Registration is coming soon for Freedom Fest 2025 – July 2nd-July 6th
Dear SweetWood Temenos Folk, Friends and like-minded Kin
You are invited to attend SweetWood Temenos’ 2025 Sabbats, Festivals, and Events (See Schedule)
We ask that you let us know when you plan to come out to the Land, before you come, to avoid any conflicts of schedule, and so the Caretakers are aware you will be there. If you or your guest have not been to Sweetwood Temenos, you must contact me, Jack Ingersoll, ingkj@mwt.net or call at 608-625-4060 before coming.
Clothes-Optional:
Please note that SweetWood Temenos is a Family Friendly Place and People. It is a clothes-optional site, which means you may wear clothes, or be nude, as you wish. There will be attendees present who are naked. Being naked (sky-clad) in our rites, events, and on our Land, including in the Caretakers home, is considered both healthy and sacred.
All minors (under 18 yrs. old) must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
NOTE: We have one Sabbat, Summer Solstice ritual, dedicated to “Nakedness as a Divine experience”. This is a skyclad or all naked Sabbat ritual and is an exception to the clothes optional rule of SweetWood Temenos.
General Information:
Our lovely site is on a ridge-top with 40 acres of woods & fields located near La Farge WI. We have sacred circles & altars in the woods. Facilities include: a 40×30 ft. picnic shelter with electricity, drinking water, 15 shady campsites (3 tent sites per campsite), a flat area for up to 8 camp trailers with electric hookups and a bathhouse with hot showers (private and communal), 4 flush toilets (handicap accessible) and a washer and dryer.
Please bring clothing appropriate for the weather. Wisconsin weather can be unpredictable at any time of the year. Be naked/sky-clad as you wish in the rituals and on the Land, as we are a clothes optional site. Please be discreet while naked in the hay field due to its openness to a public township road.
Potluck: We ask good folk who attend SweetWood Temenos celebrations to bring a dish to share for the Sabbat feast. There is a special sort of magic that happens in the kitchen, where the ingredients of our minds & hearts meet the ingredients of the kitchen cupboard. Our hands are then inspired to create the meals that sustain us. Too often, in our haste we overlook this fundamental part of our Pagan spirituality that finds the sacred in everything. Share the sacred magic of your kitchen with our community by creating a dish with intent. Let love, laughter and goodwill be your spices. May the Muses inspire you! NOTE: please bring along the list of ingredients in your food. Thx!
Other things to bring:
If you forget something, no worries. The Magic will happen!
We gratefully accept any donations
This is a time for good folk to visit the Land and enjoy the early spring. There will be opportunities for planting, making firewood, pruning, campsite cleanup & development (such as campfire pits and tent sites), bathhouse clean-up, as well as enjoying the Land and our community. We’ll celebrate Earth & the renewal of the Land with a water-sharing, a fire in the circle and a pot-luck feast. Earth Keepers may camp through the weekend as the bathhouse will be open, weather permitting. (The Caretaker’s house will be open for use if the bathhouse is not open.)
Ritual at 2:00 pm with a pot-luck feast afterward. Bring 18 – 20 feet of ribbon per person for the Maypole. Please bring food and/or drink to share. On Saturday night there will be a fire in the sacred circle for merry-making and fellowship. The bathhouse will be open for this Celebration.
Members and friends of SweetWood Temenos are welcome to visit, picnic, walk in the woods & fields, enjoy the springtime, and chat with members about SweetWood Temenos. We’ll have a fire in the circle Sunday evening (or in our shelter if rains). Bring drink, food & musical instruments. There is a suggested donation by non-members of $10 per night per tent or $25 for all three days (children’s tents FREE).
You must purchase tickets to attend this event. See https://fcburn.org/
Sky-Clad Ritual at 3:00 pm
During this ritual, all participants are required to be skyclad (naked). There will be feasting afterward and a fire into the evening. Please bring food and/or drink to share. Let us make this a “summer ice cream social.” Grill out, drink, dance, play Kubb, play music and make merry on the longest Day of the year.
This is a celebration of emotional maturity — of being an adult and beholding one another naked as a Sacred Act and a Divine experience. We will share water and honor one another. Before and after the ritual, SweetWood Land will be considered as clothes-optional, and so dedicated.
The ritual will be at 3:00 pm with pot-luck feast afterward and fire into the evening. This is a celebration of the first fruits of the harvest. In the ritual we will be giving thanks for what we have received this season! Toasts, boasts, and stories about one’s success are welcome. The feast will be celebrated with dishes and desserts of the season. Please bring some to share.
There may be other rituals planned for Lughnasad, the following weekend, and more during the rest of the month. So, stay tuned… NOTE: Some may be closed to the public or by invitation only.
Opening Ritual Wed July 2nd at 6:00 pm
Come and enjoy the forests & fields, and our community of likeminded folk. Freedom Festival includes workshops, vendors, a symposium, the main ritual, potlucks, annual SweetWood town hall meeting, and relaxing with friends & lovers under starry nights.
This year we will be celebrating our 29th Freedom Festival and 26th year as a church. More information will follow as we get closer to the festival. Freedom Festival is our main fundraising event of the year.
The ritual will be at 3:00 pm with pot-luck feast afterward and fire into the evening. This is a celebration of the first fruits of the harvest. In the ritual we will be giving thanks for what we have received this season! Toasts, boasts, and stories about one’s success are welcome. The feast will be celebrated with dishes and desserts of the season. Please bring some to share.
There may be other rituals planned for Lughnasad, the following weekend, and more during the rest of the month. So, stay tuned… NOTE: Some may be closed to the public or by invitation only.
Come camp, relax, and enjoy the land and this Holiday with friends. Bring your favorite instruments & share your songs & riffs with the community. Dance around the fire, or just relax and let it all be. Experience the magic of music in the hills, fields & forests of SweetWood. Stay for the day, or for the whole long weekend. There is a suggested donation by non-members of $10 per night per tent or $25 for all three days (children’s tents FREE).
The ritual is on Sat, Sep 20th at 5 PM (Note: New Moon begins on the 20th and 22nd is the actual Fall Equinox). Potluck feast afterward and fire into the evening. Please bring food and/or drink to share. The ritual will be about giving thanks to the community and what one will give back to the community. It is also an energy hand-off, for a new cycle that begins with the Sun Goddess and Moon God.
The Ritual at 5:30 pm (near sunset) with potluck feast afterward, and fire into the evening. Bring a carved pumpkin with a candle if you wish, and food and/or drink to share. Please arrive by 5:30 pm. The ritual will have three parts: honoring the Ancestors, the words of the God, and Divination. Dress in costume if you wish.
Ritual at 3:00 pm with potluck feast afterward and Bonfire into the evening. Please bring food and/or drink to share. Dress warm. This will be a celebration of the Return of the Light. The good folk who gathers will be asked to bring offerings, prayers and to share their heartfelt words for this season and times.
Ritual and Fire at 2:00 pm with potluck feast afterward. Please contact Iacchus (aka Jack Ingersoll) at ingkj@mwt.net if you are planning to attend. Dress warmly, as we may need to walk about 1/3 of a mile from the Caretaker’s driveway back to the circle in the woods. I’ll plow a path back there but there will be some snow to walk through. There will be a fire in the circle, and we will be honoring the Sun Goddess and Moon God.
Accordion Content
As the Sabbats come up, we’ll announce who will being doing the rituals and any changes in dates or times on our Facebook page or through our e-mail lists
Blessings & Never Thirst!
Iacchus & Delta (Clergy & Caretakers of SweetWood Temenos)