Reclaiming Scotia Elements of Witchcraft Class

The Elements of Witchcraft

An introduction to Reclaiming style and tradition of Magic

8th – 10th March, 2013


at The Golden Leaf, Peebles 

facilitated by Elinor Prędota

Cost: £75 (£65 concessions)

All living beings are supported by the sacred elements of air, fire, water, earth and spirit. Join us for this fun weekend, in which you will deepen your connection with these elements, and learn the basic tools, approaches and thealogy of Reclaiming tradition.

We will meet on the evening of Friday, 8th March, to focus our attention and intention together with ritual, then move through the elements together over the weekend. By the end of the weekend, you will have begun or strengthened your relationship with the elements, and have a range of tools to support your magical practice and your spiritual path.

Email reclaimingscotia@yahoo.co.uk or visit our Facebook group “Reclaiming Scotia” to ask any questions and to request a booking form.

You can also get a booking form and this flyer from the “Core Classes” page at our website http://reclaimingscotia.wordpress.com/.

[Please note: To be more accessible, this event will be alcohol- and chem-free, and we will also endeavour to have as fragrance-free an environment as possible (including asking participants to refrain from wearing perfume, essential oils, and personal care products containing fragrance).  

For more information on helping to make spaces and events accessible to people with chemical sensitivities, and for tips for participating in such events, please see http://stasa.net/resources/fragrance-free-resources.  - sm]

Resources from the singing workshop

I facilitated a Singing the Goddess workshop this weekend in Edinburgh.  Thank you to everyone who came and sang!  I had a really good time, and I hope other folks did, too.

Here are some resources to follow up:

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Reclaiming Chantbooks -- both the original and an update. The original includes a number of pieces we did Saturday; the update includes "Children of the Earth Tribe" and lots of others.

http://reclaimingquarterly.org/web/chants04/index.html

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Recordings of Reclaiming Chants -- again, includes a number of pieces we did Saturday (especially "Chants" and "Second Chants"):

http://www.reclaimingquarterly.org/music/music1.html
 

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A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual book and CD (also includes a number of pieces we did Saturday). The CD has teaching tracks as well as sheet music.

http://stasa.net/winter-solstice/buy-a-winter-solstice-singing-ritual-book-and-cd

http://emeraldearth.net/winter__solstice.htm
 

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bread and roses spiritual nurture's Edinburgh Winter Solstice Celebration 2012. This is a presentation of A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual, with lots of singing (no singing's required, though), and people who were at Saturday's workshop will already be familiar with a number of the songs:

http://tinyurl.com/EdinburghWinterSolstice2012

http://www.facebook.com/events/328798050525074/

Singing the Goddess Workshop

bread & roses spiritual nurture

 
and 


Reclaiming Scotia 


invite you 
to

Sing the Goddess

Saturday, 10 November, 2-5 pm

The Hall at St. John’s Church

Princes Street & Lothian Road, Edinburgh

Singing the Goddess workshop will include songs from simple chants and rounds to more complicated pieces, drawn mostly from the Earth spirituality movement and the feminist spirituality movement.



Come as you are, whether or not you think of yourself as a singer.  No music-reading needed.  All genders welcome.



For more information, contact Staśa. 



Free; donations requested to cover hall hire. 

Please share widely!

Edinburgh Solstice Singers, and Singing the Goddess in Edinburgh

October or November: Singing the Goddess -- give date input now

bread & roses spiritual nurture and Reclaiming Scotia are co-sponsoring a singing workshop which I am facilitating in October or November.

I would like to schedule it for when the greatest number of people who are are interested can make it.  The proposed dates are Saturday afternoons in October or November, except for two dates where I have conflicts.

I need to make the booking for the hall by Monday at the latest.  So if you live within reach of Edinburgh for a Saturday and are interested, please let me know which dates will work for you, or are particularly good or bad for you.  

Thanks!

Workshop description draft:

bread & roses spiritual nurture and Reclaiming Scotia invite you to a 3-hour workshop with songs ranging from simple chants and rounds to more complicated pieces, drawn mostly from the Earth spirituality movement and the feminist spirituality movement.  Come as you are, whether or not you think of yourself as a singer!  No music-reading needed. All genders welcome.  [TIME, DATE, MORE INFO.]

Edinburgh Solstice Singers -- forming now

I am now forming the Edinburgh Solstice Singers, to sing in the December Winter Solstice Celebrations in Edinburgh.

We meet once a week for song-learning sessions / rehearsals.

• We are a non-audition ensemble.
• You do not need to read music, although if you do, that can be helpful.
• All genders and voice ranges are welcome.
• Our music is written for sopranos and altos; we can make adjustments for tenors and basses.  (I am willing to work with tenors and basses if you are willing to work with my inexperience with those voice ranges.)
• There are no dues, but there may be a small charge for room hire for rehearsals.

We have a few copies of the songbook available to borrow during sessions, but not to take home.  You may choose to purchase your own copy, which comes with a compact disc that includes recordings of all the songs in performance, as well as teaching tracks for songs with harmony parts.

If you are curious about or interested in joining, please contact me.  More information at http://stasa.net/winter-solstice -- particularly the links for Edinburgh 2012 and Edinburgh Solstice Singers. 

Come sing with us! 

So, how did the Conference go??

I had a lovely time at the Scottish Pagan Federation Conference.  I'm glad I went.  Many thanks to the organizers for all their work!  

