I returned
from PantheaCon late on Sunday. In spite of knowing nobody there, I
had a blast. It's one of the great things about the Pagan
community. Even without knowing a soul I was welcomed and made to
fee right at home. Thorn Coyle was the only person at the massive
event I'd met before, so it was nice to chat with her at the author's
signing table. Then I got the rare joy of meeting someone with whom
I have exchanged emails for many years. It's so wonderful finally
know Elysia Gallo (Llewellyn acquistions editor) in person! She's
even nicer than I imagined.
Another
wonderful person at Llewellyn managed to get copies of Incense Magick
to me the afternoon before I flew to San Jose. So although the book
isn't "officially" released for another week, it is now
available at many book retailers and on this site as well. I got to
meet a lot of very friendly, enthusiastic people and chat about
incense. My workshop on Saturday was up against some heavy
competition (including the aforementioned Thorn Coyle) but still managed
to get overbooked! 25% more tickets were passed out than planned,
and additional people showed up at the door, so we accomodated everyone we
could and had the workshop standing room only. There were around 50
people in the room and we all had a blast. We shared tools and
supplies to make sure as many people as possible were able to roll
incense. It was shorter than my normal workshops but we still
covered a lot of ground and shared some good laughs. I hope I am
able to do another workshop at PantheaCon next year!
On Sunday I
participated in a panel discussion that included Oberon Zell-Ravenheart
and Christopher Penzack among many other wise people. We discussed
the use of the label "Pagan" and labeling in general in our
community. It was absolutely fascinating to me (except for the times
when I was speaking, lol) and I'm still stunned that not only was I
invited to participate, I participated equally in the conversation.
I learned a lot from it as well. Flying home was a lot easier than
flying there since I had about 75 pounds less baggage!
