Spring Conference 2009 Review

Written by bee Saturday, 14 August 2010 16:59

Dear All,

A 'short' report of the Barry Conference for those of you who couldn't be there with us.

Kit and I arrived on Saturday in glorious sunshine at the Barry Sports and Social Club, in one piece and good time due to Kit's outstanding navigation. People have often told me that Barry Island was a dump, there could be nothing further from the truth, it is charming little town with pretty Victorian architecture that in places rivals Bath.

We met with old friends and made new, as always the pagan community is friendly and welcoming, it was no different this time. The Barry Sports and Social club is brilliant with good facilities and very friendly staff, they could not do enough for us. Refreshments were plenty and for once there were tea and coffee for those that have to drive. They also had lovely sandwiches and rolls, baked potatoes with a variety of fillings and some meat for those of us that like it. That meant we did not have to miss anything whilst going in search of food. It was amazing how accepting the local people we met were, they didn't blink an eye when they saw us and when we spoke to them were polite and courteous (some of them quite handsome).

The start and finishing rituals were held by the ShadowLight Coven and were perfect. I can't say enough about these three young pagans, they brought everyone together and set the mood for the day with reverence and humour. The priestess was later kind enough to write down the chant for me that we used, it was lovely and very uplifting. I especially liked that the words were spoken in both English and Welsh, Welsh is a language that lends itself so well to magic and ritual, as if it was born to it. We all tried our best to say 'bendigedig' which is Welsh for blessed be.

I had never been to the conference before and the idea of sitting in a room for hours listening to other people speak was a little daunting, especially on such a lovely day. But never fear, the speakers were so interesting with such a great variety of topics that there was not ime for boredom. Susan Raven started us off on Rudolf Steiner, a name I had not come across before, so I learnt something new straight away.

Kim Huggens was brilliant, given two talks on topics I am very interested in: Egyptian love magic and the court cards of tarot. Certainly one phrase will stick with me for a long time to come (sorry Kim),'oxdung and horsedung on the penis to relieve impotence'. It made one think, and not about pleasant things, yuk! I wish you good luck with your PHD.

Pete Nash was also a real enlightenment on spell work, especially the ethics of certain spells, he answered some pertinent questions after the talk and later took the time to give me some advice on a personal matter that had worried me for a long time. I came away from his talk with a lot to think about.

For me, the highlight of this conference was the fact that the people giving the talks were longtime practitioners that really know their subject well and are incredibly enthusiastic in disseminating their knowledge. Thank you all so much for your time.

We had the whole room surrounded by stalls with goodies from leatherwork to staffs and a huge book stall to my delight. I was impressed that it wasn't the usual tat that we get at other events. The original leatherwork and the incredible artwork on the staffs was awesome to behold. I know practitioners say we should make our own tools, but I am sorry to say I experienced both greed and envy when I saw some of the beautifully, carefully handcrafted items that were for sale. I was very lucky and purchased a painting of the goddess for --- wait for it---- £10. Incredible, I am so glad that some people don't always think about the maximum profit they can make but the pleasure they bring to people's life. I had to promise the stall holder that I would look after and love the painting as much as he had. It now has pride of place in my study and I am looking at it whilst I am writing this.

A big thanks goes out to Steve Ludford, the organizer and his lovely daughter, with whom I had several conversations. They and the rest of the team worked incredibly hard all day to make everything run smoothly (and it did) and make our experience of the conference a good one. Without people like Steve we would not have such brilliant events. Steve, if you read this, if you ever need any help with anything, I am your girl!!

The star of the evening entertainment was without any doubt Susan Raven. I had not heard her sing before but had won her latest CD in the raffle, for which all the stall holders had donated wonderful prizes (thanks). The audience was spell bound (literally) from the first note she played. Her voice is a gift from the goddess, I have never heard anything so beautiful and she and her partner are true masters of their instruments. I can't wait to play the CD.

In conclusion I would like to offer this piece of advice to those of you who missed the conference this year: try your very best to come to next year's conference, you will not regret it. It was the one sad note in the whole day that there were not more of us. Selfishly I have to say that obviously it meant we were given more opportunities to chat to the speakers but it would have been nice to meet more new people and raise funds for the PF.

I have been to many pagan events all over the UK, most of which were so much more expensive and so much less enjoyable, this event is excellent fun, and great value for money. Especially as membership to the PF was at the bargain price of £10 for the year.

The summer camp is coming up in September in Cardigan and I for one cannot wait to go. We are very blessed to have a body of people to represent us and to organize such wonderful days and week-ends out for us. I think it would be wonderful if there were more pagans joining the federation and meet up with all of us.

Brightest Blessings

Bee