Live Get-Up-and-Dance Music by Tuatha Belly Dancing by Serpent Moon Dance Opening Ritual by Sacred Earth Circle Community Organizations Fair and Fundraiser Psychic Readers, Chair Massage, Henna Tattoos Face Painting & Aura Photography Merchants & Artists in our basement Magickal Marketplace Costume Contest at 9PM Improvisational Trance Drumming & Dancing Upstairs Free, open, midnight ritual by Living Earth/Highlands Ranch Pagan Meetup Group

Volunteers Needed - Free Admission to Reliable Volunteers

Advance Ticket Sales by Credit Card or Bank Transfer Ending on Friday, October 23rd

Adult Admission $15.00
Children's Admission $5.00

After September 15th, Tickets will be available at:

Herbs & Arts, 2015 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, 303.388.2544
Isis, 2775 S Broadway, Englewood, 303.761.8627
Spirit Wise, 6590 S. Boadway, Centennial, 303.730.2974
It Must Be Karma, 12008 Melody Drive, Westminster, 303.252.7489
The Witches' Brew Coffeehouse/Summerlands Community Center,
5300 W. 44th Ave., Denver, 303-997-9571

Tickets also available at the door at the Witches' Ball

Entertainment

~~~~~2009 Witches' Ball Entertainment Schedule~~~~~

      

• 7:15 to 7:30PM, ballroom - Celebrating Samhain for Children and Parents
• 7:30 to 8:15PM, ballroom - Tuatha's first set
• 8:15 to 9PM, ballroom - Sacred Earth Circle and Tuatha present Raising the Dead
• 9 to 10PM, ballroom - Costume Contest
• 10 to 10:15PM, ballroom - Serpent Moon
• 10:15 to 11:30PM, ballroom - Tuatha's second set
• 11:30PM to midnight, front door foyer - Drumming in the Midnight Hour  
• Midnight, ballroom - The Samhain Ritual presented by Living Earth

• All night, basement - The Magickal Marketplace
• All night, mezzanine room - Psychic Readings and Aura Photography
• 8 to 11:30PM, second floor, north Lodge Room - Improvisational Drumming and Dancing
• 7 to 10:30PM, main floor hallway - Community Organization Fundraising Fair

Tuatha blends the musical and the mystical, playing a psychedelic collage of trance dance, world groove and tribal fusion that transports the listener on an evocative musical pilgrimage to indigenous lands, shamanic visions and realms of the spirits. From Fort Collins, Tuatha returns to entertain us and get us dancing for a second year.

 

 

 

Serpent Moon is a group of performers who strive to widen the definition of belly dance in America. The dancers of Serpent Moon - Chaya, Sevilla, Tirzah and Zaina - bring graceful motion, unusual music and a dash of whimsy to their audience. With shimmying hips, glinting swords and swirling veils, the dancers captivate and entertain.

Sacred Earth Circle will be returning to help us create the sacred space for the Witches' Ball by presenting their participatory opening ritual, Raising the Dead. Bring a photo or something that reminds you of your departed loved ones to put on the Ancestor Altar. Come join Sacred Earth and Tuatha in dancing the Ancestors awake.

At 9PM, on the main stage, our traditional Witches' Ball Costume Contest begins. Don't miss the artistry and imagination that goes into these fantastic costumes -- some people work on theirs for weeks beforehand. First we judge the children's costumes, and then the adults, with prizes for the best costumes each year.

To finish our evening, Johnny and Jeannette Judish will be leading a group of mystical percussionists. Amid the ancient, echoing, marble columns of the front door foyer and stairway, they will help us wind down the fun and excitement of the Witches' Ball while welcoming in the midnight hour.

After the Witches' Ball ends, the fun continues with an all-night after-party at the Witches' Brew Coffeehouse and Summerland Community Center at 5300 West 44th Avenue.

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Merchants and Psychics

The psychic readers, energy healer and aura photography will once again have their own cozy room for divining on the mezzanine level between the basement and main floor.

Our artists and vendors will fill the basement of the Masonic Temple with their Magickal Marketplace, a tempting bazaar of colors, smells and sounds. They offer for sale the beautiful, the exotic and the magickal: clothing, costumes and fabrics; jewelry, chainmail and leatherwork; CDs, tapes and books; candles, altar tools and statuary; swords, knives and staffs; gemstone-encrusted crystal wands, fused and stained glass; herbs, oils and incenses; handmade soaps, lotions and bath salts; imports from Bali, India and Greece; paintings and banners; fairies, dragon puppets and stuffed animals; pottery and drums; crystals and gemstones; tarot boxes and medicine bags; unique mouse pads, cauldrons and t-shirts. We'll also offer henna tattoos, chair massage and face painting.

Buy your Yule gifts from that unique assortment of wares that you can only find together in one place -- at the Witches' Ball!

If you wish to view a sampling of our vendors' wares, check out these websites:

• Starrcat's import clothing and gifts at www.starrcatimports.com
