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finally!
first off, this was my first sirius rising! yay! and i was blessed to have my friend J go with me. J and i go way back, and made it through a very rough patch with each other and i am SO VERY GLAD that we are friends. :smoochies J!!:
so saddle up!
Nearly every day i was there i managed to visit the runestead in the a.m. and the nemeton in the p.m. to do my daily devotions. i must have looked like a crazy lady, what with my sarong, tank top, 'utility belt' (it had my pouch of everything i need and clip for my water mug), and the ever present green floppy hat, but i didn't care. it was fantastic.
wednesday arrival around noonish to RAIN! one day i will go camping and NOT have to put a tent up in the rain. we were assisted by C of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
craig_and_jess fame, and K from 6th Night. Mostly set up was the order of the day. we camped at Druid Heights near the "Taj ma Tent." the folks from Sonoron Sunrise Grove (mostly) schlep i think 4 pavillions across the US and put them all together for living quarters that include 4 bedrooms, a chapel (which i think i used once for a devotional) a living room, a kitchen, and a front porch. after all, the adf motto IS "why not excellence?"
i met some folks i already knew (druidkirk, gannd) and some new folks (J of craig_and_jess, N and eventually her husband D later in in the week. i'll probably forget some names.
after set up it was time to go towalkyrja's freya workshop, but we were late, so only got to hear bits of it, but did get to participate in the freya blot. yay! after that was a workshop on rune staves and alternative ways of reading runes which seemed so obvious after he introduced it! duh! very interesting.
when K asked me to camp near them, she asked if we wanted in on the communal kitchen, and at the time we kinda weren't sure. but once we got there, and saw the operation, we asked in. we paid in some money todruidkirk and signed up for water/trash duty. next year, i AM IN. life was so much easier, and so much more FUN!! alas, b/c i did not get in on the ground floor, there were no vegetarian options :( so for the week, i was back to being an omnivore. not a bad idea while camping anyway. late night around the campfire with the druids, then bed. i go to bed WAY earlier than i used to :(
thursday was hot. really hot. i think that's when we finally met up withaislinggheal and i didn't get to spend near enough time with her, or a few others, for that matter. i had a bottle of mead i had intended to share with the runestead folk, but never quite managed it. i'll do better next year....
workshops that day were a voodoo workshop which was very good (although mostly review for me). tried to connect with the woman leading it, but she wasn't interested in students, i don't think. plus, i'm sucky at asking such things. I believe later that day was the bjornsal spae rite, also at the runestead. i began to worry that the runestead folks would think i was stalking them :)
the rite itself was cool. it was neat to compare west coast v. east coast styles. whereas hrafnar's rites, the entire group journeys, for bjornsal only the seeress does. that's all fine and good, but i noticed that i kept feeling like i had to go to, and kept touching the rock in front of me and telling myself to 'staaaaaaaaay.' i did finally get up the nerve to ask a question i wanted to ask at trothmoot.
me: is there one whose voice i should be listening for most?"
seeress: "for now or for the becoming"
(no fool am i...too much information can be dangerous)
me: "how bout just for now"
seeress: [pause] "Ingui frey. he has much he would teach you if you would sit with him for a while."
now, this came out of left field. i honor frey on saturdays (or try to) so it's not like i don't deal with him at all, but of all the deities, he was not one i would think of first, ya know? so, as i was puzzled over this, the seeress asked "would you know more, or what?" and i said "No, thank you seeress".
and immediately kicked myself for not...and also for not taking folks up on their offers of rune reading for clarification (see above where i suck at asking for such things). BUT, i also wanted to kind of process it myself (which i am still doing...and see below)
friday was also hot. there was shopping. there was an amber bracelet that came home with me. i found runic cards for meditation, by pennick and ravenwolf. yes, THAT ravenwolf. the artwork on the cards rocks, and the book was good for some late night giggling. and those of us who like candle magick, she DOES add some color correspondences. other than that....
the guy at the runic cards place was creepy. he told me he was really enjoying me being in his booth, and then asked if i needed anything else (besides the cards, i suppose), in a somewhat creepy mr-rogers-esque voice. "No. Thank you."
workshops: that a.m., a long lost friend from PCCO (T) was giving a workshop on stones and spells. it was a okay workshop but it was fun seeing her again.
that night was the labyrinth ritual. i loff those, so off i went. i decided, given the results of the spae rite, that i'd try to visualize going through an alf mound to seek frey. this worked pretty well, although the response to 'i'm listening' was 'read the lore, first.' fine.
