Drawing Down the Moon (87 page)

EarthSpirit.
A non-profit organization, founded in 1980, which provides services to an international network of Pagans and other followers of Earth-centered spiritual paths. EarthSpirit's mission is to promote Pagan spirituality, culture, and community by working to develop Pagan models and values for living in the present age, by encouraging communication and understanding among people of different traditions, by providing opportunities for shared spiritual experience, and by helping to educate the general public concerning Earth-centered spirituality. The organization sponsors workshops and classes, provides open moon circles and seasonal rituals, and helps to organize several wonderful and important festivals, including the annual Rites of Spring (see page 579), as well as A Feast of Lights (see page 575), Twilight Covening (see page 590), and Lunasdal (see page 583). Besides teaching, networking, and festivals, EarthSpirit participates in international interfaith work through a Parliament of the World's Religions. It also sponsors a ritual performance group, MotherTongue, which offers workshops, performances, recordings, and written materials for the public. Membership: $30/year; $40/year families. Address: EarthSpirit, P.O. Box 723, Williamsburg, MA 01096. Phone: 413-238-4240. E-mail: [email protected].

Web site:
www.earthspirit.com

Earth Spirit Pagans.
A non-profit religious and cultural organization dedicated to the preservation and continued vitality of Pagan religions and cultures, founded in 1992 and based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. ESP membership is made up of individuals and families, not groups. It provides workshops, an online newsletter, Wicca 101 classes, public rituals and celebrations, and community service opportunities. It provides a caring religious and cultural environment for practitioners of different Pagan paths. Address: Earth Spirit Pagans, P.O. Box 1965, Colorado Springs, CO 80901-1965.

Web site:
www.earthspiritpagans.org

Earth Spirituality and Education Center.
This Center, in Ohio, was founded in 2005 by Bella Mahri and Sky Cat, HPS and HP of Lady of Sacred Grove and Stone Circle (L.S.G.S.C.), a coven founded in 1993, with a primarily Egyptian and Celtic orientation. The Center affords persons of Earth Spirituality religions a location to worship or commune with their deities privately in the Shrine Room. There is a growing no-loan library for research and classes are offered in many paths and religious topics. There are public rituals for most of the sabbats. Address: Earth Spirituality and Education Center, 118 E. Northern Avenue, Lima, OH 45801. E-mail: [email protected].

Earth Tides Pagan Network (EPN).
Founded in 1989 as a networking resource for Maine Pagans, this multigroup organization hosts an annual oceanfront Beltane celebration and offers an information table at the Common Ground Fair in September. Address: EarthTides Pagan Network, P.O. Box 161, East Winthrop, ME 04043.

Web site:
www.earthtides.org
.

Ecclesia Antinoi.
Founded in 2002, the Ecclesia Antinoi (Gathered Believers in Antinous) is a group of people who are devoted to the modern restoration of the worship of Antinous. The Ecclesia are involved in reinterpreting and extending the worship and practices of the ancient Cult of Antinous into the very different circumstances of life in the twenty-first century. One of the essential tenets in the Ecclesia Antinoi is that a process of “self-deification” can take place “when one realizes the unity one has with divinity. Locating that individual aspect of the divine which has incarnated in one's life can allow it to be the best it can be, to be beautiful and active and reflective of timeless beauty and grace. One theme that runs through the lives of many in the Ecclesia Antinoi is the place of the homoerotic in whatever form that takes.” E-mail: [email protected].

Web site:
www.liminalityland.com/aediculaantinoi.htm

Eldhrimnir Kindred.
Practices and promotes the pre-Christian, indigenous religion of Northern Europe. “We honor the Gods, Goddesses, Landvaetter and Ancestors. We meet weekly for blot, rune study, lore study and seidhr. We are open to all who follow the Gods and Goddesses of the Aesir and Vanir and seek to educate ourselves and others about the many beautiful, deep and profound aspects of our religion.” Address: Eldhrimnir Kindred, P.O. Box 60, Wanchese, NC 27981. E-mail: [email protected].

