PantheaCon

First, let me say that I had a fabulous time at Pantheacon. For those of you who do not know this is the largest indoor gathering of magickal folks in California, maybe in the USA, and possibly even the world. I saw a figure of over 2,200 this year, but I haven't verified that. There are, over the course of 4 days in excess of 400 scheduled events, rituals and performances, all co-ordinated by Glen Turner and her phenomenal staff.  On top of that there were a variety of hospitality suites that presented many wonderful offerings and spaces to meet people. This is an annual gathering, which I had been saying I would get to one day for a while. Finally this year my friend Ari and I made it and this is how it went. 

We arrived Friday afternoon having hit Trader Joe's on the way in to pick up supplies. I had invited some friends over for cheese and wine and we were looking forward to seeing folks. Shortly after we arrived folks started showing up. First there was Chris followed by Dominic, turned out that they knew each other so that was fortuitous. Then I ran down and bumped into Lon and Carrie in the lobby so I sent them up followed by Winter who was would be joined later by Sharon. We has some wine and also some mead not to mention some fine cheeses. And all was going well until we opened the Scotch. I was told that I requested protein which meant I wasn't that drunk, sushi and water was provided and sobriety was regained as the evening wore on. Somewhere in the midst Happydog showed up. Sadly we missed Anaars intro to Feri presentation, it might have been my fault for moving slowly if so sorry HD. Either way we had a good evening cruising around.  

The next day I was up bright and early and Ari joined me forRachel Pollock's tarot presentation. I though Rachel did a great job in showing us a new way to look at and question the tarot, and I was really happy to be there for it. Next up, we had Lon Milo DuQuette discussing the Holy Guardian Angel, as only he can. It was great to hear him agree with other sources on the subject regarding the attainment of such knowledge. After that it was lunch and a break. I had planned on attending Orion Foxwood's presentation on awakening living memory, however I had bumped into Christopher Penzack in the elevator and he seemed like a super “heart energy” kinda guy, so I thought that perhaps I would go see his Ritual of the Green Devil, however that was not to be. I showed up about thirty minutes early and the foyer was a complete crush. I figured I would be having a panic attack before everyone figured out which room they would end up inso I split. I headed upstairs first to my room and then on to the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn hospitality suite Then I bumped into Elton and Vicki who invited me back to the Ordo Templi Orientis hospitality suite. Then back to my suite where I met up with Ari who had gone to chant and dance with Margot Adler. I dithered a while before heading down to the Exorcism by Anaar, Sharon, Thorn, and Morpheus. After that, there was a very pleasant dinner with HD and Cairelle who are hosting The New Orleans Witches' Ball and a friend of theirs, and then we visited Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn hospitality suite before turning in. 

The next morning was breakfast with Winter, a relaxed morning socializing with HD and Cairelle again having bumped into them at the Feri Haven hospitality suite. We made or rounds of the various suites before wandered down the hall to find winter in the Stone City suite, we hung for a bit and then I headed back to my room only to be texted by Ari that she had seats for us at Lon's performance, so off I headed. We had a great time, many folk laughed and cried as you do when Lon sings his songs. By the time we got out it was too late to make mass so I offered another round of cheese and wine to the gang before Sharon, Winter and Caith had to hit the stage. We hung out and chilled before they had to run off for a sound check. We hung out with Dom briefly before heading down for a final round of sustenance before the show. Sadly when we got there the sound guy was having a moment, or as HD put it "who apparently was unable to achieve personal fecal cohesion*" and that was my last shindig of the event.  

Breakfast was spread out through Lon, HD and  Cairelle before finding that our car had been hit in the parking lot and heading home.  

Returning home I got to read about an event that I had heard mentioned but had chosen not to participate in. It appeared at first as if this was the only thing that had occurred at PantheaCon, slowly over the next couple of days the online community has been painting a bigger picture of this gathering. Yes there was sadness at this gathering but the issue is complexed enough that I'm not going to wade into it half educated as I am. I can see aspects of both sides that make sense to me. Should you care to read about it, you could start here with a continuation here. I regard this as a sacred struggle and one that will make us stronger as a community.