HexFest 2018

I just got home from HexFest in New Orleans for the second time.  Because I had even more significant and meaningful experiences, some deepening of relationships, and made new friends, it's made me contemplative.

I'll be 53 in about a month, and I'm counting down the next 10 years to retirement. Magically not much has changed, but Samhain last year the gods gave me a clear message that after I've "graduated" the current students I'm not under any obligation to them to teach one-on-one training types of stuff anymore.

So now what?  What's next for me? I'm not going to just veg out on the couch, after all.  I feel like this is my opportunity to let my inner mad scientist out and get back to experimenting with energy and magical techniques.  Oh, and herbs!  I finally get to start making potions and conquering my fear of green growing things and stop killing houseplants!

But back to HexFest - I'm not going to apologize for rambling.  :)

Big thanks to Hoodoo Sen Moise, for these words:  "Consistency Builds Power".  It made me think about my own practice.  And I didn't get the exact wording written down, but he also said "If you're not at least a little afraid of the spirits or deities you're working with, you're not acknowledging their full power. And if you're crippling their power how are they going to make effective change in your life?"

Huge thanks to Lady Rhea Rivera for her talk on Spiritual Baths, or as I like to call it "spiritual hygiene".  She said words I've been saying for years - we brush our teeth, wash our hair, and keeping your spirit "clean" is just as important for health and happiness.  (Side note, I'm going to try and grow Hyssop)

Leanna Marrama and Sandra Mariah Wright did two talks that I saw, Dream Interpretation and (I forget the title) tea leaf reading.  There were things about lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis I hadn't heard before, but the tea leaf workshop was super fun.  Not only did they tell us how you do it, they had slides of cups of tea leaves for us to look at.  Seeing half the room getting the same things from the tea leaves, including the psychic impressions, was really pretty cool.

Judika Illes did a talk on "Defense Against the Dark Arts", which I wrote in my notes as "Defense Against Malicious Magic" and abbreviated as DAMM.  Because Dayum, that was a great session. I took four pages of notes, there was so much information.  A whole big section of conversation on the Evil Eye (which I kept writing as Malocchio) and how to guard against it.  Think things that will hurt an eyeball, so sharp pointy talismans and a talisman of Medusa (which I'm totally going to get just because it would be super cool to have).

In addition to the great sessions, the good food, the plentiful alcohol, I made new friends.  I also got to see my friend Tracey and meet her partner Sarah, which was super awesome.

And there was drama, at HexFest too.  Some idiots pushed letters under many of the hotel room doors  Friday night telling us some Christian stuff about how we're all evil, and then there were protesters outside on Saturday condemning us (until it rained and then they left). Most of us were in workshops/lectures and didn't know the protest was happening, so it was kind of silly.  Those letters though, some people were pretty disturbed, some were afraid of physical repercussions, and most of us were feeling a mix of things including anger.  Not so much at the content of the letters, but because having that shoved under your hotel room door is like having it invade your personal, private space.  I didn't get a letter, but others around me did and I couldn't help but feel for a few seconds that their names were on some list. Probably not what really happened, but it was an unnerving feeling just the same. Even folks who weren't "freaked out" about the letters are now thinking about when they go next time, will they stay in that hotel or stay somewhere else?  Will we be physically safe walking down the street away from the hotel?  I'm gay, and in my youth was chased by "gay bashers" walking home from the club.  A small part of me is wondering if that sort of thing will start happening in the New Orleans French Quarter now.  Probably not, but that thought is out there and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

But aside from that, back to the happier stuff.  New friends are awesome, new spiritual directions are awesome.  While sitting in the hotel lobby at 2am with my new friends in New Orleans, chatting about magic and laughing together, I realized that here at home I'm not having the community experience I want to have.  I don't enjoy going out to public places with folks, because it feels like we can't let our hair down and really talk about things.  So I need to start figuring out what to do to have the experiences I really want.  Thanks HexFest, for sparking entirely new trains of thought.  I can't wait til next year  :)