Author: Don Wilson

GSV 2026 Spring Retreat Post 1

Spring Retreat

2026 GSV Spring Retreat

Transcending Traditions


May 15-17, 2026


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands NC


Convener: John Marotta

Dearest Siblings,

As convener for the Gay Spirit Visions Spring Retreat, May 15-17, 2026, I want to personally invite you to experience Transcending Traditions at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands, NC. Registration is open now. Please click on the link at the bottom of this announcement to register.

Transcending traditions means moving beyond established customs, beliefs, or practices to innovate, find deeper meaning, or challenge limitations, which we often see in art (blending old styles with new), spirituality (seeking direct experience over ritual), and social contexts (artists breaking barriers). This experience involves reinterpreting the past, integrating diverse influences, and creating new forms while respecting foundational ideas, all of which are often shown in books, exhibitions, discussions exploring culture, art, and personal growth.

What this can mean for you:
• Honoring the past without being trapped by it
• Evolving cultural, artistic, or personal practices for a new era
• Blending heritage with innovation
• Choosing growth over unquestioned norms

A Call for Workshops
Do you feel compelled to bring forth a workshop that aligns with or complements the thoughts and concepts mentioned above? If so, I would love to talk with you about your workshop ideas. Interactive, participatory, and experiential workshops work better than presentation/talk types of workshops. Our goal is to help participants come away from the workshop experience and the retreat itself with an enhanced understanding of “transcending traditions.”

Please contact me if you are interested in facilitating a workshop. My email address is jm19562002@yahoo.com and my cell phone number is 828-388-3344. Please leave a message if I cannot answer when you call.

“Transcending traditions” is a truly rich, bountiful, and forward imagining process, a bit poetic, a little rebellious, and a little respectful.

I look forward to seeing all of you and experiencing a transformative gathering.

With great respect and humility,
John Marotta
GSV 2026 Spring Retreat Gathering Convener

Accomadations


3 Day/2 Night Package (Friday through Sunday)


All pricing is per person


Double occupancy – Lodge or duplex cabin $270 + tax


Bunkhouse $230 + tax


Single occupancy $410 + tax


For All Rooms Add Required GSV Program Fee $35.00 per person

Scholarship Information and Application Deadline


Financial assistance in the form of scholarships is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is Friday, May 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET. We hope that anyone who resonates with our mission and community, and who has the desire to attend, can join us at our gatherings. To that end we offer financial assistance through the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund. Please go to the Financial Assistance page on the Gay Spirit Visions website for more information and for a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is Friday, May 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Registration


Registration for the GSV 2026 Winter Meditation gathering is now open. Please begin the registration process on the Spring Retreat Registrationpage. All questions about registration should be directed to The Mountain – gsoffice@themountainrlc.org – Phone: (828)-526-5838. Registration closes on Friday, May 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Participants needing accessible accommodations are encouraged to register early.

Getting to The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center is located west of the town of Highlands, NC. For detailed driving information and transportation options, visit The Mountain Getting Here page. Note: If your transportation plans include flying, the closest and easiest airport to fly in and out of is Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) located in Fletcher, NC, just south of Asheville, NC.

Please note that there are no public transportation options from AVL that service The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center. You may wish to consider rental car services at AVL. The drive from AVL to The Mountain is approximately 2 hours, or longer if you are not accustomed to mountain driving conditions.

Register Now!

GSV 2026 Winter Meditation Post 3

Winter Meditation

2026 Winter Meditation

REGISTRATION CLOSES this Friday, January 2nd!


Keeping Our Joy (While the Dumpster Burns)


January 16-18, 2026


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands NC


Convener: Snowdancer (Jim Becker)


Register Now!

SEE BELOW FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Dear Brothers and Siblings,

This is the “final call” for the 2026 Gay Spirit Visions’ Winter Meditation gathering. We are in the final stages of planning the weekend and we have a great weekend ahead of us. I hope those of you who feel called to be there will register soon. I know if you choose to join us, an entire community will be waiting to welcome you.