i had also discovered by now that among the asatru, i'm the celt, and among the druids, i'm asatru. *sigh* tried to explain to D why one should think VERY CAREFULLY about getting a valknot tattooed ANYWHERE. "because that tells Him where the SPEAR GOES!"
really, i think that's good advice for tattooing god/dess symbols on oneself anyway.
saturday was bittersweet, as the next day was time to leave.
all throughout i had been coveting a bear skin. vitaminJ and i both have been. we have this fantasy of getting a tepee or yurt somewhere permanently and using skins for some bedding. now, i despise fur coats, and a half-hearted vegetarian these days, so i'm not sure why THIS doesn't bug me.
so, the fur guy had a few, and i walked around with the two i liked best. the first one made me want to cry. the second one however....that one came home with me (i joked that i would leave J there if the fur didn't fit in the car, but that's not really true, i'd never leave J behind. although she was having fun and probably wouldn't have minded staying another week.
i also bought more amber....a belt kinda thing with amber beads joined by silver chain :) i think i bought mead that day, or maybe the day before.
saturday hot. it had rained friday night, which was fine, but really just served to humid it up. the radio station gave out free sno-cones, including some made with raspberry mead. there was a BRIEF movement to go grab the folks from the runestead and in a liaison UNPRECENDENTED in human history, have the germans and the celts join forces to 'liberate' the sno-cone machine (and the mead)...but it was too damn hot. this is probably why rome prevailed...
that night was le bonfire where a phoenix was burned (i forgot to get them the paper to put inside it). although we mocked it a bit (it looked like a parrot or a chicken) it was still pretty cool to see it go up. i dressed 'up' in black skirt, black top with purple celti-designs on it, amber belt, other ambers, and of course the bear skin :) i got propositioned directly, (and perhaps indirectly a couple of times as well, but i'm remarkably dense about such things) but as vitaminj and i are hopelessly monogamous, i'll just have to be satisfied with 'being flattered'). again went to bed too early.
(finally saw and spoke with the fire-babe i met at wellspring. she was too busy tending the bonfire however. *sigh*)
sunday pack up and leave. cry. leave my purse at the taj ma tent, so have to drive back from erie to get it and say good bye to everyone all over again. cry again. get home to my hubby and my kitties and vow that next year i'll go for the whole week :) if i'm not in ireland or hugely pregnant.
first off, this was my first sirius rising! yay! and i was blessed to have my friend J go with me. J and i go way back, and made it through a very rough patch with each other and i am SO VERY GLAD that we are friends. :smoochies J!!:
so saddle up!
Nearly every day i was there i managed to visit the runestead in the a.m. and the nemeton in the p.m. to do my daily devotions. i must have looked like a crazy lady, what with my sarong, tank top, 'utility belt' (it had my pouch of everything i need and clip for my water mug), and the ever present green floppy hat, but i didn't care. it was fantastic.
wednesday arrival around noonish to RAIN! one day i will go camping and NOT have to put a tent up in the rain. we were assisted by C of
craig_and_jess fame, and K from 6th Night. Mostly set up was the order of the day. we camped at Druid Heights near the "Taj ma Tent." the folks from Sonoron Sunrise Grove (mostly) schlep i think 4 pavillions across the US and put them all together for living quarters that include 4 bedrooms, a chapel (which i think i used once for a devotional) a living room, a kitchen, and a front porch. after all, the adf motto IS "why not excellence?"i met some folks i already knew (
druidkirk, gannd) and some new folks (J of craig_and_jess, N and eventually her husband D later in in the week. i'll probably forget some names.after set up it was time to go to
walkyrja's freya workshop, but we were late, so only got to hear bits of it, but did get to participate in the freya blot. yay! after that was a workshop on rune staves and alternative ways of reading runes which seemed so obvious after he introduced it! duh! very interesting.when K asked me to camp near them, she asked if we wanted in on the communal kitchen, and at the time we kinda weren't sure. but once we got there, and saw the operation, we asked in. we paid in some money to
druidkirk and signed up for water/trash duty. next year, i AM IN. life was so much easier, and so much more FUN!! alas, b/c i did not get in on the ground floor, there were no vegetarian options :( so for the week, i was back to being an omnivore. not a bad idea while camping anyway. late night around the campfire with the druids, then bed. i go to bed WAY earlier than i used to :(thursday was hot. really hot. i think that's when we finally met up with
aislinggheal and i didn't get to spend near enough time with her, or a few others, for that matter. i had a bottle of mead i had intended to share with the runestead folk, but never quite managed it. i'll do better next year....workshops that day were a voodoo workshop which was very good (although mostly review for me). tried to connect with the woman leading it, but she wasn't interested in students, i don't think. plus, i'm sucky at asking such things. I believe later that day was the bjornsal spae rite, also at the runestead. i began to worry that the runestead folks would think i was stalking them :)
the rite itself was cool. it was neat to compare west coast v. east coast styles. whereas hrafnar's rites, the entire group journeys, for bjornsal only the seeress does. that's all fine and good, but i noticed that i kept feeling like i had to go to, and kept touching the rock in front of me and telling myself to 'staaaaaaaaay.' i did finally get up the nerve to ask a question i wanted to ask at trothmoot.
