Future Direction for Snakes Rising

Several people have recently asked about our future direction so I

thought this may be a good time to share the vision!

First and foremost we are a family. We exist to take care of one
another while we do the, sometimes difficult, work of bringing
ecstatic practice to human beings on the planet. I would never have
guessed this a year or two ago... but most of us are now teachers. We
find that we need each other to create with so we can go back and
teach what we learn together. We ARE the cauldron of transformation!

Snakes Rising is spreading out to encompass a broader region. For that
reason, our own meetings with one another inevitably grow fewer. That
is OK. I am committed to keeping the family in touch! "Snake Central"
will be moving to Columbus OH for a while. That is so we can be closer
to our Pittsburg members, Brea and Bill.

Yust has also asked about his relationship to us. Well... if we can be
in Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Pittsburg.... why not New York or
Boston? It was not so long ago that I shared the vision of a "bridge
of ecstasy" spanning from Indiana to the East Coast. Mane was
particularly impressed with the vision if I do remember.

A few things will soon happen to support this new model of Snakes Rising:

When I renew the web page contract I will increase the # of pages. At
that point, web pages will go geographic. One will be dedicated to
each of the areas where our teachers do their work. That way....
schedules for, say Pittsburg, will be separate than schedules for SW
Ohio or Boston or wherever.....

We are also in the process of ordering business cards for our
teachers. The cards will be somewhat uniform but will also have
regional details and contact info. on them.

Finally... as new promotional materials come out (bumper stickers
etc.) they will no longer say "Cincinnati" or even "Ohio." And the
only contact info. on them will be <www.snakesrising.com>

At this point in time, we are welcoming teachers of music and dance
(and probably poetry) to practice and perform with us. And then to go
back to their respective students with our unique brand of ecstatic
practice!

So be it.

Amma

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!

New Book by Gabrielle Roth

If you have been around Snakes Rising for a little while you know that we are students of Gabrielle Roth and her dance process called "The Wave." Here's a review of her new book: The 5 Threads of Intuitive Wisdom.



Connections: The 5 Threads of Intuitive Wisdom

by Gabrielle Roth



Once you awaken your intuition and get in the habit of listening to and acting on it, every decision in your life will become reflective of your inner truth. The trick is not to try to work out all the answers in your head. Rather, take whatever information you need into your body, trust your gut, then dance or meditate or walk or do whatever you need to enter a relaxed state of being and you'll know what to do. You always have and you always will.

--- from Connections

Coincidence. Miracles. Divine Intervention.
What many people consider once-in-a-lifetime occurrences, explains Gabrielle Roth, are actually intuition. Organically, every person is intuitive, but the pressures of daily life and fixed identities interfere with the natural self.

In Connections, Roth shows how through movement we can reconnect with our innate intuition and replace the fixed notion of self with a persona that is fluid, changing, and receptive. In this powerful meditation, she illuminates the path to intuition through five basic threads that ignite our inner guidance. With penetrating exercises in bodily motion and shrewd insights into the workings of the intuitive mind, Connections gives the reader hands-on tools to lead a fuller life.

Gabrielle Roth is an internationally recognized theater director, movement innovator/explorer, and recording artist, and the bestselling author of Maps to Ecstasy and Sweat Your Prayers. Her teaching throughout many areas of culture for the past thirty-five years has involved working in schools, hospitals, corporate offices, theaters, and growth centers, including Esalen Institute. She has been featured in Self, Elle, Mademoiselle, Yoga Journal, Shape, and other magazines. Roth's workshops and retreats are known for an electric intensity that weds contemporary currents of rock music, modern theater, and poetry to the ancient pulse of shamanism. She lives in New York City.

JEREMY P. TARCHER/PENGUIN
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.


"Gabrielle did it again! Start reading and you will feel connected to the mystery of your soul and the beat of your heart. Connections takes you on a deeply authentic and inspiring journey to spiritual awakening through dance. It shows you the way to break in, break out, break through mental chaos into the center, the essence of your being. It is the most direct, natural and profound spiritual teaching for our time."

-- Margot Anand, author of The Art of Everyday Ecstasy

Blog Changes

The format of the Snakes Rising Blog is changing! This is no longer the place to check out our schedule. You can do that by clicking on the above heading. It will take you to www.snakesrising.com

I will now be using the blog to share and discuss theory and practice within the Snakes Rising Community.

