Hello All This one is going to be short and sweet as we are getting ready to go camping again. I am hoping this time that when I get back the comp still works. Fortunately I am not big enough that a beached whale impression will be done although if I was camping in October the beached whale impression is a good possibility. Hopefully this time when I get back I can tell you all about it So until next time, Sheila K. Watkins Editor: Whispers of a Stone Circle See last page of this newsletter for submission guidelines, forwarding guidelines, where you can subscribe to Whispers and copyright information. ~*~*~*~ I think I published this one here before but I can’t remember. The Poet’s Song By Sheila K. Watkins Like a butterfly No a fairy Fluttering temptingly near Only to flee Should I try to touch it Softly I hear it calling Incomprehensible Then silent as I draw near Only to whisper And laugh When I step away Promising Everything In one tantalizing breath ~*~*~*~ Cool Link(s) of the week: http://www.aboutproduce.com/ Recipes, news, nutrition information, selection, and storage tips for vegetables, fruits, nuts, and herbs. http://www.cooksrecipes.com/category/diabetic.html In addition to recipes, there are some useful charts (food substitutions, Equal Sweetener conversion, US and metric measurements, etc.) and how-to's (food safety, preserving herbs, barbecue tips, etc.) http://fairsandexpos.com/findafairabout.html Find a Fair Find an event by state or name. There are also links to news and government actions of interest to organizers of agricultural fairs and expositions. http://www.foodreference.com/ Food ReferenceWebsite: Culinary history, quotes, recipes, trivia... Includes This Day in Food History, events and festivals for the month (August, otherwise known as National Water Quality Month), agricultural news, articles on the history of specific foods, jokes and trivia, and recipes. ~*~*~*~ Harvest Ritual By Sheila K. Watkins Note: this was written as a Children’s ritual but works for adults too. Items needed: Staff ~ Priest Athame ~ Priestess Small bowl of Salt (table or sea) Incense (and something heatproof to burn it in/on) Candle (prefer red), holder & matches Bowl of water Grape juice Cup or Chalice (whichever you call it to hold the juice) Corn bread: (muffins will do especially if there are a lot of participants. I figure if you are planning for 30 kids then at least 3 dozen muffins just in case. Any left over could go to the potluck perhaps. ) Basket or container to hold bread Offering dish Box or folding table for altar Cloth large enough to cover the box or table Small cloth to wipe cup after each sip OR a small cup for each child. Priestess : casts the circle starting in the east and circling deosil. She is using her athame “I call upon the Lord and Lady of the Harvest to bless this circle. This is my will. So Mote it be.” Then, using her Athame, she cuts a doorway open for the priest to enter. “In perfect love and perfect trust, enter if you will.” Priest: Carries a staff and enters circling deosil, stopping at the doorway. The Priestess steps back towards the center. The priest guards the doorway holding is staff across the opening, as each person seeks to enter he says. “In perfect love and perfect trust, enter if you will.” First the caller of Air enters carrying a bit of lit incense. She starts in the east and circles Deosil saying the following. “I call upon the spirits of air to come and be welcome.” The caller of Fire enters carrying a lit candle. She starts in the south and circles Deosil saying the following. “I call upon the spirits of fire to come and be welcome.” The caller of Water enters carrying a bowl of water. She starts in the west and circles Deosil saying the following. “I call upon the spirits of water to come and be welcome.” The caller of Earth enters carrying a bowl of salt. She starts in the north and circles Deosil saying the following. “I call upon the spirits of earth to come and be welcome.” (If there are several more children then priest, priestess and quarters, have them try to be equally spaced between the quarters. They do file in at this time though. I thought about having them file in between the people calling quarters but I feel it would be a bit awkward to do so.) Have the priestess close the opening to the circle after the last child has entered and step towards the middle. Priestess looking upward with her arms raised says. . “Lady of the Harvest, we ask you to come and be welcome.” Priest looking with his arms raised says. “Lord of the Harvest, we ask you to come and be welcome.” Now with the corn bread and juice, if there are no more children, have them placed on a small altar already in the middle of the ritual spot. If there are enough children then have one carry the basket of cornbread and one carry the cup of grape juice into the circle. Have them stand to the side within the circle as the Priestess closes it. They step forward after the Deities are called. (Preferably a boy is carrying the grape juice and a girl carrying the cornbread but one child can carry both or children of the same sex can carry one of each, we will figure it out when we know what we have to work with. If no carrier(s) then the Priestess holds up each in turn and says what was stated.) The Carriers hand the foodstuffs they are carrying to the Priestess (one at a time and in this order) saying. Cornbread carrier: “I bring forth some of the bounty of the land in the form of corn