Final Gems from ConVocation 2015

Here we are! Day three of ConVocation, our last day of attendance. It was quite a whirlwind, and we kind of wished that we had a Tardis to go back to the start! The last two classes that we will highlight are “Horned God 2.0” and “Songs and Tales of Wonder.”

Jason Mankey has outdone himself with his class “Horned God 2.0.” With a mix of knowledge, fact, humor, and deep emotion, he led us on a journey through a master class. For starters, we discussed the difference between horned gods and antlered gods. Obvious is that their chosen headgear are two worlds apart. The term “horned god” is a modern construct, used in the works of Margaret Murray. She discusses possible origins of horned gods in the Neolithic painting The Sorcerer, in the Cave of the Trois-Frères in France (see ink drawing at left). Today, we use the term to encompass both the horned and antlered types, pulling together Cernunnos, Pan, Herne, and Janicot under one umbrella.

Jason discussed Pan at length, and his association with the Greek region of Arcadia (land of the acorn eaters).One interesting new thing for me was that the term Pa (the root of Pan) links to shepherd, watcher, and roads in various languages. Also, that road markers in ancient Rome were called Hernes!

Pan was a favorite subject for Romantic poets during the Goddess Revival period. Addressing the horned god in poetry wasn’t considered a sign of religious devotion to him, though. One poet noted that, “Jesus is my heavenly shepherd, Pan is my earthly shepherd.” Pan continues to inspire current day poets--in Pink Floyd’s flagship album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, for example.

One of the lasting memories for me was an impassioned description of his visit to the White Spring in Glastonbury, England,  and the encounter he had there with his horned god. Within the springs cave was an area venerating the horned god... It was a wondrous description that will ensure we visit the same location as soon as we are able.

We then spent a wonderful hour and a half with Andras Corban-Arthen in his session “Songs and Tales of Wonder.” It was an informative and musical session, complete with performances of song and guitar. There is an entire genre of entertainment in Ireland and Britain dedicated to this cranny ;-) of music.... (Well, it might be a nook, but who knows?)

Andras performed stories and songs that struck a chord with me (pun alert!!). The King of the Cats, a story you may have heard before, spoke of cat people who dwell with humans in common cat form. A gravedigger’s cat turned out to be the King of the Cats!

Willie’s Lady is a popular ballad of yore, set to the tune of the Breton song Son ar Chister (The Song of Cider). This ballad was collected and saved for future generations through the efforts of American folklorist Francis James Child, whose collection of traditional songs is the source of Ray Fisher’s 1982 album, Willie’s Lady. The song tells of a mother who cursed her son’s bride to a neverending pregnancy. The only way to undo the spell was for Willie to work an elaborate counterspell.

Last and most touching was a song from Andras’ native Galicia in Spain: María Soleña. It speaks of a woman named María who is in love with Pedro, a fisherman. One day Pedro did not come back from fishing with the other men, who explained that he had fallen overboard and died at sea. She pled with the sea to let her see Pedro, so the sea allowed her to see him within a spot of light on the horizon one single day each year. In return, she would care for injured sea gulls and other denizens of the sea. This haunting and beautiful song went on far past the scheduled end time of the session, but virtually no one got up and left. We were all transfixed by the sad story and by Andras’ gravelly, impassioned singing.

After these sessions, more transactions in the vendor room ensued!  I found a wonderful Lingam stone that is the opposite colors of one I found at our favorite metaphysical shop, Windows of Light. Mrs. Moonyak found a wonderful buy on a set of books by pagan crime novelist, M. R. Sellars.

Wow!  What a ConVocation 2015!!  We had a good time, met wonderful people, and made new connections. Who could ask for more!  ** looks for a flux capacitor or a time turner to revisit or take two classes at once** ;-D Stay tuned in the weeks to come for absolutely new and un-ConVocation-y posts--until next year’s convention, at least.

Learn Cool Stuff from ConVocation--Vicariously!

On the second day of ConVocation, we attended some interesting sessions. In looking at our schedules, we had both marked a certain presentation without even consulting one another: “The ‘Indians’ of Old Europe,” it was called. As we’re both deeply interested in anthropology and ancient Europe, it seemed like a no-brainer to attend this one. The presenter was Andras Corban-Arthen, a wonderful looking human who turned out to be a fascinating and engaging presenter. His work of many years has been to trace modern survivals of ancient European pagan practices. Since he hails from Galicia, in the north of Spain, he is himself a Celt.

