September 20th: Making Pocket Altars!
Rutgers Univ. Pagan Students Association
Tricia from GOG held a cool workshop on pocket altars. 30 attended. "Come make a pocket sized altar or shrine that's easy to hide when you go home for break. Show up and play with the shineys!!!
Did I mention there are take homes?"

August 12th: A Harvest Ritual to Tammuz (GOG's Lughnasadh)
32 attended GOG's Lughnassadh FIRST HARVEST RITUAL honoring the Hittite/Babylonian God Tammuz. Kristen did a fine job leading a solemn ritual as we joined Tammuz in the underworld. Pat drew down Tammuz, who doesn't know he's going to come back. This was a sad and emotionally intense ritual. The invocations were lovely and spot-on. Kristen's retelling of this ancient story of harvest, sacrifice, and The Wheel of the Year was well-researched and beautifully done. There was a great amount of praise for the deity and the occasion. Our omens were Sorrow, Fight, and The Returning Hero (Victory). Many thanks to all who invoked, brought praise, or brought the tons of food and helped with the cleanup! Thanks to Bob, Jen, and Marc for Kitchen-witching. Click here for photos.

August 4th: 10th Annual Hands of Change Pagan Picnic!
22 Grove of the Other Gods Druids attended the HOC Pagan Picnic and helped out. We created a Chakra Labyrinth, did facepainting, hair braiding, and temporary tattoos, as well as site clean-up when the picnic was over. The grove put a lot of work into the picnic, and representatives attended three planning meetings, as well.
It was a day of lovely weather, good food, workshops, rituals, and lots of relaxing and playing around and saying hello.
We met our Regional Northeast Druidic Representative, Illious, who came down from Albany to meet the grove. A good time was had by all. PHOTOS!

July 1st: A High Tea and Comfort Ritual
"Here at GoG we like our deities to have rough edges like we do.  But what happens after we've gone through a difficult time?  Come join us as we discover (or rediscover) our own personal deities' softer, comforting sides as we do an ADF style ritual to our Gods and Goddesses of Tea and Comfort."
27 attended the High Tea and Comfort Ritual. Deb was the elegant, capable, and courageous Druid-in-Charge. James and Ed performed as waiters, serving tea, cream, sugar cubes, milk, lemon, and honey, and then tomato and cheese sandwiches, cucumber and dill sandwiches, more tea, curry chicken salad, salmon puffs, more tea, scones with clotted cream, lemon curd and raspberry jam, and even more tea, petit fours, brownies, lemon cookies, and even more tea. Much thanks to Bob and Norma who helped in the kitchen keeping the tea hot and steeping and the plates moving. Much thanks to all who brought food of all sorts. Much thanks to Xuk, who paid for 6 pizzas later on after the ritual. This was a good, emotional and cathartic ritual-- a lot of good on-target invocations. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS CLICK HERE FOR SCRIPT

June 23rd: Summer Solstice Walking Ritual to Asphaltia!!
In which we honored our own (Crossroads of the Revolution) New Jersey (Barrel Tapped at Both Ends) Nature Spirits in a (What Exit?) ritual to Asphaltia, (Doing the Parkway Boogie) Goddess of the Highways. We toured and honored New Brunwick (The Hub City) in little metal cars, hitting scenic ritual (rest) stops along the way. 18 attended. Thanks to Alex for kitchen-witching and Carol for keeping an eye on the house while we were all out traveling. Maggie did a great job as Liturgist and Druid in Charge. Pat was the avatar of The Walkie Guy, our gatekeeper, along with his alter-ego, The Red Hand. We carried signs, a stoplight and street sign, We stopped traffic, we were traffic, it was all a lot of fun. The main invocations of Asphaltia and our local nature spirit New Brunswick were intense. Our omens were taken by radiomancy. There was wonderful praise, but the best quote of the day came from one of the passers-by. When we explained who we were and what we were doing, he thought about and said, "Well, believing in only one God... that's just one step up from atheism, isn't it?" Click here for photos!

