Back in the early eighties, when I was just beginning my journey down the Pagan Path, I bought my first book on Paganism.
A book that changed my life profoundly back then, and continues to do so to this very day.
That book was The Spiral Dance, written by the well-known Pagan leader and author, Starhawk.
For myself as well as thousands of others, this book has played a leading role in introducing us to the concept of Goddess worship. As explained on Starhawk’s own website,
This bestselling classic is both an unparalleled reference on the practices and philosophies of Witchcraft and a guide to the life-affirming ways in which readers can turn to the Goddess to deepen their sense of personal pride, develop their inner power, and integrate mind, body, and spirit.
The Spiral Dance was published in 1979, and around Samhain of that year the Reclaiming Collective, of which Starhawk is a founding member, held the first Spiral Dance ritual.
Thirty years later, the Spiral Dance continues. This year, the 30th Anniversary of this ritual will take place on the night of Samhain itself – October 31st.
What is the Spiral Dance? It is a ritual to honor our beloved dead and to dance the spiral of rebirth:
We gather to remember and honor our ancestors, our Beloved Dead, and all those who have crossed over. As we mourn for those we love who have died this year, we also mourn the losses and pain suffered by the Earth, our Mother. Yet even as we grieve we also remember and honor the sacred cycle of life, death, rebirth and regeneration, celebrating the births of our children born this year, and our own vital connections to the Earth and each other, in which we ground our hope.
~ Reclaiming’s Spiral Dance website
Starhawk
photograph taken by Bert Meijer of Holland
I also encourage Crossroads readers to check out the excellent interview that Jason Pitzl-Waters of The Wild Hunt did with Starhawk regarding the Spiral Dance and the anniversary:
http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/09/interview-with-starhawk.html
In the spirit of making this event as inclusive as possible, American Sign Language Interpreters are being made available for this event so that Deaf individuals can participate. Several interpreters are offering up their services for the ritual, the music, etc. The Spiral Dance Planning Committee is working with Ocean and other members of Reclaiming to assure that the event is as accessible to the Deaf Community as possible.
Let’s demonstrate our support of these efforts by attending. If you’re going to be in the Bay Area for Samhain, why not do something different this year and join us? This event promises to be an unforgettable experience!
(continued below)
poster photograph by Michael Starkman
30th Anniversary Spiral Dance Ritual
Hosted by Reclaiming
Saturday, October 31, 2009
7:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
(doors open at 6:00 p.m. – come earlier to look around)
Kezar Pavilion in Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA
tickets on sale for sliding scale fee
for more information and to see a video, check this link
http://reclaimingspiraldance.org/
In order to include members of the Deaf Community in this ritual, if you have any names of individuals who have died in the past year (since November 1 of 2008), or babies who have been born in the past year, please feel free to pass this information on to me (Ocean) at oshginva@gmail.com and I will do my best to get these names included in the ritual.
Any and all people are invited to participate in the Spiral Dance – you do not need to be Pagan yourself. If you wish to attend, please know that you will be welcomed regardless of your own spiritual path.
As the Spiral Dance website says…
When we dance the spiral, young and old together, we remember and honor our own past at that same time we renew our vision and embrace the future.
Won’t you join me for the dance?
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
I am soooo thrilled to learn about this, Ocean! I know that there is no doubt this is the result of your own activism. You are the Deaf Community’s own “Starhawk.”
I wish that I was closer, so that I could be there with you. But know that I will be joining in spirit, and hopefully next year I can actually attend. I’m soooo jealous!
This also reminds me a little of some posts that you and Patti Durr wrote here at the Crossroads a while back, talking about whether Deaf people can dance. It was not so much about the act of physically dancing (although we can certainly do that too, as Marlee Matlin proved on “Dancing With the Stars”)…
Rather, it was about the kind of dancing that you’re talking about here – the Dance of Life… of remembering and honoring all that we were, all that we are, and all that we hope to be.
The dance of renewing our vision and embracing our future.
I hope that lots of Deaf people do show up for this event… and that they show the world that Deaf people can indeed dance.
Blessings!
Ocean, I’m so glad to hear about this! I wish I could come! This is awesome!
Have fun and go for me!
BB
D’
Awesome!! What a fresh wind to find someone who actually is responsive and follows through on meeting the need!
now thats what im talking about, open up the ritual for all, including those that cant hear. interpreters should have been made available a long time ago. so that all may fully enjoy and be included
Dear Ocean,
I wish that I would be closer to there with you and the group.
