Classes & Events
SpiralHeart as well as local communities in our general region offer core classes, workshops, and public events that are based-on, but not limited to, Reclaiming Tradition practices. "Core classes" have been designated by San Francisco Reclaiming as the basic curriculum for learning the Reclaiming Tradition.
SpiralHeart also offers two annual retreats we fondly call "Witch Camps". A Witch Camp gives us an opportunity to disengage from the mundane world, so that we may concentrate on developing our skills, and celebrate our connections with Nature and each other. One of the retreats is a four-day camp held around Memorial Day weekend which is open to all ages; we call it WildChild WitchCamp. The other retreat is a week-long retreat, Summer Intensive WitchCamp, and is limited to adults.
If you're putting on an event that you'd like listed on this web page, or posted to our announcement list, email the particulars of the event to us at info@spiralheart.org. If you would like to have a class offered in your area, you can either email us here at info@spiralheart.org, or find a teacher close to you through the Reclaiming Community Resource Collaborative (RCRC).
There are no events scheduled in this area at the current time. Check back for more information soon!
Summer Intensive WitchCamp,
July 21-28, 2012, Artemas, PA
SpiralHeart will hold its annual week-long spiritual intensive for 2012 at
the Four Quarters Interfaith
Sanctuary, Artemas, PA, in July 21 - 28, 2012. This is our adults-only camp;
for our all-ages intensive, see our Wild Child Camp. The story for this camp is "Psyche and Eros".
Register here for this event, to be held in July 21 - 28, 2012 in Artemas PA; For more information click here or email registrar@spiralheart.org
Baltimore Reclaiming Samhain Ritual - Baltimore, MD, Oct. 29th
We will be working with Psyche's final task, to journey to the Underworld and bring back Beauty from the Queen of the Underworld...
"It was a kind and divinely inspired tower and Psyche took its advice.... She ran down the road to the Underworld. She passed in silence... paid Charon the first coin, stopped her ears to the entreaties of the floating corpse, refused to be taken in by the appeal of the spinning women, pacified the dreadful dog with the first sop and entered Proserpine's palace. There she refused the comfortable chair and tempting meal, sat humbly at Prosperine's feet, content with a crust of common bread, and finally delivered her message. Prosperine secretively filled the box, shut it, and returned it to her; then Psyche stopped the dog's barking with the second sop, paid Charon with the second coin and returned from the Underworld, feeling in far better health and spirits than while on her way down there." (Translation by Robert Graves from Apuleius, The Golden Ass.)
Cork Gallery, 4th Fl., 302 E. Federal St. at Guilford, Baltimore, MD, 21202, on Oct. 29th, gather at 7 PM, ritual starts at 7:30 PM. No fee charged. Facebook event page here.
SpiralHeart Community Organizing and Planning Meetings
SpiralHeart's
schedule for organizing and planning meetings is as
follows:
- October 29-30, 2011, at a private residence in the DC/Baltimore, MD area.
- January 21-22, 2012, at a private residence in Richmond, VA
- March 3-4, 2012, at a private residence in the DC/Baltimore, MD area.
- June, exact date to be determined, at 4 Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary, Artemas, PA.
All SpiralHeart community members are encouraged and
welcome to attend!
No fee charged. Contact info@spiralheart.org for
more information or agenda@spiralheart.org to
request that an item be placed on the agenda.
Unlocking the Gate - Richmond, VA, November 11-13, 2011
Desire, clarity and resolve turn the key -- when we have a key, when the key is right for the lock, when the lock is not rusted shut. No gate is guaranteed us, none but the gates of Birth and Death. All of us fail some gate.
All of us fail some gate; but from failure we can forge the key. When desire rises in us, and is not satisfied, we can start to forge the key. When what we saw so clearly turns out to be mistaken, we can start to forge the key. When resolve is tested, over and over, when we fail and when we succeed, we can start to forge the key.
This year SpiralHeart is working with the story of Psyche and Eros. The story is drenched in desire, in clarity, in resolve. The soul (Psyche) marries the god of erotic love (Eros, Desire), though Delphi has prophesied a fiery serpent for her groom. Psyche lives with Eros, hears his voice, feels his touch -- but cannot see him. She has no clarity -- is he a daemon? a god? the monster prophecy foretold? He lies asleep; she comes to him, with a lamp for clarity and a knife for the monster. In the light, there is no monster, but the god. A drop of hot oil from the lamp, and Eros wakes.