The Mountain is a magical place, and each season holds its own charms. Having been raised in the Upper Midwest, I come to this time of year with no reservations as to the cold, crisp air. It has been my pleasure over the years to call The Mountain my retreat center of choice. Through Gay Spirit Visions and my affiliation with the Unitarian Universalist tradition, I’ve spent many moons in this sanctuary. With what has transpired in our country over the last year, I know I have been torn any number of ways. With that in mind, it is time to be called back into right relationship with self and others that know and love us. Thus, the title and focus of our January 2026 gathering:

Keeping Our Joy (While the Dumpster Burns)

We will deepen into joy and pleasure for their own sake, but also because joy strengthens us for the generational work to liberate a society. And joy protects us from the slings and arrows of capitalism as it unleashes creative vision and problem-solving.

During our time together, we will experience joy in six different modes:
• Permission: We will practice allowing ourselves to experience joy and begin healing from negative words and messages that tell us our joy is frivolous, unnecessary, or selfish.
• Presence: We will learn what it is to show up for ourselves, to not abandon ourselves to the rages of despair.
• Play: We will play! Who knows what we will do? Let’s be creative! Perhaps practice laughing yoga? Bring your favorite arts/crafts/writing elements. Crayons and markers are enthusiastically welcome.
• Pleasure: We will explore the opportunities pleasure offers us every day.
• Power: We will stretch our joy muscles and see how they help us make change in ourselves and the world.
• Purpose: We will play with the idea that joy can lead us to a sense of lighthearted, caring, compassionate purpose.

I hope you will join us as we choose to enlighten each sojourner.

Warmly,
Snowdancer Shadowshield (Jim Becker)
Convener, GSV 2026 Winter Meditation

Registration


Registration for the GSV 2026 Winter Meditation gathering is now open. Please begin the registration process from the Register Nowpage. All questions about registration should be directed to The Mountain – gsoffice@themountainrlc.org – Phone: (828)-526-5838. Registration closes on Friday, January 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Participants needing accessible accommodations are encouraged to register early.

Accomadations


3 Day/2 Night Package (Friday through Sunday)


All pricing is per person


Lodge or Duplex Cabin (double occupancy) $240 + tax


Single Occupancy (private room) $380 + tax


Bunkhouse $200 + tax


For All Rooms Add Required GSV Program Fee $35.00 per person

Scholarship Information and Application Deadline


Financial assistance in the form of scholarships is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is Friday, January 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET. We hope that anyone who resonates with our mission and community, and who has the desire to attend, can join us at our gatherings. To that end we offer financial assistance through the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund. Please go to the Financial Assistance page on the Gay Spirit Visions website for more information and for a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is Friday, January 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Getting to The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center is located west of the town of Highlands, NC. For detailed driving information and transportation options, visit The Mountain Getting Here page. Note: If your transportation plans include flying, the closest and easiest airport to fly in and out of is Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) located in Fletcher, NC, just south of Asheville, NC.

Please note that there are no public transportation options from AVL that service The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center. You may wish to consider rental car services at AVL. The drive from AVL to The Mountain is approximately 2 hours, or longer if you are not accustomed to mountain driving conditions.

Register Now!

GSV 2026 Winter Meditation Post 2

Winter Meditation

2026 Winter Meditation

Keeping Our Joy (While the Dumpster Burns)


January 16-18, 2026


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands NC


Convener: Snowdancer (Jim Becker)


Register Now!

SEE BELOW FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Dear Brothers and Siblings,

Please join me for Gay Spirit Visions’ Winter Meditation gathering January 16-18, 2026, at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands, North Carolina. The Mountain is a magical place, and each season holds its own charms. Having been raised in the Upper Midwest, I come to this time of year with no reservations as to the cold, crisp air. It has been my pleasure over the years to call The Mountain my retreat center of choice. Through Gay Spirit Visions and my affiliation with the Unitarian Universalist tradition, I’ve spent many moons in this sanctuary. With what has transpired in our country over the last year, I know I have been torn any number of ways. With that in mind, it is time to be called back into right relationship with self and others that know and love us. Thus, the title and focus of our January 2026 gathering:

Keeping Our Joy (While the Dumpster Burns)

We will deepen into joy and pleasure for their own sake, but also because joy strengthens us for the generational work to liberate a society. And joy protects us from the slings and arrows of capitalism as it unleashes creative vision and problem-solving.

