2006 Summer Gathering Workshops & Classes
Updated 7/27/06

The following workshops, classes, and rituals have been scheduled so far for the 2006 Chesapeake Pagan Summer Gathering. Check this list again as the Gathering approaches. We'll probably add a few more. The times of the workshops will probably change too.

For biographical notes about our guests and workshop teachers, click here. For info about our musicians, click here.

Tentative Schedule

Mealtime Music
A sound system will be available for Gathering participants who would like to sing, play music, or tell stories during lunch and dinner. To put your name on the Mealtime Music schedule, contact Maugie at: music@chesapeakepagans.org.

Your Workshop
If you would like to teach a workshop at the Gathering, please fill out a Workshop Proposal so that we can add you to our program.

Opening Ritual: Conjure Dance, lead by Caroline Kenner
The Conjure Dance is a New Orleans Voodoo dance of manifestation that frequently results in sacred possession by deities and spirits. Our Conjure Dance comes to us via Sandra Ingerman, who learned it from Martha Ward, the biographer of Marie Laveau. Marie Laveau the Elder invented the Conjure Dance in order to end slavery, and it was danced for that purpose every Sunday in Congo Square, New Orleans, for many years. Sandra in consultation with Martha has made an innovation to the Conjure Dance: we will call upon the Lwa, our own helping spirits and deities, and the spirits of place at Camp Ramblewood as we dance. We will dance for: Love, Honor, Respect. Abundance, Peace, Joy. Join us to have those qualities activated in your life, join us to experience Divine Manifestation. Help us set the stage for a fabulous CPC Gathering, while we dance with the Devas, the Lwa, the Orishas and all our helping spirits and deities.

We will dance for slightly over an hour beginning at 8 pm in the Dance Pavillion. Then we will close down the Conjure Dance and progress down the hill to the bonfire site to commence the facilitated drum circle.

Please wear white clothes if you have them.

The Three Selves: Lower, Middle, & Upper Selves, by Ivo Dominguez, Jr.
One of the most universal and useful models for understanding the many layers of the Self and consciousness is the threefold system of the Lower, Middle, and Higher Self. This threefold division has linkages to Qabala, Shamanism, Psychology and a score of other disciplines. The Lower, Middle, and Higher Self also correspond to the Lower, Middle, and Upper Worlds. Understanding this three-fold model of Self is essential to magickal and spiritual growth within many Traditions. We will focus on theory but there will be a brief meditation as well to deepen your connection to this system.

The Three Gates Of The Moon, by Ivo Dominguez, Jr.
There are many ways to reach or to connect with the powers and places variously named the Moon, the Astral Plane, and Yesod. There are three especially powerful gateways that open into these places and we will explore their locations and their particular qualities. The relationship of these gates to the Lower, Middle, and Upper worlds will be explained as well. This will be done through the teaching of theory and through a brief ritual.

The Great Year: The Largest Cycle We See, by Ivo Dominguez, Jr.
The Astrological Ages are but the months in a larger cycle called the Great Year. This is the largest celestial cycle that humans have learned to perceive. By relating this cycle to the smaller cycles, such as the Wheel of the Year and the Lunar phases, we will become aware of its influence on individuals, faiths, and cultures. We are currently at the turning of this Great Wheel. It is my belief that if pagans see the turning of the seasons as important, then understanding this turning is essential to being in tune with nature.

The Triangle of Stillness, by Michael Smith
The Triangle of Stillness is a casting that creates a space wherein the effects of causality and temporal forces are greatly diminished, and the force of synchronicity is enhanced. It can be used on its own or in conjunction with other castings as part of a larger ritual. It has function in meditation, healing, counseling, divination, work with the Qabala, and others. We will discuss the requirements for its casting, techniques for its creation and use, and how to gain the most benefit from its use. We will also experience the casting first hand.

The Magick Squares, by Michael Smith
Everyone, at some time or another, as come across books on magick and the occult filled with lines and squiggles, the signature of X and the intelligence of Y. But not everyone knows that those lines and squiggles, those sigils, do have a basis in the magickal sciences. And from that science people can create their own sigils and signs for growth, healing, expansion, and protection. The Magick Squares, or Kamea, are based on the relationship between numbers and the planets, between Numerology and the Qabalah. We will explore the history behind the Squares, how to create them, and how to use them to create our own magickal sigils. We will explore practical uses for these sigils, and how to use them to enhance our spiritual and magickal practice.

