Late Winter Greetings! Signs of spring are everywhere…I heard the first peeper today! Daffoldils and crocus are blooming. Bluebells, twin leaf, and larkspur are poking their green tips out of the cold wet earth. The wood frogs are almost finished with their mating rituals on the ponds. Winter has been challenging for so many of us and now it feels as if energy is starting to move again. Nature is waking up and you can feel the potential for new life. The tractor man has arrived at last! He has headed 2 new springs for drinking water in our forest here and is about to start work on a retaining wall in front of the lodge. We intend to build a greenhouse off of this wall. Before he leaves the driveway will be repaired at last and I know that will make many of you very happy. It’s exciting when some of your plans begin to manifest. May everyone’s roadblocks be released this spring! Check out our spring events below and I’ll look forward to seeing y’all soon! FYI there is still room in our mushroom cultivating workshop April 2nd, see announcement below!
Eagle Dance Q&A March 2nd @ 7PM Preparing for a major ceremony can often feel mysterious and overwhelming. Kelly will be answering questions to help you along in your process. It is recommended that one start preparations 2-4 weeks in advance of the ceremony. RSVP for the zoom link. We may add another date as more folks become interested.
Spring Equinox Purification Lodge, March 19th @ Noon The Spring Equinox is a time when the night and day are of equal length, the sun rises due East and sets due West. A moment of balance, stillness, the anticipation of Resurrection, and dominance of light. Spring Rites are all about celebrating fertility becoming receptive to the seeding of life and light as our days become longer. RSVP here
Men’s Purification Lodge & Potluck @ Thunder Awakener’s Lodge in Chapel Hill, March 25, 4:30 PM Men gathering together to witness, support and challenge each other confers a Blessing. We will share & pray for our hopes, dreams and challenges. Together, we will purify in the tradition of the Sweet Medicine SunDance Path of the Twisted Hairs. RSVP to Michael Star Dreamer
Mushroom Cultivation Workshop, April 2nd @ 12-4pm Come learn how to cultivate your own healthy, delicious shiitake and oyster mushrooms outdoors on logs. We will cover tree selection and harvesting, spawn selection, how to inoculate logs, log placement and care for longevity and successful fruiting, harvesting and preserving mushrooms and much more.
This is a hands-on workshop. You’ll get to inoculate (drill, fill and wax) a log and take it home with you. You’ll gain all the knowledge and skills needed to make more logs. Sliding scale donation: $55 - 75. Some scholarships available
Workshop led by Christina Morrison and Virgil Ryon. They have a gourmet and medicinal mushroom farm in Yancey County and have provided their region with shiitake, oyster and foraged mushrooms since 2013. They have experience growing many varieties of shiitake for fruiting in all four seasons and different climates. For more info contact Christina at 828-273-7131, selvasong@gmail.com You may register here on the SCL shoppe page.
Earth Day Weekend - Rebuilding our Purification Lodge, April 21-23 Whether you come for a couple hours or for whole the afternoon, you will learn how lodges of our tradition are built with sacred geometry and alchemy. Those that help build the lodge can participate in the Consecration Ceremony on Sunday. This is always a fun weekend and we update a lot of things in the ceremonial space as well as building the lodge. Those helping over the weekend are welcome to stay at the lodge. RSVP here.
Fire Crew Training will also be available during this event. Learn the alchemy of fire safety and the joy of being of service to your community.
Full Moon Eagle Dance - May 5-7 Our 2nd Annual Eagle Dance will be held sunset to sunrise to take advantage of the Full Moon energies! Our personal and collective prayers are danced to the center tree. The “tree of life” acts as an antenna to spirit as we pray for guidance from the Universe in the coming year. Drummer singers maintain the heartbeat on a pow-wow drum from sunrise to sunset and maintain the energy for us as we dance back and forth to the center tree. If you’ve never danced before contact Kelly for details or to register. We will also need several dog soldiers to be of service over the weekend if you’d like to volunteer.
To see the full calendar click here! Hope to see you in the holler this spring!