Don Frew, Macha, Richard Reidy of the Temple of Ra |
This year’s PantheaCon
nourished me. I printed out a schedule
ahead of time of events on the official schedule, as distinct from the many
programs being offered in various suites throughout the weekend, that I wanted
to be sure to attend. I left plenty of
space for serendipitous encounters.
I knew I had some
responsibilities in the Pagan Scholars’ Den -- I dislike that term – for both Cherry Hill Seminary and the Pagan History Project with which I’m
involved. And I was scheduled to sit on
one panel, “Tradition vs. Innovation.” Beyond those things, I was open to see what
arose.
Arrived Thursday evening
in order to avoid morning commute traffic and my tendency to retire late and
sleep late. My first dip in the brew was
attending a panel called “The Good, the
Bad, & the Blogging,” featuring Patheos bloggers. The varied panel gave a good cross-section
bloggers on topics of interest to Pagans.
I was especially happy to make the acquaintance of one blogger whose
work I admire and try to read when I can; that would be John Halstead who
writes The Allergic Pagan. Nothing
to do with allergies, rather because he has a find mind and writes
thought-provoking blogs
For reasons I don’t
recall I missed several Friday evening offerings, including concerts by Celia
Farran, Ruth
Barrett, and Holly Tannen. I’m a fan
of all three women and rarely miss their local appearances.
I don’t usually attend
much in the way of rituals, maybe only one to three over the course of a long
weekend, meaning I missed “Hekate:
Witness and Ally” and “The Rite of
Grand Convergence.” The latter
interested me because it was an offering of Black Rose Witchcraft, whom I view as Craft cousins, though I must say
the title of the ritual is rather grand.
I spent a good while in
the Pagan Scholars suite, where Angela Pearson supplied me with Jameson’s. I’m not much of a drinker, but I do enjoy an
occasional, say annual, alcohol high.
Cole and Allie and I took a break in the parking lot, then went up to Clifford
Hartleigh Low’s fantastic Green
Fairy Party, where the host
himself escorted me to the front of a very long line in the hallway and into
the scene of festivity.
And whom should I see as
soon as I entered but Erik Davis wearing a little feathered green cap and looking like Robin
Hood. Our paths had last crossed when he
talked about ‘weird’ at the Brainwash Café at the same event where my grandson Ian Kappos was reading.
On the infrequent occasions when we meet, we always seem to have plenty
of information to exchange, at least from my perspective.
On Saturday morning I
missed Brandy Williams’ talk
on “Lives of Pagan Teachers”; well,
I did manage to get there for the last half hour, but it was all over and the
room empty by then.
Unfortunately, the panel
on “Tradition vs. Innovation” was
scheduled at the same time as one on prison ministry. I have plenty of experiences to share with
regard to the latter, and would have benefitted from talking with others who
are doing similar work; however, I haven’t yet mastered the skill of
bilocation, so sat on the former panel.
As to “Tradition vs. Innovation,” I hope I
conducted myself well and spoke with clarity and conviction. Some of us panelists did find instances where
we reflected and enriched each other’s commentary. I found this especially heartening when it
occurred with younger Pagans like Lou Florez.
Went to Richard Reidy’s
talk, “Ancient Magic for the Modern
World – A Kemetic View” and did a spell that seems to be working. Richard, of the Temple of Ra, always offers well-planned
and informative presentations
“Babalon Rising: Jack Parsons’ Witchcraft Prophecy.” I found this talk by Erik Davis fascinating.
Not only did he tease his threads out to include mention of W.I.T.C.H. (Women’s
International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell), but even more, he cited my
late friend Sequoia as a later
manifestation of this current (to mix metaphors). She would have been thrilled. Old-time Pagans like Murtagh AnDoile,
Elizabeth TigerRose, and Magenta Griffin had plenty to contribute to the
follow-up discussion. Great fun!
Gary Suto joined me for “Katabasis: Descent to the Underworld” a
drag show performed by the Circle of Dionysus in the weird-vibed abandoned
disco club on site. This performance
involved another spell that I think is working.
We met Erishkigal, Persephone, and even Aphrodite down there in the
Underworld. The amazing original
sinnerjee filked the Village People’s “YMCA” around the theme of conversion
therapy, the chorus being, “Why am I gay?”
I enjoyed plenty of
party-hopping during the evening hours.
Talked shop about working
with inmates within the prison system with Christopher Penczak in the Temple of Witchcraft hospitality
suite.
Met with others in the
CoG suite concerning attending the Parliament
of World Religions in Salt Lake City in October.
Enjoyed socializing in
the ADF suite with Sean Harbaugh and others.
Macha, Kristoffer Hughes, Kat Sanborn |
Hung with authors in the
Llewellyn hospitality suite, for fun conversations with Kristoffer Hughes and
Sonja Sadovsky in particular.
Enjoyed hanging with
Sisters Krissy
Fiction, Shomie
D. Goods, Hera
Sees Candy, and other sisters both in and out of Sister drag. I was delighted to find and old/new friend in
Sister
Lilith of the Valley of the Shadow of Death with whom I share friends and
experiences from the 1980s and ‘90s. We
had a reflective talk about Raven Moonshadow
at the Pagan Alliance party warmly
hosted by JoHanna White.
Sister Krissy, Macha, Sister Hera Sees Candy, Derik Cowan |
Blessed with a fine new
friend, Jon Drum of ADF, whom I expect to be more involved with Cherry Hill
Seminary.
On my last night there I
joined hundreds for Orion Foxwood’s “The Flame in the Cauldron: The Awakened
Spirit of the Witch.” It’s been
years since I’ve attended any of Orion’s presentations, mainly because they
have such long lines and I cannot stand for long periods. This year, however, I finally accepted the
fact that as an older person with some physical limitations, I could go to the
front of the line and enter ahead of the main crowd. What a wonderful talk, concluded with ritual
chanting! Thus began the third spell of
the weekend for me, connecting with and reviving the witch blood.
There are many other
reports out here in cyberspace on the goings-on at this year’s PantheaCon that
focus on the experiences of People of Color.
I did not witness any of the incidents they are talking about.
Bear in mind, dear
reader, that this annual event consists of about 10 or 12 simultaneous official events around the clock and perhaps 2,500
attendees on ten floors. That doesn’t
count the many offerings in various suites during those same limited hours –
alas! only 24 in a day.
I had many more experiences,
encountered so many other dear friends, old and new, than I can mention in one
blog post. This is my digest.
This is my personal
experience – and this year was wonderful for me.
2 comments:
Macha it was wonderful to meet and hang out with you! Alas, as you say, so many things going on at once. I look forward to when we cross paths again.
awesome, congrats to everyone!
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