June 21st: Summer Solstice Sunset Ritual!!
17 Druids attended our oddly famous "Jersey Rest Stop Ritual" on Rt. 295 along the Delaware on the west coast of Jersey. Rained in the afternoon, but sunny for the ritual-- perfect weather for a sunset. Norma led an exuberant Druid ritual as the sun set on the river. We blew bubbles to the departing sun, and Maggie and Pat made a sun pinata which finally burst in a rainbow of candy. Lean over the guardrail with us and see the sun set over Pennsyvania on the longest day of the year-- click here for photos!

June 12- 17 Free Spirit Festival in Maryland
A bunch of GOG members attended the Free Spirit Festival in Maryland. They attended Mugwort Grove's ADF rite, and attended workshops, and Patty learned to spin fire. Maggie priestess'd the Blue Star Rite, as Pat played the Holly King in a battle for the land. PHOTOS TO COME!

May 5th: GOG's BELTANE MAYFAIRE!!!
We had 32 Druids and friends at a private location in central NJ for Mayfaire frolics and fun. We had a Maypole, Beasties, Labyrinth, Druid Ritual, Drumming, Dancing, Fire, Flower wreath-making, Narcissistic Mirror-Gazing, Soak-A-Druid, Origami Ganeshes, lots of Food, lots of Slack, Dessert before dinner; all the Seven Deadly Sins. Click here for PHOTOS!

May 1st: Beltane at Dawn in Princeton!!
One of the most beautiful sights you'll ever see: Each year, at dawn on the Princeton Battlegrounds, Morris Dancers and Molly Dancers wake up the Spring. This was their twenty-sixth year. For ten years now, GOG has contributed with our Hobby Horse romp and the Padstow May Morning song. Yes, it's early and on a weekday. The best and most sacred things sometimes take a little effort. 11 Druids attended the overnight vigil; we watched a 1950s video of May morning in Padstow England, and also a video of English street traditions; we made buttonnieres to wear May morning. 15 Druids arrived in the dark at the battlegrounds to assemble for the Hobby Horse ritual and Padstow's song. It was a wonderful morning. Click here for photos!

April 22nd: Planning Meeting for the Beltane MayFaire
10 people attended the Planning Meeting/Prop-Making Session for our 15th Annual Beltaine May Faire.

April 5th: Crystals 101: Rutgers University Pagan Students Association
Marc from MPA & GOG, a man who really knows his rocks, spoke on the topic of Crystals (with take home sparklies). The workshop was well attended.

March 24st: Equinox Limerick Ritual to Manannan Mac Lir

There once was a Grove in New Brunswick, / giving their praise in lim'ricks; / you should get to know'em, / bring your own poem, / they might just turn you a trick!

52 attended GOG's Equinox Limerick Ritual to Manannan Mac Lir, led by Druid-in-Charge Jason on a cold, overcast day. The rain didn't start until evening, which was fortunate. We honored our Patron Manannan MacLir. On this occasion, the Salty Sea God asked us for a ritual in limericks. And we were up to the task. In addition to bawdy ryming,  we filled our Grove's sacred well with Waters from Manannan's ocean and from local streams, lakes, and taps; and Jason focused Manannan's blessings on the tools of our trades. We had several limericks for each invocation, lots of limerick praise, and our omens were from a large and very dirty limerick book. Portal of the Porcupine performed a Wiccan ritual in the evening. THANKS to SUE and POP for their hospitality!!

CLICK HERE FOR LIMERICKS & SCRIPT

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS!!

On March 24th, a Saturday, / Druids will be in Piscataway./ Come join us in town / but keep your head down / as the bad puns fly this way and thataway.

March 22nd: Gatekeepers 101: Rutgers University Pagan Students Association
Jenniforensics gave a great talk on Gatekeeper Gods and Gatekeeping for RUPSA. She'll be giving this workshop for GOG soon:
"Are you tired of being overworked and underappreciated?  Has running from class to class trying to meet impossible deadlines and deal with impossible people gotten you down?  Does it seem like people demand the same thankless tasks from you over and over again?  You are not alone!  "Gatekeepers 101" will be a cross-cultural survey of those deities responsible for guarding and traversing the boundary between our world and the Other, as defined by various pantheons.  This workshop will explore the similarities and differences among Gatekeeping deities, the traditions surrounding such entities, and the reasons they are called upon in ritual.  Come share common stories and personal experience in order to arrive at a better understanding of the true "overworked and underappreciated" of the spirit world!" 

