A Little Bit of Snakes Rising History
If you are visiting this blog to find out about the Snakes Rising schedule please go to: www.snakesrising.com
We have moved our main web page and this blog has become a place to learn about the methods and purposes of Snakes Rising.
I have been asked so many times about how we came into existence. Here goes. At the turn of this century... around the year 2000, David and I (with Bobbye Wood and Gini Edwards) were in the midst of founding and leading a chapter of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans. The chapter was called EarthSpirit and it was housed at and supported by then minister, Annie Foerster, at St. John's Unitarian Universalist Church. Annie had asked us to found the chapter in order to provide earth centered liturgy to the congregation. Outreach was also part of our mission.
Eventually, by about 2002, that out reach took on a life of it's own and a small band of EarthSpirit members went on the road as Snakes Rising. We took this name from several sources. Some of us were practicing kundalini yoga at the time, some of us were studying druidic rites, and still one other was a snake dancer.
We had been dancing, as a group, with the videos of Gabrielle Roth (the Wave series.) This we did in cooperation with Mira Rodwan of Happendance. At the same time we had attracted a second bellydancer named Ishara into our fold. Hence, we started to combine the principles of the Wave with the art of belly dance. Our liturgies became participative as a result.
In June of 2002, Stacy Bartley of the Pagan Community Council of Ohio (PCCO) asked us to come to a festival that he was organizing. It was at that time that Snakes Rising entered the festival circuit never to look back! Our first performance took place at Burgett's Park in Oberlin. We have returned there for subsequent gigs and it is one of our favorite venues.
The founders of Snakes Rising were, at this time, doing some pioneer work in a community called Tantra Heart. It is an branch of Tantrika International. The group studies Ipsalu Tantra Kriya Yoga under the guidance of Richard and Antoinette Asimus. The practice of this yoga, and it's approaches to Ecstatic Dance, are woven into the work of Snakes Rising in a way that is undefinable yet palpable.
Over the last two years, Snakes Rising has attracted many talented dancers and musicians. A few have stayed with us for over a year to comprise what I will call "the core planning team" for the group. Among those are TR and Brea. Newer members that we LOVE to work with (and hope will stay) are Curtis, Bill, Laura, Dawn and, of course Raymere! We are also excited about the troupe, Zulaikhah, that formed out of work with Snakes Rising.
What we have learned through experience is that Snakes Rising thrives best when it is comprised of artists who are not only talented in their music and dance. They also must understand and embrace deep magic and theories of ecstacy. At this time we are blessed to have both.
The future? Snakes Rising has really been forced to step away from it's very local definition. It's been great to serve the pagan community of Cincinnati. It was with great pleasure that we donated time to Cincy's Pagan Pride Day three years in a row. And, with joy we raised funds for the communities at St. John's and at Robin's Hood. Now our members live in Dayton as much as Cincy. We have members in Columbus as well. A nice, though smallish, following in Northern Ohio is developing as well.
In 2005 we take our workshops, as well as our performances, on the road in Ohio and beyond. Our audiences are expanding to include the New Age and Yoga communities as well as the Pagan and Ecstatic Dance folk. We are proud to have been invited to present and perform for the Association for Consciousness Exploration (ACE) at their Winterstar festival.
Perhaps, what is most exciting for me is the incorporation of Kirtan into our musical repertoire. With it, the awakening process that is Snakes Rising becomes complete:
*Kirtan, and the enactments we perform with it, offer a route to direct awakening of the subconscious through auditory and visual symbolic language.
*Bellydance is a "dance of isolation." It can and does address every muscle and nerve in the body. Hence, when we play and dance to our mid-east and trance rhythms we are awakening the body... every fiber!
*Finally, how could we talk about Snakes Rising without mention of it's earth centered ceremonies and spiral dances? It's where we got our start! It's our way of awakening the earth. We especially love to do this at Beltaine and, this year we will make our third annual appearance around the Beltaine fires at Our Haven in French Lick, Indiana.
May each of us, every day, enjoy awakening of Mind, Body and Earth Spirit.