During our time together, we will experience joy in six different modes:
• Permission: We will practice allowing ourselves to experience joy and begin healing from negative words and messages that tell us our joy is frivolous, unnecessary, or selfish.
• Presence: We will learn what it is to show up for ourselves, to not abandon ourselves to the rages of despair.
• Play: We will play! Who knows what we will do? Let’s be creative! Perhaps practice laughing yoga? Bring your favorite arts/crafts/writing elements. Crayons and markers are enthusiastically welcome.
• Pleasure: We will explore the opportunities pleasure offers us every day.
• Power: We will stretch our joy muscles and see how they help us make change in ourselves and the world.
• Purpose: We will play with the idea that joy can lead us to a sense of lighthearted, caring, compassionate purpose.

I hope you will join us as we choose to enlighten each sojourner.

Warmly,
Snowdancer Shadowshield (Jim Becker)
Convener, GSV 2026 Winter Meditation

Registration


Registration for the GSV 2026 Winter Meditation gathering is now open. Please begin the registration process from the Register Nowpage. All questions about registration should be directed to The Mountain – gsoffice@themountainrlc.org – Phone: (828)-526-5838. Registration closes on Friday, January 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Participants needing accessible accommodations are encouraged to register early.

Accomadations


3 Day/2 Night Package (Friday through Sunday)


All pricing is per person


Lodge or Duplex Cabin (double occupancy) $240 + tax


Single Occupancy (private room) $380 + tax


Bunkhouse $200 + tax


For All Rooms Add Required GSV Program Fee $35.00 per person

Scholarship Information and Application Deadline


Financial assistance in the form of scholarships is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is Friday, January 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET. We hope that anyone who resonates with our mission and community, and who has the desire to attend, can join us at our gatherings. To that end we offer financial assistance through the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund. Please go to the Financial Assistance page on the Gay Spirit Visions website for more information and for a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is Friday, January 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Getting to The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center is located west of the town of Highlands, NC. For detailed driving information and transportation options, visit The Mountain Getting Here page. Note: If your transportation plans include flying, the closest and easiest airport to fly in and out of is Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) located in Fletcher, NC, just south of Asheville, NC.

Please note that there are no public transportation options from AVL that service The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center. You may wish to consider rental car services at AVL. The drive from AVL to The Mountain is approximately 2 hours, or longer if you are not accustomed to mountain driving conditions.

Register Now!

GSV 2026 Winter Meditation Post 1

Winter Meditation

GSV 2026 Winter Meditation

Keeping Our Joy (While the Dumpster Burns)


January 16-18, 2026


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands NC


Convener: Snowdancer (Jim Becker)


Register Now!

SEE BELOW FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Dear Brothers and Siblings,

Please join me for Gay Spirit Visions’ Winter Meditation gathering January 16-18, 2026, at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands, North Carolina. The Mountain is a magical place, and each season holds its own charms. For many, winter at The Mountain is about cozying up in The Lodge or in a cabin with our tribe and contemplating the stillness of the season.  

For myself, since the 2024 election, I’ve been caught up in turmoil, confusion, anger, resentment, frustration, loathing, and any number of other emotions. There came a time when I had to change or I would go off the deep end.

For our 2026 Winter Meditation gathering, we will address the challenge of keeping our joy while all around us we find chaos or confusion. Thus, the title of our 2026 Winter Meditation gathering: Keeping Our Joy (While the Dumpster Burns)

There will be six sessions for the whole group interspersed with smaller breakout groups. The sessions will focus on:
• Permission
• Presence
• Play
• Pleasure
• Power
• Purpose

We will deepen into joy and pleasure for their own sake, but also because joy strengthens us for the generational work to liberate a society. And joy protects us from the slings and arrows of capitalism as it unleashes creative vision and problem-solving.

Won’t you join me and other seekers as we reconnect with our joy? I look forward to seeing you at The Mountain in January.

Warmly,
Snowdancer (Jim Becker)
GSV 2026 Winter Meditation Convener

Registration


Registration for the GSV 2026 Winter Meditation gathering is now open. Please begin the registration process from the Register Nowpage. All questions about registration should be directed to The Mountain – gsoffice@themountainrlc.org – Phone: (828)-526-5838. Registration closes on Friday, January 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Participants needing accessible accommodations are encouraged to register early.

