Sometime today I will disappear into the woods for Heartland Pagan Festival. This will be my tenth festival or so. I’ve been going since 1998 or 1999, but I missed a few years toward the beginning on account of poor money management and mad life drama. This will be my fifth consecutive year attending since I missed 2007 on account of being unemployed in St. Louis; it will be my fourth year going with Aradia.
This will, however, be my first year going as work exchange—20 hours of my weekend promised to the Heartland Spirit Alliance to help keep the festival running. It will also be my first year as a head of an encampment.
Aradia and I are bringing three friends who’ve never been before, and hosting two more who have attended before but are coming without their usual retinue. I’m going out today, a day before the festival opens officially, to be trained in (and hopefully to begin) my work exchange duties. I’ll also use the opportunity to pick out a camp site for us all.
I can’t begin to describe how excited I am.
Christopher Penczak and Kerr Cuhulain will both be speaking. Seriously, click the image link and check out the list of speakers and performers. Then there’s that whole Lunar Election (9am-9:40 CDT Friday for any of my compatriots who are thinking about making a Lunar Talisman for themselves out there).
So I’ll be back in about eight days with a shit ton of stories.
Have fun here in the blogosphere without me. And if any of my dear readers think they might be at festival, look for the encampment with this tent and flag:
We’ll be camped somewhere around Dava Wood if all goes according to plan. Look for the big guy with the beard and tattoos under his collar bone that match the flag; sun on one shoulder, moon on the other, and a astrological mandala between the shoulder blades.