Category: Festivals

Largest Upper Midwest Pagan Festival opens in 10 days! – Interview

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Sacred Harvest Festival (SHF), located in southern Minnesota near Albert Lea, opens Saturday, August 6th, The last day to register online  and before gate rates is Sunday, July 31st.  I had the chance to interview Bress Nicneven, festival site director and board member of Harmony Tribe , the event’s sponsor.

Why do people continue to return to Sacred Harvest Festival?

SHF has gained a national reputation for quality and timely speakers and musicians. Celia’s video for the song ‘ Symbol’ was filmed at SHF, before the Pentacle Quest  became a household Pagan word. It is known for having a defined theme each year, and presenting profound rituals and speakers that all build on that theme for a complete experience. One of the few festivals that does this each year. In stressful financial times, this festival offers the cheapest per day rates of any festival in the country for the quality of the programming and activities.

It is a really reasonable family vacation for Pagans. It is an upper Midwest tradition, going on 14 years. SHF is really a place for everybody. There is a Kid’s cauldron, operated by parents and volunteers, that keeps kids happy all week. Families get the time and space to worship together as a family. They get time together and also adults have time for individual experiences. It is really strengthening for both families, individuals, and our community relationships. We have a great location in a shady oak grove with easy access from Des Moines, Madison, and the Twin Cities.

What is this year’s theme about?

Forest Family, Roots and Branches Intertwined  is our theme this year. It encompasses the roots of the Tribe itself, the thousands of people who have grown this festival over the years. We come each year to celebrate at this magical grove, and this year we specifically want to connect with the marvelous shady and protective trees there. Trees are an appropriate symbol of how we are also all connected, and essentially like the forest that we camp under. Like the burr oaks, we are still growing, and changing, and each season together we reach out within the festival and our home communities to integrate our spiritual experience back into our foundation, our roots. Continue reading →

Sacred Fire Circle Attendance Up

The Sacred Fire Circle in Paradise, a four day festival in its third year, has 28 people registered and is expecting attendance to go even higher due to the new ‘weekend’ registration option.

The event for adults only takes place in  western Wisconsin and focuses on transformation of self through midnight to dawn drumming, chanting, and trance-work.  “It’s a great environment for personal healing. It’s not uniquely Pagan,” says JRob, who has attended both previous year’s SFC.  ” It taps into something that is at the core of humans, but it’s not for everyone. Not everyone can let go of themselves. Not everyone can deal with the inevitable sleep deprivation. Although just about everyone is probably physically capable of doing it. We’ve had several participants with physical limitations who were able to participate in the sacred fire circle.”

This event is different from many Pagan gatherings.  Attendees do not attend workshops and are expected to fully participate in all aspects.  “The event is co-created, and so everyone divides into four teams to take care of the needs of the event,” says JRob.  His first year he was on the fire team. One of the duties of the fire team was to light the circle in preparation for the night.  This job duty led to one of the more memorable experiences of the event for him.  “It was dark when I entered the circle. So dark that my flashlight couldn’t keep up with the darkness. I went around and lit the many candles on the alters. As I went, each little flame brought the circle to life. I lit the tikis around the edge, and the circle came more to life. I lit ten foot tall tikis around the center, and the circle came more to life. I fed the fire in the center, and our ritual space was fully alive. Witnessing the circle coming alive around me is my most vivid memory of the fire circle.”

Another favorite memory of JRob’s is of the food, “There were two cooks for the event who really are five star chefs. They fed us the most amazing meals.”

Registration includes nine meals.  For those who cannot afford the registration fee, donors who have created a scholarship fund.  Registration closes July 10th and is limited to 50 attendees.  Contact Sacred Fire Circle in Paradise for details.

Editor’s note:  Nels Linde is Co-editor for PNC-Minnesota and one of the organizers of Sacred Fire Circle in Paradise.

Crystal Blanton – National Guest at Sacred Harvest Festival – Interview

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Author Crystal Blanton

I had the opportunity to interview Crystal Blanton about her appearance as featured guest at this years Sacred Harvest Festival presented by Harmony Tribe, inc.  Blanton’s first book, Bridging the Gap, was published in 2010 with Megalithic/ Immanion Press. Her new work, ” Shades of Faith; Minority Voices in Paganism”  is forthcoming. Included at bottom is the content of her main workshop offerings at Sacred Harvest Festival.

What do you hope to offer our community at SHF?

The scope of the work that I do is centered around group dynamics and learning how to navigate some of these dynamics in our community. To help with promoting healthier spiritual experiences for people. I take a lot of that material from being a counselor in my day life.  I take the skill I use in my everyday job and bring them over to our spiritual community. Many spiritual communities have already done this, it is just we haven’t gotten to that place yet in the Pagan community.  I will bring a lot of tools and skills around how to navigate certain group dynamics, how to create more communicative communities, how to navigate conflict and disruptions that can happen in any community dynamic. We’ll cover how to learn and pass on these concepts and tools after the workshops. To create a general sense of optimism in adding these tools that can help to enhance our community at large. That is what I hope to bring to the festival. Continue reading →

PSG Report: Pan’s got some serious Balls

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Pagan Spirit Gathering is known for many things – the fantastic musicians who perform, the variety of workshops, the fulfilling group rituals, and the (in)famous Pan’s Ball.  Pan is so popular at PSG that he doesn’t have just one Ball, he has two.  The other Pan’s Ball is logically named Pan’s Other Ball.  The two Balls have an intertwined history, but are very different in purpose and feel.  Both are held on Friday night, along with separate parties for teens and tweens, and both have a long tradition, but that’s about all they have in common.

Pan's Ball attendee using body stickers to invoke lust

One of the organizers for Pan's Ball shows off her costume for the revel

Pan’s Ball
Pan’s Ball is strictly for those 21 years of age and older.  Pan’s Ball is dismissed by some as a drunken college frat party or an excuse for an orgy.  Organizers say it is a revel, in the sacred sense of the word, and a time to burn off the energy that has built over the past week.   Dancing and drinking are used as a gateway to a state of sensual abandon.  This view of revels, both positive and negative, is nothing new.  The worship of Dionysos, with its accompanying revels, was opposed where ever it was first introduced.  And it was also enthusiastically embraced by a segment of the population.  Usually those who were oppressed by cultural norms and had limited avenues of expression.  In ancient Greece it was women who sought out the Liberator in the wild countryside.  In the modern world, it doesn’t surprise me that Rainbow camp, a group of GLBT campers, are the ones reviving this way of worshiping Dionysos.

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Earth House Midsummer Gather

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The Earth House Midsummer Gather (EHMSG) was last week. This was its 11th year.

This year's Earth House banner art by Peggy McDowell

This year’s EHMSG had 78 people in attendance, 13 of whom were children, and about a fifth of those in attendance were first time attendees. The largest attendance ever was 86 in 2003.

The most common sentiment about the gather was expressed by Keith Vorderbruggen, “I don’t know who said it first, but the Midsummer Gather is like a family reunion without the drama.”

“I love it. It makes me happy. It’s a comfy little festival. It’s like coming home,” said Estelle Daniels, who’s been to every Earth House MSG.

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