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The WinterStar Symposium is a four-day annual event produced by the Association for Consciousness Exploration (A.C.E.). The subject matter is similar to the Starwood Festival but the activities are scaled to an indoor venue. Classes are held during the day with musical performances, multi-media presentations and ceremonies in the evening. The speakers often participate in a panel discussion as the last activity on the program. Unlike Starwood, events are structured and focused around a particular theme each year.

Approximately twenty classes on an eclectic variety of subjects are offered. Recently, these have included: trance drumming, Yoga, massage, Reiki, Qi Gong, Celtic trancework, acting as magick, sexuality, and astral projection among others. Subjects that are explored include: spirituality & culture, Wicca^[1], Neo-Pagan community, holistic health, movement systems, music, fringe science, mind studies, and the environment. This is primarily an adult event, with neither day-care nor youth programming provided.

Contents 1 History 2 Presenters 3 Panel discussion recordings 4 Notes 5 References 6 External link

The WinterStar Symposium was first held February 9-12, 1984. Originally called the WinterStar VisionQuest Symposium, it was held at Burr Oak State Park in Glouster, OH ^[2]. It featured Robert Anton Wilson and Jim Alan and Selena Fox (founders of Circle Sanctuary) as headline speakers. Since then, it has been held at Atwood Lake Resort in Dellroy, Ohio. Attendance has ranged from aprox. 125 to 250.

Some of the many nationally and internationally renowned speakers and entertainers who have appeared at WinterStar are:

Margot Adler Steve Blamires Isaac Bonewits Muruga Booker Dagmar Braun Celeste Miriam Chamani Ian Corrigan Phyllis Curott Jim Donovan (musician)

Sally Eaton Halim El-Dabh Philip H. Farber LaSara Firefox Selena Fox Ina May Gaskin Stephen Gaskin Wavy Gravy Anodea Judith Donald Michael Kraig

Paul Krassner Jeff Magnus McBride Ralph Metzner Patricia Monaghan Jim Scott Robert Shea Ivan Stang[1] Harvey Wasserman Robert Anton Wilson [3]

Some of the WinterStar panel discussions have been produced by ACE and made available on tape to the public, including:

• The Magickal Movement: Present & Future (with Margot Adler, Isaac Bonewits & Selena Fox)
• Magick Changing the World, the World Changing Magick (with AmyLee, Isaac Bonewits, Selena Fox & Jeff Rosenbaum)
• The Self in Transformation (with Halim El-Dabh, Donald Michael Kraig, Jeff Rosenbaum, Joseph Rothenberg & Robert Anton Wilson)
• The Once & Future Legend (with Ariana Lightningstorm, Patricia Monaghan, Jeff Rosenbaum, Rev. Ivan Stang & Robert Shea)
• What IS the Conspiracy, Anyway? (with Anodea Judith, Jeff Rosenbaum, Rev. Ivan Stang & Robert Shea)

1. ^ The Witches Among Us by Sally Norman (The Plain Dealer Magazine March 22nd, 1987)
2. ^ Quest: The ACE Newsletter, No. 1, Autumn 1983
3. ^ WinterStar Festival web page

• Adler, Margot, Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today. Beacon Press, 1979; revised and updated 1987. ISBN 0-14-019536-X
• Ar nDraiocht Fein website. [2]
• Muruga Booker website. "Expanding the Frontiers of Your Consideration" article [3]
• Jared Klaus "Exploration, Psychedelia & Wicca" Cleveland Scene C-Notes. [4]
• Jared Klaus "Oldstock" Cleveland Scene. [5]
• Nema (1995) Maat Magick: A Guide to Self-Initiation. Weiser Books ISBN 0-87728-827-5
• Singer, Marian (2005) Dancing The Fire: The Ins and Outs of Neo-Pagan Festivals and Gatherings. Citadel ISBN 0806525347, ISBN 978-0806525341

• WinterStar Festival web page