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*whew* finally caught up with e-mails and pre-school start admin crap. and let me just say, there's been a LOT of that (just google "MOTET Otterbein College")...
anyway, some background. summerset was the signature festival of the Pagan Community Council of Ohio for many years. a pan-tradition event, heavily influenced by wicca and eclectic paganism, with some new age-iness tossed in. i don't consider it a bad thing, but this is just by way of description for the recons on the flist.
despite that, or maybe because of it, it has always held a special place in my heart. some stand out more than others. my first one will always be special because it was my first pagan festival EVER. and through that festival i met the folks that became stone soup circle with me. the last summerset held at wisteria was probably the MOST special to me, for more personal reasons (some of you know...)
so it was with sadness i watched what can best be described from the outside as interpersonal difficulties within the organization affect the event. over the years post-wisteria the conflict and chaos could be felt within the organization and the event. (this was after i had left active membership.) i don't have a side in the events, nor do i wish to rehash them, but it definitely left its mark on the event.
so we didn't go for a while. then last year we went for the day, just to check it out. it seemed not much had changed. EXCEPT, through discussions with organizers, we learned they would like it if Three Cranes Grove would do the main ritual someday....discussions ensued.....
fast forward to this past labor day weekend....i mentioned in an earlier post that i hoped this weeked would be more spiritually fulfilling than the last, and as i set up camp, i meditated on opening myself up to whatever omens or experiences would enhance that, and not let personal feelings get in the way.
Jana and arrived at Camp Crooked Lane at just about the time the gates opened. the site was BEAUTIFUL, and most importantly FLAT for tent camping. no cabins. we got set up, i smudged the area, asked the nature spirits to allow us to share their space, set up the altar, organized, ate, and reconnected with folks we knew from 'the bad old days.'![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
singingwren showed up and helped me drink the ONE bottle of mead vitaminJ permitted me to bring. Jana went to bed and i waited up with singingwren for the arrival of chronarchy and Aaron (whose LJ name in continue to forget) and more importantly singingwren's stuff :) they sat up their tent in the dark and *eventually* settled down to sleep. :)
i was awakened by the sounds of geese flying overhead. hail skadhi! i had brought the autumnal equinox rite i was working on, and took that as a sign to work on it (since it honors skadhi and ullr). i worked on that intermittently throughout the day and did finish it. :) yay me.
workshops began saturday a.m. they ranged from the eclectic to the academic. i attended psyche's workshop on creating spells and lilith's on john barleycorn on saturday. during that workshop, VITAMINJ arrived. i was ever so happy to see my hubby-wubby :D (especially since it was cold at nights, and he is my heat source :). later was the potluck, where i apparently represented the grove (*ahem*) with veggie chili mac. concert that night and much fellowship and SHOPPING!
animal omen for saturday night was a great horned owl that decided to hoot about 15 times...i have been HORRIBLY neglecting owl as my totem for a while now, and had started to try and work with him again, to see if he could be my personal gatekeeper. i took this as a sign that yes, he was still there, but impatient, so get to work! yes sir! :)
sunday was rituals and workshops. vitaminJ led the men's ritual, and 'informal' symbl, that allowed him to drink mead at 10 a.m. and was thusly defined as a 'good ritual' :) i had my workshop on pagan ethical systems that was well attended and appeared to be well received, although i feel i may have been preaching to the choir. we made some contacts with a coven in columbus that may want to attend things with stone soup. yay :)
EDITcarissa was also able to come up and attend and get some healing done. alas, i was unable to talk to her much due to ritual prep below.
