Samhain is here...

Chokecherry will be celebrating our Samhain ritual on this coming Saturday evening, October 30th. Since one of the purposes of our parent organization, Ár nDraíocht Féin, is to hold open public rituals on our eight High Days, we are making the Zoom link open to the public. Like all ADF rituals, people are free to join or leave at any part in the ritual. We will also be recording the ritual for later sharing, as we did with the rituals at our Rocky Mountain Retreat this year. All people of good will are welcome, so feel free to join us Saturday at 6 pm MDT.

Here is the link:

Topic: Samhain
Time: Oct 30, 2021 06:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 860 5380 2458
Passcode: 805836

Post-October Retreat Post

The weekend went great. We had glorious weather, if rather cold on Friday. Our speakers were fantastic, and the video recording worked well. We ended the weekend by walking the Labyrinth, the one ritual that wasn't recorded, although we shared it via two phones w/ the other folk on the Zoom link.

We're planning to do it again next year!

October Update #2 for our Rocky Mountain Retreat

 Our Rocky Mountain Retreat starts tomorrow, so this will probably be our last post about it. If you want to participate and have not yet paid, please do so today - the link is on the right sidebar. As usual, if you are viewing this on your phone, scroll down to the bottom to choose "view web version" in order to see it.

If you have already paid, but have not yet received the emails with your Zoom links for all the sessions, please contact us directly at chokecherrypg@gmail.com, as there was a problem with two of the email addresses provided to us by PayPal.

Hope to see a lot of smiling faces on Zoom tomorrow!

October Update #1 for our Rocky Mountain Retreat

 This is the last weekend before our Rocky Mountain Retreat. I want to share with you the Retreat schedule again, but first a bit about a new book by one of our speakers, Anthony Murphy.

To quote the publisher's blurb, "Mythical Ireland embodies the search for a soul among Ireland's ancient ruins, and is an attempt to retrieve something of deeper import from 5,000-year-old megalithic monuments and their associated myths. The book represents a fascinating and engaging journey through time, landscape and the human spirit. Dealing with archaeology, interpretive mythography, cosmology and cosmogony, the book attempts to grapple with a core meaning, something beyond the functional interpretations of academia.

In this revised and expanded edition, Anthony Murphy delves further into the many enthralling aspects of this journey. Just how much knowledge did locals have of the secrets of Newgrange before it was excavated? Who is the Cailleach, the ancient hag goddess whose image is ubiquitous in the ancient landscape? What happened to make Ireland’s Stonehenge disappear from the landscape? Who were the first kings of Tara? What were the indigenous Irish myths about the Milky Way? Did someone try to steal the Tara Brooch? Why are there myths in Ireland about flooded towns and cities?

Lavishly illustrated with exquisite photographs of the Irish landscape and ancient monuments, Mythical Ireland represents a personal and yet universal journey, a quest to reimagine the shrines as empowering and transformative sacred places. Murphy invokes the druids and poets of the Boyne and thus the sídhe of the ancient texts are reawakened for a modern and turbulent world."

Now on to the schedule.  

 Friday October 15th:
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2:30 pm MDT Ian Corrigan
4:00 pm MDT Gaarik Hamr
6:00 pm MDT Opening Ritual

Saturday October 16th:
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9:30 am MDT Diane Cacciato
11:00 am MDT Kristoffer Hughes
1:00 pm MDT Anthony Murphy
2:30 pm MDT Kirk Thomas
4:00 pm MDT Shaz Cairns
6:00 pm MDT Evening Ritual

Sunday October 17th:
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9:30 am MDT James "Pigeon" Fielder
11:00 am MDT Jean "Drum" Pagano
12:30 pm MDT Closing Ritual

Zoom links to all these exciting presentations, plus the ability to view recordings of any you missed afterwards, is available for only $20. The payment link is on the sidebar (if you are viewing this on your phone, scroll down to the bottom to choose "view web version"). I will be sending out the Zoom links on Wednesday 13th, so don't wait - sign up now to join us for this unprecedented weekend!

