Festival Season is upon us.

Besides Muin Mound Madness II being

held August 13-15 here in Syracuse, there are other festivals
being attended by members of our Grove. Find out in advance about
pre-registration information and potential car pooling. If you
need a ride or have one to share, please let us know ASAP so that
we can coordinate our efforts.
Otherwise, take the BROOM!!!
Summer Solstice Senior Druids Report
Work is progressing nicely on the domed structure in our back fields. We
had 9 people show up to help us the week-end of May 22. Work didn't go as fast
as we had planned, so 7 of us worked on it again the week-end of May 29. Three
quarters of the structure is completed, with more work needed to be done on the
dome itself and on upper level bracing. The is a lot of room for natural art
work and decorations available, donations are welcomed.
While we were working the first week-end, we came up with a name for the
structure. It's name is "Temple of the Muin". To live up to it's name as
Temple of the Vine, many different types of vining plants will be planted around
the base. Within a few years, most of it will be covered with vines.
The Wellspring Gathering was attended by 6 people from the Grove. It was a
cold, wet week-end, but we still had a lot of fun. A new Vice Archdruid,
Chronicler, and Members Advocate were elected along with three new Non-Officer
Directors. All other board members stayed the same. Full elections results
will be published in the next News From The Mother Grove.
As well as being elected Vice Archdruid, Ian Corrigan was appointed the
Chief Liturgist. He will be working with all the Grove Scribes to get copies of
their Rituals in booklet form and available to all members.
In closing, I'll repeat again, we can use more help at the Business
Meetings. With our festival, Muin Mound Madness II, coming up the week-end of
August 13 - 15, we need volunteers to help with it. Anyone interested in giving
a workshop, please let Kia or myself know as soon as possible.

Scribe's Report
Thanks to Gloria for coming up with such a beautiful name for our Temple. And
many thanks to every person who toiled through the digging, cutting, lifting,
and dragging. Special thanks to Thor, who saved our backs and was uplifting
when it came to lashing.
There will be impromptu work parties throughout the summer to comtinue the work.
The planned artwork and nurturing of vines will be a perpetual task that
depends on your enthusiasm and vigor.
The Temple is open to all who wish to spend time in it. I stress the fact that
it is a TEMPLE. Although not all activities may be spiritual in nature, I wish
to remind every one to be respectful of the labor spent on it, the time and
effort invested in its planning, and the sacred Earth upon which it stands. We
have built this Temple to honor the God(dess)s and to have a sanctuary to praise
Life.
So, I stress the MUNDANE stuff: recycle, use bins provided, NO GLASS, clean up
after yourself, not a Jungle Gym...etc,...etc...
I look forward to all of us holding Ritual in it and having a blazing fire and
having a Muin Mound Madness II festival in it and drumming and dancing
and...and...
 Earth
The green Earth sends her incense up
To greet the breaking day
From valleys and meadows
Comes the fragrance of new mown hay.
The morning mist rises lazily
Above the streams and ponds
Fragile tendrils of moisture
Gathering in wispy fronds.
The birds are chirping mightily
Heralding the dawn
There's a gentle stirring rustle
Morning movements of a fawn.
My horse and I enter the forest
While the dew is still on the leaves
He lowers his head to the water
Where he stands up to his knees.
Small creatures scurry before us
Indignant at being disturbed
By a big-footed, man-smelling
stranger
Intruding into their world.
by Patricia A. Waldron

I am the essence of the prayer,

Robed in the smoke of the offering fire.
I drift toward the window on the air,
And the wind whips me wild and higher.

Stripped to my purest form, I race

To my goal - Do you see me?
I hover a moment before your face, and
There I give up my will to be free.
And I am breathed in, to become
A part of you, your yearning and desire,
From which you go off, into the wood,
And build another offering fire.
by Fire Feet
 First Circle Vigil
by RavenWolfe
A number of individuals have expressed an interest in taking part in a First
Circle Vigil. We had a very moving all-night vigil at the Wellspring Gathering
last year under the direction of Skip Ellison and Georgeanna Cavanaugh. I was
there, a part of it, and words cannot express the deep spiritual uplifting I
experienced as I reaffirmed my committment to the God(dess)s and my dedication to
ADF. I feel that it was a milestone on my path to the ALL.
We wish to share the opportunity of this ritual in all of its beauty...the
guided meditation, aspurging and censing, annointing, and all night vision quest
into the realms of one's individual spiritual unconscious. If we conduct this
ritual at Muin Mound Grove, it can
be concluded in the Sweat Lodge.
If you wish to share in this
experience - whether at Drum Fest,
Muin Mound Madness II, after a Great
Day, Starwood, on a Full Moon, or on
a weekend - please let me know well
in advance so that we can schedule a
time for you or for a group to
participate in this ritual. Call me
at (315) 469-3568 and I'll get back
to you if I am not there.
We at ADF encourage
individuals, who have come to our
rituals and gotten a "feel" of what
ADF is all about, to participate in
this ritual. When we become a part
of a group, it is important to the
group and to ourselves to establish
some sort of committment and
dedication. Without committment,
the group could not flourish and
energies could not be raised and
directed.
I feel confident that
participating in the First Circle
Vigil will help each person get a
better focus on him/her self and
one's personal mission in this lifetime. I did for me.
Blessed Be.

