Clan of the Triple Horses Grove invites our community to honor and celebrate the Beloved Dead on Saturday evening beginning, October 24. Our ritual will include the burning of a Wickerman that we will together create and destroy at a private residence in Medford. We ask that people arrive by 4 p.m.

Immediately following our rite, we will have a potluck--please bring a side dish or finger food. The Grove to provide two batches of homemade spaghetti, one with venison sausages and one without, as well as baked apples for desert.

Those who wish to join our Grove for the first
time are warmly welcomed!

Ritual robes/costumes encouraged

Please bring:

An offering to burn which symbolizes what you wish to end with the end of the Celtic year

A symbol or picture of your Beloved Dead for our Ancestor Altar/table--candle/offering optional

Oh and bring jack o lanterns if you can!!!

For more info: triplehorses@gmail.com

The Fall Equinox issue is completed for the Druid Inquirer. To free download the issue, go to http://www.geocities.com/mikerdna/druidinquirer11.doc

I wish all of you a great and balanced holiday.

Please pass on the news of this magazine to your friends and grovemates and maybe something will spark a group discussion?

Sincerely,
Michael Scharding

(And don't forget Clan of the Triplehorses Fall Equinox celebration on September 23 more info at: http://triplehorses.weebly.com/ )

Has anyone else enjoyed:

So Many Feathers: Bird Watching Without Binoculars (2006)

It's dvd of songbirds, in gardens as well as in the wild through the four seasons. The piano music may be a little intrusive for some, but I found it visually glorious and relaxing.

Clan of the Triple Horses Grove invites our community to honor and celebrate the Fall Equinox with a brief ritual and labyrinth walk on Wednesday, September 23 at the beautiful labyrinth at Rogue Valley Medical Center, Medford.

Come journey to the center of what you intend to harvest after the season of growth!

Immediately following, we will adjourn to a nearby inexpensive restaurant for dinner and a chance to relax.

Those who wish to join our Grove for the first
time are warmly welcomed!

We encourage everyone to bring a small biodegradable offering for their Guardian and/or the Spirit of the Labyrinth. Please also consider bringing a small candle to light in the center for personal prayer/meditation purposes.

Our next Public Ritual: Llunassadh

Clan of the Triple Horses Grove invites the community to honor Llugh of the Long Arm and celebrate the First Harvest with a brief ritual and labyrinth walk Friday, August 7, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at the beautiful labyrinth at Rogue Valley Medical Center, Medford.

We will begin with a brief ritual honoring the Shining Ones in the aspect of
Llugh, then walk the labyrinth. Privacy and time for reflection will be
given each participant.

Come journey to the center of what you intend to harvest after the season of growth.

Please bring a candle to light in the center for prayer or meditation purposes. Also, please bring a small, biodegradable offering for Llugh, your Guardian Spirit and/or the Spirit of the Labyrinth.

Following our walk we will adjourn to a nearby inexpensive restaurant for
dinner and a chance to relax.

For more information, please contact:
triplehorses@gmail.com

For more information about our Grove, please see our website:
http://triplehorses.weebly.com

(and now for something completely different....)


ODE TO A FART

Oh what a sleekit horrible beastie
Lurks in your belly efter the feastie
Just as ye sit doon among yer kin
There sterts to stir an enormous wind.


http://www.celticheritage.co.uk/

This past Winter Solstice I noted a rash of losses at the boarding stable where we keep our horses.

Between the two weeks immediately before and after the Winter Solstice, six horses either passed or need to be put to sleep. I felt this was a significant percentage considering the barn has total around 30 horses/ponies. Until the Solstice came, none of them seemed –that- vulnerable. Older or perhaps battling some health issues, but still chugging along. Then abruptly, it was their time.

These were not mustangs out on the range dealing with snow and/or lack of water and wolves. These were coddled, fed "pets" in a highly controlled environment.

These deaths brought home to me what I’ve heard about bonfires or bone fires. Fires so hot they could be used to burn the bones of the dead during the long, bitter, hungry winters of my ancestors. Purification. I’ve read time and again about the bonfires of my ancestors used to “rekindle the power of the sun” at the Winter Solstice. Multi-purpose. A cry for help.

