Elderflower Womenspirit

Registration CLOSING Soon!
2026 Program and Workshops
Registration Packets are in the Mail

August 12-16 2026

2026 Program and Workshops
Registration Packets are in the Mail
Registration CLOSING Soon!
2026 Registration OPEN!
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2026 Program and Workshops

Highlights for what is planned for the 2026 festival.

Aug. 1st - Below are the finalized plans for camp!

More coming very soon!

2026 Theme

Element of Fire

We wll focus on Transformative aspects of Primal Fire

The Archetypal magical element that we will celebrate in 2026 is Fire.

We will focus on the Primal, Personal, and Social power of Fire through attributes such as release and transformation, the hearth and home for warmth, the comfort and healing of cooking good food, the creative power of the forge, and the energy fire brings to all our magickal endeavors in its many forms. 

For our Main Ritual this year we will be honoring the goddess Brigid. 

In the 2025 festival feedback many of you asked to have more goddesses represented in our rituals. We asked the facebook group and these are some of the goddesses you all responded with based on our theme this year: Brigid, Freyja, Vesta, Mama Nina, Chantico, Pele, and Oya, Amaterasu, Hestia, and Sehkmet. They teach resilience, embrace courage,  and inspire passion and creativity.

Because we meet in the woods, and in general, we want to be cautious and avoid manifesting any unintended physical fires, so we will honor some of the more fiery goddesses more at our communal altars on site.

If you have a goddess or attributes you would like to see honored at this year’s festival, we encourage you to bring totems to place on our communal altars during the festival and they will return home with you full of magical energy.

Festival Sponsored Events and Activities

Rituals

Christina S. will be Priestess for our Opening and Closing Rituals

We open the festival on Thursday afternoon with a ritual where a circle is cast. That circle stays up for the entire Festival and encompasses the whole campground. Please remember that you are in sacred space for the whole festival, treat yourself and others accordingly with love and trust, honor, and respect.  Christina will be calling Sehkmet.

The Closing Ritual Closing Ritual – Sunday at 10:00 AM

The Closing ritual is held Sunday morning after breakfast. We will dance down the circle and ground ourselves before our return to the mundane world. Traditionally, we sing a song as part of the Closing; the lyrics are at the end of this program.  This is an important part of the experience; please plan your departure after the closing ritual. 

Afterwards, if you can, please stay for a little while to join in a group photo  (not use for publicity – only shared among Elderflower attendees.)

Priestesses for the 2026 Ritual are Donna Z and Ann Rene G.

The Goddess to be called is Brigid

Please let us know by using the Contact Us form if you have suggestions for a Goddess of Fire whose traditions emphasize transformation. We are also having a discussion about it in the Elderflower  Community Private Group on Facebook.

[from 2025] This year, we will be crafting the Main Ritual at camp, during two workshop sessions, on Thursday and Friday afternoon.

We welcome all voices to be involved! We will be planning the ritual from the ground up, with a focus on healing, clarity, and transformation.

Suzanne is the Coordinator for the Crones in 2026

Honoring of the Crones / Meeting with New Crones

Crone Gathering – Suzanne | Thursday Morning

The Crone Gathering is scheduled before the Crone Ritual on Thursday morning. If you wish to be Croned, or have never attended Elderflower as a Crone before, please come to the Gathering.  

Open to all initiated Elderflower Crones, attendance is recommended. Topics will include what services Crones wish to offer the EWF community, and what role we wish to play at EWF rituals during the festival.

This is also a time to check in with your sisters and share what has happened since our last meeting. We will remember those who have passed and acknowledge those who are missing. Also share healing energy for any who need it.

Croning  Pre-Ritual  Preparations – Suzanne | Friday morning

  • Crone Pre-Ritual Preparation: So you want to be a crone!
    Any woman 56 years old (or older) who chooses to claim her status as a Crone is required to attend this workshop in preparation for declaring herself a Crone at the Croning Ritual. The Ritual marks the beginning of a woman’s transformation into the beauty and expression of her inner Crone wisdom and her deeper Crone understanding.
  • Please contact Suzanne before the gathering to let her know you are interested, there are questions to consider and answer before the workshop.

