Ancient Ways

25^th Annual Ancient Ways Festival

May 14 – 18, 2008

Theme: Faces of the Gods - exploring divinity and deity within and without
Register on-line with Pay Pal before May 8th or by mail by May 10. The prices are substantially lower than past years, at $70 for 4 nights. Fewer nights will be $10 a night less money, $40 for day visit. (See the registration form for details.) Children under 18 are FREE when accompanied by an adult! Vending is the special price of only $25 this year. We expect between 75 and 125 campers this year in our new place.

Here we are truly a community. The tribes gather in a big village to relax in nature, dip into the hot tub or pool and gaze at the starry sky or indulge in drumming or music jams. This is an intimate and friendly event where everyone is staff and contributes to this coop event. It will be a totally private location and only for pre-registered attendees; with no drop ins. Fees include, camping, workshops and rituals. Community work is expected from all participants for at least one hour for each night.

Program – We may not have a printed program this year and just use the bulletin board on site. We will post the program info online for you to print out.

If you want to join in, send us a description of any workshop you plan to lead and time preferred, so it can be included in the festival program. (Last minute bulletin board sign-ups are OK.) All large rituals should be scheduled in advance. Parents, children are free, but bring toys or activities to share in the children's program. We expect lots of on site workshop sign ups too.

Here is what we have so far:

Wednesday - - 5 pm - Opening Ritual; 8:30 pm - Stories of Gods and Goddess
Thursday & Friday workshops -- Community bonding workshop with Zoe; Star stories, Palmistry, Tarot sharing with Glenn; Amber: facts and myths with Prudence; kids activities with Rhiannon, vocal workshop with Amelia; Mystical Secrets of Music and Sound; lessons with loaner Beginning Didgeridoos; Plant walk with Terri Compost; Goddess Crowning by the council of Grandmothers; Aspects of the Gods and Goddesses by Tina; on Friday a Pogo Possum Party with WillowOak, Sword Dancing with Bob and Teri; and music jamming.
Friday night - - talent show; followed by a Pirate Party in the set of about 3 boats set into the ground in one section of the land;
Saturday - - a workshop for the community to plan the Main Ritual; and other workshops not scheduled on Thurs. and Fri.;

4 pm - Hobbyhorse, a folk/rock duo; dusk - Main Ritual; after the ritual - Land of the Blind Shamanic Trance Dance by Krystov & Cyoakha;
Sunday – 1 pm - Family parade and closing ritual

About the site: Stone City is a Pagan center located in the wild hills of California's Diablo Range, just outside the San Francisco Bay Area, in eastern Santa Clara County. Stone City is dedicated to creating sacred spaces for ritual, worship of Pagan deities, and community gatherings. All Pagan faiths and traditions are welcome. Visit the website at www.thestonecity.org.

This space is more compact and intimate than our previous location with far less distance to walk, but the ground will be rough in many places. The area is mostly covered in hearty scrub brush, with some blue oaks and pine trees. The grounds are hilly, steep in a few places, and close to level in the flatter areas.

Vending will be located in one of the flatter, easier-to-navigate areas of the site. Camping near by this is possible, as the vendor area is centrally located. Camping can also be close to the common areas that include: fire ring, cooking area, and privies. Some of this has slopes between areas. This is the first year we are holding this event in this location, so we are going to be finding out what works best.
Water is readily available. An above ground pool is ready for dipping and splashing during the warm days, and we are working on having a hot tub for the cooler spring evenings. Bring warm clothing for the cool nights. Also there is limited electricity with only power from the occasional recharging from a generator.

We will be setting up a little vegetarian outdoor kitchen and will be cooking supper on Thurs. Fri and Sat nights at the festival. We are aiming toward simple, healthy and hearty. We hope financial donations in a jar and food donations will cover the costs. If you plan to share food with us, please bring your own washable dishes. Also bring coolers. We hope you will share in the joyous labor of creating meals.
We also plan on having the outdoor kitchen available for more casual collective group cooking for breakfast and lunch (and late night snack?) and our traditional stone soup. We will have organic bulk beans and grains but would like donations of organic, if possible, fresh fruits and veggies, dairy products (cheese, butter, eggs), coffee and teas. Bring foods you would like to eat and share. We will try the honor system of staying karmically balanced with what you put in and what you eat. Surplus donations will be given to East Bay Food Not Bombs who has loaned us the field kitchen.
We are excited to get back to the land with old and new friends. We hope you are up for it, and would love to see you there!
Blessed Be,
Ancient Ways Festival Committee
For more information, ask questions at festival@ancientways.com

News from the Store

Look for our used/damaged book sale of 20% off some selected books. We currently have a greatly expanded SALE section of books and lots of close out odds and ends. We are also well stocked with our usual candles, incense, incense burners, lots of athames, statues etc. We have a good supply of our Candle Dressing kits and a variety of our bath salts like Money Drawing, Peace, and Love bath salts. New things will be coming to the store as I go to INATS a new age Gift Show in June; I expect to find new things and place more orders.

