After a long week of coaching and essay editing, I think it's time to write about my experiences at the Artemis Gathering, which was last weekend.
This Gathering was a new one for me. Whilst I have been several times before, this is the first time I have gone alone. To any CoA (or Pagan) gathering. My first Gathering, I attended with two friends and subsequent ones were attended with my husband. I had never attended an event totally on my own before.
However, one should never underestimate the community within a CoA event. Within minutes of arriving, I made friends with the guy who was pitching his tent next to me. He congratulated me for bringing a pop-up tent (as I knew I would have trouble pitching my usual tent without Mr Shanti) while he was wrestling with putting the frame into his tent whilst the heavens poured down on us. He joined me later for drinks in the Marquee (I left him to deal with his inflatable mattress, which he ended up giving up on and dealing with the next day).
Perhaps I am at an advantage for being a member of the CoA forums and their Facebook group, as I didn't wait for long to join up with someone upon my arrival in the Marquee. Soggy from pitching my tent in the rain (whilst really good at keeping out the water, my poncho didn't cover my arms and wasn't that long. Hair was dry though), I was desperate for some dinner and a big old glass of Mead. Both immediately provided by the wonderful CoA Cafe, and I settled down with people from the forums. Lots of Mead was consumed, there was giggling, jokes and getting to meet the families they brought. Plus a fantastic set from Damh the Bard (and lots of dancing!). Although I did have conversations with a lot of people I hadn't met before, and I got to know a lot of really awesome people!
The weekend was filled with loads of amazing talks and workshops: Tylluan Penry (Creating Rituals, Does the Ancient Past Matter on a Spiritual Path?), Kevin Groves (Scrying), Heike (Wand Making), Anna Adnan (the story of the Labyrinth), Julie Huggins (Garland Making), Elm (Woodland Walk), Cephalodidge (Didgeridoo Workshop), Centre of Pagan Studies (Doreen Valiente and Gerald Gardner) and Sue Fencott (Needle Felting), plus many others that I wasn't able to attend since there's only one of me. Not to mention my own talk on Using Dance to Heal- I kind of ad-libbed on that one, so I am currently reworking my notes before I put it on here. It was full on theory this year, but I think I will stick to part-talking, part-workshop for future talks. I have already decided to do my Witchfest one on trance dance. But I'll talk about that later.
I want to talk about one of the many highlights of the weekend: the firewalk, led by Oona. Yes, I actually did it this year. I made sure I scoffed my dinner beforehand this year and was at the Taurus Lodge on time. After all the necessary paperwork (since, ya'know, we're walking on hot coals), Oona talked to us about the firewalk and its symbolism. We lit the fire ourselves, imbuing our candles with anything we want to rid from ourselves and blessing the flames with what we want to bring to our world. While the flames consumed the wood and reduced it to coals, we focussed on our individual visions for what we wanted to gain. Mine's now living in my Book of Shadows. We also did Arrow-Breaking, although only a few people got the chance to do it- I am definitely going to go for it next year. I will leave the mystery of Arrow-Breaking for newcomers to discover, but it raises a lot of positive energy and solidarity. Then we walked the fire. It was amazing! I did it three times. And you know what? I really did feel a fundamental shift.
I could probably write a whole book describing each workshop and how wonderful it was, how much I learned. But I probably shouldn't. But if you want to know more about the other workshops listed, do ask (or you could even contact the speakers yourself).
I will say this. Over the past year, I have been very fixated on getting my career going, getting through university, and my spiritual side hasn't been as expressed as it should be. And I have been very stressed. After a weekend surrounded by witches- learning, teaching, healing (I took a shift at Kevin's Healing Tent, having people dance the Labyrinth- that concept will be explained in my write-up of my talk)- I realised just how out of balance I have been. I am now working at involving my path in my every day life- I purchased Tylluan's new Magical Nature Walks book, and I can't wait to set aside some time each week (day might be a tad ambitious considering my working hours) to follow her advice. I have also obtained an amethyst necklace that was adamant about coming home with me and I cannot bear to be apart from it. I imagine that's something significant there, and wearing it keeps me connected to that feeling from the Gathering.
The weather was kind of hit and miss. Friday was miserable (which was fine- we all set up in the Marquee and warmed up on Mead), Saturday was gorgeous and Sunday... well. It started with a massive downpour (thankfully, I managed to dodge most of it with very lucky timing) than calmed down as the day progressed. And after several of us had words with Thor and/or Ra, the sun began to emerge. I may have pushed it a bit when I asked the spirits of Air to take the stormclouds elsewhere... it got very windy. That's what I get for being an Air Element- clearly I need to watch that! It cleared up for the Firewalk though. There was a bit of rain as we walked to the coals, but the clouds cleared to present to us a beautiful Full Moon. The Goddess truly smiled down on us.
So, I think that's probably enough rambling for now. I want to express my thanks to the Children of Artemis, all the speakers, attendees, volunteers, stall holders (especially Bumpstead Herbs for giving me a lovely cuppa on Saturday morning when I was loitering near the main Marquee waiting for it to open for breakfast) for an amazing Artemis Gathering. I had a wonderful time and I am so excited for Witchfest.
Blessed Be,
Raegan Shanti xxxx