Stones Rising 2020

Wednesday, September 2nd - Monday, September 7th - 2020

Sunday, September 6th - The Rising!

SPECIAL in this year of Pandemic...Stones Rising as A Gift

Minimal registration fees...All food included.

A stone is rigged for raising, Stones Rising 2019.

A Weekend of Community...

A sharing of ceremony, our food, work, intention and purpose.

With the pandemic in mind, we will be doing things a bit differently this year...

Stones Rising will run from Wednesday Sept 2nd through Monday Sept 7th, and we will be packing into these days all of the preparatory work that we usually perform during the preceding week. There will be lots to do preparing the Stones, the foundations, our equipment and ourselves for The Rising and The Feast of the Standing Stones, Sunday.



Food is a gift...and its sharing is key to life at Four Quarters and especially to Stones Rising. For this year all food will be included, Wednesday dinner through Monday Brunch. In fact we have set our registration pricing to basically just cover the cost of feeding everyone!

We have worked with the County Health Dept to implement special food-handling in light of pandemic safety. The Starvin' Artist Cafe will be operated by Holly Smucker of Sassy Wraps fame, with (we hope) a small army of volunteers.



To make attending in these uncertain times as easy as possible, registration is by the day, to cover the costs of our shared meals. If you can only be with us for a few days or even one, we welcome you.

Sunday is the day of The Rising: if you can only make it for that one day, to Raise A Stone and Share Our Feast, please... join us!

It is important that you RSVP/preregister, either by phone or online, to enable our planning.

Details:

- Registration is $20 a day to a maximum of $80.

- Promoting Members and those who bring their own meals are by donation.

- PLEASE RSVP or register by calling our office 814-784-3080 or Registering On-line.

- You are welcome to arrive before Wednesday and stay later than Monday.

Early In and Late Out camping is $10 a night for Members and $15 a night for non-members.$10 Members, $15 non-members.

- High Meadow Car-Camping and In-Camp Parking will be available.

- In light of health and safety, only enclosed rooms in our dormitory are available, please call us if interested.

Credit Card Registrations on-line at Stones Rising Registration.

Or call the office at 814-784-3080 with your questions or to RSVP / register.

Please click here to download and read our COVID-19 Mitigation Policy PDF

You must have a mask to enter. All attendees and guests will be screened at registration.



A Work of Years... Stone by Stone.



Four Quarters is an Interfaith Sanctuary: a place of Safety of Spirit, allowing all who attend the opportunity to Seek, Evolve and Grow as they would wish. The heart of our Sanctuary is the Circle of Standing Stones, begun over 25 years ago when a single Stone was raised to inspire those that would come after: Follow in our Footsteps, Gather, Labor Together, Build a Circle for Yourselves and those not yet Born. For while the Stone Circle has many different meanings to each of us, we might all agree that it is the Heart of our Sanctuary… and it is good that we build it together as Community.

Stones Rising is a six-day intentional community, where all actions are done with the purpose of furthering the growth of the Stone Circle, the Interfaith Sanctuary Church, and the Greater Tribe. It is a deep wellspring of our commitment to the Land, our Church and our Tribe. From Wednesday evening to Monday noon we recognize that Service is Sacred, and we celebrate the service of our Tribemates. For it is by working with others on behalf of the community that the Stones are Raised

Join us as we "Journey through Dreamtime"... to work for a better Tomorrow.

2020 has certainly been an eventful year. It has been a time of strife; of dramatic changes; and of great imbalance. There is much uncertainty, fear and anger in the world. Many of the institutions we could rely on for guidance and protection are floundering. In order to protect the health of ourselves and others, we must keep apart from each other; we miss the embraces, smiles and laughter from friends and family. The world is in great need of Healing, of Restoration of Balance and Harmony. In order to heal the World, we must first heal Ourselves...

Come and Journey with us to Dreamtime to seek guidance and blessings from the ancestors, spirits and deities present there. We will come together as Community, celebrating Life and Balance while in the fresh air and spacious great outdoors; replenishing our bodies and spirit while helping our friends and family do the same. We will strive together to continue our Great Work of the Circle of Standing Stones, adding to the sentinels that watch over us, timelessly guarding and guiding us, while representing an infinite number of things to all who encounter them.

Join us at Stones Rising: a six-day ceremonial working to restore Balance and Harmony in the world, and to facilitate Healing among all of us. We will continue the work of our Ancestors for the Children Yet Unborn by coming together to share our triumphs and tribulations, knowing that happiness shared is doubled, sadness shared is halved.

