Woke up this morning feeling miserable. I caught a cold at FireHeart, I guess and spent last night sleeping sitting up, which means of course, that I didn't get much sleep. My nose is running, my sinuses full, and I am coughing up a storm. But I had a very good time this weekend.
It started a little strangely. Phoenix came over Wednesday night, May 1st, to go to OH with me. But when she woke up the next day her laryngitis was back and she became concerned about going away, not getting sleep, and getting sicker. So Tom decided he would go with me after all. He packed up and we took her home. We finally got on our way about three hours later than I had planned. And we took a route that Tom thought would work for me to drive myself as it avoided Chicago. We knew it would be longer but had no idea it would be as obnoxious as it turned out to be. It added at least an hour and went through the suburbs, stoplights on almost every street, and lots of traffic, even though we were a little early for rush hour - well until we crossed into Indiana and the time change put us an hour later. However, I did the first 6.5 hours myself so we both knew that I could do the long drive to OH on my own if it works out that way.
At FireHeart we were given one of the children's bedrooms so we had a bed and didn't have to put up the tent and campout. Only a few people showed up on Thursday so we had a nice quiet evening and time to settle in. We also went into the swimming pool, which was heated to about 96 degrees. Even with the cold evening temperatures it was lovely. I cuddled with R. in the pool and had a great time.
On Friday people began to arrive and Tom spent much of the day leading them to the parking lot after they unloaded their car and shuttling them back to FireHeart. I helped unload several cars and carted stuff. That evening was the potluck. Of course, Pagan Potlucks are always delicious, salads and cheeses, crayfish (turned out to be quite good), meat and non-meat dishes. Later that night I had a lovely encounter with a beautiful woman. It was amazing.
On Saturday the rituals started. The May Games were held in the ritual area with many tarps draped around the outer boundaries to provide privacy screening from the neighbors or passersby. There were two couples competing and one quad that became a triad early on. Some of the individual games were sensual undressing, invoking God and Goddess into their partners, creating poetry which included two unrelated words drawn from a cup, passing an egg back and forth between the two partners (some were quite creative in passing it without using hands, sensual eating (whipcream and strawberries artfully decorating a naked body then eaten), and several questions answered, such as, what qualities of your partner best expresses the God or Goddess, what would you bring to the community as the May royalty, how would you protect the land, etc. Ottercat and his partner Vivien won. They will make a delightful May King and Queen. They were crowned by the outgoing Royalty. That night was the handfasting of the May couple. Candy asked me to take a part in the ritual - so I called the east quarter and answered questions. Tokens representing the quarters or center were passed out as part of the ritual. Later there was a time when participants could have a divinatory question answered by the person aspecting that direction. There was cake and champagne to celebrate the joining. And the King and Queen were given several gifts for the official regalia to be passed on to the next Royalty. The King was given a fabric penis and testicles about two feet long. This led to much raucous humor. They were also given an athame and crowns.
On Sunday the MayPole ritual was scheduled for about 10 am but when the TV crew showed up outside it was moved to another area of his land, which could be less accessible. Some of the neighbors collected outside to see what was going on and protest what was happening. But it was not a problem for us. They didn't actually disrupt the ritual and we had a lovely dance. The May couple were tied to the pole back to back to be joined with the Land and the Tribe, and we danced weaving the ribbons around them. It was a good time.
Afterwards we left, following M. home to Ann Arbor. She has invited F. and I to go in with her on a co-housing unit. She was going to get the one bedroom unit but if we come up with the upgrade price we will get a two bedroom with basement. Tom and I went with M. to a tour of one of the finished co-housing communities and a meeting after. It was quite interesting to me. I really think it could work. The idea is that the time that I am spending with F. in L.A. now we would spend in MI in the co-housing unit with M. Anyway they won't start building the unit until next spring. At that time we would put our money into it, have a mortgage, etc. I know a lot can happen in a year and it might not work out but I am pretty excited about it. At least 1/3 of my time then would be spent in a poly family. It would give us a chance to see how we are together and possibly develop a community. And co-housing is all about being involved in community.
We also had the opportunity to visit with someone we knew years ago. She met us for lunch, went on the tour with us, and then met us again for dinner. We caught up some and just chatted. It was very nice. That will also be a perk of living in that area, picking up on that relationship again.
We slept in M.s king size bed (really just slept) but it was so great to be there. Now I have an image of her in her home. The trip home was reasonably uneventful. But with my cold I only drove about ½ the trip this time.
Copyright © 2001, 2002 Kyril Oakwind