My old cat struggled through the Summer Solstice of last year and once it was over, she seemed fine until (pause) the Winter Solstice came. Again, she was an inside only cat so her environment was "sanitized". The exact same for my old horse. A pattern I had not seen until now.

This current Summer Solstice was relatively cool. The power of the Sun has only just hit its usual peak. Sadly, a very old, remarkably tired pony begged for release. Her owner would have spared no expense to keep her alive. But life is not something that can be purchased.

From my own (little) perspective....there is "something" about the
Solstices. My (brief) experiences in a Magical Lodge opened my eyes
to them as the main times of power but I viewed them more in an
intellectual sense.

I now believe otherwise.

Something powerful is at work twice each year.

Look at the losses of Farrah Fawcett, Micheal Jackson, Billy Mayes. Two local friends recently passed over.

Solstices (obviously) mark the extremes in the Wheel of the Year. And they take no prisoners.

The Wheel of the Year-the Cycle of Life-the Druids and Bonfires-I. now. understand.

We are having our annual mid summer celebration on Saturday evening, July 11 on private property in Medford. Why so late in the year? To avoid conflicts with all the other amazing events going on in late June through the Fourth of July.

Our celebration will involve the dedication of our World Tree which is a nine foot section of a blue spruce. This also marks the final resting place of Cotton who graced me with her presence for 21 years.

Our ritual space now includes two 100+ lbs standing stones (in the North and West), a pond with a gold fish as our "salmon of wisdom" (roughly in the East) along with our huge permanent fire pit with the permanent Maypole (roughly in the South) . The mister system has been redone to keep us all cool when the days are warm.

We would appreciate our guests bring libations or prayer flags to be tied to our new symbol as well as prayers/offerings for beloved pets and/or the Deities associated with them.

The Grove to provide a Salad Niçoise with Tuna and barbequed chicken on the side for those who do not partake. We'd like participants to bring finger foods or deserts.

After our celebration and potluck we will show: Rider-Waite Learning to Read the Symbolism of the Tarot, DVD ~ by Morhan Ki'ilehua

In other news:


Dear Friends, Kin and Folk in the Earth Mother,


As you may know. Norman Nelson, one of the three original founders of the RDNA died APril 13, 2009.

I would request you consider a period of mourning for him for this season from June 26 until Lugnasadh on August 1st, at which time kick up your heels. The Druid Inquirer issue for the Summer Solstice (see below) is dedicated to Norman Nelson.

Five ppropriate activities for the period of mourning include:
* Inflicting terrible puns and jokes upon others, or receiving them yourself.
* Brewing and consuming alcoholic beverages.
* Pilgrimages to Carleton (physical or mental)
* Utilizing the motif of "5" in your life and dealings.
* Beginning a scrap-book ("Chapbook") of your favorite articles, essays and notes of a Druidic nature.


FIFTH ORDER
I request the members of the fifth order to contact me at mikerdna@hotmail.com to discuss whether anything needs to be done about the matter of no longer having a living patriarch of the order. While I'm not of the 5th Order (4th, 6th and 8th only), I do not mind assisting in the deliberations. I will likely be contacting you about the issue. The issue is that usually the council of the 4th order is in charge of nominating the 5th order's patriarch, but that could be interpreted only as for the founding patriarch. As there are several exisitng members in the 5th order, I would postulate that they can pick their own patriarch or matriarch; or not pick up, as they see fit. LIkely a consultation between the 4th and 5th Orders will be necessary to hammer out an agreement, or perhaps nothing will happen?


CONTENTS of the DRUID INQUIRER

News of the Groves
Change of Mike’s RDNA website
News from the Order of White Oak
My Own Land, a Poem
The Passing of Norman Nelson, a Founder.
The Obituary of Norman Nelson
Later Chronicles, Chapter 10, a Poem
Some Final Thoughts, by Norman
The Epistle of Norman
The Second Epistles of Norman
The Third Epistles of Norman
Media Corner: 2 Classic Space Botanical Robot-Dramas
Book Review: 9 More Pages of Reviews of Really Old Celtic Books, Part 2


Deadline for next Issue is July 20, 2009

FINAL NOTE: MY WEBSITE WILL MOVE
I will alert you where my website (www.geocities.com/mikerdna) moves to this summer before geocities.com goes offline forever.