Each day we will labor together to prepare the Stones and Circle for the Rising; each evening we will focus our intentions for the work ahead and will focus on the inward work of preparing ourselves for the spiritual journey of life.

Our Journey begins Wednesday as we prepare the Stone Circle and Sacred Sites for the Rising to come. The evening ceremony will focus on our personal cleansing preparations and meditation needed to begin our quest, to enable ourselves to be open to the experiences of the Journey.

On Thursday we will continue the Work of the Stones that was started by the Community of Service before we even arrived on the Land. In the evening, we seek the Intent or Purpose of our Journey…otherwise, how would you know when the Journey has finished? Join us as we ask the Spirits of the Ancestors, the Land, and our People for clarity of purpose.



On Friday our work continues as we finalize the preparations for the Journey of the Stones and the Rising to come. Our evening’s ceremony encourages us to begin our Individual Journey for Balance, Harmony and Healing.

On Saturday, if the spirits allow, we will strive together as a community to move two Stones to their places of preparation. Our quest will continue through the darkness of night, when we will seek out the illumination and harmony of the Spirits of Dreamtime for their aid in completing our quest.

On Sunday two Stones will join the Circle, and continue its work of protection and guidance for all of us now, and into the future. We will work together for our common purpose, while also achieving our personal intents. We will sing, dance, and sustain each other before we bless babies, give many thanks…and Feast! As part of our celebration together, we will bless and welcome the new Standing Stone, and welcome its Blessings in return.

On Monday we will spend time in fellowship with each other, and reflect on what we have found on this Journey before saying “Farewell” to the Stones and each other.



As we work together as a community, so shall we sustain ourselves together: morning brunch and evening supper are included as part of registration, as is the Feast of the Standing Stones.

Stones Rising is a participatory ceremonial event; all attendees are requested to offer their Service throughout the event. There are many opportunities available: working with the Stone People to prepare the Stones; tending to the Sacred Sites, Altars and inspirational places on the Land; assisting in the kitchen; helping with ceremonial preparations, and many more. We welcome people to be part of ceremonial teams; if you feel called to lend a hand, please do so! We also encourage everyone to check in with each other to see if help is needed; it is in this way community grows. We hope to see everyone together in Ceremony and Service...

Planning sessions for each day's work will be held at brunch.

Please join us and discover the Sacred Celebration that is Service to the Community.

Building the North Copse

At Stones Rising 2020 we expect to continue the construction of the North Copse section of the Stone Circle begin at Stones Rising 2019. We're still in the planning stages, but if there is something we try to do, it's plan ahead!



Last year Our Pennsylvania quarry came through for us and provided enough of the very special stone required to begin construction of the North Copse.

And what is the North Copse you ask? With The Great North Stone as its northernmost minor axis, the Copse is a 45'x30' ellipse set with the stones almost touching. Intended to create a Sanctuary within a Sanctuary, very much in keeping with the "Fore Courts" associated with British neolithic long barrows.







In order to follow the very tight curves of such a small ellipse, we need stones no wider than 4 feet, and hopefully in the 12 foot range in height, and all of the same beige colored sandstone of The Great North Stone. Such stones are not easy to find, even when our good quarry-men are setting their blasting charges just for us. So part of this years Stones Rising involves the trimming of our stony friends to fit into such a narrow envelope.

But in a bit of luck, in 2018 we found a wonderful slab that had a natural bedding plane running lengthwise with the rock. In the spring of 2019, quarry-men set upon that slab with wedges and gently coaxed the flaw into a full split, creating two mirror image book-matched slabs of stone, whose faces are actually the interior surfaces of the previous whole slab. And as luck would have it the irregular outlines of the two slabs almost perfectly match the shoulders of the Great North Stone.

We cut two other slabs that flanked these book-matched stones, their final trim and dressing done at Stone Poeple's Intensive 2019. At the Rising, we had a very challenging task ahead. The space within the copse is very tight, and our intention was to set these stones no more than a hands width apart. So careful planning was called for, the rigging complicated, and we needed everyone in boots and gloves... no by-standers allowed!...to preform the delicate work.



We think the results of our efforts came out very well... actually quite spectacular. We expect to continue the work on the pearl of the string of the North Copse at Stones Rising 2020! Would you bring us your sweat, good hands and hearts, and your witness? Join us!

An Invitation to our Big Dub Family



You've seen the Stone Circle and you've danced with the Standing Stones. Four Quarters wants you to be a part of building the Circle too!



We raise the Stones Sunday, September 6th; Labor Day Weekend. We make ceremony, raise the Stones and share a great feast together, prepared by The Starvin' Artist Kitchen.

