Broomcon Review by Chris
Road trip! With Sagecat and E.A.M.P. folks off to Broomcon, there was going to be a great time at this two day affair. Saturday’s events got off to a great start…Chris and Kris got their new flutes from Steve Frost… (Hey, the red haired one tricked me into writing this piece so I will at least decide on the highlights!)…and proceeded to play until the lead off talk.
Prudence Jones led off the morning’s talks with a unique piece on the Pagan Gods of Mecca. The talk offered an intriguing look at the development of the regions religion and its religious customs. This talk was followed by another interesting piece by Tim Daly on The Last Pagans of Europe. While some entered with the expectation of some form of Heathenry, Tim offered a unique look at the Lithuanian Pagan traditions. His talk gave a great background on the kings and politics that enabled these people to maintain their faith while others succumbed.
The lunch break offered a chance to shop at the various booths, meet others in attendance, and enjoy the lovely grounds at the hotel. Flutes could be heard celebrating friendships and frivolity. (My piece…)
The afternoon offered a trip through the ages look at Pan and how his image changed. Janet Goodall’s, The Mythology of Pan, provided the audience an excellent view of this God’s image makeover (how cute he looks…these days…). Not a cat lover was absent from Di Fimin’s Cats in Mythology talk. The talk offered feline fanatics a glimpse into the history of cats and their sometimes prominent role in various Pagan faiths and myths.
While the talks were going on, multiple workshops from phrenology to belly dancing were going on down the hall. While our group happened to miss the flaming torches one, (as we were playing flutes) we did note that management made them go play out on the lawn…go figure…
Saturday evening began with the charity auction. (Boy, just what I needed…a chance to spend more money…okay, so I won the bid on the flute…) and included a jam session…it started and we departed…to take in the wonderful night sky for a few moments. However, we returned to enjoy the musical satire of Paul Mitchell! Great way to end the night!
Sunday led off with Jo Garnham talking on Literary Fairy Tales to be followed by Terry Smith’s Anglo-Saxon Calendar. You cannot believe how bummed out I was to learn that much of the good stuff…blood, gore, gratuitous sex, etc….had been edited out of the tales! One wishes for the good old days… However, my depression was short lived as Terry got me thinking about the ancients’ skills with his excellent look at the known information on the Anglo-Saxon’s calendar.
After lunch (and the associated flute jam session upstairs), Steve Pollington launched into Wayland’s Work providing the audience with a plethora of images to consider in their studies. Mark Williams followed with Celtic Studies and Druidry. Mark offered his linguistic skills and extensive background in linguistic studies to give the audience a unique perspective on existing literature and crucial translations. (At the same time, John the God was leading a discussion on An Animistic Approach to Native Shamanism…sorry I missed you John!) The talks ended with Robin Herne’s The Wolf. While this talk offered a great look at the European history of the wolf and its incorporation into ancient beliefs, I am not sure everyone got past the “AHHHHH…cute little wolf picture”.
Of course, Sunday had also offered multiple workshops including topics such as a pathworking, ancient poetry, massage and storytelling. Alan…I did not know you were so in touch with your poetic muse… As the day wound up and we gathered our folks and the flutes to depart, we could all leave knowing a wonderful time full of learning and friendship had been had by all!