Midwinter 2023 - Update

We will be celebrating Midwinter on Saturday December 16th. It will again be a Zoom ritual, and will be Celtic in theme. If you have not attended one of our rituals before, you might like to check out "More About Us" on our blog site. We will gather at 4 pm, and start the ritual around sunset - 4:30 pm MST. Here is the link: LINK

Midwinter 2023

Our next public high day will be Midwinter on December 16th. It will again be a Zoom ritual, and will be Celtic in theme. More details when we get closer.

 We are also working on plans for our March 16th divination workshop, and have 3 speakers lined up already! 

Samhain 2023 - Saturday Nov. 4th

 Well, we're glad we decided to celebrate Samhain next weekend - this picture was taken in my back yard this morning! This will be another hybrid ritual, with the public part being via our Zoom link. We'll gather at 5:30 pm, and start ritual 6ish. Here's the link: LINK.

Our October Rocky Mountain Retreat is over, and we are looking ahead to Samhain. Our celebration will be on the evening of Saturday November 4th -  more details when we get closer.
 

Rocky Mountain Retreat 2023 starts Friday evening!

Our Rocky Mountain retreat will start this coming Friday evening with a free Zoom hangout sessions and bardic circle. For the Zoom links to the rest of the weekend, the price is $20, and as usual the payment link is on the right sidebar of our blog at http://www.chokecherryadf.org/. (If you are viewing this on your phone, scroll down to the bottom to choose "view web version" in order to see the links.) Now is the time to sign up and join us for another amazing weekend! For a detailed schedule, see our previous post.

 Friday night's link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86035393952?pwd=dG81SUNJT1JKMzZWckVqWkdMcFN3Zz09

 

UPDATE: Rocky Mountain Retreat

Our annual Rocky Mountain Retreat is coming up fast, and we have some great speakers lined up! Our overall theme this year is "Personal Practice with the Kindreds" - how we relate to the Ancestors, Land Spirits, and Deities.

We will start with an open Zoom hang-out session starting at 6 p.m. MDT on Friday evening, followed by a bardic circle. This will be open to anyone, whether or not they've paid for the rest of the weekend, although we may ask aspiring bards to sign up with us first!

On Saturday, we'll have four speakers:

-- 9:30 a.m. MDT: ADF's Archdruid Jean "Drum" Pagano will tell us about his relations with the Kindreds.

 -- 11:30 a.m. MDT: Anthony Murphy of Mythical Ireland will tell us how the Ancients related to their Kindreds on Slieve na Calliagh, "the Cailleach's mountain".

-- 2 p.m. MDT: Rev. Kirk Thomas will give us a guided tour around his fabulous Nemeton at Trout Lake Abbey, explaining his worship there.

-- 4 p.m. MDT: John Beckett will speak on "Magic For Difficult Times".

At 6 p.m. MDT we will hold an ADF Core Order ritual led by Rev. D. Rowen Grove.

On Sunday, at 9:30 a.m. MDT, Rev. G. R. Grove will talk about her exploration of the Coelbren, the Welsh Bardic Alphabet, and how she uses it in Divination to consult the Kindreds.  This will be followed by an open discussion session at 11:30 a.m. MDT.

Each presentation will be one hour long plus half an hour's discussion time. All sessions will be recorded, and everyone who signs up for the weekend will received links to the audios and videos, so even if you can't participate live, you won't miss the presentations. The price for the weekend is $20, and as usual the payment link is on the right sidebar of our blog at http://www.chokecherryadf.org/. (If you are viewing this on your phone, scroll down to the bottom to choose "view web version" in order to see the links.) Now is the time to sign up and join us for another amazing weekend! (Note: due to space problems the Saturday day-trip option is no longer available.)

 

Autumn Equinox 2023

We will be celebrating Autumn Equinox this coming Saturday, October 23rd. Once again will be a Zoomed Core Order ritual. Gather at 6:30 p.m. MDT, ritual will start at 7 p.m.

Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88441733337?pwd=SGZHK3pQSEVrMkI3bGU2alRTMmVYUT09
 

Chokecherry Grove's Rocky Mountain Retreat is Oct. 13-15!

