Dear Phamily,

It is a task that I would rather not have to share that our Phoenix Phamily has lost a very cherishe sister. This morning at 11:00 our dear Dana Cavellero passed quietly into the next steps of her journey towards the One. She left two well-loved cats, who have been placed with close friends, and many of us who love and laugh at her ongoing antics and joy in life.

If you had the honor of knowing Dana, you will remember her silvery hair, her infectious laugh, her amazing intellect, and her Dragons. Through her art, she shared a wonder-filled life of dragons, fairies and other creatures that appeared from tubes of paint on everything from small boxes to canvases to chalices! She painted up until about four weeks ago.

She shared with me that two of the Phoenix Crones had saved her place at Hoggtown Fair this year by being her shoppe watchers, selling more of her work than she ever expected to sell. These two wonderful women where very cherished by Dana. They know who they are, but I don't know if they knew how she felt about them coming forward to help her in a very stressful time. Makes one even more proud to say they are part of the Phoenix Phamily.

As you may, or may not, know.....at AutumnMeet, I was crying on Wynette's shoulder about a room in my home I could not use because of water damage to walls and floor and a mold problem in there. I was just venting to my cuz, because my Fred works his butt off at his job and didn't have the time, energy, or skills to fix the room and I couldn't/wouldn't vent my frustration on him anyway. He does all he can already. Cousins come in handy that way. But Wynette went and told Wade. Then Wade comes along, with a gloomy face on, and says I hurt his feelings. I ask what the hell I did now......and he said he was hurt because I didn't let him know I needed help. Then I cried a bit. Then Wade arranged a work weekend at my home, Dragonwood.

To all of you who came, who de-constructed, and who re-constructed the room on our house..........a million thank you's are not sufficient to express my graditude./r Beginning with my Big Brother, Wade; the lovely Diane; the supremely competent Lisa; the fascinating Squeeky-bird (who helped keep me from pestering Wade!)........and....

John and Dawn and Jeannie and Todd (and his big truck) and Jimmy and Jenanne and Nikki and Alex and Panther and Jim (who is the electric and phone go-to man) and Marty and Mike and Jeff and Adrian (how's the poor thumb?) and not forgetting..../r Dee and James and Wilser and David (the other David, not Dee's husband) who hauled off burnables and burned them, and hauled stuff to the big truck and who chopped elephant ears and ginger out of the way and did many other things I did not see because I kept having to go sit down.....

Zephyr, Wynette and Steph who kept the Gator-ade, water, and sodas flowing and sandwiches and pizza handy to fill bellies.....and Jesse who kept me sane...and Ariel who trotted around doing whatever anyone needed a small girl-child to do....and Shelley who fetched in water in those handy little bottles.........

To all of you....my eternal thanks.

There was blood shed, and sweat.....there were feet going through that old rotten floor, there were muscles strained and tempers frayed.....but as far as I'm aware, there were no serious injuries....for which I am grateful. I felt enough guilt for having to ask for help, I'm just glad I don't have to feel guilty for anyone getting seriously hurt.

And I must say I never saw so many tools that make a job easier to do! Amazing! The only hand tools I've ever seen that worked by air compression are the wrenches a tire man uses to loosen the nuts on tires. I should have known Wade would have the most efficient tools around!

So, there's a new floor in there, and new walls, and electric outlets and phone jacks, and the ceiling is fixed, and the sheetrock is "taped and mudded".....and there is a ceiling light where there was none before, and a switch by the door, which I find very cool! It will take us a little time to finish off the room, but now it is manageable with the skills we have.

As my Circle-sister, Dee, said....that gang rocks!!!! And I only recall one time Wade had to tell me I needed to be someplace else! Ardy

An auction to benefit Ken's family is online at www.e-witch.com<http://www.e-witch.com/> with
the banner ""Let's Bring Silverwitch Home".

All proceeds go directly to his wife so please check it out. So far Trish, MR Sellars, Dorothy Morrison, Kristin Madden, Florida Pagan Gathering, Phoenix Festivals, and a couple of Ken's dear friends are donating items. If you'd prefer to donate rather than bid, that would be great too!

The auction is to help fund bringing Ken's body home from Colorado, Ken was self employed for most of his life, and did not have any savings or insurance to cover the costs of getting his body home or funeral expenses. We as a community are coming together to help his family in their time of need.


http://e-witch.com

If you click on stores in the upper menu bar, you will see one called
Let's Bring Silverwitch Home.

Friends,

It is with a soul-torn heart that I bring you this news. I'll get
straight to the point. Last night, Rianna Winchester, the 16 year-old
daughter of Chuck and Lara Lee Winchester was killed in a car accident.
I have attached at the bottom a link to a news article for details. I am
asking that you help me get the word out to the community and that you
send all the love and healing you can to the family of Rianna. She is
also survived by her older sister Larissa and her younger brother Evan.
This is without a doubt a family's worst nightmare and they are living
it.

There will be a candle light vigil tonite at 7:00 PM at Hope United
Methodist church.

