ZMS Mid-Autumnal Gratitude Greetings!

[Zuni Mountain Sanctuary]

Dearest Family, Friends and Supporters of ZMS -

 

This week we marked the midway point on our journey from Autumnal Equinox to Winter Solstice - sacred feast and fire ritual honoring Samhain with faeries and family from all over the El Morro Valley area.  This season has been one of swirling energies bringing big lessons - joyous, tumultuous, simple, engaging, loving, grieving, industrious, bountiful, sacred, profane, communal - we are a microcosm of the planet we share with you, dear ones.  Our first snowfall this week reflects back the moonlight - by the fullness of La Luna in the coming week, our shadows will be brilliantly lit with white and silver dancing across the ponds, along the treetops, and into the Milky Way.

 

We continue to evolve as a community, as a sanctuary, as healers learning the medicines offered freely and lovingly by the landscape, the people, the animal teachers and the plant professors right here at home.  Welcome Home.  Blessed Be.

 

Much work has been put into the renovations on Juniper House. With your support we have been able to midwife that project - we have purchased materials and put in many, many hours, days and weeks of physical and energetic muscle into the roof, the south-facing wall, interior mudding and sealing, the foundation, new drainage systems and the garden beds.  Currently we have pressed the "Pause" button while more funds are raised to complete this endeavour; new builders with fresh eyes and experience are coming in to review the work and offer guidance on the next steps to take this rebirth to completion.  BIG THANK-YOU's go out to Zac Benfield and RFD cover-cutie Kyle Devries of our fraternal Feyboy Collective in San Francisco!  Last weekend they raised over $200 at the MATTACHINE party for our building projects.  Our deepest gratitude goes out to our inspiring friends and MATTACHINE hosts John Cameron Mitchell, Amber Martin, PJ Deboy and Paul Dawson for creating such fierce community space! 

 

The Juniper House renewal project has sparked the fire to create and maintain a Builders Guild Fund, with the initial priority being the completion of Juniper.  On November 12, Feyboy Collective will host a full-pull reacharound Fundraising Event to attract those much-needed resources which will ripple out to the maintenance work needed on Tea Rooms, our Common House and of course, the much-beloved art/wellness/performance/dance/office/library space, The Studio.  This site-specific event in the Bay will coincide with an on-line fundraising campaign!  Details will be available in the next few days on our Facebook page (Zuni Mountain Sanctuary), as well as feyboy.com, playajoy.org and gayburners.com.  Anyone with a Paypal account can now simply e-mail tax-deductible donations directly to zun...@wildblue.net.  The glorious interior makeovers in The Studio, Common House and Tea Rooms are in full swing (did someone say "desert chic"?)!  Someone tell Lapis Luxxxury it's safe to come black!  Yes, Lapis, that old beat-down, raggedy sofa is GONE from the Common House!  All of our buildings are much greener with indoor plantings, they are cleaner and more communal - emphasizing art, music, health, meal and worksharing, and honoring the balance of energies necessary to explore our inner landscapes. 

 

Also, please note that we are in a hotbed of activity this week as ZMS family and friends present NOISES OFF - A COMEDY BY MICHAEL FRAYN, premiering at Old School Gallery, directed by Sophia Tripodi and Joe "Birdy" Birdsong, and starring Eden Gloria, Standing Feather, Barbara Duncan, Redwulf Dancing Bare, Genevieve Humenay, Munk Hitirus, Mercy Marc Arendt, Sophia Tripodi, and (Denver Faerie extraordinaire) Cadence Johnson!  Performances are Friday, November 11th, Saturday, November 12th, Friday, November 18th, Saturday, November 19th (doors open at 7:30pm, curtain at 8:00pm). We will also give the early birds a matinee performance on Saturday, November 12th (doors open at 1:30pm, curtain at 2:00pm).  Tickets are $12, so if you haven't already gotten yours, get them now!  Contact Birdy at ZMS (505-783-4002), or the Old School Gallery (505-783-4710)...or go online to www.elmorro-arts.org to purchase tickets via PayPal!  Yes, Billy Shakespeare meets Benny Hill in a ridiculous play-within-a-play where sardines, falling trousers, flapping doors and mistaken identities lead up to some tawdry shenanigans.  Proceeds from the show benefit Old School Gallery!

Winter Visitors!  Due to much more limited indoor space at this time, please contact the Sanctuary with as much advance notice as possible.  Our indoor residence housing is in high demand at this time, so we encourage short visits for a couple of days over weeks-long stays this winter.  Once Juniper House is up and running again, this scenario will shift to accomodate quite a few more bodies than is currently sustainable.

 

Please join us wherever you read these words by occupying heart space with us, with our beloveds, with our environment.

 

Until Solstice...

Zuni Mountain Sanctuary exists through the infinite generosity, hard work, and moral support from Stewards and other supporting members. Our goal is to be self-sufficient, but not insular. This Email allows us to maintain contact with you, the wider community of members and supporters. Please help support your sanctuary's efforts by making a contribution this year, financial or otherwise. We are a 501(c) (3) nonprofit, tax exempt organization under religious auspices chartered in the state of New Mexico.