Ceremony:
The Inner Language of Four Quarters

by Kailin Miller

“Come and stand with us beneath the moon
  In the Circle on the hill.
  Become the babe passed through the Stone
  And let your family welcome you home.”

“At the Center of Four Quarters,”
by Kailin Stonesinger, Steve Costanzo,and Derek Johnson

Choir and altar

What do our ceremonies tell us? What do they say about who we are, what we believe, what we hope for ourselves and for our children? How do we shape them, and how do they, in turn, shape our hearts and minds?

We come and stand together between earth and heaven, beneath the moon and shining stars; with the whisper of oak leaves on the wind, again and again, month after month. We come together to be together, to be community, to see one another and to socialize, to break bread and share news. And if that were all we sought, we needn’t drive so far - for some of us many hours each way - or bother spending hours and days and weeks preparing these things we call ceremonies, these dances with myth and with life.

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The Roadie Of The Goddess

by James “Reaper” Florczyk
2008

My name is James Florczyk and I’ve been living here at Four Quarters since June of 2006. I was originally born in Wilmington, DE and spent 22 years of my life living in that city. The crime and poor environment was a major deciding factor in wanting to live in a more rural setting, so I then moved to the deep rural eastern shore of Maryland. Being surrounded by woods and nature for the first time in my life was a major learning experience for me, it taught me to interact and respect nature, since being in the middle of nowhere, nature does have a major impact on your daily life.

After living on the eastern shore for a few years I found Four Quarters and attended Drum and Splash in 2004. It was the first real trip to the mountains that I’d ever been on, and I was totally impressed with the scenery and the view. Once I arrived at Four Quarters I was left breathless by the appearance and feel of the place. Finding a place where many traditions were honored and accepted was new to me, since I was used to dealing with the closed minded “clique” mentality that is so prevalent in the normal day to day world. So I found a place where I felt at home, where no one judged me for my eclectic ways or appearance, and I was always encouraged to grow in my own way, and at my own pace. So now, here I am, living at Four Quarters, travelling a path that is true to me, and continuing to grow spiritually and emotionally with help from people who I consider to be friends, and whom I have respect for.

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 Wiccan Ceremony As Moral and Cosmological Truth

Johnathan White

“...rites are not originally ‘allegorical’; they
  do not merely copy or represent but are
  absolutely real; they are so woven into the
  reality of action as to form an
  indispensable part of it.”
– Ernst Cassirer

Sometimes it is the most unusual or distinct attributes of Wicca that escape the notice of its adherents. I had been using the term for many years before I realized how remarkable it is that we casually refer to our rites as “rituals” or “ceremonies.” When I was a Protestant I know I never heard anyone say, “That was a really moving ritual,” upon leaving church. Without ever commenting on doing so, Wiccans routinely use terms from the detached, anthropological perspective on religion when describing “insider” religious experiences. This practice underscores the Wiccan perspective that ritual as such has inherent value, beyond the event the ceremony celebrates. For ceremony, not mythology, is the central body of Wiccan cosmological teachings, and ceremony, not the Rede, is the central text of Wiccan ethical teachings.

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