Panmankey

This past weekend Ari and I had the privilege of visiting Circle Sanctuary up in Wisconsin and participating in their annual Beltane festival.  As far as Pagan festivals go, my invitation was put together pretty quickly after meeting Selena Fox (founder of Circle, High Priestess, Pagan Activist, amazing public speaker, etc.) at Convocation last February.  She invited me up to Circle and I was lucky enough to be able to make May work.

Last weekend was my first visit to Circle, and I'm hoping it won't be my last!  They've got a really great community up there near Madison, wonderful people, and they all went out of their way to make Ari and I feel like a part of things.  Once we got by friday evening's rain, and a few hours of not knowing anyone, we nearly felt like we were at home, or at least Starwood.    

As we were getting settled in, trying to walk around (between rain storms) Ari asked me what I do when I go to festivals by myself.  The first few hours at a new place are a little difficult, especially when I don't more than one or two people (and that's usually the festival organizers).  After a workshop or two that tends to no longer be the case, but until then I keep a big stack of books handy to overcome any boredom that might spring up.  (It's especially hard to meet people when it's raining too!)

Once we hit up the opening ritual any worries that we weren't going to fit in over the weekend instantly fell by the wayside.  Everyone was just so damned nice to us.  What's really amazing is that Circle's Beltane was a mostly Wisconsin/Illinois event, but it never felt cliquey and we never felt like outsiders.  There's just such a focus on community at Starwood, and it seems to be a lesson that everyone there has gotten.

Post opening ritual we spent most of friday evening talking with Amy (from Starwood and a billion other festivals) and hanging around the campfire.  We sipped cider (me) and whiskey (Ari) and searched the clear bright skies for shooting stars, we even saw a couple.  When the moon finally peaked her face out around 1 am we headed to bed, I had an early workshop saturday morning.

Saturday I got to do my "Pan:  The God of All" workshop for a very enthusiastic audience, and a surprisingly large one for an early workshop at an outdoor festival.  People laughed, I told penis jokes, I talked about Pan in Ancient Greece, no one fell asleep, I think it was a success.  I sold out of Horned God books when I was done, that was pretty cool.  I hadn't done the Pan workshop in over a year, and I was surprised to find myself not too rusty.  

Post workshop the rest of the day was a blur of food, ritual, Morris Dancers, mead, conversation, etc etc.  Just lots to do, without it all feeling overwhelming.  The day was spaced nicely is a good way of putting it.  Post workshop and Morris Dancers Ari and I went on a walk through the Circle grounds (over 40 acres of woods and prairie).  Near the end of our walk together I decided it might be fun to climb one of the large hills surrounding us (Circle's camping/working grounds are in a valley).  Ari opted out so I pressed on alone.  

There was a spot I wanted to get to because I thought it would offer an amazing view, but getting there was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  I ended up off the beaten trail by about 100 paces, and much of the route I was trying to take was covered by small trees with thorns on them.  Getting up the hill wasn't much of a problem, but getting back down ended up being one, and my troubles were rewarded with a half dozen of scratches on my legs and feet.  (Note to self:  hiking in shorts and sandals through brush is kind of stupid.)

Once I returned to camp the rest of the night was spent maypole dancing, mead tasting, and talking to lots of folks.  There were too many people at the ritual for everyone to get a ribbon around the maypole, but touching the thing near the end of the ritual was more than enough.  The maypole at Cirlce was just humming with energy, powerful stuff.  Ari was lucky enough to be one of the Maypole dancers, and the prettiest one there too (I'm biased, but it might very well be true).

Food was communal the entire weekend and it was fantastic.  The kitchen was right below our room and those people must have spent 15 hours a day in there preparing meals.  They met the challenge of preparing food for 200 plus with ease, even my no onion, no red meat eating self had no trouble getting enough food.

Our Sunday at Circle was short.  I did the old Horned God Workshop (not well either) while Ari packed up the car.  Since I had done Pan the day before and there's a lot of overlap I wanted to change things around a lot and ignore a lot of the things I had mentioned the day before.  As a result, I was all over the place while speaking.  I was a bit disappointed with myself, but it was 9 in the morning, you can't expect a whole lot from me before I've had a pot or two of coffee.

Before we left Selena gave us a whirlwind tour of everything we missed at Circle.  The space they have up there is just awe-inspiring.  Perhaps the most powerful place is the cemetery.  Just knowing that there's a place for Pagan burials in the United States is heart warming.  Ari told me she wanted to buried there in 100 years or so when she passes.*  The ritual circle near by was also powerful, and next time I visit Circle I plan to do something up there.  

We had an eight hour drive home on sunday so we departed Circle rather quickly, but it's still humming inside our hearts.  Thanks to Selena and everyone else in Wisconsin who made our visit so special and so memorable.  I hope we get up there again soon.  

*Given the advances in medical science and her income potential she should probably outlive me by about 40 years and live to the age of 145.