SageCircle…So far so good!

One day Al, Nat and I came up with a cool idea. We had been wanting to do more rituals a year through SageCat Moot, but had neither the time nor energy to organise another six events a year.

So we asked seven moot members with totally different backgrounds, ideas and paths to organise it for us. The Moot will pay any expenses to keep it free to attend and its purpose is to create a community feel with SageCat and other local groups.

They all said yes, so we had a planning meeting to get some guidelines set up. They decided to take turns writing and organising the six rituals a year with support where needed from the other six and off they went.

The first SageCircle ritual Saturday the 5^th of August was written by Chris (with a little help from Kristin). It was also hosted by Chris in his house and large garden. As Chris comes from a background of Wicca and Zen this one had all the elements of a Wiccan ritual with a few extras thrown in for good measure. The set up was lovely too and then the pot luck food was fantastic! Pity about the size of Chris’s horn though, I must say I was a bit disappointed when it was presented to me ;o)

The next ritual was written and hosted by John (with a bit of help from Emma). I have to say at this point that there is a pattern forming here!

It was held on the river bank on the 23^rd of September (autumn equinox) and the ritual began at dusk. There was a huge turnout with people coming from Cambridge moot in droves as well as from SageCat moot and the base group. I didn’t do a head count but I reckon there was about thirty odd in attendance.  After the wagon with the last sheaf and the ritual with two rounds of the mead horn and offerings, the wicker man was lit. I was very impressed by his size, particularly certain parts of his anatomy ;o) While he was aflame there was an offering to the local wights in the form of burning arrows shot over the river and a fire dance by John. What followed can only be described as a bloody good feasting with good company. There were so many kinds of mead and cider that I just had to try that I obtained a well deserved hangover the next day! We managed to drag our arses home at about two in the morning and it was still going on!

As I said in the heading,” So far so good!” I find myself eagerly looking forward to the next ones. Hmm, I wonder what Jeannie has in store for us at the next one. A big thank you from all of us to Chris and John for their hard work thus far and I am feeling rather optimistic for the future of SageCircle.

Picture right taken 23/09/06 by Luke