Accomadations


3 Day/2 Night Package (Friday through Sunday)


All pricing is per person


Lodge or Duplex Cabin (double occupancy) $240 + tax


Single Occupancy (private room) $380 + tax


Bunkhouse $200 + tax


For All Rooms Add Required GSV Program Fee $35.00 per person

Scholarship Information and Application Deadline


Financial assistance in the form of scholarships is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is Friday, January 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET. We hope that anyone who resonates with our mission and community, and who has the desire to attend, can join us at our gatherings. To that end we offer financial assistance through the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund. Please go to the Financial Assistance page on the Gay Spirit Visions website for more information and for a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is Friday, January 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Getting to The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center is located west of the town of Highlands, NC. For detailed driving information and transportation options, visit The Mountain Getting Here page. Note: If your transportation plans include flying, the closest and easiest airport to fly in and out of is Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) located in Fletcher, NC, just south of Asheville, NC.

Please note that there are no public transportation options from AVL that service The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center. You may wish to consider rental car services at AVL. The drive from AVL to The Mountain is approximately 2 hours, or longer if you are not accustomed to mountain driving conditions.

Register Now!

GSV 2025 Fall Conference Post 3

Fall Conference, Gay Spirit Visions

GSV 2025 Fall Conference

What Is Mine To Do?: Polyspiritual Portals Into The New Age


September 25–28, 2025


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands NC


Convener: Gregory Joseph


Convener: Gregory Joseph

Keynote Speaker: Anthony Dissen


Keynote Speaker: Anthony Dissen

Register Now!

Dearest Gay Spirit Visions Siblings,

The clock is ticking! Is anyone else feeling like time is speeding up right now? You’re not alone. Astrologically, we’re in a time that’s rapidly changing.

Virgo

We’ve just moved into Virgo, the priest/ess/x archetype, which is about living in your integrity, knowing your values, and devoting yourself to a calling. My trusted app, The Pattern (I swear I don’t work for them, and this is not a promo!), says that Virgo is “just being itself, and there’s a refusal to compromise its truth” and asks us, “Do you have the courage to devote yourself to what you believe in, no matter what anyone else thinks?”

“Your internal voice, your internal compass, is the most valuable thing for you right now because you’re going to need it as the noise of the outside world gets more and more chaotic. It’s your inner truth that you’ll be able to rely on.” We’ll also be able to rely on each other.

In the mundane world, this is your last chance to register for the 2025 Fall Conference, happening a little less than one month from now, September 25-28. The registration deadline is fast approaching on September 11, 5:00 p.m. ET.

Join about 100 kindred spirits to explore our theme, “What Is Mine To Do?: Polyspiritual Portals Into The New Age.” It’s a transformative weekend designed to help you reconnect with your purpose, discover new gifts, and be part of a community ready to step into a new era of harmony and unity.
Crowd
(Image from Queer Spirit Festival, 2017)

Together, we will ground ourselves in who we are, so we can more clearly see and be the magic that we are. We will gather around the sacred fire and co-create a space that illuminates our diverse spiritual and philosophical traditions. We’ll share collective wisdom in answering our conference theme’s question.

Don’t miss a chance to explore your gifts and purpose with a diverse range of sessions, including:

• Mindfulness as a Tool for Liberation: Our keynote speaker, Anthony Dissen, will share how you can discover how intentional presence can dismantle shame and help you access your innate wisdom.
• Hot Wax—Hot Love: Learn the tools, techniques, and safety of this form of play to bring new passion into your relationships.
• Political Action as a Spiritual Practice: Explore how political engagement can be a powerful part of your spiritual life and a sense of calling.
• Self-Pleasuring and Multi-Orgasmic Practice: Learn simple Taoist techniques with breathing and movement to improve your health, increase your libido, and reach new levels of intimacy.
• Whispers in the Bones: Learn the history and practice of bone throwing divination to invite your ancestors’ voices into your journey.
• Follow Your Rainbow: A guided meditation and writing exercise to help you find a spiritually purposeful life.