Crone Ritual – Suzanne | Friday Afternoon 

For women who have attended the New Crone Ritual Preparation and for initiated Crones.

Not every woman who is 56 or older declares herself a Crone.  When to make that declaration is every woman’s personal choice.  If you are 56 or older and interested in becoming a Crone, check in with the Crone Coordinator (Suzanne) at the Crones’ table in the dining hall.

— read more about Crones at Elderflower

Bear is the Amazon Priestess in 2026

Bear is a long time Dianic Witch, practicing for over 40 years. Leading women circles and reaching for a better way to live for women and children.

Come! Claim your power, Declare your connection to Women and Goddess. Share a vision for a equitable vision of the world. 

Which or Witch ways do you stand up for women and children in the world?

 In this patriarchy all humans are hurt. Women have the answers we need to live our dream. Come be an Amazon reshaping the world.
A woman can be an Amazon at any stage of life. Girls, Maidens, Mothers, and Crones, are welcomed on the circle of Amazon sisterhood.
brigid-fire-circle-tpnt

Festival sponsored activities

If you are interested in facilitating or Priestessing one of these activities, please Contact Us.

Maiden Activities and Ritual

Girls Activities
— read about Maidens at Elderflower.

Mother Workshop and Crowning Ritual
Initiated by Suzy many years ago and carried down from Mother to Mother, this workshop and ritual includes opportunities for women in the Mother Phase of Womanhood to share wisdom and ideas and to possibly be Crowned as Mothers.
— read about The Mother at Elderflower.

In any given year, whether any of these activities happens
always depend on a woman or girl volunteering to coordinate the activities
and hold the ceremonies and rituals.

Activities in 2026

Changes to these lists will be made as plans ripen.

This is a short meeting held every year. The current Core Council reports the festival’s business status; shares the latest news; and asks for direct responses from the Community of Festival Attendees. The Core always begins meetings  by creating sacred space and calling at least one Goddess to assist us in our work. For the first time ever, we are going to do that for this Community Meeting. 

These meetings often bring up matters we would like to discuss regarding the development of the festival and look forward to hearing from Festival attendees. Come let your voice be heard. We also recruit volunteers for next year’s festival. 

Heather and other Volunteers

The Bead Exchange!

Bring a bag ‘o beads with your name on or in, the bag. You will need enough beads for about 50 women (1-bead per person participating). Put the bag in the basket on the registration table in the main dining hall by Noon Saturday. The beads will then be combined, and each participant will get a bag Saturday evening with a variety of beads for creating a memory of elderflower 2026!

The beads can be any material, and need to have a hole big enough to accommodate wire or fishing line, for ease of threading. I’ve brought beads from old necklaces I’ve found in thrift stores, and projects I knew I would never complete! I would love for you to participate! But if you forgot to bring beads, or cannot afford beads, please come see me, I’ll bring some extras!

The fireplace on the right side of the Dining Hall will be designated as a permanent altar to the Goddess, for the duration of the festival. We will place a few items out to inspire you; please feel free to place your own offerings and sacred items on this altar (plan to pick them up again by Sunday morning). You may visit by yourself, for quiet time with Her, or with friends for group blessings.

This year we will again be setting up altars near the Assembly Area, in all four cardinal directions. These will have a banner above them, and a yoga mat to sit on, if you would like to meditate with the element. These will be accessible to all, and you may visit with friends or by yourself.

Each altar will have items pertaining to their Cardinal direction. For Elderflower purposes: East = Air, South = Fire, West = Water, and North = Earth. Please feel free to place your own objects on the shrines.

And remember to pick them up on Saturday evening before heading to your cabin!

Located on the back porch of the Dining Hall, the Wish Net is an opportunity for every attendee to make a wish, for herself, the Elderflower community, and/or for the world at large.  Tie a piece of ribbon to the net, and make your wish!
The Wish Net was first offered in 2025

Jeaniebyrd is the docent for the Treasure Table in 2026

The Treasure Table is a long-standing tradition at Elderflower. The table will be set up in front of the dining hall and is not staffed. You may look at these treasures at your leisure and choose your favorites. Please leave your monetary contribution in the box on the table. All Treasure Table proceeds support the general fund for next year’s festival.