I would love the spiral dances from my heart. It will bring joy to all of us. Dear Ocean go there for us. I believe that the interpreter should be there to join with them. Hearing people and the deaf should join and be joy ! Thank you !
So glad this event is opening to include even more. The deaf community and those that care about them really appreciate this!
Wish I could be there, and I’m glad it is going to be “all access”! I hope it is a huge success! Have fun!!!!
At Pantheacon last year, I was taken by surprise and very pleased to have ASL interpreters be involved at the presentation I gave about Circling San Francisco Bay. Their capacity to participate in the drummed shamanic journey was very moving, and led to an ongoing interest on my part to be more available to, and involved with, the deaf community. Since then, I’ve been very pleased to share visits to sacred sites several times. I look forward to expanding relationships with a community with whom we share this wonderful location on the planet, but are separated from interaction with the rest of us without the involvement of the ASL interpreters. Making Spiral Dance available to them is a welcome and powerful act.
I’ve been inspired by books on Wicca and Paganism, but attending my first public ritual made the theoretical real to me. I am so excited that there is an opportunity for people who are Deaf to experience public Goddess worship and can share the energies of their fellow human beings while having access to the spoken word so that they, too, may be inspired by the wonderful Spiral Dance Ritual.
The Reclaiming Collective is part of a powerful and important effort to make Paganism accessible to all who strive to learn more about earth centered spirituality. The more this service is offered and advertised, the more the Deaf community will be able to be educated about what is Paganism. This opens a path to the Goddess for those that feel Her call.
My only regret is that I won’t be able to join you this year. I hope that this is only the first of many years that the Spiral Dance will be interpreted.
Bright Blessings!
Aloha, Ocean!
I will be there to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Spiral Dance! I know many of the founding members of Reclaiming and look forward to seeing some of them on Samhain night.
I’m especially excited that the event will be interpreted this year! Once I am certified as an interpreter, I hope to serve the community as an interpreter for future Spiral Dances.
Blessed Be, and see you soon in San Francisco!
That’s wonderful there’ll be interpreters. Deaf people are not asking for, nor do they need “special treatment.” What Deaf people need is *equal access*. Providing equal access allows ALL participants to be human– no one greater or lesser than the other, but just equally human.
Won’t be in SF, but those who do go, enjoy the festivities!
I really enjoy your blog… I’ve nominated you for an award at on mine…
*hugs*
Thank you so much for all your work to include the Deaf community and making this a sign language interpreted event! I plan to go.
Wishing I lived on the West Coast… I would be at the Spiral Dance! Wonderful of Starhawk and friends to help with ASL Interpreters! I agree that Starhawk’s book, The Spiral Dance is my best Pagan book.
I admire Starhawk since I read her awesome book, The Fifth Sacred Thing. But, shame on me, I haven’t read the Spiral Dance! Bad witch… Loved your post, so well written and it’s great to know that now everybody indeed can join this wonderful ritual.
Have a blessed Samhain, Ocean!
Kisses from us.
I am very Pagan & I have recently felt a deep calling to learn sign language. Now I know why. I would love to be able to sign at not only the rituals that I facilitate, but also at the rituals I attend should an interpreter be needed. Are there any specialized Pagan Sign Language classes that anyone is aware of online or in NY/CT?
Blessed Be,
Maryalyce
If you really want to learn sign language and be able to interpret rituals, I would first highly recommend that you read Ocean’s excellent article about “Pagan Sign Language” here at the Crossroads… you can find the link here:
http://deafpagancrossroads.com/2008/11/24/interview-with-the-deaf-witch-part-iii-pagan-sign-language/
You might also benefit from reading the following article here at the Crossroads as well, which was written by a professional interpreter:
http://deafpagancrossroads.com/2006/12/11/providing-interpreters-for-pagan-events/
After reading these, then you might want to follow up with a private email to Ocean at oshginva@gmail.com and maybe she can provide you with further information.
Bear in mind, that one class does not an interpreter make. I’ve taken three years of ASL classes and I’m still nowhere near the level to be providing interpreting services. If your thoughts are to take a class or two and then run off and start interpreting these rituals, you better think again.
I wish you the best with your goals, but I think you need to do a bit of reading up, learn more about ASL and Interpreting, and get a better understanding of what is involved first.
[...] of the first books I read when I began my journey down the Pagan Path was The Spiral Dance by Starhawk, a classic piece of Pagan literature that in my humble opinion belongs in every witch’s [...]