Traditionally we don't charge for Sunday arrivals; but we do ask for a telephone RSVP and what ever donation you care to give, so that we can plan for the feast.



Saturday night, September 5th, is our Stones Eve Ceremony. A full Moon will fall during Stones Rising! Our Stones Eve ceremonies will also be a Full Moon Service. Please feel welcome on the Land as we raise up Stones!



The Office is open 10am to 6pm, and we are happy to answer questions. Your Saturday afternoon arrival is $20, your Sunday RSVP is by donation. And yes, credit cards can be accepted by phone. Please let us know if you plan to attend!

Service, Ceremony, Celebration - Our 26th Year of Raising Stones!



Accompanied by witnesses, the Tribe leans into the ropes to bring a new Stone into the Stone Circle. Stones Rising 2018.

“If you go to work on your goals,your goals will go to work on you.

If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you.

Whatever good things we build end up building us..” – Jim Rohn



Stones Rising is a Ceremonial Intensive.

We celebrate the seasons of the earth here at Four Quarters; and as summer wanes and harvest begins, our Tribe will gather together to Raise new Standing Stones, gathering in the achievements and abundance of the year. Stones Rising is ancient tradition made new. It echoes the burial grounds, cairns, and megaliths that were built millennia ago by our ancestors; the act of building and growing the Circle is our Gift, Hope and Promise to Ourselves, to our Ancestors, and to the Generations yet to come..

There is a place for you.

We gather to celebrate a Ceremony of Ceremonies: a multi-day matrix of ritual, service, and celebration of the Divine, the Land, and the People. Each ritual is a step along the way, and together all of them create a single ceremonial act of commitment to the Vision that is the Stone Circle on the Land of Four Quarters. There will be spaces of work, of rest, of devotion, service, ceremony, and celebration for all. Whether it’s your first time, your third time or your umpteenth time at Stones Rising, there is a place for you. Every year our spirits reach back and propel us forward.

There is a place for you in the single ceremony of Stones Rising, and a chance to use your own gifts for the growth of the community, whether your place is with the Warriors, guarding and Preparing spaces for ceremony, or among the Corn Mothers, making the food that Empowers the people for their work on the Land. We recognize the work of the Witness connecting the people inside and outside Four Quarters. We encourage the experience of drumming, dancing, singing, praying, working, in some way Sustaining the Vision of the Stone Circle. Here there is a place for you. Experience the myriad connections that you have with others in your Tribe, others whose work may be very different from your own.

Together we will raise the arbors, we will sing the songs, we will feed the people, we will drum up the sun, we will chant our prayers, we will witness the ceremonies, we will untangle the rigging, we will pour libation, we will dance the way open… and we will, all together, raise the Stones. Once again, the Stones will rise, the Circle will be consecrated anew, and we will join together in celebration of the growing Circle that is Four Quarters.

There is a place for you and yours at Stones Rising. The planning team has prepared a place for you, but only you can make that place your own; step into the Center of the Circle, gather with your Tribe, and join us in this new year of Stones Rising, sharing in the magic of a sacred circle of Standing Stones.

Stones Rising is a Ceremonial Intensive that brings together ritualists representing the world’s Earth Religious traditions including: Wicca, Santeria, Druidism, Shamanism and Trance, Tibetan Buddhism, Ceremonial Magic, Voodoun, The Black Madonna, The NeoPagan Revival and the world’s indigenous peoples. The ceremonials begin Wednesday afternoon and continue to build through Sunday’s Rising of the Standing Stones, accompanied by a variety of

in-depth workshops.

The threads that bind together these ceremonies, the people and the Stones are the Pathways of Sacrifice and Service: the means, great and small, through which any person at Stones Rising is able to personally make a ceremonial commitment, see it fulfilled and become an integral part of the ceremonial whole.

Together, these Ceremonials and Pathways work to create six days of ritual that is inclusive and transforming… where, like the Ceremonial Circle, there is no beginning or ending other than the place in which you stand.

A Few of the Pathways of Service at Stones Rising

Vesta’s Hearth. Perhaps the most demanding commitment at Stones Rising, the preparation of The Feast of the Standing Stones.

The Stone Crews. Those who work the ropes and rollers, Community Teamwork to bring the Stones into Circle.

The Stone People. Who take on the dangerous work of rigging and positioning the Stones for their Rising.

Ceremonial & Spirit Drums. Through rhythm, song and chant, honoring the Stones, People, Land and Spirits.

Preparing the Loaves of the Corn Mother. Preparing and baking the hundreds of loaves of bread needed to share before Sunday’s Rising of the Standing Stones.

