Last weekend I had the great joy of attending this festival and what a blast it was! Held in SIlver Falls State Park near Salem, Oregon, it was a beautiful (and surprisingly isolated) location that blessed us with nearly perfect weather. Shorts in the day and jackets in the eveneing made it as close to ideal as I could wish.
I was at the festival to vend, do workshops, camp, but most of all to finally start meeting large segments of the PNW Pagan community. I was certainly able to accomplish that! I arrived Friday morning and set up my vending booth atop the hill behind the building hosting most of the workshops. After setting up the booth, I drove down to the "Fairy Fields" to set up my tent. I was seriously disappointed that no flames were allowed of any kind - so I left my lanterns, stove, and heater in the car all weekend. I was bummed out about it, but I do know when one comes into the forest to worship nature that disrespecting a red flag warning and burning down the forest would not be the best move.
The event was reasonably priced and well attended (120 people?). Both of my workshops were nicely populated, although I wasn't sure about the Guardian Magick workshop at first. It was scheduled to start at 9:00 PM (the latest I think I've had one scheduled) and I sat in the lodge until about 9:10. Nobody had arrived so I headed back to my tent, mildly disappointed. As I waslked past the picnic tables outside the lodge, someone said "there he is" and I discovered about a dozen people sitting outside waiting for me to show up, lol. We went inside and had a wonderful discussion about the role of Guardians in the Pagan community, some basics as to how Guardian magick works, and swapped some stories of our Guardian experiences. I was happy to see that the Guardian concept was not new to the PNW community, although some of my approaches and terminology were. In fact, I struggled with terminology as well as I attempt to retrain myself to say "Guardian" rather than "Green". I think the concept of someone standing watch over rituals was the most foreign of these, however, I did learn that I was not alone in this practice.
Satruday afternoon found me intercepted on my way to the showers by the impending Men's Mysteries. I sat my towel down and joined in for a profoundly male ritual that raised some wonderful primal energy. Since this happened on my way to the showers, I even smelled manly. ;) After dashing back for my shower before the start of main ritual, I changed clothes in my vending booth and was still braiding my hair when the conch was blown for the start of main ritual. The ritual began with processions from the three altars established in the "villages" scattered around the campground, so by the time everyone had gathered, I was ready to go.
My thanks to the ritual coordinator, Char, for taking a chance and giving me permission to stand watch over the ritual. She was unfamiliar with the concept of the Guardian but after a quick explanation and an endorsement from one of her peers, she gave permission. I would never stand watch without permission, so I appreciate Char taking a chance on something new to her.
It was not the experience I had expected. There were several organizational and physical things that were different than I was used to but that was not surprising considering how far I was from my Guardian training grounds. No, those things were different but I expected them to be so. It was when I opened myself up to the energy of the forest that I was shocked. I have stood watch in many different places with lots of different geography. I have encountered forest spirits of many shapes and sizes. I still was not prepared for what happened.
It had been 4 years or more since last I stood watch over such a ritual. Laying down low-levels of energy and opening up to forest energies are a normal part of what Guardians of my ilk do. When I opened myself to this forest, I was nearly overwhelmed by the energy. I actually had to shut the flow of energy off repeatedly as it nearly consumed me with its intensity. I began an approach of touching the energy for a few moments then shielding myself in order to not be overwhelmed.
I had been in this forest before, but always with a big group including kids and some I would never feel comfortable around while doing energy work. As a result, I had not opened myself so completely to the energies here. Old growth forests filled with towering trees are simply amazing. It was a taste of how our ancient ancestors must have felt when they touched the energy of their surroundings. It was fantastic and I can't wait to do it again.
I truly enjoyed this event and look forward to next year. I will be more practiced and prepared for the energies there. I hope that the next ritual coordinator will be willing to allow me to work during that ritual as well. I miss my Oklahoma family, but this weekend showed me even more reasons why I belong here.
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