March 21st: Equinox Day Beach Ritual to Manannan Mac Lir
GOG's Equinox Day Beach Ritual attracted 15 Druids and a number of seagulls. Offerings were made in a full ADF rite to Ancestors, Nature Spirits (mostly the seagulls), Gods and Goddesses, and especially to Manannan Mac Lir, the stormy sea God who is our grove's patron Gatekeeper. The gray sea was our well, the bright sun our fire, and kelp (floating from the bottom of the ocean to the surface) was our tree. We collected the waters of 9 separate waves for our sacred well-gate, somewhat freezing our tootsies off. We then retreated to the Atlantis Diner for hot food and beverages. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS!

February 22nd: ADF Druidry 101 Rutgers University Pagan Students Association
Norma and Ed gave a brief presentation about Druids in history and about Ar nDraiocht Fein's contemporary Druidry. Then talked about how a modern GOG ADF ritual runs, why we do ritual, and how our rituals generate energy and move it around. 12 people attended.

February 4th: IMBOLC
Our Imbolc ritual honored Brigantia, warrior Goddess of the Brigands, in honor of the warrior in all of us. This was a lovely, solemn (for us), and heart-filled ritual. 32 attended. Click here for Kristen's Quotes from the ritual. Click here for photos!

January 21st: New Year Yemaya Beach Ritual
8 intrepid GOG members braved the cold and offered flowers and melon-boats and other biodegradables to Yemaya on the beach. The water was placid, unnaturally calm. It was cold, but beautiful. Several folks got their feet wet either deliberately or unintentionally. A lovely ritual day led by Deb that ended in skee-ball, games, and diner food. (Thanks to Craig for the photos.) Click here for photos.

2006

Dec. 22 to Dec. 23rd: Winter Solstice VIGIL and RITUAL TO THE WELL and DAWN BEACH Ritual
Our traditional dawn trip to the Jersey shore to watch the sun come up over theocean was cancelled this year, due to heavy rain and flooding. We did have some grove folks on the beach for sunrise on the solstice day before.
The grove had an all-night vigil, though, and performed a ritual to the sacred Well during the vigil. 7 attended the vigil, made a bread-dough nativity for the sun, talked, laughed, and went out at dawn to greet the sun and sing. Thanks to Maggie, Pat, and Hillary for organizing and hosting!

December 17th: GOG's YULE Ritual
Our ritual to celebrate the winter solstice and the winter season. 29 attended our annual festival of silliness. This year's ritual was an AMERICAN SOLSTICE IDOL retelling of the Yule story of Holly King vs. Oak King with the outcome based on the quality of their jokes and entirely determined by the judging of the viewers. The Holly King won this round, although An Dagda, our gatekeeper and manager, insisted that due to global warming, they might as well rule together! Play script was by Marcia, her second modern mummer's play for GOG. CLICK HER FOR Play, cast list, CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

November 18th: GOG's (relatively) functional stress-free Thanksgiving dinner!
An afternoon of food, friends, and conversation. "Sort of like a church supper-- except without the church." Thanks to Tricia and Bob, Peg and Chuck for hosting.

November 12th: The Feast Day of Manannan
Manannan's Feast at the Beach took place November 12th. Rainy. Flood warnings. The rain was drizzly on the way down, although we hit some downpours. When we got to the beach-- the rain stopped. Gray and misty, very Manannan-like weather. We feasted our steadfast gatekeeper with whiskey, beer, grain, and gave him flowers and other offerings. Birds got offerings of bread. He kept the rain off of us through the ritual. It started up again soon after we ended. Omen: "It must be really cool to see this ancient ritual brand new!" Then we went inside to play skeeball and arcade games, and then went to the Atlantis Diner for our own feast. Ten Druids braved the weather. Click here for PHOTOS!

November 11th: ADF Ritual in Connecticut in Honor of the All Gods
Catriona McDonald and Jason Cook led an ADF ritual in honor of the All Gods on November 11. The overall theme wwas thanksgiving for their many blessings. The day included a pot luck dinner and movie marathon of the original Star Wars trilogy (the original theatrical releases).

