Fires of Lugh
This last weekend, I paid homage to the Sun God and attended a festival put on by Our Lady of the Earth and Sky. I went with
tianas_knife and
f_o_a_d . We met Narissa there, who was our lovely guide for the weekend. There was camping--which was a lot of fun as I hadn't slept in a tent in years...although now I remember why!
There was nudity--clothing optional is really fun! But I found myself not so inclined to strip down when we were so close to the swamp, and I'm so damn pale that I burn easily. Still, not having to think about my state of dress was fun and liberating, especially when it was so hot. And as is often the case, I leave feeling really good about my body. Also, I learned that I'm pretty much straight, and found myself enjoying the sight of the men's behinds, but enjoying the sight of women for different reasons. Anyhoo, the main ritual was required skyclad, which was in accordance with the tradition of the group putting on the ritual. I got many bug bites in places I'd rather not say.
The ritual itself was interesting. It was put on by a fam-trad that had gone public a few years ago: Sean Ciall. Very Scotch-Irish. Very concerned about using the old Gaelic and the old songs. Which resulted in us not being able to understand the dialogue during the rit, but they did explain to us beforehand what was going to happen. They challenged, chose, and then killed John Barleycorn, while doing him honor, and we danced the night away with a renewed harvest. But we totally missed the last rit because it was at midnight and I fell asleep before then.
We went to only one workshop about ethnobotony, which I apparently already knew about. We identified several trees and equated them with their siblings in England, which could be helpful in correspondance work. Mostly we hung out in our camp, went to the grocery store, hung around and ate. f_o_a_d suggested we have steaks one night, and she cooked them to perfection. Apparently we all like them barely cooked and bleeding. Yum!
We made a few friends. Coe was there, who we know from SMF, and we spent some time getting to know her better. We made nice with the folks camped near us, since there were only about 10 of us in the area. I did a tarot reading (for money!) for one of the neighbors, after I let him use my car battery to inflate his airmattress. Chris and Brenda and family were there too, though we didn't have much of a chance to catch up.
I missed M and kept wondering what he'd think of all this. We'll have to try and go next year. But I think we'll just hit it up for Saturday, as that is when most things happen.
Oh, right as we were leaving, we got invited to a rit put on by the longhouse folks. f_o_a_d was out of there anyway, but tianas_knife and I stayed for it, thinking a little ritual would be a nice way to end the weekend. Little...NOT! It was a mile plus long treck through the swamp and around the site looking for the divine feminine, and promising to do work that we didn't actually do. They kept challenging us to build the shrine to the Goddess, but we never actually had to do anything. We were spectators. And in the ends, when they introduced the cast, it was clear that the ritual was not for us, but was for the presenters. That was when I got the bad sun burn. And they asked what people thought of the ritual, and nobody wanted to say anything mean, and they clapped after anyone said anything. I rather wish we'd run off with f_o_a_d!
Being in the sun for so long was exhausting, and I spent a lot of time trying to stay hydrated. But I feel like I did my part to turn the wheel, even if I wasn't feeling the energy yet. It was good to see other people do ritual, and to be a JAFO at an event was a real treat.
Oh, and we invented a new skit idea. Imagine John Barley Corn and Lugh as Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar. Ha! "Party on, John." "Party on, Lugh!" "oh, no, I'm on fire!"
The God is dead!
Party, Party!
tianas_knife and
f_o_a_d . We met Narissa there, who was our lovely guide for the weekend. There was camping--which was a lot of fun as I hadn't slept in a tent in years...although now I remember why!
There was nudity--clothing optional is really fun! But I found myself not so inclined to strip down when we were so close to the swamp, and I'm so damn pale that I burn easily. Still, not having to think about my state of dress was fun and liberating, especially when it was so hot. And as is often the case, I leave feeling really good about my body. Also, I learned that I'm pretty much straight, and found myself enjoying the sight of the men's behinds, but enjoying the sight of women for different reasons. Anyhoo, the main ritual was required skyclad, which was in accordance with the tradition of the group putting on the ritual. I got many bug bites in places I'd rather not say.
The ritual itself was interesting. It was put on by a fam-trad that had gone public a few years ago: Sean Ciall. Very Scotch-Irish. Very concerned about using the old Gaelic and the old songs. Which resulted in us not being able to understand the dialogue during the rit, but they did explain to us beforehand what was going to happen. They challenged, chose, and then killed John Barleycorn, while doing him honor, and we danced the night away with a renewed harvest. But we totally missed the last rit because it was at midnight and I fell asleep before then.
We went to only one workshop about ethnobotony, which I apparently already knew about. We identified several trees and equated them with their siblings in England, which could be helpful in correspondance work. Mostly we hung out in our camp, went to the grocery store, hung around and ate. f_o_a_d suggested we have steaks one night, and she cooked them to perfection. Apparently we all like them barely cooked and bleeding. Yum!
We made a few friends. Coe was there, who we know from SMF, and we spent some time getting to know her better. We made nice with the folks camped near us, since there were only about 10 of us in the area. I did a tarot reading (for money!) for one of the neighbors, after I let him use my car battery to inflate his airmattress. Chris and Brenda and family were there too, though we didn't have much of a chance to catch up.
I missed M and kept wondering what he'd think of all this. We'll have to try and go next year. But I think we'll just hit it up for Saturday, as that is when most things happen.
Oh, right as we were leaving, we got invited to a rit put on by the longhouse folks. f_o_a_d was out of there anyway, but tianas_knife and I stayed for it, thinking a little ritual would be a nice way to end the weekend. Little...NOT! It was a mile plus long treck through the swamp and around the site looking for the divine feminine, and promising to do work that we didn't actually do. They kept challenging us to build the shrine to the Goddess, but we never actually had to do anything. We were spectators. And in the ends, when they introduced the cast, it was clear that the ritual was not for us, but was for the presenters. That was when I got the bad sun burn. And they asked what people thought of the ritual, and nobody wanted to say anything mean, and they clapped after anyone said anything. I rather wish we'd run off with f_o_a_d!
Being in the sun for so long was exhausting, and I spent a lot of time trying to stay hydrated. But I feel like I did my part to turn the wheel, even if I wasn't feeling the energy yet. It was good to see other people do ritual, and to be a JAFO at an event was a real treat.
Oh, and we invented a new skit idea. Imagine John Barley Corn and Lugh as Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar. Ha! "Party on, John." "Party on, Lugh!" "oh, no, I'm on fire!"
The God is dead!
Party, Party!