Saturn, Cosmic Gardener

by Christopher LaFond

The EarthSpirit Community is currently finishing its first Saturn Return. At the same time, a number of the founders and members at the heart of the community are in the midst of, or heading toward, their second Saturn Return. This provides all of us, as a community, the opportunity to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going together.

Hey, come back here!

Let’s start with: What is a “return?” If you hang around with anyone who knows even a little astrology, you may hear about this “Saturn return” thing a lot. A return is when any planet in the solar system, or the Sun or Moon (which astrologers often include with the catch-all term “planet”) returns to the same place in the zodiac as it was when you were born. Every year, you experience a Solar Return; this happens within a day or so of your birthday. The Sun returns to the same degree in the zodiac as it was in your birth chart. Astrologers often cast a chart for that exact moment, and use that chart as your chart for the twelve-month year beginning at your birthday. You’ve probably heard the expression: “Happy Birthday, and many happy returns.” This refers specifically to Solar Returns, and is an astrological expression. The Solar Return happens yearly, while the Lunar Return occurs monthly. But the Saturn return happens only once every twenty-nine years.

Traditional astrologers (those who practiced the unbroken astrological tradition up through the 17th century) referred to returns as “revolutions”. The original (and still primary) meaning of “revolution” comes from the verb “revolve”, that is, to turn or spin around something. Implicit here is a re-setting of something; sort of “proceed to Go, collect $200”. On some level, it’s a new beginning, a restart of the energy of whichever planet is returning. So a Venus return is a resetting of the love/lust principle, a Mars return a resetting of the energy/aggression principle, etc.

The word “revolution” only later came to refer to a usually violent overthrow or resetting of a political entity; and even then, not all revolutions are violent. But the different variations in the meaning of the word “revolution” give us some hints as to what to expect from a planetary return. Classical astrologers pointed out that there was something karmic about any planet returning to its place in a natal chart. While a return doesn’t give you a totally clean slate for that planet (after all, it’s still in the same sign as when you were born, for good or bad), it does give you a fresh opportunity to work with that planet within the confines of its condition in your chart. For example, if you have Mars in a difficult sign, it will still be in that sign in any Mars return, but you have a chance to realign the way you connect to and focus that energy for the next cycle.

So, why all of this about revolutions and returns? Because in order to understand what a Saturn return is, we have to understand the basics of what a return is.

Here we go again!

As mentioned above, Saturn “returns” in about 29 years to its natal position in a chart. There is a lot written about the first return: time to finally claim your life as an adult, time to accept responsibility for yourself, time to start a new family, time to cast off anything that isn’t authentically “you,” etc. Some of these reasons are what’s really going on with the “dreaded” 30th birthday.

But what about the second Saturn return? This occurs usually between age 56-58, and obviously, we are at a very different place in life than at our first Saturn return. While it’s impossible to predict what will happen to everyone at this second Saturn return, there are a few generalizations that can be made. First the caveat. Your Saturn return (first, second, or third) will reflect where Saturn is in your own natal chart: what sign it is in, and what house. These factors are not to be underestimated, and will influence greatly your experience of this return. But most people undergo an experience of the Universal Saturn at a return. So what is this Universal Saturn? Saturn was originally a god of agriculture. The image of the Reaper is an image of Saturn with a scythe, ready to reap what has been sown. As a matter of fact, the word “Saturn” comes from the Indo-European root /sa-/, which means “to sow”, as in to sow seeds at planting. So Saturn is all about sowing and reaping. We have come to focus a lot more on the end of this process, the reaping or dying, perhaps because of the fear that is often associated with it. After all, there is often a lot more emotional investment in what is yet to come than in what has already happened.

If Saturn is about reaping what we’ve sown, then that might make many of us nervous, fearing that we haven’t done enough, that we won’t measure up. I suspect that this fear is even more acute in North American society, with our idealization of youth, and our Puritan roots and work ethic: nothing short of perfection is good enough. Since perfection is impossible, we have much to fear. It’s easy to look back at our second Saturn return and see all the failures in our lives, all of the ways that we’ve messed up, and how we could have done things better. Also evident to us is all of the things that we’ll never do, since we are more acutely aware of the passage of time at this point. After all, Saturn later became identified with the Greek Cronos (time), and Saturn/Cronos is the origin of the image of Father Time. In a society that worships youth, the potential for being terrified of old age is high.

