Well maybe a good time wasn't had by all. I discovered that one of our guests had a leaky tent (brand new) and ended up sleeping in his car. When it was still cloudy and gray when he woke he decided to leave so packed up and was gone before I got out for the day.
I got up early again, cleaned up, and vacuumed before the day really got started. We had a StarDragon Branch meeting in the morning and talked about the various nests and what was happening with them. SweetWood Temenos is probably joining the branch as well. Kris, our current branch coordinator, is resigning at Summer Solstice. She is running unopposed for Vice-President of CAW so will most likely be elected. That is not going to leave her with the time to continue. Luckily two other members agreed to be co-coordinators. We also decided to incorporate in WI. I was sorry that more of the branch members weren't here so that we could deepen our connections. I didn't take notes during the meeting and have already forgotten much of what we talked about. However, Kris took great notes (I was sitting next to her and could see them.) so I can find out what happened in the meeting when the minutes are typed up.
I found out that one of our guests had had an allergic reaction to the cookies used in the ritual. She is allergic to nuts and there were pecans in the cookies. The cookies were offered for our use by one of the guests as we were focused on getting things together. By the time we got to that part of the ritual it was dark and we never saw the package. But we will certainly make double sure to check what is offered after this. She drove home in the middle of the night (she lives a little over an hour away). Luckily although she was feeling quite ill, she was ok.
Some people went in the hot tub to warm up as it was quite chilly out. A few of us got together to talk about the shrine for the unborn/young that I would like to build. We talked about the kinds of services that could be offered and the trouble it might be to maintain. I suggested that we would offer maintenance (cleaning the statuary or whatever for anyone who put one as a memorial for their fetus or child and keeping things looking nice) of once or twice a year as something that we would do here for free but if someone wanted some kind of regular maintenance then that would take more of our time and effort and we would have to require a small fee. I am also planning on doing a service once a year near Samhain that people could attend if they wished.
We walked out and looked at the three possible sites and came to consensus on one with a rock face, which would make a good backdrop for the shrine. Right now it looks like we will start by building the path and clearing out a few things to make the spot accessible to possible visiors. And Kris suggested getting a single statue to start with, then build a cairn or something to put it on with some plants around it. She has said that she would be willing to come out and do some maintenance and development. Jack offered to come out and help clear out some prickly ash and clean the area up.
One of the questions asked was why would someone want this. The person asking the question said that she would be more inclined to just set up a shrine in her house than get involved with a shrine somewhere else. I pointed out that I felt it provided a sense that there were others who felt the same kind of grief over the loss of a fetus whether they had had to choose to abort or had a miscarriage. There is a tendency in our society to try and move people through their grief very quickly and in the case of an abortion to deny the right to grief. So I felt that knowing that there was a shrine like this made a statement about accepting people's grief, accepting that such a loss is difficult and an important thing in someone's life, accepting the right of a woman to choose an abortion and still grieve the loss. Kris mentioned to me that as a Priestess in CAW she would like to be able to tell someone she is counseling through such a loss that there was this resource, that they could come out and do a ritual at the shrine, or send something to be put in the shrine in memory of the fetus or child.
The Grok Healing workshop got started a little late but was very energizing. We did fire breathing and several other breathing techniques, various yoga positions, and some energy work. I left to start getting ready for the Dearinth ritual and missed the end. A woman who had injured a vertebrae in a recent boating accident came out to work with these energies and get some healing.
It was so cloudy and cool that I worried a little about being able to do the Dearinth ritual but the rain never materialized:) I like this ritual since I love walking the Dearinth. We usually split up with all the men, male-identified, or those wanting to walk the God path regardless of gender on one side and the women, female-identified, or those wanting to walk the Goddess path regardless of gender on the other side. Then we do a walking meditation and come together in the middle to share water. This year we had two children, a boy and a girl, who walked it with us. It was sweet to have them there.
After the ritual we went in the house for the potluck to discover that a visiting dog (came with my son and his partner) ate a container of food that had been in a back pack sitting on the floor. This is a very low to the ground dog with nearly paralyzed back legs so would not have been able to get it had it been up on the table. Oh well there was plenty of food for the rest of us.
The rain stayed away and let people move out to the bonfire for some drumming, some boombox music, and some dancing. I danced for a time around the bonfire. Then I danced alone in the circle area around my tree. It was wonderful. Putting the 7 altars up has focused the energy around the tree more, I think. It always had a very nice feel but I think it is starting to have this very blissful like energy. One person mentioned that it felt like it thrummed with energy but it felt far more laidback than that for me. It can produce a sense of quiet ecstasy.
Copyright © 2001 Kyril Oakwind