• Renna's shamanism books and tools at www.rennashesso.com
• Joshua Free's rewriting of the Necronomicon at www.necrogate.com
• Sarah Schantz's artwork and gifts at www.AnangkaArts.Etsy.com
• Kamala Health and Beauty items at www.kamala.com 
• Sue Clover's Henna Skin Art at www.anandahenna.com
• Clan Stormdancer magical items at www.clanstormdancer.com
• The Bead Junkies at www.beadjunkies.com    
• Wolf Moon Arts and Crafts at www.wolfmoonartsandcrafts.com
• John Fleming's Tarot Wizard readings at www.SLVJunction.com/wizard 
  
  

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Food and Beverage

Our food this year is prepared by Dave of the University Sports Grille, who is returning to cook for us after grilling burgers and brats at Front Range Pagan Pride Day. All his pastas, sauces, meatballs and sausage are made in his own restaurant kitchen. Food and beverages will be served in the ballroom from 7PM to 11PM.

Soft drinks and bottled water will also be available all evening in the basement Magickal Marketplace. Bottled water will be for sale in mid-evening on the second floor, outside the north Lodge Room for the trance drummers and dancers.

2009 Witches' Ball Menu

Hot Dogs with Fixings	$2.00
Hamburgers with Fixings	$4.00
Bratwurst	$4.00
Turkey Legs	$4.00
Vegetarian or Beef Burritos	$4.00
Vegetarian Spaghetti with Marinara	$5.00
Spaghetti with Meatball or Sausage	$6.00
Vegetarian Fettuccine with Alfredo Sauce	$6.00
Add Chicken	$1.00
Garden Fresh Salad	$3.00
Chips	$1.00
Cookies	$1.00
Soft Drinks and Bottled Water	$1.00
Hot Coffee or Cider	$1.00

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Community Groups

Alexandria Temple of Universal Metaphysics    
           
The AlexandriaTemple of Universal Metaphysics has been serving the Denver area for many years. In the last few years it has affiliated as a branch of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church to strengthen its primary role in providing ministry to the Pagan and Wiccan prison populations of the state of Colorado. ATUM can use donations of spiritual reading material for the inmates, allowable ritual supplies, office supplies, stamps and money.

Reclaiming Spirit, Denver

The Reclaiming Church in Denver is a community working to unify spirit and politics. Reclaiming offers rituals, workshops and classes, many featuring nationally-renowned teachers of Reclaiming Witchcraft.  

The Covenant of the Witches

The Covenant of the Witches offers Wicca training one-on-one or in a small group format in Littleton and has presented larger rituals at the Hearthstone Open Full Moon, Dragonfest and Beltania.

Living Earth

Living Earth began as the Highlands Ranch Pagan Meetup Group. Living Earth offers classes, discussion groups, rituals and activities for adults and for children in the south Metro area. In May they successfully produced Beltania, a hit weekend campout festival with magic, rituals, workshops and music.

Wiccan Rights and Pagan Pride (WRAPP)

WRAPP is a Colorado nonprofit corporation working for Earth Religion Civil, Constitutional and religious rights and religious tolerance in Colorado. WRAPP's new website features the Front Range Pagan Community Calendar and the Pagan Purple Pages listing directory. This summer WRAPP has resumed work on it's Law Enforcement Education Project (LEEP).

Northern Colorado Covenant of the River

The NCCoR offers networking, classes, socializing and rituals for Pagans in the Fort Collins area. Both adults and children are welcomed to their activities.

The Front Range Pagan Pride Day

The Front Range Pagan Pride Day committee organizes a day-long event every September featuring live music, ritual, merchant booths and workshops to promote its mission of religious tolerance and celebrate Pagan pride.

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The Midnight Samhain Ritual

Living Earth invites you to join in the midnight ritual to celebrate the final harvest festival. Do we have everything we need to make it through the dark days of winter? Or is something missing? It is time to draw together as a tribe, to acknowledge this time of transition, and affirm our worthiness of survival. This interactive ritual will include drumming and chanting. All ages and mobilities are welcomed.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1) Do I have to wear a costume?
Answer: No, it's optional, but about half the attendees do. Feel welcome to wear a costume, party clothes or jeans -- whatever would make you comfortable.

2) Do I have to be Pagan or Wiccan to attend the Witches' Ball?
Answer: No, it's open to the public. Some folks come just because it's the best Halloween party in town! If you would be comfortable with an eclectic mix of friendly folk of all ages and genders, some of whom who practice nontraditional religions or beliefs, then you're welcome to join us.

3) Is the Witches' Ball suitable for children?
