Tuesday, February 19, 2013

PCon Recap

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program for a PCon recap.

This will probably be one of many recaps that take place (not necessarily all on here) as I work through all that took place over the weekend.

This year was my first ever PantheaCon, and it will not be my last - I have already committed myself to attending next year.  This con did so much for me in so many different ways that I may find it hard to explain adequately all.

Firstly, I'll start with taking note of some practicalities that I want to recall for next year.

  1. Arrive Thursday night.  We drove down on the Friday and arrived after the Con had officially started and I found myself feeling rather discombobulated with registering, getting my bearings, checking into our hotel off site etc that we called it an early night and missed out on an awesome ritual that night.
  2. If at all possibly, stay at the Doubletree.  While we were not disappointed with where we were staying, we have a nice suite with the ability to cook our own meals, we definitely came to see the advantage of being able to duck back up to ones room when required instead of having to strategically plan return trips around desired schedules.
  3. Take a spiritual first aid kit.  We became abundantly aware of how important it can be to take a kit of things that would enable one to better ground, cleanse and center oneself after certain events of the days.  We did have an altar set up in our room which was an inspired idea, but other items could definitely be included.
  4. Take the day after con off.  I'm sitting at work right now feeling drained and a little out of sync with the non-con world (I also appear to have caught some version of the con crud too) and I can see the benefits of taking the day after off to help re-acclimate to the world before diving back in.
So what was it about PCon that was so great.  We aside from the wonderful experience of being with some dear friends and getting to bond and know each other better I walked away from the weekend feeling the beginnings of transformation.  

I headed there with a feeling that something was going to change, there was going to be a shift in my being that took place, good or bad, and I wasn't disappointed.  I went with the flow, took myself where my being called (for the most part) and was rewarded with an experience that wasn't overwhelming and left plenty to explore.  That isn't to say that the experience was all sunshine and roses, but thankfully there was only  one event that left me unhappy with how things were handled.  

What did I attend:

  1. Love Your Demons, Love Your Self: a Conversation and Working with T. Thorn Coyle & Lon Milo Duquette.  An inspiring and interesting discourse that also provided the trigger for the poem I posted on Friday.
  2. Wendy Rule Concert - I was a little bummed about this one.  I enjoy Wendy's music but I only stayed for 2 songs, somewhere in that audience was an energy suck so I just couldn't bring myself to sit through any more.
  3. The Ole Time Good Spell Feri Pagan Tent Revival with Dustbunny Feri Initiates & more.  Loved this. So much energy, so much fun and an all around good time.  Great way to start the day (yes, it was my days start at 3:30pm because I had no sleep the night before).
  4. The Heart is our Nation: A Morrigan Devotional with Cathubodua, Coyle & Ravenna.  This was amazing.  A truly moving ritual that looked with and then brought you together as a community in a way I've never experienced before.
  5. Hekate's Path - Dark Moon Ritual and Shadow Practice with Timotha Doane.  I think the less said about this one the better.  From what I witnessed some people got something from it, for me it was not handled well.
  6. Manifestation: The Four Powers of the Sphinx with T. Thorn Coyle.  Amazing.  The meditation that took place during this was such a powerful and moving experience I can't adequately describe it on here.  Needless to say I had a good cleansing cry at the end and felt much better about my day and the beginnings of transformation take root.
  7. Tarot: Everything You Know is Wrong! with Thalassa - what a hoot, I loved it.  It was Tarot: The stand-up show and it was a great break after such an emotional experience in the period before.
  8. Druid Ritual with Danse Macabre by House of Danu.  Torn on this one, I loved the parade and making our banners and the chanting and drumming at the end was nice, but the meditation couldn't be heard and aspects felt a little preachy to me.
  9. Dance Elemental with DevaGnosis - this was energizing and freeing and I loved being able to dance my arse off with my fellow con'ers :)
And that was it - I paced myself, I missed things I wanted to do (but not for being turned away so I'm happy with that) but what I did I did for a reason and it served me well.  Looking forward to next year :)