The Four Minds of Meditation, by Michael Smith
The Four Minds Meditation technique uses Four Parts of Self plus Spirit (Air - Mind, Fire - Soul, Water - Heart, Earth - Body, Ether - Spirit) to enhance our understanding of the Elementals and their realms. It also assists in meditation, as the Four Elements correspond to the Four Minds, or four different ways of perceiving and understand experiences, visions, or questions. This experiential workshop will review the basic working of the Four Minds, and then be lead through the meditation to seek better understanding of the Minds in action.

The Neglected Paths, by Michael Smith
When many people first begin to study Qabalah, they focus almost solely on the Ten Spheres. And while these Spheres are important to the use of the Tree of Life as a mandala for our personal growth and spiritual experiences, there are other parts of the Tree that can also be used to our benefit. This includes the 22 paths that connect the various Spheres one to another. In this workshop we will introduce the Paths, their functions and their uses. We will also do a ‘pathworking’ to experience one way of using them in our practices.

Gods of Hinduism--An Introduction, by Black Lotus
“Deva” is a Sanskrit word which means “Bright Being.” It is used (with its feminine form, “Devi”) to describe the worshippable divinities of the Hindu Pantheon. These deities are extremely fluid and changeable. Devas can shape-shift; they sometimes die and reincarnate. Some take animal or vegetable forms. Each Deva has literally hundreds of names and aspects by which they can be invoked. New gods have been discovered within living memory; the most ancient Vedic deities are never entirely dispensed with. These Devas are powerful, complex, and fascinating. Come hear Black Lotus help you become more familiar with these Bright Beings, illustrated with examples from devotional posters, sculptures, talismans (called Yantras), and some basic invocations (or Mantras).

Southern Conjure and Crossroads Magic, by Orion Foxwood
Throughout the American South, there are living folk magic traditions that are synergies of European, Native American and African magical techniques and folklore. These traditions developed during the times of slavery and have been passed down through families and communities for hundreds of years. They differ between areas depending on migration patterns, enslaved tribes and other factors. The practices are alive and well and are practiced by Hoodoos, Conjurers, Root Doctors, Faith Healers and Two Headed Doctors in states including Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and elsewhere. The practices include setting of lights and other candle work, working roots, the veil (2nd sight) and tokens (signs), laying on hands, speaking in tongues, conjure magic, working with the dead and other forms. The underpinning philosophy inherent in these folk practices is rich with spiritual insight and a true traditional American folk magic heritage. In this workshop, Orion will discuss the forms of Southern folk magic, which he has encountered (and worked with) in his travels as well as those he learned growing up in Virginia. This workshop will focus primarily on graveyard work, working with the spirit of the crossroads and historical information.

The Races of the Faery People, by Orion Foxwood
All too often, when people speak of “Faeries”, they are referring to post renaissance re-constructed images of gossamer winged sprites happily tip-toeing through the tulips. This image is completely out of sync with the older, traditional concepts of the Faery races who are in fact ancient powerful beings as well as humanities spiritual next of kin. In fact, the tinker bell image is of elementary beings who are Fay but not Faery. The term “Faery” is actually a description of a state of being and the broad classification of “people” who dwell there. This workshop will discuss the traditional concepts/classes of Faery people as solitary, hive, trooping and stationary clans, their roles in the natural/creative world, potential for partnership with human co-walkers and legends about their customs. Orion will also discuss the classifications of spiritual beings as incarnate, discarnate and non-carnate and how this influences t he partnerships between humanity and the unseen company.

Working with the Power of Place, by Orion Foxwood
Traditional folk magic grows organically over long periods of time out of a relationship between humanity and the weather, seasonal and energy patterns, land terrain and other aspects of a place over many years. Ceremonies, healing practices, sacred sanctuaries, and folklore reflect the inner life of the land where they evolve coupled with the cultural development of a group of people. The holy people and magic workers of a clan, tribe, ethnic group or indigenous people reflect a dynamic relationship designed to interpret and channel these subtle spiritual forces toward positive outcomes. In this workshop, Orion will discuss the concept of “genus loci” (local spirits), the inscape (inner landscape) and the Faery Tracks (interface points between the inner and outer worlds) and lead visionary processes designed to explore the inner world of Rites of Spring and its land location.

Mystery of the Spheres, by Thoron Woodling
Learn to juggle, or practice your juggling skills with others. Balls, scarves, pins and rings will be provided. For all ages.