*'`'*.,.*'`'*.,.*'`'*.,.*'`'*.,.*
Yours in the Mother,
Mike the Fool

by ArchDruid (AD) Stephen W. McCaully Abbott

Why We Are Druids

Introduction: As many of you know, I am new to the use of the computer. After
talking to my fellow Druid Merlin via email, I have decided to bite the
bullet, as it were, and share with you something that I recently wrote. In
view of what is happening in London and the rest of the world, maybe
something of what I wrote will be of some help and comfort. I have to warn
you, though, that this piece may be a little on the Bardic side. I wrote
this piece while watching the Giants-Reds baseball game. This was on July
4th in the late afternoon and two days before my 55th birthday. Alas! The
Giants lost again. Boohoo! Like many of my more inspired writings, this
one took only 20 minutes. If you get something out of this one, I will post
others. Well, here it goes:

The sun is shining in all her brilliance in the early morning
light. The moon is bright in her fullness in the deepest night. The green
plants grow wild in the deep woods. The deer frolic happily in the dale. The
salmon swim lazily in the sunlit stream. The ancient rocks and stones stand
still, keeping their secrets. These are the things of Nature, be She Danu,
or Don. These are things which we Druids adore and honor. We Druids are
followers of Nature’s ancient way. We are Her sons and daughters who will
honor Her to our days undying. For death hath no sting as we know it is
just a change. For when we have passed, we shall join Nature yet again, for
as Druids, we are of Nature, and Nature is of us.

We are at one with the lizard below and the dove flying high
above. How do we help our Lady of Nature in Her time of need? We do it by
giving Her all of our love. We do it by taking care of Her children; the
ancient trees, Birch and Elder, Pine and Redwood, Oak, Ash, and Beech, whose
tops rise high in the daylight sky. We do it by being true to our Druid
selves. Through our actions and our rituals, we do honor our Mother Nature,
be She Danu or Don. We do it by bringing up our children to respect our
Mother Nature in all Her works and deeds. It is up to us Druids, both
female and male to honor Her strength and love, which can create a lizard
below and a dove flying high through the air above.

Oh, how wonderful is our Mother Nature in all that She creates!
Surely Her protection should not be up for debate. For we are charged as
Druids with the responsibility for protecting and caring for all that She
creates. For this is indeed a great responsibility that we Druids have
taken on from the path which we have chosen. Why are we Druids? This
should now be obvious. We are Druids because we want to know our Mother
Nature. We want to know Her secrets, Her powers, Her knowledge, Her love,
and yes, Her Beauty. We’re Druids because we want to know Her ways and the
many secrets of Her children, Her animals, Her green plants, Her trees, Her
rocks and stones, Her rivers, and streams, and all who dwell within.

We’re Druids because we want to link up to the knowledge and
wisdom of the ancient Druids of our distant past, which most of us have
sadly forgotten. We want to know what these ancient Druids thought. We
want to know how they venerated Mother Nature, be She Danu or Don in their
works and deeds. We are Druids because we use our wits and magicks which we
learned at the knee of our Mother Nature, be She Danu or Don. We are still
children in Her eyes. Like children, we still have much to learn from our
Mother Nature and Her children the animals and other living creatures, birds
and fish and Her green plants, trees, Her rivers, Her streams, and all else
who dwell within.

I hope that these thoughts have helped my fellow Druids
understand why they are Druids, both female and male. Let us as Druids grow
strong and powerful with these thoughts. May new thoughts come out of these
and may we ever continue to grow and learn, and always shall we learn why we
are Druids.

I would like to dedicate this piece to the loving memories of
two ArchDruids who were taken to Tir-Na-Nog too early; AD Robert Larson, and
AD Emmon Bodfish. I miss them deeply. “May the Goddess Bridgit hold their
memories for all time in our hearts.”

Yours always in the Mother Danu

ArchDruid (AD) Stephen W. McCaully Abbott

Peace! Peace! Peace!