We have added some new teachers, incorporated more Kirtan and launched a new web page this Fall season. It's a busy time for us... we'd like to share that with you.

Check back often. I'll be sharing some of the chants we use in our performances. That way you'll be prepared to sing along.

Namaste,

Autumn into Winter

The Snakes have had a very busy Autumn season. We've been on the road nearly every weekend. Thanks to all who came out to see us and dance with us. Such joy!

Since October 2nd we have been joined by Raymere. We're pleased about that! If you have not yet been out to see him dance with us... make a point of doing that soon. You don't know what you are missing!

We have also returned to our roots a bit and a re-incorporating more Goddess Chants. The feedback on this has been overwhelmingly positive. For that reason we'll be doing at least a little bit of Kirtan at each of our winter gigs.

With All of the Ohio Pagan Pride Days behind us we now turn our attention to two Samhain events (one in Coshocton OH and one in Covington KY) a Psychic Fair (November's Victory of Light) and our New Year's party at Kira's Oasis. Details about all of these can be found at our new web page: www.snakesrising.com

Look for a series of winter "Ecstatic Music and Dance" sessions to be scheduled in various parts of Ohio in Jan/ Feb/ Mar 0f 2005. We are expanding to Dayton and Columbus (and possibly Oberlin) next year!


Jai Ambe Gauri
Hail to the Great Radiant Mother!

Jai Shyaamaa Gauri
Hail to the Dark Mother!

Susan

New Web Page

The new web page is up and running at:
www.snakesrising.com

Autumn Happenings for the Snakes

Autumn 2004 News!

This is an update for Snakes Rising's Autumn schedule. Please come out and join us at one of the following happenings::

*PERFORMANCES:
*
September 11th. Pagan Pride Day for the Lorraine County Witches. Burgett's Park. Oberlin OH. Evening Performance (so far.) Contact: daliattx2@yahoo.com


September 18th. Pagan Pride Day for Greater Cincinnati. Goebel Park, Covington. Noontime performance. Morning and afternoon workshops. Contact: "kyttenn"

September 25th. Shimmies on the River. Fort Boonesborough, Ky. Near Lexington. Dinnertime performance and evening Live! Hafla. register in advance to take daytime belly dance workshops. Contact: Kouri Dancer

October 2nd. Pagan Pride Day for Dayton, OH. Afternoon performancescheduled (so far.) Contact: paganpridedayton@yahoo.com

October 31st. Samhain ritual performance at the Faery Realm in Covington, Ky. *Cincinnati's Ninth Annual Dance with the Dead Begins 9 PM with music by the Snakes. *Ritual, led by HP Lucas Hergert, FOI and Susan Hergert, Priestess of Kali Ma, Snakes Rising. Begins at ~ 10:30 PM. We will actually be dancing and feasting with the dead at ~ 12 midnight. This is a very intense experience. *Plan to take the next day off! * Contact: susan@houndrescue.com

November 20 & 21. Victory of Light Festival at the Sharonville Convention Center. Workshops both days. Stay tuned for information about this event! www.victoryoflight.com

*NEW CD and WEB PAGE:
*The new CD has reached completion and has been reviewed by Belly Dancers, Trance Dancers, Pagan musicians, and New Age reviewers. We have heard what they have told us and made adjustments! The final result is, I'm sure you'll agree, *a sensual delight.

The new Web Page is our next project! *You'll be able to go there to download MP3s and to purchase Snakes Rising CDs, t-shirts, and other hot items. As well, you will be able to keep up with our travels and contact us for workshops, performances etc.

*PRACTICES:*

Open sessions at the CRC have been cancelled. The Snakes wll soon be practicing at The Faery Realm. Stay tuned as some of these sessions will be open!

*YAHOOGROUP:
*Anyone desiring to stay current on what's happening with Snakes Rising is welcome to join snakesrising@yahoogroups.com and check out the calander.

See you this Fall!!!!

Susan

PS. New Years tribute to Kali Ma, and all that passes, is in the works!

PSS. The third Annual All Snakes Day is going to happen on March 12& 13. It will be a retreat for serious Serpent Worshipers and Ecstacy Seekers. We are seeking a venue and sponsor. Contact us if you know of any!!!