Stones Rising! 2013

Stones Rising XVIII: Songs of the Stones

Wednesday, August 29 - Monday, September 3, 2012

Sept 2nd, The Rising

 In our eighteenth year of Raising Stones, we focus upon our vocal musical traditions. There are many songs that have been written or adapted for Stones Rising that have been sung at one time or another. Songs heard in ceremony, songs heard on occasion at a fire circle, and songs heard on the Day of the Rising itself. Some are familiar, like the "Invocation", and some are less familiar, like "There is a Church Called Four Quarters." Perhaps you have made a pledge and received the music cd of Stonesinger Choir songs, "From the Stones." What all these songs have in common is their inspiration: The Stone Circle. It is To the Stone Circle that we will sing out strongly this year, and From the Stone Circle that we will Listen for the Songs of the Land, Spirits and Nature!

Feature events this year include: Five Evening Ceremonies and Daytime Observances; Altars Shining Everywhere-inside the Stone Circle - as many beautifully lit altars as we can fit will be inside the Circle, lighting up Stones' Eve. An Elemental Fire Circle magically and energetically linked to the Stone Circle. Morning Meditation amongst the Stones. Our Traditional Torchlight and Long Pulls!! And, of course, the Main Event - Raising New Stones!!

The Stone People's Intensive

Friday August 24th - Tues August 28th 

A work of years, Stone by Stone.
Built by our Tribe, Generation after Generation.
As we build the Stone Circle, the Stone Circle builds our Tribe.
We have grown together, learned together, and laid the foundation for our future.

Our Ancestors knew and experienced life as an ebb and flow of living energy, a proper time of expansion and growth outside of our selves; and a proper time for drawing within amid hardship to reaffirm and nurture the center. In times of difficulty and travail, it was considered wise to journey within and return to the center, to take stock of oneself and offer Sacrifice for those things most important to us... our Family, however that may be defined. And to then make Ceremony for the Land, to protect and sustain that which protects and sustains our Family, so that the promise of return might be kept. And in making this journey of Service, and Ceremony for the Land, we will have cause to Celebrate the Blessings we enjoy... and to make our Giveaway, so that the gifts of Family and Land can in turn become our own gifts and best hopes for Tribe, Nation and the World.

Stones Rising is a physical manifestation of intentions: our intent to maintain a place for all spiritual paths to come together in peace for a common work; our desire to build something physical and spiritual to sustain "our children's children's children"; the needs of individuals within the community to do work that is valuable to the community, whether it's feeding the masses, tending the fire, or Witnessing the actions of the tribes.

Stones Rising has become its own ritual, spanning several days, incorporating components such as Walking the Labyrinth, The Pathways of Service, The Procession of The Stones, The Creation of the Witness Arbors, The Ceremonial Fire Circle, Stones Eve, The Feast of the Corn Mother, The Ceremony of Commitments, The Rising, The Give-Away, The Feast of the Standing Stones, The Circle of Consecration.

It's a ritual of homecoming, of family reunion, of acknowledging both a spiritual power and a work that is greater than any individual. It's a recognition that any great endeavor, whether it's building a Stone Circle or building a community, requires the participation of every person involved in the community.

Everyone who experiences the Rising carries some of this community back into the world with them. Maybe this will manifest in a simple act of kindness, or maybe some great world change will come about as a result. Anything is possible!

And we'll all stand together, and we'll Raise another Stone
to the Seventh Generation, and the Children Yet Unknown!

Help create the event! Join the Stones Rising 2012 thread on our forum; people who gather together to envision, design and create the event and its major ceremonials. If you are not yet a forum member please do consider becoming involved.