November 4th-5th: GOG's Samhain Vigil and Two Rituals
GOG's Samhain lasted from Saturn's Day afternoon until Sun's Day night with a short break for sleep. We performed identical rituals both days including a play written by Blue and performed by the Fates with an all-praise in the middle. We held our usual vigil Saturn's Day night, with a pumpkin parade down Easton Ave., Spiritualist seance, divination, all-night fire, and backyard full of altars. Statistics: 35 attended the Saturn's Day rite, 26 stayed for the overnight vigil, 23 attended the dawn ritual, 10 stayed over or returned for the Sun's Day ritual, 28 attended the Sun's Day ritual, and 25 the Sun's Day funeral for Dionysos and fire offering of the masks. Total: 53 (not counting the 10 who did both). Thanks to all who helped with clean-up (there were many of you!) and organization. And thanks to Marc, Tricia, Tara, Ed, and Maggie for the photos! Click here for PHOTOS!

Click here for the script of the play "Song for Zagreus / Dionysos"
Click here for the Sun's Day invocation to Hermes, our Gatekeeper
Click here for the Saturn's Day invocation to Apollo, our muse
Click here for Kristen's Quotes from GOG's Samhain (Sun's Day)

October 26th: Norma's Day of the Dead and Sugar Skull Workshop
at the Rutgers University Pagan Students Association
Norma talked about Mexican Day of the Dead customs and led a hands-on workshop in decorating sugar skulls for the holiday 18 attended.

October 24th: Isaac Bonewits at the
Rutgers University Religion and Spirituality Association.
The founder of our Druidry gave an exciting talk on: "Black Magic, Satanism, and Other Bad Ideas" at the Rutgers Student Center in New Brunswick, NJ. 35 total attended, 10 grove members.

October 19th: Language of Flowers and Herbs Workshop
at the Rutgers University Pagan Students Association
GOG member Maria Denitto talked about flowers and herbs, folklore, and some of the cosmetic uses of herbs. Then the students got on the floor and made their own posies.

October 12th: The Ogham Alphabet, Ancient and Modern
Lecture at the Rutgers University Pagan Students Association
Ed lectured on what we really know about Ogham (what has come to be known as the "Celtic Tree Alphabet") and talked about what Ogham actually was and wasn't, how it became what it is today, and also how modern Pagan seers and magicians are using it. Then the students got to try Ogham divination for themselves. 16 attended.

September 28th: Energy Raising
Marc Wicoff's lecture at the Rutgers University Pagan Students Association
MidAtlantic Pagan Alliance cofounder (and GOG ADF Druid, too) Rev. Marc Wicoff talked about various ways to raise energy, and then demonstrated it by having the students work through 3 different energy exercises. Several people who had never felt this kind of energy stated that they felt it during the exercises! A fun and exciting workshop! 20 attended.

Sun's Day, September 24th: GOG's Fall Equinox Ritual to the Earth Mother
Tricia led our beautiful autumn equinox ritual to the Earth Mother. She'd pointed out that we invoke Her at the beginning of each ritual we do, but we'd never done a ritual just for Her. Now we have, and it felt good. 45 people attended. (10 new attendees!) 19 participated by taking ritual parts, and many others contributed praise offerings (mostly offerings from their gardens). Bob and Chuck were our very capable kitchen witches, making sure the multitude of food fed the multitude of worshippers. Tricia was a very natural ritual leader, comfortable and inspiring. Norma helped with the songs, many of which were not our usual song selections. The altar was beautiful, the day was lovely (it was supposed to rain, but despite a few scattered drops, the sky turned bluer and bluer as the ritual progressed). And our omens were good ones. Praise the Earth Mother! Autumn Equinox Earth Mother Ritual PHOTOS

Saturn's Day, September 16th: Central NJ 2006 Pagan Pride Picnic (& Druid Ritual)
GOG performed the main ritual at the second annual Pagan Pride Picnic in central NJ in in Colonial Park. The ritual was fashioned to honor the land itself, the sacred space in the park. 130 people (or so) attended this ADF Druid rite, an unusual experience for many. The invocations were designed to be both brief, and also to explain the rite as we progressed through it. It went very well, and was very much our style of "tent revival" Druid ritual. When people couldn't help themselves and joined in the invocations, we knew that it really worked! Thanks to all who carefully created their invocations. Somewhat more scripted than our usual rite, this is one for the books- the ADF Liturgy yearbook. The day itself went well, with the grove helping with registration and cleanup (and handing out garbage bags during the ritual to keep the park clean...) Thanks to the 16 grove members who attended and invoked, sang songs, beat on drums, or otherwise helped out! You're good!. Pagan Pride Day random PHOTOS