But what about all of those things that we’ve done well in our lives? What have we done right? What positive differences have we made in the lives of those around us? What is it that have we planted in our 56+ years that is now coming to fruition? Many of us have given birth in one form or another to children, grandchildren, relationships, careers, ideas, businesses, communities... These are all things that we’ve planted, with or without intention. Saturn challenges us to be intentional, to choose well the seeds that we will sow in our gardens, to limit the amount of weeds that we allow to grow and distract us (or to learn what those “weeds” may be used for). The second Saturn return is the time to decide what we will allow to grow in our Winter Garden. It’s no longer spring time, and not everything will grow; we must choose well. Our first two Saturn cycles have given us the opportunity to see what kind of gardeners we are: what we grow well and share with our community, and what we should leave for others to grow and then share with us.

Whenever I plant seeds, I read the package for the instructions on how to cultivate them. Inevitably, I ignore the part that says to trim the seedlings back when they get to a certain height. Why would you want to thin your row of veggies? I want as many veggies as I can grow in my limited garden! But over the years, you learn that not pruning back the plants makes a mess of your garden, and robs many plants of the nutrients that can only go so far. In the end, you often get more fruit from fewer plants, if you grow them correctly. This is the lesson of Saturn.

So at the second return of the Cosmic Gardener, here are a few questions that we might ask ourselves: What is the bounty in my life that I have harvested from my many years of sowing? What have I learned about the “weeds” that distract me and rob the nutrients from my life? In the coming years, what do I want to continue to plant? How can I pace myself so that I can continue to cultivate what is most important to me?

As I write this, I find myself exactly at the half-way point between my first and second Saturn returns. I look forward in fifteen years or so to throwing myself a Harvest Festival Party, similar to the Harvest Festivals that many of us attend and host every August and September. I encourage you to do the same. Celebrate your harvest. The act of celebration will help you to decide what to plant next.

[Image: XI The Old Man from The Pythagorean Tarot by John Opsopaus; used with permission from Omphalos.org.]

Western Massachusetts Pagan Pride Day

by Deirdre Pulgram Arthen
photo by Michael Whitehouse

A number of EarthSpirit folks from the area spent yesterday at the Western Mass. Pagan Pride event. Thanks to Cassie Olewinski, whose hard work organizing was quite evident, the day was a great success overall. The EarthSpirit Community had been asked to lead the ritual this year and MotherTongue was also asked to perform so, since we had an information table there too, it was a very full day.

For the morning performance we intertwined group choral pieces with solos by Sarah Stockwell Arthen and Andras Corban Arthen. The mix was a good one, it went beautifully and we were well received - though it is always difficult to play for an audience that is milling about, and you kind of wonder if anyone is really listening. It’s certainly not the best venue for quiet or subtle songs, but we did hear appreciatively from people afterwards.

The afternoon ritual was the part that I found provocative in a lasting sort of way. We began with some of our community drummers playing to gather some energy and people in the area for the ritual. Again I was grateful to have a significant group of EarthSpirit Community members there, because many of the attendees seemed reticent about joining in, and together we created critical mass to get things moving. (Someone later said that the rituals in past years have been more demonstrative than participatory.) We began chanting and spiraling in to create a circle and did collect many people, but a portion of them still remained outside, even when invited in. It was a very participatory ritual including several chants, collective knot work and another spiral dance – a pretty typical EarthSpirit style ritual with an emphasis on accessibility for all and connection among the people there and with the natural world around us. The work of the ritual was about each person taking responsibility for her or his side of the relationships in their life – relationships with self, other people, the community and the web of creation - seeing what it is that we each need to do to hold our relationships with integrity and binding ourselves to do so. It was a good piece of work and it felt good as we did it together. We ended the ritual with the recognition that integrity in our relationships can bring us inner peace and, from that, help to create outer peace in the world that we are a part of. We sent out our wishes for that peace.