UPDATE:

Our annual Rocky Mountain Retreat is coming up soon, and we have some great speakers lined up! Our overall theme this year is "Personal Practice with the Kindreds" - how we relate to the Ancestors, Land Spirits, and Deities.

We will start with an open Zoom hang-out session starting at 6 p.m. MDT on Friday evening, followed by a bardic circle. This will be open to anyone, whether or not they've paid for the rest of the weekend, although we may ask aspiring bards to sign up with us first!

On Saturday, we'll have four speakers:

-- 9:30 a.m. MDT: ADF's Archdruid Jean "Drum" Pagano will tell us about his relations with the Kindreds.

 -- 11:30 a.m. MDT: Anthony Murphy of Mythical Ireland will tell us how the Ancients related to their Kindreds on Slieve na Calliagh, "the Cailleach's mountain".

-- 2 p.m. MDT: Rev. Kirk Thomas will give us a guided tour around his fabulous Nemeton at Trout Lake Abbey, explaining his worship there.

-- 4 p.m. MDT: John Becket will speak on "Magic For Difficult Times".

At 6 p.m. MDT we will hold an ADF Core Order ritual led by Rev. D. Rowen Grove.

On Sunday, at 9:30 a.m. MDT, Rev. G. R. Grove will talk about her exploration of the Coelbren, the Welsh Bardic Alphabet, and how she uses it in Divination to consult the Kindreds.  This will be followed by an open discussion session at 11:30 a.m. MDT.

Each presentation will be one hour long plus half an hour's discussion time. All sessions will be recorded, and everyone who signs up for the weekend will received links to the audios and videos, so even if you can't participate live, you won't miss the presentations. The price for the weekend is $20, and as usual the payment link is on the right sidebar of our blog at http://www.chokecherryadf.org/. (If you are viewing this on your phone, scroll down to the bottom to choose "view web version" in order to see the links.) Now is the time to sign up and join us for another amazing weekend!
 

Upcoming Events

 Three events are coming over the horizon for us now.

First, we will be holding a yard sale this coming Saturday, September 9th, at 2435 S Franklin St, Denver, CO. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and chat with us (even if you don't buy anything).

Next, we will be celebrating the Autumn Equinox on Saturday September 23rd. This will be an open Zoom ritual again, as our public Lughnasadh didn't work out for various reasons. I'll post the Zoom link when we get closer.

And finally, next month we will be holding our October Rocky Mountain Retreat on October 13-15. We have some great speakers lined up, all presentations will be recorded and available afterwards to people who register, and the cost for the whole virtual retreat is only $20. For more details and signup links, see this link on our blog.

Lughnasadh 2023

 

Chokecherry Grove, ADF will be celebrating Lughnasadh on Saturday August 5th. Our Zoom session will start at 7 pm MDT, and ritual at approximately 7:30. This may be an indoor ritual due to possible thunderstorms.

Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85896859016?pwd=alpNRzJxd3JRZEhOY01XU1RtdEFqdz09

MIdsummer 2023 - Update

 It's summer, and the roses are blooming. Chokecherry is planning on celebrating Midsummer on Saturday June 24th, and this time we will be holding it publicly for the first time in 3 years. Our location is the outdoor courtyard of the Kirk of Bonnie Brae on South Steele Street. We are planning to gather at 7pm MDT, with the ritual starting at 7:30ish, as usual, and yes, we are planning on the usual Zoom link. 

There will be picnic feasting afterwards, so feel free to bring something to share which you enjoy.

The Zoom link for those unable to attend in person:

 

Topic: midsummer
Time: Jun 24, 2023 07:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86722360473?pwd=dDk4Wkw2dzMyUHhpRHpjZVhqY05Wdz09

Meeting ID: 867 2236 0473
Passcode: 557835

Midsummer 2023

 

It's summer, and the roses are blooming. Chokecherry is planning on celebrating Midsummer on Saturday June 24th, and we are making arrangements to hold it publicly. More details when we get closer, but it should be "gather at 7pm MDT, ritual starts 7:30ish" as usual, and yes, we are planning on the usual Zoom link.