September 14th: Isaac Bonewits at the Rutgers University Pagan Students Association
Our ArchDruid Emeritus and Founder of Ár nDraíocht Féin, our own Druidry, gave a "Bardism 101: Effective Use of Performance Arts in Ritual" lecture at the Rutgers Student Center, room 407, on Sept. 14th, to the Rutgers Pagan Students Association. Those who attended his lecture last year know that Isaac is an erudite and entertaining speaker-- but may not know that he is also a talented singer and songwriter. Demonstrating the Bardic arts and the use of song and drama in ritual, Isaac sang his Earth Mother Chant, two songs about the Dagda (and his mighty club), and a Hymn to the Morrigan that left a few of us breathless. See Keriana Sidhe's Review of Isaac Bonewits Recent Bardic Workshop at Rutgers University Pagan Students Association

August 12th HOC New Jersey Pagan Picnic
GOG helped out at the Hands of Change Central Jersey Pagan Picnic. We created a labyrinth, painted faces and braided hair, and Marc ran a workshop asking "Who Are Our Ancestors?" and Norma ran a Ganesh Chathuri and idol-making workshop. (Cicely baked the Ganesh birthday cake.) The grove was also in charge of after-picnic cleanup. The HOC Pagan Picnic is run by Hands of Change (many grateful thanks to Donna for all her hard organizing work!) and this was their 9th year. Around 200 pagans, seekers, and likeminded friends attended.

August 5th: LUGHNAPALOOZA!!
35 GoGers and guests got their hands stamped at the door to attend GoG's Lughnapallooza, a punk Druid ritual in which we told the story of Lugh at the gates of Club Tara. Chuck invoked an amazing and fantastic Lugh who told us the true story of the Magh-Tuireadh Battle of the Bands (filling in for Patty, who broke her arm the week before). Annie was our organized and insanely capable (or capably insane?) Druid-in-Charge and ritual planner. Bouncers were Jenniforensic, Bob, and Matt. There was dancing and music and talking until the wee hours. Thanks to all for invocations, praise, talents, celebration, and all that food. (Many of our Druids have been creating ritual playlists-- lists of songs they like that reflect the order of Druid ritual. It was cool to hear a full ritual done with a song list, and a punk song list made it even better.) For photos, click here! To see Annie's ritual script and playlis, click here. Also to see Annie's concert poster- click here.) .

July 22nd: Meet Your Leafy Neighbors
10 Druids gathered to hear Alex talk about local trees and teach basic tree identification. We met in Rutgers Gardens, and got to know a few trees in spite of overcast skies and eventually a bit of rain. We hope to cajole Alex into taking us out again to learn about our local trees and munch on local berries and nuts.

June 24st: 2006 WILD SIDHE OF NEW BRUNSWICK Summer Solstice Walking Ritual
Not much walking in our traditional walking ritual, dedicated to land and nature spirits, but plenty of other physical activities this year as we sought out and honored the wilder, darker fey of New Brunswick, NJ. Marc led us on a walk in our heads, rather than in the rain outside. 24 people attended, dressed in their most provocative, but street-legal Goth and Fey best. Our omens were from the fairy deck: the Bogeyman: get past your fears; the Fachow: as an "earth-man," land spirits are with you; Fairy Horse: beginning of journeys; and Tam Lin: a strong woman will help us. Good omens.
In addition to all the fun, we collected lots of cans and boxes of foodstuffs for a local womens' shelter.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS!

June 21st: SUMMER SOLSTICE Sunset Ritual!
18 GOG members and guests participated in our 2006 Summer Solstice Sunset Ritual on Wednesday, June 21st. We honored the height of the light and the rise of the dark in a full Druid ritual at a rest stop on the Delaware River by the roaring interstate. Our Winter Solstice Sunrise Ritual takes place by the ocean on the east coast of Jersey; our Summer Sunset Ritual takes place on the west coast. Who knew how many people were looking forward to revisiting our solstice rest stop ritual? Maggie and Pat made a papier-maché sun-egg that we cracked open to release the dark inside. The dark was good and gooey and tasted like chocolate. We made sure that the sun set well and good. Afterwards, we invaded a diner and cheered up a waitress. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS!

