We celebrated Bealtaine twice in the Spring of 2004 -- once on May 2nd in the Grove of Pan and again during our week-long gorsedd camp at one of our beloved State Parks. On May 2nd we held our grove ritual and then some of us proceeded to the Powderhorn Park May Day Festival. There we enjoyed the atmosphere of progressive politics and pagan pride and watched the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theater perform its annual Tree of Life pageant alongside the shore of the lake. Our May camping gorsedd, while rather damp, was filled with marvels and good companionship. We found a marvelous mystic oak grove high on a ridge with views of the Mississippi and a neighboring Bison farm. Click on the link at left for a full account of the gorsedd with pictures.

The Grove of Pan at the end of May - at last the Hawthorn is in bloom!

Our Midsummer moot to celebrate Alban Hefin -- the Light of the Shore -- was held the weekend after solstice. Several new friends from ADF joined us and plans were made to form a lasting alliance between Grove members from ADF and those from OBOD, as well as those members who are pursuing the Druid path without order affiliation. There was some discussion about Avalon College as well. We drank a bottle of Mead (bottled in Midsummer 2002) and basked in the lingering light as the Oak King passed his sceptre of divine rule to his brother tannist the Holly King, who will now take us under his protection until Midwinter's Night. Here are a few pix from the Alban Hefin circle...

At the Minnesota Scottish Country Fair and Minnesota Irish Heritage Fair, some few of us enjoyed ourselves with kilts and lovely lassies dancing and fine food and all that. At right, three young lassies help a storyteller by playing the parts of the Little People in some old Scottish tales of the Hollow Hills and the helpful Brownies.

For Lughnasadh we journeyed to the marvelous mystic oak grove we had found during our May gorsedd. After a pleasant afternoon meal on bluffs high above the Mississippi River, we hiked to the oak grove for our ritual, which included sharing a loaf of freshly-baked sprouted wheat bread, but all too soon the sound of thunder sent us scurrying home with drenching rain and ominous wall clouds.

September and Alban Elued, the Autumnal Equinox was celebrated by Geal-Darach on Sept. 25th at the ritual circle of Azrienoch Melessar Diospyros in Inver Grove Heights. This festive meeting in the tall grasses beside a little lake and aspen grove included a handfasting ceremony for Kat and Mangan. We sat until dark drinking mead and cider and eating the fruits of the middle harvest and watching the turning of the year towards the dark half, a time of inwardness, meditation and focus on the Ancestors. We were even joined by a curious member of the Inver Grove Heights police force, who was afraid we were homeless people in blankets! No candles in the park. Now we know.

October's end brought us to Samhuinn, which we celebrated in the comparative privacy of the Grove of Pan. A chilly ritual circle with a rather smoky fire but much merriment preceded the children going off to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood. While the rest of us sprawled about the living room eating things full of pumpkin and spices, we let the brazier smolder in the cold. The wheel of the year turns toward darkness and the doorways between the worlds lie open. Plans were laid for the upcoming festival of Alban Arthuan -- Yule! -- and after that our little grove comes full circle and completes its first year at Imbolc!

Yule 2004, Alban Arthuan, was a small gathering due to members traveling and illnesses. However, four of us had a feast of roast pork (in lieu of boar's head) and home-brewed ale. There was Winky's Elvish Cream and other dainties and fun with candles in our ritual to honor the turning of the Sun back in its course northward towards Summer! A rousing game of "Settlers of Kataan" was also very interesting and taught me valuable lessons about the numbers eleven and twelve. The number nine kept coming up on the dice at a rate conspicuously in defiance of chance, which we naturally attributed to the presense of too many druids.