I liked the festival's ideas and activities, but there were some problems with the details, which I will cover later. I especially liked the main ritual on Saturday, the second day, which involved groups walking through the woods from station to station. At each station, there was a Celtic god-form who had an activity to do, some knowledge to share, and a small branch of wood from the tree or bush associated with that god-form. The only problem with this setup was that some stations took about 15 minutes, and afterward you would wait about 25 minutes while other, longer stations finished. It was pretty cold in the woods, and the candles that illuminated the paths went out about three-quarters of the way through. My advice to someone attending next year would be to dress warmly and bring an emergency flashlight, because although the in-between time was hard, it was worth it to see the stations.
The festival started out at about 7 p.m. on Friday. After registering, each person was assigned a clan (groups arriving together were split up) and a time to do two hours of service. Later on, the opening ritual occurred. This ritual, like some of the others, seemed different to me from what I have attended. I have sometimes attended the open rituals that the Sylvan Grove puts on, and those rituals are usually very laid-back and accepting. The opening ritual, to me, had a very aggressive tone to it, with a lot of remarks like, "You must…" or "You cannot turn back," and I felt somewhat uncomfortable. I was especially uncomfortable since I was with a friend who had never been to a ritual before, and I didn't want her to get a bad first impression of paganism. Besides the fact that it was a little too in-your-face, I thought it was very elaborate and detailed. I enjoyed the theatrical tone of that ritual. After the opening ritual, we all went to dinner, which consisted of meat and vegetable pastries that I thought were really good.
Next, we went to our cabins. The cabins were rooms with four bunk beds and a heater. I thought they were very nice, especially after we put up some tapestries. There was free time after dinner, and there was an area where some little booths selling things were put up in the dining hall. We went to bed pretty soon after dinner.
The next day, Saturday, started off with a filling breakfast. Next, at around 10, our clans met. I was in the Oak Clan, whose focus god-form was Lugh. We spent an hour or two learning about Lugh and making a natural offering out of twigs, leaves, branches and a few berries we found outside. After that we had lunch, which was baked potatoes and was very good.
After lunch, my friend and I did our service hours in the kitchen washing dishes. We worked for about an hour and a half, and then the staff let us take a break to dance in the Danse Macabre. In the Danse Macabre, in an effort to trick evil spirits into leaving, we donned rags over our faces and danced around the camp. Then, at the end, the rags were taken off and burned, and the spirits stayed with them.
About halfway through the Danse Macabre, I left with my friend to explore the campsite. We were done dancing, but we didn't want to go back to the kitchen until we had to, because there was someone on kitchen duty with us who kept yelling at my friend. He would say one thing, we would do it, and then he would tell us that we did it wrong. We thought we would come back when the Danse Macabre was over, but we lost track of time and got back a bit late. When we got back, we got a lot of shit about how hard it was for the people to finish up during that half-hour we were gone, but I don't think that we were getting a lot done when we were there the first time. We finished our work and went back to the cabin. It was free time until 5 p.m.
At 5, we went back to our clans at the firepit. There the god-forms Cu'Chulain and Taliesin talked and acted, and then we went in our clans to the forest. There we began our circuit of the seven stations.
We started with Keridwen, who seemed like a very classical witch, with black hat and cackling aplenty. She told a story about her magickal potion and gave us each two drinks, the second sweeter than the first. I liked that station a lot, because I thought it was well-done. Next, we went to Herne and his consort, who talked about nature and sexuality. They had two parts to their area: an outer sactum and an inner sactum. I will not say more about this part, because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't gone to the festival before.
After that, we visited Danu. She had a nice, cozy place, and it definitely helped warm me up. Next was the station that was delaying all the other groups. It was a long but very cool station. First, Taliesin told our group a story about a woodcutter's choices in reincarnation. Next, we each chose a path: far, center, or near. I chose the far path, so I do not know what went on down the center or near paths.
On the far path, I met Morrigan and Dagda. It was an intense station, but I felt awkward because I didn't really know what to say in response to their questions. I thought that there was a specific answer that they wanted, but I didn't know what it was. Despite the fact that I didn't know how to respond, I thought the station was really cool.
After that we went to the god of the underworld, Arawn. I didn't like his station as much as some of the others, but I think that was partly because of the long wait afterward. The station was about the dead, and we got to send messages to our dead friends or relatives.
After that was Epona, whose station was my favorite. She was the goddess of dreams and nightmares, of horses and of night. The actress, Maren Ulberg, did a wonderful job, and I especially liked the oat cakes she gave out.
Last of all we met Lugh, and I assume the other clans met their own god-forms. I liked Lugh's station. He told us about what he symbolizes, and we tied together our collection of branches. Then we proceeded down to the fire.
At the fire, the seven clans all gave their bunches of sticks to the fire, and we lit candles for our dead. We then went to the dumb supper. The dumb supper was a meal eaten in silence in honor of the dead. I thought Friday's dinner was better, but it was great to get food after five hours in the woods. At midnight, we went back to out cabins and slept.
The next day there was a closing circle. I liked the closing circle better than the opening circle, because it was more laid-back. After that, we cleaned up and all went home.
Although the festival had some problems in the details, I had a good time and recommend it to anyone who is interested. It was quite a festival, even if the main ritual did run on for seven hours, and I liked it.
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