Paganicon 2012
This weekend I attended Paganicon 2012. The con is in its second year. I attended on Saturday of last year and only stayed about half a day, but it was interesting enough that I really wanted to come back this year and spend the entire weekend. Throughout the weekend I enjoyed some wonderful programming, took in the vendor room (where there was quite a bit of cool stuff for sale), and was made to confront some things about myself that were uncomfortable but which will turn out better for me in the long run.
Programming
The high point of the convention for me was the programming, presented by members of the local Pagan community. I'm pretty much just going to talk about everything I attended, in the order that I attended.
Friday
7:00pm - Opening Ceremonies
This was pretty much what you would have expected from any other convention. The organizers introduced themselves, introduced the guests, and said a few words about what was going on that weekend. This being a Pagan event, though, there was also an opening ritual. I thought that it was very creative in that the people leading the ritual used the calling of the elements to lay out the rules of good conduct. It was very entertaining and helped incorporate a good sense of humor. The culmination of the ritual involved the blending of local soil, local honey, and water from both Coldwater Spring and the Mississippi River into the cauldron, along with a group chant of "Hoof and Horn" (part of a longer, well-known chant called "We All Come from the Goddess") which is one of my favorites.
Here I met a friendly elderly woman who stopped to chat with me a bit. Her name is Ana and she runs some programming at Pagan Spirit Gathering. And here begins my one gripe about the con - she was the one person the entire weekend who made an effort to stop and say "hi" to me. More on that later.
8:00pm - The Three Rays of Witchcraft
This was presented by one of the guests of honor, Christopher Penczak. He introduced his specific brand of belief system, and then led the group in a guided meditation. While his path isn't one that really speaks to me very much, he was an excellent speaker and fun to listen to.
Saturday
9:00am - Henna and Women's Rituals
This was a fascinating panel put on by Victoria Welch, a local henna artist. She spoke about both ancient and modern ritual applications of henna body art as they relate specifically to various women's rite-of-passage rituals. She then demonstrated how to mix up a batch of henna paste (something which she has several youtube videos about. It definitely sounds like something which I'm interested in trying myself some time.
10:00am - Spirit Familiars - Our Otherworldly Allies
This was presented by Veronica Cummer, a local author. She explained the theory behind spirit familiars (and how they different from physical animal familiars) and we did a divination and a fun activity to help ourselves form a relationship with one. This isn't one of those things that I normally buy into, but it was fun in any case.
1:00pm - The Sacred Power of Feminine Sexuality
I really liked this panel, probably because I felt that it was very timely. In a time where so many politicians have decided that women are second-class citizens who don't have rights to their own bodies, it was really excellent to be among a group of people who believe the exact opposite. The presenters, Tamara of Coven of the Standing Stones and her friend Heather, used biological science, art, and myth to paint a positive, empowering picture of women, their physical make-up and their existence as sexual beings. Their enthusiasm was definitely infectious.
4:00pm - Copyright, Learning and Pagans
An interesting presentation/discussion by local Pagan authors and editors regarding what is or isn't "fair use" (answer: it's... complicated) and how it relates specifically to Pagan religious practices (ritual instructions, ingredients, etc.). None of it really applied to me directly, but the conversation did stray to more general matters of copyright anyway which was interesting to learn more about.
Sunday
9:00am - 2012: A Special 5 Year
Clio Ajana of Our Lady of Celestial Fire shared a lesson on numerology and how this applies to the year 2012 (in order to counter the "end of the world" notions that have been quite prominent in the lead-up to this year). Like most divination methods, I found what I learned of Numerology to be interesting but not particularly applicable to my life, but the presentation itself was insightful and the presenter was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable.
10:00am - Croning Rite of Passage
Among all the things I saw during the con, this was probably my favorite. Remember the woman I mentioned speaking to at Opening Ceremonies? She and her two friends were speakers on entering Crone-hood and what that entails. I was absolutely enthralled by their stories, as well as by their sense of humor. I can only hope to be that awesome when I get to by their age. It makes me happy to be a part of a belief system that honors and listens to elders rather than just pushing them aside and forgetting about them.
