Ozark Avalon's Harvest Homecoming 2007
August 30th - September 3rd
And so it begins...
You could say that the Harvest Festival at Ozark Avalon was our "inauguration." A group of pagan singers/sirens/& musicians finally getting together to have some fun with a live audience, after just a couple of practices. Overall, as our first time together, it was pretty awesome!!!
When Johnny, Béla and myself first arrived at OA, it was exactly 3:19 AM, and we were pretty exhausted from driving. Well, at least I was. My mom (Fran) had caravanned with us, and we were just so ready to throw a blanket over the futon mattress in our trailer, and hit the sack. (At least I was!) I wandered over to the shower house, within the boundaries of the "Frog Bog," suitably named, which was where we had just sort of landed, and had decided to stay. We'd seen Kittin & Joe's van there, so we just pulled into the spot right up against the butt of their van, and basically rolled out of the truck. (bright lights. diesel roaring and all. ugh. sorry guys!) Once I ventured into the shower house, it was just so inviting, and how very cool it was... paintings, poetry and clever sayings adorned the walls, and a couple of large brass vases were alight with flame so that the mirrors and the glitter within sparkled like so much faery dust, welcoming us. One of my first thoughts was, "I'll bet the folks who live here have grown so used to it they have forgotten how clever and uniquely welcoming this is." I even recognized some of the authors of the "work," people I had lost touch with or hadn't seen in years, which left pangs of remembrance within me. I wandered out onto the deck, which faces the woods, and took in a breath of air. What a lovely place to be alone for a moment. I am home.. away from home.
We finally got camp set up the next day, and had all of our instruments in the big white tent, drums, guitars, chimes, shakers, zills and triangles, and of course mom was there with her new video camera, eagerly waiting to capture a bit of our "magick." Béla had a grand time running around and causing havoc, and we had a lot of fun playing "Strange Brew," and doing our Hindu chants; Om Asatoma, Tumare Darshan, and Om Namo. Jennie is quite the skilled dancer, and Kittin's voice is super sultry when she sings "Summertime." It feels like the beginning of something incredibly good here.
Finally when we played (and played and played...) on Sunday evening, we had a great stage setup on the front porch of the main house at Ozark Avalon, fittingly called the "Shade Tree Honky Tonk." The September night was just beautiful, the weather perfect, the stars... we couldn't have asked for more. I remember looking out into the night as I sang, sending the chants out into the universe for healing and peace. Johnny joined us on the guitar for three songs, and Little Joe from SONA joined in on the last song, along with Moon Halloran (an imaginative artist singer/songwriter/guitarist siren of her own, who had a great performance and some dazzling songs to share, as well!), who indulged us on the acoustic bass guitar. It was lots of fun, and the songs all came out very nicely.
(click on thumbnails to see the "big picture...")
photos by taken by & property of BellaWyck
Most importantly, he chemistry felt good, and the songs were fun and inspiring to play. We had fun!!!
(Which is what it is all really about, don't you think?)
Scattered cool/funny/happy/weird/crazy memories; a funny-cool guy with a bottle of "grog," ("Makes the ladies forget where they put their clothes, don't ya know!") the community bardic fire after the show, watching Moon come out and perform a kickass set Sunday night, playing with SONA, The food (especially breakfast!), the most excellent cooks and kitchen helpers, (we sooo appreciate you!!!) the frog bog, the guy on the dune buggy, the Honky Tonk stage, Jennie's awesome dancing and singing and drumming, Kittin singing Summertime, and her splendid and lovely chimes and shakers and great percussion, my not forgetting any words, the beautiful stars, the tie-dye workshop, Spyre of Prometheus, Johnny's huge fireball, the big dark-haired Viking guy at the fire with his genuine heartfelt chants (bravo! new chants that everyone hasn't heard a zillion times! awesome!) all of the children, the bounty of the harvest, Béla running through the labyrinth, Lyon's beautiful tissue paper pents, hangin' with Elbee, Joe the mudman, the new, softer grass...
It was good to be there again. Here's to becoming part of the Harvest Tradition at OA!
Blessed Be, until next time... Beltana
Notes of praise:
Many Thanks
"This is a note to thank everyone for the great Harvest Homecoming
gathering we had over Labor Day at Ozark Avalon. We had 127 folks in
attendance with 25 kids and teens. It was the largest Ozark Avalon
event on the land since Midsummer 2003. The kids were well behaved and
so were the adults. The gathering was very mellow and cooperative.
Thanks to the kitchen Goddesses Cat and Sorsha and all those who helped
provide great meals and clean-up. Thanks also to those who helped in
the OA gardens and brought stuff from their own gardens; we truly had
harvest feasting.
Sona and BellaWyck, Moon Halloran, Spyre of Prometheus and others
provided great entertainment nightly. We love having you here and hope
that this will become part of our tradition at Harvest. Thanks to Lyon
Martin for her great workshop and craft- the kids loved it as did the
adults. And thanks Elbee for your workshop- it was good to have you
out here again. And thanks to the other workshop presenters- Soma and the
great oils, Johanna and the scrying mirrors and instruction, Sorsha and
the Corn dollies, Jodi and the Fae Chimes, Ronda and the rain sticks
and corn necklaces- we had great content and crafts. And to Joyous and
Jason who did the tie-dye workshop for three days straight and
literally colored our world.
And we had wonderful rituals – Thanks to Crystal for creating the
idea and coordinating the construction of the labyrinth, to Pet for
coordinating the Wicker man construction and all who put their hearts,
voices and energy into making magick happen.
We look forward to seeing you folks back on the land and thank everyone
who came out and supported this event. This community is so dear to my
heart and soul and I love you all. The land is sparkling and alive
with the energies you left. I hope you all took a little OA energy back
to your mundane lives.
Blessed Be,
Rose"
to submit photos/memories/reviews: venusbeltana2000@yahoo.com