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For 2006
The Teutonicus
Ceremonial Complex
Please note our new date for Stones Rising !

   Teutonicus is a unique and imaginative mytho-poetic ceremonial complex wrapped around Four Quarters’ Stones Rising ritual traditions. Drawing upon Norse, Viking, Icelandic and Germanic source material from different historical periods, the five ceremonies of Teutonicus reenact the mythic saga of the death and transfiguration of the Dragon, Oroboros; "The World Changer."
    Because it is not a reconstruction of any one ancient ritual tradition, the ceremonies provide a flexible ritual context open to any spirituality. Each ceremony will include familiar Earth Religious concepts such as: Sacred Space, Fire and Blood, Inspiration and Divination, Libations poured and drunk, Ritual Performance, Music played and Poetry spoken.
    In addition to a ceremonial emphasis on the virtues of Honesty, Wisdom and Courage, there will be personal opportunities to make oaths, vows and promises strengthening our capacity for integrity and commitment. And as always at Stones Rising, to practice ones own personal ceremonial commitment to the Circle and our Community.
    Come to ceremony with what you believe, enter into the saga we are telling as you are now, and experience the Fires of Iinspiration at the crossroads of Myth and Action.


Stones Rising 2006

Teutonicus Ceremonial Complex
   Live the Saga.

   The Five Ceremonies

Wednesday, August 2nd
Dusk at the Pealing of the Bell.
Opening Ceremony: Stone Circle
   Discovering the Dragon
   The Saga: In Dreamtime, Thor has thrown down the chaos dragon whose stone bones now lie exposed upon the mountain top. Losing his old life, Thor seeks new life, but to balance the world the dragon also needs to be restored. In the opening ceremony, the Tribe starts its preparations by: recognizing the sacred space near the dragon’s stone bones, reading poetry written in the old days and honoring the six gods of Teutonicus with libations of Odin’s sacred mead. In ceremony, the Tribe is reminded that, to revive the beneficent dragon, the lives of each one of us must be transformed by the magic of fire and blood, virtue and volition, thought and action, sacrifice and intention.
The Tribe moves to the fire circle to continue the celebration.

Thursday, August 3rd
Dusk at the Pealing of the Bell
Evening Stone Pull: Stone Circle
   Dreaming the Dragon
   The Saga: In Dreamtime, the Tribe turns to the Völva, the rune seeress, for divine insight to the question: "How do we restore the beneficent dragon?" Raised high upon the Door of Farsightedness she sees and speaks in honesty: the Tribe is challenged to take a dark and dangerous Voyage and recover Tyr’s Amulet. The Tribe marks the body tribal and brings fire and blood to the stone bones of the transfigured dragon. All must prove courageous and voyage across the sea offering Three Rings to Heimdall, the Guardian of the amulet, that he might release it into our care that we might return it to Freyja in Valhalla.
The Tribe moves to the fire circle to continue the celebration.

Friday, August 4th
Dusk at the Pealing of the Bell
Stones Rising Eve: Fire Circle and Stone Circle Ceremonies
   Forging the Dragon
   The Saga: All the generations of the Tribe gather around the sacred fire to celebrate in music and dance. The evening’s ceremonies begin when the Procession arrives. Remaining within the sacred fire circle are the shamans of the Seidr; healers, chanters, diviners, drummers, dancers – all others will processes out to other ceremonies: the Ceremony of Commitments, Altars Shining Everywhere or Torchlight Hilltop Labyrinth Walk. The Procession of the Teutonicus Ceremony of Commitments serpentines to Freyja’s Altar at the Maypole and then on to Heimdall’s Altar at East Gate where the Tribe uncoils to stretch out and lay hold of each stone then all connected by the Spinners Thread and charged by the children’s silver wands. The Ancestors and the Tribe shall witness the Pathways of Commitment, Affirm those Fasting, Recognize the Striders and those seeking peace with themselves and others as well as those who have renewed commitments. The Tribe retires for the evening, but meanwhile in the sacred fire circle… The Saga: the shamanic journey "There and Back Again" will have only begun. Lasting until dawn, the Seidr participants will journey in shamanic trance, "Over the Sea" "Through the Forest" and "Into the Mountain." The entire Tribe will witness the runic representation of their journey from the glyph marks painted upon the dragon’s bones, the standing stones.

