branches up, roots down

I spent the weekend at the San Jose Doubletree Hotel with a couple thousand Pagans, going to workshops/rituals, meandering through the giant market concourse, visiting with old and new friends, and moderating a panel on psychotherapy and Paganism. Along with my fellow members of Fool’s Journey , I set up the Pagan Alliance suite as a place for restorative relaxation, complete with rosewater scented footbaths, feet and hand scrubs, spritzers of all kinds, relaxing teas, and cucumber slices for the eyes. As a child, my mother provided my sisters and I with a creatively stocked costume box. One of my sisters consistently dressed up a princess, the other as a cowgirl. My favorite items were a red Navaho skirt with rose trim, an embroidered Mexican blouse, and a golden paisley scarf, which I tied around my head. Yep, that’s right, I loved to pretend I was a gypsy. Later, as part of the Woodstock Nation, these kinds of costumes became my daily attire. My closet at age 21 close...

  On Saturday, I had a benefit at my house for the restorative retreat, A Fool’s Journey, that I’m part of putting on at fall equinox.   We raised seed money and   money by turning my house into a Divination Bordello.   As it turns out, my house LOVES being a Divination Bordello!   Every room and cranny comfortably held a couple of people intensely engaged in opening up to the divine. I could almost hear the house purring.   Our customers trooped up the long front stairs and were offered choices; tarot, dreamwork, aura reading, psychic consultation, reiki,   and prophecy board.    Julian, a talented twelve year old , offered readings from a deck of cards he had made himself.   Between reading for others, I got a reading from him, pulling three cards – Phoenix, lake, and mist – which assured me that I could rise from some challenges I have at the moment if I stay calm, look deep, and stop trying to see into the future. ...

    I’m sitting in one of those hotels for people who are on business trips of over a week – you know, the ones with small kitchens, that are more like truncated apartments?   I’m here because the hotel that hosts the Pagan conference Pantheacon  sold out months ago.   Both hotels are in San Jose, located amidst several office parks. Most of the offices have emptied since we were here last year, with almost every one sporting a “for lease” sign.     Things are so desperate that the lonely Denny's is offering a big discount for customers with a Pantheacon badge.  It has the feel of a place that has just become a ghost town, with no hope of coming back to life for quite a spell.   But there is life at these hotels, both full of all manner of folks interested in places between worlds, comfortable with working with spirits and all that is not visible to the naked eye.   It’s always been a very kooky thing, this conference of Pagans in a corporate hotel, but this year,...

The fruit hang heavy on the old plum tree in the back yard. Tomorrow morning I will pick a bucketful to share. I’ll be spending the weekend in Sonoma with friends, planning the restorative we are offering at fall equinox – A Fool’s Journey. Tomorrow is Lammas, a cross-quarter marker in the turning of the seasons that Witches and Pagans hold sacred. A year ago I was grieving an old friend’s death and feeling the harbingers of the increasing dark. This year Lammas finds me harvesting fruit, celebrating good work done, and tending the planting for a further harvest. Just this week, a project/revolution I envisioned well over a year ago was finally fully manifested. The Reclaiming web page now has in it’s resource section a huge list of blogs and webpages. Furthermore, there is even a widget we can add to our blogs that streams in new entries. Taking this juicy success, along with my plums, to the retreat this weekend is satisfying beyond words. I am hopeful I can susta...