What lingers with me now is the recognition that came once again as we sang and danced together in that little green patch of earth near the highway, that many people in the greater pagan community – even those who have been involved for years - have not had much experience of that kind of ritual. Many people who consider themselves pagans gather more often indoors and follow a prescribed and scripted ritual when they celebrate their spirituality. To be invited to open up to the land that we were on and to the beings there, to feel our connections with each other and with the earth, to reach inside and find something there waiting to speak out – these are all aspects of ritual that I take for granted at this point but which were surprising and especially moving for some of the people who came up to me afterwards.

Today, in the September sunshine, I feel especially blessed and filled by the spiritual community that we have within EarthSpirit and by the traditions that we have preserved, reclaimed, brought together, developed and shared over these 30 years. It is wonderful to me when I watch people who celebrate and assume that this is the way that it has always been – because that shows me the depth to which the work has taken root. And it is also wonderful when I am with people experiencing these ways for the first time and they tell me that they will never forget that moment – because I am always amazed at their willingness to be so open and I am reminded of the importance of what we are doing together.

EarthSpirit and The Parliament of the World's Religions, part 1

by Deirdre Pulgram Arthen

A little history

"The Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions was created to cultivate harmony among the world's religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its guiding institutions in order to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world." (www.parliamentofreligions.org)

In 1893 the first global interfaith conference in the United Sates was held in Chicago, and in 1993, as a centennial marker, the CPWR held its first modern parliament event. Members of the EarthSpirit Community attended that first Parliament where we offered presentations and performances, helped to organize a large full moon ritual in Grant Park, and Deborah Ann Light, a joint representative for EarthSpirit, Circle Sanctuary and Covenant of the Goddess signed the document "Toward a Global Ethic," which you can see on the Parliament's web site. (TowardsAGlobalEthic.pdf or here) It was a remarkable experience, and those of us who went brought back both a new awareness and appreciation of the variety and depth of spiritual practices and traditions around the world, and a sense of what the Earth-based traditions such as ours have to bring to the global interfaith conversation.

In 1999 the Parliament was held in Cape Town, South Africa, and again EarthSpirit was represented. Susan Curewitz Arthen and I organized a joint information table for U.S. pagan organizations and also offered presentations. Before the Parliament itself, I was also involved in discussions with the Council in Chicago which led to the crafting of a document titled "A Call to our Guiding Institutions," addressed to religion, business, government, media and education, and which was presented and endorsed at the Parliament itself. (CalltoGuidingInstitutions.pdf or here)

In 2004 the Parliament was held in Barcelona, Spain, and EarthSpirit was again represented. MotherTongue traveled to Spain to perform, and members of EarthSpirit offered workshops and rituals and organized a shared information table. For several years prior to this event, Andras Corban Arthen had been developing connections with pagans throughout Spain, and particularly in Barcelona, so we were able to include many of them in various Parliament events and forged deeper friendships and connections which continue to this day. Two Spanish pagan groups have specifically used EarthSpirit as a model in developing their own organizations.

Andras and I were invited to be a part of the Assembly of Religious and Spiritual Leaders that year, and as such, we participated along with 200 other international delegates in in-depth conversations about issues such as access to clean water, equal rights for women, religious violence, and other critical concerns facing the world. From these conversations and others like them throughout the event, participants were encouraged to make commitments to taking action in their local communities.

In 2006 Andras was elected to the Board of Trustees of the CPWR and has been an active member there ever since. In 2007, he represented the Indigenous European Traditions on behalf of the Parliament at the Universal Forum of Cultures in Monterrey, Mexico, where he offered workshops and participated in rituals with members of the local indigenous communities. (http://spiritofthearth.blogspot.com/ )

In preparation for the 2009 Parliament, he has been a member of the Indigenous Task Force, working with a small group to contact and recruit leaders of indigenous spiritual traditions from around the world to offer special presentations at this year’s event. His focus has been especially on bringing in practitioners from South America and Europe. He has also been a part of the Program Committee, reviewing many of the thousands of program proposals that have been submitted, to help create the best possible content for the Parliament. Andras has also been building connections with pagans from Australia, and especially from Melbourne, where the Parliament is taking place.