Web site:
www.geocities.com/eldhrimnir

The Elf Queen's Daughters.
“In the late 1960s, a doorway opened to the Realm of Faerie and the Elf Queen's Daughters was born. By the early 1970s the Tookes (Arwen and Elanor) began the Elven Magic Mail, which spun a network of about 60 Elven Vortices. Today, the EQD is smaller in number. We have grown toward a more experiential interweaving of magickal studies and activities, with the occasional Elf Letter. It is our dharma to ease the burden that has been placed on our Great Mother. It is our dharma to protect the Wild Places of Greenbase that still support the existence of what is left of Faerie. Tis Wild Magick that we work with our Hearts Desire to bring Love and Healing to all upon this Planet. The Fair Mothertongue—song and poetry unfold as we strive to act and to stir the Hearts and Visions into remembering the Beauty and Magick that once permeated all in existence.” Address: Elf Queen's Daughters, P.O. Box 259244, Madison, WI 53725-9244. Phone: 608-288-8523.

ElvinHOME, inc. (formerly Elf Lore Family).
The Elves of Lothlorien have been going strong since 1983. They maintain a nature sanctuary on 109 acres of land, a survival education center, and a woodland meeting ground. Their Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary runs on photovoltaics, has composting privies, solar showers, orchards, and herb and wild gardens. ElvinHOME operates by a consensus council circle. The Elves put on many activities and gatherings, including two large festivals: Wild Magick Gathering (see page 590) and Elf Fest (see page 577). They also run a children's program (Elf Scouts), and they publish a periodic newsletter,
Lothlorien Greenleaf.
Membership: $20/ year. Address: ElvinHOME, P.O. Box 1082, Bloomington, IN 47402-1082. E-mail: [email protected].

Web site:
www.elflore.org

The Federation of Circles and Solitaries (FOCAS).
A non-profit organization for those who practice Earth-based faiths in southeast Michigan, based in the suburbs of Detroit. It is dedicated to healing the Earth and preserving wildlife, unifying the Pagan community through communication and networking, educating the community about Paganism, and increasing awareness and tolerance. Eight open circles a year, weekly chat nights, and park clean up projects. Address: Federation of Circles and Solitaries, P.O. Box 22, Wyandotte, MI 48192.

Web site:
www.focasmi.org

Fellowship of Isis (FOI).
An international multiaith organization that is dedicated to the Goddess in Her many forms. It was founded in 1976 by Lawrence, Pamela, and Olivia Durdin-Robertson at their family home, Clonegal Castle. The fellowship believes in the promotion of love, beauty, abundance, and reverence for all manifestations of life. There is reverence for God as well as Goddess. The rites exclude any form of sacrifice, whether actual or symbolic. A multicultural, multireligious, multiracial fellowship that is open to all regardless of religion, tradition, or race, it is dedicated to honoring the religion of
all
the Goddesses and pantheons throughout the planet. The Fellowship is organized on a democratic basis and all members have equal privileges within it. Membership is free, although there is a charge for publications. There are more than 25,000 members in 98 countries, and about 500 members of the priesthood. There are FOI Iseums and Lyceums around the world. Iseums are “Hearths of the Goddess” and offer celebratory rites, initiations, and fellowship. Lyceums are founded by a Hierophant and offer structured Magi Degree courses. The Web site lists publications, directories of centers, and events. The Fellowship of Isis also consists of sister organizations such as the Noble Order of Tara and the Druid Clan of Dana. They also publish
Isian News.
Address: Fellowship of Isis, Clonegal Castle, Enniscorthy, Eire, Ireland. E-mail: [email protected].

Web site:
www.fellowshipofisis.com

Feminist Spiritual Community.
An open group that has been meeting and celebrating with women since 1980. There are weekly meetings every Monday night at the Friends Meeting House in Portland, Maine. Rituals vary and can celebrate life passages (birth, death, personal rebirth, Cronehood, and taking new names), or they can be seasonal (solstice and equinox rituals). Other rituals “explore ways of opening ourselves to the spirit of power, love, healing, and justice at work in the universe.” There is also time for announcements and socializing. FSC has published two books about ritual:
Celebrating Ourselves
(about their beautiful Croning ritual) for $9 and
Keep Simple Ceremonies
for $15 (prepaid includes postage). Address: Feminist Spiritual Community, P.O. Box 3771, Portland, ME 04104. Phone: 207-774-2830.