by which we feed ourselves.” Priestess holding up the bread says. “We thank you Goddess for the blessings you have shown us in the form of food for our table.” She breaks one of the muffins and places it in an offering dish. Carrier takes place in circle. Bread is placed on altar Juice carrier: “I bring forth some of the bounty of the land in the form of the grape by which we quench ourselves.” Priestess holding up the cup of juice says. “We thank you God for the blessings you have shown us in the form of drink for our table.” She then pours out a bit of juice onto the ground as an offering. Carrier takes place in circle. Juice is handed to priest and the Priestess takes the basket of cornbread. The priestess takes a muffin and offers one to the priest. She takes a bite from it and says (after swallowing.) “Take this and remember the bounty which She has provided for us.” The priest offers the priestess a sip of juice and takes a sip for himself at this time. He says “Drink this and remember the bounty which He has provided for us.” They each state a blessing for which they are thankful. They start circling deosil. At each person the priestess stops and offers a muffin. “Take this and remember the bounty which She has provided for us.” The priest offers a sip of juice from the cup (or pours a bit into each participant’s cup. If there is a shared cup the priest wipes the cup between sips. Personally I would prefer individual cups but that is up to you.) He says “Drink this and remember the bounty which He has provided for us.” Each participant needs to think of a blessing he or she is thankful for also and state it at this time. (Let them know they need to do this before they enter the circle.) (Repeat as needed, muffins are to be eaten at this time.) The Priestess and Priest place the basket and Cup back on the altar. Priest looking upward with arms raised says. . “Lord of the Harvest, We thank you for joining us and ask if you will stay with us as long as you can or will.” Priestess looking with her arms raised says. “Lady of the Harvest, We thank you for joining us and ask if you will stay with us as long as you can or will.” Caller of the North turns to the north and says. “Spirits of earth, We thank you for joining us and ask if you will stay with us as long as you can or will.” Caller of the West turns to the west and says. “Spirits of water, We thank you for joining us and ask if you will stay with us as long as you can or will.” Caller of the South turns to the south and says. “Spirits of fire, We thank you for joining us and ask if you will stay with us as long as you can or will.” Caller of the East turns to the east and says. “Spirits of air, We thank you for joining us and ask if you will stay with us as long as you can or will.” Priestess takes her athame again and steps towards the edge of the circle. Everyone else steps forward a bit so that she can circle it and still remain in it until she takes it down. The priestess takes down the circle walking widdershins “we thank the Lady and her Lord for the protection of this circle. So mote it be.” ~*~*~*~ Announcement(s): Merry meet, good folks! I hope that the Sabbat just now passed was a joyous one for all. I myself went out last night and celebrated my fourth anniversary as a witch beneath the heavens all brightly illuminated with skyfire. No rain, though, at least at my house. There are many new developments for BBMMDM '02. Among them is that Peter Conover from Madison, Wisconsin, a pagan musician of some repute, will be performing for a couple hours Saturday afternoon, probably between 4 and 6 PM, which will be after the conclusion of the workshops, and before the potluck. I have it on good authority that his performance deserves a special time of its own. To help cover the appearance fee for Mr. Conover, we are asking for a donation at registration of $5 per person, $10 for a family of three or more. When I talked to Sarah Conover, who handles the booking for her husband, that I would personally guarantee their fee of $200, but I think everyone will agree that having this show will make our event a memorable one. There may be another brief update on other entertainment, sometime soon, so be on the lookout for it. Vice-Chairperson Sanna has put forth the idea, and several public notices, about organizing a recycling effort. As she stated, neither she nor I will have the time to do this properly, so we are looking to recruit a coordinator to run the activity. I have several green recycling tubs to contribute, but I will need them back (they belong to my mom!). Sanna can provide you with printed materials to assist in planning, for whomever may be interested. Much discussion among the coordinators, and in the larger community, has been on the subject of the rampant inebriation and inappropriate behavior at the Summer Solstice this year. One of my suggestions was to have an area for containing people who have had a few too many until they sober up. If they continue to engage in actions that are unbecoming to the pagan community (determined by the complaints against them and the decision of a quorum of the coordinating staff), then we will hold them until they have sobered up enough to send them home, and ask them to leave. A solution tendered by three of the coordinators was to simply hold a dry event. Without dismissing the idea absolutely, but also unable to find a better answer, I came to accept this as the desired course of action. I also