[as a side note, one of the things we talked about was how gossip can be detrimental...singingwren tells me that at the VERY SAME time, they were eavesdropping on a group that was gossiping and running down ANYONE who wasn't there....very sad.....]
women's ritual was next...lilith lead it and i was meadwife. blessedly, it was NOT a 'bleed, breed, and breastfeed' rite, but a ritual slaying and sacrifice of john barleycorn, played bychronarchy. i have never seen such terror in someone's eyes as when several warrior women lunged at him and pushed him to the ground, stripping him of his barleycorns :) he claims it was all an 'act'....i'm not sure i buy that. after that was a pseudo-blot with ale.
then the three cranes main ritual. the original purpose, so we were told, was to light the bonfire. alas, the bonfire builder had to leave due to a family emergency, which led to the grove being the bonfire builders as well as lighters. jana cleaned the area of all the sharp pointy metal objects that had somewhere found their way there. the rest of us separated out tinder, kindling, and fuel and constructed a tepee-style bonfire, underchronarchy's direction. it looked pretty, but the main question remained....WOULD IT LIGHT? we also gathered some wood for the three smaller fires we were going to use for the rite (found at http://www.threecranes.org/rituals/summerset05.html), including some less-than-impressive board breaking by yours truly :)
we had no time to test anything. no time to see if the the torch idea would work. we did some brief choreography, set up the altar, and left...i think we all felt a little queasy...would this work???? we were switching some fundamental things in adf liturgy (specifically instead of 'waters of life' we had 'fires of life'). would the kindreds be pleased or would we get the dreaded hagalaz rune again. (i once again suggested we remove hagalaz, isa, and thurisaz from the rune bag...) we also removed praise offerings. we came up with contingency plans in case offerings were not accepted. we then retired to showers, dinner, and prep.
i was nervous as hell. a bizarre thing happened. each of us spent time looking at our parts in the liturgy. there was review and re-review over 'okay, WHEN do we light the fire/torch/bonfire?' more energy went into this ritual BEFORE the ritual was done than i think ANY adf ritual i'd been a part of (and maybe any EVER). we got to the site and did some last minute ... well, flitting about. finally i yelled that everyone needed to come here. we got into a huddle and just *CHILLED* for about a minute (after the obligatory football joke). and then it was time.
we taught the chants...the attendees seemed to pick them up quickly (having lyric sheets helped). aschronarchy and vitaminJ led the pre ritual stuff, i silently called to bridhe to help me with the fires and to speak with the blessings of the gods. i instantly felt 'kissed by bridhe' on the head (as she is wont to do with me), but while it put me somewhat at ease, i was still nervous.
the rite began. everyone hit their marks (including Jana who was recruited to pitch in ... YAY JANA!)chronarchy opened the gates and i felt a rush of energy. i tended my fire of inspiration to keep it going. (singingwren had the fire of blessing and Aaron had the fire of fellowship.) vitaminJ circulated helping tend the little fires. i was pretty confident that as long as there were glowy things, once the offerings (of oil and everclear) were added, they'd be fine.
then the time came....we offered to Belenos....pretty everclear influenced flames arose from each fire. thenchronarchy took the omens.....*drumroll*
Uruz 'strength'
Wunjo 'joy'
Raidho 'journey'
i was elated...but there was still the bonfire to light...all giddiness must wait. we made final offerings to the fire...the torches went in....and they LIT!!! then as one, all three torches went into the fire and...pause....crackle...smoke....FLAME!!! IT WORKED!!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
we closed the gates (again, the rush of energy), we thanked everyone, we ended the rite...and then we WENT CRAZY, hugging each other, the attendees....i have to credit them with the success as well. they sang loudly, they responded loudly to 'let the gates be open/closed' 'accept our offering' and all the other responses ....
i felt like i had been drinking mead all day (NO I HAD NOT BEEN!).... i was ecstatic.... we hugged folks for a while, and then folks drifted away slowly to get ready for the OTHER bonfire (i still can't figure that out) for dancing and drumming, and the concert and other activities. we tore down (again, giddily), broke out the mead and toasted the gods, the ancestors, each other for a few hours. we went back up to OUR fire and continued toasting....tried to think of how many ofsingingwren's body parts begin with F so we could make nine ADFs....jasper did a galdr that went thru the whole eldar futhark that was CHILLING (in a good way)...went to bed and froze :) but was happy.