Namaste!
We have moved our main web page and this blog has become a place to learn about the methods and purposes of Snakes Rising.
I have been asked so many times about how we came into existence. Here goes. At the turn of this century... around the year 2000, David and I (with Bobbye Wood and Gini Edwards) were in the midst of founding and leading a chapter of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans. The chapter was called EarthSpirit and it was housed at and supported by then minister, Annie Foerster, at St. John's Unitarian Universalist Church. Annie had asked us to found the chapter in order to provide earth centered liturgy to the congregation. Outreach was also part of our mission.
Eventually, by about 2002, that out reach took on a life of it's own and a small band of EarthSpirit members went on the road as Snakes Rising. We took this name from several sources. Some of us were practicing kundalini yoga at the time, some of us were studying druidic rites, and still one other was a snake dancer.
We had been dancing, as a group, with the videos of Gabrielle Roth (the Wave series.) This we did in cooperation with Mira Rodwan of Happendance. At the same time we had attracted a second bellydancer named Ishara into our fold. Hence, we started to combine the principles of the Wave with the art of belly dance. Our liturgies became participative as a result.
In June of 2002, Stacy Bartley of the Pagan Community Council of Ohio (PCCO) asked us to come to a festival that he was organizing. It was at that time that Snakes Rising entered the festival circuit never to look back! Our first performance took place at Burgett's Park in Oberlin. We have returned there for subsequent gigs and it is one of our favorite venues.
The founders of Snakes Rising were, at this time, doing some pioneer work in a community called Tantra Heart. It is an branch of Tantrika International. The group studies Ipsalu Tantra Kriya Yoga under the guidance of Richard and Antoinette Asimus. The practice of this yoga, and it's approaches to Ecstatic Dance, are woven into the work of Snakes Rising in a way that is undefinable yet palpable.
Over the last two years, Snakes Rising has attracted many talented dancers and musicians. A few have stayed with us for over a year to comprise what I will call "the core planning team" for the group. Among those are TR and Brea. Newer members that we LOVE to work with (and hope will stay) are Curtis, Bill, Laura, Dawn and, of course Raymere! We are also excited about the troupe, Zulaikhah, that formed out of work with Snakes Rising.
What we have learned through experience is that Snakes Rising thrives best when it is comprised of artists who are not only talented in their music and dance. They also must understand and embrace deep magic and theories of ecstacy. At this time we are blessed to have both.
The future? Snakes Rising has really been forced to step away from it's very local definition. It's been great to serve the pagan community of Cincinnati. It was with great pleasure that we donated time to Cincy's Pagan Pride Day three years in a row. And, with joy we raised funds for the communities at St. John's and at Robin's Hood. Now our members live in Dayton as much as Cincy. We have members in Columbus as well. A nice, though smallish, following in Northern Ohio is developing as well.
In 2005 we take our workshops, as well as our performances, on the road in Ohio and beyond. Our audiences are expanding to include the New Age and Yoga communities as well as the Pagan and Ecstatic Dance folk. We are proud to have been invited to present and perform for the Association for Consciousness Exploration (ACE) at their Winterstar festival.
Perhaps, what is most exciting for me is the incorporation of Kirtan into our musical repertoire. With it, the awakening process that is Snakes Rising becomes complete:
*Kirtan, and the enactments we perform with it, offer a route to direct awakening of the subconscious through auditory and visual symbolic language.
*Bellydance is a "dance of isolation." It can and does address every muscle and nerve in the body. Hence, when we play and dance to our mid-east and trance rhythms we are awakening the body... every fiber!
*Finally, how could we talk about Snakes Rising without mention of it's earth centered ceremonies and spiral dances? It's where we got our start! It's our way of awakening the earth. We especially love to do this at Beltaine and, this year we will make our third annual appearance around the Beltaine fires at Our Haven in French Lick, Indiana.
May each of us, every day, enjoy awakening of Mind, Body and Earth Spirit.
Namaste!
posted by Susan @ 8:04 AM
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