Pagan Spirit Gathering 2012

Community Rituals & Celebrations



  • Opening Ritual: will be held on Sunday evening, June 17th. It will include a candlelight processional, a site blessing, a welcoming of Summer, and the lighting of the Gathering's Sacred Fire with the remains of last year's fire. Facilitated by Selena Fox and members of the Circle Sanctuary Community.
  • Closing Ritual: will take place on Sunday, June 24 and will include thanksgivings, blessings for safe travel, and farewell songs. Faciliated by Selena and MoonFeather.
  • Summer Solstice Sun Morning Ritual: will be held on Wednesday, June 20, and will include Sun invocations, chanting, and meditation around the Sacred Fire. By Selena Fox & others.
  • Summer Solstice Community Ritual: Come and join us in a community celebration of the Summer Solstice. The ritual will take place on Saturday evening, June 23 and community members are encouraged to dress in ritual clothing.
  • Candlelight Labyrinth Ritual: A transformative, walking meditation through an all night labyrinth formed by 1000 lighted candles.
  • Zodiac Potluck Feast: will be held Monday, June 18. Bring food to share. Meet and greet others in the Town and feast together.
  • Magical Gift Circle: A spiritual gift exchange. Everyone taking part will give and receive a gift. Bring a sacred item (i.e., a ritual tool, an amulet, necklace, a divinity statue, a hand-made ritual object, an altar piece, etc.) that has special meaning to you to give away. Bless your gift and include with it your name and something about its spiritual significance. Wrap it in opaque paper, cloth, or other covering.
  • Warrior Blessing Ritual: To acknowledge US Military warriors serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, other places; Ask for their safe and speedy return after accomplishing work that they need to do. We will also acknowledge those serving in Homeland Defense and ask for their safety. Finally, we will acknowledge those who have died while walking the warrior path. Secondary Purpose : Provide comfort and a venue for family and friends of those warriors to express concerns and pride. The ritual is for adults.
  • Sacred Fire Circle: Come connect deeply with community as we support each other on our mutual journey toward wholeness and holiness! Using the portals of Voice, Music, Movement and Service, we work ritual together from midnight to dawn, with the intention to release painful patterns and energies, gain access to our deep wells of creativity, and find personal transformation. We invite you to join us as we prepare the space before ritual by creating visual beauty and places for healing, meditation, and nurturance. As we work together, we also build bonds of community, friendship and mutual understanding which allow us greater trust and freedom within the Fire Circle. Join us in this powerful, deeply transformative journey. Songs, rhythms, poetry, dance or simply a hand to hold - your gifts are welcome here!
  • Sacred Hunt Ritual: An Ecstatic Ritual for Spiritual Transformation. Deep in a forest glade, amid firelight, dancing shadows, and rapid drumming, the Hunt ensues... This multi-faceted ritual alchemically blends elements of ecstatic movement, drumming, and nurturing community support for a deep, transformational experience. Join us as a Drummer, Villager, or a Hunter...
  • Tribal Drum Dance Ritual: Connecting with our ancestors through the pulse of the drum and the rhythms of our body. A ritual to open the Bonfire Circle and bless it as a sacred space for drumming and dancing.
  • A Dianic Women's Ritual for Summer Solstice: As a community of women who bleed, will bleed, or have bled our sacred bloods, we celebrate the Summer Solstice in a Dianic ritual that celebrates ourselves and honors the mythic cycle of the Goddess as She transitions from Maiden to fertile Mother/ Amazon/ Creatrix/ Manifester/ Maker. She uses her sacred uterine bloods to manifest tangible and intangible reality. We, in Her image celebrate our ability to heal, transform, and create our lives in this season of Her sacred fire. The ritual will also include a working around female reproductive rights. Think about in advance: As Creatrix in your own life, how do you use your sacred bloods? How do you feed and tend your creative fire? In honor of our sacred bloods and the summer solstice, please wear red as all or a part of your ritual garb. Bring drums and percussion toys if you have them. This ritual is for female born and raised women and girls. Facilitated by Ruth Barrett and women of the PSG community.
  • Men's Ritual: Details to be announced.
  • Pan's Ball: The return of Pan's Ball - the celebratory funky dress dance party for PSG's adult community! Dress outlandishly, let your hair down, and boogie to the beat. Adults only please!
  • Sweatlodges: Sweatlodge ceremonies in various traditions will be held during this year's PSG.
  • Rites of Passage: Every year at PSG, a variety of weddings, child blessings, and other Rites of Passage ceremonies are held. If you wish to have a Rites of Passage ritual at PSG, submit a program proposal by May 1. Be sure to include the name and contact information of the person who will be facilitating it, and indicate whether it is a private, invitation-only rite or one open to everyone attending PSG. Please note that no day passes are available for PSG, so only registered PSG participants will be able to attend any Passage ceremonies held there. If you are interested in having a Circle minister facilitate your Rite of Passage, contact sharon@circlesanctuary.org immediately, as the schedule fills quickly.