That’s right, you got that. I wrote what you think you read. There is a thriving population in northern Spain of people who consider themselves Celtic to this day. [nerd alert!] Consider the first syllable of Galicia: GAL, and its linguistic similarity to other Celtic place names, like Gaul. Even the word “Celt” could be thought of as cognate for GAL, if you consider Grimm’s Law (as very briefly outlined in our recent post “Apples in the Mist”).[nerd level returns to normal]

Andras told us that everywhere you go in Galicia, you can see signs saying, “Galicia, a Celtic Land.” Galicia is the only nation in the world to name a Celtic king in its national anthem (Breoghan). The folktales and practices he grew up with could be considered ancient pagan survivals. So he has traveled all over Europe, seeking out the pagan remnants hidden in ethnic and folk traditions, mostly using word of mouth and email introductions to locate the people who might have information of interest to him.

At one point in his life, Andras was taken in and treated as family by a Scottish couple, who became his teachers and mentors. They showed him magical and folk practices that had been passed down through their family for centuries, and provoked his continued interest in seeking out similar survivals. He learned that many ancient religious practices, songs, traditions, and stories have survived into modern times by blending into Christianity. Many of the people he has interviewed are Christians and see nothing religious in the practices and traditions their families maintain. Often they consider their magical traditions a matter of national pride. Andras also told us about a small island off the coast of Scotland were the special form of Christianity that is practiced is so pagan that visiting priests ran screaming “Heresy!” all the way back to the Vatican.

All in all, Andras’ session on ancient European pagan survivals was extremely interesting and informative. We liked him so much that we attended another of his sessions the third day, and that one was....No fair giving it away yet! That’s for our next post. :-)

Another great session that was available the second day was titled “Exploring the Earth Mother” with Reverend Melissa Hill. Wow! is all I can say for this class! Reverend Hill was engaging, dynamic, and full of beautiful energy. We began with the Hittite Goddess, Hannahannas, covering her connections to her son, the thunder god, and to bees. The Hittites were of special interest because they were quite ancient, and their culture existed for a shorter time when compared to, say, the Greeks or Romans. This was of special interest since it did not give the Hittites time to evolve their pantheon to the same extent. So, it gives good insight into the fabric of the people’s lives and their vision of the Earth Mother. Here is a link to the Reverend Hill’s blog, and much more detail on the Hittites: Dandelionlady Earth Mother Kickassery.

Nerthus was another Mother Goddess that we discussed. She is a Germanic Goddess of the Suebi tribe, originating in areas of Northern Germany / Denmark. She was interesting because the tribe was united by her, and had a sacred grove dedicated to her located on an island. (Goddesses on islands post!) Within the grove, a holy cart was draped with a cloth that none but the priest might touch. When the priests felt her presence, the cart was drawn through town and met with revelry. When the journey was finished and the cart returned to the grove, it was washed by slaves in a secluded lake. Upon finishing this chore, the slaves were drowned.

The highlight of this class for me was the group meditation that we participated in. Yup! You got it--I was poked in the third eye again! (See our post about last year’s ConVocation.) Reverend Hill gently coaxed us into the calm pool of meditation. We moved from chair to carpet to earth, and then to expanding circles of forests. This was a wonderful journey through meditative spheres and visioning. I have only experienced group meditations this successful a handful of times. This one ranked way up there!  I am grateful for the chance to have this experience.

Whew!  What a great second day--great information and experiences shared, minds expanded, imaginations kindled--not a bad way to spend time at all!  We did avail ourselves of the generous treasures contained in the vendor area. I purchased several wonderful items that I will enjoy for many years to come. Stay tuned for more vicarious learning in our next blog.

Fool's Journey, Part I

Whew!  What a journey we had to ConVocation 2015! Things started well enough through Wisconsin and Chicago.Then we heard a “fell voice on the wind,” just as we entered Indiana. A haze was on the horizon--kind of a fog across the highway. We went from 70 to 5 mph really quick.  A glaze of ice coated the highway and fine powdery snow began to fall. It was slicker than ox slobber on a doorknob! If you've ever had an ox then you know of what we speak.  Trucks and cars in the ditches...even one car packed under a semi trailer (no injuries thank the Goddess). We were tense!  