Check out the draft list of workshops HERE! And more will be revealed…

Come, rest your body, celebrate your spirit, and connect with a community that’s here to create a more beautiful world. Come, gather with kindred GSV spirits around the council fire, join heart circles, workshops, shared meals, “Temple 13” (the play cabin), and countless other ways to connect.

Ready to step through the portal?

With love and blessings,
Gregory Joseph (they/he)
GSV 2025 Fall Conference Convener

P.S. Know someone who needs to be at this conference? Forward this email to them and invite them to join us!
P.P.S. You can find out more about me here: Gregory Joseph.

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT OUR 2025 FALL CONFERENCE

Silent Auction


Silent Auction Announcement! GSV provides financial assistance to those in our community who might otherwise not be able to join us at The Mountain. Our primary means of replenishing our financial assistance fund is through the Silent Auction held at the Fall Conference. The success of our Silent Auction depends on your donations of quality and meaningful items for others to bid on. Be creative! Whether that’s art, kink gear, a gift certificate for a massage, restaurant, online or in-person tarot reading, an all-expense paid vacation…All attendees are invited to bring items. This year, we are inviting ALL GSV community members to submit items for the auction even if you’re not attending Fall Conference. If that is YOU, it would be your responsibility to get your item(s) to someone who is attending. If you are donating a large ticket item, we might live auction it during the Variety Show. Please note: We encourage everyone to use cash, a personal check, or PayPal when paying for items you’ve placed the highest bid on. We are not able to process credit/debit card transactions for payment.

Cosmic Soup Variety Show


The infamous Variety Show on Saturday night will be re-branded for this gathering as “COSMIC SOUP”—a name that is affectionately borrowed with permission from the Chicago Radical Faeries (chiradfae.com) variety shows, which I am a part of in Chicago. Pull out your tutus, dust off your tap shoes, pull out that old saxophone and get that voice warmed up for our traditional Saturday evening talent extravaganza with a new name. This is your chance to shine your fabulous self AND entertain your siblings and The Mountain staff! Bring sheet music or a thumb drive with any needed accompaniment. Time limit 5 minutes. Questions? Contact David Berger 614.264.1574.

Parade of Beauties


COSMIC SOUP on Saturday evening is preceded by the annual PARADE OF BEAUTIES. Wanna push the gender bender envelope? Remember the words of RuPaul: “We’re all born naked; anything else is drag!” Bring it or borrow from a bountiful collection of clothes and accessories in the Shauna Pleas Boutique, which will be in the Rec Hall and open all weekend, downstairs in the Tree House. Participants are welcome and encouraged to play with gender throughout the conference.

Scholarship Information and Application Deadline


Financial assistance in the form of scholarships is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is September 11 at 5:00 p.m. ET. We hope that anyone who resonates with our mission and community, and who has the desire to attend, can join us at our gatherings. To that end we offer financial assistance through the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund. Please go to the Financial Assistance page on the Gay Spirit Visions website for more information and for a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is September 11 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Registration


Registration for the GSV 2025 Fall Conference is now open! Please begin the registration process by clicking the button below. All questions about registration should be directed to The Mountain – gsoffice@themountainrlc.org – Phone: (828)-526-5838.

4 Day/3 Night Package (Thursday through Sunday)


Bunk House (shared room up to 4 people) $315.00 + tax


Lodge or Duplex Cabin (double occupancy) $375.00 + tax


Single Occupancy (private room)—See information below under “Registration”


For All Rooms, Add Required GSV Program Fee $100.00


Check out the Registration System for Optional Extra Night Before (Wednesday Night) and/or After (Sunday Night) the Conference.

We remind you that recent fall conferences have reached capacity long before registration closes, so you are encouraged to register as soon as possible. Registration closes on Thursday, September 11 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Accessibility Needs


Participants needing accessible accommodations are encouraged to register early.

All Single Occupancy (private rooms) for the 2025 GSV Fall Conference are for people with medical needs. These rooms are very limited in number and will be assigned based on need and availability. For Single Occupancy (private room) consideration, email James Williamson, Booking Coordinator/Guest Services. Email: james.williamson@themountainrlc.org

Register Now!