Four Winds News - June 2005
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News items posted to this page are usually edited versions of Member Mailings.
Four Winds News: 25 June 2005
The June Bardic turned out to be a rather good time. Good thing, as we will have to take some down time. Kurt will be supporting a Sundance in South Dakota with his Medicine Brothers of Kohi the first half of August. The Chorus shall be taking the rest of the Summer off. Go to the beach! Keep drumming, singing and dancing out there!With so many things in flux in both Member's lives, and the greater community of Spirit, especially in the NYC area, it seems a call for ceremony is right and appropriate. Therefore I am called to offer this event to our Members. A ritual event in two parts, a Bardic Honoring of the people who have made the work of the Chorus possible, and of the Members themselves. To be celebrated with Songs of Honor and the Sacred Pipe that I have carried with both honor and trepidation for so many years now.
After polling the Membership, we chose Sunday the 10th of July as the most auspicious day. For those interested, the pool is also open and nice and blue!
SPECIAL EVENT
MEMBER'S BARD'S HONORING & PIPE CEREMONIES
SUNDAY, JULY 10*, 2:00pm to Evening
The home of Kurt & Heather Griffith, Nanuet, NY, 845 623-0940A remembrance and celebration of 11 years of Bardic Service. All Four Winds Members past and present, active or inactive welcome. Members and their Guests only, please.
Ritual Commitment for Members shall be the offering of an Honoring Song. I leave it to the individual Bard the interpretation of "Honoring." I am sure we shall have some brilliant contributions —Kurt
Available Members please let us know if we can expect you, or if you would like to know more about this event. Donations towards pot luck refreshments gleefully accepted.
*Note: Originally planned for July 17, the 10th was better for more Members.
FOUR WINDS: MOVING FORWARD?
A Note from the Director:
The future of the Chorus is, despite the bittersweet pleasure in recent events, in some flux. Despite the two recent well run and well performed events, I sense enthusiasm for the Chorus waning as recruitment has dwindled to a trickle, events are poorly attended, and Members are one by one overtaken by "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune", or in other words, our busy busy lives.I, of course, am no exception. Career, an essentially struggling home business since my post-9/11 dismissal from corporate art & design, and the escalating demands of family life, have me constantly reconsidering how much time and effort I can devote to the Chorus. I do know that for the Chorus to succeed in a more robust fashion, it requires more work than I have been able to spare the past two years. And I am rather loath to turn over the reigns to anyone less enthusiastic than me and absolutely on the same page as me on the spiritual vision I have for this organization that has been so close to my heart for so many years of joyous noise. And quite frankly, I have received as much criticism, some of it rather negative and at times hostile, of the Chorus and my leadership, as I have good reviews in the past few years, against a background of family crisis.
The fact that there has been very limited interest or follow through on the question of either celebrating or ceremonially marking our just passed 11th Year Anniversary is somewhat telling. As last year, all plans for a 10th Year Project evaporated utterly under the pressure of worldly concerns.
Obviously, I shall have to do personal ceremony on this question. But no fear for the moment, I have made no decisions for the present time. But the topic shall be meditated on, prayed with, reviewed and revisited in the days and weeks to come. But as ever, I offer my heartfelt thanks to every Member, past and present, active or retired, and all our friends, fans, allies, hosts, and supporters for their many many and very sacred contributions over the years.
Pilamaye.
Mitakuye Oyasin * Blessed Be * Ashe * Shalom * A Salaam * Amen * Om
Kurt Griffith/Talking Stone
Choral Director
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