Summer Solstice 2018

Date: Sunday June 17

Location:
Overland Park Pond
955 West Florida Avenue, Denver CO 80223

Time: 2-5

The days grow long, the sun burns high, and it’s time to celebrate the Summer Solstice. Join us under the summer sun as we praise the bright and fertile season and mark the turning of the wheel.

As with all our rituals, all friendly faces are welcome. There will be a time for the folk to make offerings to their own patrons, ancestors, land kin, or other such beings. Please make sure your physical offerings are burnable/biodegradable. Offerings of poetry and song are also welcome.

Following the ritual there will be a time for feasting and fellowship. Please contribute to our potluck, taking your own dietary needs in mind as well. We encourage HOMEMADE dishes, made with love. If you’re not a gardener, support your local Farmer’s Market, or see what ingredients are Colorado-made and in season at your favorite grocery store.

Please be aware that this is also Denver Gay Pride Weekend. There will be street closures around Civic Center Park. Prepare your route accordingly.

We look forward to seeing you. And bring a friend!

Beltane 2018

Join Chokecherry ADF on April 29th as we celebrate Beltane, with a Celtic ritual.

The location is Overland Pond Park in Denver. The address is 955 West Florida Avenue, Denver CO 80233.

Gather at 1 for a 2 pm ritual, down by the river.

There will be time during the ritual for attendants to give offerings of their own (to an ancestor, favorite deity, nature spirit, etc).

After the ritual there will be a potluck, so please bring food to share, that meets your dietary needs.

A homemade dish is encouraged and would be most welcome!

All friendly faces are invited. Bring your friends.

We hope to see you there. 

Spring Equinox 2018

Join Chokecherry Grove ADF as we celebrate the Spring Equinox. We will gather at Overland Pond Park in Denver. The address is 955 W Florida Ave, Denver, CO 80223.

The date is Sunday, March 18 at 1 PM - 4 PM

This will be an ADF Druid Ritual. For more information about how we do rituals, please visit our 'About' page on our website.

There will be time during the ritual for attendants to give offerings of their own (to an ancestor, favorite deity, or nature spirit, etc).
After the ritual there will be a potluck so please bring food that meets your dietary needs.

A homemade dish is encouraged, and would be most welcome.
All friendly faces are invited!
Bring your friends!
We hope to see you there. :)

Imbolc 2018

Join Chokecherry Grove, ADF, on Saturday February 3rd, as we celebrate Imbolc.

Imbolc is one of the 4 Celtic fire festivals, and we will be honoring Brigid.
Whether you see her as the Goddess Brighid, or as Saint Brigid, all friendly faces are welcome.
The ritual will be at the Kirk of Bonnie Brae Church in Denver. The address is
1201 S Steele St, Denver, CO 80210

We will be in the courtyard which faces Steele Street. There is a small parking lot, or you may park around the corner on Arizona Street.
Gather at 3 for Brighid Cross making, ritual at 4.

After ritual there will be a potluck, so please bring something to share.
We ask that you make an effort to bring something homemade.

Autumn Equinox 2017

 Our Autumn Equinox Ritual will be Sunday September 24th.

Join us for the feast of the second harvest! The days and night sit in balance, and the fields are filled with ripening fruit. We give thanks in this season to the Earth Mother, the Landkin, and to the deity of the occasion, Ceridwen.

As with all our rituals, all kind folk are welcome to attend. There will be a time for the folk to make offerings to their own patrons, ancestors, favored kin, or any other such beings. Please bring offerings that are burnable/biodegradable!

Following the rite there will be a time for feasting and fellowship .We encourage those who gather to bring food to share that suits your dietary needs.

Once again we will be at our summer location in Overland Pond Park. Gather at 12 Noon.

Tomorrow's ritual

Unfortunately we've got a little behind on keeping up with the blog, although our information on Facebook has been kept up to date. Anyway, on Sunday July 30th...

Gŵyl Awst Harvest Festival

The days of the first harvest are upon us! Join us as we begin in the celebration of the bounty of the Earth. We will be honoring the Welsh Deity Manawydan fab Llŷr.