Note: On Saturday evening, please remember to pack away whatever you contributed which was not bought someone.

Curated by Freya

Another fun Elderflower tradition! The Silent Auction his is held outside the dining hall from Thursday morning to Saturday just after lunch. All items are new, or in like-new condition. Once donated, merchandise becomes the property of Elderflower Womenspirit Festival. If you have brought donations, please make sure the Silent Auction Coordinator Freya has them by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. Proceeds from the Silent Auction support the Scholarship fund, and help offset the costs of future festivals.

This is an opportunity for everyone to share pieces of wisdom, inspirational messages, magic tips, and experience with their sisters.

We will set up a table outside the Dining Hall, with a big bulletin board and some index cards. This is where we will share books (to show and tell, not to give away), items, cards, memes, etc. The cards may have more recommendations of more books, music, even movies, crafts or rituals. The goal is to let other women see what has helped each of us on our magical journey.

The Docent for this year is Annie

Located on the path to the Main Meadow, this altar is set up on Wednesday and will be present for all to view and pay respects for the length of the festival.

Anyone may bring pictures or mementos of their beloved dead. Take some time to stop by, sound the bell, if you are moved to do so. Let your loved ones know you remember them! 

Thanks go to Nancy, who began and hosted this space for many years. We carry on this important opportunity to honor our beloved dead.

Please make sure to pick up your items Saturday night.

A path, leading from the foot of the bridge by the Ancestor Altar to the trail that leads to the Fire Circle (about 100 yards), will be swept clean of all debris, rocks, sticks and other detritus. You may safely walk this path barefoot, and commune with the trees, and the Goddess.

Out beyond the Main Meadow, where it is very quiet, and what you hear is the babbling of the brook, the groaning of the trees, the wind in the branches; where you can feel the warmth of the sun on your face, you will find the stone labyrinth. This is a wonderful opportunity to mindfully walk a journey to the center of your feelings, and back out again.
 
The Labyrinth was created in the 1990s by the Reclaiming Witch Camp and has been thoughtfully maintained by them every year. This sacred space has many years of magical walking imprinted into the path.

“And never the twain shall meet!”

The Isis Tent is a cushy place to hang out, for conversation and meditation. This is a strictly no-alcohol zone! Mosquito netting all around, comfy pillows, soft drapes; this is a lovely feminine space to hang out. Please be aware that some workshops take place here.

The Wine Tent, like it sounds, is a place for those who wish to imbibe may do so, in a relaxing, bug-free environment. Feel free to share your adult beverages with your sisters!

Emcee Kathleen

On Saturday evening we gather in the dining hall to enjoy the unique talents of our sisters. If you have a song to sing, a poem to read, a skit to dazzle and delight, we are your captive audience! Listen for the announcement about signing up.

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Schedule

Workshop Sessions (tentative)

  • Morning Sessions: 10:00 AM – 11:45 AM
  • 1st Afternoon Session: 1:30 PM – 3:15 PM
  • 2nd Afternoon Session: 3:30-5:15 PM

Exact times will be in the Printed Program you receive at festival check-in

2026 Workshops

Ordered by Day and Time

The schedule of workshops is tentative and subject to change. 

Check the whiteboard for updates at the festival.

These are all the workshops as of Aug. 1st. We have room for more.

If you submitted a workshop and it is NOT listed below, please send a message to info at elderflower.org  or contact Kathleen or Annie directly.

As of Aug. 1, if you wish to have us add your workshop into the schedule,

please send an email to info at elderflower.org or contact a Core Council member directly: Kathleen, Annie, Stacey or Naomi.

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This workshop will be offered twice: Days Times TBD.
Whether it’s your first time at Elderflower, or you have been here for 20 years, this workshop is open to you. Different members of the Core Council will introduce the various traditions and tenets of the festival, some history, and some guidelines for navigating the festival.

Led by members of the volunteer staff and Core Council

Open to all initiated Elderflower Crones, attendance is recommended. Topics will include what services Crones wish to offer the EWF community, and what role we wish to play at EWF rituals during the festival.
This is also a time to check in with your sisters and share what has happened since our last meeting. We will remember those who have passed and acknowledge those who are missing. Also share healing energy for any who need it.

