PantheaCon Calling
The ramp-up to this year’s huge PantheaCon event has been remarkably mellow for me. I have been working hard on it for days now, but blessedly without the usual high-pitched whine of anxiety in the background. I attribute it partly to the unheard-of luxury of having a partner who has my back and is happy to help out—and also to my latest herbal garden experiment.
My friend Gail Julian, who teaches here, was telling me a couple months ago about the wonders of the ubiquitous California poppy as a sleep aid, anxiety reliever, and mildly euphoric nervine. It is gentle enough to use with children too, apparently, and who wouldn’t want that?
I had a patch of poppies growing where I didn’t want them to grow, so I took the next full moon opportunity to harvest the whole plants, and soak them in alcohol for a while. The result, decanted just this week, is a marvelous, very strong tasting but energetically not overwhelming California poppy tincture. It is keeping my shoulders from bunching up with stress, yet my head is clear and I am actually enjoying getting everything done. What a marvelous find! And part of the car-full of goods and services I will be selling all this weekend at the Serpentine Music booth.
There has already been an entertaining stream of Twitter posts about PantheaCon, and if you want the scoop on what’s happening at San Jose’s long-suffering Doubletree Hotel, follow the hashtag #pcon.
PantheaCon is the largest indoor gathering of Earth religions, eclectic spiritualities, Pagans, Druids, witches and freaks eccentrics that I know about. There is a fascinating mix of practitioners, teachers, researchers, clergy, and seekers in attendance, not to mention those who just love the party.
I will try to post pictures in my idle moments between selling music and herbs, leading and assisting workshops, and socializing. If you are attending, be sure to stop by the booth and say hello. But whether you’re there on site or just enjoying the home game, have a great weekend!
February 16th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
It was good to see you there, Anne. Hope you had a good ‘Con!
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