The church on Dallas 120 between 92 and Highway 6 there is a website and
directions below. Parking will be a challenge so please carpool if
possible. It is alright if folks want to get there early. If parking
becomes a serious problem, the church will be able to shuttle people
from additional outlying parking on their buses.

There will probably be a viewing tomorrow and services on Sunday.

I will send details as I get them.

For now, if you want something to do, just light a green candle for
Rianna and her family and hold them softly in your thoughts.

with bright blessings and deepest sorrow,

Talyn Songdog

I copied quite an assortment of folks on this email. Believe me when I
say that I was simply channeling my way through my eddress list. If you
do not want to be on this impromtu notice list, then please let me know.
If you know someone that should be on it, please let me know. If you
have a different contact info that you would like for me to use instead,
just let me know. I will be switching to my home eddress of talyn777 at
bellsouth.net for the weekend, so if you need to get ahold of me by
email that is the better choice for now. I can be reached by phone at
home (770) 565 - 0946 or cell (404) 518 - 0946.

Church Info:

http://www.placeofhope.org/

HOPE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, 770-505-8720
1970 MARIETTA HIGHWAY, DALLAS GA 30132

http://www.placeofhope.org/directions.shtml
>From I-20 at Thornton Road...
Go west on state route 6 (Highway 278, Thornton Road) for about 15
miles. Turn right onto state route 120 (Marietta Hwy). Drive
approximately two miles and Hope Church will be on the right.

>From downtown Douglasville...
Take state route 92 north approximately 11 miles to Macland Rd. Turn
left on Macland road. After about 1.5 miles turn right onto state router
120 (Marietta Hwy). Drive approximately one mile. Hope church will be on
the right.

>From Marietta Square...
Go west on state route 120 for about 13 miles. Hope Church will be on
the left.

News details:

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/0818teenfatal.html

Jacksonville 2005 ShadowFest Sabbat

When: Oct. 31st. 2005
Where: Atlantic Beach, Florida

Jacksonville 2005 ShadowFest Sabbat

Event Details: Anyone interested in attending our Gatherings must attend a New Seeker's meeting. The purpose of the New Seeker's Meeting is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the Gathering attendees. The New Seeker's meetings are held every Wednesday, so please plan ahead of time to attend this meeting if you want to attend the Gathering. For further information visit http://www.paganadventures.com/newseeker.html. We hope to meet you!

Date: Monday, October 31, 2005
Time: 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Location: Hanna Park, Campsite #4
Cost: $5.00 + $1.00 Park Fee
Event Details: The Sabbat will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Items to Bring: Good Cheer and a Merry Heart!! You are welcomed to wear Garb and to bring whatever object used to direct energy.

All ritual items will be provided as well as food and refreshments.

Event Location: 500 Wonderwood Drive, Campsite #4 in Atlantic Beach
Event TIME Details: 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Directions: Please visit Yahoo Maps at http://maps.yahoo.com/dd for driving directions.

Phone: (904) 807-3852

Website: http://www.paganadventures.com
Website II: http://www.paganadventures.com/grove
Mailing Address: 2771-29 Monument Road #349, Jacksonville, FL 32225

Welcome to Drumming Magick!

As a Drummer I have discovered that among the wonderful qualities of rhythm we are able to share a special connection with community when we come together in Drum Circle and Dance. Drumming in Fire Circle is a meditation that provides an aural foundation for the ritual of dance.

For many – especially for people looking to connect with earth based spirituality – the Drum Circle is Sacred, no less than as if being in church. Our church is the Fire Circle. It is Sacred Space. By learning to follow the presence of rhythm, and especially by participating in that rhythm by acknowledging it with the beat of a Drum - transcendent shifts in consciousness can open uniting awareness with the river of life and spirit. This is the magick of music and dance. This is the dearest companion to the Sacred Drummer, the Dancer and the Fire Tender. A synergy develops that feeds into a growing expression of life and being. The dancer can be entirely in spirit, the Muse and teacher of the pulse of vital energy. That is what a Drum Circle invokes and is the goal of the “Perfect Fire Circle.�

The Phamily has decided to perform communal Energy work for supporting Strength , healing and rapid recovery of those who were caught by the Earthquake and Tsunami's.

We will start at 8:00pm on Friday, December 31st, 2004.


I will be using a green candle as a focus. After the energy work, I intend to leave my focus burning through the night, carrying that strength and healing energy through into the secular new year.

--Wade

In the far and misty past, there was a man who was visited by the Gods. This man was given a vision of bringing the joys of Pagan Gatherings to Florida to be shared with the many Pagans there. Some say he was driven mad by the Gods as he travelled the land, visiting other Gatherings in many states, learning all he could about how such things were organized. But, mad or no, he returned home to Florida and set about contacting Pagans in the state to enlist their help. As most of the existing Gatherings were long miles away, the Florida Pagans were delighted with the idea. This man was Steve Dugas, and his rewards for all his work are his lovely wife, Lisa, and their son, Tristan. Sometimes the world is blessed by a spell of madness.