The 15^th annual

PantheaCon 2009

Feb 13 – 16, 2009

President’s Day weekend,

San Jose Double Tree Hotel

2050 Gateway Place, San Jose CA

(408) 453-4000

We have all the function room space with 4 ballrooms full of wondrous vendors and 4 ballrooms for rituals and workshops along with 10 additional rooms. Parking at the hotel is $5 a night for attendees with their badges. Only hotel guests get in-out privileges.

This year’s Theme: Gods and Goddesses

Last year’s Greening of the Con went well and we made over $2000 to offset carbon. A pagan politics section of the website should happen later this summer.

 

 

 

 

Events Schedule Spring 2008

Ancient Ways, 4075 Telegraph Ave., Oakland CA 510-653-3244

(2 blocks from MacArthur BART at the corner of 41^st St.)

All of these events start at 7:30 PM unless otherwise noted and are open to both women and men.

Cost: $5 to $10 (sliding scale).

 

 

Wed. May 7 East Bay Pagan Storytellers moderated by Steve Abell 7:30 pm

All storytellers, from novice to expert, and listeners, too, are welcome to attend and participate in this new group. Come tell your masterpiece, or practice your first performance ever, or just sit and take it all in. Free, but donations to the store are welcome.

Thurs. May 8 Authentic Rituals from Ancient Egypt with Richard Reidy 7:30 pm
Kemetic Reconstructionists revive the ancient rites. Why do it? How do we do it? Come gather insights into ancient ritual structure.

For the past ten years Rich has moderated the Kemetic Reconstructionist Temple of Ra in San Francisco as well as a newer sister temple in San Jose.

Sat. May 10 Pagan Festival and Parade in Berkeley Civic Center at the park at MLKing and Center. 10 am to 5 pm; See paganparade.org

Sat. May 10 Deadline for Ancient Ways Festival registration. After this date we will not be able to take registration. In order to ensure we have a private event, NO registrations on site. The map will only be sent to those who register.

Fri. May 16 Astrology with Margaret Cole

What is going on astrologically these days? When can things get better, for me and for the world? Bring your own chart.

Wed. May 14 through Sunday May 18, Ancient Ways Festival at Stone City

Come enjoy drumming and dancing under the stars around a fire. Come join us in our pagan village and discuss and learn from many workshops and rituals. We are pleased to have some fine events this year. See the website or the newsletter for all the details of four days of the festival.

Tues. May 20 Tuesday Means Tarot: Face Cards with Thalassa 7 - 9 pm

Fun with Face Cards – different ways of looking at, and using, the fascinating and often troublesome cards that make up the Tarot Court. Some previous experience is advisable.A hands-on exploration of how to use the cards in readings for self and others, drawing on Thalassa’s nearly 40 years of experience and digging into her great big Tarot Toy Box <tm> All levels of interest, experience and enthusiasm welcome

Mon. May 26 Memorial Day – store open

Tues. May 27 Tuesday Means Tarot: Number Cards with Thalassa 7 - 9 pm

Figuring Out the Number Cards – ways to work out meanings for the pip cards (Gladys Knight not included). Some previous experience is advisable.

Wed. June. 4 East Bay Pagan Storytellers moderated by Steve Abell 7:30 – 9:30 pm

All storytellers, from novice to expert, and listeners, too, are welcome to attend and participate in this new group. Come tell your masterpiece, or practice your first performance ever, or just sit and take it all in. Free, but donations to the store are welcome.

Tues. June 10 Tuesday Means Tarot with Thalassa 7 - 9 pm

Rehabilitating Problem Cards – Looking at the light and shadow in all of the deck enables one to look at even the most troublesome card from a new perspective. Some previous experience is advisable. A hands-on exploration of how to use the cards in readings for self and others, drawing on Thalassa’s nearly 40 years of experience and digging into her great big Tarot Toy Box <tm>

Fri.. June 13 Astrology: Asteroids with Margaret Cole

Everyone is talking about asteroids these days! We will too! Let’s talk about Juno, Chiron, Vesta, Ceres and Pallas. Bring your own chart.

Sun. June 15 This is the deadline for events for the store newsletter for July, August, and September. This newsletter contains forms for PantheaCon, registration, vending and presenting. We expect to have the website forms all set to fill in on line by July 15.

Tues. June 17 Tuesday Means Tarot with Thalassa 7 - 9 pm

101 Things to Do with a Tarot Deck - Divination, Tricks and Techniques, Study Guides for Further Exploration and so much more! Some previous experience is advisable.

Thu. June 26 Miwok Indian Dances and Regalia with Glenn Turner

Rare ethnographic notes from the 1930s provide the basis for this class. We will discuss their healing practices, dance houses, ceremonial body paint along with the birds that figure so prominently in their ceremonies. Handouts provided.

Wed. July 2 East Bay Pagan Storytellers moderated by Steve Abell 7:30 – 9:30 pm

All storytellers, from novice to expert, and listeners, too, are welcome to attend and participate in this new group. Come tell your masterpiece, or practice your first performance ever, or just sit and take it all in. Free, but donations to the store are welcome.

Fri. July 4 Ancient Ways Store closed for the holiday

Fri. July 11 Astrology: More Asteroids with Margaret Cole

And more asteroids! This time the lesser known ones that do still affect us! There are Eros, Psyche, Lilith, Urania. Bring your own chart.