2014 has arrived in a flurry of ceremonies and family gatherings. We feel blessed to spend these holy-days and holidays with open-hearted women and men, sharing good food, prayers and songs. In the nick of time, we got our 2014 calendar laid out, continuing our juicy array of eclectic offerings. Below is an overview. Hope to see you this year for more heart-warming and spirit-enlivening connections!

Special Events in 2014

Open to women and men.

Grief Ritual Retreat March 1-2, Nov 1-2

Compassionate Listening Training–March 15 and April 19; November 22-23

Spirit Quests & Nature Retreat at Ekone Ranch–Memorial Day Week-end and Labor Day Week-end

Seasons-Change Sweatlodges –March 22, Oct 4.

WOMENS MYSTERIES SCHOOL

Monthly “Women’s Days” at the Groves including…...
Earth Mothers Circle–2nd Saturday 10:30am-4pm. Make a year-long commitment to show up monthly, connecting to a group of sisters and the 13 Original Clan Mothers. January is start-up! Read more here.

Women’s Red Tent –Held on the Friday eve before the Earth Mothers Circle, 6-10pm. An exploration of our ‘Wild Feminine’ inner landscape, inspired by Tami Lynn Kent’s book.

Apprentices Circle Saturday evening after the Earth Mothers group. For women who want to learn from Tere and Therese about facilitating women’s ceremonies and circles. Contact Therese for more info

Women’s Rite for Healing and Empowerment
June 7-8
This week-end offers a healing opportunity for women of all ages who did not experience a Rite of Passage ceremony in adolescence.

Holistic Pelvic Care
Private appointments with Therese. This modality is effective in the re-connection of mind-heart with the pelvic bowl so as to live the full creative potential of being a juicy woman! Read more here.

Thanksgiving Greetings
To the many friends & beloveds
of Sacred Groves!

We wanted to take this opportunity to give thanks to all who have contributed to the Groves this past year in a variety of ways–money, love, food, hands-on help, and thoughtful, heart-felt words of support for our work here! Tere and I feel so blessed by this life we live here in these beautiful, magical Groves. We get so much delight by sharing this land with all of you, seeing and hearing how it touches you, opens your hearts, helps you feel connected and nurtured in many ways. Our lives seem to be a perfect balance of giving and receiving with our many guests. Each day we look at each other and say: “Aren’t we blessed to be living this amazing and beautiful life!?!”

2013 saw an increase in our Bed’n’Breakfast business, a steady stream of short-stay visitors who travel from near and far looking for connection to nature and inner peace in our sweet yurtlettes. Tere has done an excellent job managing the guest-lodging business. Her warm smile and charming ways make everyone feel personally welcomed and well taken care of.

The ceremonies, retreats and circles we host have also flourished in 2013. The addition of a monthly Women’s Red Tent and an Apprentice’s Circle (for women who would like to lead women’s groups themselves) have resulted in a once-monthly lively week-end gathering for many women. The sense of sisterhood has been deeply healing. We also continue to host gatherings that welcome both men and women: sweatlodges, Grief Retreat, Compassionate Listening, Season’s Change rituals, Spirit Quests and the Red Cedar Circle. In 2014 we will continue all of these.

We have also had several wonderful renters living here at Sacred Groves. Arnel Leyva enjoyed the log cabin for many months; Kaiah Hooper and Max Gordon are currently enjoying its charm and cozy-ness. We’ve been blessed by others too: Katie McDonald who hosted the B’n’B several times earlier this year when we were away; Nico Chmielewski who re-established some new native plants on the grounds here and built a magical gate; Matthew Reiss and Jenna Kuczynski who showed us how to identify chantrelles!

Thérèse and Tere continue to offer their services and leadership to groups outside of the Groves as well: Thérèse is on the board of the Sacred Earth Foundation, is on the leadership team for the Women’s Summer Solstice event, and she and Tere are actively involved in Women’s Way Red Lodge and LongDance. It is a rich and interconnected life for sure!

There is more we could report about as there is rarely a dull day around Sacred Groves! But enough is enough. In closure, we look forward to you visiting in 2014; know that all of you who visit become a part of our Sacred Groves family; we send you prayers of gratitude every day!

Can you feel the season turning? The sunlight is coming through the trees at a different angle, the days are getting shorter. We’re feeling a bit of a lull after the frenzy of summer. After drenching rains last week, we have had some delicious late summer warmth, then right around time of Autumn Equinox, the temps cooled down and the rains began in earnest. Isn’t it funny how the weather spirits seem to know when the season turns?

Because we are away for a wedding on Autumn Equinox week-end, we won’t be celebrating Autumn Equinox with our annual “Descent into the Darkness Ritual” this year. But we do have two special events to welcome the autumn season in early October.
1. Join us for our autumn season Sweatlodge on Sunday October 6th. Read more about that here.
2. On Saturday October 5, we are honored to host a Fall Harvest Ceremony facilitated by guides from the group “Origin Teachings of the Delicate Lodge.” Follow this link for more info about the event and this link for more info about the teachings of this group.

In any case…….get outside and enjoy the the gifts of nature–fresh air, trees, wind, sun, rain. Hope to see you at the Groves soon.

