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Have you found YOUR
tribe?
Where are they?
Are they hiding?...
Out there or under your nose?
Is it them or is it you... both?
Somehow, you will find...
in the Moon Light, under the Stars, in the
bright desert Sun, the crisp desert Air, drumming, dancing, naked, around a
campfire, in a Hot-tub, costumed, making art, doing crafts, making
music, cooking food, sharing meals, sharing hearts, sharing bodies...
your tribe
Registration |
What to Bring |
What to Expect
| Volunteer
| Food
More gathering program
Details --Gay
Spiritual Community -December 28-30 -Special: "A Call to Community."
During these three days, Mohabee, Matrix, Geppetto, and others from
the Starland Community, along with
Sunfire, from the Easton Mountain Community invite you to consider such
questions as...
* What is a spiritual community?
* What are the unique qualities of a gay spiritual community?
* What are specific practices of a gay spiritual community?
* What is the place of the erotic in a gay spiritual community?
* How do people handle conflict in a gay spiritual community?
* How does a gay spiritual community interact with the world?
We can't answer these questions for you. Rather we hope to create experiences -
such as heart circles, meditations, rituals, and workshops - that will help you
answer these questions for yourselves: . If you would like to facilitate a
portion of this program, please contact Sunfire by email - sunfire 12 @ earthlink.net - or by calling him at 1-518-321-1356.
Gay
Spiritual Community
Program Details:
Benefiting both men who are considering being in a resident
community and those who see themselves as part of a spiritual community even
though they are not residents - that is in an extended community.
Friday: December 28th --
Light breakfast - coffee, fruit and dry cereal available (about 7:30 a.m.)
*Before Brunch (about 8:30 a.m.): Spiritual Practice: about 3/4 hr. yoga
followed by 1/2 hr. silent, sitting meditation. The physical motions we call
yoga are really only a small part of the full set of Hindu yogic spiritual
practices - which include the yoga of devotion and the yoga of service. The
physical motions were created to help the practitioner sit still for meditation.
Therefore, just doing the motions without doing a period of sitting meditation
is to lose the intended benefit. Also, prior to the conquest of India by the
puritanical Victorian British, much of this yogic practice was done without
clothing. I recommend this as an option, though not a requirement for this
practice.
*
Brunch (about 10: a.m.)
After brunch (about 11:00 a.m.) Heart Circle: Theme: What is spirituality to
you? There are many definitions of spirituality. What's yours? Whose definitions
resonate with you?
*Mid-afternoon: Community dinner prep - such things as getting a salad ready,
washing potatoes for baking or preparing a casserole.
Before dinner (about 2:00 p.m.) open time (perhaps group massage)
Dinner (about 6:00 p.m.)
*After dinner (about 7:30 p.m.): Community building - Working with frequently
changing partners in a double circle, we will explore what has brought us
together, what beliefs we share, and what our hopes are for the weekend. We may
also divide into small groups for discussion.
Late night (about 9:30 p.m.): Dancing
Saturday: December 29th --
Light breakfast - coffee, fruit and dry cereal available (about 7:30 a.m.)
*Before Brunch (about 8:30 a.m.): Spiritual Practice: - Dynamic Meditation .
This system of meditation was developed by Osho because he said that Westerners
couldn't sit still. He has created a method of releasing just about as much
discordant energy as you can release in thirty minutes so that you may then have
fifteen minutes of stillness and fifteen minutes of joyous dancing. Many men
like to do this meditation without clothing - and this is an option that I
encourage.
*Brunch (about 10: a.m.).
*After Brunch (about 11:00 a.m.): Communication in Community: How Becoming Clear
About Our Real Needs Facilitates Getting Our Needs Met. This workshop uses the
practices developed by Marshall Rosenberg in his book Non-Violent Communication:
a Language of Life.
Mid afternoon: Community dinner prep - such things as getting a salad ready,
washing potatoes for baking or preparing a casserole.
Before Dinner (about 3:00 p.m.): Heart Circle: Theme: How can a gay spiritual
community help you meet your needs? This builds on the preceding session. Each
person is invited to look into his heart, asking what are my needs and how can
my interaction with a gay spiritual community help me fulfill those needs
*Dinner (about 6:00 p.m.)
