Autumnfest

...is this witch convention (they don't really call it that, but that's what it was.) and I'd really been looking forward to going. There are not many people in my Tradition out here in Texas, since the Trad originated in Atlanta- so most of the people in it are in Georgia. So every fall they have a big camp-out about an hour and a half north of Atlanta proper and have rituals and workshops and stuff.

Tragedy notwithstanding, I was pretty frustrated because of the flight situation (I'd booked a month ago). They kept getting canceled and rescheduled. I tried renting a car, looked into bus or train, even renting a effing U-Haul. But the 3rd reschedule made, so I went out a day late and showed up past midnight instead of suppertime.

It was good to see 'family', and nice that they were so happy to see me too, and kept asking if the flight was scary. The flight was great; since only ticket holders were allowed in, after the initial bag search (and I mean they searched everything; I’m surprised they didn't take the nail file), it was very smooth sailing, and quiet and unrushed, which is not typical for airports. The vibe was a lot more reflective and subdued, and considering how frantic and crabby people are in airports (and projecting this with almost contempt for their surroundings) it was kind of a nice change.

I'd missed the time slot for my workshop (one about some specific aspects of astrology) but since enough people expressed disappointment that I wasn't there to give it (it was originally a 'we have a time slot to fill, wanna teach something?' sort of thing, so I'd more or less pulled it out of my ass) it was rescheduled, and I enjoyed teaching it.

I had a heart-to-heart with our 'Pope', who despite my initial misgivings that I think a lot of Wiccans have of 'authority figures' was a very sweet, loving, supportive lady with a great sense of humor. I jokingly refer to her as The Pope when I'm trying to describe her to non-Trad folks, but really she's more like the president of a franchise. As long as we stick to certain key values and elements and use certain rituals for Initiations, as far as she's concerned the other covens can do whatever they want. People assume because she's the Pope/Prez that she wants to tell us all what to do, and it's unfortunate that they don't try to see past that, 'cause she isn't like that at all. I was concerned that I wasn't doing well by the Trad, since I didn't have the 'in' track that all the Georgia people had. She was very wonderful and reassuring. She helped me sort through some of the communication problems I've been having with my group too. She also recommended that I confront one of the other people that'd pissed me off, which is only fair if I'm gonna be spouting this 'communication is wonderful!' stuff and expect to have any credibility. Blar! Cursed inconsistency! :)

We women attended a 'Croning' ritual, honoring women who have reached the crone stage in their lives (post-menopause, or 50ish) that was cool. Yes, the men had a 'Saging' ritual aka 'Geezer' ritual :) I got a copy of the croning ritual for my group; now if I can just figure out how to use Via Voice… I don't know if I can have a copy of the Saging ritual. I need to acquire a High Priest at some point.

Famous Pagan Author (R.J.Stewart) came and gave a talk on the Sleepers, guardians of the land that are common through many cultures. Later, he had a ritual where we invited all the guardians/fae from our land and the Middle East (efreets, djinn, and one other kind I can't recall) and made peace offerings and asked them to bring wisdom and healing to their respective peoples. It was my favorite kind of ritual; both deep and powerful, and with touches of humor- seeing this Famous Pagan Author light up when someone brought an offering of M&Ms, and then somberly remark that he would be accepting offerings of liquor after the ritual was over. He was Scottish (or Cornwall or something- he was amused when the Pope said ‘if it’s not Scottish it’s CRAP!’ to him), and had the most yummy accent. :) Sorta like in Braveheart, but a bit more lilting. Then in the ritual he put on what I call the Ritual Voice, where you enunciate more clearly and so forth. Some most people loose all trace of accent when they use Ritual Voice, I imagine it’s sort of like how all national news talking heads try to loose their accents. With this guy, though, his diction was crisp but he had more of an accent than before- he rolled his R’s a lot. *dreamy sigh*

One aspect of it was that he asked all our spirit guides, totems, co-walkers (as he called them) and whatall to come be with us. Without much warning, a spirit guide that I remember working with as a teen (long before I became Wiccan) came to me very suddenly and felt like he was right there next to me. I hadn't thought much of him in ages- I think I've ignored him, thinking that he had left me. Well, apparently he hasn't. I'm gonna have to get reacquainted with him! Wow. He's a white fox, by the way (not Arctic, I don't think) so I may be chatting with todfox about that soon. I feel like I'm jumping on the fox bandwagon or something, and I've never really felt all that connected to foxes. I like 'em fine, but you know. More to meditate on.

That same day Gordon had a workshop on 'Pagan ethics' and we spend the 1st hour wading through personal ethical conundrums, which was interesting. Then we spent the next hour talking about the terrorist attacks, and what we as Wiccans should be doing. There were several different opinions, of course, and we ended up getting in a discussion about fundamentalism in all it's forms (both over there and over here), and how it sucks. One fellow made the point about how yeah, he thinks we may have to have military action, but when he was a kid, if he screwed up his parents would walk away from him until they could dole out his punishment from a place of clear-headed logic, rather than from anger. This makes a lot of sense to me; I think it best sums up my feelings. I am scared not only that we will go to war, but that we will be striking from anger, which clouds judgment. :( I really liked this guy; he recently earned his 3rd Degree in the Trad and I think I'm gonna e-mail him and chat him up further. He seems to have a lot of brains and sense. I told him that I would vote for him for U.S. president if he ever ran, and he got this amusing look of flattery and horror on his face. Well, they say the best people for the job usually don't want it.

Gordon and I went back to Atlanta proper that night since they wanted people to arrive for their flights back 2 hours early, and my flight was at 7am the next morning. This way we were in town and got a fairly decent night's rest since we didn’t have to drive in from the camp site. I wish I'd seen Atlanta during the day, it seemed like there were these beautiful huge trees everywhere, even in town. But cor, they sure worship at the freaking Coke altar! Everywhere were Coke ads, the Coke museum (which I was later told was an incredible monument to how Coke is taking over the world) and I couldn't get a bloody Dr.Pepper when I wanted one. I was a stranger in a strange land.

The flight back was OK. I had an hour layover in Houston, so I paid $15 for a $5 shoe shine. The guy said they weren't making shit for income since they weren't letting non-ticket holders in anymore, so I figured I'd spread the love and give a huge tip. It was a really good shine though, and that dude was such a silver-tongued flatterer!

The cab ride was almost stereotypical- this guy with some kind of foreign accent having a drawn-out conversation that I prompted with 'uh-huh' and 'yeah', even though I understood maybe 20% of what he was saying. I think the thrust of it was that lots of people were scared, and he mentioned that he'd driven a lady from Thailand or something yesterday who was worried that war would break out.

It was nice to get home, but hearing all the news was sorta dreary. This is why we had a Very Brady Movie Night at the House of Mellow last night. Here's the story... (sing along, everyone!)

I also cleared the air with my Initiates; it was great to do that as I'd been feeling bad about it. Families squabble, but stick together. It feels good and reminds me of why I'm doing all this.