Edited by Tegwedd ShadowDancer

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I am


I am the boy who never finished high school, because I got called a fag everyday

I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian.

I am the prostitute working the streets because nobody will hire a transsexual woman.

I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.

We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time.

I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of twenty-seven years into the room.

I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the only loving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me.

I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was simply too much to bear.

We are the couple who had the Realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men.

I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the management called on me.

I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant when they found out my abusive partner is also a woman.

I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted to teach gym until someone told me that only lesbians do that.

I am the woman who died when the EMT stopped treating me as soon as they realized I was transsexual.

I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I didn't have to always deal with society hating me.

I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don't believe, but because they closed their doors to my 'kind.'

I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love. I am the person ashamed to tell my own friends I'm a lesbian, because they constantly make fun of them.

I am the boy tied to a fence, beaten to a bloody pulp and left to die because two straight men wanted to "teach me a lesson."

--IF YOU BELIEVE THAT HOMOPHOBIA IS WRONG... RE-POST THIS--

We are less than a month away from this year's Eight Winds Festival. Both the cut-off date for the food program and the early bird deadlines for registration are only two days away!

Reserve your spot today!!

_2009 Eight Winds Festival

**Deadline for paying for the Eight Winds Food program is June 1st. If you decide to pay after the June 1st deadline (or at the door), then be prepared to pack your own food.

**Early bird deadline for admission to the festival is June 1st as well. Any payment after June 1st goes from $25 per person to $35 per person.

2009 Eight Winds Festival Information

/A Pacific Northwest ADF Festival/

This year's Pacific Northwest Eight Winds Festival will be held
Thursday, June 25th through Saturday, June 28th at the Salt Point State
Park. Located on the Pacific Ocean in Sonoma County, this amazing area
is a stone's toss from the heart of California's wine country. We will
be celebrating Summer Solstice Ritual on a Pacific Ocean beach at
sunset—it doesn’t get much better than that!

Confirmed presenters include:
*Erynn Rowan Laurie - Ogam scholar and author
*Rev. Kirk Thomas - ADF Vice-Archdruid
*Rev. Jessie Olson - ADF Regalia Manager and Grove Organizer
*Linda Costello - Former Senior Druid of Grove of the Rising Phoenix and former Mother Grove Officer

It is a campout, so it will be rustic. There are restrooms, but you must
bring a tent and warm clothing.
Even in summer the California coast gets foggy and cold at times.

For complete details about this majestic piece of paradise and
directions to the park, see www.tinyurl.com/c27dp.

Fee schedule:
Festival Admission:
Adults—$25 per person for all weekend paid before June 1st; $35 per person
for all weekend after June 1st and/or at the door.
Children (5 to 16) — $15 per child for all weekend paid before June 1st; $20 per child for
all weekend paid after June 1st and/orat the door.
Children (5 and under) — no charge

The Feather River Protogrove is offering a reasonably priced, optional
food plan for those interested. The fees are as follows:
Adults and children( 10+): $50 per person; Children (5-10 years old):
$35 per child; Under 5: no charge

Vehicle parking is $6 per night, payable upon arrival to the Park

Send payment by check to:
Sierra Madrone Grove, ADF
c/o Eight Winds Festival
PO Box 221304
Sacramento, CA 95822
Please indicate the number of your party and if you are purchasing the
food plan.

If you prefer to pay by VISA/Mastercard, you can use Sierra Madrone
Grove's Senior Druid Sean Harbaugh’s PayPal account. Go to
www.paypal.com, and click on send money. Enter seanthedruid@yahoo.com in
the “to” box. In the message box, please indicate number of people in
your party and if you are purchasing the food plan. I will send you a
confirmation upon completion of payment.

Proceeds from admissions go to the Sierra Madrone Grove, ADF as a fund
raiser to help the Grove. Proceeds from the food plan go to the Feather
River Protogrove as a fund raiser to help the Grove.
If you have any questions, please contact Rev. Sean Harbaugh at
seanthedruid@yahoo.com, or call 916-288-5673.

Beannachtai!

Rev Sean W. Harbaugh
Senior Druid
Sierra Madrone Grove, ADF