Answer: Generally, yes. In the Pagan community the Ball is considered a family event and many bring the whole family. Be advised, however, that there is not any special children's or teen programming, so if dancing to music or drumming, the costume contest, etc. would bore your child, I do not recommend bringing them.

My only caution might be that one or more of the adult costumes can occasionally get a little risque'. If you would not be comfortable with your children seeing that, then it's probably best they not come. Please do not leave your child or teenager unsupervised at the Witches' Ball.

4) What if I just want to come to the midnight ritual?
Answer: That is fine. Arrive after 11:30PM and there will be no admittance charge. (Also it will be easier to find parking.) We will not be allowing folks into the ballroom or main floor hallway for a half hour before the ritual begins because congregating in - and blocking - the hallway is a safety risk. You may visit the merchants in the basement or you may wait in the foyer of the front door, but security will stop you from entering the main floor.

At midnight those waiting in the foyer will be summoned for the processional into the ritual hall. Anyone waiting elsewhere in the building for ritual to start will need to keep track of the time and come to the foyer at midnight. After all worshippers have entered the ritual hall, all exterior doors of the Masonic Temple will be locked and there will be no further admittance to the facility. All doors to the ritual hall will also be locked, and no one will be admitted late to the ritual.

People not attending the ritual will not be allowed to wait unsupervised in the building. Either wait in your car, make arrangements to meet at the Denny's restaurant south of the Temple on Federal, or volunteer to be part of the supervised cleanup crew.

5) Is there an expected standard of behavior at the Witches' Ball?
Answer: The vast majority of Witches' Ball participants (up to 900 of us each year!) consider this a spiritual community event and have a great deal of fun in a responsible, loving and positive way, but a few immature souls (just a couple handfuls over the last 17 years) sometimes act less honorably. Therefore, see the Expected Standard of behavior below.

6) Is there alcohol for sale?
Answer: No, this is a nonalcoholic event. If you want an altered state experience, try out the trance drumming and dancing upstairs! Dancing to Tuatha could get you there, too.

7) Can I take photographs at the Witches' Ball?
Answer: Yes, but please ask permission first, and respect those who decline. Some Pagans or Wiccans are not "out of the broom closet" and prefer their anonymity.

8) What about parking?
Answer: I encourage folks to carpool to the Witches' Ball, as there is limited parking in the parking lot. You may also park on the adjacent streets and in the surrounding neighborhood. As we have had one incident of vehicle theft (from across the street) and one smashed window/radio theft (in the parking lot) over the years, I am cautioning folks to leave valuables at home, or lock them in the trunk, out of sight. Remove radios, DVD players, cell phones, etc. And do not say, "I'd sure like to be rid of this vehicle" before entering the Ball (i.e do not tempt the Gods or the neighborhood delinquents).

We will have Security patrol the parking lot, as in years past, but we cannot be everywhere at once. So please help each other out by reporting any suspicious activity to Security.

9) Is the Witches' Ball wheelchair accessible?
Answer: Yes. There are wheelchair parking spaces at the south and north of the Temple building. Send word to the front door (the west door facing Federal) that you need to be let in at the south door facing 35th Avenue where there is an access ramp, and someone will go round and let you in.

There is an elevator near that ramped south door that can take you to the basement or second floor. The only space not accessible by wheelchair is the mezzanine lounge where the psychic readers hold sway. If you would like a psychic reading from one of them, please ask for help. Tell our Security volunteer at the Information Table and s/he will work on a solution for you.

The wheelchair accessible restroom is to the right of the entrance to the kitchen. People going into the kitchen to buy food will turn left. You will turn right and enter the office. This small restroom is used only by staff, merchants, and the wheelchair-mobile. Signage in the ballroom will point to this restroom.

10) What about ticket sales?
Answer: Advance ticket sales are available at Isis, Herbs and Arts, Spirit Wise, It Must Be Karma and The Witches Brew beginning September 15th. You may pay with cash or check. You may buy them at the last minute at the stores, unless they've already sold all they had.

Tickets bought at stores are nonrefundable, but are transferable -- if you can't make it to the Witches' Ball, just give or sell your ticket to someone else.

Tickets will be available for purchase online, here at this website, by credit card or bank transfer by September 1st. E-tickets are neither refundable or transferable.