From their humble beginnings - in a Zephyrhills, Florida, pasture - the LifeSpring Gatherings grew and grew. Steve began by asking local Pagans to share their knowledge in workshops and lectures and rituals. Today, while local Pagans are still encouraged to share their knowledge, they are joined by many people from all over the land and, now and then, by people from other lands. Writers, teachers, and crafts-people from many areas have come to the Florida Gatherings to share their Arts with us, and to learn from our knowledge, too.

The Phoenix Phamily Chronicles are being compiled by Phoenix Phamily Member, and Staff Elder Ardy. This is to be collected into a large "Doomsday" type book chronicling the History of The Phoenix Phamily, beginning with the 1992 event at Dragonwood and covering all of our history (or as much as possible). After the initial Chronicle is completed, it will be kept up to date at each event.

If you have stories or pictures you'd like to add to the Chronicle, please email them to "Chronicle@phoenixfestivals.com"

This is a huge project, we have close to 13 years of history to compile. And we are actively soliciting ALL help on this project. There have been some negative things that have occured over the years, we are actively soliciting both sides of those events so as to cover that moment in history as completly as possible.

Waterkin,

It is with sadness that I pass along the information that my close
friend and CAW & Spirit Weavers Priest Jim Looman passed over early
this morning. He is survived by his life-partner, Candy DeTray, Jenn
and Raven as well as many others in his extended family.

In addition, Candy's younger brother passed over last night.

Please send your prayers, love, rèsonce and magic to Candy, Jenn and
Raven as well as the others who deeply feel the loss.

More information will be forthcoming. I can be reached by telephone at
419-842-8383.

Drink Deeply, Ron

PS: Pass this along to others who would like the information.

This year’s Pagan Pride Day in Jacksonville, FL was another resounding success
story for the Pagan community here in Jacksonville!



Our event was held at the beautiful grounds of the Unitarian Universalist Church
of Jacksonville in the Arlington area of town. The day consisted of charity
drives, a ritual, workshops, concerts, vendors, information booths, children’s
activities, and concerts. Concession and babysitting services were also offered
to make the day easier for the guests attending.

Tim Gillis and Lena Queen were special guest on August 12, 2004 for a Navy sponsored training on Wicca and Paganism for their Regional Chaplains on NAS Jax, FL.
Chaplain Michaelis contact me in late July to gather some information on the Wiccan and Pagan beliefs, and asked if anyone in the local community would be willing to come and speak to the Chaplains attending the training.

I consulted Lena and Tim, and soon we were make plans to answer all the question the Navy may have.

As part of their presentation, they brough examples of ritual tools to help the Chaplains get a good picture of the items the Pagan sailors may have as personal possessions. The Navy allowed them to bring examples of Athames, and set up a basic altar.

There were 20 to 30 attendees, including 20 Chaplains, 3 JAG officers, and some unit commanders.

The two were able to cover the basics of Wiccan and Pagan beliefs and answer many questions. The Chaplains were very pleased and excited about the information that was presented to them and asked for Lena and Tim to return for another session. Tim and Lena were not able to cover everything they had planned, and this gave the prefect opportunity for the Chaplain Office to invite them back.
On their next trip to NAS Jax they will be meeting with the Chaplin, all of the JAG staff on NAS Jax and unit commanders.

a spiritual gathering of music and magic October 8th - 10th 2004

The Second annual Wise Woman Festival is a moment out of time for woman to come together to renew our strength, our faith, and our hope. With all the cares, worries and troubles that affect us each day, opportunities to come together to heal and grow are rare. This is one of those rare opportunities. Healing the Earth, Healing our Communities, and Healing Ourselves, are not just themes, they are a way of being. The Wise Woman Festival allows each of us the opportunity to strengthen our resolve and commitment to these ways of being. By growing ourselves and by sharing with other like minded women we weave a connection that will reach outwards from us. The energy and renewed commitment will spread like a ripple on the water, touching not only our lives but the lives of those we touch. Magick and Music spun together to create a community of hearts, minds, and spirits. A community re-strengthen, rededicated, and renewed, ready to embark on yet another year of great works.

Now that Hurricane Season is firmly with us, I've added a news feed (home page, right hand column) from NOAA's Hurricane information system to keep us updated on the Atlantic tropical outlook and any storms as they form and start tracking.

I repeat my call from last year:

We can set up a network of Phamily to give people a place to stay if a hurricane hits thier area.. We live on the northeast coast, for example, and if a storm decided to target, say the Tampa - St. pete area, we'd be in a safe location, and could provide three or four days for people to get out of harms way. or, vice versa, if Jacksonville was targeted, perhaps a shelter with phamily on the Gulf coast would be available.

You may email "pphyre@phoenixfestivals.com" and I will be happy to coordinate the crash space. I'll need to know the following: region you live in, number of people you could put up, and for how long. and any information that might limit who could use your shelter (no cats/dogs/birds/kids or that sort of thing).

