When the Sky is Falling; How Do We Catch It?
Dear Beloveds,
Do we feel like we're sitting in the empty tomb? Can we fathom how anything will resurrect, much less democracy? Are we gazing ever-more deeply at the Kali-Ma statues on our altars, adorned in skull necklaces? With a face that looks like it could, indeed, eat demons? What image, or prayer or lament, even, rises out of our dark and restless hearts. I ask you: write and tell me: what's on your altar?
And yet, life is relentless. No matter what anathema we face, the seed splits its shell, the fire burns to white ash, and we rise.
Here's a poem that reflects this poignant moment of life springing forth as the world feels like its coming apart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Death In Spring
I’ve always kinda hated spring.
Everything breaks up in the spring
The ice and all the dark mud and muck lurking beneath,
Frozen and waiting.
The frogs hang out down there, I guess
Where does it all hang out?
Anyway…
Then everything,
The relentless life energy
Pushes our heads up
With a slow snap
And we can no more pretend
It will be the same again..
As if an answer to a prayer,
It snows today in May,
The purple tulips accepting the swirl of flakes
Catching them with their tumenscent lips.
Ha, you might be a bee
But we take what comes
Into our waiting spring mouths.
Plant seeds when it is time to plant,
Harvest when it is time to harvest
A friend tells me this morning.
This is his dictum of late.
I like that…
Sounds right; rings true
The way common sense does
You can’t argue with.
If only my psyche was more like a farmer’s almanac.
And less an ancient Coptic manuscript
Unearthed from a Gnostic cave,
The script still a rebus of meanings.
Looks like the tulips are fine
As the sun pours thru
The other day I found a frog
With its head eaten off.
-Kathleen Mandeville, May 2021
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Please join me for my latest offering in collaboration with Stefanie Frank and the N.E.S.T. to explore these themes as well as the ongoing offerings, bringing community together during this time.
WHEN THE SKY IS FALLING;
HOW DO WE CATCH IT?
Saturday, May 3rd 4pm - Sunday, May 4th 12 noon
at the N.E.S.T., Woodstock, NY
Reckoning With Our Fear, Sourcing Our Purpose
Through a combination of Kaleidoscopic Constellations, guided meditation, as well as ritual and writing practices, Kathleen will guide participants through two components: tracking the sources of our own fears and sourcing our purpose as we evolve in this profound moment of human consciousness.
If we look through the lens of history, we can observe periods of cataclysmic upheaval. We are at such a threshold time now. We are in the midst of an inescapable, profound shift in the global world order, like nothing we have experienced in our lifetimes. How do we grapple with this?
Yet, we are here and now. Some perspectives say our spirits chose to incarnate at this momentous time. We are here and now for a reason.
And it is imperative we reckon with our fears as we find our purpose.
In this way, we put on the armor of truth.
Those of us who can, must.
And this is what calls our spirits to rise!
When: Saturday, May 3, 4PM to Sunday, May 4, 12PM
Where: N.E.S.T. in Woodstock, NY
Registration:
Saturday & Sunday: Sliding scale from $188-$288
*Options to stay overnight or commute locally
Saturday or Sunday only: $111
KALEIDOSCOPIC CONSTELLATIONS
The way you look at things changes the things you look at.
Constellations is a beautiful way of seeing how our past histories inform our present views. This work enables us to source a Kaleidoscopic gaze. One shift, one slight turn allows the luminous fragments of our life to be beheld in a wholly different view.
Learn more at the newly improved Kaleidoscopic Constellations webpage.
One-On-One Sessions
With one-on-one sessions of Kaleidoscopic Constellations, this offers you the opportunity to go deeper within an intimate container.
Inquire for Private Sessions that are available in-person or online.
Monthly In-Person Group
Saturday, April 19| 3 – 6PM | $50
May TBD*
Saturday, June 21
Saturday, July 19
*usually every 3rd Saturday
Gateway House, 12 Fairview Ave, Rosendale
Space is limited; Advance registration is now required.
Please fill out this Registration Form below at least 4 days prior.
Online Group
Please use this Inquiry Form to indicate your interest :)
Holistic Community Health Days
I volunteer three slots monthly as a way to give back.
CEREMONY WITH GATEWAY HOUSE
Gateway House produces Celtic Turn of the Wheel events, celebrating the Summer & Winter Solstices, Vernal & Autumnal Equinoxes as well as the Cross Quarter days of Halloween, Imbolc, Beltane and Lammas. The high holy days of Christmas and Easter are also celebrated. Our events include performative arts and ceremonies, community networking, food, and fire, followed by performances on our Gateway House stage.
Gateway House logo designed by Mirabai Trent!
Gateway House Sanctuary Meeting
Thursday, April 24th | 7:00 pm
May we come together to share ideas and resources on how respond in this critical time. Gateway House is committed to holding sanctuary within ourselves, our communities and our world.
At our next meeting we will be learning and sharing music as well as performative elements to be used as action strategies for different activist occasions.
Join us.
Light food and depending on the weather, a fire.
RSVP 845-417-5430
Easter Sunday Service
Sunday, April 20th | 3:30 pm
ALL ARE WELCOME
Dear Friends-
Many of you know,
I began my ceremonial lineage
As an Episcopal priest.
Although I stand at the outer edge
Of mainstream Christianity,
On Easter I honor this occasion
By celebrating the Eucharist.
As we remember together, the enduring Power of resurrection in our lives,
Our communities & the world.
Potluck/Fire
Celebration of Christian Mysteries
And other earthy delights
With…
* Meryn Oakwood & The Wild Christ
* The goddess Ostara & her consort, the Easter Bunny w/ Dan Getman & Claudia Sabino
* Sermon by Kathleen Mandeville
* Music by Barely Lace, Meryn Oakwood & Elizabeth Cunningham
Please RSVP 845-417-5430 or kathleen@ignivox.net
Beltane Ceremony
Thursday, May 1 | 5 pm
Stay tuned for more details...
We invite your support of Gateway House's work and mission with gratitude for all who participate in offering their time, talent and resources.