Quite by Accident
by Eliza Riggs
Summer 2003
I tripped upon Four Quarters quite accidentally, by way of advertisement you might say. And reading the Wheel of the Year Calendar provided me with mind’s-eye images of what I might expect. A Hippie Haven in southern Pennsylvania? An Interfaith Sanctuary? A farm? A camp? A commune? I did not know, but I was very curious and whatever Four Quarters turned out to be, I believed was worth exploring. And like anything else, I knew I would have to experience Four Quarters to find its truth.
As a first-time newbie in early 2003, I fully intended to spend as much of my teacher’s summer vacation as I could at Four Quarters. And I was told by the smiling faces at registration that if I did, I would surely be a different person by the end of the season, with “The Season” referring to the Moon Services and events that begin in May with Beltaine and end in late October with Samhain. I listened closely and thought this promise might prove true, but how or to what extent I couldn’t know. I did know that I had already seen a great deal and had done a great deal in my 40 years. I had prided myself in identifying problems, figuring the best solution, and then putting the equation to work. I was skilled at overcoming obstacles, and now it appeared I was obstacle free. I had a good job, nice home, dependable transportation, good friends and many, many cats. But I could see I was lacking something. I hadn’t a clue what that something was or where to find it, or I would have already sought it out. The thing I was lacking was not obvious, although I knew it figured largely in the way I viewed the world. “Unfulfilled” may be the best way to describe the way I felt, and as a teacher I had supposedly the most fulfilling job in the world. I needed answers; answers to questions I didn’t know how to ask.