Saturday, August 5th
10:30 A.M at the Pealing of the Bell
   The Rising and
   Quickening the Dragon
   The Saga: The Tribe gathers around Freyja’s Altar at the Maypole. Anticipation rides upon the breeze and pulses beneath our feet and so we Mark the Body Tribal, Break our Fast with the Loaves of the Corn Mother and recognize the Pathways of Service before we bring forth the altars of Freyja Frigga and Tyr and stand them among the dragon’s bones. When the rising is complete we will bless the new borns and witness that all has been done in a good way.

Saturday, August 5th
Dusk at the Pealing of the Bell
Dedication of the New Stones: Stone Circle
   Reign of the Dragon
   The Saga: The Tribe dances in celebration of: the restored and beneficent dragon; the installation of the altars of Freyja, Frigga and Tyr; the affirmation of oaths, vows and promises. The standing stones are marked by the Tribe with their rune glyph or personal insignia. Völva draws forth runes from her cauldron for the last time. Final offerings are laid upon the altars. The tribe adjourns to the fire circle to continue the celebration.

Please Note: This year marks the first year for our Event Planning Groups; Members who gather togeather to invision, design and create our events and their major ceremonials. Stones Rising 2006 and Teutonicus are both examples of this process. If you are not yet a Member, please do consider becoming involved.

At the Center of Four Quarters

Trees that grow layered up the mountainside,
      stand clear and bright against the sky
There’s a bite in the wind as the evening falls,
      drifting softly down the farmhouse walls.

    Springtime the pilgrims will come back to the Land,
bringing strength of numbers to what Landskeeper began
    and we’ll all stand together and we’ll raise another Stone
to the Seventh Generation and the children yet unknown.


       My feet may yet be wandering,
       but my heart has found a home
   At the center of Four Quarters in a ring of Standing Stone.


Time will come to lay my body down
       with the barrowed ancestors.
Let the rooks and the raptors pick my bones
       and let my skull look out upon the Stones.

    Honor the old ways, for it’s they have brought us here;
Listen to the wisdom that is whispered in your ear:
    There is more to being family than breath and blood alone-
We are all one tribe together in a ring of Standing Stone!


        My feet may yet be wandering,
        but my heart has found a home
    At the center of Four Quarters in a ring of Standing Stone.
        My feet may yet be wandering,
        but my heart has found a home
    At the center of Four Quarters in a ring of Standing Stone.

A gathering of Ceremonial Traditions
from the World’s EarthReligions.

    Stones Rising has grown beyond a gathering and into a tradition...
of people, family and tribe.
Gathered every year to raise the Standing Stones in Ceremonial Circle.

    Something new is happening here, something old, something profound. A lasting gift from our hearts to the great-grandchildren of those whose great-grandparents have yet to be born. The Seventh Generation.
    A time when you can make your own Commitment to the Circle
and create your own Pathway of Service and Sacrifice.

    Walking the Labyrinth, The Pathways of Service, The Procession of The Stones, The Creation of the Witness Arbors, The Drum Vigil and Ceremonial Fire Circle, Stones Eve, The Feast of the Corn Mother, The Ceremony of Commitments, The Rising, The Give-Away, The Feast of the Standing Stones, The Circle of Consecration.

         Five days of Sacrifice, Ceremony and Celebration.
          Our Creation of an InterFaith Sanctuary.
          A Work of Years... Stone by Stone.

   
          Our Ancestors knew and experienced life as an ebb and flow of living energy. A proper time of expansion and growth into that which is outside of ourselves; and a proper time for drawing within amid hardship...   to reaffirm and nurture the center.
          When in times of difficulty and travail, it was seen as wise to journey within and return to the center, to take stock of oneself and offer Sacrifice for those things most important to us... our Family, however that may be defined.
          And to then provide for the protection of that which sustains our Families through the time of contraction and need. To make Ceremony for the Land, to protect and sustain that which protects and sustains our Family. So that the promise of return might be kept.
          And in making this journey of Service to the Center, and Ceremony for the Land, we will then have cause to Celebrate the Blessings we still enjoy... and to make our Giveaway. So that the gifts of Family and Land can in turn become our own gifts and best hopes for Tribe, Nation and the World.
          This is Stones Rising.