Community Service Announcement

The State of New York has not as yet contacted us concerning the Adopt-A-Highway Program. They said that it takes a
couple of months to process the paperwork. If anyone has a special interest pertaining to community service, that we as a
Grove could do, please attend one of the business meetings to bring it up.

Skip is giving a lecture on Neopagan Druidism at the Salt of the Earth Central New York Mensa regional gathering in
Cazenovia on Sunday, June 27, at 9 AM. We wish to thank him for representing the Druid community in the many lectures
he hosts.

Special Interest Group

by RavenWolfe
While at the Wellspring Gathering, our fearless Archdruid Isaac Bonewits and
I were conversing about special interest groups while being bathed amidst a
myriad of bubbles one Saturday night.
I suppose I must admit that I was complaining somewhat (but who better to
complain to) about sexism, gender bias, and a general lack of understanding out
in Mundania and in the pagan community about gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and
transgendered individuals. People who lead alternative lifestyles have been
discriminated against throughout the centuries right up to today.
I explained about the difficulties, subjugation, humiliation, and isolation
I have experienced being both bisexual and transexual. I used to joke, "By being
transexual, bisexual, Native American, and a Witch, everyone can find something
to discriminate against." It wasn't until what seemed YEARS of therapy that I
realized that making such a statement wasn't such a laughing matter.
I am thankful and pleased to say that ADF has been very open (especially
Muin Mound Grove), and has made me feel welcomed, appreciated, and needed; and I
feel alot healthier about myself as a result. Last year at Starwood I learned
about empowerment - I took my vulnerability and held it high - feeling the
strength and energy it contained. Feeling good about myself made it all happen.
When gender and preference are not an issue, I am better able to function
intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, and creatively. ADF ensures the right
for each member to express him or herself as it says in What is Ar nDraiocht
Fein? "we have deliberately chosen to make gender and affectional preferences
irrelevant to participation in ADF."
"Big Brother" God has permeated the very flux of civilization and thought;
and like a cancer, has spread into other religions and cultures. Gender and
sexuality seem to be measured on a linear scale of opposites. A person is
supposed to be one or the other and each one has gender rules of conduct and
affectional preference. Unfortunately, many pagans buy into these concepts
unconsciously and we, as human beings, are supposed to fit into either the God or
Goddess archetype.
"Many moons ago," people like me were revered as being "touched by the Great
Spirit." Too many "apples" (red on the outside, white on the inside) have been
unknowingly westernized beyond their wildest dreams and the patriarchal Church
has convinced them that we are evil. Have you ever been called "an abomination
against nature"? I have and by a "skin." Look at what the Church has done to my
People! Look at what patriarchy has done to my Earth Mother!
How are we going to change these things? How can we educate whoever wants
to learn? How am I going to find out about myself and others like me? How can I
discover my place in the overall plan for the Cosmos and what I have to
contribute to the betterment of Humanity? I am a member of a Gender Support
group but I am still isolated. Why? There are lots of transgendered people but
no pagans. In ADF there are lots of pagans but I don't know any transgendered
people. I know that I am not alone.
Isaac suggested that I help form a Special Interest Group to address the
issues of the "Alternative Community." Pretty good idea, huh? Perhaps we can
pool our information and talents and see how we, whose energies have developed
apart from the "mainstream," influence the magickal mystical powers that Be. I
don't want to paddle around in the pool alone. Why not jump in?
If you have any suggestions, ideas, comments, gripes, or would like to
contribute articles towards a potential newsletter, please write to me at the
Grove address ATTN: RavenWolfe. I have a computer so disks in ASCII or
WordPerfect would alleviate redundancy in typing.
Bright blessing RavenWolfe