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Saijen SilverWolf Profile
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Registered: 10-2004
Location: Upper North East Tennessee
Posts: 3871
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Weekend Gathering.....


As some of you know, I left Friday for an Ostara gathering of several covens, and solitarie witches, some just pagans, and some Native Americans. What an awesome weekened it was. I hope you got your reading glasses on, cause this may get a bit long, and detailed..lol..sorry in advance.

I left the house around 11:30-Noon Friday, to meet up with David and Rachel at an exit about 40 minutes from where I live. We stopped to get some lunch, then ate on the road.
Got to the site of the gathering, got signed in and signed up for our 2 hours of volunteer time, then went on down into the pasture to find a place to set up camp. Found a pretty decent spot. We got our tents set up, then Rachel crashed (she has Narcolepsy), and David layed down to read...leaving me totally alone..I knew NO ONE (they knew a good many of the people), and didn't offer to come and talk with me, or anything. I was a bit disappointed. I almost called my husband to come and help me pack up and come back home..but I worked through it all..and I'm sooo glad I did.
We had opening ritual at the fire cirle at about 5pm, which was really nice. Then, off to our own devices somewhat until they announced supper. Both breakfast and supper were cooked at the main kitchen...you provided lunch for yourself. You could go sit around the fire circle to eat, or back to your camp.....we ate at the fire circle. After supper, we went back to our camp for a short bit, then got our drums, and headed back up to the fire circle for the evenings drumming and dancing. Rachel headed to bed around 10-10:30, David went about 30 minutes later. I finally headed to camp around 12:45. I had a BLAST. At 8am Saturday morning, our Herald comes thru camp with a bullhorn announcing breakfast...scrambled eggs, pancakes, various breakfast breads, bacan, sausage, rice. There were various workshops through out the day...I was able to only attend one, as I woke up with a really bad headache, that escalated to a migraine...had to take some meds and lay down for a bit. Slept the worst of that off and was able to enjoy the rest of the day. Walked around the area and took pictures, then sat in on the tail end of the Wicca 101 workshop. I didn't speak, since I'd not been there for the whole thing. Afterwards, some of the ones that were in that workshop and I had a really good conversation. I wandered through merchants row, and ended up buying a really pretty windchime, and a tambourine that was almost screaming at me. The head was handpainted with a Witch, tambourine in hand, in front of a fire, in the moonlight, dancing...that's ME, all over!!!!! I bought it! lol. At 4pm, David, Rachel and I started our 2 hours of volunteer time, which was at the kitchen prepping for supper. We had lamb (hero sandwhich meat) with a yogurt sauce, whole kernal corn, spinach, greenbeans, salad, rice, mixed cooked veggies, and a wide variety of desserts. Meal prepps got to eat first lol. After supper at our camp, we got things cleaned up, and sat around for a while. I worked on a dream catcher, David read, Rachel slept. Finally, we got things together for Saturday nights drum circle..which was more awesome than Friday's. At one point, one of the drummers yelled "ALL STOP"....at that point, a marriage proposal happened....almost had me in tears!!! Was soo sweet, and she was SO NOT expecting it. After that, the alcohol flowed, in celebration..but no one got drunk, which really surprised me. Rachel went to bed not long after that (about 10:30),David and I stayed and drummed, or in my case, beat the heck out of my new tambourine, and at one point, David got up and led the dancers round the fire while he was drumming....was too cute. We drummed till probably close to 1:30. Sunday morning..again, we were woke up with the call of breakfast. Pretty much the same fare as the day before. Afterwards, we started breaking camp. David and I took a walk to get some photos. We left there around noon.
OHH..I forgot... Saturday night, during the Bardic Olympics (story telling), I was with a Reiki healer, who is also a nurse, and Native American. I have no idea what I'd done to my right knee, but it was in a lot of pain on Friday, and very tender all day Saturday. My right shoulder was also in a lot of pain, partially from drumming to hard on Friday night. She worked on my shoulder first, and found where I had the headache, which I'd not mentioned to her at all. I still had some of it lingering, but she got rid of that. She fixed my shoulder, but it was still tender in one spot, so she worked on that till it was totally gone...no more pain!!! She then moved on to my knee, and got the biggest part of that pain. I felt good enough that at one point during the drumming, Rachel and I got up and danced some, me with my tambourine.