June 13 through 18: 21st Annual Free Spirit Gathering. 8 GOG members attended the Free Spirit Festival in Maryland. Maggie and Pat led a discussion of American Gods attended by 9 people, and then led a walking ADF ritual to Asphaltia that had 16 people and picked up hitchikers. We had air fresheners to hang around our wrists and little cars to drive. As Maggie and Pat led us with Walky Guy opening the gates and the Red Hand stopping us at appropriate points, we heckled our driver with "Are we there yet?" and "When's the next rest stop?" and "He's bothering me..." and sang road songs. Our well was a radiator and our muse a radio (which, when we switched it on, said, "She's here. I can see her.") Our omens were cast on a map of the northeast. The waters of life were Mountain Dew. It was a great ritual. Later in the day, 7 GOG members participated in an ADF midsummer ritual to Dagda and the Morrigan led by Cenn Ruadh of Mugwort Grove and also attended by folks from Mugwort and Black Bear groves. Free Spirit was a great time, the weather was nice, people entertaining, the fire wonderful, and the workshops inspiring. Photos of the Asphaltia Ritual at the Free Spirit Gathering!

June 3-4: American Cancer Society's Relay For Life® 12pm (Noon) to 8am the next morning; yes, these times are correct! The Midatlantic Pagan Alliance participated in the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life® at Ocean County College, on Hooper Ave in Toms River, NJ. 7 GOG ADF members participated as part of the MPA team. GOG members raised $610 and the MPA together raised nearly $3000 of the $29,000 total raised by the event. The Pagans came in fourth in fundraising, and we kept a team member on the relay track the entire 18 hours, in spite of rain and blisters. This was a very worthwhile event to be involved in, sort of like Samhain in June, and we highly recommend participation by more grove members next year. For more information on the MPA go to http://www.midatlanticpaganalliance.org All who helped out with money and/or time should be really proud of themselves!

Saturn's Day, June 3: Craft Day! "No not THAT kind of craft! This kind: Beads, glue, paper, yarn, scissors, cloth, thread, ribbons, etc..." 6 people attended our fourth official grove craft day. Good fun, good food, got a lot done.

Sun's Day, May 28th: A May Crowning A special event led by Nej and the Ancient Order of the Groovy Pajamas: a May Crowning Ritual. 11 grove members dressed up in their "Sun's Day best" to honor Mary, "Our Lady, the Madonna, The Blessed Mother of Christ & Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May" in Her many forms with song, flowers, and procession. Mary got many grove members started on their pagan paths, and many pagans still honor and adore her. As per GOG tradition, the May flowers were placed on veteran's memorials around Rutgers for Memorial Day. May Crowning Photos!

May 6th: Grove of the Other Gods' BELTANE MAYFAIRE GOG's Beltane, held in Metuchen, NJ, started with a daytime ritual and altar to Helios, progressed to a twilight ritual honoring Helios and Hecate (with Janus as able gatekeeper), and ended with a nighttime ritual and altar to Hecate. 33 attended the day-night ritual, choosing sides for day or night for the rite (or hanging in the middle). Norma represented Hecate and the joys of the night. Lady Sue represented Helios and the pleasures of the day. They cajoled people to take one side or the other. There were good-natured catcalls back and forth. Both deities enjoyed this immensely. Peg led us in belly dancing, Norma in drumming, Ed made a labyrinth on Trish and Bob's front lawn, we made flower wreaths, danced the maypole, ran our hobby horse and rag man around, and ate lots of excellent mayfaire food. Many thanks to Trish and Bob and Bella for hosting and barbecue grilling and all-around hospitality. Check out GOG Beltane MayFaire Photos!! Check out the golden apples of the sun (honest, they're red apples!) and Hecate's torch (honest, it's a birdbath!).