Mrs. Moonyak floated the idea of dropping south to the toll road, thinking it may be more favorable weather farther from the lake. We adjusted course and it was a little better, but still a full blown winter squall. We were seat-weary and decided to pull off for a bite to eat. We exited the car to see a young gentleman filming the snow fall, on his face the mask of wonder common to those from snowless lands when they glimpse the magical white stuff. You know, the wonder that lasts exactly as long as they can still feel their toes. We went inside and decided quickly against reconstituted McCardboard. DQ it was, for chile dogs all around! We got our dogs and went back to the vehicle to consume them. We chatted and ate...then magic ensued as, Poof! I was done eating and she was only half finished.

"How did you eat that fast?" she wondered aloud.

“It's physics! They go down quicker when you don't talk,” I responded :-D

Two seconds of silence, then laughter!  "Did you just tell me to shut up?"  

I looked askance and innocently replied, “MOI?”  

And we shared a good laugh every time it came up for hours after that.

All told, the snow, ice, and new route added 4 hours onto our trip. We pulled in, checked in, loaded ourselves up like burros to take our things to the fourth floor....whew! We changed and went downstairs to register for the convention, taking our first of many elevator rides down.  As we checked in, a helpful lady sent us to the opening ceremony, which was already in progress, even though we hadn’t checked in yet. We had thought we missed it! It was so nice of her to help!

We managed to catch the last part of the opening ceremony, which centered on a brief history of ConVocation told in terms of the fool’s journey of the Tarot. Really cool! Then we were off to our very first class, a great talk on Indoeuropean Warrior Goddesses presented by ADF Druid, Leesa Kern. The presentation covered several different cultures and their contributions to the subject; Celtic, Greek and Norse cultures were represented. One fascinating goddess that we can’t wait to learn more about is Scathach [Ská-hak], a great warrior on an island off the coast of Scotland who is associated with the giving of weapons and the training of warrior heroes, like Cuchulain.

After that, we retired to our room and unwound from an eventful day. Sitting on the bed to chat, we noted that the comforter and pillows were down-filled. Or, as Mrs. Moonyak framed it, “feather-filled death sacks,” for these are most odious for her to rest on. We had brought some of our own pillows, and we tried to keep the down ones at the bottom. We made it through the night, but awakened with allergic reactions to the down nonetheless. The hotel staff was quite professional about it. They changed them out for regular pillows for us that day. Note for the future: request no down-filled items prior to arrival.

That wraps up our first day! Excitement, stress, hope, community, knowledge, and near death from pillows sums it up. Overall good and happy to be there and together :-). Tons more to come in future blogs, stay tuned!!

Pagan Elevator Rides

Greetings from ConVocation 2015  Journey's End: A New World Begins!

We promised updates during the convention, so here's one! There will be SO much more coming, because this year's session offerings have been especially synchronicitous (yeah, I think I made that word up). I mean...we literally just decided on the drive here that we want to write a book, and when we got here we found not one, but two sessions being offered on pagan publishing! But more on that later. This is a brief story about loving our pagan peeps.

So, there we were. We stood in the fourth floor hallway of our hotel, waiting for the elevator. I flipped through the program to figure out what room our next lecture was in, pausing to admire my new garnet Goddess ring. He shuffled in his combat boots while hitching up his kilt to fix his kiltpin. Elevator traffic seems to escalate between scheduled sessions and meal time was just winding down--so we had to wait five minutes or so.

When the elevator door finally opened, it was full to bursting. An awkward moment ensued, while we decided whether to push and shove ourselves in or wait. We could tell the folks already on board were here for ConVocation, and not only by their nametags. They accessorized like pagans. A very tall man in the back wore a black three-piece suit with no shirt under the vest and an ankh large enough to choke an aardvark on his necklace. A heavyset lady wore a long, silk skirt with a corset and roughly twenty dozen bangles on each arm. Six or seven others in colorfully, wonderfully odd attire stood half smiling at us, probably amused at our conundrum. The corseted lady forced the standoff to a conclusion:

"There's always room for kilts!" she yelled, waggling her eyebrows at Mr. Moonyak.

Everyone laughed and we shoved on in. It was almost like hugging. It smelled like hippies. We felt right at home, knowing that our welcome into the little remaining space was entirely sincere.