me: is there one whose voice i should be listening for most?"
seeress: "for now or for the becoming"
(no fool am i...too much information can be dangerous)
me: "how bout just for now"
seeress: [pause] "Ingui frey. he has much he would teach you if you would sit with him for a while."
now, this came out of left field. i honor frey on saturdays (or try to) so it's not like i don't deal with him at all, but of all the deities, he was not one i would think of first, ya know? so, as i was puzzled over this, the seeress asked "would you know more, or what?" and i said "No, thank you seeress".
and immediately kicked myself for not...and also for not taking folks up on their offers of rune reading for clarification (see above where i suck at asking for such things). BUT, i also wanted to kind of process it myself (which i am still doing...and see below)
friday was also hot. there was shopping. there was an amber bracelet that came home with me. i found runic cards for meditation, by pennick and ravenwolf. yes, THAT ravenwolf. the artwork on the cards rocks, and the book was good for some late night giggling. and those of us who like candle magick, she DOES add some color correspondences. other than that....
the guy at the runic cards place was creepy. he told me he was really enjoying me being in his booth, and then asked if i needed anything else (besides the cards, i suppose), in a somewhat creepy mr-rogers-esque voice. "No. Thank you."
workshops: that a.m., a long lost friend from PCCO (T) was giving a workshop on stones and spells. it was a okay workshop but it was fun seeing her again.
that night was the labyrinth ritual. i loff those, so off i went. i decided, given the results of the spae rite, that i'd try to visualize going through an alf mound to seek frey. this worked pretty well, although the response to 'i'm listening' was 'read the lore, first.' fine.
i had also discovered by now that among the asatru, i'm the celt, and among the druids, i'm asatru. *sigh* tried to explain to D why one should think VERY CAREFULLY about getting a valknot tattooed ANYWHERE. "because that tells Him where the SPEAR GOES!"
really, i think that's good advice for tattooing god/dess symbols on oneself anyway.
saturday was bittersweet, as the next day was time to leave.
all throughout i had been coveting a bear skin. vitaminJ and i both have been. we have this fantasy of getting a tepee or yurt somewhere permanently and using skins for some bedding. now, i despise fur coats, and a half-hearted vegetarian these days, so i'm not sure why THIS doesn't bug me.
so, the fur guy had a few, and i walked around with the two i liked best. the first one made me want to cry. the second one however....that one came home with me (i joked that i would leave J there if the fur didn't fit in the car, but that's not really true, i'd never leave J behind. although she was having fun and probably wouldn't have minded staying another week.
i also bought more amber....a belt kinda thing with amber beads joined by silver chain :) i think i bought mead that day, or maybe the day before.
saturday hot. it had rained friday night, which was fine, but really just served to humid it up. the radio station gave out free sno-cones, including some made with raspberry mead. there was a BRIEF movement to go grab the folks from the runestead and in a liaison UNPRECENDENTED in human history, have the germans and the celts join forces to 'liberate' the sno-cone machine (and the mead)...but it was too damn hot. this is probably why rome prevailed...
that night was le bonfire where a phoenix was burned (i forgot to get them the paper to put inside it). although we mocked it a bit (it looked like a parrot or a chicken) it was still pretty cool to see it go up. i dressed 'up' in black skirt, black top with purple celti-designs on it, amber belt, other ambers, and of course the bear skin :) i got propositioned directly, (and perhaps indirectly a couple of times as well, but i'm remarkably dense about such things) but as vitaminj and i are hopelessly monogamous, i'll just have to be satisfied with 'being flattered'). again went to bed too early.
(finally saw and spoke with the fire-babe i met at wellspring. she was too busy tending the bonfire however. *sigh*)
sunday pack up and leave. cry. leave my purse at the taj ma tent, so have to drive back from erie to get it and say good bye to everyone all over again. cry again. get home to my hubby and my kitties and vow that next year i'll go for the whole week :) if i'm not in ireland or hugely pregnant.