It seems like this would be a good time to put this together before a storm is on the way, rather than when it's almost here.


--Wade

On June 8, Venus will cross in front of the Sun for the first time since 1882, and backyard skywatchers can see the spectacle [Overview]. The best view will be from Europe, but parts of America and most of Asia and Africa can witness the historic passage, weather permitting.

What Will Happen
Earth, Venus and the Sun will all be in a direct line in space. Venus will make contact with the outer portion of the Sun early in the morning in Europe (and before dawn U.S. time). It will appear as a small black spot about 1/32 the diameter of the Sun.

Safe viewing techniques must be employed.

One of the curious aspects, called the "black drop," will occur just as Venus gets fully in front of the Sun's disk at ingress, and again just before it egresses about six hours later from the other side. Venus' black disk will appear to remain linked to the edge of the Sun for a moment, stretching into an apparent pear shape.

There are two causes for the black drop: The Sun is less bright at its visible edge, and there is a natural blurring effect in telescopes.

Presents our 4th. ANNUAL Celebration of BELTAINE, Beltane, may day, May 1, 2004

No Matter What you Prefer to Call It, Come Join This Powerful Celebration at Summerland:

SATURDAY, MAY 1st Late Afternoon will bring the Erection of the May Pole and Dance at Main Circle. Each person should bring 30 ft. of colored ribbon to tie to the pole. Followed by a Potluck feast where everyone brings a covered dish to share their good fortune with the God and Goddess! At Dusk there will be a Faerie Walk in Magical Splendor to Spirit Tree! Celebration of the Fertility of the Horned God and The Goddess will be continued in the evening with a Beltaine Ritual being led by Fangorn Coven of Cape Coral, Florida. Afterwards we will Drum and Dance the night Away as we Tap into that Erotic Storehouse of Energy

The Paralounge Drum Gathering
April 16,17 2004
The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park
North 129 Live Oak Florida
http://www.paralounge.net/

The Paralounge has become a drum circle family re-union. July 2002 was the first Paralounge Drum Gathering. It was a beautiful weekend with beautiful people. Over one hundred people attended that drum circle. February 2003 the Paralounge held its second gathering. The Melbourne Drum Tribe and Jerrods Door were the pre drum circle entertainment. The Melbourne Drum Tribes first time at the Paralounge. They had a great performance and held a nice rhythm workshop. Jerrods Door jammed out with heavy rhythm percussion fused with exotic didgeridoo soundscapes. Over one hundred and fifty drum circle spirits attended. August 2003 the Paralounge gave more. The Kusun Ensemble, from Ghana East Africa, gave a breath taking performance. African drummers and dancers gave the Paralounge a taste of true african heritage. Nii Tettey Tetteh, leader of the group, taught an exciting workshop on traditional african rhythms. The Rhythm Festival came over from Jacksonville Florida and gave a fine performance. They demonstrated what great talent is in the Jacksonville drum circle. Jerrods Door gave the Paralounge another taste of psychedelic jungle funk. They know how to get the energy moving. Over two hundred people attended that event.

The Paralounge Drum Gathering has become a collective of all the drum circles in the south east U.S. Drum circle members from Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Gainseville, St. Augustine, Melbourne, Titusville, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Valdosta Georgia, Atlanta Georgia, and other places in Alabama and Mississippi, are attending these gatherings.

Hola...

Listen to my new collaborative elektronik pagan trakk "Elemental Call" is up on my site @ http://geocities.com/savvy1007/listen.htm... I just finished it with my friend Mark Sklawer - a fellow New Yorker - (who I also did my two older trakks with)...

Mark Sklawer is part of an amazing event he cooperatively puts on
=>=> "Body Temple - a holistic celebration of life - http://www.bodytemple.info <=<=...
Check it out!!!

Tell me what you think @ savvy1007@yahoo.com about my cooperative elektronik musik aka pagan techno... Feedback helps me grow musically and it is appreciated...

- Amor y Paz - Savvy aka Savannah Skye...

To our Phamily,

With deep regret, I must pass along that Bobbi Dresser, cherished mate of Nybor and Elspeth of Haven, has passed on. Nybor and Elspeth have asked that no gifts be sent until she they have spoken to Bobbi's children

We will be scheduling a memorial service at PhoenixPhyre 2004.

Energy to help those left behind with their grief is greatly appreciated.

Update on March 10,2004 from Nybor:

One third of our life is gone. Bobbi died on Monday morning peacefully in her own bed. We will be holding services at 11AM on Saturday March 13th at the Hines-Renalti funeral home on New Hampshire ave. just north of the White Oak shopping center in Silver Spring MD. Rather then send flowers, you might make a donation to the ACLU. She felt strongly about personal freedom.

Elspeth and Nybor

A reminder that The JaxPRIDE festival is this coming Friday, Saturday,. and Sunday.

