About Our Group

History

In 1993, a woman decided to bring Witch Camp to the mid-Atlantic region. This event, held every year in the mid-Atlantic region since, spawned an interest in continuing the Camp experience. The people who volunteered to help put on Camp each year began organizing local workshops, core classes that teach Reclaiming Tradition principles, and community-building events. The group of people who volunteered their time in these efforts eventually became "SpiralHeart", and SpiralHeart officially became a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational institution in 1998. You can read the full legend of how SpiralHeart began here.

Structure

We are a group of volunteers who occasionally receive scholarships or a stipend for the events we help organize or teach. Our organization is based on "cells", where small groups of people work on specific issues. Each cell is headed up by one or more cell chairs, for whom ultimate responsibility for the group's work resides. We usually meet four times a year: in September, January, March, and June. Meetings involving input from all the cells use consensus process (where everyone must come to support, but not necessarily fully agree upon, specific proposed actions). Each individual cell is also encouraged to use the consensus process amongst its members, but not every action requires it.

If a decision must be made between meetings, the cell chairs, Treasurer, and Secretary - who, for legal purposes under Virginia law, constitute the Board of Directors - are empowered to decide if the decision must be made, and if it must be made, to make the decision. Often these are last-minute items affecting Camp that the Camp Operations cell co-chairs have not been specifically empowered to decide on.

Organizers

The organizers' main focus is on making sure our two camps happen each year, with a secondary focus on hosting specialized workshops. Organizational meetings are open to any SpiralHeart community member who wishes to attend. Issues for proposal are called for and circulated at least two weeks before a meeting via an email list, and meeting minutes are published via the same list afterwards. As of September 15, 2009, the organizational cell structure is as follows:

Anchor - One chairperson and, usually, one apprentice, who perform administrative tasks to aid in meetings, such as forumlating the agenda, facilitation, and keeping and distributing the meeting minutes. The chairperson also holds the legally required role of Secretary of SpiralHeart, Inc.
Media - Two co-chairpersons, one whose primary responsibility is electronic media (website, elists, and so forth) and the other whose primary responsibility is printed media (SpiralBound, press releases, print advertising, and brochures.) Several organizers aid in the maintenance of the elists and web and in putting together certain of the printed materials.
Camp Operations - Three co-chairpersons and other members who take care of issues regarding the WitchCamp sites, food, accommodations, registration, vending, transportation, and teacher needs. Under this cell resides the Registrar.

At one time we had a fourth permanent cell, Community Development, in which co-chairpersons and other members who inspire, develop, and support diverse local Reclaiming communities by affording an opportunity for as many people as possible to experience Reclaiming-style magic. Due to lack of volunteers, this cell had to be disbanded. Some of the items handled by this cell are now handled by Camp Operations and by Media; however, if volunteers could be found to revitalize this cell, it would greatly aid in SpiralHeart's mission of Witchcraft education.

In addition, there are two specialized roles not mentioned above:

the Treasurer, who maintains the budget and is authorized to pay the bills and receive payments for camp and the like; and
the representative to the Witch Camp Council, who represents the SpiralHeart organizer team to the council hub for Reclaiming WitchCamps.

Temporary or ad-hoc cells are sometimes created for specific issues, which are dissolved once the issue is resolved.

How to Volunteer

If you are interested in becoming an organizer or teacher, we strongly suggest that you to attend at least one Witch Camp, and one or more of the core classes, so as to get a feel for our group and the culture that informs its processes. Upon attending an event or class, be sure to speak with an organizer or teacher about your interest... they can help you decide on an avenue in which to volunteer your talents. If you are already an organizer or teacher, please take advantage of our on-line resources.

For Further Information

Please feel free to contact us regarding any questions you may have about our Tradition or organization. You may reach us via postal mail or email.