers, and me, followed by the band leading us all in singing 'A Toast to the Company.'
The next day, Saturday, October 31, began with a workshop on Old Scottish Divination Customs for Samhain and Halloween by Linda Daly, a Scottish Pagan well versed in the works of Robert Burns, including his poem on Halloween which was the main focus of her presenation. In late morning, we had a special Samhain Rite at Circle Cemetery which included interments and dedications of pentacle gravestones for Marion Weinstein, Jeff Koslow, and Allen Ray Patz (see Passages and Pagan Elders in this issue for more details).
Also on Saturday morning was the birth of our new Pagan Youth Education program, the Mugwort School of Magick, by Billy Crow, Jen, and others. The first session focused on teaching about Samhain herbcraft and included the distribution of Grimoire notebook binders for information pages. In late morning, eco-educator Peter Watts taught about Owls and Owl Pellets. In the afternoon, there was a pumpkin hunt for youth. This new program met with good response by youth and adults alike and is continuing at future festivals.
After a delicious potluck lunch, we had Circle Sanctuary’s annual meeting. This year our meeting focused on the Story of Circle Sanctuary. I began by talking about my founding of Circle just before Samhain in 1974 when I was twenty-fi ve years old. I gave an overview of Circle Sanctuary’s development as a non-profi t organization, network, and land project over the years, and then invited long-time community members to share memories and perspectives, beginning with those who had been members the longest. We concluded our meeting with a celebratory toast to Circle Sanctuary.
In late afternoon, we had a Ghosts and Hauntings panel facilitated by storyteller Jean of Storylore. Jean told a tale as did Ghost walk storyteller and historian Virginia Hirsch of Bayfi eld Heritage Tours in northern Wisconsin. Also speaking were Shine and me. After the panel, Mari facilitated Raffl e drawings and announced the results of the Silent Auction, with proceeds going to help sustain our work and facilities.
Our main Samhain Ritual, conducted by Georgette and Bob Paxton began with drumming and chanting around the Bonfire and then moved into our Temple Room where altars to beloved dead were lit by candlelight. The ritual included an honoring of the dead, which I facilitated, as well as visioning for the New Year. Bob and Georgette created a multi-sided mirrored altar which aided participants in their inner work. The ritual concluded with a return to the Bonfire Circle for a celebration of the new spiritual year. This was followed by a special Samhain labyrinth facilitated in the Spiral Labyrinth by Tom Peer and Peggy Burke.
On Sunday, November 1, Shine, who lives at the Lac du Flambeau reservation in northern Wisconsin, presented a workshop, Two Continents, Two Cultures, One Spirit, which looked at the similiarities between European Wiccan/Pagan traditions and North American Indian traditions. Bob and Georgette led the closing ritual, and the festival concluded with lunch, clean-up, and farewells.
Support for Fort Hood Pagans
A team of eighteen Circle Sanctuary ministers and ministers-in-training formed in response to the tragic shootings at Fort Hood in Texas on November 5. Since that time we have been providing spiritual counseling by phone and other support to the more than 150 Pagans at and near Fort Hood, including those who are part of the Fort Hood Open Circle (SWC). For more information about our work, contact Jerrie Hildebrand: jerrie@circlesanctuary.org; www.circlesanctuary.org/healing/fort_hood.htm This year, we expanded our Operation Circle Care (OCC) program which sends care packages to Pagans in the US Military serving in Afghanistan and Iraq to also include care packages for the Pagans at Fort Hood. Thank you to everyone who has contributed items and money for this charity, and thanks to Pagan veteran Billy Crow for creating the OCC logo. For more info about OCC, contact Coordinator Paula Johnson: occ@circlesanctuary.org; www.circlesanctuary.org/ministries/military/operationcirclecare.html
Interfaith Endeavors
Interfaith work in recent months has included my doing Pagan presentations in a variety of places. I was guest minister at two Unitarian Universalist churches in Wisconsin. On August 23, I spoke on the Elements of Nature at Prairie UU Society in Madison and on November 29, I spoke on Attuning to Nature: Insights from Wiccan Traditions at Lake Country UU Church in Hartland. On October 7, I spoke on Pagan Celebrations of the Seasons at Womanspace, an interfaith center in Rockford, Illinois, and on October 27, I spoke about Paganism, Samhain, and Halloween at a public session of a World Religions class at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. On November 19, I spoke about Nature religion, the Wiccan religion and Paganism at an interfaith course, Faith to Faith: Face to Face, which met at a synagogue in Crystal Lake, Illinois. On November 22, I spoke about Pagan traditions of Thanksgiving and Harvest at the Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration at Lakeview Lutheran Church in Madison. In addition, I have done spiritual facilitation at events attended by those of diverse religions and philosophies. On Sunday, August 30, I facilitated a ceremony that concluded the Rhythm on the River Celebration, a lower Wisconsin River Way environmental event. At dawn on September 20, I did a blessing during a public gathering at Shadewell Mounds, an Equinox sunrise-aligned ancient Indian site near Muscoda, Wisconsin. On Tuesday, October 27 (Circle’s 35th birthday!), I did the invocation which began a session of the Wisconsin State Assembly in the Assembly Chambers at the State Capitol. On November 12, I was among the speakers at the Charter for Compassion event at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center on Madison’s Eastside, and on December 10, I spoke on International Interfaith Connections and Reflections in the Interfaith Awareness Week Human Rights Day program in the Rotunda of the State Capitol.
Others in the Circle Sanctuary Community also have been involved in interfaith work. Michael Doran performed music in Madison at the Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration and the Human Rights Day program. Ana Blechschmidt continues her participation in the Association of Campus Religious Organizations (ACRO) at Northern Illinois University. Patrick McCollum was among those speaking at the American Academy of Religion conference in Montreal in November. PathWalker’s work with the Interfaith Council in Traverse City, Michigan continues.
Paula Johnson organized Lynn University’s 9/11 Interfaith Candlelight Memorial, as well as hosted it. Media attended and it was reported on the next morning during a local morning talk show. She was asked to serve as Board Member on Lynn University’s Interfaith Advisory Committee formed to bring about interfaith dialogue as well as activities to the university. Paula also attended a Holiday Interfaith Service in Coral Springs, Florida and was the only Wiccan minister present.
Several members of the Circle Sanctuary Community were among those participating in the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions, held December 3-9 in Melbourne, Australia. Patrick McCollum, Shel Skau, Drake Spaeth, Angie Buchanan, and Dave and Sylvia Linton attended. For reports, see our new Circle Interfaith News blog at our website: www.circlesanctuary.org/interfaith. Thanks to Bob Paxton for creating the blog and to Dave and Sylvia Linton for their reports and photographs from this year’s Parliament.
Pagan Spirit Gathering
Our largest event of each year, the Pagan Spirit Gathering, will be held June 20-27, 2010 at Camp Zoe near Salem, Missouri. We will be celebrating PSG’s 30th Anniversary. Registration will be opening soon. More info: www.circlesanctuary.org/psg
Report by Selena Fox
Senior Minister, Circle Sanctuary