Scrying Methods, by Thoron Woodling
Learn the basic techniques of crystal gazing, water scrying, and fire scrying. Bring your favorite scrying tools. Borrowed tools will also be available.

Honoring the Animals, by Caroline Kenner
The root word of animal is from the Latin, anima, which means soul. How far has Western culture strayed from this root? Animals are considered by most monotheists to have no souls. The toxic results of this attitude are everywhere around us, found in the way we treat the Earth and its denizens, and in the way we treat our own bodies.

In this ritual, we will honor the Animals around us and within us. We will set an altar with stone animal fetishes, mostly carved by the Zuni people of New Mexico. We will meditate on the animals, pray to the animals, dance and drum to honor the animals. We will acknowledge our kinship with the animals, and express gratitude to the animals for all they give us. There will be a special visit from the Hummingbird spirit, who will share her unlimited joy. At the end of the ritual we will find a new inner balance between our animal self and our proud consciousness. Please bring a rattle or a drum to the ritual if you have one.

Meet The Orishas , by Caroline Kenner
Join us to celebrate the Orishas of Cuban Santeria. Santeria, or more formally, La Regla de Ocha de los Lucumi, is a New World religion descended from Ifa, the religion of the Yoruba people of Nigeria. The Orishas are the deities of Santeria, brought from Africa over the middle passage by slaves. Their African natures remained long hidden, cloaked within the cults of the Catholic saints, so as to preserve the religion during slavery times. Now, protected by the First Amendment and Supreme Court decisions, the Orishas are emerging from the shadows.

We will learn about the origin, cosmology, structure and geographic distribution of Santeria. We will set a series of altars to the Orishas, and give them some of their favorite offerings. We tell patakis, their myths, and honor them with invocations and prayers. We will listen to traditional Cuban rhythms dedicated to each Orisha. Come and meet the Orishas!

Please do not attend this workshop skyclad, but instead wear white clothing if you have it. There will be rum provided for offerings along with other foodstuffs.

You are the Moon, by Gail Wood
Maiden, Mother and Crone are the faces of the Goddess. Yet, in our society we have more than three roles, three faces and three phases of life. Through deep meditation we will ground and connect with the earth and with the seasons. Deeper still, we will meet the Moon Goddess in nine phases and nine faces. We will find delight in the Moon as we merge with Her and find that each of us is, in everyway, the Moon. Attendance is flexible and older children comfortable with meditation may attend.

The Goddess, With Chocolate, by Gail Wood
Our emotions, love, sensuality and pleasures wash over us and engulf us. We can be swept away by the beauty of those emotions or we can be inhibited by guilt and fear. In this workshop we will meet the Aztec goddess of (non-reproductive) love and the arts, Xochiquetzal. Through trance and movement we will find our own sensuality and love of beauty. Because chocolate was sacred to the Aztecs, we will ground and center with the delightful sipping of spicy Mexican chocolate. For all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. Older children comfortable with meditation are welcome!

The Voice of the Goddess, by Miriam Benson
The oracular ritual, "The Voice of the Goddess," will again be offered by Miriam Shulameet Benson, Thoron Woodling, and Myth Woodling. Using techniques being taught at this gathering, we offer you a chance to ask any question that comes from the heart. The main warding for this ritual is from Michael Smith's Triangle of Stillness.

Lammas Bread Bake, by Miriam Benson
Participants in this hands-on workshop will mix and knead bread for sacred use in the Main Ritual. All ages are welcome to help. After the bread rises, the kitchen staff will place it in the oven for baking.

Spiritual Technologies, by Miriam Benson
Spiritual paths flowering in diverse ethnicities have born the fruit of specific techniques and disciplines, leading to self-knowledge and wisdom. Can these methods be lifted from their cultural settings and be practiced outside their tradition while showing due respect for their origin? All welcome to join the discussion. (Round-table style group discussion)

Breaking the Spell Stone Bath, by Tyrtle
This 3-round sweat is ideal for breaking spells/enchantments, addictions, and mental/ emotional/behavioral patterns, any place we feel stuck. Starting prayers will reclaim any power or parts of ourselves that need to return. Second round prayers will realize what we’ve been waiting for and offer us the power of transformation. The third round is an invitation to stretch beyond our present limits, with the help of both the ancestors and those yet to come.

Special Requests: Please honor this healing work by refraining from alcohol and non-prescription drugs at least 24 hours before and after.