we left in a procession after gathering ash from OUR fire (which was still smoldering the next day)...which was also done in a procession....damn druids processing everywhere...we had communal breakfast at bob evans, and were tempted to stop at a demolition derby that was being held...maybe next year :) we discovered thatchronarchy should NEVER lead a caravan of cars :) (LEFT LEFT LEFT RIGHT) and had a terrific time.
and i did get the spiritual experience i had hoped for, most importantly.
oh, and the merchandise haul: Edred Thorson's Futhark; some stones to begin to make vitaminJ's medicine wheel; a miniature barrow kinda thing (polymer clay sculpture) that we hope to make into a home for our housevaettir (sp?) and i think that's it.
anyway, some background. summerset was the signature festival of the Pagan Community Council of Ohio for many years. a pan-tradition event, heavily influenced by wicca and eclectic paganism, with some new age-iness tossed in. i don't consider it a bad thing, but this is just by way of description for the recons on the flist.
despite that, or maybe because of it, it has always held a special place in my heart. some stand out more than others. my first one will always be special because it was my first pagan festival EVER. and through that festival i met the folks that became stone soup circle with me. the last summerset held at wisteria was probably the MOST special to me, for more personal reasons (some of you know...)
so it was with sadness i watched what can best be described from the outside as interpersonal difficulties within the organization affect the event. over the years post-wisteria the conflict and chaos could be felt within the organization and the event. (this was after i had left active membership.) i don't have a side in the events, nor do i wish to rehash them, but it definitely left its mark on the event.
so we didn't go for a while. then last year we went for the day, just to check it out. it seemed not much had changed. EXCEPT, through discussions with organizers, we learned they would like it if Three Cranes Grove would do the main ritual someday....discussions ensued.....
fast forward to this past labor day weekend....i mentioned in an earlier post that i hoped this weeked would be more spiritually fulfilling than the last, and as i set up camp, i meditated on opening myself up to whatever omens or experiences would enhance that, and not let personal feelings get in the way.
Jana and arrived at Camp Crooked Lane at just about the time the gates opened. the site was BEAUTIFUL, and most importantly FLAT for tent camping. no cabins. we got set up, i smudged the area, asked the nature spirits to allow us to share their space, set up the altar, organized, ate, and reconnected with folks we knew from 'the bad old days.'
singingwren showed up and helped me drink the ONE bottle of mead vitaminJ permitted me to bring. Jana went to bed and i waited up with singingwren for the arrival of chronarchy and Aaron (whose LJ name in continue to forget) and more importantly singingwren's stuff :) they sat up their tent in the dark and *eventually* settled down to sleep. :)i was awakened by the sounds of geese flying overhead. hail skadhi! i had brought the autumnal equinox rite i was working on, and took that as a sign to work on it (since it honors skadhi and ullr). i worked on that intermittently throughout the day and did finish it. :) yay me.
workshops began saturday a.m. they ranged from the eclectic to the academic. i attended psyche's workshop on creating spells and lilith's on john barleycorn on saturday. during that workshop, VITAMINJ arrived. i was ever so happy to see my hubby-wubby :D (especially since it was cold at nights, and he is my heat source :). later was the potluck, where i apparently represented the grove (*ahem*) with veggie chili mac. concert that night and much fellowship and SHOPPING!
animal omen for saturday night was a great horned owl that decided to hoot about 15 times...i have been HORRIBLY neglecting owl as my totem for a while now, and had started to try and work with him again, to see if he could be my personal gatekeeper. i took this as a sign that yes, he was still there, but impatient, so get to work! yes sir! :)
sunday was rituals and workshops. vitaminJ led the men's ritual, and 'informal' symbl, that allowed him to drink mead at 10 a.m. and was thusly defined as a 'good ritual' :) i had my workshop on pagan ethical systems that was well attended and appeared to be well received, although i feel i may have been preaching to the choir. we made some contacts with a coven in columbus that may want to attend things with stone soup. yay :)
EDITcarissa was also able to come up and attend and get some healing done. alas, i was unable to talk to her much due to ritual prep below.