Come and enjoy 3 Spirit filled days right along the St. Mary's River. There will be Workshops, Merchants/Vendors, Main Ritual, Friday Night Village Potluck Feasting, Live Entertainment Friday night, Main Ritual Saturday night, Drumming & Dancing around a Sacred Fire, Childrens Workshops, and Spirit. Some of the added pleasures of Hidden River Resort are Hot Showers, Flush Toilets, Swimming Pool, Covered Stage and Covered Pavillon, Fire Circle, Clothing Optional, 88 pristine acres, 40 min from Jacksonville.

From Lena on the Jax Pagan List:

Greetings,

3 days and counting....YEEPEE

We are looking forward to frolicking in the forest with our community. We are proud to announce that "Shining Wheel Pagan Chorus" will be coming up on Saturday to wow us with their magically harmonious voices. The will have CDs to sell. Please check out their web site and listen to some of their chants. www.cdbaby.com/shiningwheel www.shiningwheel.org

The standalone Mozilla Firebird browser has been renamed to Firefox and received an upgrade to version 0.8. This latest release features a new download manager, bookmarks enhancements, better support for extensions and several thousand other improvements. Windows users can benefit from a new installer, while Mac OS X users will enjoy the new Aqua-style theme, Kevin Gerich and Stephen Horlander's Pinstripe...

Firefox is the browser's third name. The last name, Firebird, drew strong objections from the Firebird database community when it was announced in April. The database community's supporters and commercial backers waged a high-profile campaign against mozilla.org and affiliated parties until mozilla.org announced that Firebird would only be used as a codename. The new Firefox moniker is intended to be used as a permanent product name and a strong brand identity will be built around it. The new name was chosen after extensive international trademark searches and consultations with lawyers. The process of registering Firefox as a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office began in December last year.

Firefox 0.8 can be downloaded from the Firefox product page or direct from the Firefox 0.8 directory on ftp.mozilla.org. Check out the Firefox 0.8 Release Notes for more information.

SOURCE: http://help.mozillazine.org/firefox/

Nybor and Elspeth need your help- in a major power raising. As most of you know, we are 2 parts of a triad. The other person in our marriage is Bobbi Dresser.
Last year, on Feb 14, Bobbi had breast cancer surgery. We did a power working in the hospital during the surgery. Tho the surgery was fairly extensive, It seemed complete. This was followed by chemo and radiation lasting into July. All seemed well at this point.
However, in late November, Bobbi began to have problems with digestion, and her gall bladder was removed on Jan.21 . Upon testing the gall bladder was found to have cancer cells in it. In early February continued testing determined that the cancer had spread to the liver. She is now undergoing the first set of chemo for this.
At 12 noon on Sunday, February 15 we will be doing a healing power raising. Your part of this, if you can take part, will be to link with us to send healing energy into her body. Remember to ground and center first. We are at bobbi's house in Silver Spring, Md. (about 10 miles north of the center of D.C.)
The focus of this working is: SHRINK THE SPREADING CANCER, WHEREVER IT MAY BE; AND DESTROY IT.
This will be equally effective whether you are alone or with a group.

We give thanks to all of you --and to the Lady and Lord for such a caring and powerful family.

Namaste'

Elspeth and Nybor

We've made several new friends over the past week who will have Registration Packets for PhoenixPhyre 2004 in their shops. Please visit these varied and friendly Pagan folks.

Merry Meet !
We have moved to a new site!!!
Hidden River Resort is an 88 acre retreat located on the Florida-Georgia state line between Jacksonville and Lake City, just north of Macclenny, along the banks of the wild and scenic St. Marys River.
You may wander the many trails, where you may find a secluded glen by a cypress pond; or stroll along the riverbank, sit under a huge old oak and feel the stress flowing away like the cool waters of the meandering St. Mary's River. There are many camping areas, with electric and without, and RV hookups, with water and electric (a dump station is also available). And NO portapotties required!!! We think you will all love this beautiful and pristine wilderness site! This is, however, THE WILD! All animals you encounter in the woods should be considered wild and dangerous. Do not attempt to approach, pet or feed them. You may also encounter poisonous plants or reptiles in your strolls. Nature has created pitfalls on the grounds - holes, fallen trees, etc. Be careful!! An alligator is in residence in the river - at last sighting it was about 5'.
Barbara, the lovely lady who owns and manages Hidden River Resort, is so warm and welcoming, we're sure you'll be as enchanted as we are. But don't drop your cigarette butts around - she's a tigress on trash! Our Featured Guests include Isaac Bonewits, Trish Telesco, Nybor and Elspeth, Maya Heath, and Jim Looman. Our Featured Musicians are DreamTrybe. Meals will be provided by our Staff Kitchen and we have four scholarships available for Kitchen Help. Please contact us at 904-396-9637 if you're interested in being a kitchen slave. Preliminary photos are on the phoenixfestivals website.

-- NEW POLICIES --
With the new site, comes a few new or changed policies.