This December, nine members of the EarthSpirit Community (so far) will travel 'down under' and join Andras to participate in the interfaith conversations, and offer workshops and rituals. We will host our own EarthSpirit information table and will collaborate in creating joint programs with others from earth-centered traditions. We are especially looking forward to connecting with members of the Australian pagan community.

We are very grateful to the members of EarthSpirit who have been so generous in their financial support of our interfaith work, especially over the last two years. While every person attending each of these Parliaments has made a considerable personal investment in order to be there, your donations have enabled the organization to be fully engaged in an ongoing international dialogue among deeply spiritual people committed to building a sustainable future. We have found we have a lot to learn and a lot to offer.

Coming soon:

More information about EarthSpirit's participation in this year's Parliament, and an attempt to answer the question, "So what does our community get out of all of this interfaith work?”

If you are a member of EarthSpirit and are interested in coming to the Parliament in Australia, you can get in touch with me: deirdre@earthspirit.com to talk about what we have planned.

Comfort Kills

by Asherah Allen

After hearing Andras Corban-Arthen recount a story during a workshop he led at Rites of Spring 2009, about having attended a New Age conference where he witnessed the white participants engage in what they called a "Native American Sun Dance," I was inspired to write this piece in response. Growing up in Colorado I experienced a potent presence of Native Americans in the culture, the land, and as friends. This poem is a response to the co-opting of traditions that altogether happens too often with little regard for the wishes of the indigenous people from whom the ceremonies are stolen. It is my prayer that all people may find a way back to their own spiritual heritage, however mixed, while respecting the wishes and traditions of the native people whose land they currently reside on. When traditions are chosen to be shared outside cultural boundaries, I pray they will be honored, held in their integrity, and not profited from.

Comfort Kills

This madness cannot be named
I just heard of a "Sun Dance"
performed in a hotel lobby
a chandelier for a pole
with ribbons and safety pins
not to be punctured into flesh
but to be safely pinned into expensive clothes
I remember my friend Eric
Injun Eric as we liked to call him
as close to a full blood Arapaho as a modern Indian could be
I remember him lying
on the couch in the warehouse
that lay smack in between the
East Side and West Side
Inca gang boys
While they were busy
shooting coward bullets into flesh,
pretending to be warriors,
Injun Eric lay there
limp and humble
as we applied the juice of tenderly chewed tobacco
into his Sun Dance wounds
Holding moist towels to his forehead as
he went in and out of fevered consciousness
though the ceremony had ended a week ago.
His wounds were not infected
his soul was another matter
Half of his soul lingered in the sacrifice of flesh
he offered to Spirit, his family, and community upon the Earth
while the other half lay rotting in a modern world
with no appreciation of what he had undergone
Painless sacrifice
is not sacrifice
it is the pure hubris
of ill begotten attempts at
touching the sacred
succeeding only at drowning
in the stench of comfort.

Sparks and Ripples at Rites of Spring

by Deirdre Arthen


This year at Rites of Spring, EarthSpirit's largest annual gathering ( www.earthspirit.com/ros/index.html ), we embarked on what will doubtless become a tradition there - an exploration of how our community's spirituality manifests in the world. We called it "Sparks of Inspiration, Ripples of Action, Exploring How We Walk in the World". We all come to the EarthSpirit Community from different places and paths, but we all share the belief that the Earth is sacred so we wanted to look at the many ways we live that belief in our day-to-day lives. The ways may be large and dramatic, or small and simple; public and visible, or private and subtle, and together we make a vibrant mosaic, a beautiful pattern of spirited and spiritual engagement with the world.

To make the patterns visible, we invited all Rites of Spring participants to share their particular part of the mosaic - any actions that have been inspired by their spirituality or connection to the Earth, whether those be in the community, through creativity, for the Earth directly, or in the lives of others - by creating a page, including a description of what they are doing, to add to an actual mosaic on the wall of the Dining Hall. It was wonderful to see how many different ways people are living their spirituality. We read about permaculture and green building, about assisting with births and deaths, about living off the grid, about working with children and working with local communities and about college students planning career paths directly emergent from their spiritual values. The scope was broad and the writing thoughtful. I look forward to sharing some of the specifics with you here soon (after I get permission).

