Rev. Dagmar Braun Celeste was born on November 23, 1941 in Austria where she was recently ordained a Roman Catholic Priest on June 29th of 2002 (Feast day of Peter and Paul) and summarily excommunicated on July 22, the Feast day of Mary Magdalene. An Oxford Scholar, she met her future husband, ex Governor of Ohio Richard Celeste while pursuing a degree in Womens Studies and Public Policy, and Masters in Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Ministry.
Rev. Celeste is an author, the mother of six kids and seven grandkids, a former First Lady of Ohio, and an entrepreneur. Through her company, Ladybug Enterprises, she consults, coaches, and counsels individuals, groups, and businesses through personal and professional transitions and challenges.
Her Rite: Join her for Roman Catholic Mass on Sunday morning.
Her Workshops: Planning a Mass
A learning experience for people who are interested in recovering past knowlege
and helping Reverend Dagmar Celeste prepare a Eucharistic winter celebration
as a
gift to us on Sunday morning.
The Experience Of Ordination and Excommunication
In June of 2002, 7 Roman Catholic Women were ordained as Priests, in Austria,
on a boat on the Danube river. The women were informed by the Catholic Church
that they had until July 22, 2002, the Feast of Mary Magdalene, to recant
or face excommunication. On the Feast of Mary Magdalene in 2002 these 7 women
priests were excommunicated. The excommunication was appealed and the Same
13 Cardinals who originally excommunicated them were recalled to reconfirm
their decision. Our own Dagmar Celeste former first lady of Ohio and ordained
Catholic Priest will share her experince of this unique journey.
On July 25th of this year 6 more women will be ordained in Canada, on a
ferry, on the St Lawrence river and the process will continue.
Diana L. Paxson is a consecrated Priestess of the Fellowship of the Spiral Path and an Elder of the Covenant of the Goddess, and Steerswoman of The Troth (an international Asatru organization whose journal, IDUNNA, she now edits).
Diana is the author of numerous mythic short stories and novels featuring the Old Religion, most recently an Arthurian novel series entitled The Hallowed Isle. She has been working with the Earth Goddess and with trance states and related practices for twenty years, including shamanic & interactive journeying, self-induced hypnosis, soul-retrieval, oracular trance, and god-possession.
She continues to live in Berkeley, where she shares a large house with her son and daughter-in-law and three grandchildren.
http://www.echoedvoices.org/Nov2002/Paxson_Interview.html
Her Rite: Oracular Seidh
In this Norse-style oracular ritual, the group journeys to the underworld
to support the seeress who sits in the high seat to get answers to their questions.
Ask about life choices, spiritual and personal problems, gods and goddesses
and those who have passed on.
Diana L. Paxson pioneered the recovery of Oracular Seidh, and has taught workshops on seidh and trancework all over the U.S. and in Europe. Laurel Mendes has been practicing seidh since Paxson's group was founded in 1989.
Her Workshop: Taking up the Runes
The runes are the sacred alphabet of the Germanic peoples, used for communication,
divination, healing, and spells. In this workshop, Diana L. Paxson will share
the essence of runelore with discussion, handouts, and a pathworking to "take
up the runes". Paxson has been studying and teaching about the runes
since 1988. Her book, TAKING UP THE RUNES, will be published by RedWheel/Weiser
this May.
The Niagara Voodoo Shrine is a temple and community located in Niagara, Ontario, at the last stop of the Underground Railroad. our area is sacred and littered with historic sites pertaining to the infamous freedom train that runaway slaves used to arrived in Canada via swamps, marshes and the generosity of free thinkers in the 1800s. There is a new renaissance in the Voodoo traditions that were left by the travelers that were adept at the art of conjuring, divining, and healing with the use of the spirits, animal magik and fauna that exits in the Niagara region that is part of the Carolinean forest.
Their Rite: Mardigras is about putting on the mask of the true self, feeling the fullness of your senses. the mysteries of the-spirit-in-the-flesh. When the Gods and Goddesses walk the streets and the spirits play with humanity. Carnival means farewell to the flesh, but has much to do with the mysteries of spirit-in-the-flesh. To put on a Carnival Mask is to enter into the perspective of the Spirits, who look out through the veil of their characteristic costumes from the source of their true self. here all magik, madness and fantasy takes on flesh. Come with your mask and fantasy self and celibrate the forbidden Gods and the ecstasy of the senses. Between the worlds there will be no guilt.