Reactions
Overall the convention programming was great. There was almost always something that interested me on the schedule, and even when there wasn't, the things that I attended on a whim turned out to be fulfilling in their own way. I wouldn't say that my time was wasted. On the contrary, it was a good use of the weekend and I thought my registration and hotel fees were definitely well-spent.
The one thing that didn't work out well, and this turned out to be a bigger deal than I would have expected, was that I felt absolutely alone when there wasn't something structured to do. The con itself was very small; I'd guess that, all said, there were probably 300 people in attendance. Compared to Anime Detour or Convergence, this was awesome and low-key; most attendees were grown adults also, so there were no maturity issues to speak of. But the problem I encountered was that 1. None of the people I'm friends with were able to attend, and 2. Everyone else seemed to already know people there. This resulted in me feeling a profound sense of being an outsider, despite having similar beliefs to everyone there.
I don't know how many people would guess this of me, but I'm painfully shy. Paralyzingly shy, even. I'm not the person who enters a room of strangers and walks up to someone to say "hi, how are you?" I'm the type of person who gets to know people through other people I'm already friends with. So despite desperately wanting to find some new friends to hang out with there, there was really no good opportunity for me to do so. I had this painful fear that I'd be interrupting friendships already in progress if I were to butt into conversations. So despite really wanting to attend the ball on Saturday night, I ended up spending that time in my hotel room watching anime and crying in the shower.
I don't want this to be taken as a criticism of the con or its organizers or even the other attendees, because it's not; in the interactions I did have, people seemed very friendly and no one was ever rude. I was just very lonely any time there was a long enough moment for me to stop and think about it.
I think ideally I would love for there to be some sort of formal "meet and greet" session prior to or during next year's convention. I think in that sort of environment, it would be a lot easier to get to know people, because the people in attendance would be the ones willing to talk to newbies like me and take them under their wing. On the other end, I want to spend this next year attempting to attend more community functions so that I can see more people and maybe have some contacts and friends. Most of all, though, I hope that next year some or all members of my current group will be able to join me there :)
My goals for this coming year are to work on my transportation situation, perhaps even so far as to get a car. It's long past time that I did anyway, and it will open up lots more options for me (especially since I don't want to ride the bus late at night by myself). Hopefully this will become a reality for me.
Anyway, for the most part the convention was a great time and I'm looking forward to next year and hopefully more positive, enriching experiences.
Programming
The high point of the convention for me was the programming, presented by members of the local Pagan community. I'm pretty much just going to talk about everything I attended, in the order that I attended.
Friday
7:00pm - Opening Ceremonies
This was pretty much what you would have expected from any other convention. The organizers introduced themselves, introduced the guests, and said a few words about what was going on that weekend. This being a Pagan event, though, there was also an opening ritual. I thought that it was very creative in that the people leading the ritual used the calling of the elements to lay out the rules of good conduct. It was very entertaining and helped incorporate a good sense of humor. The culmination of the ritual involved the blending of local soil, local honey, and water from both Coldwater Spring and the Mississippi River into the cauldron, along with a group chant of "Hoof and Horn" (part of a longer, well-known chant called "We All Come from the Goddess") which is one of my favorites.
Here I met a friendly elderly woman who stopped to chat with me a bit. Her name is Ana and she runs some programming at Pagan Spirit Gathering. And here begins my one gripe about the con - she was the one person the entire weekend who made an effort to stop and say "hi" to me. More on that later.
8:00pm - The Three Rays of Witchcraft
This was presented by one of the guests of honor, Christopher Penczak. He introduced his specific brand of belief system, and then led the group in a guided meditation. While his path isn't one that really speaks to me very much, he was an excellent speaker and fun to listen to.
Saturday
9:00am - Henna and Women's Rituals
This was a fascinating panel put on by Victoria Welch, a local henna artist. She spoke about both ancient and modern ritual applications of henna body art as they relate specifically to various women's rite-of-passage rituals. She then demonstrated how to mix up a batch of henna paste (something which she has several youtube videos about. It definitely sounds like something which I'm interested in trying myself some time.
10:00am - Spirit Familiars - Our Otherworldly Allies
This was presented by Veronica Cummer, a local author. She explained the theory behind spirit familiars (and how they different from physical animal familiars) and we did a divination and a fun activity to help ourselves form a relationship with one. This isn't one of those things that I normally buy into, but it was fun in any case.
