Chesapeake Pagan Community
2010 Summer Gathering
The ICARUS Fire Circle
We invite all to join us at the ICARUS fire: an intentional 3 night co-creative fire circle experiment at
CPC Summer Gathering 2010. This is a magickal invitation to drummers, dancers, chanters, ritualists, mask-makers,
visual artists, poets and dream-weavers to delve into a remarkable experience of Universal Fire Circle Alchemy.
We will explore the deepest of all mysteries, as we individually and collectively implement the advanced alchemical
formulas that are blended into the flow of this unique ritual working.
Our co-conspirators are led by Tigre Cruz, Michael Gryffyn, Leah Moonrite, Ken Crampton and Tanith and
Asariel Moonrite.
Thursday: “bonefire- tuning in” – During this night we will tune in to ourselves, the land and our ancestors.
We will also use this night to clear and center our spirits, allowing ourselves to open to new experience.
Friday: “Balefire -Discovering our Wings" – During this night we will experiment, play, and push our envelopes
to discover the joy and creative spark in each of us.
Saturday: "Boonfire- Joyful Flight" – During this night we allow ourselves the full expression of our divine creative
beings, striving towards the highest spark of our existence.
Our crucible, the circle that contains the ritual fire, is an outer manifestation of the inner being and transformation
shared by many systems. The heart of ICARUS is the main ritual fire. In the crucible we can co-create
opportunities for rites of passage and initiatory experience; empower people to find spiritual connections and
community, to attract and hold sacred mysteries, reveal cosmic truths, and to transform and heal.
Enter the ICARUS fire and discover a safe sacred place to dance, sing, and drum. A place for sacred play and work;
A place to let your spirit take wing and fly. An invitation for celebrants to conspire together, visioning the healing
nature of our time together through the night by poly-rhythmic drumming, chants, spoken offerings, dance and silence.
Our crucible is designed as a safe place to allow the spirit to soar in whatever guise feels comfortable and true to
our authentic selves. The fire will be kindled each night with intention and will continue until the energy has run its
course. We invite you to allow yourself the freedom to join us in the crucible.
Everyone is encouraged to create a Prayer Tie that will be tied to the twine around the circle. This is part of building
the crucible. Materials will be available near the circle all through the gathering for the creation of Prayer Ties.
We will be creating Rangoli ( sacred patterns in the sand) each day for the circle. We invite you all to come and join
us and lend your energy and imagination to the designs.
We invite everyone to co-conspire with us within the circle each night. If you are so inspired to share a chant, song
or spoken word piece, to pick up a drum or an instrument from the percussion altar please do so. If you feel inspired
to stand or sit and hold energy as witness to the circle, please do so, If you are not sure how, or when, to engage,
please feel free to ask one of the core conspirators for help.
Teach us your rhythm, we will help hold it. Teach us your chant, we will help sing it. Teach us your dance and we
will dance with you. We are all one within the eyes of the Divine. We are all servants to the Divine Fire.
In Service to the Fire,
The ICARUS Crew
Considerations for the ICARUS Fire Circle
Let us envision co-creating a safe, magical experience for everyone in the
Fire Circle. In support of this vision, we offer these thoughts for your consideration.
- The area contained by the torches and prayer flags is Sacred. Please remember people are focusing on
magickal work. To avoid distraction, we take conversations outside and away from the Circle.
- At the Gateway to the Circle, we may smudge one another or ourselves with sage smoke as a purification rite.
All are invited to breathe, ground, center, and be aware we are entering Sacred Space each time we step through
the Gate.
- The flow of energy moves around the fire. During moments when we wish to be still, we pause near the outer
edge of the Circle, taking care to avoid standing between the drummers and the Fire.
- We feed the Sacred Fire with consciousness and intention. (No trash please.)
- The Well is a special place just outside the prayer flags of the Circle for giving and receiving healing energy.
- We encourage personal responsibility and safety. Be mindful of your body and how you are moving.
- Music and drumming are in interactive harmonious relationship with, and in service to the Dance, Voice and
Service portals.
- Please ask before using someone else's drums or instruments. To prevent blistered hands and damage to the
drum, remove rings before playing.
- Feel free to play the instruments on the Percussion Altar. Please return them once finished.
- Listen, watch, feel . . . and listen some more. If all you can hear is your own drum, you're playing too loudly.
Hold awareness of how your sound fits in with the whole.
- All are encouraged to share songs and chants around the Fire.
- Sacraments, smokeable or drinkable, stay outside the Sacred Circle. At ICARUS, the circle is our sacrament.
- Everyone is encouraged to offer food and water to the drummers and dancers, smudge at the Gate, feed wood
to the Fire, and care for the space and each other.
- Have fun, play to your heart's content, and remember that you are witnessed within a Circle of Community.
- Let your love show on your face!
Over the course of the evening, when our minds begin to drift and the brilliance begins to fade, a deep work begins.
In order to stay present and engaged, it is helpful to remember that we are each other's inspiration. To find and
renew this inspiration we need only to discover and rediscover the mysteries within our relationships. We create
and explore relationship through our artful interactions in the circle.
Schedule
Gathering home page