PRESS RELEASE: 12/07/03 FROM: EMERALD ROSE
www.emeraldrose.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 706 864-0882

Command Performance: "Return of the King" Oscar Party will feature Georgia band Emerald Rose

TICKETS GO ON SALE TO THE PUBLIC DEC 10

Hollywood is abuzz in anticipation of the upcoming release of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King". Plans are being made for this year's Academy Awards presentations and trade news magazines have noted the possibility of Oscar gold for the third installment of Jackson's fantasy epic. Along with the Oscars come the Hollywood parties to celebrate the victories, and the Lord of the Rings cast will celebrate in style at a massive party in Hollywood's celebrated American Legion Hall. "The Return of the One Party" will sponsored by Tolkien fan web site The One Ring.net (www.theonering.net). The organization has produced parties for the movie's Oscar celebration for the past two years and are planning the biggest celebration yet for February 29, 2004, immediately following the Academy Awards.

Hello Phoenix Phestivals Phamily!

Here is the scoop on the next event: PhoenixPhyre 2004 - Our 25th event! Featured Speakers: Nybor, Elspeth, and Bobbi from Haven community, Patricia Telesco, Maya Heath, and DreamTrybe. We are still booking musicians and speakers, so Stay tuned for more.
The biggest news for this event?
We just booked into a new Site: Hidden River Ranch, an 88 acre facility located 16 miles north of Maclenny in northeast Florida. (it's 39 miles from the I-95/I-10 intersection in downtown Jacksonville.) The Site features Hot Showers (4 indoor and 2 outdoor) with a small hot tub attached, swimming pool, a 30 x 60 stage, a 20 x 40 pavillion, decks, and 15 full (with septic) RV hookups, and 11 power/water hookups. I had heard a lot of really nice things about Hidden River from various people (Especially Rosemary and Brian!), and they were right. The Property is neat, clean, and the facilities are solidly constructed (We will not ever overload the power on this site, I suspect) and we will have plenty of room to grow. There will always be a warm spot in our heart for the Riverboat Club, We have shared a lot of energy, and a lot of memories with that site.
We will also have some moving pains with the new property. We are working out the details on some of the finer points, but here's what we KNOW will change:

Well. 300 plus images from AutumnMeet 2003 later, a bunch of fixes, and a few addons later, and here we are. First - The thanks!

Cephlian, Pappa John, Kristan, Thom, Todd, Dragon, and I all contributed to the current AutumnMeet 2003 image gallery, I hope you enjoy it! There is Full coverage of the Faux Fairy slaying, and followup autopsy, and investigation..., Images and memories from Music night, Maya's Croning, Merchants row, Staff camp, Band Camp, the group shots from us to Rowan on Sunday, and Phamily Members from one end of the site to the other. Note that you can Rate each shot, and post comments for each, which is a great way to help share your memories, and point out the things you particularly liked!
Also, all the bugs I know of are fixed in the website as of this writing. And I added a little widget that lets Phamily members post their current mood (it's on the Front page, above the random image), try it out!

270 pagans, 5 days of the most loving, careing festival energy I can remember. What an Incredible week!

A wealth of thank yous are apropriate here, so let me start with our Featured Speakers. Doroty Morison, Thanky ou, you were and are everything we were told you were, a rare event in these days. Trish Telesco, again, you were wonderful, thank you for the workshops, for helping in the kitchen when our Staff cook had to take a break because of his back. Maya Heath, again, thank you for the workshops, and for a wonderful job as Bardic Circle facilitator, Ivo Dominguez, wow, what a find, you're wonderfull, Dianne will disown me if we can't get you back.. Jim Loomin, thank you, wonderful workshops, and fulfilling a need for education of the special needs handicapped people face on a festival site.

To our Featured Musicians. First, WOW! In my opinion, this was the best line up of music and performances we have ever had on a festival site. To Emerald Rose, thank you all, a wonderful concert, and you are wonderful people. We missed you at Closing ritual, but the entire community wants you back! To DreamTrybe, Ladies (and Tabber) we never get tired of you, and no, Lynda, you won't get off that easily! I'd also like to thank Casey and Mike for most professional and excellent help with running and setting up the sound system for the event, you are both consumate professionals.

To the staff; You are, without question, the finest group of people I have ever met. You bring to our village a gift of simple competence. This festival would not have happened without the hard work that you have contributed. I am honored and blessed to be able to work with each of you: Dianne, Kate, Freyja, Walker, Thom, Todd, Althea, Dr. Tom, Seawolf, Jennifer, Maya, Pookie Bear, Cephlian, and Our newest Site manager / Pagan Man; Robert the Dragon.

In particular, I want to acknowledge our Hearthkeepers, Zephyr and Trish and a special thanks to our Apprentice Heathkeeper Kristin. The staff was so blessed to have you there, and each mentioned to me what an incredible job you did.

To the Phoenix Phestivals Community. What can I say? People offering other people coffee in the mornings or late at night, just because they percieved a need. A severe lack of issues! wow! with the exception, who could have asked for more harmony. Wait! that's it! Harmony.... We lived, and loved in Harmony... "Musical" (figuratively and literally) chairs from camp site to campsite, never has ANY festival had so many, playing so well, for so long. You made this hands down the best festival ever!

