We didn’t want to leave any Samhain altars out, so consider this a bonus. The top altar is from an area Blue Star coven. The ones in the slideshow below are from an extremely talented and diverse group in a livejournal community.
Category: Festivals
Festival Virgins Find Community
Below are interviews of two new attendees to Sacred Harvest Festival. What they both found on arrival was that unique sense of community created by our experienced Minnesota festivants. Zach attended as a practicing Lutheran, Rachael as a dedicated Gardnerian student.
Click to listen to Zach’s interview.
Zach, – Festival Virgin, Practicing Lutheran
I identify my self as a Lutheran. I teach Sunday school and do a lot of volunteer work there. I don’t make it every Sunday, but I try to be active.
This is all completely new to you?
Well it kind of started out with me asking a friend of mine about it, I asked him what he does for his religion. I’m kind of a religious nerd I guess. I have gone to Native American reservations, gone into Islamic Mosques, and talked to people. I just like to gain perspective I guess. I was curious to begin with and when invited to attend, I said , “Sure, sign me up!”. I’ll see what it is all about.
What has your experience been like?
I was a tiler for The Hunt last night. That was really awesome to see the breakdown of how it went. I have never really done a ritual like that before, never one that was that in-depth for people. A friend was a hunter, and so it was fascinating to see the three days fasting and the change from then to today. I don’t know if I can feel the ‘energy’ and stuff that people talk about, but I could definitely tell that spiritually there was a lot going on. Continue reading
Mendota Dakota Pow Wow–Good for the Soul
Photos and Story by Susu Jeffrey
Traditional dancer with fan and shawl
The Mendota Dakota Community celebrated their 11th Annual Welcome Home Traditional Pow Wow over the September 10th weekend in the field of St. Peter’s Church on the Mississippi bluff. The sound was the throbbing heartbeat drum with generators in the background, the ambiance—regalia and fry bread (1st batch ran out before 3:30 Saturday). The weather was perfect. These are 21st century Indian people; they know how to read treaties.
Pow Wows are joyous extended-family, cultural
gatherings with a lot of work and a lot of sitting
gatherings with a lot of work and a lot of sitting
To dance is to pray, to pray is to heal, to heal is to give, to give is to live, to live is to dance. "Why We Dance" by MariJo Moore
around visiting. Once a year-after-year you get to see the kids grow up, see the new babies and absorb hours outdoors with hundreds of dancing spirits.
Fancy shawl, traditional dancers and a little girl in her jingle dress
(Please note: the photographs were taken with respectful permission only during the Saturday 1 PM, Grand Entry.)
Sacred Fire Circle – Icing on your Spiritual Cake
I attended the Sacred Fire Circle [SFC] this past Labor day weekend sponsored by Circle Sanctuary. This event takes place near Mount Horeb, just outside of Madison, Wi. Sacred Fire Circles have developed as individual events, each with it’s own character over the past fifteen years. Mainly building on the creative impulse and vision of Jeff Magnus McBride and Abigail Spinner McBride, these events are emerging all over the country and world. While total participation is relatively small [this event had nearly 60 attend], the impact on those involved is large. Many of your favorite songs and chants likely come from Abby Spinner and were written for use in Sacred Fire Circles. Below are interviews from eight participants.
SHF Series – Came a Lutheran, Left a Pagan
Eric Newes works on his project in a workshop led by Judy Olson (right)
Not all interviews go as you expect them to go. This interview, with Eric Newes, was supposed to be about the perspective of the Sacred Harvest Festival from someone who was attending their very first Pagan festival. Yet, by the time I had asked a few opening questions, I realized this interview was about something far different – it was about the powerful, transformative nature of festivals when a person is ready and open to the experience. It’s about how Eric came to the Sacred Harvest Festival as a (nominal) Lutheran, but left as a Pagan.
Below is a partial transcript of the ten minute interview I conducted with Eric at the Sacred Harvest Festival. At the end is the actual audio interview and I urge you to listen to it. It is fascinating to hear about his conversion from Lutheran to Pagan during the course of the festival, especially when he talks about the life changing ritual in the sweat lodge.
Pagan Newswire Collective - Minnesota Bureau 