I attended one workshop, which was on Totem animals, and how you get them, the fact that you can have more than one, and they may change, as you change within your path. It was taught by another Native American lady.

The kids had an Ostara Egg hunt....before they could hunt, they set up an alter with bunnies, and did a prayer to the Lady asking for a safe hunt, then sprinkled the altar with herbs. After the hunt, they ate some of their eggs, and layed the shell at the base of the altar, some put some candy on the altar as an offering. Was too cute!

All in all, it is an experience I'm so glad I got to have, and I WILL be attending many more of these gatherings. The next one I am going to attempt to attend is in September. They have one this summer, but it's too hot and right in the middle of the busiest part of my canning season. I can hardly wait, though, for the next one I get to go to!!!!!
There is a real atmosphere of peace and family about this group.
Serpent Stone is based in Asheville, NC, and they do these gatherings in a few different locations. The next one, I believe, is in Carrollton, Georgia, just west of Atlanta. Serpent Stone has, I believe, become almost an umbrella for many different covens, while it is, within itself, a coven. The bulk of the people at this gathering were between the ages of 30 and 70, a few younger adults, teens and kids tossed in for good measure.

Ok..I think I'm done LOL I'm sorry if I bored anyone to tears.

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Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~

~~*~~ .~~*~~
3/26/2007, 6:56 pm Link to this post Send Email to Saijen SilverWolf   Send PM to Saijen SilverWolf Yahoo
 
Corvus Profile
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Re: Weekend Gathering.....


Would you be willing to put some of your photos up online for us to see? emoticon
3/26/2007, 7:26 pm Link to this post Send Email to Corvus   Send PM to Corvus
 
TexasMadness Profile
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Re: Weekend Gathering.....


Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun! How many people where there?

Marissa
3/26/2007, 8:17 pm Link to this post Send Email to TexasMadness   Send PM to TexasMadness
 
Firlefanz Profile
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Re: Weekend Gathering.....


Glad to hear you had a great time, Saijen. I liked the story of the Reiki healer best - about time you got rid of some of your pains!

  emoticon

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- Firlefanz

Reading: "Tabula Rasa", SF Anthology
Writing: "Kiera und der Gauklerjunge" - novel

Mystical Adventures
3/26/2007, 9:06 pm Link to this post Send Email to Firlefanz   Send PM to Firlefanz Blog
 
Fenyx Profile
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Re: Weekend Gathering.....


Saijen - GREAT!!!
and like Firle said, good on the healer - you need to keep her close.

Fenyx

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A Porch Lover
3/27/2007, 12:18 am Link to this post Send Email to Fenyx   Send PM to Fenyx
 
Saijen SilverWolf Profile
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Registered: 10-2004
Location: Upper North East Tennessee
Posts: 3871
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Re: Weekend Gathering.....


Corvin, I'll be happy to share some of the photos as soon as I get them developed. I won't show the ones of people, since I don't have permission to put them online. I wish I had gotten some of the dancers and drummers. Maybe next time.

Texas, at one point (the max) we had about 100-120 people there, including teens and kids. The bulk of the time, there was about 75 of us.

Firle and Fenxy..I couldn't agree more!! I'm a bit sore now, but I think I'm sleeping funny on that shoulder. Not sure how to combat that.

What floors me is the fact that a great amount of these people are from one town over from me and I never knew there was that large of a Pagan influence there. I have joined their yahoo groups, and will be attending some of their smaller group activities, and possibly some of their (as they put it) moons. It will be really exciting to get to know this many more like minded people, and so much closer than my coven, geographically. Won't leave my coven...love my group, but this group is large enough to do things on a regular basis, where our poor lil coven just isn't.

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Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~

~~*~~ .~~*~~
3/27/2007, 8:30 pm Link to this post Send Email to Saijen SilverWolf   Send PM to Saijen SilverWolf Yahoo
 
Firlefanz Profile
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Registered: 05-2003
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Re: Weekend Gathering.....


Oh, it's good to find more people of the same kind - and even closer!

That will make most things easier, and more fun. I know how elated I was when I found a German writers' group that actually loves fantasy.

  emoticon

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- Firlefanz

Reading: "Tabula Rasa", SF Anthology
Writing: "Kiera und der Gauklerjunge" - novel

Mystical Adventures
3/28/2007, 6:16 am Link to this post Send Email to Firlefanz   Send PM to Firlefanz Blog
 


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