As with all our rituals, all kind folk are welcome to attend. There will be a time for the folk to make offerings to their own patrons, ancestors, favored kin, or any other such beings. Please bring offerings that are burnable/biodegradable!

Gather at 11am for a High Noon Ritual! We are trying to keep cool. Potluck to follow, please bring a dish to share that suits your dietary needs.

Spring Equinox 2017

The wheel turns, and we enter the season of rebirth and renewal! Join us as we celebrate the Spring Equinox, the warming of the seasons, and the blossoming of the Earth.

The focus of our Ritual will be our own Mother Platte, the lifeblood of the high plains, carrying nourishing water from the roots of the mountains out to the fields of the heartland. We will stand on her shores to give her praise and thanks.

As with all our rituals, all kind folk are welcome to attend. There will be a time for the folk to make offerings to their own patrons, ancestors, favored kin, or any other such beings. Please bring offerings that are burnable/biodegradable!

Following the rite there will be a time for feasting and fellowship .We encourage those who gather to bring food to share that suits your dietary needs.

Once again we will be at our summer location in Overland Pond Park. Gather at 1 pm, ritual begins at 2 pm.

Imbolc 2017

Although our high day rituals are usually held on Sundays, we have had to reschedule our Imbolc ritual to Saturday January 28th due to scheduling conflicts at our site, the Kirk of Bonnie Brae. I will be posting more information about the ritual soon, but wanted to get this information out now.

Midwinter 2016

Chokecherry Grove invites you to join us for Winter Solstice on Friday December 23rd!

As the wheel turns it is good and proper that we invite and honor the gods, who stride upon the shores of Asgard, to our sacred fire in celebration. The deities of the occasion will be Njord and Skadi. In addition, we will do our very best to see that the sun, who now lives the long time away from us, will again resume its inexorable march toward the longer days.

There will be time, during the rite, for those who wish to make offerings to their patrons, deities, ancestors or anyone to whom it is proper to give such gifts.

Following the rite there will be a time for feasting and fellowship .We encourage those who gather to bring food to share.

We will meet this time at Jefferson Unitarian Church: 14350 W 32nd Ave, Golden, Colorado 80401. Gather at 7 pm; ritual starts at 7:30. Our celebrant will be Kevin "Arth yn Rhedeg" Jenkyns.

UPDATE: All cash donations we receive at this event will be given to the Dumb Friends League shelter in Castle Rock where one of our members volunteers.

Samhain 2016

We will be celebrating Samhain this year on Sunday October 30th. As the winter season begins, we leave our familiar site beside our Mother Platte and move to a series of more sheltered locations. For Samhain, that will be 2929 S Elm Street, Denver, CO. For this ritual we will gather at 5 pm, and the ritual will begin at sunset. The theme this time will be Welsh, with some dual-language sections, and the celebrant will be Rev. G. R. Grove. We will be collecting toys again this year for Toys for Tots, and ask that everyone bring at least one new toy. There will also be the usual potluck and fellowship after the ritual.

Lughnasadh / First Harvest

This year we are holding two Lughnasadh celebrations! The first, Friday evening July 29, will be at Jefferson Unitarian Church located at, 14350 West 32nd Ave., Golden, CO 80401. Gather at 6:30 pm, ritual begins at 7:00 pm. Join us as we celebrate and honor Artio, She-Bear Goddess, at Lughnasadh. Artio means “bear” and, like the bear, Artio wakes in the spring and is a goddess of The Harvest, Bears, Wild Animals, The Hunt, Fruits and Grains. 

Our second Lughnasadh, at our usual Overland Pond Park venue in Denver, will be Sunday, July 31st. Gather at 1 pm, ritual starts promptly at 2 pm. This will be an Irish-themed ritual, and the celebrant will be Rev. Debra "Rowen" Grove, our recently ordained Grove Priest. After the ritual, in addition to our usual potluck, there will be Lughnasadh Games!

Beltaine!