Their Workshop: Niagara Voodoo Drumming
Utu and Miss Melissa will explore the North American
Voodoo Rhythms that have been
made popular by Louis Martine of the New
Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple,
as
well as the ones with which we use in Niagara, Ontario. We will also use
the time to demonstrate the rhythms that will be used in the Rite later that
night, which will include some basic Samba that can be played by beginners
as well. This is a workshop for all levels of drummers to attend. Bring sticks,
shakers and any type of drum, in our tradition of Voodoo there is no drum,
or intsrument that can't be used.
Snakes Rising began as the outreach arm of a chapter of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPs) and rapidly grew. The group has a devotional focus and desires to share the ecstasy of that devotion with others. The experience and talent of members is quite varied. That is one of the things that makes the Snakes a joy to be part of!
TR Ruddick has a long association with World Music and a Bachelor of Music, MA in theatre, and PhD in communication. He is a student of all forms of ecstatic music, including Tarab, Kirtan, and Qawali. "I'm trying to discern what features they all have that induce the mystical experience."
Dave Hergert plays bass and electronic drums. He is the sound engineer and producer for the Snakes CDs. Dave's interest in ecstasy through music is grounded in his spiritual beliefs and earlier work as a jazz improvisationist. He offers workshops in mid-east, east and trance rhythms.
Susan Hergert is the enchantress, and mistress of all trades for Snakes Rising. She offers workshops in healing/ecstasy through chant and the Snakes Rising method. Her uniquely crafted blend of Earth Centered movement, neopagan chant and Kirtan is designed to get everyone involved!
Raymere has received recent mention in "On-Line Dancer" magazine for one of his award winning East Coast performances. He is an accomplished Sword Dancer who is well known for his workshops at such festivals as "Between the Worlds" and PSG.
Brea Ludwigson brings her vast Tribal and Folkloric Dance experience, combined with her priestess work, to her performances. She is our resident Snake Dancer. Brea teaches Earth Centered Ecstatic Dance with Snakes Rising.
Their Rite: Puja (worship rite) to Kali and Shiva
The following Workshops are designed to help you participate fully in the
Saturday evening performance and Puja. Kirtan for the puja will be taught
on Saturday AM and we need LOTS of chanting voices! Bring flowers, confetti
or rice as offerings to Lord Shiva and Kali Ma.
Their Workshops:
TR and Dave team up to present an Introduction to "Ecstatic Music
Styles and Trance Rhythms" on Saturday morning. Plan to learn
about Tarab, Raga, Qawali and Kirtan. Bring a drum if you'd like to learn
some basic mid-east beat patterns. Best chanting voice required! Susan
will lead some Kirtan as part of this workshop!
Susan, Raymere and Brea bring you an "Earth Centered Ecstatic Dance" primer on Friday afternoon. Come explore this unique synthesis of five rhythms with belly dance as we trance our way around the wheel. Dress comfortably and bring water.
Joseph Rothenberg, R.N. is a Registered Nurse, an Ohio licensed professional counselor, and a bio-feedback technician. He holds degrees in Psychology and Political Science from Case Western Reserve University. A Co-Director and founder of ACE (and the Chameleon Club), Joseph has studied and presented workshops for over 18 years. (The panel discussion The Self in Transformation, with Joseph Rothenberg, is available from ACE.)
His Workshop: Interface - Digitally Mediated Ritual
The
flicker of fires and the rythm of drums have long been used to produce altered
states of consciousness. Audio Strobe CDs have created some of the most intense
light /sound progams available,
This workshop will present the Audio Strobe compositions "Polar Lights".
In this series Robert Stoeffler and Andrzej Slawinski use a mathmatical algorithm
they have developed called Polar Plots to represent color photos as sound
and light patterns. They also use biofeedback software they have developed
to convert brain wave patterns into sound and light patterns.
The tracks, when experienced in sequence, are presented as a ritual journey of inner transformation. The voyager journeys to the northern lights where the inner self and personal history are experienced and then, returns home.
Special 3-D sound effects and exceptionally skilled light manipulations create stunning and deeply moving changes in your state of consciousness. An electronically mediated rite of passage.
Walter Grodzik BA, MA, MFA; Having completed course work for his PhD at Washington State University, is currently a professor of theatre at Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington. Wine has been his avocation for the past 15 years. Walter has toured the wineries of the Napa Valley, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia. A friend to many wine stewards and store owners, Walter has attended hundredes of tastings across the country and frequently shares or trades bottles of exceptional value or vintage.
Wine Tasting
We will taste at least 3 whites and 3 red wines. These wines are from American
Northwest. They have been chosen for their reasonable price and high quality.
All of them are in the under $25 dollar range. Attendance is limited to 20
people.