*After dinner (about 7:30 p.m.): Erotic spirituality: This session focuses on
the basic need for transcendence and how specific erotic practices may help meet
that need. Using physical motion, touch and meditation, we will energize the
centers that in Eastern thought are called Chakras (2-page intro available).
Next, working in pairs we will send the energy of the sexual chakra to the other
major chakras. Then, working alone, we will send sexual energy to all parts of
our bodies and experience how this links us both to the Earth and to the
transcendent Divine in a connection that can transform our lives if we let it.
Sunday: December 30th --
Light breakfast - coffee, fruit and dry cereal available (about 7:30 a.m.)
*Before Brunch (about 8:30 a.m.): Spiritual Practice: about 1/2 hr. authentic
movement followed by 3/4 hr. silent, sitting meditation with journaling.
Authentic movement is a practice of allowing the body to move without conscious
thought.
*Brunch (about 10: a.m.)
After brunch (about 11:00 a.m.): Heart Circle: Theme: How can you help meet the
needs of a gay spiritual community?
Before dinner (about 3:00 p.m.): Community Bread-baking and make your own pizza.
Also, during this time a small group will meet with me to plan the evening's
ritual.
*Dinner (about 6:00 p.m.)
After dinner (about 7:30 p.m.): A ritual of community - to be planned by a
number of participants.
Late evening through morning: A community slumber party. One area or room set
aside with mattresses on the floor for those who want to spend the night in this
sleeping arrangement.
************
About Sunfire:
Sunfire has been leading workshops and retreats that combine spirit and body
since 1988. He has studied with Joseph Kramer and other faculty of the Body
Electric School, from which he holds certificates in massage, breath work, and
sacred intimacy. He is certified as an Advanced Energy Healer and teacher by the
Inner Focus School. Additional studies have included meditation, A Course in
Miracles, Ira Progoff’s Intensive Journal Work, and several Native American
practices. For the past two years he has been a resident at Easton Mountain
Retreat in New York State, where he assists at community-led retreats with
meditations and workshops on healing. He was a member of their extended
community for four years prior to becoming a resident. Website:
http://home.earthlink.net/~sunfire12
More on Gathering Program (Note, this schedule will expand as we, the
planners, "stir the pot" some more.):
December 23rd Sunday -'first official day of the gathering
There's a full moon on that day. On the preceding day, Saturday Dec. 22nd,
Starland might have another group just for the day celebrating the winter
solstice. Perhaps our groups may merge?? -information on that forthcoming.
Anyway, we should like to celebrate the winter solstice too on the first day of
the gathering (Sunday).
December 31st Saturday eve... you know what day that is...
Of course we're planning a celebration; feast, no-talent show, and tribal
dance... 'got drums? Actually, this could happen every night... but then what
fun would that be?
Other events...
On-going events would or could be arts & crafts sessions, heart circles,
campfire and/or drum circles, meal prep as ritual, other spontaneous or
thoughtful ritual. You can lead or fallow... many attendees, such as yourself
make the gathering what it will be by sharing gifts and talents. You are welcome
to join or create workshops, seminars, or rituals anytime. Just post it on the
"faerie busy-body board." ... more to come
What to Expect:
Great healthy food, mostly vegetarian.
Starland is a rustic desert homestead. The house, under perpetual repair. The
Main Hall is a perfect all-weather indoor communal space for projects such as
arts and crafts, dancing / performances, massage, games, and sleeping. The
hot-tub... is hot! The men, friendly. The fire-pit (weather permitting), warm,
entrancing, musical (drumming), and toasty. The Labyrinth, thoughtful.
Spontaneous ritual. Communal meals. Making new friends. Growing an inch or so in
you heart and soul.
What to Bring:
Sleeping bag, quilts, or blankets, and a pillow.
A couple towels, personal toiletries, soap, etc.
Warm clothing, hiking shoes, flashlight
Drums and other percussion instruments, as many as you can.
Ritual Items for altars
Volunteer:
Preparation, food prep and cooking, dish-washing & clean up, event preparation.
Volunteer Workshop Leaders.
FOOD:
We will provide an omnivorous menu, though vegetarian is encouraged.
You may bring food for yourself and/or to share.
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