Pagan Explorations continued. (Part 4) by Cuthbert Clutterbutt Pagan explorer

Jacky and her friends were very nice people, they had some rather unusual beliefs and were very insistent that their way was the right way, but they were nice people.

I never did get to know any of them very well so never had the chance to find out what they gained from doing what they did, and as they were all very secretive about their beliefs, practices and deities I didn’t learn very much about that side of things either, they were quite open and chatty about working sky clad and the use of sex magic (not necessarily between partners) but sadly that aside once again I learned very little about these strange East Anglian people and their secrets.

It was a bright sunny summer solstice morning when Jacky dropped me off at the seafront in Great Yarmouth and told me to head north along the beach until I reached the sand dunes.

The seafront was alive with people who seemed to be moving aimlessly up and down looking for some thing to spend their money on; as it was still only mid-morning I thought I would take the opportunity to pick up some lunch before making my way up to the dunes.

I must have fell asleep because the sun was high above the dunes when voices near by woke me, they weren’t loud or noisy there just seemed to be a lot of them creating a sound like a beehive in summer, so collecting my things together I quietly joined the buzzing crowd of people around me.

The variety of dress was really impressive, there were people wearing everything from all black outfits with long leather coats to brightly coloured loose fitting clothing that looked hand made to 3 piece suits, it did seem a very strange mix of people to have in one place let alone on a sandy beach in Norfolk.

As I wandered out and joined them most were very friendly, easy to talk to and quite open about their beliefs, but the more people I talked to the more confused I became as to why this strange mix of people would gather together on this particular summers day?

One of the more “normal looking” people introduced himself and his partner commenting that they had not seen me at any of the other seasonal gatherings, I explained that I was new to the area told them briefly of my quest and journey so far and how it had led me to this beach.

I admitted to them that I didn’t understand why such a wide variety of people would gather together and was fascinated to see how the day developed, at this point the one who had been regularly checking his watch said they had to go but would return later to answer any questions for me.

The next time I saw them they were standing with a small circle of people and every body else was encircling them.

The ritual that followed answered most if not all of the questions I had about the seemingly strange gathering of people, what they had in common, why they believed the things they did and why they celebrated the turning of the wheel of life as they called it.

Just as they had promised after the ritual was over they found me and asked how they could help. I told them that after the day’s events my search had changed from one of curiosity and interest into one of personal exploration, I now felt a need to find out where I fit into this “wheel of life” and find out just what this “magic” I had heard about at the beginning of my quest really was, because I now felt that I only new what it wasn’t which left me more confused than when my search began.

We talked for a while about some of the different Paths as he called them and the commonalities between them, before we parted they gave me the contact details of a few different groups but suggested that I may want to take my search to the Norfolk / Suffolk border so that is what I shall do first thing in the morning.