If you live in or anywhere near Ohio, you owe it to yourself to check out the Summerland festival coming up August 18th-21st.  I will be a presenter there again this year, giving a workshop on making wyrd stones (from my book Wyrdworking: The Path of a Saxon Sorcerer).

http://www.6thnight.org/summerland.html

This gathering is an Ár nDraíocht Féin event, but you do not have to be active in ADF Druidry to attend.  In fact, if you are not ADF this gathering can be an excellent introduction to one of the largest Neo-Pagan organizations in the world.  And don’t be put off by the word “Druidry” if your spiritual path isn’t Celtic; ADF welcomes and embraces all Indo-European faiths.  (“Druidry” isn’t so much of a linguistic stumbling block for us Anglo-Saxons, since we have our own drýlic tradition.)

Summerland is very affordable, only $65 if you pre-register, or $75 (for adults) at gate.  You must be 18 or over, or accompanied by an adult legal guardian.  If you want to spend more for amenities, you certainly can, and these are worth looking at.  You can rent a cabin that sleeps up to eight people for $45, dividing that up with your friends or fellow híredmenn, or just ask for a single bed for $15 if you don’t mind bunking with strangers.  Of course by the end of the gathering those strangers may be new friends who you’ll cherish for years!

The festival also offers a meal plan, available by pre-registration only, for only $40.  If you get the meal plan and cabin space there is very little you’ll need to pack other than clothing, a pillow and sheets or a sleeping bag.

6th Night Grove determines who presenters will be, so you can be assured of interesting, quality workshops throughout the festival.  Friday evening will feature a bardic circle, followed by drumming and dancing at the fire circle.  An ADF Unity Ritual will be held on Saturday.

I have attended Summerland for a number of years now, and I have always had a good experience.  I hope some of you can be there.  If you do go, be sure to look for me and say wes hal!

One thing I have always liked about living in western Pennsylvania is the acidic soil that allows me to grow fruits and vegetables that are more difficult to raise on Missouri’s bedrock of limestone.  At the top of the list are blueberries.  We only have half a dozen bushes, but they have faithfully produced for us over the years.

Some years, of course, are better than others.  Last year saw a bumper crop of blueberries.  Scott put a cup of the berries on his cereal every morning, I munched on them sporadically throughout the day, and we still had enough for Scott and Taren to brew some delicious blueberry meads.

We can already see that this year’s crop will be much smaller.  We’ll have a couple of pies, and maybe a few blueberries to sprinkle over oatmeal.  For us, this is only a mild disappointment, but I am keenly aware of how devastating it would be to our ancestors.  Of how devastating it would be to me now if I were wholly dependant on the food I grew myself.

Pagans today sometimes approach their spirituality as if it were a vending machine, and I confess that I am not wholly immune to this syndrome.  We quickly turn to our gods when we want something from them: a romantic relationship, more friends, prosperity, improved health.  And while this is not altogether wrong, we are not so quick to give thanks for the many blessings we enjoy.  We tend to take those things for granted.

How blessed are we who have something to eat each morning!  How fortunate to have a day with no war in our immediate vicinity.  What a miracle it is even to arise, our hearts beating, our lungs taking in fresh, life giving air.  Gehæl þa godas!  Gehæl þa ylfe!  Éala!

Take time to consider the good things in your life.  Give thanks, and open your heart to receive even more blessings.