Author: Don Wilson

2018 GSV Spring Retreat

Spring Retreat

April 13 -15, 2018

at The Mountain, Highlands, NC

Cost is $257.43 (double occupancy) | $332.16 (single occupancy)

Embodying Community: Our Big Spring Thing

Sweet siblings in Spirit, we are delighted to invite you to this year’s Gay Spirit Visions Spring Retreat that we are calling Embodying Community: Our Big Spring Thing!

From its inception, Gay Spirit Visions has woven together the voices, stories, and gifts of our brilliant, open-hearted community, and this year’s Spring Retreat hearkens back to the early days of GSV when all programming came from the vast pool of talent that is y’all.

We have always striven to make our events a nurturing, empowering setting for revealing our gifts to our community, to the world, and, sometimes, to ourselves, and this spring we are inviting you to share your talents, your passions, your hobbies, and your calling with your siblings in the tribe.

What do you know, or know how to do, that you can share with us? What fascination do you have that you might also kindle in a GSV sibling? Whether you’re sharing a skill you’ve been honing for decades or a hobby you took up last year, we would love the benefit of your enthusiasm and knowledge. Can you show us how to knit? Can you direct us in a play? Can you host a witty, erudite salon? Have you always wanted to convene a puppy pile?

If you have a clear sense of what you would like to present, please send a short description of what you have in mind to [email protected] along with a list of any supplies your workshop might require. Those who sign up in advance will get the better presentation spaces, but, as in years past, there will also be a sign-up sheet for those who get up to The Mountain and decide at the last minute that they would like to offer a workshop, give a presentation, or host a salon.

We look forward to seeing you, and learning from you, up on The Mountain!

Your Council

Register for the 2018 Spring Retreat

Save the Date

Gay Spirit Visions, Spring Retreat

2018 GSV Spring Retreat

April 13 – 15, 2018

The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center

Highlands North Carolina

Registration and pricing information will soon be available for the 2018 GSV Spring Retreat. Mark your calendars and plan to join us at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center in Highlands North Carolina from April 13th to April 15th.

2018 GSV Winter Meditation

Gay Spirit Visions
Picture of total solar eclipse

Bringing Darkness to the Light

January 12 – 14, 2018

at The Mountain, Highlands, NC

Cost: $235.02 – Double Occupancy | $309.74 – Single Occupancy

“What hurts you, blesses you.
Darkness is your candle.”
— Rumi

Dear Siblings,

As the days become shorter, and the nights enshroud us with darkness earlier, the GSV Winter Meditation approaches! Be a part of a beloved community of intentional queer men for a weekend of contemplation and celebration.

Together, we will share stories of our own dark nights, follow ancient heroes on their epic quests, and join mystics as they search the darkness for their Beloved. What will we find in the darkness? We may experience fear, but we will also encounter our deepest dreams and desires. We will boldly claim our darkness!

There will be time to get pampered and time to get crafty. Design your own devotional candle to bring light to your life after the retreat. Our GSV brother Rocky Beeland will offer gentle yoga on Saturday afternoon. His style of yoga is suitable for all levels of ability and experience. Saturday evening will include a ceremony of light and darkness, based on the ancient ritual of Tenebrae (with a queer twist!).

Those wishing to stay until Monday may register to do so, but meals will not be provided by The Mountain after lunch on Sunday.

In darkness and light,
Andy Foskey, Convener

Andy is an Atlanta native who now resides in the scenic city of Chattanooga, TN, nestled between the Cumberland Plateau and the Blue Ridge Mountains. He is a librarian by day. His essay “All About My Job Hunt” appears in Out Behind the Desk: Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians, an anthology of personal accounts by librarians and library workers relating experiences of being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer at work. He enjoys hunting for rocks and crystals at flea markets and creek beds, and creating tiny altars whenever and wherever he can. This is his third time contributing to a GSV gathering.

Register for the 2018 Winter Meditation

2018 GSV Winter Meditation

Winter Meditation
Picture of total solar eclipse

Bringing Darkness to the Light

January 12 – 14, 2018

at The Mountain, Highlands, NC

Cost: $235.02 – Double Occupancy | $309.74 – Single Occupancy

Life’s waters flows from darkness.
Search the darkness, don’t run from it.
-Rumi

Dear Siblings,

Come gather during the darkest time of the year with a loving community of men who love men for a weekend of supportive exploration of the dark corners of our collective consciousness. Surrounded by loving siblings, we will create a safe vessel to share, listen, and celebrate the delicious darkness that both terrifies and inspires us.

We will explore mystical texts, such as Dark Night of the Soul by Juan de la Cruz, tales from world mythologies, and contemporary personal stories to enrich our understanding of the wisdom that is found in darkness.

We will experience different styles of meditation, including silent and guided meditation, walking meditation, and lectio divina, or divine reading. There will be plenty of time for reflection, writing, healing arts, and labyrinth walks, weather permitting.

You are invited to share your gifts during this retreat by proposing a workshop, offering massage, playing music, or whatever you feel called to bring! Contact the Winter Convener with your ideas, dreams, and questions. More information will be available in the coming weeks.

In gratitude,

Andy Foskey, Convener

Register for the 2018 Winter Meditation

Pariah Magic: Gifts of the Outsider

Conferences, Fall Conference, Gay Spirit Visions

GSV 2017 Fall Conference

Pariah Magic: Gifts of the Outsider

September 21 – 24, 2017

The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands, NC

4 Days / 3 Nights: $405.65 (conference only, all inclusive)
5 Days / 4 Nights: $496.39 (arrive a day early + conference)

* Prices include taxes and program fee. *
The Conference begins at 5:00pm on Thursday and ends at 2:30pm on Sunday.
Registration starts at 3:00pm on Wednesday and Thursday.

Part III
Pariah Magic: Gifts of the Outsider

(This is Part III of a series, for Parts I and II click here)

 

Sweet Men of the Tribe,

This year’s Fall Conference, Pariah Magic: Gifts of the Outsider, is shaping up to be truly memorable on many levels!  We are premeditating joy and building delight! Sacred mischief is being planned and magic is afoot! The outsiders are coming together to create a spectacular, magical space beyond default reality, and we would love for you to join us!

As you have likely noticed by now, our keynote speaker is the brilliant Hindu drag nun (and YouTube sensation!) Sister Unity. In addition to our usual dance and “Talent” Show, we will be having a drum circle, a musical revue led by David Berger, a gorgeous Mabon ritual by Peregrine (Michael Chavez), and no fewer than three Sacred Touch events led by Mahan-Kalpa. We have an embarrassing wealth of workshops for the mind, the body, and the spirit led by Bob Strain, Nightshade, Tim Flood, Todd Humphrey, Bumblebee, and several others. Pariah status has never been so enviable!

If attending the Fall Conference would cause you undue financial hardship, the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund is available to help. To apply for financial assistance, click here.

Registration has been brisk, and we are rapidly pushing up against our attendance cap, so registering now will be doing yourself a kindness.

I hope to see you up amidst the magic of The Mountain!

Sincerely (and with epic levels of enthusiasm),

Your humble Convener,
Nightshade

Register for the Fall Conference>>