April is one of the most beautiful months here at the Groves as the new leaves unfurl and flowers bloom…Do you feel fresh energy rising in your own bones, calling you outdoors to sniff and behold nature’s display? We sure do! The past week we were blessed with unseasonable warmth, blue skies, sunshine. The gardens and the woods called us out to putz and wander. Now the rains are falling again, soaking the seeds we put out. Life on planet Earth is such a miracle, especially in the Spring. Take time to appreciate the gift of life!
“Let us see the beauty every day
And source our lives from its presence!”

All through March our Guest Yurts were occupied by folks on month-long personal retreats…..and they are fully booked again through April, starting April 12th. So these upcoming days (April 5-11) are your chance this month to come stay at the Groves in its April glory. Give us a call and/or send us an e-mail and we’ll reserve one of these magical yurts for YOU! Don’t worry….it you don’t get here in April, we have many openings for May and beyond….Read more about our lodging options by clicking here.

The length of the daylight is about the same as the length of darkness during this time of Equinox and another new season begins later this month. As always at the time of seasons-change, we offer opportunities to honor and celebrate, to release the past and open ourselves to what-is-coming-in. We have been told that to rest and center at the beginning of each season puts us in alignment with the changes in nature, and things flow more smoothly as a result. This month we invite you to join us in the sweatlodge and/or to get your hands in the dirt at our Spring Workparty & Ritual. Whether you celebrate the onset of Spring here or in your own way, DO take the time to sync up your energy with nature!

February 2nd is an old pagan holy-day called Imbolc. In this culture, it is commonly called Groundhog Day. It is considered by some to be the start of early-spring, when the seeds in the ground begin stirring. Certainly the days are already growing a little longer than they were in the darkest corner of the year. Can you feel the energy stirring in your heart, body and soul? It is a good time to consider what seeds you want to plant for the upcoming seasons of light, and put some prayers on your personal altar, or join us in one of our ceremonies to send out those good intentions! Upcoming events include our week-end of monthly ceremonies on Feb 8-9-10 and our twice annual Grief Retreat on March 2-3.

2013 has officially begun! Our New Years Sweatlodge was potent and transformative; we continue to treasure the opportunity to experience this ancient ceremony, a wonderful way to shed the old and start a new cycle. However….the nights are still long, the days are short and cold, energy low and sleepy. We’re gearing up for this new year in a slow way, taking another week for rest and renewal, to align with the energies of this new season, this new era post-2012. But we are getting the 2013 Calendar fleshed out at long last….and Tere and I look forward to seeing you sometime soon!

In late November Thérèse responded to a call and had the privilege of delivering a baby on the Bainbridge Island-Seattle ferry. The story made great news on TV, radio and a couple websites. Check out these links

From Bastyr University’s website: click here.

From Inside Bainbridge website: click here.

The Groves gardens are in bloom and glory as never before–thanks to the efforts of guests and residents, some who came for a few hours, others who took-on a long-term project (like making, planting and tending a raised bed) and saw it through.  As I look around at the beauty, I feel such gratitude for the many hands and hearts that have contributed their time and efforts over the past 5 years!

Most recently, flowers and helping hands young and old showed up at our Spring Equinox celebration, planting a variety of colorful flowers in the Medicine Wheel Garden. Thanks to just the right balance of sunshine and rain, the flowers continue to bloom a month later. The sweet round shape of the garden was laid out and first planted at our Spring Equinox party in 2009. Now in its 4th year, we don’t have to work quite so hard as flowers and shrubs planted in years past re-bloom! Check out this beautiful flowering currant–a native shrub that was planted in 2008…..Its been flowering now for several weeks, delighting us with its pink-red bountiful flowers.

Update about our residential community: As of April 2012, we have two parties renting structures at Sacred Groves, but don’t have an active “intentional community.” We share the Round House and yurts with a steady stream of short-term guests, and continue to host our circles, ceremonies and small retreats. We aren’t sure when or if our original vision of intentional community will eventually manifest or whether something else will arise. We feel a sense of trust in the healing power and beauty of all that we have created here, knowing that these Sacred Groves have a life of their own. At this point we are happy to welcome the many guests who are drawn to the healing energy of this place. We continue to keep our eyes and hearts open for the right people who might co-create a stable intentional community with us here, but are happy to wait “in the mystery” enjoying the current chapter we are in the midst of. Read more about this here.

We’re coming into the season of long days and increasing warmth–WOO HOO! We’re offering some special events in the coming months: Compassionate Listening Intensive in early May, Spirit Quests at Ekone Ranch in late May and early September, our Women’s Rite Retreat in early June. In addition, we will continue to offer our regular monthly ceremonies and events, generally clustered one week-end a month. We’ll also be joining some other women’s events such as Women’s Summer Solstice (late June) and Women’s Way LongDance (late July) Life is rich and wonderful and we continue to fill-ourselves-up with good people, deep prayer and ceremony, beautiful outdoor settings and of course–GOOD FOOD! Join us at the Groves for some of this goodness–you’ll be glad you did!

January has been a month of abundance and beauty here at the Groves, many wonderful guests and events. Between events, during the 3rd week of January, we got snowed in for a few days which was actually delightful as we did not lose power (which we usually do when there is a storm). Ariel and Tavi (Therese’s daughter and grandson) chose to get snowed in with us, coming from Seattle the evening before the storm was predicted to arrive. Needless to say, we all enjoyed each other’s company and the beautiful white frosting that coated everything. It melted enough in time for the two-day Compassionate Listening training to happen as scheduled. Mother Nature is so good to us–we are so grateful for this sweet life we enjoy at the Groves.