There are so many (oh, about 270 of you) that contribute so very much to the success of these events that I just run out of space listing everything. From Firetenders helping out with the ritual fire, to community shifts, Counselors, Workshop and ritual presenters, On-line help, passing out registration flyers, and just talking about what a cool time we have together. All of these things create community, and a strong healthy community it is! Dianne, The Staff, and I Thank You ALL !

-- Wade Berlin

I Spaced Out completely on this addition to our merchant list:

Woodpecker's Roost
Hand-crafted exotic and domestic wood, non-realistic, dildos.

Additional News:
We heard from Johnny a few days ago and Kalimart will not be at festival. He sends greetings and blessings. Nybor, also, will be unable to be at AutumnMeet. Elspeth is still coming and we will have Bobbi, too.

Hey Ya'll!

We've finally gotton the "beginnings" of the HallFamily Homepage back on-line!!!! I've at least got the "index" page updated!! More will come...I promise!

Love Ya'll
Walker

I heard from DeLuna today, she is NOT going to be able to make it back to Florida for AutumnMeet 2003, We will miss her, perhaps she will be able to make it to PhoenixPhyre, next March.
We are looking at a replacement for the 6:30pm performance on Friday, or expanding the Emerald Rose and DreamTrybe concerts, stay tuned for mor information as we get it.
On a happier note, we have confirmed that Lady Elspeth will be back after a 2 year hiatus, We've missed her, and are looking forward to her return.

AutumnMeet 2003

Prices increase on the 15th, you can avoid the increase by registering on or before Septrember 15th (Monday)

The First Price Increase for AutumnMeet 2003 happens in a little less than two weeks (September 15th) Save the money and get your registration in before then!

Our Website has the current Workshop, Merchants, and Festival updates (look under Topic "Festivals or Category "workshops" for the most current information.)

We have created a cool little promotional Video for AutumnMeet 2003 - look for it at one of the Pagan Pride Day Booths we will have around the state, Beginning with Pagan Pride Day, Jacksonville, this coming Saturday, September 6th, at the Jacksonville UU Church.

"Pagans Reveling In Diversified Energy" Our Maiden festival will be Oct 3-5, 2003. Please join us for 3 days of camping, drumming, dancing, workshops, entertainment & revelry. 88 acres of nature to run on and access tot he St. Mary's River.

Please join us for Jacksonville Pagan Pride Day 2003! Once again, we will be honoring our community with a Pagan Pride Project event including a charity drive and community ritual. Our charity drives this year are a non-perishable food drive for the Arlington Community Center and pet supplies for The Stray Cat House. See our website for a detailed list of needed items. There is no charge for the Pagan Pride event, but for every item you donate, or every $1 you donate, you will receive one raffle ticket. We will use these tickets to draw for door prizes throughout the day. We have the most incredible door prizes donated by local merhcants and event vendors.
The community ritual will honor Mabon and is hosted by Lena Queen. Ritual begins at 5pm. Don't miss the Children's Parade to the ritual circle at 4:45pm.
Again this year, we are thrilled to have Emerald Rose headlining our stage at 6pm!! We also have the local drumming group, Rhythm Festival performing and two Atlanta bands, Skyy Pilot and Spiral Rhythm playing during the day.
There will be workshops held from 11 to 5. A children's area will be offering different activities all day.
Pagan Pride Day is offering their own concession, with yummy low cost meals, drinks and snacks. Vegetarian options are available.
We are still looking for volunteers to help that day. Please contact us if you'd like to help!
We are excited about making this the best event in Jacksonville, and possibly the nation! Join us for the fun, learning, and excitement!

Well, our first trip with the Scouts was a huge success. Many Thanks to Ackadia, Thom, Kate, Missy, Cat, Mary, Sara, Kristin, Bobby jr. and Julia for a wonderful afternoon at the Zoo. We ha a blast playing with the butterflies, looking at the wide assortment of incredible displays the JaxZoo has, and just hangin' out together. (we got some really good video too! see below)

Current updates on the FCSS:
As you can see, we've created a new topc and category for Spiral Scout information on the website.
We've created a logo to identify the FCSS
All the paperwork and background checks are filed for the creation of the First Coast Spiral Scouts troop. We won't be official until the processing is completed and approved. Wade Berlin and Ackadia Seawind are the founding troop leaders.
However, we aren't going to let that slow us down. There will be a FCSS information booth at the Jacksonville Pagan Pride Day event, and at each of the other Pagan Pride Day events Ackadia is attending in the next month or so. Wade has created a 2 minute video promoting the FCSS, see it at our PPD booth.
We already have regular events planned for the Scouts through the end of next year, including hands on "Mr Wizard" type home chemistry, (Making really cool stuff, like your own "slime", dustless street chalk and paint, and several other cool projects), Leather crafting, and do it yourself video workshops, Trips to Marineland, Seaworld (hey, Wade's a diver.... he like the ocean stuff) and maybe a trip to Universal Studios. As well as regular day trips to Wild adventures, the beach, and some planned weekend camping trips, at least once a month the Scouts will get together for some serious cool stuff.