Toxic Thoughts and Emotions, by Tyrtle
Toxic thoughts and emotions rob you of power, harm your relationships, and pollute the larger, universal energy field. This spiritual look at "psychological" issues will cover simple tools for identifying, understanding, releasing, and healing them through (1) becoming the "Observer," not the one reacting, and (2) expressing your emotions "cleanly" without blaming or attacking. Great for everyone, and a "must attend" for those with "too much" or "too little" anger and who struggle with depression and repetitive thoughts. (Includes shamanic journeys that are adaptable to meditators.)

How to Heal "Soul Theft" and Power Loss, by Tyrtle
Do you often feel empty, needy, jealous, or clingy? Have trouble letting go of a person or event or with forgiving someone? Do you often pity some people or caretake them? Take on others' pain or issues? Struggle with addictions? This workshop can help you restore power and wholeness. Great for those with empath tendencies and codependency issues. (Includes shamanic journeys that are adaptable to meditators.)

Morning Yoga and Meditation, by Diotima Mantineia
Diotima will teach a 1/2 hour yogic and magical routine that, if practiced daily, will profoundly shift your personal life energy and improve your health. We will spend Friday mostly learning the routine, and Saturday mostly practicing it. No prior experience with yoga required. Bring a mat or a couple of towels to lie on and a yoga strap or belt.

Other Stuff
This list is a work in progress. As the Gathering approaches, we will continue adding workshop descriptions.

Featured Guests, Workshop Teachers, Musicians

Ivo is the author of the Five Parts of Self Wiccan sweat protocol and co-author of the Sauna Sumbel. Ivo was a founding member, and a past High Priest, of Keepers of the Holly Chalice, the first coven of The Assembly of the Sacred Wheel and now serves as one of the Elders to the five covens of the Assembly. His techniques are rooted in a synthesis of traditional metaphysical teachings, modern science, and memories from past lives.

Ivo is also the author of Castings: The Creation of Sacred Space, Of Spirits: The Book Of Rowan, Beneath The Skins, and Spirits Of Earth And Faerie: The Book Of Ash. He is currently involved in fundraising for the New Alexandrian Library.

Orion Foxwood grew up with the second sight in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, an area rife with the folk practices of the southern and Appalachian tradition. He is a witch and Elder in Romano Celtic-Traditional Craft, High Priest in Alexandrian Wicca and teacher of the Faery Seership tradition. He is also the founding Elder of Foxwood Temple and a primary founder of the Alliance of the Old religion--a national network covens in his line that have united to preserve the ways of his Elder. He is the co-director of Moonridge, a center for metaphysical, Craft and Faery studies in Maryland. For over 20 years, he has lectured extensively across the United States and in the United Kingdom on the Craft, Faery Seership Tradition and Southern Folk Magic and conjure. He is the author of The Faery Teachings (Muse Press, 2003).

On the lecture circuit, he is best known for his teachings on traditional second sight and folkloric Faery practices originating in the ways of the Faery Doctors and Cunningmen of Britain, Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the conjurers of the American South. In the "other" professional world, he hold a Masters Degree in Human Services, is a licensed professional counselor and a public health administrator. His teachings are based in traditional folk practices aimed at direct spirit contact for substantive personal transformation.

Michael Smith, Gwydion Stormcrow, has been practicing Wicca since 1989. He is a Third Degree Initiate of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel (ASW), a Wiccan organization in the DE/PA area. He is currently serving as High Priest of Coven of the Rowan Star, a coven in the ASW. He has taught at a variety of events, including Sacred Space, Free Spirit Gathering, Etherecon, MPA Beltaine, Ecumenicon, and numerous ASW and coven events. He practices a variety of esoteric disciplines from Wicca and the Western magickal and shamanic traditions, including Astrology, Qabalah, Ritual, and Journeying. He is currently dividing his spiritual practice between Ancient Egyptian Studies and balancing the Magick, Religion, and Spirituality of Wicca. He lives in southern Delaware were he works, loves, and teaches, and is one of the stewards of Seelie Court, 102 acres of pagan owned land dedicated to the pagan paths. His coven’s website is at www.rowanstar.org

Black Lotus is High Priest Emeritus of Mnemosynides, a Protean Coven in New York. He is also a Shakta (Hindu Goddess Worshipper), initiated by Ammachi of Kerala, South India. Black Lotus teaches astrology, the magical uses of incenses and gemstones, and mantra meditation. He writes and performs original songs and parodies, both mirthful and reverent. He can be contacted at lotus.black@yahoo.com.