There were several other aspects to "Sparks and Ripples" this year, in addition to the wall mosaic. One was an event on Saturday morning where some very active members of the community, Jimi Two Feathers, Sarah Stockwell-Arthen, Steve Trombulak, ALisa Starkweather, Isobel Arthen and I and some others, spread out on blankets in the merchant Circle to share more about our inspirations and actions in person. The topics ranged from environmental activism, to community planning to service-learning to healing. On Sunday during lunchtime, Sarah Stockwell-Arthen and Isobel Arthen hosted an introductory talk and round-table discussion about sustainability and activism, and several of our community rituals also included some focus on how we manifest our spirituality in the world. (Many thinks to Sarah, Isobel, Stephen, Morwen, Eric and Chris for their work to make this vision a reality at Rites of Spring this year.)

The Web Ritual, in particular, was very meaningful as people first made commitments to taking their own actions in the world and then as so many stepped forward to hold the strands of the web that make our own community - strands of communication, teaching our children, creating music and art, writing, growing food, developing earth-friendly technology, maintaining our sacred traditions and more. As small groups held the strands the rest of us wove ourselves into the web with many colored yarn - some even home-spun that day. The resulting structure was not only beautiful, but especially powerful to be with because of the depth of true intention that went into it.

"Sparks and Ripples" is a chance for us to see new aspects of each other and be inspired by the many ways that members of our community take actions that ripple out through the web, far beyond the bounds of Rites of Spring. We look forward to hearing what you have to share. Please drop us a comment and let us be inspired by you too!

Beltaine celebrations

by Eric Arthen, photos by Dawn, Moira Ashleigh

On May second and third, members of the EarthSpirit Community gathered at two celebrations of Beltaine. On Saturday, in the Middlesex Fells Reservation north of Boston and on Sunday, in Hampshire county in western Massachusetts, we reconnected with each other at this mid-point of Spring, danced around the maypole and shared food and company.


At the Fells, we did our annual "spring cleaning" by removing trash and leaves from the new grass. This Winterman was created from some of the debris collected as a magical symbol to help clean away our own winter debris and reconnect with the sacred ground.


Many people in the community come up to the maypole after the dance to tell of an important transition in their lives in this past year. These kid goats, just a few weeks old, were brought to the maypole to be introduced and to receive their names.

Spring Equinox morning

by Moira Ashleigh

Walking, sunk in the Spring tapestry, occasionally jarred by discordant people chatter. I am aware of how people stay tight focused on people, almost as if to keep the fearsome Nature away. Not wanting to drop into the rock stillness, the Spring river current, the mirror clear pond showing them that they are only a small part of a bigger whole. I hear them chatter to make themselves bigger, much like the geese to claim their small territory. Posturing like the swan, to fend off anything coming near. Myopic focus on themselves, their story, their drama. Because if it is important enough, then they are important enough not to be lost, Not to be forgotten, not to be so small that they do not matter. Then I sink back down into the now of roots, rot and new life stirring just walking in the energy.

Searching for Symbolic Identity

by Martin Bridge

The experience of Spirit, of Magic, of the transcendent far outweighs the importance of understanding it. Those who have attended one of the Art Salon events at either “Rites of Spring” or “A Feast of Lights” will no doubt have heard me speak to the importance of the yearlong study of “Anamanta” and the effect it had on my artwork. My work became much more abstract for numerous reasons, the first and foremost is the emphasis placed on experience.

One of the other essential aspects of this shift is that I feel like the illustrative quality of much Pagan Artwork that depicts spiritual or deific forces often trivializes these entities. It also sets unrealistic expectations in seekers, leaving some people searching for grand visions of towering White Stags emerging from the perimeter of a Stone circle that has materialized around them or a Silver clad Goddess descending from the moon. While we wait for these experiences we may miss the more subtle (and more frequent) expressions of spirit.