Feraferia.
(See Chapter 9.) Founded in 1967, Feraferia means Wilderness Sacrament. Feraferia is “a Paradisal Fellowship for the loving celebration of Wilderness Mysteries with Faerie style, courtly elegance, refinement and grace. The Great Work of Feraferia is the lyrical unification of Ecology, Artistry, Mythology and Liturgy.” The vision of Fred McLaren Adams and Lady Svetlana, Feraferia flowered in the late 1960s and 1970s, but by the end of the 1990s only a small group of people followed these traditions. In 1999, Peter Tromp (Phaedrus), a Dutch artist trained in Wicca and other magical traditions, began a correspondence with Fred Adams and offered to put Feraferia on the Web as well as produce official versions of the core rituals. “The Nine Yearly Festivals of Feraferia” was produced in Dutch and English and the Web site has essays, rituals, and much of Fred Adams's splendid artwork. Phaedrus lives in Amsterdam, has his own Wiccan group, as well as being one of the two contact persons for Feraferia worldwide. E-mail: [email protected].

Web site:
www.phaedrus.dds.nl/fera.htm
. Peter Tromp's personal Web site also features some Feraferia material:
www.phaedrus.dds.nl
. The other contact for Feraferia is Lady Selena Kareena. Address: Feraferian Paradisal Sanctuary, P.O. Box 21, Monticello, NM 87939. Phone: 505-743-2048. E-mail: [email protected].

Web site:
www.ancientartstudioproductions.com

Four Quarters: An InterFaith Sanctuary of Earth Religion.
“A religious association of people, drawn to the Earth and its cycles, the natural world and its polarities; and seeing in them the manifest expression of spirit.” Four Quarters is a church, a retreat camp, a monastery, and an interfaith organization for Earth Religions. Founded in 1995, in 1999 the Church purchased its first parcel of land, and by 2005, the Church had title to one hundred acres, including the main camp, the river, and the Stone Circle. By 2005, the Stone Circle had grown to thirty-two large standing stones, and half of the circle from East to West will soon be completed. A large, seven-fold labyrinth is also in construction. In 1999 Four Quarters began a monastic order, with three adults living under formal vows of poverty and working full time for the Church. Four Quarters maintains a large garden supplying much wintertime food, and has begun a permaculture program for the twenty-five acres of tillable farmland on the site. Four Quarters holds open Full and New Moon services, led by rotating Priestesses and Priests from their membership. Many use Wicca as a model, but members may lead services in other traditions. Four Quarters has approximately 400 dues-paying members and hosts eleven seasonal events in the camp, ranging from 50 to 500 people. They also publish a “Wheel of the Year” calendar, distributed free throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. They also host a Spiral Scouts group and a summer gathering for Spiral Scouts across the region. Four Quarters says the lesson they have learned from working with the Standing Stones is that it is important to be “in it for the long haul.” Address: Four Quarters, 190 Walker Lane, Artemas, PA 17211. Phone: 814-784-3075/ fax -3999. E-mail: [email protected].

Web site:
www.4qf.org

Foxwood Temple of the Old Religion.
A temple dedicated to the Old Gods, a legal church, and an educational institute founded in 1990 by Orion Foxwood, co-founder of the Alliance of the Old Religion, author of the book
The Faery Teachings,
and one of the mantle carriers for Lady Circe of Toledo, Ohio, Queen Mother of the line. The foundations of Foxwood teachings originate in the family folk-tradition passed down from the Lady Circe, inclusive of elements of Celtic, Strega, Faerie traditions, and Western magical traditions. The teachings are transmitted through structured training and initiations. Foxwood sponsors some international lecturers, open sabbat celebrations, and classes and spiritual counseling and hosts the Mountain Mayfest Gathering (see page 579). Address: Foxwood, P.O. Box 5128, Laurel, MD 20726. E-mail: [email protected].

Web site:
www.Foxwood-temple.net

Free Spirit Alliance.
A non-profit spiritual networking organization whose primary function is to provide administrative and technical support to members of the pantheist community in the practice of their faith. Founded in 1985, FSA sponsors both local and regional events in the Mid-Atlantic area—including workshops, rituals, and the promotion of communication, harmony, and goodwill between congregations and within the pantheist community. FSA runs Free Spirit Gathering (see page 577), a large national festival attracting people from as far as Hawaii, Canada, and Texas. FSA also runs a smaller Beltane festival, which it calls the only adult-only Sacred Sexuality Beltane festival in the country, as well as a number of other events and rituals in the D.C./Maryland area. Membership in the Alliance is $20/year and is open to anyone sharing the group's goals and objectives. Address: Free Spirit, P.O. Box 94, Lambertville, NJ 08530.