Thoron Woodling has been a certified public accountant since 1988, so juggling comes natural for him. He's been teaching juggling classes at Pagan gatherings for about 10 years. Thoron is also a Mystic, a former student of the Rosicrucians, and has been practicing scrying since 1980.

Miriam Benson has led sweat ceremonies locally, for nearly ten years and offers oracular ritual as the Voice of the Goddess. Dedicated spiritually to world peace, she uses the name Shulameet, derived from 'shalom', the Hebrew word for peace. She was initiated as a 3rd degree Gardnerian priestess in 1982 and continues in the lineage of the Protean tradition. She is also a self-styled Discordian adept who laughs at anything authoritarian. We all need a break, now and zen.

Myth Woodling, a leader in the Pagan community since the 1980's, considers herself both a skeptic and believer of occult subjects. She maintains a library of information, folklore and stories about the Goddess Aradia and related subjects at: www.AradiaGoddess.com. Myth has discussed urban legends and folklore on panels at science fiction conventions, and interviewed ghost hunters and skeptics for the documentary video, The Occult World of Rock Savage.

Caroline Kenner is a community organizer, ritual celebrant and media spokesperson in the Washington, DC/Baltimore Pagan community. Caroline has been practicing Paganism for more than 22 years, and in that time has been initiated into several different magical paths. Caroline has studied core shamanism since 1989. Trained by Michael Harner and Sandra Ingerman, Caroline became a shamanic healer in 1999. She works with spirits and deities from many religions, most notably the Norse and Anglo-Saxon traditions, Cuban Santeria, Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. Caroline is an initiate of La Regla de Ocha de los Lucumi, also known as Santeria. She has received the Elekes, the Warriors and two Orishas in the Santo Lavado ceremony. Caroline is also an initiate of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, Order of Wandering Stars. Sponsored by Chesapeake Pagan Community, Caroline has organized public shamanic healing circles and celebratory rituals on the Pagan high holidays for the last six years. Caroline also writes for the Witches' Voice. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College in Anthropology and holds a Master's degree in Communications from Boston University. See her website at www.Mythkenner.com.

Gail Wood has been a witch and a Wiccan priestess for more than 20 years, practicing a shamanic path celebrating the Dark Moon. She is clergy, teacher, ritual leader, tarot reader and Reiki Master. She teaches workshops and classes on alternative spiritualities, Wicca, tarot, ritual, shamanic journeywork, and Reiki. She is the author of Rituals of the Dark Moon: 13 Lunar Rites for a Magical Path (Llewellyn, 2001); articles in a variety of pagan publications; and the forthcoming book, The Wild God: Meditations and Rituals on the Sacred Masculine available in 2005 from Spilled Candy Publications. In 2006 and 2007, her work can be found in several Llewellyn annuals including the Witches Calendar and The Spell-A-Day Almanac. Gail is a member the Coven of the Redtail Hawk, and she is High Priestess of the Coven of the Heron, both covens of the RavenMyst Circle. She can be contacted by email at witchwood@mindspring.com and by mail at Gail Wood P. O. Box 15 McLean, NY 13102-0015. See her website with a few of her friends at www.witchesinprint.com and read her blog at www.rowdygoddess.blogspot.com

Tyrtle--Answering the call to healing and wholeness, manifesting non-dualistic realities, and transcending gender roles are central to Tyrtle’s vision. Her spiritual beliefs inform her political activism, which dates from the 1970s and includes a range of freedom, justice, and ecology movements. She prefers to call her eclectic sweats “Stone Baths” in honor of her Anglo-Saxon/Germanic heritage. She has worked sweats full-time within the Pagan community since 1995 and has poured since 1996. She is authorized to teach shamanism by Sandra Ingerman. She has also been heavily influenced by Michael Harner, Angeles Arrien, Starhawk, Tom Cowan, and especially her spirit guides. She has engaged Harner-method shamanism since the early 1990s and has a shamanic healing and teaching practice in the D.C. area.

Featured Musicians

Katy Gaughan, our ritual drummer, is a facilitator and mentor of the DC area drum circle community. click here for her picture and bio.

Maugorn the Stray, our resident musician, plays the acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, and recorder along with a variety of percussion instruments. Some of his fine work is now available on the CD album, Patches.

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