Spring is burgeoning all around us, and the Spirits of the Land are awake! Join us in this festive time of growth as we honor the Land Kin on the banks of Mother Platte. This will be a Celtic-themed ritual, followed as usual by a potluck, and (weather permitting) by a Maypole! Instead of collecting food bank donations this time, we will be giving half of the cash donations we receive to a local homeless shelter. So rain, snow, or sunshine, come on by if you're in Denver! We'll be gathering at 1 pm, and ritual will begin at 2 pm at Overland Pond Park, our summer home.

Eostre 2016

Thanks, everyone, who joined us in the park Sunday to welcome in the season beside our beloved Mother Platte. The weather was beautiful - a nice change from Imbolc's blizzard. We had a lovely ritual on the fisherman's platform, now repaired and improved after last summer's flood damage. Afterwards we had food and fellowship, and got in some good bird-watching as well! We expect to be meeting at the same location - Overland Pond Park - until Samhain, so come and join us on our high days. Our next one will be Beltane on May 1st.

Today...

Remember, we are celebrating Spring Equinox in Overland Pond Park today! Gather at 1 pm, ritual starts at 2 pm.

Spring Equinox

Join Chokecherry Grove to celebrate the Spring Equinox on the shores of the mighty Mother Platte!

We will be gathering to give praise and sacrifice to the three Kindreds and enjoy the company of our community. The chief deities of the occasion will be Idunn and Bragi, honoring the gifts of renewal that come with the season. Feel Free to bring any offerings you wish for any of the Gods, ancestors, and spirits. (Please limit your offerings to that which is burnable or biodegradable to reduce our impact on the natural environment which we hold ritual in!)

We would love folks to additionally bring a single piece of firewood from their home spaces to become part of our fire.

After the rite we will have potluck fellowship in the park! Please bring a dish to share that suits your own taste. We cannot have open glass in the park, so please bring beverages in cans, or expect to use a cup. Please also bring a an item to be donated to a local animal shelter.

Looking forward...

Despite the snowy weather, we had a good Imbolc ritual at JUC, and CUUPS has invited us to do another one there, probably July 29th. In the meantime, we are hoping to celebrate our next High Day back in Overland Pond Park beside the Platte. This will be on Sunday March 20th, probably around 1:00 pm. More details to follow soon.

Imbolc - Sunday January 31st, 2016

Our Imbolc ritual this year will be held at Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, Colorado. We will gather at 6:30 pm, with the ritual beginning promptly at 7 pm. Weather permitting, we will be in the courtyard of the church. Ritual will be followed by our usual potluck, so bring a dish that suits your needs. This time we will also be collecting pet supplies for a local shelter.

Midwinter / Yule

Chokecherry Grove, ADF, will be celebrating the Solstice on Sunday evening, December 20th, at 2929 S Elm St, Denver, Colorado. This is an open public ritual, so all folk of good will are welcome at our fire. Our ritual will be Norse-themed. Please bring a dish for our post-ritual potluck and at least 2 non-perishable items for our food drive. Gather at 3 pm, ritual begins at 4 pm.

Samhain

After the excitement of our Colorado Retreat, the rhythm of the seasons reasserts itself. In just over two weeks it will be Samhain. We have left Overland Pond Park by our beloved Mother Platte behind until spring; for Samhain we are planning an evening ritual to celebrate the coming of the Dark. Plan to join us on November 1st at 2929 S. Elm St. in Denver for a Welsh-based ritual full of lore and magic! Gather at 4 pm, ritual starts at 5 pm MST (sunset). The ritual will be followed by a potluck feast, so bring a dish which suits your taste. As part of our community service this quarter, we're also asking people to bring at least one new, unwrapped toy for Toys For Tots.

Autumn Equinox

I'd like to thank everyone who came out for our Autumn Equinox ritual. It was a beautiful if rather warm day beside Mother Platte, who has now returned to her normal early autumn level. Our celebrant was Kevin Jenkyns, who led us in a very special ritual which combined elements of his Welsh and Native American background. We were also fortunate to be visited by Davin Mac Lugh, ADF's Southwest Regional Druid, along with many other new and old friends. It was truly a blessed day!