It’s been a busy End of Summer for the grove.

In August, a number of grove members attended the Summerland ADF festival in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  Attendees had the opportunity to participate in several workshops and rituals based around this year’s theme of Sacred Fire.

Grove members also presented workshops.  Michelle led An Adventure in Sound Healing-Raising Your Inner Fire with Sound that explored the transformational qualities of sound through discussion and trance.

In Lighting your Sacred Fire, Earrach promoted the inclusion of solar holy fire making in our spiritual work, and collected a number of easy to find household items that can make this process easier.  Eventually the clouds cooperated and we were able to try out some of his  techniques.

Emerald’s workshop explored Indo-European Goddesses of Love, Sex and Passion, tracing their origins and exploring the similarities and differences of these goddess across several IE cultures.

Maria facilitated a workshop on incorporating song and chant into ritual that led to a good old fashioned chant circle.

Earrach, Maria and Emerald also performed in Chez Pagan, the festival’s bardic night.  Catch Emerald and Maria with Rev. Jan Avende singing “Together We Grow-An ADF Anthem”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOQsR3klDxg&feature=youtu.be

Grove members also attended the annual grove retreat over Labor Day weekend.  We honored our Kindred in ritual and spent a relaxing weekend crafting, bonding, and eating!

At Autumn Equinox,  we celebrated the turning Wheel of the Year with a Polish rite dedicated to Marzyana, a goddess of fields who presides over the harvest.  We offered our thanks for personal harvests completed in the past seasons and concluded the day with an ethnic feast and polka party!

We’ll be attending Greater Pittsburgh Pride Day on October 1^st.  Hope to meet you there!