She loses him, she loses everything, she loses clarity. She wanders in a wilderness. She cleans an abandoned shrine, regains her clarity, and finds resolve. She changes bit by bit, as one who needs to pick barley from wheat from poppy seeds from lentils, all spilled out in a heap. She changes, as one who goes below and rises up. She changes, with desire, with clear vision, with resolve. She unlocks the gate.
Join us as we work with Psyche and Eros, whose story is a key: desire, clarity and resolve weave through their story and ours. As part of our work we will prepare and charge physical keys. Bring a key to work with, or choose one from those we make available at the workshop.
Facilitators:
Yarrow's Brigid pledge this year is "Unlock the Gate". He has been deeply involved in the Reclaiming tradition for all of this century and some of the last. His work for beauty and justice is most effective when he doesn't quite know what comes next. He loves the wisdom that comes from making mistakes. He plays. He jumps up and down. He meddles.
Julie Rabbit has been a Reclaiming Witch since 1979, the year the Spiral Dance came out. She got her early training in San Francisco but has been in touch with her Fae side ever since early childhood. Dedicated to Brigid, she likes to play with fire and in water and can sometimes be eloquent. Now living in Richmond, VA, she tries to create a sense of magic and wonder through sacred crafting, whether it be altar building, intentional embroidery and beadwork, pagan cake making, any bit of fluff and sparkle are her tools. Rabbit has a gift for ritual priestessing, especially leading trances. Also an initiate in the Feri tradition, she spends a lot of time peeking into mysterious places and, together with her allies, waging a War of Love.
November 11-13, 2011, 6:00 p.m. Friday evening through 12:30 p.m. Sunday, at a private residence near Richmond, VA (directions provided upon registration.) Click here to register; if you are paying through PayPal, click here to pay after registering - use "payment@spiralheart.org" for the payment address. Food: Please bring a dish to share on Friday evening. The rest of the weekend's meals and snacks are included. Housing: Space is available in several Richmond area homes. Costs: Sliding scale $50-150. Please be as generous as you can -- this workshop is a fund raiser for the SpiralHeart scholarship fund. Additional donations welcome. No one turned away for lack of funds. Registrations are due no later than October 31, 2011. A non-refundable deposit of $25 is required upon registration. Click here to send any questions.
WildChild WitchCamp,
May 24-28, 2012,
Pocahontas State Park, VA
Registration is expected to open for this event around Mabon, 2011.
May 24-28, 2012 Pocahontas State Park, VA; for more information see the camp page.
Reclaiming Core Classes
Various
teachers in our community offer
Reclaiming core classes throughout the year in the mid-Atlanic region of
the US. Core classes teach "core" Reclaiming
Tradition skills, and are often a prerequisite for other advanced workshops.
Classes listed below, with exact dates and detailed information posted as
season approaches. If a date isn't set for a class you're interested in taking,
please let us know at info@spiralheart.org.
- Rites of Passage
- Pentacle of Pearl
- Elements of Magic
- Iron Pentacle
Community and Personal Regeneration~Holding Power Well - Ft. Myers, FL, November 4-6, 2011
This workshop, facilitated by Starhawk, explores issues of power and leadership. How do we take our power and own it as a life-giving force? How do we recognize when we do have power, and use it in ways that empower others? How do we nurture and support leadership in our groups, while also holding our leaders accountable? This is a workshop for anyone who has struggled with these issues in relationships or groups. All of us have internalized models of power as domination, which often interfere when we attempt to form new structures based on power-from-within. We will consider power within sacred space, and through ritual, trance, and energy work develop the tools we need to transform destructive patterns into energies freed for change. Starhawk will draw material from her new book: The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups.
This event is coordinated by the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers, FL.
Friday, November 4, 3 PM to Sunday, November 6, 2011, 5 PM, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers FL, 13411 Shire Lane, Fort Myers FL. Participants 14 to 18 $100; 19 and up sliding scale $175 - $300. Participants 14 to 17 must have parental permission. Childcare available for $100 for the weekend. Camping available for $20 per tent for the weekend. For more information and to register see http://starhawkuucfm.webs.com/registrationform.htm .