The Pagan Mom Blog

The weather this winter is seriously messing things up badly. Usually we will get our nasty weather in March. And when it comes it is mostly in the form of ice. This is bad enough. Once in awhile we get snow but it has never been enough for us to make a snowman or even wet enough for it to stay together.  We got 15 inches in December, 10-12 this last weekend. And you know what???? MORE is coming next weekend? Not sure on accumulation but just thinking about the possibilities is enough to anger anyone. If i lived up north I would totally expect this. But I don’t and that entitles me to a little bit of whining. You see next weekend I am supposed to be in South Carolina for a knitting event. This was super important to me because one of the classes I signed up for was a designing class. I want to design my own prayer/meditation shawls and hopefully sell them on the side. So this class was really important! Some of you may wonder what all the fuss is so here is the issue. First off I don’t drive well in snow. I can do it but I reserve it for when I must and walking is too far and I am not driving more than 15-20 minutes. Greeneville is 2 hours away. Secondly we always have ice with our snow. No one can drive on ice, I don’t care what they say. Thirdly, to get out of Asheville means going down mountainsides. No matter which way I go it is a must. The grades are seriously steep. They have special runoff roads for truckers in case they lose control. My own car slows down trying to make it up the grade. Coming down means almost constantly braking. Imagine hitting a patch of ice? Yea, I am not happy about this. I may try to go just Sunday, that’s the designer class. It isn’t supposed to actually snow on that day so the roads might get cleared up.

Along with all of this snow comes alot of school closings. This won’t affect Beltane as I will pull my girls out of school for that. But it could mean they will be in school most of June at this rate. As of now they have to go to school on Good Friday. That has quite a few people up in arms but really it makes me happy. For one we don’t do anything for Good Friday. Secondly Easter comes right around tax deadline and Good Friday has always thrown a wrench into the workday. Now I just need to get someone to take Lil Man off our hands so I can work. Especially now that I am doing the work of two people instead of just my own.

So there was my whining. It will all get worked out, it always does.

Wednesday already? Jeesh this week is just flying by!

So if you are following me on Twitter I am sure you have seen countless tweets about the upcoming Beltane Brouhaha. Some of us have decided to have a tweetup and chose the Brouhaha as our destination spot. This is an event open to anyone who wants to attend! So I am very happy to announce that I got the email that the registration is now open…..yay!

The event is fairly affordable. $12 early registration fee ($15 at gate), $5 for kids 5-12 yo, $40 for a cabin holding 2-4 persons, $15 for a single dorm space, and $12 for meal tickets. For me and the girls to go it came out to $98. Not really bad for a weekend event.  I have attended some other functions that were much more than that for just one person! Now last year was the first time I ever went so I am not really a big expert but I will pass on a few things I learned.

I personally recommend you get the dorm space or cabin. Dorm space is basically they will shack you up in one of the larger cabins with people that you may or may not know. Basically you pay for a bed. The cabin is good for families or if you know some people and want to share a cabin with. I already know a couple people from twitter are going to share a cabin. The best thing about cabins are they are right there in the middle of everything. There is tent camping space available if you are looking for something more affordable. The people with Church of Wicca can direct you to who you need to talk to at the park for tent camping info. Now the downside to tent camping is that you will have to leave the cabin area by dusk when they close the gate, that is if you plan on driving into the site area. Now if you don’t mind walking in the dark to your tent then you don’t have to worry about when the gate closes. I just hope that you can find your way back to the tent site lol.

Food. I do recommend you bring some snacks and maybe a cooler to keep at your cabin. Bear in mind there are animals in the woods. Last year we had a mouse that literally opened our screen door and came right in and found my stash of pretzels. Lesson learned! Open flame is not permitted on campground except at one designated spot just outside the messhall. So if you want to cook at your cabin, bring your campstove. As for meals I recommend that you do purchase the meal tickets. You are not going to get anything glamorous to eat but it’s not horrible either. Last year we had hot dogs, hamburgers, spaghetti, and my all time favorite….pudding from a huge ass can. You know, one of those ones you find at Sam’s or Costco. They do sell snacks and drinks throughout the day at the messhall.

So what to expect? Vendor row is one. Last year I think they had about 10 businesses with tents set up selling their wares. If you have a business you will want to get in on this event. It’s a great way to meet your clientele! And if you love to shop witchy stuff you will find plenty of stuff to ooh and ahh over. In addition to shopping there are classes for kids which tend to be craft oriented. My daughter had a blast last year making a wand and coloring her own divination cards. There are classes for the adults pertaining to various things. Some were Wicca 101, others were more deeper into theology and then others were craft oriented.  Last year I took a class to sew my own ritual robe. I was the first person who had ever failed her class. I think I felt worse about that for her than about me failing it lol. Also there will be plenty of ritual. Last year we had a ritual the first night, an initiation ritual the next night (I didn’t attend that), and then a maypole dance just before leaving on the final day. In the evening people gathered into a drum circle around the fire pit and just hung out and had a good time. That was the best part, we just had so much fun socializing! I know for alot of solitaries in places that they don’t know alot of other pagans, events like this can be a huge blessing.

So that is my awesome wisdom to share. If you have question, feel free to ask in comments or email me. If you are attending, let me know here in the comments! If you want to find someone to share a cabin space with, leave it in the comments and maybe someone else will see it and respond.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!

SO here it is, the first Witchy Wednesday……and I gotta be a Debbie Downer. UGH!

Ok so if you are on twitter then you have probably seen some tweets about a pagan meetup in Salem Massachusetts for sometime this summer. We had started discussing this last month and when I got back from Florida I started checking with a friend in Massachusetts about locations, hotels, etc. Then the shit hit the fan. My car has been in the shop for 6 days with transmission problems (we are going to have to look at buying a new car I think). Last night we ran out of heating oil and I don’t have a clue how we are going to pay the mechanic AND get heating oil in our home! I was hoping for a better year, not one who royally screws me in less than one week of it’s start! Anyhow combine that with payments that have to be made thi year for my trip to Egypt next year, my oldest daughters school trip across the state, Beltane Brouhaha, and a trip to Carowinds (which at this point is probably being cancelled…..good thing we didn’t tell the kids!) I cannot squeeze in a roadtrip to Massachusetts. It really kills me cause I really wanted to hang out with some peeps. But all is not lost. Here are two things we can do to handle this.

1. No matter what I can help people plan the meetup. There is no reason for others not to meetup just because I can’t, ya know? So whomever decides to take over, let me know and I will happily pass on any info I get in regards to hotels and whatnot.

2. There is always Beltane Brouhaha. I am currently awaiting an email to be sure it’s on and at the same place (more than likely). Really my email was to push them to hurry up and announce it so I can start paying for a cabin lol! Anyway it’s held in Kings Mountain State Park in SC. The Church of Wicca is the organizer of the event. It is usually an entire weekend and you can rent a cabin or bring a tent ( I recommend cabin as it puts you right there with everything). There are classes, meetings, vendors, rituals, and so on and so forth. The oldest and I went last year and we had an amazing time. The family wants to go this year and I am loving that! Anyhow it is not a luxurious hotel stay but we could do a pagan tweetup/meetup there. I will post links and what not as soon as Church of Wicca posts their info.

So yea, life is being rough right now and I am trying to prioritize. Think about it, comment, let me know what you are thinking.