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.  

September 11, 2020

Stones Rising 2020

BThomas SR20 002 950A pause before another mighty pull to raise up another Stone.

By Kurt Griffith and Members of Four Quarters
Photography by Beth Thomas and Kurt Griffith

Stones Rising 2020 took place against a backdrop of pandemic and a crippled economy amidst the sweeping changes of the accelerating Age of Limits.

None the less: it was an excellent event, very smooth with minor mischief managed and logistics very competently executed. Ritual and ceremony were meaningful, relevant and moving—commendations to all the ceremony facilitators, staff and helpers. The amount of sleeve rolling up and stepping forward by all the attendees was wonderful to see! Two more Stones now stand in the Stone Circle, making a total of sixty-one Standing Stones, incliuding two smaller stones filling the gaps alongside the towering north axis Stone.

Read more ...

September 3, 2020

Laying the Footers

Griffith SR2020 8331 1200The Concrete truck has arrived, and a Stone Crew sets to setting a footer.

Laboring through three days of rain, we have dug and laid in the footers for the new Stones. The work of the traditional Stones Intensive has compressed into three days of dedicated effort. The Stones have been chosen, prepped and dressed. The footers have been dug and today was concrete day! Our dedicated crew poured concrete in the rain and got the forms ready to receive the new Stones - in the rain!

We are expecting better weather for the weekend.

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August 30, 2020

Welcome To The Stoneyard

Griffith StoneYard june2020 8111 1200A massive stone in The Stoneyard, where New Stones abide wating to take their place in the Stone Circle

It is that time of year again, the dog days of august, giving way to cooler nights and the promise of the coming harvest, and the Great Work, the raising of megalithic stones in the Stone Circle, the beating heart of Four Quarters. It is done with the minimum of modern machinery, relying as much as possible on heart, sweat, and human muscle and neolithic ingenuity with rollers, sleds, ropes, levers, cribbage blocks, and as many willing hands as we can gather. We create the ceremonial complex around the annual raising of stones, and we make it deeply sacred.

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July 31, 2020

Micro Dub

    Our thanks to everyone who made Micro Dub such a success!
Beautiful summer weather, great co-operation with our COVID mitigations,
excellent DJ's and stunning lighting of the forest canopy in New Camp.

    A sweet, easy weekend in the woods, down by The River!

MD1WebThe Old Forest Stage glows in the night at Micro Dub

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July 24, 2020

Ivy Sturm, in Service

Ivy and stone 1200cropIyv graces a Stone in the Stoneyard.

Many of Ivy Sturm's friends know of her two hip operations performed this last winter, and of the slow recovery Ivy has experienced from the second operation. Since January of this year Ivy has been in serious decline, stubbornly attempting to manage her duties in the office, even as we moved her into the main floor of the Farmhouse to make her care easier for all of us
     
     Ivy first came to Four Quarters for Stones Rising of 1996, and has attended every Stones since. Back in those days we were all much younger, and we cooked out of an US Army GP Medium tent over Benzomatic gasoline burners... Ivy rolled up her sleeves and dove right in. After the Starvin' Artist Kitchen was built Ivy took on all of our baking at events, and pioneered our gluten free fare. She also played an over size role in ceremony and could always be relied on to fill in for that "extra" part. Ivy was instrumental in planning the very first WickerMan event thirteen years ago, maintained the mailing list and organized "Bread and Circus" as her eatable Art contribution.
     About six years ago Ivy petitioned for her Novitiate as a Member of the Community of Service, and was accepted. She closed out her personal affairs in Wilkes-barre and moved to Four Quarters to live under vows of poverty and service. From that time until just recently Ivy has managed our office, database and accounting systems; and greeted thousands of visitors. She served for a number of years as a Members Advocate and since 2018 as a fully seated Member of our Board of Directors.

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July 9, 2020

At Drum ’N’ Splash 2020

DS20 Bachteler MikeFireSpin 800Mike McConnel lights up the Meadow with dazzling fire spinning.

Drum and Splash was fun …. and weird … but mostly fun. It was particularly amazing seeing everyone this year. Covid has certainly changed my perspective on seeing and hanging out with chosen family and friends. These moments are just extra sweet because they are so rare. Seeing friends, hanging out with chosen family, sharing space and experiences was something I used to take for granted. Now, there are no guarantees when the next time will be. I can’t believe I’m saying this and double true if you know me … I miss people. I miss hugs. I can’t believe I just owned that … lol. It was so weird feeling like that and then feeling this little edge of fear creeping in … c o v i d. I refuse to capitalize the “c” anymore, I am not giving it any more power.

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June 10, 2020

Summer Solstice Service

SolsticeReEmergence 1200The Stone Circle is here, waiting for you.

When we closed the camp in March, we began planning to re-open the 2020 Season at Four Quarters at Summer Solstice. As things turned out, we re-emerged from the sacrifices of the winter at Beltaine!

Please join us for our celebration of the Summer Solstice at an informal Members and Guests Weekend on June 19-21 and help us welcome the Summer. We will have our first Sweat Lodge, Ceremonies to celebrate the Summer Solstice in the Stone Circle and the Labyrinth, Greeting the First Summer Sunrise, and maybe some surprises. Help us wake up the Mountain! Summer is a comin’ in and winter’s gone away. May Summer Solstice Sunrise greet you on the lush green of the Mountain

For more Information, pelase see the Summer Solstice Service Event page
or call 814-784-3080 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..