House of Danu Lughnasadh Festival weekend (July 30 to August 2), Santa Cruz mountains north of Watsonville. 2nd Annual Gorsedd. All Bards, Ovates, Druids and Neopagans welcome!
In October 2009, Isaac Bonewits was diagnosed with cancer—he has a good prognosis but feels crappy due to treatments. Send Isaac and Fay prayers, healing vibes and cash.
I have read a story of a tribe in southern Africa called the Babemba in which a person doing something wrong, something that destroys the delicate social net, brings all work in the village to a halt. The people gather around the "offender," and one by one they begin to recite every thing he has done right in his life: every good deed, thoughtful behavior, act of social responsibility. These things have to be true about the person, and spoken honestly, but the time-honored consequence of misbehavior is to appreciate that person back into their better part of himself. The person is given the chance to remember who he is and why his important to the life of the village.
I want to live under such a practice of compassion. When I forget my place, when I lash out with some private wounding in a public way, I want to be remembered back into alignment with my self and purpose. I want to live with the opportunity for reconciliation. When someone around me thoughtless or cruel, I want to be given the chance to respond with a ritual that created the possibility of reconnection. I want to live in a neighborhood where people don't shoot first, don't sue first, where people are Storycatchers willing to discover in strangers the mirror of themselves. I want to be surrounded by a story-based culture that itself remembers story is essential to human survival.
| Date | What |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Thought about starting a Neopagan Druid "congregation" in Gilroy. Started Meetup. 2-year gestation. |
| July 30 to August 3 2009 | Larzean volunteered on staff at House of Danu's first annual Lughnasadh retreat in Santa Cruz County at Pema Osel Ling mountain retreat. Rewarding experience. Had lots of fun and made new Druid friends. |
| 6 December 2009 | Close to site's debut. Decided not to do a blog—at least not now. |
| 9 December 2009 | Finished alpha-testing site. This site's official publish date. |
| 15 December 2009 | Started beta-testing. |
Ochre Hills Druid Grove: Druid Community. Walk nature. Make art. Tell stories. Live simply. Workshops.
Gilroy, Santa Clara County, Northern California, USA • between San Jose & Monterey Bay
San Francisco Bay Area • San Benito County • Monterey County • Santa Cruz County
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