Using flower and vine wrapped wire, we will channel our inner child/fae/flower power to shape and embellish our very own flower crown! We will have supplies, AND, if you have something you would like to bring to add to your crown, please do!

Saray says: I’d like to guide you into relaxation after locating your body relative to what is outside, and to what is inside. I’ll be making music for your whole body. She knows how to receive the different frequencies of the crystal bowls, the monochord, the crystal pyramid and the hardpan. Let your body resonate with them. As it happens with other embodied practices, when you trust your body to do the healing, you are travelling back to that time when your body still felt holy and free. Holy. And free. We can make it happen again, and again: holy, and free.
Bring a yoga matt, blanket, and cushion; anything to keep you comfortable and cozy as you lie down. Bring your journal if you’d like to write down your experience.

Start your morning with a quiet manifesting meditation for balance and alignment.

Bring your knitting, crocheting, mending, hand quilting, or any hand craft you are working on.

Come learn a short tai chi routine over our time together at the Festival. Participation can be sitting or standing.

This will be a roundtable discussion geared toward witches just discovering their power, to more seasoned witches who might need a gentle reminder of how powerful they are! It covers the basic 13 powers we hold as witches, which can be found throughout many books and traditions, including my own lineage. We will discuss each power and discover what these powers mean to you, how you are currently practicing with them, and how others weave them into their practices.
Please bring a notebook and pen or pencil.

Before you can perform any magic, you have to recognize the root cause of a discomfort, and after that, you need an idea or inspiration about what you wish to change. Sometimes you just need to have a clear vision for what things will look like after the change.

There are many tools that can be used to help us find the knowledge that we hide from ourselves. This workshop will talk about ways to induce the trance state needed to be able to see or feel visions while using a crystal, a candle, a mirror, or a bowl of water. Really, any object can be dedicated to the purpose of scrying.

We can discuss or practice the act of making or dedicating a tool for this purpose. We will also try to induce that state and attempt to scry. If you have a favorite bowl or a medium to large crystal, or a mirror, or a special candle, feel free to bring it to this workshop. I will try to bring some candles to give or crystals to lend.

This workshop is part of the EPN track, and is open to ALL Elderflower women.

You are invited to a ritual of telling our personal and individual Truth. Maidens, Mothers, Crones, Amazons, all community members, including those coming to Elderflower for the first time – come to share the truth of your experience. In the Truth Circle we will co-create a safe container to hold space for our Truths. What medicine can be brewed when we speak with honesty from the heart? The aim is simply to Let Truth Move. When Truth moves, it moves us. Circle will be respectfully moderated. Shares are received & are not rebutted. All have an equal amount of time to share. Everyone who attends is asked to participate, All are invited to attend. All shares are heard.

In this healing circle, we will step into the ‘Knowing Field’ that is always available when we are listening to our bodies. Here, we can invite a woman to represent us as a group, a collective challenge we face, and some planetary powers to guide us in navigating these times. This circle will be an expansion of Family Constellations to include the cosmos and a view into the larger movements we are all experiencing right now. Join us!

So you want to be a Crone!

Any woman 56 years old (or older) who chooses to claim her status as a Crone is required to attend this workshop in preparation for declaring herself a Crone at the Croning Ritual. The Ritual marks the beginning of a woman’s transformation into the beauty and expression of her inner Crone wisdom and her deeper Crone understanding.

Please contact Suzanne before the gathering to let her know you are interested. There are questions to consider and answer before the workshop.

The Crone Ritual will be held on Friday afternoon. See sponsored events above for more information.

Morning Mobility – Tai Chi Lymphatic Flow – Ashe – Friday morning
Movement is Medicine! This Tai Chi-inspired flow involves rhythmic muscle contraction, gentle, flowing movements, such as weight shifting, arm swings, and torso twists, which contract and release muscles, massaging the lymph vessels and pushing fluid through the body. We’ll mostly be standing (on the wooden stage or grassy meadow). A Yoga Mat is never a bad idea to bring!

