Yoooo-hooooo! Calling all fabulous faeries and queerdos to once again twirl around the Maypole for the return of Beltane to Shimmerback Ranch in beautiful Mendocino County, California.
This Beltane, let's disrobe our doubts, dance with our dreams, and decorate the dawn with our desires. As the earth bursts into life, we gather to celebrate fertility, creativity, and community. This year, inspired by our collective visions, we embark on a journey of renewal, rebirth, and weaving the very fabric of our communal and individual destinies.
When: Friday, April 26 - Monday, April 29 (+ Work Party 4/24-25!)
Where: Shimmerback Ranch, located 15 minutes north of Willits CA
Rediscover Beltane
Beltane marks the peak of spring, embodying the life-force at its most potent. It is a time when our ancestors took a break from their work to celebrate the turning of the season. This festival is a vibrant tapestry of fire, fertility, desire, and renewal; where communities come together to ignite the Beltane bonfires, symbolizing the sun's return with its life-giving warmth. It is a time of dancing around the Maypole, a ritual that weaves together ribbons and intentions, representing the intertwining of lives, and the unity and interdependency of the community. Beltane is an invitation to celebrate the blossoming of life, to manifest desires, and to honor the sacred union between the earth and the sun. It encourages us to step through the veil of the ordinary into a world alive with magic and possibility, rekindling our connection to nature and to each other, and to embrace the passionate fire of existence.
Maypole Magic: Experience the communal weaving of the Maypole, a physical and symbolic merging of our paths and potentials. We invite you to bring sacred items to be charged at the Elemental Altars placed around Maypole.
Persephone’s Return: Join us in processing Persephone back from her long slumber in the underworld.
Faerie Spa: Bath in the healing magical waters and treat yourself to a massage or foot rub from one of the faeries.
Talent No Talent Show: Share your creative secret super powers with the world! No actual talent required!
Drumming and Song: Songs are the heartbeat of our community. More drumming, more songs, more connection—let's make music the medium of our shared experience.
What We Desire for This Gathering
This past year has taught us invaluable lessons about intention, connection, and personal boundaries. This Beltane, we invite you to bring these lessons into the light of our sacred fire and share your journey and growth with the community. Specifically we are calling in the following:
Intentional Interaction: From the importance of consent to the joy of connection, we've learned the power of being present and mindful of our actions and interactions.
Creative Contributions: Whether it's through art, music, or the magic of simply being, your participation creates the gathering. This year, we emphasize the co-creation of experiences, inviting everyone to contribute their unique magic.
Communal Creativity: Workshops, rituals, and spontaneous moments of magic that foster connection, learning, and growth.
Balanced Being: A harmony of spaces and experiences, from tranquil moments of reflection to exuberant expressions of joy.
Renewing Rituals: Exploring themes emergence, expression, and enjoyment we weave together the stories of our past and hopes for the future.
Nurturing Nature: Aligning with the cycles of the earth, we celebrate the blossoming of life and the nurturing waters of spring.
Gatherings are a balancing act between fun and frivolity with spirituality and intention. If you’ve never been to Shimmerback before—and even more especially if you HAVE—please read these important principles and guidelines:
1. Intention
Why are you coming to Beltane? What is calling you and what do you hope to learn or receive? How will you be present with and mindful of others at the gathering? Who do you hope to connect with? Setting a clear intention will ground your experience and help you get the most out of the gathering.
2. Participation
Gatherings are co-creations. There is no audience! Participation is not just expected, it’s essential. From dishwashing to fire tending, everything happens because YOU and people just like you make it happen. See a glass lying around? Pick it up! Hot tub’s cold? Light the fire! Have a talent? Show it off! (Yes lewks count.) Know something quirky? Lead a workshop! What will your offering be?
3. Ritual
Gatherings are sacred energetic containers that enable us to let down our walls and give us ultimate freedom to safely explore and connect with the truest versions of ourselves and each other. Ritual helps build and protect this container, and creates a structure and rhythm for the gathering. Ritual takes many forms, from opening and closing circles to drumming and dancing around the fire. Ritual is optional but highly encouraged. It may sound scary but it’s usually pretty fun! (And most faeries approach ritual with healthy irreverence.) If you’d like to help with ritual planning, reach out to Ritual Qween Araila.
4. Consent & Boundaries
Unfettered freedom is fabulous as long as we respect each other’s need for physical and energetic safety. This encompasses many things, including consent related to sex and intimacy, and consent to be around drugs and alcohol. Wherever you find yourself please read the room and use your words to communicate with others who may be impacted by your behavior. We have invited a wide range of queer, AMAB, AFAB people that we love and want everyone to be free to express themselves in all areas of the gathering.
5. Substances
We support substance exploration, provided it's done responsibly, based on knowledge and experience of what works best for you, and in a way that facilitates a positive connection to the community. In consideration of the many ways we hold ourselves in relation to alcohol and other substances, please honor the boundaries spelled out in the full gathering call.
6. Sound
We love a good dance party and recognize amplified music as an important ritual element. As such we welcome the use of amplified music brought with care and intention. After 1AM amplified music will be kept to the barn or yurt and at a volume that’s not disruptive in the camping areas. We also ask folks to be mindful of fellow campers when socializing after hours. There will be designated festive and quiet camping areas.
What are the facilities like?
Shimmerback Ranch is 150 acres of quintessential California woodlands along a gorgeous year-round creek. You’ll be spending most of your time outside under the canopy of trees and stars. Accommodations are camping only; no indoor sleeping spaces available. We have a full kitchen, potable water, hot showers, and a flush toilet. There's a fantastic swimming hole, a wood-fired hot tub, and heated spaces for chilling and cuddling. Wifi is available and cell signal is decent depending on your provider. We're grid-connected and there are plugs to charge devices. Carpooling encouraged or use our ride board; AWD recommended but not required. No pets allowed during gatherings.
What to bring:
Camping gear (tent, sleeping bag/pad, bedding/pillow, headlamp)
Extra layers and rain gear
Toiletries & towel (for showers, hot tub and creek)
Sunscreen & bug spray
Water bottle
Snacks and drinks (cans are preferable to glass bottles)
Drums and musical instruments
Lewks/drag/wigs and extra drag for the drag closet
Offerings for the Maypole Altar and Beltane fire
Most importantly, an open heart and mind <3
Cost: This gathering is run by volunteers. The suggested contribution for the gathering is $200-300 per person, meals included. Your contributions go back into the community and allow us to step up the quality and reliability of food; buy necessary kitchen, decoration, and art supplies; and defray costs such as propane and porta potties. This range has been selected to cover costs associated with running the gathering while allowing for people to join regardless of economic status. If this gathering calls to your spirit we really want you to attend! As with all our events, please Give As You're Able But Always Give Something (GAYABAGS). We have limited scholarships to make this event accessible for everyone; for more info please reach out.
Help needed! The gathering committee can always use more hands to manifest the gathering. Ritual queens, land fluffers, vibe tenders, we need you! If you feel called to help please email blimblam@shimmerbackranch.org
Work party! Come early, help prepare the land for Beltane, hang with friends, hike and swim and eat delicious free meals! Wed Apr 24-Thu Apr 25. Please indicate on the registration form if you plan to come for the work party.