11) Do I have to purchase my tickets in advance?
Answer: No. you may purchase your tickets at the door. We might change that at some time in the future, but not this year. For those who've already bought their tickets, it just speeds up your entrance to go to the shorter line for those who've already paid.


12) What if I need help, have a question, have lost an item, need a first aid kit, etc?
Answer: Go to the Information Table and the person there will summon someone to help you. That's also where the first aid kit and lost-and-found will be. Out on the floor, roving Security staff will be in uniform and Security volunteers will be wearing armbands that say "Security".

13) Can I smoke cigarettes at the Witches' Ball?
Answer: Yes, but not inside the building. The smoking area is outside the south door.

14) Can I go out and come back in again?
Answer: Yes, you will get your hand stamped when you first go through the entrance door and that will let you in and out again all evening. You may exit from any of the exit doors, but you may only come back in again through the front door or smoker's door. Please flash your hand stamp at the registration volunteers when you come back in.

15) What if I'd like to be a vendor or reader at the Witches' Ball?
Answer: Call or e-mail me, and I will mail or e-mail you out a vendor packet after asking you a couple questions. The vendor packets get sent out at mid-August. There are waiting lists for jewelers and psychic readers and I may limit vendors in other categories if we are getting too many folks selling the same kind of goods.

I screen the readers before they can work the Witches' Ball. You need to show me that you are accurate, insightful, articulate and ethical.

The merchants' Magickal Marketplace tends to fill up about a week before the Witches' Ball, so get those vendor applications back to me early.

16) What about volunteering at the Witches' Ball?
Answer: I couldn't produce the Witches' Ball without volunteer staff. It takes over 70 volunteers to make everything run smoothly. As a token of my thanks, volunteers get into the Witches' Ball for free.

Some volunteer jobs can be done before the Ball, some are during, and some are after (such as late-night hauling and cleanup). The majority are short volunteer jobs that last for 2 1/2 hours. Some angelic spirits volunteer for longer stints. A few work for me all night; I shall be grateful to them until the day I die.

If you wish to volunteer I will question you to determine if you are a responsible person and attempt to match you with a job you would enjoy. If you volunteer it is your responsibility to have someone to back you up if you can't make it at the last minute. No-shows are one of the things that stress me out the most each year!


17) Can I volunteer for the Witches' Ball if I'm a teenager?
Answer: Probably not. If you can provide me with references (besides your mother) who can vouch for you, I'm willing to decide that on a one-by-one basis. Unfortunately, I've had bad experiences with young volunteers. The teenagers who are flakes tend to ruin it for the ones who are gems. (That's true of adults as well, isn't it?)

I need volunteers who are self-directed, who can get the job done without a lot of supervision because I am distracted by multiple problem-solving needs all night. (There are six to eight major activity areas going on simultaneously all night long.) Most of the kids I've worked with seem to need direction and/or supervision, and I'm not able to give it, so it hasn't worked out well.

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Expected Standard of Behavior

1. As this is a family event, overt or crude sexual behavior - even when dancing - is not appropriate. Those behaving inappropriately will be asked to leave.
   
2. No drinking, no drugs. Those arriving obviously drunk or stoned may be refused admittance or asked to leave. Those caught engaging in illegal activities will be reported to the police.
   
3. No firearms or unsheathed knives or swords.
   
4. No fighting. Not even among hormone-crazed teenagers and young men. You will be asked to leave.
   
5. Pick up after yourself, depositing trash or recycling in the appropriate containers. Before you leave, check to see if you've left anything behind.
   
6. Vandalism or shoplifting will be reported to the police.
   
7. Your admission will not be refunded if you are asked to leave because of irresponsible behavior.
   
8. Please find a Security professional or a Security volunteer wearing a security armband if you need assistance or run into problems. Feel free to tell people who are misbehaving to stop, and call for backup from Security if necessary. Key personnel, including Security, will be connected by walkie-talkie and the Information Table will be the communications hub.

Witches' Ball 2004 photography courtesy of Cynthia LeFevre.

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Jacqueline Weller
303.935.6700
Email Jacqueline

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