Stones Rising An Introduction
     by Orren Whiddon, 2004


    Even now in our tenth year it is difficult for me to get my arms around Stones Rising, and with this introduction I can only hope to lift the curtain a little bit for others. Because Stones is not a festival as that concept is commonly understood. We do not offer to entertain you and we offer no message that can be expressed in words.
    For Stones Rising is a community’s exploration of itself and the individuals expression of their own Spiritual sensibilities. You should be here for your own experience of ceremony in the first person, and to share the meaning that you find within your own heart with those around you. For there is great meaning here on the Land, in Ceremony; working with the Stones, the People and with Spirit.
    We offer a tool kit of Ceremony, Set and Setting, from which you can weave your own experience within the context of a functioning Ceremonial Community. And that community of shared experience is a continuum; living, breathing, changing with the years, as we all grow and change in our experience of the Standing Stones and of each other. For no Stones Rising is like the one that came before, and I dare say they will never repeat themselves. There is no beginning and certainly no end to the process, no beginning or end to the Ceremonial Circle. No single Rising can transmit all that is to be learned, as each year becomes an indivisible part of what came before and what will come after. Stones Rising is a community of shared intent and commitment, struggle and achievement that goes far beyond any one person or time.

     It is true that some of us have been privileged to be present when the first Stone was raised, and for some this will be a first time under the Witness Arbors. But it is our hope that no matter when you joined us, you will find that you too stand in the Center of the Circle.
       
    We are honored to stand here with you.

          For our Members this process can begin with The Stone Peoples Intensive beginning the weekend preceding Stones Rising, an Act of Service preparing the Stone Circle and the Land for the People to come.
          For those who have the resources to arrive by Wednesday, we offer two days and nights of preparatory ceremonials and many "Pathways of Service"; ceremonial commitments that you can make and keep in your own Service to the Circle.
          Our major ceremonials begin Friday evening at The Labrynth with "The Dionysian Mysteries" and the torchlight procession of the first Stone into the Stone Circle. They continue through Saturday with the "Long Pull" as the second stone makes its journey up our mountain and into Circle, a stone dedicated to our Land. Sunday Morning begins with "The Feast of the Corn Mother" and "The Ceremony of Commitments" honoring the Pathways of Service made and fullfilled over the previous four days. Then, "The Rising" as the third stone is brought into Circle and all three are raised to join the Standing Stones. Followed by our GiveAways and then "The Feast of the Standing Stones" and rest.
           For those who can only arrive Friday afternoon or later, we hope to provide a full and rich experience during their three day weekend on the Land. A time when you can discover your place in Circle and make your own Commitment of Service.
          The Volunteer Staff of The Starvin` Artist Cafe make a very special Commitment of Service as their own part of this very special Stones Rising. Beginning with The Stones Peoples Intensive continuing with hundreds of Meal Plan meals throughout Stones Rising, they offer their own work, sweat and love in feeding the people. Sunday's "Feast of the Corn Mother" and "The Feast of the Standing Stones" will be prepared  and presented to Stones Risings attendees as their gift.

          Four Quarters began ten years ago, and our early years were a struggle. In fact, we survived those hard times because of the gifts that were freely given by those whose lives we touched, often the very food we ate and clothing we wore. Since that time we have grown. Twenty five Stones stand in the hilltop sunlight and much of the Land is now owned by the Sanctuary, in permanent trust made possible by more gifts, freely given. The past few years have been very good to Four Quarters, but we never forget what it was like to live in want.
          This year is our tenth year, a special birthday and time of thanksgiving for what we have been given. But Stones Rising remains for us a giveaway. A giveaway for those whose lives have been touched by these troubling times, and our best wish to offer solace in these times of travail. Because we remember.

            For more information about this years Stones Rising, please review the detailed information contained in the linked pages to your right. Our feel free to call our offices.
     

We invite you to join us as family, taking part in this real community,
Making ceremony together as only the people can.

These are the gifts of
Sacrifice, Ceremony and Celebration;
and they await you, as Blessings of this Land
upon You and Your House...   Stones Rising

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