As EarthSpirit has been evolving, how the community defines itself changes as well. Even the slight change in the language in describing “Rites of Spring’ from “A Pagan Celebration” to “A Celebration of the Sacred Earth”, is a strong indication of it’s individuality and uniqueness that has been shaped by it’s history. One of the main reasons for initiating the Art Salons was to give the visual artists within our community a chance to share and talk about their work while exploring how we can better integrate what we do into the rituals and evolving traditions of the community. This also created the opportunity to start to talk about how what we put forward visually describes and defines who we are. A related area that I am trying to explore, in my own work as well as in groups like the Spider Clan at “Twilight Covening” is to look at the symbols we use in our art and ritual working.

I feel a bit of an internal tug of war when I think about the use of symbols in relationship to my magical work. I at once feel a strong resonance with the power of ancient symbols from times long past and foreign cultures and also a strong desire to move away from the cultural appropriation, editorial revival and sometimes direct misuse of symbols that I see within the greater neo-pagan movement.

Of Depicting the Goddess

For years I have not chosen goddess forms or imagery for any of my work. It took a comment from a friend to draw my attention to this and I realized that there was a subconscious choice to stay away from them as I feel there is a wide array (bordering on a surplus) in contemporary neo-pagan artwork and I didn’t feel like I had any particular insight or anything remotely original to bring into the mix. I didn’t want to work on the subject(s) simply because of other people's potential interest in it.

It was not until I spent a weekend in my great Uncle Clark Fitz-Gerald’s studio with his son Stephen that I chose to do a small venus form that was partially inspired by that friend's comment and almost challenge to work in a more feminine quality (even in my abstract work). And largely inspired by my Great uncle's own interest in the Iconic “Venus” forms and his collection of replicas of Neolithic and early European goddess forms and his own renditions including the comical “Venus of Bucksport.” His interest in these forms are similar to my own, finding the simple, more iconic and abstract forms some of the most compelling images of the divine feminine.

This particular rendition was carved primarily at Twilight Covening. One of the predominant themes that was held through the visioning ritual last year was abundance, in particular abundance of what we need. This tied in closely with the story of part of the carving's creation.

"This tree was cut five months ago and this segment left behind. Rather than leaving it to rot I chose to make something of it. When I began my work I had a clear image of what I wanted it to shape but I was working with haste and accidentally fractured a part of the wood. Due to my carelessness I had lost an essential part of the wood and I would be unable to create the form I had originally envisioned.”

“At that point I was left with two options: abandon my work and leave what remains to rot. Or to continue, working with prudence, and though I recognize that no mater what I do I would not be able to shape the form I had originally envisioned that I could still shape a work of beauty with what I did have."

Our expectations and dreams sometime cloud us from seeing the beauty of a more simple way of being.

Some of the other more significant aspects of this piece are that it was shaped from the base of the tree that provided the Maypole used at Rites of Spring 2008. Also the beadwork adorning her form was done with patterns, most of which arose from this past Spider Clan’s work in exploring symbols relating to abundance. This has an important connection to the second piece I will describe here.

Energies of Abundance


This painting grew directly out of the clan work at Twilight Covening 2008. One of the predominant energies we were exploring was that of Abundance. Long before the event we were sensing the growing sentiment of Lack, as people were wrestling with the idea of travel primarily due to high gas costs. Little did we know as we chose this as one of the energies to explore that the event would be precipitated in less than a month with the banking collapse that lead to the current recession we are experiencing.

While human markets were crashing the climatic conditions yielded a bumper crop of apples in the Northeast. Apple trees were dropping branches under the weight of this years fruiting, one person I spoke with mentioned that it was the greatest crop he had seen on the trees in his memory of approximately 80 years.

Over the years of the Spider Clan’s work we have seen a remarkable co-incidence of multiple persons conjuring similar representations when asked to visually depict something symbolic of a particular energy or principle. This year one of the most predominant images that appeared in conjunction with the idea of abundance was that of a fruiting tree, providing enough to be taken and still to return to the earth continuing to provide for future generations. As we distilled and simplified the form the symbol utilized in this composition was what resulted.