Beltane 2023

 We had been hoping to have our Beltane ritual at a physically public location this year, but it hasn't worked out. We'll be trying again at Midsummer, but in the meantime, we will have our usual hybrid Zoom ritual on Saturday April 29th. It will be gather at 6:30 pm MDT, ritual starts around 7 pm -- Zoom link:

Topic: beltane
Time: Apr 29, 2023 06:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81446681014?pwd=SVYwQ1ZmSWxkd09oMVpKLzNVcVpEZz09

Meeting ID: 814 4668 1014
Passcode: 477101
One tap mobile
+17193594580,,81446681014#,,,,*477101# US
+12532158782,,81446681014#,,,,*477101# US (Tacoma)
 

Chokecherry's Workshops

 We had a good set of divination workshops yesterday, and I'd like to thank everyone who participated, especially our speakers. I've sent out the Dropbox links to everyone who registered for the video and audio recordings. Now on to the planning for our Rocky Mountain October Retreat!

The photo, by the way, is of a set of ogam fews I made a few years ago. Ironically, it's the one divination method we didn't discuss yesterday!

DIVINATION WORKSHOP UPDATE!

 

 

UPDATE:

Our divination methods workshop in March 2022 was quite successful, so we are doing it again!

Chokecherry Grove will be holding  a one-day Zoom event on Methods of Divination on Saturday March 25th, 2023.The price for the whole day is only $10, and all sessions will be recorded, so if you are interested but can't attend, you can watch them later!

Our planned sessions are as follows: 

• 9:00 AM MDT: ADF'S ARCHDRUID REV. JEAN "DRUM" PAGANO will talk about his new MOON ORACLE.
  

• 10:30 AM MDT:  REV. GAARIK HAMR will speak on the Norse RUNES. He says "Runic divination, at its core, is the use of runes from one of several alphabets to determine hidden information. Hidden by whom and for what purpose? The purpose of this workshop is to explore the animistic aspect of Norse cosmology and apply it to runic practice. This workshop looks to the Rune Poems and modern scholarship for a theistic, animistic approach to runic divination and interpretation."
  

• 1:00 PM MDT: REV. IAN CORRIGAN will discuss "real-time divination w/ the spirits".

• 2:30 PM MDT: REV. D. ROWEN GROVE will speak on BONE READING. She says: "Bone reading is a system of intuitive divination in which bones and other small objects are scattered or tossed onto a surface, and omens taken from the patterns thus formed.  Historically, there were forms of bone divination used in cultures as diverse as ancient Greece, Asia, Europe, Labrador, Africa, and elsewhere. Some traditional systems have used only one kind of bone or shell, and perhaps three or four pieces, while others employed a wide variety of items, and upward of a hundred objects.  Rev. D Rowen Grove became interested in bone reading about six years ago, and has developed her own system, based on a combination of intuition and archaeological evidence."

•  4 PM MDT: PANEL DISCUSSION ON IMPROMPTU DIVINATION: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FORGOT YOUR TOOLS?
  

Each speaker will speak for an hour, followed by half an hour for questions. There will be two sessions in the morning and three in the afternoon. 

Note: this is a series of technical workshops; there will be no opportunity for personal readings.

The price for the whole day's series of Zoom links is $10, and the payment link is on the sidebar to your right. (If you are viewing this on your phone, scroll down to the bottom to choose "view web version" in order to see the links.)

OUR MARCH DIVINATION WORKSHOP IS BACK!

 

UPDATE:

Our divination methods workshop in March 2022 was quite successful, so we are doing it again!

Chokecherry Grove will be holding  a one-day virtual event on Met
hods of Divination on Saturday March 25th, 2023.The price for the whole day is only $10, and all sessions will be recorded, so if you are interested but can't attend, you can watch them later!

Our planned sessions are as follows: 

• 9:00 AM MDT: ADF'S ARCHDRUID REV. JEAN "DRUM" PAGANO will talk about his new MOON ORACLE.
  