April 30th to May 1st: Beltane Vigil and Beltane At Dawn in Princeton
GOG's 2006 Annual Beltane Vigil and Beltane Dawn contribution to the festivities with the local Morris Dancers, Molly Troop and Maypole Dancers and Madrigal Singers in Princeton. 12 attended our vigil. We thrilled to old 1950s videos of British folk customs, practiced the Hobby Horse ritual dance, practiced singing the Padstow Morning Song, over and over, made faery cakes, and took a late-night stroll to the scary Magic Fountain. Before we knew it, it was 4:30am, time to drive to Princeton to join our local Dancers on the Princeton Battlegrounds. The Dancers have been waking the earth and bringing in the May with dances and sticks and song for twenty-five years. We've been joining them with our Obby Oss as part of the program for twelve now. There were 13 of us in Princeton at dawn. Jen and Patty did a fine job as Oss and teaser, and Norma explained the ritual to the crowd (about 90 people) and led the Padstow Morning Song. Our usual leaders, Pattie and Erica, were in Padstow, Cornwall, at that very moment following the original Padstow Obby Oss festivities. PHOTOS OF OUR 2006 BELTANE VIGIL AND DAWN IN PRINCETON

April 27th, to April 30th: Mid-Atlantic Pagan Alliance Beltane 2006: A Magickal Journey
The MPA's 7th Beltane festival has a great lineup of speakers: Selena Fox, Ivo Dominquez, John J. Coughin, many others. GOG was asked by the MidAtlantic Pagan Alliance to run their Maypole ritual at the Beltane 2006 Gathering. Before we wove our community maypole, Norma gave a brief lecture on the history of maypoles, and then the first group got to weave the ribbons and then unweave them, giving that energy to the Beltane community. The first group wove chaotically, and then worked together to unwind. The second group was more serious, and wove a good tight basket weave despite all we could do to harass them with hobby horse, rag man with sharp horns, and heckling. It was great exhilerating fun for all. Selena Fox complimented us on the lecture and maypole and beasties, and took lots and lots of photos. Nine grove members participated in the maypole ritual Thanks to Bob for being the horse, Ed for dancing in the rag man, and Trish for the photos, and all who helped out. GOG also ran a Congo Square drum prayer ritual the next day, in association with others across the country who were drumming for the benefit of those who lost their possessions in the hurricanes that hit the gulf coast last year. Seven grove members helped with that, twenty attended the ritual. Click here for photos.

March 20th: Grove of the Other Gods' Beach Equinox Day Ritual to Manannan Mac Lir
12 of us spent a windy and cold Monday afternoon on the beach for our traditionally brief Equinox Day ritual to the Celtic sea God Manannan Mac Lir, Keeper of the Ways and Gatekeeper of our Grove. Several GOG lunatics went into the freezing ocean to collect magickal 9 waves waters for the grove, a human sacrifice for Manannan. We honored ancestors, and fed bread to the nature spirits, and flew a kite for the Gods. Afterwards, we assembled at the Atlantis Diner for hot beverages and hot food. Equinox Day Beach Ritual Photos!

March 18th: Grove of the Other Gods' Spring Ritual
25 attended our 2006 spring ritual, which was led by Patty. We honored Manannan Mac Lir, our Grove Gatekeeper, Son of the Sea, Celtic God of liminal spaces, honoring the Spring and consecrating our grove well water, and the ritual was performed in groups of 3 around a triskele of shells and stones. It was chilly and a bit windy, but we kept the sacred fire going. We each added local water and special water to our grove well and blessed the well, and as the magickal working, Patty and Manannan blessed tools that people brought. Our omens were from 3 different tarot decks. From the pomo (postmodern) deck we got the "evil" card, their version of the devil (we did invoke Manannan in his trickster guise), from the "Celtic" tarot we got the ace of cups, and from the "Herbal" tarot, Lady Sue drew the instruction booklet. After the ritual, we roasted Peeps on the fire, ate lots of food, frolicked in Sue's enchanted backyard, and then attended Portal of the Porcupine's Wiccan ritual that evening. Spring Ritual Photos!

March 11th: Ar nDraiocht Fein Druid Dedicants Program Meeting
Eleven people attended the second meeting of the new round of Dedicants workshops. We discussed the nine Druid virtues in depth, with each person reading their virtues essay. Then we read our essays on the recent Imbolc rituals we've attended, or what we personally did for the holiday. Homework was assigned. It was a long meeting, with everyone sharing insights. See calendar for the next meeting.

