Stones Rising 2019
Wednesday, August. 28th-Monday, September. 2nd - 2019
Sunday, September 1st - The Rising!
The Stone Peoples Intensive, Friday Aug. 23 - Tuesday Aug. 27
DARK MOON !
Not since 2005 have we had a Dark Moon during the weekend of Stones Rising.
Inwardly looking, outwardly cleansing, the Cycles of the Goddess made tangible.
Saturday evening at dusk we will gather in the Stone Circle to begin our journey upon the Land.
To the Labyrinth, and then on across the river into the New Lands. As night falls, wrapping The Land in a cloak of black, we see far off, a distant glow of light dancing in the woodlands. It recedes as we approach.
The Temple of Night revealed.
There is a path forward, bathed in a gentle glow, but as we journey the darkness and the light do battle. Our pathway loses it's light and we are lifted up high into the very fabric of the night.
The light vanishes, leaving us with nothing but our way forward, suspended between Heaven and Earth... as we embrace the night.
A journey through the darkness,
into the Temple of Night.
Across the Rainbow Bridge.
And into the Temple of Light.
Shadow Lights
Building the North Copse
Our Pennsylvania quarry came through for us and after two more deliveries we now have enough of the very special stone required to begin construction of the North Copse.
And what is the North Copse you ask? With The Great North Stone as it's northernmost minor axis, the Copse is a 45'x30' ellipse set with the stones almost touching. Intended to create a sanctuary within a sanctuary, very much in keeping with the "Fore Courts" associated with British neolithic long barrows.
In order to follow the very tight curves of such a small ellipse, we need stones no wider than 4 feet, and hopefully in the 12 foot range in height, and all of the same beige colored sandstone of The Great North Stone. Such stones are not easy to find, even when our good quarry-men are setting their blasting charges just for us. So part of this years Stones Rising involves the trimming of our stony friends to fit into such a narrow envelope.
But in a bit of luck, last year we found a wonderful slab that had a natural bedding plane running lengthwise with the rock. This spring our quarry-men set upon that slab with wedges and gently coaxed the flaw into a full split, creating two mirror image book-matched slabs of stone, whose faces are actually the interior surfaces of the previous whole slab. And as luck would have it the irregular outlines of the two slabs almost perfectly match the shoulders of the Great North Stone.
We have rough cut two other slabs that will flank these book-matched stones, their final trim and dressing will wait for Stones Rising. And of the Rising, we have a very challenging task ahead. The space within the copse is very tight, and we intend to set these stones no more than a hands width apart. So careful planning is called for, the rigging will be complicated, and we will need everyone in boots and gloves... no by-standers allowed!
An Invitation to our Big Dub Family
You've seen the Stone Circle and you've danced with the Standing Stones.
Four Quarters wants you to be a part of building the Circle too!
We raise the Stones Sunday, Sept 1st; Labor Day Weekend. We make ceremony, raise the Stones and share a great feast together, prepared by The Starvin' Artist Kitchen.
Traditionally we don't charge for Sunday arrivals; but we do ask for a telephone RSVP and what ever donation you care to give, so that we can plan for the feast.
Saturday night, Aug 31st, is our Stones Eve Ceremony. This year, for the first time since 2003, the moon will be FULL DARK during Stones Rising! We intend to take advantage of that with one of the most stunning ceremonies we have created in many years.
Ivy sits the front desk from noon to 6pm, and she is happy to answer questions. Your Saturday afternoon arrival is $40, your Sunday RSVP is by donation. And yes, Ivy accepts credit cards by phone. Please let us know if you plan to attend!
Service, Ceremony, Celebration - Our 25th Year of Raising Stones!
Accompanied by witnesses, the Tribe leans into the ropes to bring a new Stone into the Stone Circle. Stones Rising 2018.
“If you go to work on your goals,your goals will go to work on you.
If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you.
Whatever good things we build end up building us..” – Jim Rohn
A Work of Years... Stone by Stone.
Four Quarters is an Interfaith Sanctuary: a place of safety of spirit, allowing all who attend the opportunity to seek, evolve and grow as they would wish. The heart of our Sanctuary is the Circle of Standing Stones, begun over 20 years ago when a single Stone was raised to inspire those that would come after: Follow in our Footsteps, Gather, Labor Together, Build a Circle for Yourselves and those not yet Born. For while the Stone Circle has many different meanings to each of us, we might all agree that it is the Heart of our Sanctuary… and it is good that we build it together as Community.
We celebrate the seasons of the earth here at Four Quarters; and as summer wanes and harvest begins, our Tribe will gather together to Raise new Standing Stones, gathering in the achievements and abundance of the year. Stones Rising is ancient tradition made new. It echoes the burial grounds, cairns, and megaliths that were built millennia ago by our ancestors; the act of building and growing the Circle is our Gift, Hope and Promise to Ourselves, to our Ancestors, and to the Generations yet to come..
