Frequently Asked Questions

1) What is Mystery School?

2) Do I have to join Mystery School to come to the Grove?

3) I was so glad to actually hear many of the chants published in The Spiral Dance and Dreaming the Dark. Can you recommend a published source for chants, songs and musical notations that you often use?

4) I have a new drum and would like suggestions on where to begin with it. What beginner videos or CDs do you recommend?

5) How are ethics and accountability handled at Diana's Grove?

1) What is Mystery School?

Mystery School is a year-long program that builds an intentional community online and on-site at monthly intensives. The purpose of Mystery School is to support you in learning about the greatest Mysteries of all: first, who you are – really are, when all society’s and family’s masks and roles are laid aside – and, second, how that Self can be in healthy relationship with the rest of the world. The third mystery is how each Self can be in relationship with some experience of divinity, with the sacred.

Mystery School guides your discovery of these aspects of your life, in the context of a community of others who are seeking their own answers. As a tool to guide that discovery, we use classical mythology from different cultures – stories that are so timeless that we can find ourselves and our times within them.

For more information, we suggest our publications, The Bones of Mystery School and Myth, Magic, and Community.

2) Do I have to join Mystery School to come to the Grove?

There are two ways to experience the Grove and our work: Mystery School and our other Open Gatherings, such as Women’s Spring Equinox, Fall Equinox, and Samhain. We also welcome guests at some of our Mystery School intensives, so that those who are interested in Mystery School can try it out before they make a commitment. These are listed on the calendar as "open" Mystery Schools.

3) I was so glad to actually hear many of the chants published in The Spiral Dance and Dreaming the Dark. Can you recommend a published source for chants, songs and musical notations that you often use?

Chants, rituals, a description of an experience, I agree... chants come to life in person. And, if you can’t be here... I recommend Reclaiming’s Chant tapes and cds. I also recommend Thorn Coyle’s tapes and Suzanne Sterling’s tapes. You can find all three on the Reclaiming web site.

We are fortunate to have gifted chant writers on our staff and many gifted singers in our community. I find that the tunes and the words change, even when the person who wrote the chant is teaching it. In 2007 and began making our chants available on our Mystery School web site (which is available to anyone who has joined Mystery School).

4) I have a new drum and would like suggestions on where to begin with it. What beginner videos or CDs do you recommend?

What a perfect question! What kind of drum do you have? If it is a frame drum, let me recommend Patricia’s video The Frame Drum as a Priestess’ Tool, an excellent beginning video - even Layne Redmond says so. And of course, we would recommend Layne’s Tape: Ritual Drumming. For big drums, Paulo Mattioli’s Hands on Drumming.

5) How are ethics and accountability handled at Diana's Grove?

Asherah, one of our Mysteries and community members, was asked how the whole topic of ethics and accountability is handled at Diana's Grove. Here is her excellent response.

My answers are based on my personal observations and I invite anyone else who has another impression of Diana's Grove to add information.

1. Agreements and rules are extremely specific: There are about 50 pages of discussion on philosophy, agreements, boundaries, rules, daily living, and expectations in a booklet Myth Magic and Community which is distributed to everyone in Mystery School. A shorter version is in their literature about Diana's Grove and in welcome letters sent to anyone coming to an intensive. It is very readable and written in an extremely engaging style so hopefully most people actually read it.

"Agreements enable us to share space. They increase our emotional safety. In addition to these agreements, we actually have rules. Those rules tell you what we need in order to creare a safe and magical experience for you and with you. Monthly we take a mythic journey. In mythic space, that larger-than-life area where change is afoot and transformation stalks her prey, agreements are the container that enables us to venture into the unknown."

"Freedom requires more not less boundaries. It requires more respect and less assumption. Trust develops when you are more sensitive to how you touch another person and how long a hug is comfortable for the one you are hugging."

Some topics include Individuation, the Art of Being and Individual, Common Unity, Interaction, Agreements and Grounding Rules, Self, Trust, Confidentiality, Setting Personal and Sexual Boundaries, Conflict Resolution etc.

2. Communication skills are taught and modeled - Learning to use "I" statements and not making assumptions about what others think or feel is explicitly shared and valued.

3. Explicit shared values are taught and modeled - They are called the five cornerstones and include thinking well of self, thinking well of others, personal choice, stewardship of self and sacred wound (the wound is an event that creates a possibility for my growth and change, the act of opening to that change is what makes the wound sacred).

4. A strong priestess/leadership training program is ongoing - Many people are in this program which allows options for various levels of commitment. But at all of them priestess skills are intertwined with leadership skills - communication, responsibility, conflict resolution, and respect. At most of the mystery school weekends I have attended, at least half of the participants are in this program. Even after you have completed their "Rites of Passage" year, a continuing education program is part of every weekend. So the culture of the community reflects the values and philosophy. I remember an early part of the training this year, where we were presented with the idea that we are priestessing all day long - whenever we interact at a meal, have a discussion in the shower room, communicate with our cabin mates, or take part in a ritual - and have an awareness of the impact we are making.

5. Communication lines are kept open - Instead of affinity groups, there are circles of support which are facilitated by staff. This affords the possiblity of solving problems immediately rather than letting them simmer. Even if a problem can't be shared in a group, there is a close relationship with a staff member who can help at a later time.

6. Feedback skills are taught and modeled - An awareness of the impact that you make in the community is emphasized. We are taught to ask for feedback about our behavior whether it is "Was my fire invocation loud enough for you to hear at the edge of the circle?" to "I left the table during the discussion, I hope you didn't think it was because I felt uncomfortable with what you were saying but I had an appointment with someone else and didn't want to interrupt the flow. How did you experience my leaving the table?"

7. When rules, agreements, and expectations are broken, the situation is handled with respect and care. I've mainly seen this on the e-mail line and am amazed at the way someone posting something inappropriate is dealt with. During priestess/leadership training we often discuss how to deal with "imaginary" situations.

8. The importance of community is emphasized - When sacred space is created, community is always invoked as an aspect of center. I have noticed that in any personal sharing check-in, several people talk about the impact of the community on their personal work during the weekend.

9. The philosophy of the community is integrated into all the work as much as possible including tarot, personal growth discussions, the myths and stories chosen for themes, etc. For example in the booklet given to mysteries the philosophy/ethics of the community is broken into parts relating to the tarot cards. The Magician - Self, The Priestess - The Goddess of Interaction, The Empress - The Goddess of Natural Laws and Nurturance, The Emperor - The God of Boundaries and the Hierphant - The God of Wounding and Healing, The God of Kin and Clan, of Community. I feel that the rules and agreements are constantly lived - "walking the talk."

10. And, although Diana's Grove is a community, there is a realization that although everyone's input is valued there is a hierarchy of commitment - those people who have invested their life's work in the community have the ultimate responsibility for decisions and processes. So if a situation arose requiring an extreme response such as telling someone to leave after all the talking and the conflict resolution, it would be made by Cynthea and Patricia. (I have no knowledge of anything like that happening but it would be their decision, not a group consensus)

Blessed be,
Asherah

For more information, please see Myth, Magic, and Community.

More questions will be added as we receive them. If you don't see the answers to your questions, please email us at info@dianasgrove.com .