The Commons
The Commons at Fertile Ground Gathering is a place to relax, meet friends old and new, play games, experience healing services from some special guests, honor your practice at the altars in the Sacred Sanctuary, and just enjoy the open field with loved ones. This is a great place to hang out between workshops and other activities.
Below are some things that happen in The Commons every Beltane. We welcome you to make yourself at home in The Commons at Fertile Ground Gathering!
Sacred Sanctuary
Welcome change: The Sacred Sanctuary
Over time, all things evolve, and Fertile Ground Gathering is no exception; over the years we have paid attention to how and where people spend their time at the event.
Since we have moved performances, readings, and healing sessions out of the Commons and into different locations, the Healing Garden has been used less and less each year, and is no longer a focus of people's time as it once was.
So this year, we are re-purposing (and renaming) the tent that we have used for that purpose for so long. This year, you will find the Sacred Sanctuary tent in the center of the Commons where the Healing Garden once stood. Inside, you will discover several altars for various purposes (elemental and ancestor altars and so forth), as well as a central altar representing Fertile Ground Gathering itself, and will change to fit each year's theme. We encourage our participants to add to this central altar over the course of their stay in the park.
It is a place for quiet contemplation, a place to make offerings, a place to pray or give thanks or speak what must be spoken.
The healing is not gone, it is simply taking place in other parts of the park. We hope that the new Sacred Sanctuary will offer a new resource for all of our guests, whether they have journeyed with us many times, or this is their first Gathering.
Cook-Out Lunch
On Saturday afternoon, we host a cook-out lunch in The Commons. Lunch will include burgers and hot dogs, picnic sides, fruit and salad, as well as vegetarian options.
We invite you to bring camp chairs or picnic blankets for your comfort. And you're also welcome to bring lawn games to play together as well.*
* Please note that park regulations prohibit us from inserting items into the ground. Please only bring games that can be played without the use of stakes or other in-ground objects. Thank you.
Table of Misfit Magical Objects
Do you have a tarot deck that you had to buy, but then got it home and now it just takes up space in your stash? Do you have a necklace that you were drawn to buy, but never wear? Do you have a magical book that you bought when you were new to the Craft and not it gathers dust on a shelf? We all have those magical items we have accumulated over the years that are laying around our houses unused, but still have years of good magic left in them. Starting this year, you will have a place to bring them and pass them on to someone else who could love them all over again. Please feel free to bring your unused magical objects for the Table of Misfit Magical Objects to the Gathering this year and exchange them for other items that you find yourself drawn to on the table. We will have tables set up in The Commons Village and the feast hall for all those unused or no longer loved magical items. Feel free to bring a few things you have been looking to get rid of and maybe you'll find a few things that you can use. Please freely give, even if you don't want anything and freely take, even if you have nothing to give. The table will be set up all weekend, so check back and see if someone left something that calls to you.
Please feel free to bring any of those lonely magical items that you have laying around in your stash. Some objects you have, but haven't used in a while may include, but aren't limited to are: books, jewelry, stones, divination tools or decks, pouches, wands, incense, candle holders, chalices, wall hangings, altar cloths, etc.
Note: all items left at the end of the gathering this year, will be stored and returned to the table next year.