It seemed appropriate to be making my first trip to Diana’s Grove at the autumnal equinox. Not only was the Earth experiencing its yearly time of harvest and fullness, but I too seemed to be entering a time when the harvest was in, and I needed to sit back, get ready for winter, and contemplate how to renew myself.

I made the five-hour trip with two of my daughters. For Kelly and I, it was our first trip to the Grove. Shaun is a member of the staff and although we’ve watched her growth in spirit and contentment, we had some trepidation. We are both Christians and we worried about acceptance in a group that Shaun describes as eclectic. She said there would be other Christians there, as well as agnostics, atheists, witches, goddesses, humanists and others.

When we arrived on the valley’s twisting road and drove deeper and deeper into the brush, we ended up on a narrow, rock road which led eventually to my first view of the Grove – and still my favorite spot – the barn. The rough-hewn building has a talltimbered roof open to the sky on one end. Its broad open face is a huge smile that welcomes you in. Benches, chairs and small tables are scattered about on the wooden floor, and you just can’t help but stop and walk into this inviting building. If I could, I would pick that building up whole and drop it down again in the field in front of my own home.

"From beginning to end, my Grove experience was one of complete acceptance and caring. If that spirit could only be bottled."

We passed the barn and wove slowly up the hill, catching sight of cabins in the wooded area, and when we arrived at the house, another woman (Susan, Shaun informed us) was arriving also. She recognized Shaun and hugged her. Then she turned to Kelly and me and hugged us each in turn, and that is the way the whole weekend went. We worried for nothing. The question of religious differences was not an issue, and I felt completely at home and in spirit with the women and men in attendance that weekend.

We could see the labyrinth in the meadow from the front porch of our cabin and were delighted to see people walking there between thundershowers. On the other side of the meadow was the wooded area where we had our closing ceremony around a crackling campfire. I could have sat on the porch of that cabin all weekend.

But if I had, I would have missed the activities at the house, and they were truly inspirational. I would have missed the storytelling of Cynthea – whose voice invites you to relax and journey with her – examining the myth of Persephone and the meaning that story has for our own lives. Shaun, aspecting Persephone during one ritual, disappeared when Persephone chose to go to the Underworld with her love. And I felt just a bit of what any mother feels at the loss of a daughter, even if it was only makebelieve, and only for a short time.

I am such a creature of comfort and I worried about the outdoor toilets. It’s not that I am unfamiliar with outhouses. We didn’t have an indoor toilet until I was 12, but I will admit I never went to the outhouse by myself after dark! My younger sister was bribed, coerced and threatened into going with me for the years before we installed an indoor bathroom. Once again I worried for nothing. When I awoke at 5 a.m., I just grabbed the flashlight and traipsed through the woods to the nearest outhouse.

I didn’t miss TV or radio at all. The music provided by River and Patricia was fabulous. Even though I love music, and I can stand and sway to the rhythm and clap to the beat, my feet are just stuck to the earth. But it didn’t seem to matter: those who wanted to dance to the music did so, and those who didn’t dance appreciated it in other ways. I am thankful that the Grove group is so accepting of those of us who carry a buttload of inhibitions about such things.

From beginning to end, my Grove experience was one of complete acceptance and caring. If that spirit could only be bottled.