Driving Audhumla: Pagans, in Berkeley?

This plays off an old commercial for the Berkeley Farms dairy, where the question always was "Cows, in Berkeley? Mooooooo."

Of course we have Pagans in Berkeley, California. In fact we have so many, and the City of Berkeley is so accepting of diversity that every year The Pagan Alliance holds its big outdoor Pagan festival in the heart of the city, at Berkeley's Civic Center Park. That's right, our festival grounds lie between City Hall and the Berkeley Police Department. We're also across the street from both the Berkeley Veterans Building and Berkeley High School. Could it be possible to be more out of the broom closet than that?

Yesterday, May 5, was our big festival day. And this year, the focus was on kids. Our directional altars were all kid-friendly and interactive; our ritual was short, sweet and mainly done by the children; and we had pint-size witchlings and wizards and fairies galore. Here are a few shots of the opening ritual, with kids in the center calling the quarters and later, embodying Spirit.

Every year at this festival, we honor a "Keeper of the Light," namely someone who has made a significant life-long contribution to the Pagan Community. This year Anne Hill of Serpentine Music and co-author of Circle Round passed the Keeper of the Light staff on to Patrick McCollum, the Pagan Chaplain for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Patrick, who is a goldsmith by profession, was also one of the leaders in the Pentacle Quest, the long --and ultimately successful--struggle to get the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to add the pentacle to its list of 39 approved emblems of belief for government-supplied headstones and grave markers for veterans. This battle significantly advanced the Pagan community's visibility and public acceptance. Here's the handoff in the middle of the ritual, then Anne on her way back from passing the baton to Patrick, and next is a shot of Patrick wearing his chaplain's jacket.

Below you'll see photos of the four directional altars. Each altar was supposed to be child-oriented and interactive.

At the East altar--East is associated with air, intellect and creativity--kids made their own pinwheels beneath a rapidly whirling prayer wheel and jingling wind chimes.

My coven made the South altar, with ample use of some great Crystal Palace Rave yarn that was donated to us. (South is associated with fire, passion, and, for the G-rated version, love). The yarn worked so well that you can be sure you will see other colors showing up in future altars and Pagan art projects. Here's some of my coven--and one of our coven cousins-- in front of the altar. And you can see how our new crone Brighde spent her time between face-painting stints.

We gave away little ceramic hearts painted with spirals, and painted hearts on kids' cheeks. Here's one of the boys showing off his new trinket, and one of the girls selecting hers from what we called "the hearts-on-fire cauldron."

The water--West is associated with water and emotion-- altar gave kids a chance to get wet and messy. They had a small kids' wading pool filled with water as part of the altar decor, and all day long toddlers were on the verge of plunging into the pool. You can see a little blondie racing on his way to getting rapturously wet.

At the North altar, kids got to make up little bags of their favorite herbs and minerals. (North has the association with the earth and with our own bodies). The beauty of the earth altar didn't show up so well in a photograph, but it clearly was one of the kids' favorites.

The west coast unit of the Besom Brigade marched in the procession and performed the closing ritual. The Besom Brigade is, of course, the all-witch precision drill team. Here we are lined up in a pre-parade portrait, and then several shots of individual witches, Macha NightMare and Malendia. And Malendia, walnut-twig besom in hand, befriends the goat who pulled the parade's only "float."

Here's the view, as last in line, that I have of the Besom Brigade.

We are famous for our precisions drills and heart-stopping maneuvers, not to mention the sheer poetry of our chants. After all, who can forget "Day-o, Deosil. Daylight come and the witches fly home"? Here's the famed flying pentacle formation made with besoms. Sometimes we get it better than others. Prudence Priest, in her purple and black striped hat is our demanding drill mistress. And in the final shot you can see the Besom Brigade marching down a Berkeley street.

We have a rapidly growing Spiral Scouts group sponsored by the Pagan Alliance. Many of the scouts marched in the parade. For the most part, most of us adult Pagans were born into other religions. The kids, on the other hand, are growing up in Pagan families. For Pagan boys, membership in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is problematic because of the BSA's requirement that each scout express belief in a supreme being. (Girl Scouts are much more tolerant of diversity, which might be an indication of why so many of us Pagan women spent some time in Girl Scout uniforms in the past).

In any case, Spiral Scouts provides a scouting experience for kids who belong to minority religions. And we seem to have Spiral Scouts in a wide range of ages, from practically toddlers all the way to teens. Here's the front of the scouts' unit in the parade, and then one of the group's witchlings having a great day.

I think I shot this photo of Oberon Zell in full wizard gear when I was marching with the Besom Brigade. His Mythic Images company was one of the festival vendors, but I didn't get a chance to see any of the booths. I am very curious to see how Mythic Images' new Persephone statue will look.

I was one of the story-tellers in the Druid story-telling pavillion. I told troll stories, and brought in a couple of my Nyform trolls that I've collected. Initially I had an audience comprised mainly of my coven sisters, but eventually some of the little ones showed up and helped me make the "trip trap" noise of the three Billy Goats Gruff as they crossed the bridge and ran into the wicked bridge troll. I didn't get any photos of the kids because they were keeping me too busy to pick up my camera. But before the kids' arrival, here are Becky and Sarah giving me their semi-rapt attention in the story-telling pavilion.

Because I was running around from altar face-painting duty to story-telling to Besom Brigading, I didn't get a chance to visit the merchants at all, or to see many of the performers. I did catch Luna's belly-dance group and heard the always-excellent Reclaiming Spiral Dance chorus, complete with a number of children.

But for me, Celia's performance was the high point. Everyday Goddess Celia was fun, funny, and a dynamite singer. I learned of her work a few months ago when I accidentally found her singing the Symbol song in a video posted on YouTube. (The video was shot by Witchy Films). I think it was my hearing her sing this song that inspired me to get involved in the Pentacle Quest. And certainly the song was running through my head last week when we held the pentacle ritual at the Iraq War Memorial. Maybe we have a new Pagan National Anthem.

It was my privilege to introduce Celia at this festival, and I was pleased to see how much the crowd enjoyed her songs. My hope is that we can persuade her to come and perform at Pantheacon next year. Here's Celia in several of her incarnations on the festival stage yesterday.

It was difficult to photograph any of The Pagan Alliance volunteers as everyone was in constant motion. Here I found Donald and Arlynne catching their breath for a moment, and Venee taking a minute's rest.

Of course children were the whole point of the festival. And, if these photos are any indication, most had a terrific time. We'll be back again next year for sure!