[as a side note, one of the things we talked about was how gossip can be detrimental...
singingwren tells me that at the VERY SAME time, they were eavesdropping on a group that was gossiping and running down ANYONE who wasn't there....very sad.....]women's ritual was next...lilith lead it and i was meadwife. blessedly, it was NOT a 'bleed, breed, and breastfeed' rite, but a ritual slaying and sacrifice of john barleycorn, played by
chronarchy. i have never seen such terror in someone's eyes as when several warrior women lunged at him and pushed him to the ground, stripping him of his barleycorns :) he claims it was all an 'act'....i'm not sure i buy that. after that was a pseudo-blot with ale.then the three cranes main ritual. the original purpose, so we were told, was to light the bonfire. alas, the bonfire builder had to leave due to a family emergency, which led to the grove being the bonfire builders as well as lighters. jana cleaned the area of all the sharp pointy metal objects that had somewhere found their way there. the rest of us separated out tinder, kindling, and fuel and constructed a tepee-style bonfire, under
chronarchy's direction. it looked pretty, but the main question remained....WOULD IT LIGHT? we also gathered some wood for the three smaller fires we were going to use for the rite (found at http://www.threecranes.org/rituals/summerset05.html), including some less-than-impressive board breaking by yours truly :)we had no time to test anything. no time to see if the the torch idea would work. we did some brief choreography, set up the altar, and left...i think we all felt a little queasy...would this work???? we were switching some fundamental things in adf liturgy (specifically instead of 'waters of life' we had 'fires of life'). would the kindreds be pleased or would we get the dreaded hagalaz rune again. (i once again suggested we remove hagalaz, isa, and thurisaz from the rune bag...) we also removed praise offerings. we came up with contingency plans in case offerings were not accepted. we then retired to showers, dinner, and prep.
i was nervous as hell. a bizarre thing happened. each of us spent time looking at our parts in the liturgy. there was review and re-review over 'okay, WHEN do we light the fire/torch/bonfire?' more energy went into this ritual BEFORE the ritual was done than i think ANY adf ritual i'd been a part of (and maybe any EVER). we got to the site and did some last minute ... well, flitting about. finally i yelled that everyone needed to come here. we got into a huddle and just *CHILLED* for about a minute (after the obligatory football joke). and then it was time.
we taught the chants...the attendees seemed to pick them up quickly (having lyric sheets helped). as
chronarchy and vitaminJ led the pre ritual stuff, i silently called to bridhe to help me with the fires and to speak with the blessings of the gods. i instantly felt 'kissed by bridhe' on the head (as she is wont to do with me), but while it put me somewhat at ease, i was still nervous.the rite began. everyone hit their marks (including Jana who was recruited to pitch in ... YAY JANA!)
chronarchy opened the gates and i felt a rush of energy. i tended my fire of inspiration to keep it going. (singingwren had the fire of blessing and Aaron had the fire of fellowship.) vitaminJ circulated helping tend the little fires. i was pretty confident that as long as there were glowy things, once the offerings (of oil and everclear) were added, they'd be fine.then the time came....we offered to Belenos....pretty everclear influenced flames arose from each fire. then
chronarchy took the omens.....*drumroll*Uruz 'strength'
Wunjo 'joy'
Raidho 'journey'
i was elated...but there was still the bonfire to light...all giddiness must wait. we made final offerings to the fire...the torches went in....and they LIT!!! then as one, all three torches went into the fire and...pause....crackle...smoke....FLAME!!! IT WORKED!!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
we closed the gates (again, the rush of energy), we thanked everyone, we ended the rite...and then we WENT CRAZY, hugging each other, the attendees....i have to credit them with the success as well. they sang loudly, they responded loudly to 'let the gates be open/closed' 'accept our offering' and all the other responses ....