Somewhat at the last minute, a group of us, all from Reclaiming, tabled together with and for a handful of things:

• A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual, my book and CD: http://stasa.net
• High Jinx -- "High quality, unique magical products crafted by fey witches in Scotland." They even have a few fragrance-free items, which I sniff-tested at our table and now lust after. http://www.etsy.com/shop/highjinxcrafts
• ahamsa, Elinor's ministry and business: http://www.ahamsa.com/
• bread and roses spiritual nurture, my ministry and business: http://stasa.net
• Reclaiming Scotia (of course!): http://reclaimingscotia.wordpress.com/

This was nice, because it gave us a "home base"; the chance to meet people who came by, for those of us who hadn't been before; a chance to visit with each other between workshops and talks; a place to store supplies for later; etc.  It was also fun. :)

For me, it was also the least-stressful experience tabling I've ever had.  I think this was due in large part to the wonderful people I was tabling with, especially the ever-creative and highly-practical Lady of the East Wind.  (That's how I've decided to refer to her here, for now, especially as she stood East in our circle.)

I did not make it to all the talks, workshops, and performances I wanted to, but the ones I did make it to, I really enjoyed.  It was also lovely just to meet people and talk to people, and watch the crowd, watch people greet old friends and watch people greet newcomers...

There was also something else a little unexpected, perhaps because it hasn't happened for me in a long time in a group with other Pagans: that feeling of being with my people, among my tribe. Sometimes when I hang around with other Pagans, even when they're a great group of people or wonderful individuals whom I like, I feel like a space alien. But last weekend, I had a feeling of homecoming, and I appreciated that. 

We packed up our table and got ready for ritual.  How did that go?  I'm not ready to say too much about it yet, because we haven't had our debrief/processing meeting yet, but I can say that I had a lot of fun, I had a deep experience, I loved working with this Priest/essing team in circle, and that the folks who came and participated in the ritual were a pretty great group.  I had some moments of awe and magic.  I feel like I was faithful in my service to the Goddess.  Oh, and the ribbon wands were great! 

And Margot Adler can dance.  

Oh, yeah, and you know what else?  I'd never been part of a circle before where there was impromptu ceilidh dancing during energy-raising, but I have now! Hurrah, Scotland!

Ritual with Reclaiming Scotia this Saturday

I am going to be part of presenting what has the chance to be a pretty spectacular ritual with Reclaiming Scotia this Saturday at the Scottish Pagan Federation Conference here in Edinburgh. 

Reclaiming Scotia is putting on the late afternoon ritual, in the time slot just before dinner -- I believe our talk-through will start at 4:30 pm (and really at 4:30 pm, not at Pagan Standard Time, *laughing*). 

Lots of pageantry, appeals to the senses, Mystery, and an opportunity for some deep work both within and out in the world. 

This will be my first time at the Conference, so I have no idea what the rest of it will be like -- though I'm looking forward to Margot Adler's talk and to learning more about other presenters. 

(For more on Margot Adler, here are two bios of her: http://www.cherryhillseminary.org/about/leadership/board-of-advisors/margot-adler/ and http://www.npr.org/people/2100166/margot-adler.) 

So if you're in Edinburgh this Saturday, or near enough to come to Edinburgh this Saturday, I invite you to our ritual. 

Crafting Magic (and Magic Crafting) with Reclaiming Scotia

Last fall, I began to go to the monthly socials put on by Reclaiming Scotia, the local chapter of the Reclaiming Collective.

One of the things we talked about at the socials was that Reclaiming Scotia had been asked to present the late afternoon ritual at this spring's Pagan Federation Scotland Conference, and who wanted to be involved in ritual planning and in doing the ritual?  And, what would the ritual be? 

I didn't particularly expect to be part of the planning or presentation -- I was so new, for one, and I wasn't even sure I was going to the Conference, even though it's only one day and it's here in Edinburgh -- but over time, I found myself first drawn into conversation, and then actively involved.  

And this has been a delightful, growthful, and deeply satisfying experience.

I love crafting magic.  And I am loving working with these particular people, individually, and all of us together.

Every single one of us has brought something this event wouldn't have had if that person wasn't part of this.  Every single one of us brings wisdom.  Every single one of us has knowledge and experience the others don't, and every single one of us respects and honors the others' experience.  This has been just wonderful for me. 

This interweaving, this whole-greater-than-the-sum, this collective creativity, this everyone-bringing-something-essential, has happened over and over -- from initial brainstorming; to discerning the big-picture concepts of what we want to offer in this experience; to determining finicky details like what to bring and who needs to be where, when; to buying craft supplies; to just about everything in our crafting afternoon last weekend when we made the ribbon wands we're going to use at the Conference ritual. 

This is not the ritual any of us would have planned ourselves.  These are not the wands any of us would have made ourselves.  And that's been a delight, because that's one of the things Reclaiming Tradition does best, at its best: working collectively. 

I have no idea how people will respond to the experience we are offering them.  We are preparing a container where people will have the opportunity to encounter Mystery; we're not actually in charge of what happens.  Based on 20-odd years of experience, some will think it's fabulous, and some will think it's awful, and some will be in between.  :)

No matter what other people's reactions, the process itself, the experience so far, has been magical and a blessing for me.

This brings me joy.  

Thank You, She-Who-Is; thank You, Hecate, Aengus, Bridhe; thank you, E, S, J, S; thank You, Spirits of Place.

Blessed be!