|
|  | 
Article Specs
Article ID: 10958
VoxAcct: 255319
Section: festivals
Age Group: Adult
Days Up: 1,476
Times Read: 5,466
RSS Views: 89,214
|
St. Louis Pagan Picnic 2006
Author: Mickie Mueller
Posted: July 16th. 2006
Times Viewed: 5,466
Sponsored by: Yarrow Coven
Location: Tower Grove Park, St. Louis Missouri
Event Date(s): June 10-11 2006
Attendance: 1500
As we drove into Tower Grove Park on June 10 to set up for the 14 annual St. Louis Pagan Picnic, we were greeted by the smiling faces from the Pagan community, all pitching their easy- up tents and setting up their wares. The oldies station we were listening began to play “Venus” as if right on cue. “The Goddess on the mountaintop, was burning like a silver flame...” strained from the car radio as we passed by her very followers preparing for a day of fellowship and celebration.
The event was organized by Yarrow Coven, one of the areas most active and respected covens. Pagan Picnic has always been offered to the community as a free event, so it makes it a perfect place for locals to gather and bring the kids. Anyone interested in next years Pagan Picnic check out the website at www.paganpicnic.org for more info. Attending was a wonderful variety of vendors, clothing, magical tools, minerals, books, and just about everything you might need to stock your magical cabinets and trunks were available. Many of the merchants had handmade items of good quality and there were of course a good quantity of commercially produced items as well. A great many of the vendors offered a small tumbled stone as a gift to youngsters shopping, much to the delight of my 7 year old son. While many of the booths were local businesses, there was also a great variety of vendors from other states as well.
I was there in vendor row with my husband and son helping me set up my artwork and a couple of cases of The Well Worn Path divination deck. I was delighted to be in the company of the panel of area authors, all great additions to our proud local community. Ellen Dugan “The Garden Witch” was right next to me, her table heavily laden with her lovely books on topics ranging from magical gardening, to cats, to natural magic and more. Mike Nichols was there with his scholarly and inspired book “The Witches Sabbats” an exploration into the Wheel of the Year. W. Lyon Martin, author and illustrator of the acclaimed children's book “An Ordinary Girl, A Magical Child” and M.R. Sellars, author of The Rowan Gant Investigations, a series of witchy mystery and suspense novels chatted at one table. Joyce and River Higgenbotham presented their books on the in depth spiritual exploration of Paganism. Susabelle Kelmer offered up her steamy romance novels as well as her erotica for plus (Goddess) sized women written under pen-name Clarissa Rounds.
All of these authors presented workshops as well, an opportunity to share knowledge and fellowship with the St. Louis Pagan community. There were also a great number of other workshop presenters from the St. Louis community, so many wonderful workshops and lectures, you could not attend them all. Norse Runes, Handfastings, Ritual Dance, and Requiems and Memorials were only a few of the many topics covered by the many wise and devoted members of the local community. The workshop areas were cleverly divided up in the shape of a pentagram with areas for Earth Air Fire and Water, with corresponding colored flags to mark the areas so that they were very easy to find and attend the lecture of your choice.
As we sat there in the hot St. Louis summer sun, strains of music and jingling of belly dancers wafted over from the Bardic Circle. The breezy dance ensembles keeping things cool included Aalim Belly Dance, Oasis Dance, and St. Louis Dances of Universal Peace. The rhythms of musical acts that kept everyone happy included Breathe, Scott Helland, Allaudin Ottenger, Skinny White Chick, Dean Duckels, Fattback, and Gorden Field. They all kept the music going and added their heartbeats to the atmosphere of the Pagan Picnic.
The Pagan culture has so much to offer the area -- I and several other artists displayed our craft and in addition this year's program colorful cover was designed by artist Genevieve Esson. The painting featured a surreal and dreamlike green Goddess, horses, and other wild life and gave a joyous appearance to the booklet. The program itself was inspired, not only useful by containing event times and other r information, but also containing Pagan parables and essays about the picnics theme “Coming of Age.” The T-shirt art for this year's event was masterfully penned by seasoned artist Sandy Wright. Inspired by the theme she created a wise looking figure seated upon a throne surrounded by leaves and draped in rich ornamental fabric. The style beautifully reflected the art nouveau style pavilions and bridges that pepper Tower Grove Park amongst its ancient towering trees.
The food offerings at the festival this year were exceptional. For the carnivores it’s not Pagan Picnic unless you get a Sweet Meat stick, cleverly marketed as “The Best 12 Inches in the Midwest!” Ozark Avalon, Missouri’s Pagan Church offered an excellent stir fry for the vegetarians, and the classic faire of burgers, Bratwurst and such were delicious and reasonably priced offered by local the Sci-Fi Fantasy convention folks from Show-Me-Con. There were even empanatas offered in silver chaffing dishes. What more could you want?
The St. Louis Pagan community may be a lot of city dwellers, but they are still one with nature as no one seemed to let the varied weather during the picnic thwart their plans or community spirit. They say if you don’t like the weather in Missouri, just wait a minute... that was an underlying theme for the St. Louis Pagan Picnic this year. Saturday was blazing hot, especially under the hot white vendor canopies. After a storm Saturday night folks were wringing out their displays Sunday morning, but most were no worse for the wear. It turned out to be much cooler day than the previous, but the weather Gods chose not to drench us, so all were happy. Sunday at noon, we were delighted by the children's parade headed up by Joya, the fabulous 15 piece percussion ensemble and any dreary thoughts due to the weather were transformed! Pagan Picnic also offered a wonderful area called Kidzone, with workshops geared just for the little witchlings where they could create crafts, noisemakers, enjoy puppet shows and even learn a little bit about the Pagan spiritual path!
