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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2000)
/ august IB. 2000 CULTURE The witches of / East Burnside witch at a party while in col lege, then began reading books on the subject. Waterfall says she also loves drumming—she is the rhythm section at several temple rituals. No bats or broomsticks in this temple, just vibes and good food by K aty D avidson get my first true taste of Full Circle when I attend the Lammas ritual, a celebration of the first fruits of the year’s harvest, the midway point between summer and fall. I arrive in the evening, while it’s still light outside. The temple interior is dark, illumi nated only by a few candles. A few women gather in the Fire Room, the largest room on the main level, where templegoers have built altars to goddesses along the walls. I meet Kali Rose, a bright woman whose claim to temple fame is her monthly Tarot salon; she charms me with her accessibility, positive nature and cheery attitude. I’m surprised at the age range of the women— 22 to 50-something- -and there doesn’t seem to be any discrimination based on experience. Among the group of about 12 women are two other newcomers besides myself. While about half of the participants are queer-identified, Treat says the temple has not suffered any internal strife about trans inclusiveness. “We don’t have any policies on trans people,” she says. “If you call yourself a woman, you’re accepted here.” After I meet a few more women, we all make our way to the back yard, a soothing, grassy space where a cherry tree pre sides and drops swollen fruit onto the lawn below. We all take off our shoes and form a circle. A woman beckons each one of us with her witchy smile and out stretched finger. As we approach her, she says a blessing O f the many signs near the old wooden door of the Full Circle Temple, one is clear and definitive: Womon Only Space. It doesn’t say any thing about skeptics, of course. Being the cheeky individual I am, I’ve always giggled at the idea of womyn’s groups and the New g Age ideals that are | attached: crystals, & energies, witchcraft, o spells, pagan fashion, j I’ve never felt the need to be surrounded by only women, never wanted to get naked in the woods and share my feelings. I’ve never been to Michigan. But I have been ignorant. This is what I learned the week I visited the Full Circle Tem ple for the first time. Outsiders might be thrown off by the term “temple” because of its connotations in main stream religion. Although the old house that is home to Full Circle sits on busy East Burnside Street in Portland, it is about as far away from the spiritual mainstream as you can get. Displayed prominently in the newsletter, the mission of Full Circle is to practice, explore and create women-centered and women- empowered spirituality. The temple exists be cause of the need for safe places that encom pass the diverse spirituality of all women. “It’s about being in service to each other,” says Terri Treat, one of the temple’s founding mothers and owner of the building. She used to live on the second floor and run her busi ness, Cotton Cloud Futons, out of the main level. Nearly five years ago, Treat moved her store to Northeast Broadway and officially turned the 1902 building into the communal space it is today. She says, in spirit, it had been a tem ple all along. T he building’s interior is quirky and serious all at once. T he second floor is a smorgasbord of unique rooms, each one serving a different purpose. The Healing Room is painted entirely green and is used for acupuncture and massage. A sparse guest room is available on a sliding-scale rate for witchy women visiting Portland. The Blood Room is a deep-red womb of a space used for grieving and releasing, Treat says. In stark contrast, the Elemental Room is completely devoid of furniture, painted light blue and used for dancing and other activities. I ask Treat how the women stay spiritually focused with the din of Burnside traffic outside. “We just pretend it’s the ocean,” she says. Full Circle’s calendar of events demon strates the diversity mentioned in the mission statement. During one month, women may attend one of the regularly scheduled commu nity dinners, a class called Goddess 101, a financial workshop called Temple Bones, ritu als to celebrate the new and full moons, and a self-help group called Yoni First, in which women come together for vaginal self-exams, breast exams and conversation. However, the reason most women visit the temple is the ever-present principle of earth loving. “It’s the most fundamental part of my love for the craft,” says Persephone Waterfall, an Oregon transplant originally from Ohio. She was turned on to paganism when she met a and anoints our foreheads with a blackberry, leaving her fingers stained purple and our fore heads sticky. Treat explains the process of the ritual to us, then we all face the east and begin to pray by singing about the wonders of that direction. We acknowledge every direction in a similar way, then pray to the sky, then to the earth, then to each other. Ginny Salkowski, owner of the magic shop Mystic Moon, which is run out of the temple’s garage, suggests we each take a turn in the mid dle of the circle to receive the good energy of the group. This impromptu activity proves to be the most uplifting of the ritual— some women call it orgasmic. Later, we pass around cider, melons, berries and a pie, and as each woman feeds the one next to her, she says the traditional blessing: “May you never hunger.” While we feast to cel ebrate the harvest, some women dance, then we close the circle to officially end the ritual. Like the other women, I’m most enthusias tic about the emphasis on the earth and the desire they feel to preserve and worship it. I stop giggling inside and actually listen. Although I don’t go bra-less and underwear less and hang crystals in my windows, I feel like I understand now. Spirituality doesn’t need to come from a book or a preacher; I can find it inside me. I can think of it any time, any day— not just Sundays. As Treat says, “A ritual can be something like washing the kitchen floor with intent.” F ull C ircle T emple celebrates the new moon in Virgo ritual Aug. 29. For more information, call (503) 238-0675. The temple address is 3125 E. Burnside in Portland. K aty D avidson is a Just Out staff writer who can be reached at katy@justout.com. G i n n \ vt'W sk ¡ w <>i L s 'l\ r i m.HMt ,.i M \ I» M < ' « ' n LEFT CLICK FOR SUBARU The Nation's #1 Subaru dealer, Carr Subaru NW is j\ now at your fingertips. 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