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Autumnfest 2k3 part 1
Sep. 16th, 2003 03:46 pmI'm back from Autumnfest!
I'll see how far I can get going over the trip; I've been catching up with stuff all day and am wanting to get away from the computer soon.
Brenda showed up a bit before 5am and we were on the road in good time. The drive went well; we got along fine. I wasn't sure how well I'd get along with anyone I wasn't married to if stuck with them in a car for 16 hours. But she is an entertaining traveling companion and we got to Jodi's (Jodi=Lady Galadriel, the Matriarch, sort of like our Trad's 'Pope' but she's quick to point out that she still farts and stuff) place around 10pm EDT with nothing more than a few road-construction-related traffic slow-ups to complain about. Everyone was still up, there was Chinese food to graze, and we chatted for a little while after unloading a couple of things. We went to bed a bit after that.
Brenda was a good sport and went along with me the next morning to the museum at Emory. I tried to go twice when I was in Atlanta in April, but it was closed both times. They had an Egyptian exhibit which closed this very weekend, so it was my last chance to see it. It was faboo. There was a mummy of Rameses I which is headed back to Egypt by now, and was the main attraction but I was there to see the paintings and sculptures and jewelry. I was not disappointed, and there were lots of cool things. Beautiful reproductions of tomb murals, tiny amulets with amazing details, and a granite (I think) bust of Sekhmet that seemed to stare right at me. I picked up a few papyri to hang in my computer nook and an ibis to watch over the computer (sacred to Thoth, god of communication).
We then headed up to the campsite. I'd been driven there by others several times, but never had driven myself so I had no idea where to go or how long it would take. Turns out it's about 70 miles. We stopped at a grocery store to fill the cooler with perishables and made it around 2pm or so. The weather was clear and very pleasant, and I found a nice place to park so we started to set up camp. I ran to do 'lake duty', a work shift I chose when we got to the gate. Not many people had arrived yet and the ones that had were just busy setting up, so I mainly watched a calm lake with only 1 or 2 swimmers. I was happy to get my shift completed, and did a little more work setting up my campsite to my specifications and ran to the workshop on C/Q/Kabbalah/Kabala/whatever. The teacher was a no-show so I browsed Jodi's vending tent, which she shared with a pagany bookstore that was displaying some books I was unfamiliar with. I asked Jodi which books she recommended, and got 3: 'Magical Use of Thought Forms' by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and J.H.Brennan ("I read stuff in there I'd only ever previously heard transmitted orally between third degrees"), 'The Shining Paths' by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki ("a whole bunch of really excellent guided visualizations among the spheres and pathways of the Qabala") and 'A Book of Pagan Prayer' by Ceisiwr Smith ("lots of stuff you can use when writing rituals" and incidentally looks tons better than that bolus by Mark Ventimiglia, 'The Wiccan Prayer Book'). Brenda bought a very cool robe in all firey colors, and we had dinner (gorp and Vienna sausages, for those keeping score). Then there was the opening night ritual, a Celticy affair with tiny cauldrons and Irish whiskey and everything happening in threes. Afterwards, we sat at our campsite and people-watched- the Moon was just past full so there was lots of light to watch by, and many times folks would sit down with us and gab. I finally decided to crash around midnight, and slept very well in the Moonlight.
I'll see how far I can get going over the trip; I've been catching up with stuff all day and am wanting to get away from the computer soon.
Brenda showed up a bit before 5am and we were on the road in good time. The drive went well; we got along fine. I wasn't sure how well I'd get along with anyone I wasn't married to if stuck with them in a car for 16 hours. But she is an entertaining traveling companion and we got to Jodi's (Jodi=Lady Galadriel, the Matriarch, sort of like our Trad's 'Pope' but she's quick to point out that she still farts and stuff) place around 10pm EDT with nothing more than a few road-construction-related traffic slow-ups to complain about. Everyone was still up, there was Chinese food to graze, and we chatted for a little while after unloading a couple of things. We went to bed a bit after that.
Brenda was a good sport and went along with me the next morning to the museum at Emory. I tried to go twice when I was in Atlanta in April, but it was closed both times. They had an Egyptian exhibit which closed this very weekend, so it was my last chance to see it. It was faboo. There was a mummy of Rameses I which is headed back to Egypt by now, and was the main attraction but I was there to see the paintings and sculptures and jewelry. I was not disappointed, and there were lots of cool things. Beautiful reproductions of tomb murals, tiny amulets with amazing details, and a granite (I think) bust of Sekhmet that seemed to stare right at me. I picked up a few papyri to hang in my computer nook and an ibis to watch over the computer (sacred to Thoth, god of communication).
We then headed up to the campsite. I'd been driven there by others several times, but never had driven myself so I had no idea where to go or how long it would take. Turns out it's about 70 miles. We stopped at a grocery store to fill the cooler with perishables and made it around 2pm or so. The weather was clear and very pleasant, and I found a nice place to park so we started to set up camp. I ran to do 'lake duty', a work shift I chose when we got to the gate. Not many people had arrived yet and the ones that had were just busy setting up, so I mainly watched a calm lake with only 1 or 2 swimmers. I was happy to get my shift completed, and did a little more work setting up my campsite to my specifications and ran to the workshop on C/Q/Kabbalah/Kabala/whatever. The teacher was a no-show so I browsed Jodi's vending tent, which she shared with a pagany bookstore that was displaying some books I was unfamiliar with. I asked Jodi which books she recommended, and got 3: 'Magical Use of Thought Forms' by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and J.H.Brennan ("I read stuff in there I'd only ever previously heard transmitted orally between third degrees"), 'The Shining Paths' by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki ("a whole bunch of really excellent guided visualizations among the spheres and pathways of the Qabala") and 'A Book of Pagan Prayer' by Ceisiwr Smith ("lots of stuff you can use when writing rituals" and incidentally looks tons better than that bolus by Mark Ventimiglia, 'The Wiccan Prayer Book'). Brenda bought a very cool robe in all firey colors, and we had dinner (gorp and Vienna sausages, for those keeping score). Then there was the opening night ritual, a Celticy affair with tiny cauldrons and Irish whiskey and everything happening in threes. Afterwards, we sat at our campsite and people-watched- the Moon was just past full so there was lots of light to watch by, and many times folks would sit down with us and gab. I finally decided to crash around midnight, and slept very well in the Moonlight.