Well, that's all for now, blessings to all,
Wade

Saturday, September 20, 2003 11AM to 5PM
Location:
G.T. Bray Park
Pavilions 3 and 4
5502 33rd Avenue Drive Wes
tBradenton, Florida
Important Information:
· This is a picnic so bring your own food, drinks, and blankets.
· No athames/swords or other “weapons”.
· No alcohol.· THIS IS A FREE EVENT!On the schedule:· Free workshops by OOTNSR, Wheel of the Year, and others.
· Donate to the food drive and be entered to win prizes! (Non-perishable items. No glass containers other than baby food.)
· Pagan community meeting
· Accepting volunteers for Manasota Pagan Pride Day 2004
· Drum circle
· Public ritual

www.freewebs.com/paganpridemanasota
Sponsored by Order of the Night Star Rising

Annoucing the Pagan Pride PicNic for Manasota (that's Manatee and Sarasota Counties) on September 20.2003. The place is to be announced. This is the FIRST Pagan Pride event for the area so come on out and support us!

We will be having mini workshops and a Harvest Ritual too! So why not bring your picnic lunch/dinner and JOIN us! :)

For more info, contact me at BriteBlsn@aol.com

We at SilverBranch are extremely pleased to announce the release of our first music CD, entitled "Hand to Hand'! This CD is a collection of chants/songs/rounds that is ideal for use in many Celtic rituals, evoking the energies of goddesses and gods, dragons and sacred animals. A portion of the proceeds from this project will be donated to the Phoenix Festivals Land Fund.

Please come and take a look at www.silverbranch.com!

Blessed be!
BryteUnicorn

More Merchants Registered for AutumnMeet

Woodland Wonders / Karma Klub
Greenman Items from masks to 4 types of incense burners, candle holders and goodies but other ceramic treasures. Also, they will also find handmade sage smudge bundles, tambourines and things that go "hmmmmm" around the fire, herbs, altar tiles, vine pentacles and an array of everyday usage items for the witch in everyone.

Otter & Trout Trading Company
Wildcrafted and organically grown herbs, herbal products and some hand carved artwork

Church of All Worlds - Florida
Not for Profit fund-raiser to benefit the Earth Day Festival held at All World Acres and the First Coast Spiral Scouts.

SilverBranch
CDs featuring original Celtic music (a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the PhoenixFestival Land fund), candles, soaps, leather goods and other crafts.

Nybor Mystical Art
Spiritual and sensual art

P. A. Montgomery, Jeweler
Jewelry of carved bone and amber with some silver work

KaliMart
Fun festival clothing at affordable prices

Sweetwater Clay & Leather Canvas & Steel
Pottery, buckskin leatherwork, Native American style beadwork, custom canvas tentage, blacksmith art & useful item

Well, we're finally getting things rolling and on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 from 5pm-8pm we are hosting a fundraising/organization event at Sweet Tomatoes - Regency. We will be able to earn twenty percent from each of our attendees' meal purchase. In order to participate in the fund raiser you must have a flyer beforehand to present to the cashier. Flyers will soon be available for pick up on Earth Gifts' bulletin board. Also if you prefer, write to me privately and I'll make sure to get one to you prior to the event.

This will be a time for prospective participants and their parents to learn more about Spiral Scouts, complete necessary paperwork, discuss any concerns and ask any questions! This will also give us an opportunity to start our fundraising for our new troop the First Coast Spiral Scouts!

If you have any questions please feel free to email either me: sumchik@bellsouth.net or Ackadia : djclark222@yahoo.com. We look forward to seeing everyone!

Merchants Registered for AutumnMeet

Styx n Stonz
Staffs, walking sticks,brooms,wands, stones, other enchanted items.

Fiddlesense
Woodcraft products, Oriental and Indian statues/candle holders, fountains. cauldrons, and more.

Dreaming Owl
Baskets and Pottery. Stop by for a basket weaving demonstration.

Dragonweyr Gifts of the Goddess
Ceramics, wraps, jewelry, unusual items.

Panther Drums
Africam djembes and other drums and fun stuff.

Dreamtrybe
CD's and band gear

Emerald Rose
CD's

Dorothy Morrison
Books by Author

Patricia Telesco
Books by Author

Maya Heath - Dragonscale Jewelry
Books and Jewelry by Author

Greetings All!
I hope everyone is excited about our next Autumn Meet Festival; I know I am! I have some very delightful events planned for Autumn Meet. For starters our own Jack Seawolf is planning to take the steps necessary to be initiated as a Scion in the Church of All Worlds! In addition, he plans to take a new name. . . I am eager to hear what that will be! I am also Coordinating the Main Ritual and have some rather grand and spine tingling plans. We will be visiting Hades, and meeting all sorts of interesting Characters. I would love to have members of the Phoenix Phamily help with this project. I have many interesting characters who need that personal