Stones Rising is a six-day intentional community, where all actions are done with the purpose of furthering the growth of the Stone Circle, the Interfaith Sanctuary Church, and the Greater Tribe. It is a deep wellspring of our commitment to the Land, our Church and our Tribe. From Wednesday evening to Monday noon we recognize that service is sacred, and we celebrate the service of our Tribemates. For it is by working with others on behalf of the community that the Stones are Raised.
There is a place for you.
We gather to celebrate a Ceremony of Ceremonies: a six-day matrix of ritual, service, and celebration of the Divine, the Land, and the People. Each ritual is a step along the way, and together all of them create a single ceremonial act of commitment to the Vision that is the Stone Circle on the Land of Four Quarters. There will be spaces of work, of rest, of devotion, service, ceremony, and celebration for all. Whether it’s your first time, your third time or your umpteenth time at Stones Rising, there is a place for you. Every year our spirits reach back and propel us forward.
There is a place for you in the single ceremony of Stones Rising, and a chance to use your own gifts for the growth of the community, whether your place is with the Warriors, guarding and Preparing spaces for ceremony, or among the Corn Mothers, making the food that Empowers the people for their work on the Land. We recognize the work of the Witness connecting the people inside and outside Four Quarters. We encourage the experience of drumming, dancing, singing, praying, working, in some way Sustaining the Vision of the Stone Circle. Here there is a place for you. Experience the myriad connections that you have with others in your Tribe, others whose work may be very different from your own.
Together we will raise the arbors, we will sing the songs, we will feed the people, we will drum up the sun, we will chant our prayers, we will witness the ceremonies, we will untangle the rigging, we will pour libation, we will dance the way open… and we will, all together, raise the Stones. Once again, the Stones will rise, the Circle will be consecrated anew, and we will join together in celebration of the growing Circle that is Four Quarters.
There is a place for you and yours at Stones Rising. The planning team has prepared a place for you, but only you can make that place your own; step into the Center of the Circle, gather with your Tribe, and join us in this new year of Stones Rising, sharing in the magic of a sacred circle of Standing Stones.
Stones Rising is a Ceremonial Intensive that brings together ritualists representing the world’s Earth Religious traditions including: Wicca, Santeria, Druidism, Shamanism and Trance, Tibetan Buddhism, Ceremonial Magic, Voodoun, The Black Madonna, The NeoPagan Revival and the world’s indigenous peoples. The ceremonials begin Wednesday afternoon and continue to build through Sunday’s Rising of the Standing Stones, accompanied by a variety of
in-depth workshops.
The threads that bind together these ceremonies, the people and the Stones are the Pathways of Sacrifice and Service: the means, great and small, through which any person at Stones Rising is able to personally make a ceremonial commitment, see it fulfilled and become an integral part of the ceremonial whole.
Together, these Ceremonials and Pathways work to create six days of ritual that is inclusive and transforming… where, like the Ceremonial Circle, there is no beginning or ending other than the place in which you stand.
A Few of the Pathways of Service at Stones Rising
Vesta’s Hearth. Perhaps the most demanding commitment at Stones Rising, the preparation of The Feast of the Standing Stones.
The Witnesses. Who stand under the arbors and validate the ceremonial commitment of others, that “it was done in a good way.”
The Stone Crews. Those who work the ropes and rollers, Community Teamwork to bring the Stones into Circle.
The Stone People. Who take on the dangerous work of rigging and positioning the Stones for their Rising.
Ceremonial & Spirit Drums. Through rhythm, song and chant, honoring the Stones, People, Land and Spirits.
Preparing the Loaves of the Corn Mother. Preparing and baking the hundreds of loaves of bread needed to share before Sunday’s Rising of the Standing Stones.
The Sweat Lodge. Chop wood, carry water, haul stones, tend the sacred fires in a place of prayer and purification.
Preparing and Serving Sacral Food and Drink. The sacred and symbolic foods that will be served to the Stone Crews, Commitment Makers and Witnesses during the Ceremony of Commitments and The Rising.
Fire Circle Synergy. Maintaining the Heartbeat of the Tribe through our Service to the Fire Circle, each night through the Eve of The Rising. Cleaning, raking, and preparing Fire Circle as an Altar for Trance, Dance and Drum.
See you in the Stone Circle!
It is a work of years, and each year we gather at Stones Rising to celebrate and continue that work.