Intention – a thing intended; an aim or plan
Sigils – an inscribed or painted symbol considered to have magical power.
Talisman – object, typically an inscribed ring or stone, that is thought to have magic powers and to bring good luck
Turn your intention into a physical object you can take with you! We will write out out intentions, work them into a sigil, then creating an object you will get to take home with you! Bring with you a though/intention you are ready to empower. We will write them out (one to two sentences and from that we will create a sigil, specific to our intentions! This sigil can be drawn on anything, carried in your pocket, placed on your altar. We will then take it one step forward and add that sigil to a craft project. Last year we used Agate slices to draw our sigils on, this year will be something different!

This is the third of five planned workshops to be held – one each year to cover the basics of the esoteric meaning of the Elements. This year, we will discuss the symbolic and magical meaning and correspondence for the Element of Fire, the principle of the Decision , the Choice we make to Change, and the Passion which underlies all Transformation.
There will be a demonstration of ways to Call the Power of Fire into a ritual or sacred circle. My understanding is based in Western mystical tradition; Dianic Wicca; and a smattering of Western astrology. There will be opportunity to discuss other cultural perspectives and methods of evocation/invocation. This series is for beginner level but may offer information of use to intermediate level ritual practioners.
This workshop is part of the EPN track, and is open to ALL Elderflower women.

If you wish to be part of the Main Ritual Drum Corp, or just wish to learn more about drumming for ritual, please bring your drum, or other percussive instrument (rattles, gourds, etc) to this workshop! Open to all skill levels.

Bear is a long time Dianic witch, practicing for over 40 years, leading women circles, reaching for a better way to live for women and children.
 Cast a spell using old magic, tying knots. If you can, bring trinkets to put into the spell. We will chant together as we create our spell. 

Movement is Medicine, and we carry a LOT in our hips or “sacrum”; emotions, tension, a uterus… Let’s give our sacred bowl, our sacral arena, our luscious hips, curvy low back, and glorious glutes some deep restorative medicine by gently stretching & moving them around. PLEASE bring or borrow a YOGA MAT. You will want something comfortable underneath you. (Other things to bring: a Towel to roll up. Yoga Blocks if you have them)

I’m not a professional teacher but have been practicing for 16 years- I’ll goof something up but bring a good humor a Yoga mat or towel and water – beginners welcome will be teaching all forms of the postures while practicing with y’all 🙂

Come join us as we learn to bless and inscribe magic into our candles! We will have the opportunity to follow a pre-written candle spell preparation, or create one of our own. If you attended the Sigil/tailsman workshop, you could take this opportunity to inscribe your new sigil into your candle as well!
If you have a favorite essential oil you would like to bring and use, please do so.
**Not suitable for anyone with scent sensitivities, we will be working with essential oils

This workshop is more of a kitchen table conversation. We will explore the phrase “In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust”, and we will discuss what it means – and what it doesn’t mean.

In this workshop, we will discuss how to identify with and bond with your broom, and how to use that bond magically. We have ribbons available to decorate your broom; if there is some other decoration you would like to add, please bring it. A few brooms are available for loan or purchase, or bring your own.

This workshop is part of the EPN track, and is open to ALL Elderflower women.

JD founded this Girls’ Softball game in the early 2000’s.  We remember JD, who provided the mitts and bat and much spirit! 

Alice sometimes leads the games. For sure, she will bring balls, wiffle bats, regular bats and some gloves.  We laugh and get exercise and have a lot of fun! If you have a glove or two and want to play, please bring it.

We’ll cast a circle and raise energy to call our power animals with the purpose to take a spirit journey to the sound of the drum. The energy-raising is participatory. Come ready to assist with drumming, singing songs to unify the group and raising individual and group energy. The sound of the drum induces a special state of consciousness, which allows each woman to travel to non-ordinary reality where anyone can access information unavailable in normal waking reality. For those new to journeying: meet your power animal and get to know the ways of the ‘lower world’. For experienced journeyers, sing your power song, play with your power animal or meet a new one; visit your teachers; ask a question for yourself or another. Sharing your experience after is encouraged, but not required. BRING: a frame drum or rattle to help raise energy for the journey; something to lie on and cover yourself for warmth, and an eye cover.

We all wish we had more magick in our lives and we all have something we wish was different about our lives. The thing is, we we manifest our lives, and our thoughts are the key. This workshop will teach you not only the theory but the practices that will take your life fromk ordinary to magickal with every breath.

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