The composition of this piece is one frequently repeated in my work, with a central symbol centered below two circular forms suggestive of eyes - a universal symbols for consciousness. In this case it was considering the extreme version of animistic philosophy that even ideas and concepts can have a spirit or consciousness guiding them.

My hope is that as we continue such exploration that our community can develop it’s own symbolic/visual identity and we can begin to rely less and less on external, adopted (or appropriated) symbols.

I invite you to play with and utilize this symbol in any way you can utilize it in line with its original intention.

(Go to http://martin.ritualarts.org to learn more about Martin and see his artwork.)

2008, the year in review

[Excerpt from an end of year letter about EarthSpirit's work in 2008.]

At this challenging moment in history, during this year’s Twilight Covening the EarthSpirit Community took time to experience the fullness in our lives and to express gratitude for all we are blessed with. Our Earth-centered spirituality helps us to recognize the value of the sacred as manifest all around us every day. It tunes us in to the web that connects us all, one to the other, with no hierarchy of superiority and no assumption that what benefits humankind will be the best for all of creation. It guides us and sustains us in times both joyful and difficult.
 
EarthSpirit’s work is to share the basic concepts of Earth-centered spirituality with our world 
– by building a community which shares these values and serves to support its members 
– by offering ceremonies and artistic expressions to all who might be moved by them 
– by preserving traditional spiritual practices which embody these values and teaching ways in which they can be integrated into daily life, – and by connecting with people from a wide range of spiritual traditions to foster understanding among all people.

We do this because we recognize the importance of connection between all people, between people and the Earth and between people and the realm of spirit in maintaining a sustainable future for our planet. Especially now, when separation so clearly prevents us. When we look back, we can see that 2008 has been a very full and productive year for the EarthSpirit Community: 



Rituals, Classes and Gatherings

EarthSpirit offered community rituals for Beltaine, Samhain and Yule in both eastern and western Massachusetts and also a ritual for members celebrating Lunasdal at Glenwood, our land-based center. In addition to giving us all the opportunity to gather and celebrate our most sacred times, these ceremonies are some of our best outreach tools. They are publicized by mail, on the Internet and also by word of mouth, and have proven to be a wonderful way for people to get to know about EarthSpirit as well as a powerful way for members to connect with one another throughout the year. 
 
We also sponsored Andras Arthen teaching “Anamanta”, a system of spiritual practice which he developed from traditional European roots, to classes in both eastern and western Massachusetts and more classes with him and others are being planned for next year.
 
A Feast of Lights, Rites of Spring and Twilight Covening continue to be a strong ritual and social cycle for our community. These gatherings are very special times of connection for so many of us who live far apart and rarely get the opportunity to actually spend time together. The meaningful community traditions span multiple generations and there is fulfillment in watching our young people step into leadership roles as they become adults. This year each of the gatherings brought forward new teachers from within our community and from connected circles. We are excited to see some new voices speaking up and we are looking forward to hearing more from them.

Our Center at Glenwood

Volunteers have been in and out of our center at Glenwood this summer and fall, helping us to rehab our Common House so that it can become a more welcoming space for the public and for members who come for workshops, concerts, rituals or classes. At the time of writing, we are finally ready for the finishing touches on the first floor – new light fixtures, paint on the walls and wood trim around the windows and doors. In order to make the space fully functional, though, we would like to also replace the roof on the building and maybe even add a composting toilet. It will be wonderful to be able to have a permanent and beautiful space in which to host more programs for our community.


When the weather turned warm, EarthSpirit invited all members to come to our center for a series of Open Houses. These free monthly events allow members to connect with the sacred shrines here on the land at Glenwood and include a tours as well as programs which varied from month to month, including singing and chanting, a healers’ round-table discussion, and an ancestor ritual. The Open Houses will begin again in the spring, after “mud-season” and we hope that you will be able to join us.



The Arts

Spirituality is often most directly expressed through the arts. MotherTongue’s new CD, Weaving the Web of Life, continues to sell well on CD-baby and through direct orders. It includes many of the songs and chants that the EarthSpirit Community has created for use at our rituals and events throughout the year. The Art Salon that we have offered at both Rites of Spring and A Feast of Lights, has grown and deepened as our visual artists have brought their work to exhibit and as they discuss the ways in which spirit has moved them in their creative process. 