September update #4 for our October Rocky Mountain Retreat

 Only a little over two weeks now until our Rocky Mountain Retreat (October 15-17)! I want to tell you a little about our opening speaker today.

Rev. Ian Corrigan was the second Archdruid of ADF. On his blog at https://intothemound.blogspot.com/, he describes himself as "a Neopagan of the Druidic sort, interested in Celtic polytheism as it might manifest for modern people in North America. I'm also an occultist, broadly interested in arcane and magical systems and ideas, from medieval grimoires through Hindu Tantra and Asian shamanism to Thelema and Chaos Magic."

Ian's book Sacred Fire, Holy Well is an approach to a modern practice of Celtic Paganism and magical arts. Centered in the lore of the Gaelic Celts, it offers a simple summary of Irish mythic lore, and ritual patterns for individual and group worship. It also provides complete instruction in a system of Druidic magical work, trance vision, spellbinding and work with spirits.

Interested, but busy that weekend? We will be recording all the nine speakers' presentations and the three rituals, links to which will be available after the retreat to everyone who has paid for the Zoom weekend. So don't let your other planned activities get in the way of hearing these great speakers!

 Here is the schedule for the retreat: 

Friday October 15th:
--------------------
2:30 pm MDT Ian Corrigan
4:00 pm MDT Gaarik Hamr
6:00 pm MDT Opening Ritual

Saturday October 16th:
----------------------
9:30 am MDT Diane Cacciato
11:00 am MDT Kristoffer Hughes
1:00 pm MDT Anthony Murphy
2:30 pm MDT Kirk Thomas
4:00 pm MDT Shaz Cairns
6:00 pm MDT Evening Ritual

Sunday October 17th:
--------------------
9:30 am MDT James "Pigeon" Fielder
11:00 am MDT Jean "Drum" Pagano
12:30 pm MDT Closing Ritual

The payment links are on the right sidebar of this page. If you are viewing it on your phone, scroll to the bottom of the page and choose "view web version" to see the right sidebar link where you can sign up for the whole exciting weekend!

September update #3 for our October Rocky Mountain Retreat

To continue sharing information about our scheduled presenters who are writers, here are a couple of jacket covers from former ADF Archdruid Rev. Kirk Thomas.  Kirk is our only Saturday presenter who will be speaking from North America - the others will be Rev. Diane Cacciato from Sicily, Kristoffer Hughes from Wales, Anthony Murphy from Ireland, and Shaz Cairns from Australia!

In this book Kirk explores the development of personal relationships with Gods and Spirits. He describes the subtle and complex integration of personal commitment, devotion and reciprocal offerings that begin and sustain with the Gods and Spirits. Sacred Gifts is all about reciprocity (the give and take of life) and how the religions of the ancient world relied upon this gift exchange to even exist. Just as people give to each other in life, so may we give to the Gods and Spirits, expecting blessings in return.

Again, if you are viewing this on your phone, scroll to the bottom of the page and choose "view web version" to see the right sidebar link where you can sign up for the whole exciting weekend!

September update #2 for our October retreat

 Several - indeed most! - of our speakers this year are authors as well. Most ADF members are familiar with books by our Archdruid Rev. Jean "Drum" Pagano and former Archdruids Rev. Ian Corrigan and Rev. Kirk Thomas, but I would like to draw attention today to books by Kristoffer Hughes and Anthony Murphy.

Kristoffer has an impressive catalogue of books on Amazon. His latest title is "Cerridwen: Celtic Goddess of Inspiration", shown here. I can recommend all his work. As his presentation will show, he has deep knowledge of Welsh history, mythology, and the bardic tradition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anthony Murphy has also published a number of books on ancient Irish myth and history, also available on Amazon. One of his latest books is "Mythical Ireland: New Light on the Ancient Past", shown here. I have followed some of his delightful podcasts on Facebook, and look forward to his presentation.

 I would encourage all of our prospective attendees, virtual or physical, to look over these and other publications by our authors before the retreat, as their presentations will hopefully be followed for a little time for questions!