One thing I noticed was the lack of invasion by the local church groups or individuals, and I must say it was refreshing. I have seen in years past everything from weird little cryptic notes tucked under merchandise apparently left by one of Johova’s ghost writers, to a large congregation from a local church in matching t-shirts no less, ready to march right through in protest. That year the interlopers were of course squelched immediately by security. But it was really pleasant not to have any that this year, at least if we did have it, I totally missed it! I think we had some Scientologist handing out brochures, but not in a pushy way. I did notice a nearby church as we drove by the park had a craft bazaar set up in front, so perhaps they have finally figured if they can’t beat ‘em, join em’. Or, just maybe, could St. Louis be getting used to the Pagan Community, could we finally be accepted? Well, I’ll need to see a couple more years of an invasion free Pagan Picnics, but I am hopeful!
On Sunday, the Pagan community recognized several people in an Eldering ceremony presented by Priestess Charlynn, these were all people who were nominated for various reasons for their contributions as community leaders. Among the honored were Rev. Ron Berry, Nona, Karen D., Lady Hawke, Avian, Zoe, Boss, Don Wildgrube, Cheryl, and Janet Schmidt. Our community is very eclectic here in the midwest, we have such a variety of covens and solitaries here that it was important to take some time during the picnic to recognize local people who have offered their services so much to the Pagan community as a whole through the years.
There were many opportunities for outreach for the whole St. Louis area at the picnic this year, events like the Red Cross blood drive. It has been a long-standing tradition to have a canned food drive every year at the picnic, which really contributes to the local food pantry Operation Food Search during the summer months which is a time when most food pantries get forgotten. There was also a charity auction and raffle which had many donations from local Pagan businesses and crafts people. The charities to benefit from these events included Our Little Haven, helping abused and neglected children, Clowder House Foundation a local no-kill feline facility, and The Rainbow Ranch Project a collective that deals with many aspects of animal rescue, adoption and animal assisted therapy. In addition to helping these organizations, local Pagans also had the opportunity to donate pet supplies or adopt a pet from groups like Purebred Dog rescue of St. Louis, or Metro Animal Resource Services Inc. Also appearing was Mutts-n-Stuff a rescue organization specializing in educating and dispelling discrimination against the Pit Bull breed.
By the time festival vendors and attendees were preparing to depart majestic Tower Grove Park later Sunday afternoon, they may have noticed a glow on the faces of others. Was it from the heat on Saturday, perhaps, or maybe something deeper. Everyone shared smiles and “Blessed Be’s” for the people they passed. The energy surrounding the park may have been a mix of the residual energy raised during two days of ritual, dancing, singing and merriment, and reunion with old friends. I sensed something even more, however. Mixed in there with everything else, was a sense of connection with others of like mind, a sense of real community, strength of spirit. Perhaps our local community of really is “Coming of Age.”
Footnotes:
Pagan Picnic http://www.paganpicnic.org
Yarrow Coven http://www.yarrowcoven.org
Ellen Dugan http://www.geocities.com/edugan_gardenwitch/
M.R. Sellars http://www.mrsellars.com
W. Lyon Martin http://magicalchild.handcraftedpagan.com/
Mike Nichols http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7280
ABOUT...
Mickie Mueller
Location: O'Fallon, Missouri
Website: http://www.mickiemuellerart.com
Bio: Mickie Mueller follows an earth-based spiritual path, and is an ordained minister with ULC. She is a Reiki Master/Teacher in the Usui Shiki Royoho Tradition. Mickie is also a proud member of Greenwood Circle, a women’s Natural Magic circle in the St. Louis area, and M.A.F.I.A. a group of Midwest fantasy/sci. fi. artists. She is the illustrator of The Well Worn Path divination kit created by authors Raven Grimassi and Stephanie Taylor. Mickie’s spiritual artwork has appeared internationally on magazine covers and can be seen on her online art gallerys.
Other Articles: Mickie Mueller has posted 1 additional articles- View them?
Other Listings: To view ALL of my listings: Click HERE
Email Mickie Mueller... (No, I have NOT opted to receive Pagan Invites! Please do NOT send me anonymous invites to groups, sales and events.)
|
|
Web Site Content (including: text - graphics - html - look & feel)
Copyright 1997-2010 The Witches' Voice Inc. All rights reserved
Note: Authors & Artists retain the copyright for their work(s) on this website.
Unauthorized reproduction without prior permission is a violation of copyright laws.
Website structure, evolution and php coding by Fritz Jung on a Macintosh G5.
Any and all personal political opinions expressed in the public listing sections (including, but not restricted to, personals, events, groups, shops, Wren’s Nest, etc.) are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinion of The Witches’ Voice, Inc. TWV is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization.
Sponsorship: Visit the Witches' Voice Sponsor Page for info on how you
can help support this Community Resource. Donations ARE Tax Deductible.
The Witches' Voice carries a 501(c)(3) certificate and a Federal Tax ID.
Mail Us: The Witches' Voice Inc., P.O. Box 341018, Tampa, Florida 33694-1018 U.S.A.
| |
Witches, Pagans
of The World
|
Current Topic
Editorial Guide
NOTE: The essay on this page contains the writings and opinions of the listed author(s) and is not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Witches' Voice inc.
The Witches' Voice does not verify or attest to the historical accuracy contained in the content of this essay.
All WitchVox essays contain a valid email address, feel free to send your comments, thoughts or concerns directly to the listed author(s).
|
|