1:00pm - The Sacred Power of Feminine Sexuality
I really liked this panel, probably because I felt that it was very timely. In a time where so many politicians have decided that women are second-class citizens who don't have rights to their own bodies, it was really excellent to be among a group of people who believe the exact opposite. The presenters, Tamara of Coven of the Standing Stones and her friend Heather, used biological science, art, and myth to paint a positive, empowering picture of women, their physical make-up and their existence as sexual beings. Their enthusiasm was definitely infectious.
4:00pm - Copyright, Learning and Pagans
An interesting presentation/discussion by local Pagan authors and editors regarding what is or isn't "fair use" (answer: it's... complicated) and how it relates specifically to Pagan religious practices (ritual instructions, ingredients, etc.). None of it really applied to me directly, but the conversation did stray to more general matters of copyright anyway which was interesting to learn more about.
Sunday
9:00am - 2012: A Special 5 Year
Clio Ajana of Our Lady of Celestial Fire shared a lesson on numerology and how this applies to the year 2012 (in order to counter the "end of the world" notions that have been quite prominent in the lead-up to this year). Like most divination methods, I found what I learned of Numerology to be interesting but not particularly applicable to my life, but the presentation itself was insightful and the presenter was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable.
10:00am - Croning Rite of Passage
Among all the things I saw during the con, this was probably my favorite. Remember the woman I mentioned speaking to at Opening Ceremonies? She and her two friends were speakers on entering Crone-hood and what that entails. I was absolutely enthralled by their stories, as well as by their sense of humor. I can only hope to be that awesome when I get to by their age. It makes me happy to be a part of a belief system that honors and listens to elders rather than just pushing them aside and forgetting about them.
Reactions
Overall the convention programming was great. There was almost always something that interested me on the schedule, and even when there wasn't, the things that I attended on a whim turned out to be fulfilling in their own way. I wouldn't say that my time was wasted. On the contrary, it was a good use of the weekend and I thought my registration and hotel fees were definitely well-spent.
The one thing that didn't work out well, and this turned out to be a bigger deal than I would have expected, was that I felt absolutely alone when there wasn't something structured to do. The con itself was very small; I'd guess that, all said, there were probably 300 people in attendance. Compared to Anime Detour or Convergence, this was awesome and low-key; most attendees were grown adults also, so there were no maturity issues to speak of. But the problem I encountered was that 1. None of the people I'm friends with were able to attend, and 2. Everyone else seemed to already know people there. This resulted in me feeling a profound sense of being an outsider, despite having similar beliefs to everyone there.
I don't know how many people would guess this of me, but I'm painfully shy. Paralyzingly shy, even. I'm not the person who enters a room of strangers and walks up to someone to say "hi, how are you?" I'm the type of person who gets to know people through other people I'm already friends with. So despite desperately wanting to find some new friends to hang out with there, there was really no good opportunity for me to do so. I had this painful fear that I'd be interrupting friendships already in progress if I were to butt into conversations. So despite really wanting to attend the ball on Saturday night, I ended up spending that time in my hotel room watching anime and crying in the shower.
I don't want this to be taken as a criticism of the con or its organizers or even the other attendees, because it's not; in the interactions I did have, people seemed very friendly and no one was ever rude. I was just very lonely any time there was a long enough moment for me to stop and think about it.
I think ideally I would love for there to be some sort of formal "meet and greet" session prior to or during next year's convention. I think in that sort of environment, it would be a lot easier to get to know people, because the people in attendance would be the ones willing to talk to newbies like me and take them under their wing. On the other end, I want to spend this next year attempting to attend more community functions so that I can see more people and maybe have some contacts and friends. Most of all, though, I hope that next year some or all members of my current group will be able to join me there :)
My goals for this coming year are to work on my transportation situation, perhaps even so far as to get a car. It's long past time that I did anyway, and it will open up lots more options for me (especially since I don't want to ride the bus late at night by myself). Hopefully this will become a reality for me.
Anyway, for the most part the convention was a great time and I'm looking forward to next year and hopefully more positive, enriching experiences.