The News from Four Quarters

 NewsLogoBuilding, planting and planning. Sharing ceremony and good, home raised food.
Oddities in the weather and how the orchard did.
Observations on the Global Crisis.
Earth Spirit and Earth Living.
These are all parts of the News from Four Quarters.    Enjoy.  

March 3, 2021

Celebrate Ostara at Four Quarters

Griffith Spring2017 2384 1200 Crocuses, harbingers of Spring, rise up at the Farmhouse. Spring 2017.

”Winter's freezing cold and dreary stillness has lingered long, penetrating our hearts as well as our homes. But have hope; sunlight is returning, birds are chirping, and the smell of the Earth thawing heralds the Return of Spring.”

Join us on March 20 to celebrate Ostara at Four Quarters!

Weather and circumstances permitting, we will safely gather in the Great Outdoors for workshops, hands-on practical crafts, a nature walk/tour—perhaps an Egg Hunt—and we will welcome Spring's Return with an outdoor Ostara service in the Stone Circle. Light refreshments will be served at the at the Coffee Dragons. Festivities begin at Approximately Noon.

Tentative Agenda (as of 3/18/2021)

Friday, March 19 evening

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February 24, 2021

The 2021 Calendar

2021Cover
By now you should have received your copy of The Wheel of the Year Calendar,
or your complete Membership Packet if you are a Member of Four Quarters.
We are mighty proud and tickled pink with this year's mailing!

    Last year, 2020, we cancelled the printed calendar amid much soul-searching and uncertainty
given the evolving pandemic. That was of course the correct decision, but one that left us quite sad.
We have been producing the calendar since 1997 and it is a labor of love that defines our seasons of the year..

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February 2, 2021

Snowfall
Orren Whiddon, Photos by Mike McConnell

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One of our pleasures living here in the Allegheny Highlands is the magical change of the seasons

and how those changes bring out aspects of The Land that we live with every day,
but none-the-less remain invisible to us.

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December 18, 2020

2021 Schedule at a Glance Available

2021 CalendarAtGlance 600 fadeWe relase our year's schedule in advance of the Wheel of the Year to give folks a heads up for their year.

The 2021 Schedule At A Glance is now available! Members, friends, guests and interested parties can download a printable PDF of the year's schedule here. We have just about all of our events listed, our regular Spiritual Events, Moon Services, Festivals, and Member Events through the end of the year. So start marking your calendars and putting in for those vacation days and saving up that lunch money to get away!

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December 16, 2020

A Yule Message from Four Quarters

Yule2019 Krystek4 800Solstice Sunrise through the Mother Stone, Yule 2019

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE
Given the increasing rates of coronavirus cases across the country, out of an abundance of caution, we have cancelled our upcoming Yule event scheduled for December 18-20.
We will remain open for individual visitors seeking solace through the divine in Nature.

If you have questions, please contact our Office at 814-784-3080.

The Wheel still turns. Harvest has ended and frost covers the land. The days are short, the nights long and cold. We yearn for the long, warm days of summer, for the green grass and the scent of flowers on the breeze; we yearn for the sun's return... and the laughter, fellowship, and comfort of our Communities of Spirit. But while the Pandemic still rages across the land, we must hold the safety and health of our Members, Guests and Community of Service as our highest priority and responsibility. As a primarily indoor event, we felt we could not responsibly host our traditional Yule celebration in a safe manner.

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October 24, 2020

Roger Grandstaff, A Personal Memory

Bachteler 2647 RogerG2017 2 600x800Roger Lloyd Grandstaff, "Papa Dragon"

by Orren Whiddon

Roger Lloyd Grandstaff, lovingly known as "Papa Dragon,"
joined the Ancestors the morning of Friday, October 23rd, 2020. He was 75.
 

Roger was a tangible link to the early days of Four Quarters, having first come to The Land in the summer of 1997 with his wife Carolyn and daughter Laura to attend one of the very first music festivals. In those days we had but one building, no well, no drum circle and only the barest rudiments of roads. Camping could be quite rough. The first morning of that festival I unbelievingly savored the smell of fresh coffee through the woods, and following my nose came upon the Grandstaff family serving free coffee to every passerby, sweetened with their well-known smiles. Thus was born the Coffee Dragons and a now almost 25 year-long association of the Grandstaff family with Four Quarters.

     In the beginning Roger refused any kind of help with The Dragons, but I scrounged water barrels, bigger stoves and coffee pots as the crowds rapidly grew larger. As his participation in the church grew, so did "The Dragons," with new tents, then a deck, water; and in time full power and drains with the Upper Shower House. Out in the woods the only magic stronger than water mysteriously appearing from a spigot is that same water mysteriously disappearing down a drain!

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October 16, 2020

Schutzenfest 2020

SZ20 McConnell 00243 950x600Members and Guests gathered on the firing line at Schutzenfest 2020.

By Kurt Griffith
Photography by Mike McConnell and Kurt Griffith

On October 10th we celebrated Schutzenfest, a German Fall Festival celebrating the Arts of Marksmanship celebrared in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. We shared a fun afternoon of firing off some rounds, yummy food, sacrificing a pumpkin, and a rather good – and noisy – time on a gorgeous day. This is our annual take on the classic German fall festival!

It was an informal day. Members and guests brought out their noisemakers. We set up a casual range in the field facing the Farmhouse, set targets ranging from offcial range targets to balloons, plastic bottles, and overripe tomatoes, and laid down the law on safety rules. Then we let fly on a sparkling Fall day, not too brisk, not too hot. More experienced shooters instructed novices on both safety and marksmanship with weapons from AR-15s, to hunting rifiles, WWII vintage weapons, to an adorable tiny purse pistol. Our crew served up a yummy spread of Fall treats, cheddarwiurst, strudel, cider, glazed meatballs and more. A grand – and noisy – time was had by all. Enjoy the photo essay!

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