18 Dec 2004 The Orbs of Yule Illuminated

18 Dec 2004 The Orbs of Yule Illuminated ~ Here we have an indoor shot of Circle’s Yule Tree, in the Barn Temple Room.  In this photo we see Santa; just beyond Santa are community members celebrating Yule Eve on the land.  It is cold outside, that is a given.  There are no end to shrines, sacred sites, sacred spaces, and sacred moments at Circle Sanctuary.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

18 Dec 2004 The Orbs of Yule Illuminated © Nicholas Sea

22 Nov 2004 Autumn Sweat Lodge Overlook 02

22 Nov 2004 Autumn Sweat Lodge Overlook 02 ~ This is another photo of the Sweat Lodge taken from up on the hillside looking down toward the creek at the bottom of the valley.  The sweat lodge is going into its Winter slumber.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

22 Nov 2004 Autumn Sweat Lodge Overlook 02 © Nicholas Sea

22 Nov 2004 Autumn Sweat Lodge Overlook 01

22 Nov 2004 Autumn Sweat Lodge Overlook 01 ~ Here I am looking down to the Sweat Lodge from up on the path near the restored prairie.  It is plain to see that the season is late Autumn on Circle land in this photo.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

22 Nov 2004 Autumn Sweat Lodge Overlook 01 © Nicholas Sea

22 Nov 2004 Juniper Sentinel Late Autumn

22 Nov 2004 Juniper Sentinel Late Autumn ~ Elsewhere in my photos for Circle Shrine Walk, I mention this Juniper as a location where a stag marked his territory by rubbing the bark off the trunk of this tree.  This is a photo of that same Juniper, younger and smaller.  The various types of evergreens on Circle land are some of my most favorite trees.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

22 Nov 2004 Juniper Sentinel Late Autumn © Nicholas Sea

10 Sep 2004 Creek Side Sweat Lodge Spirit

10 Sep 2004 Creek Side Sweat Lodge Spirit ~ Here is the Sweat Lodge in late Summer.  It is another testament to volunteers who mow the lawns and fields and tend the various shrines and sacred sites on Circle land. This is one of the lodges that I built, which are used for a few years and then built anew.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

10 Sep 2004 Creek Side Sweat Lodge Spirit © Nicholas Sea

04 Sep 2004 Late Summer Ritual Bonfire Quiet

04 Sep 2004 Late Summer Ritual Bonfire Quiet ~ I love being on the land between festivals.  There is much quiet and Nature has full reign. The festival bonfire area has evolved over the years.  When I first started attending gatherings at Circle Sanctuary, this part of the land was not even developed.  It was still but an old fallow farm field.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

04 Sep 2004 Late Summer Ritual Bonfire Quiet © Nicholas Sea

02 Aug 2004 Green Spirit Steps to Spirit Rock

02 Aug 2004 Green Spirit Steps to Spirit Rock ~ This is one of the iconic sights at Circle Sanctuary, Spirit Rock near Green Spirit Festival time, early in August.  When I am out at Circle land, I like to take a photo of Spirit Rock from this angle up top.  If one looks carefully at the photos of this location from over the years, one will see many changes.  For example, many of the Red Pines are now gone.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

02 Aug 2004 Green Spirit Steps to Spirit Rock © Nicholas Sea

02 Aug 2004 Green Spirit Circle VW Van

02 Aug 2004 Green Spirit Circle VW Van ~ Here is the Circle Van nestled in one of its earlier locations.  If there is any doubt as to why the Green Spirit festival is called “Green”, here is an amazing example of Circle lands all green and glowing early in August.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

02 Aug 2004 Green Spirit Circle VW Van © Nicholas Sea

22 May 2004 Circle Barn Entrance Shrine

22 May 2004 Circle Barn Entrance Shrine ~ Pagans have no end of doorway charms and window charms.  Here is a good example of a entrance shrine at the door of the Barn Temple.  There are tub planters on either side of the stairway in.  Here we see a basic Pentacle hex sign, some lovely May thyme, and a bit of extraordinary concrete flooring from one of the old, old outbuildings on the land.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

22 May 2004 Circle Barn Entrance Shrine © Nicholas Sea

22 May 2004 Willow Tree Charm

22 May 2004 Willow Tree Charm ~ I recall when this tree charm was hung on the willow near the creek down by Troll Hole, but I do not recall its prayer.  In many locations on Circle land there are tree charms and prayer ties and prayer flags of many sorts.  The winds take their messages out into the world.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