The Sweat Lodge. Chop wood, carry water, haul stones, tend the sacred fires in a place of prayer and purification.

Preparing and Serving Sacral Food and Drink. The sacred and symbolic foods that will be served to the Stone Crews, Commitment Makers and Witnesses during the Ceremony of Commitments and The Rising.

Fire Circle Synergy. Maintaining the Heartbeat of the Tribe through our Service to the Fire Circle, each night through the Eve of The Rising. Cleaning, raking, and preparing Fire Circle as an Altar for Trance, Dance and Drum.

For those who desire a deeper ceremonial experience, there is the Stone People’s Intensive – In Service to the Standing Stones. Scroll Down for More.



See you in the Stone Circle!



It is a work of years, and each year we gather at Stones Rising to celebrate and continue that work.





Though it is a group experience, Stones Rising moves every person in a different way. For some it is the opportunity to unplug: to serenely walk the Labyrinth; to contemplate the misty mountains in the early morning; or immerse themselves in the magic of the creek. For others it is the expectation of meeting new people—people who will go from being strangers to family in only a few short days. But for all of us Stones Rising is the opportunity to do something that matters—something that will last far longer than any of us will. It is the opportunity to continue the creation of sacred space as we raise megaliths with our brothers and sisters.



The Circle's story is not just about the Stones: it is overlaid with personal histories, with hundreds of stories and memories and milestones. You will often see people laying their hands on the Stones. They might tell you that this is the first Stone they helped raise, or how it was raised in the rain, or how the rope broke. They might tell you about how this Stone took all day to pull, prompting you to remark, “It's so small compared to the others!” The other person will smile and say that the Stones have minds of their own. They might tell you of the year that their baby was passed through the Mother Stone during the Baby Blessing, and of the people who were there who no longer come to the Farm. And with each year, the Circle's history grows richer.



No membership binds us; no specific faith binds us. What binds us is a belief in the value of this world, this life, and the humanity we all share. Can you help raise Stones if you're not a Four Quarters member? Yes! Can you help raise Stones if your path is spiritual path is solitary and unique? Yes!



What if you're new and have never set foot on the Land before? Can you help raise Stones? YES!



We raise Stones the old way, the hard way, with heavy ropes, rollers made from tree trunks, and people. It could be done so much more easily, with so much less sweat and strain, if we would just use heavy construction equipment. But what would be the point? Machines are not important: it is the hands and feet and hearts of the people who move and raise the Stones that is important.



Using heavy equipment to move and raise Stones would make the whole process faster, too. We could have had the Circle finished years ago and would probably be building a dolman somewhere by now. But this is not our goal, to have an Instant Stone Circle. When we raise Stones together, one or two at a time, we have the opportunity to take a moment and think about the sanctuary we are creating. In the interval between one Stones Rising and the next, we have time to appreciate that what we are doing is holy work. It is the work of creating connections between all of us regardless of how different our spiritual paths may be.



We are not here to recreate Stonehenge or Avebury. We are here to create thisCircle, here in this place. We are here together on this sacred land to join hands, to join earth with sky—to raise Stones.



... And we'll all stand together and we'll Raise another Stone,

To the Seventh Generation and the Children Yet Unknown! ...



Registrations

Membership Privileges Apply

Children under 16 are loved, cherished and FREE

To make attending in these uncertain times as easy as possible, registration is by the day, to cover the costs of our shared meals. If you can only be with us for a few days or even one, we welcome you.

Sunday is the day of The Rising: if you can only make it for that one day, to Raise A Stone and Share Our Feast, please... join us!

It is important that you RSVP/preregister, either by phone or online, to enable our planning.

Details:

- Registration is $20 a day to a maximum of $80.

- Promoting Members and those who bring their own meals are by donation.

- PLEASE RSVP or register by calling our office 814-784-3080 or Registering On-line.

- You are welcome to arrive before Wednesday and stay later than Monday.

Early In and Late Out camping is $10 a night for Members and $15 a night for non-members.$10 Members, $15 non-members.

- High Meadow Car-Camping and In-Camp Parking will be available.

- In light of health and safety, only enclosed rooms in our dormitory are available, please call us if interested.

Credit Card Registrations on-line at Stones Rising Registration.

Or call the office at 814-784-3080 with your questions or to RSVP / register.

Four Quarters has two hot shower buildings equipped with super low-flow dual-flush toilets, state of the art on demand heaters for our low-flow showers, and drinking water spigots throughout the camp. Four Quarters is Green!

About Lodging at Four Quarters -

Accommodations in our dorm building are available. Rooms have double beds, blankets and pillows. You must call the office for reservations.

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