MEN'S PERSONAL RITE OF PASSAGE EXPERIENCE (MPROPE)



THE 2012 MEN'S PERSONAL RITE OF PASSAGE EXPERIENCE WILL BE TAKING A BREAK THIS YEAR, FOR REVIEW AND RE-CALIBRATION.

THIS IS A CALL FOR ALL PAST MPROPE INITIATES AND FACILITATORS ATTENDING PSG 2012, TO MEET WITH CO-COORDINATORS TALON AND PATHWALKER TWICE DURING DURING THE WEEK TO REVIEW AND RE-TUNE THIS SUCCESSFUL 10+ YEAR PSG INNER-STRENGTH BUILDING PROGRAM FOR ADULT PAGAN MEN.

SPECIFIC MEETING DAY, TIME, AND LOCATION INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED IN THE NEAR FUTURE. THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP IN MAKING MPROPE A NEW AND BETTER MODEL TO BE INTRODUCED IN 2013!

Crone Rite of Passage

Facilitated by Barbara DancingHeart, assisted by Artistfair and Anastasia

The Crone Rite of Passage is held at the Crone Temple of Wisdom and is open to women who are past menses and identifying with the crone goddess stage of life.

The program leading up to the croning consists of short meetings, Monday thru Thursday, including quests to expand knowledge and embrace your new role individually and as part of the community, and lots of fun activities like creating a beautiful beaded goddess necklace! A private cleansing, transitioning ceremony for the crone candidates will be held on Friday morning. The Crone Rite of Passage on Friday evening is a very special occasion that all women of the gathering are invited to, showing their support of your new life.

Knowing how many women are interested in the process is greatly appreciated. Please email your interest in participating or your questions/comments to barbara@circlesanctuary.org as early as possible. Another announcement will be sent out on the PSG Yahoo Group with more details as PSG draws closer.

This preparation and ritual has proved transformative for the many women who have followed their heart and you are warmly welcomed to participate.

Young Women's Rite of Passage



This three-day program is to honor young women who have recently started their menses, and welcome them into the larger community of women. All participants must have recently started their menses (or reasonable proximity) and have a support person (parent, guardian or family friend) to attend the meeting on Monday and the ritual on Wednesday. The program includes: Meeting with candidates and their support people, making special Spirit Bags, making a special Goddess figure, receiving wisdom from the Conses of out tribe, and the The Rite of Passage into Young Womanhood Ritual and being presented to the community of women at the Women's Ritual. Attendance at all these funcitions, as well as attendance of two Morning Meetings is mandatory for candidates and their support person. Facilitated by Nora Cedarwind Young, Selena Fox and others.

Spirit Bag Making/First Meeting Monday 11:30-12:30 at the Moon Lodge, Wisdom from the Crones Tuesday at the Crone Temple 11 :30-12:30, Wednesday Ritual 11:30am community invited. There will be a workshop that will be determined as a group when to meet.

Rite Of Passage Into Young Manhood - Billy Crow & Bob



Join Billy Crow and Bob for a Rite of Passage on sacred ground. Journey from the village through a portal to the Otherside and quest for a vision of your path as a young man. Use new skills to navigate the labyrinth as you hunt for your Blessing from the God. Rite of Passage is a 3 day process for teens 13 to 16 years of age. Guardians consent and attendance at Monday meeting is required.

Darshana Ritual Theatre



A spiritual and transformative experience, inspired by the long-held Pagan practice of combining divine communion, trance states, sacred ritual, theatre, music, dance, and community bonding.

From the Sanscrit word for "sight", darshan is used to describe the state of consciousness of a devotee in the presence of a god. Through invocation, masks, music and dance, Darshana provides a multi-sensory experience of the mind, the heart and the spirit.

Darshana is made up of festival participants and community members who open themselves to the ancient spiritual experience of using music, movement, and altered states for divine communion.

Pagan Community members offer themselves as vehicles of the gods by creating the entrancing sound of the Gamelan, formed by a specially tuned set of metalophones, gongs, cymbals, drums, and other musical instruments. The Gamelan accompanies dances and invocations, and leads all participants into a state that allows the divine to enter.

Pagan Community members who express themselves through dance offer the Terah Taal- a dance by women in honor of the 13 moons of the year. With small cymbals on the hands, ankles, shoulders and head, this high energy dance has it's origins in Rajasthan, India. The dancers become temple servants and energy shifters, in dedication to the deities present there.

By the end of the Ritual Theatre experience, the line that divided musicians, dancers and the audience has dissolved, as participants are lead to experience true Darshana, where all are invited to experience personal presence with the Oracle for words of guidance and wisdom. The Oracle is followed by prasadam, a tradition of receiving a sweet, as a reminder that as you go forth, life is short, precious and sweet. Some may receive a blessed object which the participant may use in private reflection and magical work.

Darshana's core members are Violette Rose, Penny Goody, Hank Knapple and Whitedeer. They teach the workshops that precede the performance ritual, provide the Gamelan and set, as well as make their own unique offering to the Pagan Community that they are a part of.