Today starts the yearly pilgrimage I make to Wisteria.  Way back, in the spring of 2004, I got this message on gay.com from some random, older, and slightly creepy man.  He was, as I found out later, going through all the profiles of gay men in the north east and if they had "pagan" in their profile, he sent them a message advertising his event.  Between the Worlds Mens Gathering (not to be confused with Ivo Dominguez's event Between the Worlds).  At this point I had been doing the pagan camping thing for a year or two, and I didn't know what I thought of going to an event of only men who love men.  I was active in the bar scene at that time, I was relatively freshly out, I just thought this was a bad idea.  I just ignored the email.  Months later, I had some vacation time to kill, and I decided to give it a try... what's the worst that could happen, right?  I could always pack up and leave early.

That year, the event was amazing.  There was one natural disaster, Hurricane Ivan, that made about 60 of us spend a full day in the lone structure on the site.  We became close and fast friends at that point.  I was hooked, and have been trying to make it to the event every year.  Not every year has been as good as that first year.  It faltered at the start of the 2010's.  It had a change in leadership, it had some issues with attendees, it was changing and maturing.  Last year, when I heard that some of the people that had been coming since around the time I started going were not going to be there, especially the bigger personalities, I was concerned.  We got a lot of new blood though, and I think because many of the big personalities were not there, we were back to what it was like in 2004, and it was the best year I had there since those early days.

So, today I start my trek to Wisteria.  It's an 11 hour drive total for me.  I am lucky in that I have many friends about half way there, and I will be spending the night at one of their houses so tomorrow is only a 5 hour drive.  I am excited to be going, and I am also nervous.  I'm doing my first seidhr practice in the form of a Delphic Oracle since I had my initiation.  I will still have that initiation energy fresh in myself, and I'll be working with an unfamiliar culture.  I am also making a divergence in the normal ADF Core Order of Ritual to make the ritual work with multiple seers, and adding in a bit of stuff from the groups I used to be with when I started.  I know that the elements can work, and I have reasons for why things are being done the way they are.  The thing is though that I am going to be in trance the whole time, and I will not be running or really taking part in the ritual.

It will be a fun week though. I will see friends I see only once or twice a year.  I am entering a safe space full of like minded people.  I am going to relax and make sure I have fun.