circle sanctuary for the fall equinox

tuesday we called circle sanctuary to see if we could drop by for a visit.  learning that their facilities arent really equipped for drop in camping, i felt really bad about not calling in advance.  however, after talking with salena, she made arrangements for us to stay overnight at the sanctuary!!  in addition, she invited us for soup supper at her incredibly beautiful and peaceful home nearby, and to join in circle’s fall equinox observance & celebration.  we met about 10 new neat folks, did a nice meditation, and discussed balance in our lives and the world. 

 

circle sanctuary is a 200 acre nature preserve and sanctuary created by salena fox, in southwestern wisconsin in 1974. they have an old farmhouse there and a headquarters office where all their good work is done.  reed, their landskeeper showed me around the land wednesday morning.  they have just begun doing fire circles there, similar to the alchemical fire circles at 4q. we spent some time at their fire circle  area and he explained to me how it is decked out for their fire circles on memorial day and labor day. 

we then walked their labyrinth (!!)  and he explained to me how he is reclaiming the prairie there, and what plants were indigenous and those that are invasive.   he is a fascinating man, and a true asset to circle sanctuary.

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here is a video i made of their brigid's (sp) spring, which he explained was a naturally occurring little spring that is fed from the nearby hill.  it was one of the most amazing little things i have ever seen, truly:

after a full morning of work, salena came and took julia and i on a tour of some of the other sacred sites there.  we went up to their cemetery, where many cremains are laid to rest, high upon a hill. salena does very good work for justice for all religious rights.  her lady liberty league has stood with and for many whose rights have been denied. i loved the little statue dedicated to all the babies that never got to be born:

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then, we walked over to their stone circle.  she calls it a microlith stone circle, as compared to our megalith stone circle.  she has such a great happiness about her, and a sweet sweet heart.  she explained that their stone circle is created with small stones that are brought (and some mailed) to the sanctuary.  there is a chunk of the berlin wall there (!!), in addition to stones from all over the world.  it is an amazing site, where ceremonials are held, and there is a magic in the air there that mingles with the sweet smells of the forest:

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a little later salena showed us spirit rock.  it is an out cropping of rock (sandstone, i think) high on the mountain there (at about 1100 ft).  she explained that it had been an indian sacred site, used for vision quests.  later it became known as sunset rock, where locals would come and sit and watch the sunset, but now as part of circle sanctuary, it is hidden off the main road so as not to invite folks who may not know their way around, because it very high and somewhat pelegro.  but i gotta tell ya, it sure was close to heaven…

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on the path there we passed an oak tree that salena said was older than european settlers, whoa!  also, there at spirit rock is a medicine wheel that was a gift from  a native from illinois who relocated it there rock by rock.  spirit rock is used for ritual and meditation, weddings, funerals, and questing.  ya, close to heaven.

 

after the tour or spirit rock, we said our goodbyes and thanks for the hospitality.  i look forward to seeing salena again soon, and coming back to circle sanctuary  some day.