The purpose of this workshop is personal spiritual exploration. You may expect to meet a powerful spiritual guide who will journey with you in your quest. This training is designed for people who are serious about their further growth and development; for people who wish to be deliberate about their life path. The tool we will use is guided meditation. Experience is not necessary. This workshop involves a number of journeys. For your comfort, please bring a blanket or pad to lie on, a pillow if you need one, a light scarf to cover your face, and a cover if you tend to get chilly. Bring a journal or pen and paper to record your journeys and conversations with your Spirit Guide. There will be an altar in our space where you may place personal sacred objects.

Ages: 16 or above           Participant Limit: 15

9/26/2001 - Circle of Stones is now full. We cannot accept further registrations for this workshop.

Brydie Fyredragon was raised a Christian which never worked for her. Upon reading Drawing Down The Moon by Margot Adler and The Spiral Dance by Starhawk she at last understood her path. She worked as a solitary for a long time. Brydie feels fortunate to have found Unitarian Universalism where she met spiritual leaders who were able to guide her on her path. In 1991, with Dick Merritt, she started Celebrate the Circle, a Chapter of CUUPS. Brydie says "For the very first time, I met like minded folk who wanted to do ritual as a group. We all have subtle distinctions in our beliefs and practices, and still we come together in the spirit of Unitarian Universalism: To work and worship together, honoring our differences." Brydie has recently set out upon a new path as a Votary of the House of Isis, celebrating her dedication ritual on June third.

In this workshop we will delve into the lore of Runes. We will start by introducing the Runes themselves in the context of Scandinavian creation myth, and dwell briefly on Odin, Freya, and a few other deities. The heart of the workshop will be a discussion of the three Wells of Wyrd and the relationship between fate and the carving of runes. The last two hours will cover divination and magical work with the Runes. We will end the workshop by carving a rune talisman.

A companion booklet on the meanings of the Runes and various other materials will be provided. Please bring a good wood-carving knife (lock blade pocket knives are usually good) and a pair of work gloves if you can. Also, you may wish to bring pen and paper, and a piece of wood, rock, or other item upon which to carve or paint a rune at the end of the workshop.

Danny Moses is an eclectic pagan and talented musician devoted to the Odhinnic path. He spent 10 years studying Native American spirituality and various tribal traditions, but did not settle into his personal path until discovering the Runes five years ago. Since then, Danny has been working intensively with the Runes and with Odin in a shamanic manner, drawing on Old Norse mythology, Mircea Eleade’s studies of shamanism, the guidance of Freya and Odin, and the trial and error of personal experience. In the Triangle area, he is involved with both the Lunatic Fringe and Carolina Spirit Quest. He also brews mead, plays a mean fiddle, and gallumphs off into the hills of NC whenever possible with his partner Tammie Ward. Danny and Tammie live with two strange but psychologically sound cats in Durham, where they periodically host Danny’s 19 year old son and 15 year old daughter.

Dan Campbell is an eclectic pagan artist with wide ranging interests including Druidry, Neolithic prehistory, shamanism, Celtic and Scandinavian paganism, divination, poetry, oil painting, home brewing beer and mead, and run-on sentences. Although interested in Scandinavian mythology since high school, Dan only seriously began studying Runes and Germanic Heathenism two years ago. His first exposure to neo-paganism was with CTC, during its inception in 1991 (he was amazed to discover that neo-paganism was alive and well outside of California, let alone in NC!). After about two years of active involvement with CTC, Dan retreated into solitary practice, in which he began delving more deeply into his personal spiritual path. He has since been slowly working his way along that path with help from a few distant ancestors, the spirits of the land, some close friends on this side of the Veil, and his life partner Cynthia. Dan and Cynthia live in Hillsborough with their 2 year old daughter Jessica, and two terribly neurotic cats.

Women bleed, but do not die. This workshop will focus on menstruation and its effects on our lives. Participants can bring sacred items to place on an altar and any books, poetry, tales or personal writings you would like to share with the group. Come prepared to share your feelings and experiences about menstruation, whether you have not started to bleed, no longer bleed, or are somewhere in between. There will be information and discussions of the biology and history. Come share sacred space with Gryphon and Tammie and be transformed.

Age: under 10, please talk to the Presenters first           Participant Limit: 20

Gryphon Rosemead has been a Pagan for many years and is interested in all paths. She is a member of Celebrate the Circle and the Lunatic Fringe in the Triangle area as well as a few private groups. She is a school teacher in Granville County and shares her household with a cat named Grandmother and her dog, Othello. She has become very interested in promoting Pagan tolerance in the public school system. Gryphon is Co-Director emeritus of Carolina Spirit Quest and Director of Quest: Blood, Stones and Runes.

A Durham native, Tammie Ward is interested in learning about all paths. She is currently studying Runes, Shamanism and many forms of divination. She is a member of the Lunatic Fringe. She enjoys spending time with Danny Moses, the mountains and backpacking among other things. Tammie has two black cats, Concho and Pepper and is on the Board of Directors for Carolina Spirit Quest.