March 2nd: Rev. Marc Wicoff: Discussion of Altered States of Consciousness
Rutgers University Pagan Students Association
A discussion on altered states of consciousness, presented by Rev. Marc Wicoff, cofounder and High Priest of the Mid-atlantic Pagan Alliance (and member of GOG). This discussion covered what an altered state of consciousness is, methods on how it can be achieved, what to do once you’re there, and how to keep from getting stuck in Lala-land! The lecture was illuminating and stimulating, and Marc provoked a good deal of interesting discussion on altered brain states and grounding. 11 attended.

February 28th, Druidry Lecture at Rutgers by ISAAC BONEWITS, ADF's ArchDruid Emeritus and Founder,
Sponsored by Rutgers University Religion Students Association & Rutgers University Pagan Students Association.
30 people attended Isaacs' lecture. It was engaging, lots of fun, and blew a few minds. Isaac gave us the history of Druidry from the human migration out of Africa, through the journeys of the Indo-European tribes, to the Celts, to the various Druid revivals, right up to modern British and American Druids. The Rutgers bookstore was on hand to sell Isaac's books. CLICK HERE FOR CAROL'S REVIEW and PHOTO!

February 19th: Grove of the Other Gods' Imbolc Ritual
40 people attended Grove of the Other Gods' 2006 Imbolc ritual, led by Nora. The ritual honored Brigid as Goddess of Smithcraft, Metalworking, Crafts, and the Forge. There were two planning meetings, where a bunch of us hammered a copper plate into a ritual bowl. During the procession into the ritual space, each person at the ritual got to hammer the bowl, which was finished during the ritual. There was a lot of participation in this long ritual, lots of praise, music, offerings, (Click here for the drawing down of Brigid that Jack drew during the ritual; she's focused on her forge.) and we came away with good omens scryed from the bowl we made: the seers scryed an anchor that at first was small, and then grew larger; we are more than the sum of our parts, we can do more than we think we can, we are stronger than we realize, we need to have more faith in ourselves. (There was also something about grounding in that anchor.) After the ritual, we made butter, Brigid's crosses, and various crafts. We ate a lot of food. We gathered around a fire and burned offerings, including the Brigid dolly made before the ritual. Each person got craft supplies and a Brigid' brat. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS!

February 4th: Imbolc Ritual Planning Meeting and Metalworking
11 planned our Imbolc ritual and also spent many hours hammering a copper sheet into a preliminary shape as a ritual bowl to be finished in the rite. 8 also attended an additional setup meeting the day before the ritual. Photos! Click here!

Thor's Day, February 2nd: GOG Imbolc Crafts and Discussion- Rutgers University Pagan Students Association
We showed people how to make Brigid's crosses and how to churn butter in Tupperware as we discussed the holiday traditions associated with Imbolc and told stories about the Goddess Brigid. 6 attended.

January 26th: GOG Druid Wheel of the Year lecture at Rutgers University Pagan Students Association
Ed and Norma talked about the Druid Wheel of the Year and folk traditions and modern traditions associated with the turning of the seasons. 13 attended.

January 14th: Wassail! Wassail!
12 GOG Druids performed a traditional winter tree blessing at Portal of the Porcupine for Lady Sue's apple tree and other trees. Among other things, this involved singing, a lot of noise, a "toast," and banging pots. The nasty weather held off until we were done. A very nice time.

January 8th: Yemaya New Year's Beach Run
Beautiful ritual led by Deb, with good weather (in spite of the forecasters' predictions) and good omens, including a woman from New Orleans who joined us and asked to float her own offering out. She asked us to bless her city. Bunch of us got wet, but the ocean goddess was lovely, who can blame us? 9 people attended. We made boats of flowers and melons, and the ocean took them. We gave Her flowers. Then we ate, played arcade games. PHOTOS of our Yemaya New Year's Ritual

January 7th: Ar nDraiocht Fein Druid Dedicants Program Meeting
Thirteen people attended the first meeting of the new round of Dedicants workshops (our fourth group). They got a taste of what the program is about, and talked about their writeups for the Yule holiday and Yule ritual.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE RITUAL WRITEUPS FROM 2003 - 2005

CLICK HERE FOR MORE RITUAL WRITEUPS DATING BACK TO 1991

CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF PHOTO PAGES

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