• 10:30 AM MDT:  REV. GAARIK HAMR will speak on the Norse RUNES. He says "Runic divination, at its core, is the use of runes from one of several alphabets to determine hidden information. Hidden by whom and for what purpose? The purpose of this workshop is to explore the animistic aspect of Norse cosmology and apply it to runic practice. This workshop looks to the Rune Poems and modern scholarship for a theistic, animistic approach to runic divination and interpretation."
  

• 1:00 PM MDT: REV. IAN CORRIGAN will discuss "real-time divination w/ the spirits".

• 2:30 PM MDT: REV. D. ROWEN GROVE will speak on BONE READING. She says: "Bone reading is a system of intuitive divination in which bones and other small objects are scattered or tossed onto a surface, and omens taken from the patterns thus formed.  Historically, there were forms of bone divination used in cultures as diverse as ancient Greece, Asia, Europe, Labrador, Africa, and elsewhere. Some traditional systems have used only one kind of bone or shell, and perhaps three or four pieces, while others employed a wide variety of items, and upward of a hundred objects.  Rev. D Rowen Grove became interested in bone reading about six years ago, and has developed her own system, based on a combination of intuition and archaeological evidence."

•  4 PM MDT: PANEL DISCUSSION ON IMPROMPTU DIVINATION: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FORGOT YOUR TOOLS?
  

Each speaker will speak for an hour, followed by half an hour for questions. There will be two sessions in the morning and three in the afternoon. 

Note: this is a series of technical workshops; there will be no opportunity for personal readings.

The price for the whole day's series of Zoom links is $10, and the payment link is on the sidebar to your right. (If you are viewing this on your phone, scroll down to the bottom to choose "view web version" in order to see the links.)

Spring Equinox 2023

 Update: Chokecherry will be celebrating our virtual spring equinox on the evening of Sunday, March 19th, starting around 6:30pm MDT.

The yellow crocuses started blooming yesterday!

Here is the Zoom link:

G R Grove is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: equinox
Time: Mar 19, 2023 06:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87177444371?pwd=cnM5aW1waVJDdkU5YXdUWGs4c2ZOdz09

Meeting ID: 871 7744 4371
Passcode: 887137
One tap mobile
+17193594580,,87177444371#,,,,*887137# US
+16699009128,,87177444371#,,,,*887137# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
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Meeting ID: 871 7744 4371
Passcode: 887137
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbB4Wi5gUq

Imbolc 2023

 We will be celebrating Imbolc on Saturday evening, Februrary 4th, starting at 5 pm MST. The flavor of the ritual will be Irish, and the Deity of the occasion will be Bridget. 

We are still doing Zoom rituals, and the link is here: 

Topic: Imbolc
Time: Feb 4, 2023 05:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

 

 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84194895721?pwd=VnI4c25oZmxzRWtsdTh4TWFOcWhmdz09

Meeting ID: 841 9489 5721
Passcode: 551034

Something Else Old...

 A few years ago Chokecherry put together a cookbook - The Kitchen Druid. Check it out on Lulu.com - it's 104 pages, coil bound paperback, $12.50 plus shipping. 

Contents:
Introduction................7
Simple Beginnings...........9
The Staff of Life..........17
From Garden and Orchard....27
From Field and Farm .......39
From River and Ocean.......61
Adding Relish..............67
Stored Harvest.............71
Sweet Endings..............79
To Fill the Cup............97
Index.....................102

 

Imbolc update #1

 Due to too many things going on in December, I unfortunately never posted the Zoom link for Midwinter. I promise to do better this year, starting with Imbolc. This will be a hybrid Zoom ritual again on Saturday February 4th, starting probably around 5 pm MST. I'll post the link when we get a bit closer.

We're also discussing arrangements for a possible public outdoor ritual at Beltane, assuming the weather is suitable. It would be nice to see some of our local friends in person again, but it has to be somewhere with a wifi link and power for our Zoom attendees, so we are sadly not going back to the riverside park. More details when it gets closer.

- Rev. G. R. Grove