Wednesday, 7/18/18
I’m now in Austin, TX, with Belladona, after a great week at Starwood. I flew here on Monday the 16th, and we’re enjoying a week of personal time together before we take off next Tuesday for a month in Guatemala. I’ve been too busy traveling and dealing with several extremely intense crises to keep up with my journaling every day, so here’s some catching up…
Starwood was wonderful as always—about 700 people this year. I did two major presentations on “Awakening Into Quantum Consciousness,” and two panels—on the Grey School of Wizardry and “Trumpocalypse.” The main event was the great Bonfire Saturday night, after the concert. An elaborate fire-lighting ceremony with torches and fire-dancers ignited the two-story house-sized fire, which erupted with fireworks as everyone ran (or walked) around it in a wild rumpus of laughing, shouting, and dancing to the bank of drummers.
It is my custom and joy at outdoor Pagan gatherings to spend the evenings wandering from campfire to campfire. When I come into the circle of firelight, all in my robes, floppy pointy hat, and lighted staff, I am always welcomed with a pipe, a horn of mead, and a bowl of stew. We sit around sharing stories, songs, and conversation, and then I move on. Isaac Bonewits’ song, “The Wizard” (http://www.witchvox.com/music/bardic/dt_bc.html?id=117) could have been written for me…
One of my dear Starwood friends is a Wizard named Wil Strickland, who looks so much like me that people are constantly mistaking him for me. He has his little wizard’s gazebo set up at “The Slacker’s Den” campsite, with his throne and a circle of seats, where he holds court to share wisdom and conversation. Liz and the other folks there always make lotsa food for night wanderers, and it’s one of my favorite places to hang out.
Starwood Fashions: It was up to 110 degrees at Wisteria, and the event was clothing-optional. So fashions ranged from nothing at all to quite flamboyant. Here are a few of the most popular styles in evidence:
Women: Frilly bras & panties only; sexy lingerie with no underwear; top-free or completely naked, often with lotsa jewelry (a la Deja Thoris); belly-dance outfits; Faerie costumes (with wings—especially little girls); barbarian or jungle girl (leather and fur bikinis, beads, feathers); creative and imaginative fetish wear…
Everyone: Sarongs (most common outfit for both men and women); elaborate tattoos; Starwood T-shirts; beautiful robes, ritual regalia, pointy hats (more at night, when it cooled off a bit)…
Sunday was for breaking down and packing up, and most of the guests left. The hard core of staff and a few speakers gathered in the evening near the still-smoking remains of the bonfire for a pot-luck feast of leftovers from everyone’s campsites. A conversation ensued among some guys about the “consent protocols” that have become a significant issue of late (I had people all week asking my permission for hugs!). A lovely woman I’ve known there for many years but never hooked up with walked in on the conversation as it turned to the whole issue of flirting, courtship and seduction—traditionally non-verbal arts which seem to be getting lost in the current culture.
While everyone stood around comparing notes on proper and acceptable verbal agreements, negotiations, and forms of consent, the Lady and I looked each other up and down, smiled, raised single eyebrows suggestively, flicked our eyes, nodded, and left the circle hand-in-hand for a mutually delightful evening. All with barely a word being spoken. And no one else had any idea what had just happened. Decades ago, in the ‘90s, Morning Glory and Talyn used to do very popular workshops on “flirting and courtship rites for Pagans,” and I think we need to revive something like that for our current community, who often seem pretty clueless…