Though it is a group experience, Stones Rising moves every person in a different way. For some it is the opportunity to unplug: to serenely walk the Labyrinth; to contemplate the misty mountains in the early morning; or immerse themselves in the magic of the creek. For others it is the expectation of meeting new people—people who will go from being strangers to family in only a few short days. But for all of us Stones Rising is the opportunity to do something that matters—something that will last far longer than any of us will. It is the opportunity to continue the creation of sacred space as we raise megaliths with our brothers and sisters.
The Circle's story is not just about the Stones: it is overlaid with personal histories, with hundreds of stories and memories and milestones. You will often see people laying their hands on the Stones. They might tell you that this is the first Stone they helped raise, or how it was raised in the rain, or how the rope broke. They might tell you about how this Stone took all day to pull, prompting you to remark, “It's so small compared to the others!” The other person will smile and say that the Stones have minds of their own. They might tell you of the year that their baby was passed through the Mother Stone during the Baby Blessing, and of the people who were there who no longer come to the Farm. And with each year, the Circle's history grows richer.
No membership binds us; no specific faith binds us. What binds us is a belief in the value of this world, this life, and the humanity we all share. Can you help raise Stones if you're not a Four Quarters member? Yes! Can you help raise Stones if your path is spiritual path is solitary and unique? Yes!
What if you're new and have never set foot on the Land before? Can you help raise Stones? YES!
We raise Stones the old way, the hard way, with heavy ropes, rollers made from tree trunks, and people. It could be done so much more easily, with so much less sweat and strain, if we would just use heavy construction equipment. But what would be the point? Machines are not important: it is the hands and feet and hearts of the people who move and raise the Stones that is important.
Using heavy equipment to move and raise Stones would make the whole process faster, too. We could have had the Circle finished years ago and would probably be building a dolman somewhere by now. But this is not our goal, to have an Instant Stone Circle. When we raise Stones together, one or two at a time, we have the opportunity to take a moment and think about the sanctuary we are creating. In the interval between one Stones Rising and the next, we have time to appreciate that what we are doing is holy work. It is the work of creating connections between all of us regardless of how different our spiritual paths may be.
We are not here to recreate Stonehenge or Avebury. We are here to create thisCircle, here in this place. We are here together on this sacred land to join hands, to join earth with sky—to raise Stones.
And we'll all stand together and we'll Raise another Stone,
To the Seventh Generation and the Children Yet Unknown!
Registrations
Membership Privileges Apply
Children under 16 are loved, cherished and FREE
Members Only Early Bird, $80 PreReg by June 8.
6 Days arrive Weds or Thurs, Pre-reg by Aug. 17
Members $100, Guests $120, $140 at the Gate.
4 Days arrive Friday or after, Pre-reg by Aug. 17,
Members $85, Guests $105, $125 at the Gate.
Your Saturday arrival is $40, your Sunday RSVP is by
donation. And yes, Ivy accepts credit cards by phone.
Late Registrations, CALL US!
Handicapped, Special Circumstances? CALL US !
Sunday morning’s Loaves of the Corn Mother,
Sunday afternoon’s Feast of the Standing Stones
are included in your registration.
Credit Card Registrations on-line at Stones Rising Registration.
Or call the office at 814-784-3080 with your questions or to register.
You are welcome to arrive before Wednesday and stay later than Monday. Early In and Late Out camping is $5 a night for Members and $10 a night for non-members. Merchant Booths are juried, pre-registered and very limited. Contact us early to merchant. Four Quarters has two hot shower buildings equipped with super low-flow dual-flush toilets, state of the art on demand heaters for our low-flow showers, and drinking water spigots throughout the camp. Four Quarters is Green!
About Lodging at Four Quarters -
Accommodations in our new dorm building are available. Rooms have double beds, blankets and pillows; Bunks have fitted sheets. During events rooms and bunks are bundled with meal plans and are booked for the duration of the event; you must call the office for reservations.
Meal Plan Information:
Meal Plans with the Starvin’ Artist are Brunch and Dinner.
Dietary options are Omnivore, Vegitarian, and Gluten Free; all you can eat. Please bring your own utensils.
Please note the kitchen is *unable* to accommodate specific dietary restrictions.
- Dinner Weds - Monday Brunch, 8 meals - 2 feasts,
$120 pre-reg only, Omni or Herbivore.
- Dinner Thurs - Monday Brunch, 6 meals - 2 feasts,
$90 pre-reg only, Omni or Herbivore.
- Dinner Fri - Monday Brunch, 4 meals - 2 feasts,
$60 pre-reg only, Omni or Herbivore.
- Brunch Sat - Monday Brunch, 3 meals - 2 feasts,
$35 pre-reg only, Omni or Herbivore
If your child is old enough to need his or her own plate, please register them for the meal plan.
If they can share your plate, there is no need to register your child for the meal plan.
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Creating a Better Community
Ceremony with No Tools: 
Ken Crampton
