About us

SUMMERSTAR

PAGAN GATHERING

held annually along the Columbia River Gorge, WA State

July 17, 18, 19, 20th 2008

Some background info about Summerstar

Summerstar is a direct inspiration of Starwood, an annual pagan festival held in upstate New York. Starwood's eclectic energy and experimental rituals have influenced us greatly. While Starwood has grown over the years to support several thousand attendees, Summerstar remains a small festival with approximately 200 or so attendees. This allows us to maintain an intimate village atmosphere and creates the possibility of deep connections among each of us.

We celebrate with different mythological themes and how they relate to today’s current lifestyles. We see our human race moving forward to a closer awareness and connection to Earth and Spirit and wish to take an active part in this movement. We continue to be inspired to explore the nurturing and healing of our individual selves and the human tribe as a whole. The primary magickal working will continue to explore growth and self awareness by ritual means. Thus, Summerstar has become a place to continue your journey as you create change in conformity with your will!

Our gathering:
We invite you to share in the magick by participating as an individual. There are no requirements, you will decide how deeply you'll participate based on your own spiritual calling and magickal path.

Summerstar opens with a ritual celebration of our place. We greet and welcome each person, we ask the spirits of the Earth for their blessing and protection of our village. The Work, or central ritual occurs Saturday night and on Sunday, our closing ritual ends our gathering. In addition to these rituals, there are lectures, discussions, workshops and lots of play time! Impromptu workshops and rituals have become par for the course and are encouraged. If you want to offer a workshop, or facilitate a discussion, email us for the workshop guidelines. Depending on the number of workshops and discussions, events may overlap, yet people are drawn to what they need most and you'll find you won't really miss out on anything. The final schedule of events is posted on site, but a preliminary schedule appears in the Confirmation Booklet received about a month prior to the gathering.

About the Work:
The main ritual, or “Magickal Working” is a bringing together of our energies so that we can work together as a tribe to manifest change. The magick begins when you agree to suspend your disbelief and begin the inner journey of transending space and time.

Some Village Logistics:
Children, of all ages are invited and encouraged to attend. Summerstar is a place to acknowledge and empower each being at whatever stage and rate of growth, be it chronological, or experiential!

We are also a relationship positive gathering. This does not mean that we engage in open and explicit gratification of our natural urges, instead we are proud of our ability to freely and without shame find connection with our partner(s) and loved ones. We honor and value the personal choices made by our brothers and sisters as they seek a greater connection with the spirit(s) of their choice.

As for our children we leave the questions regarding pro-creation, sexual activity and choice of partners up to parents to discuss with their children. Some of us have a more conservative approach, while some of us are more liberal. We offer workshops and discussions for parents who are just now exploring their relationship with the Gods, and what this means in terms of evolving tribal and family values, alternative relationships, meaning personally defined and actualized relationships, and ways of exploring a frank openness about their own sexual choices with their children. These workshops include ideas about when, including appropriate age-specific groups plus how, when and if you should, express these ideas with your children. These workshops have been helpful to couples and single parents in the past in getting beyond our current climate of misunderstanding and judgemental values imposed upon us by those who's life experiences are limited by fear and under-exposure.

Our Sacred Temple is dedicated to the sacred values of worship and offers quiet sanctuary. The Temple is available for personal rites of initation, passage or ritual. Contact Miria for space availability.

Summerstar is about growth, understanding and acceptance. It's about moving beyond the boundaries imposed by others and our own inability to cope outside of our experiences. We embrace all natural acts, which includes a genuine curiosity about our natural sexual drives, pleasure and spiritual advancement. We encourage stepping up to the unknown and moving forward with the strength of our collective Wills to guide us. Finally, we hope that you will move and grow in accordance with your own Will.

Where we are:
Our site location is revealed to paid registrants only. This encourages only those who are sincere and interested in sharing a magickal experience to attend.

What we can say, is that our site is a gorgeous place along the Columbia River Gorge. It is a primitive site, so you’ll need to be prepared to enjoy our Mother in her finest of elements, be it rain, sun and wind, it is the Pacific NW after all! General camp gear is a necessity as is food for 3 days. The Summerstar staff provides a pan-cake breakfast with tea, coffee and hot chocolate on Saturday and Sunday. A potluck meal and bar-b-que meal occurs on Saturday evening, before the main ritual.

We have a central water spout & rent porta-potties for the necessary conveniences. Also, we ask that you be prepared to pack out your recyclables and larger trash. We must do our part in keeping our Earth green and enjoyable for everyone.

We look forward to your added presence in making our gathering a truly magical village. Walk in Peace!

About us | Village Crier | Reflections | Dragonheart | Schedule of Events

The Magical Work | Register | E-mail us | Happenings in Olympia | Pagan Links