Conference hydra::dejavu

469.0. "DragonFest" by NEXUS::MORGAN (Welcome to the Age of Flowers) Tue Sep 01 1987 05:36

           A REVIEW OF DRAGONFEST 87, MAGIC IN THE MOUNTAINS

DragonFest 87 was held on August 28-31 of this year. It is a Celebration of 
Life and Loving among the Pagan and Wicca folk of Colorado and surrounding 
states.

It was held at a Secret Campsite near Colorado Springs and approximately
120 persons attended.

DragonFest has been known in the past as the Front Range Pagan Gathering but
has taken on the name of DragonFest in the last couple years. (Well, at least
that is what I heard anyway.)

I drove to the Secret Campsite and was stopped by the usual DragonFest security
type person who checked my name against a rather long list of pre-paid 
individuals. I had to sign a waver, (in case I saw the Goddess and died), fill
out a form revealing what drugs I was allergic to, was told where the rest of 
my contingent was camped, given the official DragonFest button, handed a little
orange flag and was told to go set up camp. BTW, I coped a copy of the Official
DragonFest songbook along the way.

The weather was very nice while I sat up my tent, arranged my cooking gear, 
and in general, milled about smartly. Many different types of people where 
there, from the poorest pagan to the rich merchants, hawking their wares out
of Winibagos.  Some very nice items were for sale, most of which you could
feel quality oozing out of. I fell in love with a replica of a 2nd millenum,
hand made, semitic bronze athame (knife) which was promptly sold for $45, but
unfortunately, not to me. 

I met many people that were there last year and more than a few who had not
attended DragonFest before. The usual people from DAWN out of Denver and 
others from Colorado Springs were in attendance. It didn't take me long to
rekindle the love I felt last year for all these people. It's kinda' hard
not to love such loveable people.

The opening ritual was fairly standard and exciting. Afterwards we all got 
hugs and kisses from those long missed and far away. As it does this time of
season, it rained on and off during the festivities and I got a little wet
during the opening ritual, not having my poncho close at hand.

Please note that much is being left out because of the privacy of the ritual
or the rituals content. 

Later that Friday night we performed a Rite of Passage ritual for 13 to 
14 years olds (I think) but was designed for a particular individual somewhat 
over that age. It was fairly good with good ole' chile heated over a fire ring 
and everyones favorite beer stuffed in the ubiquitous cooler. 

Rites of Passage are now being written because our young ones have nothing
tangible to point to that is their private moment of transition, amongst
their new peers, into manhood or womanhood.  I look forward to many more of
these as our knowledge begins to be put to use to meet the needs of the
community. 

Among the workshops presented by local and not so local talent were:

Circle Etiquette, The Fools Journey; Women, Anger and Power; Shamanic
Drumming; Kids Circle; Theater in Ritual; Meditation; Esctatic Drumming;
Jewish Mysticism; Congregationalism in the Craft; Circle Songs III; Ritual
Construction and Writing; Ethics Panel; Making your own Athame; Ritual:
What and Why; Self Massage; Music and Poetry in Magic.  These workshops ran
through the daylight hours during the weekend. 

On Saturday night Pat and Ron were handfasted and afterwards we danced and
drummed at the central fire for about another hour.

Later Saturday night was another very exciting ritual of Celtic influence.

Sunday was as usual rainy on and off in the afternoon but our spirits were not
dampened by the mana from heaven (a.k.a. liquid sunshine).

Sunday morning, at about 7:15, a Spirit Canoe was formed.  I didn't attend
because I couldn't see well enough to paddle the damn thing. B^)

There were two rituals on Sunday with the morning ritual being the most
exciting.  The later ritual was a closing ritual which was very brief. 
Afterwards, the gift exchange was conducted and I received some excellent
incense made in 84.  Also some dancing and drumming (very sensuous stuff)
carried us through the afternoon till my group left the site. 

Being that most of our contingent can be very easily convinced that pleasure
is better than pain we all wound in a hot tub for about an hour after the trip 
back from the Secret Campsite. Ah yes, living well is the best revenge!

 

    I to made it to DRAGONFEST.  I was one of the security keeping out
    the undesireables (I worked the graveyard shift).
    
    DRAGONFEST is held yearly.  I think this is the third year it has
    been held here.  For those interested in going next year, call the
    ISIS book store in Denver at 303-321-0867 and they will give you
    the info on how to contact DAWN (Denver Area Wicca Network).  Sorry
    but they will not give out the location of DRAGONFEST until you
    resgister.
    
    The weekend was a time of renewal for me.  It was very powerful.
    
    BLESSED BE
    
    PAT

    Sounds great!  

    
    This is all new to me, can you tell me what this is all about ?
    What does WICCA mean ?
    
    thanks,
    
    Peter
    
    
    

    re .3:
    
    Wicca is a form of (white) witchcraft.  See the note "What is a
    Witch?" for some more details.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    RE: .0
    
       The rite-of-passage that Mike talked about was written just for
       the person it was held for.  After it was written, It was found
       that with a little changing it would be perfect for young males
       entering manhood.  It took about 14 months and the time of 10
       men to plan the rite (and alot of ROLAIDS).

    re .5:
    
    >It took about 14 months and the time of 10 men to plan the rite 
    >(and alot of ROLAIDS).
     
    Pretty long preplanning for an annual event .... ;-)
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.                     

    RE: 6
    
    The 14 months was used to plan the one rite, not the whole DRAGONFEST.
    We were only going to hold this rite-of-passage once at DRAGONFEST.
    If others want to use the rite at other places and times, they are
    welcome.
    
    PAT

    	I've lived in Colorado Springs for over six years and have
    	never heard of any of this before.  Please don't get me
    	wrong, but .0 sort of gave me the creeps (can't pinpoint
    	why, though).
    
    	What is the meaning of "dragon"?  Why are the rituals so
    	secretive?  Why must you sign a waiver -- has anybody ever
    	been injured at a DragonFest?
    

    Reply to .8; Blazek
    
    Dragons? Don't you know what dragons are? B^)
    
    I assume it was named DragonFest because someone, yeas ago, liked
    dragons.  Perhaps Ann McCafee (sp?) was insturmental in picking this
    name.  (This is great! Another conspiracy story comes to the
    forefront.) 
    
    Many of the rituals were designed just for DragonFest or may be
    close copies of rituals designed for a specific group. These could
    be published or copyrighted in the future. The men's right-of-passage
    will probably be published in the comming months.
    
    D.A.W.N., the sponsors of DragonFest is an uninsured non-profit
    organization. They have no money. All liability has to be assumed by
    the participating individual and all participating individuals have to act
    responsibily. Consequently, a waiver.
                                          
    No one, to my knowledge, has been hurt at DragonFest. Still, DAWN has
    had two EMTs at the last two festivals just in case of random "Acts of
    the Goddess". B^) 

    re; .8 Carla...
    
    You know those Denver people I've been writing about, especially
    when I first got in to this NOTES File; the ones who were into
    brainwashing and energy vampirism?  They were at DRAGONFEST, I found
    out (after the event; they didn't want me to know about the FEST,
    so they made up some excuse for us not getting together that weekend;
    it was when I was still allowing myself to be under their control).
    
    Too bad that any event including a lot of energy-sharing has to
    wind up also attracting such people.

    Reply to .10, Daniel,
    
    Now that you've got my interests peaked would you like to let us
    in on what you ment in your reply?

    RE: .10 and .11
    
    I want to hear about it too.
    
    Pat

    RE:  .10  Mike
    
    You can get further info by reading notes 12.24, 12.27, 12.41, and
    105.52 (5th paragraph).
    
    Pat