An Advisory Council

In the spring, we established an Advisory Council which met twice during the year. We invited 20 active and committed EarthSpirit members from a variety of groups and geographical locations to make a 2-year commitment to come together to discuss our current strengths and also some new directions that we want to take. 
 
Topics of conversation have included the development of new programs for members in both eastern and western Massachusetts and for those at a distance, further outreach through more classes and public rituals, an increased and updated Internet presence, and the continued expansion of our interfaith work on local and international levels. The membership in this council will grow and change over the years and we hope that many of you will become involved in this kind of discussion with us.
 
Much interest has been expressed in training on various levels – from deepening spiritual practice to leadership training, to young-adult classes, to classes and activities for children and families. Concrete discussion has already begun around creating a EarthSpirit curriculum for children and their families and we hope to be able to present that to the community within the next year.



The Internet

The EarthSpirit website is one of our most consistent tools in developing and maintaining our community. Designed and maintained completely by volunteer service from Solstice Sun Designs, it has been both beautiful and reliable for years. In the coming year, however, we are hoping to be able to fund a complete overhaul of the site to bring it up to date with current standards and software while maintaining the distinctive beautiful design we have grown to love.



Interfaith connections

EarthSpirit maintains a strong voice in the global interfaith community with its director, Andras Corban Arthen, serving on the board of trustees of A Parliament of the World’s Religions. One of the special and most interesting aspects of his work there this year has been his participation on the Indigenous Religions Task Force, where he is able to work closely with representatives of American Indian and Australian Aboriginal traditions and at the same time share information on the indigenous pre-Christian European traditions. His work there has opened minds and doors and developed lasting connections with others who share similar Earth-centered ways. Andras is currently working to develop an international network of people who are practicing and preserving the old ways of Europe, and to that end he recently spent a month in Spain and Great Britain, giving several talks and meeting with a number of traditional practitioners; he hopes to bring some of them to the 2009 Parliament of the World‘s Religions in Melbourne, Australia. 
 
EarthSpirit plans to send a delegation to that 2009 meeting as well – to offer workshops, rituals and performances that will further the work of sharing our Earth-centered perspective with people of other traditions, and to engage in the global conversation about values and actions that can change our world for the better. Members have been very supportive of EarthSpirit’s participation in these kinds of efforts in the past, and we appreciate any financial assistance you can offer as we undertake this expensive but immeasurably valuable project.


Welcome to EarthSpirit Voices

by Andras and Deirdre Arthen

Welcome to EarthSpirit Voices, an interactive blog-journal which will serve as a way for members of the EarthSpirit community to bring the strength and depth of our connections onto the web. We intend this as a place for thoughtful conversation that is available to all for learning and sharing about Earth spirituality and the ways that our practices carry us through our lives.

As we begin, the major posts in the journal will be written by a group of individuals active within EarthSpirit. It will include some "official" postings, such as announcements of events or updates on EarthSpirit activities, but will more often feature thought-provoking articles intended to deepen our community and our spiritual practices. These may include interviews with long-time members of our community; an art gallery based on the Salons held at some of our events; songs or poems and excerpts from works of fiction by EarthSpirit members; articles about specific indigenous European traditions that connect to our current practices; ideas about building meaningful traditions for families with children; articles in response to workshops at Rites of Spring or some of our other gatherings; pieces specifically of interest to young adults, and much more. We hope to explore a variety of topics as broad as the diversity of our community, yet woven together by the shared intention of deepening our understanding and our spiritual connections with one another.

This is not only a place to read articles. Comments are encouraged, and we hope that many good conversations will be generated. We also welcome the submission of articles, art and creative writings. If you are interested in contributing, please write email to voices at earthspirit.com for more specific details. We do ask that comments be connected to what has already been written and that this not be used as a bulletin board to announce non-EarthSpirit-related events, to update the public on your daily life, or to complain about or denigrate others. We reserve the right to moderate comments if needed.