22 May 2004 Willow Tree Charm © Nicholas Sea

29 Apr 2004 Beltane Bonfire Preparations

29 Apr 2004 Beltane Bonfire Preparations ~ Reed has been building our bonfires for more years than I have fingers and toes.  He and other volunteers clear the brush and downed trees on the land and we have a firewood supply.  On this bonfire pyre, notice that the remnants of evergreen boughs of Yule 2003 are stacked.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

29 Apr 2004 Beltane Bonfire Preparations © Nicholas Sea

29 Apr 2004 Community Bonfire Circle Ready

29 Apr 2004 Community Bonfire Circle Ready ~ In preparation of Beltane 2004, the white outdoor chairs have been carried from storage by the setup crew and arranged around the Community Bonfire Circle.  Soon we will be together in the chill of an early Spring night, sharing our stories.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

29 Apr 2004 Community Bonfire Circle Ready © Nicholas Sea

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Firewood Moment

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Firewood Moment ~ Sometimes I take photos that have a lot of meaning to me in the moment.  In this moment back in 2004, perhaps I was reflecting on the volunteer work involved in maintaining the firewood piles we use for different occasions at Circle.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Firewood Moment © Nicholas Sea

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Stone Pile

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Stone Pile ~ Associated with the sweat lodge are several piles of stones.  Different sweat leaders handle the stones in different ways.  Seen here is the pile of spent stones that have accumulated after many sweats.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Stone Pile © Nicholas Sea

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Wood Piles

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Wood Piles ~ I do not recall when the last sweat was held in the old sweat lodge area.  I will sort through my photos and see if I can figure that out.  It wasn’t too much previous to my taking this sequence of photos.  The fire pit and wood piles are fresh enough to imagine that perhaps it was in 2003.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Wood Piles © Nicholas Sea

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Fire Pit Stones

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Fire Pit Stones ~ There are a number of fire pits on the land at Circle Sanctuary.  This fire pit is at the old sweat lodge area, which is right next to the creek and the large cottonwood trees.  This was the second location for sweats at Circle.  This location is now retired and a new sweat lodge area is being located in Hickory Grove.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

13 Apr 2004 Sweat Lodge Fire Pit Stones © Nicholas Sea

13 Apr 2004 Deer Trail Down To The Creek

13 Apr 2004 Deer Trail Down To The Creek ~ I have always followed the stag and Herne; look at the license plate on my car.  Thanks to Al, one of the Circle Patrol members over the years, I began to seek out more and more deer sign when I visit the land.  Lately, it is mostly on Samhain that I am out to Circle, which is the time of the rut.  Stag rubs and hoof markings are found throughout the land.  This photo shows one of the deer trails coming down from Ritual Mound to the creek.  There is a matching trail on the other side of the creek.  Some shrines are mobile and ephemeral; the King Stag territorial markings and paths are one of these.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

13 Apr 2004 Deer Trail Down To The Creek © Nicholas Sea

13 Apr 2004 Community Bonfire Circle Rocks

13 Apr 2004 Community Bonfire Circle Rocks ~ For many years I tended the Circle Community Bonfire circle of stones.  I am the volunteer who spread the base gravel that levels the area, and I have added many stones from Circle Land to maintain the fire ring.  On this volunteer day I put in a lot of effort digging fresh rocks from the upper parking lot embankment for the Community Bonfire ring and for the various Circle House Gardens.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

13 Apr 2004 Community Bonfire Circle Rocks © Nicholas Sea

06 Apr 2004 Community Bonfire and Maypole

06 Apr 2004 Community Bonfire and Maypole ~ Volunteers have cleared the mugwort stalks from around the Maypole and stacked a might heap of firewood.  The Community Bonfire has a few scraps ready for a small fire and the circle of chairs has yet to be brought out.  Coming soon are both Earth Day 2004, and Circle Beltane Festival.  Preparations are in progress.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

06 Apr 2004 Community Bonfire and Maypole © Nicholas Sea

06 Apr 2004 Kwan Yin Trellis Garden

06 Apr 2004 Kwan Yin Trellis Garden ~ Kwan Yin has been at Circle Sanctuary for quite some time.  There have been various iterations of decorative components to the shrine.  The trellis seen in this image has seen a bit of weathering by 2004.  During this time, I began work on the Circle House Gardens.  Alas, the gardens have faded over the years as volunteers have worked on other projects.

Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, USA

06 Apr 2004 Kwan Yin Trellis Garden © Nicholas Sea