realized that, unless we search everyone's coolers when they arrive, we would probably not be able to enforce this doctrine. Lorene DeCou made a suggestion at the recent IOWAN BBQ that during posted event hours, public drinking of alcoholic beverages will be frowned upon. Simply put, if we can't see it, nothing will be said about it. After posted hours, drinking of alcohol will be permitted, but please, bear in mind the public nature of the event, and consume in moderation. I invite opinions on the subject. As I have previously noted, The DC organization will not be having an event this year, probably due to the increased security in the US capital. Because of this, both the schedule and the event activities are subject to review. Among them, the presence of the media, and inviting a sitting politician to speak at the event may be deleted from the schedule. I am opening the matter to public opinion. However, the freedom to schedule as we wish also allows us to hold the opening and closing ceremonies when we want. This is the event schedule with all the options listed. Friday, October 18th------Press Conference, held by the event organizing committee. Arrival and setup of attendees (no strict timetable) Sign-in and registration, a $5 per person/$10 for a family of three suggested donation is being asked to help cover expenses Drumming (any time during the day) Opening Ceremonies, 4:30 pm Saturday, October 19th--Workshops 10 am-3 pm Peter Conover in concert, 4-6 pm Potluck, 6 pm Witches' Ball, 7:30 pm Sunday, October 20th----Goodbye Breakfast Workshop encores, by request Closing Ceremonies 11 am Leave-taking and departure (no set time) This is the list of workshops, children's activities and divinators for the event: Adult Workshops: Perfume/Lotions---Willow Ring Making Masks--Sanna Cooking For Pagans--Sings with Coyotes How to find a teacher--Sheila Watkins Group/mantra meditations--Susan 8 fold path--Thunder & Gypsy Cold weather Survival Skills--Doc DL Political Paganism--Alaine to be announced--Judy Zajec Children's Workshops Making Pendulums--Sherry Pagan Banners--Willow Ring Recycling--Sanna Bead Rings and Bracelets--Susan Bell Faeries--Andi All children's workshops will be at the same place. Divination Tables Tarot/Pendulums--Sherry Runes/tarot--Susan Tarot--Judy Crystal Ball/tarot--Sings With Coyotes Crystal Gems readings--Alaine We have several openings for workshops, and many for the divination table. Sign-up sheets for both will be available at the registration table. I am going to be in discussion with Jody Michael, Ritual Circle Coordinator, about the structure and format of the opening and closing ceremonies, and comments and suggestions are welcome. Well, that's all for now, and for all those who are coming to the Pagan Picnic, see you there! Blessed be, Kevin Romaine (Sings With Coyotes) Event Chairman, Blessed Be and Meet Me in Des Moines 2002[Iowa Mirror Event] October 18-20, 2002 Osceola, Iowa, USA http://bbmmdm.americanwitchandpagan.net BBMM Mirror Event SuperGroup http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bbmmmirroreventsupergroup/ ~*~*~*~ Writer's Biographies: Sheila K. Watkins knew from the time she was 15 that she wanted to be a writer but did not really start writing until she entered college where she worked on her college newspaper and also worked as the editor of the feature section for one semester. She was also introduced to the love of writing poetry at this time. Fortunately for all of us most of the poems have been lost to the world of men. After college she worked several jobs during the next few years but none included writing. It wasn’t until after both of her children had started school in 1998 that she went back to her love of putting words on a computer screen. Her first submission was accepted by publication by the IOWAN newsletter and it started her on the path of truly honing her work. In October of 2000, she founded and became editor of Whispers of a Stone Circle. ~*~*~*~ Submissions are always welcomed and can be made to: Zeliziw@netins.net In submitting materials writers are agreeing that if accepted I may post them in the newsletter and on the web page (whenever I finally get back to work on it.) Works submitted must be the writer’s own work and they must still retain the copyright OR it must be verifiably public domain. Works can have been published before but please nothing that has been around over and over again. Copyright remains in the author’s possession. The Author also realizes that they will not be paid. (If I had money I would be hosting this on something other then Yahoo.) If a submission is accepted, I will check for punctuation, capitalization and spelling in submitted articles. I will fix minor errors if they are present. I will NOT reword things (except for an occasional “an” for “a” and vice versa.) Poems are published as submitted. Forwarding information: If you chose to forward this newsletter, do so in its entirety, including copyright and contact information. People may subscribe to Whispers of A Stone Circle at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WhispersOfAStoneCircle/ All articles, poems, etc, except where noted are copyrighted by the writers and are used with permission. They are not to be republished without the express permission of the writers. Contact information may be obtained by contacting the editor of Whispers of A Stone Circle at Zeliziw@netins.net Copyright (c) 2002 Sheila K. Watson. All Rights Reserved