"At least it's warm in here," remarked someone else...which is funnier if you know that it's been below zero and snowy in Detroit this week.

"That's me reaching under your kilt!" I think that was the first lady again.

The elevator pinged on floors three and two, but at floor one there was no ping. Everyone could feel everyone else waiting for the ping, but the seconds passed and the doors stayed closed. Then came the voice of my beloved--his best melodramatic War of the Worlds radio voice:

"And there was a dramatic pause, as they waited for their release..." Everyone giggled.
Someone intoned, "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!"
 Now all bets were off.

"Let my people go!"

"Release the Kraken!"


That's all. The door opened and we all went our separate ways, smiling. I just wanted to write the incident down as a sort of paean to my community. I mean, how many times have you been on an uncomfortable elevator ride, even if it wasn't so crowded you could lick three people by just turning your head? Welcoming acceptance, THAT is where it's at.

ConVocation

Is there any relief to be found in winter? Short of taking a hair drier to the permafrost, there is respite to be found! The journey will be all of 7 hours, around the southern tip of Lake Michigan and shooting over to Detroit--or Dearborn, to be precise.

What (beyond warmth) could interrupt a blissful hibernation? A four-day convention, it is a heady mix of indoor Pagan Spirit Gathering and things uniquely ConVocation: tons of classes, lecture with a huge dash of community, wares, and just plain awesome folks.

I remember clearly when we arrived our first year. It was dark and, being out-of-town visitors, we were a little lost. Then we spied a group of folks with cloaks, capes, and staves... "I see our people!" Ms. Moonyak remarked. Indeed, I thought as we parked our rental. It was amazing how our sense of unease turned to relieved comfort once we knew we’d found the pagans.

It had been a harrowing journey of strange unidentifiable smells, icy roads and enormous potholes. We were happy to check into our hotel and wend our way to the site. What confronted us was... well, the full-on pagan community experience. Ahhhh!...like sliding into a warm tub filled with bubbles :-).

Unlike in daily life, at ConVocation interesting people, ideas, garb and conversation constitute the rule not the exception. I love my pagan community--always a mind broadening experience. The first night we attended a lecture entitled “Ancient Celtic Religion” which was presented by Kirk Thomas, Senior Priest  and current Archdruid of Ár nDríaocht Féin (ADF). ADF is an international neodruidic organization based in the US, in case you didn’t know. A solidly academic, informative. and thought-provoking session, his lecture set the tone and expectations for the balance of our time there.

The next day, popular pagan blogger and lecturer Jason Mankey did not disappoint and delivered a wonderful presentation on "The Horned God of the British Isles.” Later that day, Wiccan priestess Mistress Belladonna had our foreheads burning and pulsing from a guided meditation. Honestly, I have not been the same since. It was a delightful journey towards the inner realms, through a locked door and into a hidden garden. Several folks were so relaxed that they drifted off to sleep! However for us, it was nearly as if we had our third eye poked.

Late that evening, Kirk Thomas led his ADF grove in an enlightening ritual. It was our first time experiencing a Druid ritual first hand. We tend to enjoy more free-form expressions ourselves, however, when the Druids do a ritual it is quite an event: intense and emotionally evocative. Despite the more rigid framework, we were impressed with how smoothly the grove handled the minor mishap of an overturned candle.

We also took a drumming lesson and learned of the African God, Ba Ku Ba, a lesson that resonates each time we pick up a drum. Wrapped around all of this was an awesome raffle with wonderful prizes to be had. Unfortunately we came up empty on that count, but fingers crossed for this year!

We hit upon this topic as we set our compass needle once again to this year’s gathering.  Convocation 2015: Journey's End,  A New World Begins. We can hardly lose, with guests of honor such as Andras Corbian-Arthen, spiritual director of the Earth Spirit Community, as well as award-winning authors like Dorothy Morrison and Ellen Dugan and featured presenters Jason Mankey (Woot! We love him!),  Eli Sheva, leader of Am Ha Aretz (Primitive Hebrew Assembly) and Kenn Day, well known shaman, author and teacher, and many others. Then there’s the largest indoor drum circle in the midwest, and another huge raffle of unbelievably cool stuff….

Whew!!  We will let you know how things turn out next Sunday!  We are so stoked and ready to soar! ** looks for a third eye patch **

☮, ♥ & ♫  ♩ ♪  The Moonyaks