i felt like i had been drinking mead all day (NO I HAD NOT BEEN!).... i was ecstatic.... we hugged folks for a while, and then folks drifted away slowly to get ready for the OTHER bonfire (i still can't figure that out) for dancing and drumming, and the concert and other activities. we tore down (again, giddily), broke out the mead and toasted the gods, the ancestors, each other for a few hours. we went back up to OUR fire and continued toasting....tried to think of how many of
singingwren's body parts begin with F so we could make nine ADFs....jasper did a galdr that went thru the whole eldar futhark that was CHILLING (in a good way)...went to bed and froze :) but was happy.we left in a procession after gathering ash from OUR fire (which was still smoldering the next day)...which was also done in a procession....damn druids processing everywhere...we had communal breakfast at bob evans, and were tempted to stop at a demolition derby that was being held...maybe next year :) we discovered that
chronarchy should NEVER lead a caravan of cars :) (LEFT LEFT LEFT RIGHT) and had a terrific time.and i did get the spiritual experience i had hoped for, most importantly.
oh, and the merchandise haul: Edred Thorson's Futhark; some stones to begin to make vitaminJ's medicine wheel; a miniature barrow kinda thing (polymer clay sculpture) that we hope to make into a home for our housevaettir (sp?) and i think that's it.
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no subject
Date: 2005-09-08 06:16 pm (UTC)From:Look of terror? You have no idea how happy I am that I managed to pull that off. I worked hard at avoiding eye contact with the women (I didn't want to scare any women into "submission" or anything else like what the patriarchy is supposed to be able to do by making eye contact) and wanted to look suitably scared. If I was scared of anything, it was messing up the ritual!
As far as leading a caravan? I do better with maps than with directions. Besides, I *did* manage to direct us to the nearest Bob Evans from memory, didn't I? The copy of the directions VitaminJ gave me, though, is going to have to leave my car soon: they do say "Love, L" at the bottom, and explaining who "L" is to Tina might be a bit sticky. *grins*
no subject
Date: 2005-09-08 07:32 pm (UTC)From:yeah, yeah...justify it however you need to....
no subject
Date: 2005-09-08 06:54 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2005-09-08 07:32 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2005-09-08 09:56 pm (UTC)From:<< the last summerset held at wisteria was probably the MOST special to me >>
That was my favorite one, too! I am partial to the site, of course, but I also thought things went well that year generally (1998, wasn't it?). And I got to perform on stage with my brother and our friend (we were "Polyhymnia" if you watched the concerts). And I had a pretty young man come rapping on the window of my van late at night, and burst out laughing when I realized I didn't know which of two young men had come a-courtin'. I don't think I've ever had any other such moment... I felt like a girl, and stuff. lol
<< a ritual slaying and sacrifice of john barleycorn, played by chronarchy. i have never seen such terror in someone's eyes as when several warrior women lunged at him and pushed him to the ground, stripping him of his barleycorns :) >>
Oh, interesting! At a small festival in spring 1999 (I think?), my group did a ritual wherein women advanced from all sides, and tore the snowflakes off the body of the young man playing Jack Frost, to ritually "slay" him. There were large white paper snowflakes attached to his all-black clothing, and these were torn off and tossed into a small fire. He acted afraid as well, to heighten the theatre of it, and slowly wheeled and stumbled and finally fell, as if sapped of his strength. I still remember the little poem I wrote and had him recite, before the slaying began:
My kingship ends today, and I must go.
I follow all the vanished ice and snow;
You shall feel no more my freezing breath.
Remember me, when winds of summer blow;
Remember me, when I have gone below
To the dark realm of a season's death.
We also sacrificed John Barleycorn to the fire, in the form of a 7-foot straw man, at a festival a few years back. :-) I dig theatrical ritual sacrifice, yo.
<< Uruz 'strength'
Wunjo 'joy'
Raidho 'journey' >>
Wonderful! May it be an omen for future Summersets.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-09 12:55 am (UTC)From:you remind me i need to follow up with someone re: wisteria. i'd love to camp there again.
:)
Date: 2005-09-09 06:29 pm (UTC)From:Are you going to be at the Katrina Rite Sunday?
Re: :)
Date: 2005-09-09 07:10 pm (UTC)From: