Day 1
I arrived at
Waking Persephone late, I was so
excited to get there but the traffic was against me the whole way. There were 2
major accidents that put me about 30 min behind. I hate when students arrive at
my class really late and I hated it even more that "I" am the student
that arrived not just late but rudely late. Regardless the ladies at the front
were very kind and encouraged me to sneak in to class late. I was relieved and
hoped it was large enough class to sneak into, no such luck.
The Witches Cone of Power
with
Anaar
It was a small class and as
soon as I opened the door I was on the spot. I felt like such a jerk for
arriving so late but I was so grateful that Anaar was so welcoming despite my
rudeness. Unfortunately I missed the first half of the class, but being well
educated in Ritual and Energy Work I was able to jump right in. We raised a
cone of power or what I decided was very much like circle casting in a belly
dance way! Though we were focusing on an actual raising of energy. We
grapevined in a circle around and around using different tones and vocals to
raise the cone. We were focusing on bringing Rain, Rain to the parched lands of
California. Just relocating from Arizona I was able to really tap into that
parched earth energy and focus on bring rain. One thing that was particularly
interesting was where the energy was focused, raised and sent. Anaar suggested
that we send the energy out with through the genitals, and lymph nodes. Now
this was a bit new! While I had raised and sent out energy from my root (yoni)
before I had not focused on sending energy out from the lymph nodes. Anaar’s
craft background comes from that of the Anderson Feri Tradition. While I am not
an initiate, it seems as if many of my friends and people that I really admire are.
I am vaguely acquainted with the Tradition and practices and of course I own
Victor Andersons book of poems "Thorns of the Blood Rose" So I was
very happy to take this class and bring some of these techniques into my own
practice.
It was such a joy to see
Artie again! It has been far too long. I haven’t been to visit her in Baltimore
in almost 4 years. As class was starting I found myself longing for the good
old days of living in North Carolina and the long drives to Baltimore to see
her and take the Turkish Intensive and Sacred Dance classes and even for the
days before Japan sitting on Arties studio floor telling her how much I loved
this dance and her listening to me with such love and respect. I remembered the
time that we went to the Umbanda ritual and how powerful that was for me and
how I still follow the advice of the medium that I saw that day. Artie has
been, probably without her knowledge the most important teachers in my dance
career. She is everything that I wanted to be, a warm loving person welcoming
everyone to the dance community but also a powerhouse on the dance floor.
As I walked in I flagged
Artie down for a hug, it was wonderful to just give her a hug and wait for
class to begin. While I have taken this class before, it has been 5 years and I
am a MUCH different person than I was then. I took notes like it was the first
time I was in her class. The lecture was wonderful, she spoke of many different
types of sacred dance and different cultures and religions groups that practice
it.
The workshop was 2 parts the
first was the lecture and the second was an actual ritual dance. It was eclectic
in nature and incredibly powerful. I have been going through some of the worst
emotional issues I have ever had to deal with the past few months. Things in my
life have just been more than I can bear. There are many times I have checked
out and I have even started working with a therapist to get past it all.
However there is something to be said about the power of sacred dance and a
group of women who actually want to see you succeed. There was homework for
this class and I worked on it during the long drive up to Seattle. I knew I
needed this class, and I knew I needed the ritual even more. I even did all my
homework before class and prepared a list of things I needed to manifest in my
life folded up into a little charm. The things I wanted and needed to banish
were easy and those were written on a flash paper and went out of my life in a
flash and pop!
The dance ritual began and
we stood in a circle and we copied Arties motions as a group and later formed
into a spiral dance and then a snake dance. We weaved through the gates of
death, I thought that she chosen 2 of the girls based on the fact they were
both wearing shirts that were ribcage and skeletons. Later I we found out it
was a happy accident. They raised their hands and we went under them and as I
went under seeing these white bones standing out against black cloth and dimmed
lights it was as if I was descending to the underworld through the gates of death
into Persephone’s domain. We spiraled and snaked through the room even more
until the music changed. We charged and danced around the central flame
sometimes leaping over it, and sometimes cleansing our yoni and root with the
heat of the flame. Then we focused on the purge, we purged, we stomped, we
screamed, and we grunted. Tears flowed down my cheeks but no sobs. The trials
of the past 2 months and the spring were brought to the forefront and I
surrendered them to Persephone, I called her name, whispered love and devotion
and pleaded for her help and understanding. I charged my flash paper with
specific names, thoughts and emotions and danced, blew my breath and later lit
the flash paper and for the final time banished this from my life. We danced
some more and blessed what we wanted to manifest. We danced more through the
songs, raising energy, purging energy and focusing on change. The final song
came and we all laid down, the feelings, purge, energy and rush of emotions
caught up with me laying there in the dark. The tears fell down my cheeks, and
then the sobs began, I had my cardigan close and so I threw it over my face and
suffocated my sobs so not to disturb others. However this was slightly silly as
there wasn’t very many dry eyes in the room and my sobs were not the loudest. I
was so thankful for the sobs from behind me, I don’t know who they were from
but I was so thankful that someone else was just as leaky and sobby as I was.
We really worked for change in that room and many of us got what we needed. It
is my hope that the work I did today will continue to manifest in my life and
the lives of those that need it. I know for the first time in a long time my
mind is clear, I am feeling like my heart is lighter with less burden and less
worry.
After class I grabbed a new
shirt and found a shell treasure over at Anaar’s table. There was also a snake
necklace and mink bone earrings that I am drooling over and really wish that I
could get! I also got to see the lovely Suzanne and spend some time with Deja
who I have missed so much since I left Arizona. It was wonderful to see her
with her beautiful mermaid hair and lovely energy.
 |
| My new shirt and shell! |
Day 2
Day 2 was a shorter day as I
ended my class’s right about noon. I took Ritual E'motion with Anaar and Evoke
Invoke with Tempest. Both classes were more about deliberate movement than history
or spirituality. I really enjoyed these classes!
Ritual E'motion with Anaar
Anaar spoke of setting the
state with visualization to match your performance theme. So if your piece is
about spiders visually landscape the stage with webs and then act as if you are
moving through them. This was quite profound for me because I tend to fear the
stage and feel as if I am often dancing in a giant black box. I really loved
this idea and will be using visualization for stage setting in the future. We
worked through several exercises in this class focusing on different exits and
entrances through different visual landscapes. We then transformed ordinary
pocket items, a cup, pen, crumpled paper into magical props and danced with
them as well.
Evoke and Invoke with Tempest
Evoke and Invoke with
Tempest was also wonderful. It was great
to dance next to my friend and also amazing teacher
Inanna la Fae
in this workshop. Tempest was a delight to study with. Her teaching style and imagery
of "wall kittens, sky bunnies, and floor ferrets" will be stuck in my
head for years to come and I will always remember to pet my wall kittens when
dancing! Tempest defined Evoke as "Working with elementals and similar
types of energies" I noted this was like "social spirit work"
she defined Invoke as "to pull into yourself, or being ridden" I made
notes that this was the same as ritual possession, or hedge riding. We then
worked on expressing the elements through our bodies expressing water in our
hips, fire with shimmies, air with the heart and earth with the feet. She
focused on foot work for quite a while. This was not a new concept to me, but
it was a great reminder to pay attention to my feet, the way they are placed
and how they feel on the ground. It is strange how something so simple could be
profound, but it was and for that I am grateful.
Waking Persephone was a
weekend festival, as it was my first time attending and I was low on funds and
energy I only selected 4 classes to take. I missed the community round table,
the after party and the show, but overall it was a wonderful experience and
next year I will be getting the whole pomegranate!
As many of you know I have been keeping different aspects of myself
separate for a while. I am now working on moving many of my websites to
blogs and now run a professional portfolio of my work at
www.AnnwynAvalon.com. When I originally named my business Magic Mehndi I
always had the intent of focusing on henna as a magical tool. I have
always been fascinated with symbology and line art and how that
translates into magic.
Lets
start with a little background on me. I had my first encounter with
henna at a cultural fair when I was 12. The ladies that were slinging
henna that day places a squiggle blob on my hand and I was hooked! It
wasn't until my late teens that I was introduced to the art of Mehndi.
(Mehndi is the name for the art work produced by henna paste) I tinkered
with pre-made kits that I found at the local import shop but was never
satisfied with the results. Several years later I found myself living in
Japan. I was really focused on dance then but managed to find a teacher
close to my dance studio! I took several classes from her learning how
to mix paste, sift, and create basic lines and motifs. I moved back to
the states and lived in North Carolina for 3 years. During this time I
got my feet wet as a professional henna artist, offering henna out of a
local Yoga studio and with several private clients. When I arrived in
Arizona 4 years ago I began to henna at festivals right away. It wasn't
too long I was working yearly gigs at the library, SCA events and
regular corporate events. Now living in Oregon I find myself very
conscious of my art, what I am hennaing and on who and I look forward to
making magic with Mehndi! 
The beautiful back piece above is a memorial piece for this
client. Her mother has just passed away and she wanted to remember her
at this event. She requested water and fuchsia which reminded her of her
mother. To the left is a really common design that will end up having
its own blog. The Triquetra, pentagram, triskele, and goddess symbols
are often requested to be incorporated into a design. Many times because
it has significant meaning to the person. Finally below is a design
that is influences by Moroccan henna designs. Adding a few personal
elements such as the crescent moons. Henna and tattoo art is used widely
in Morocco especially by the Berber women, they henna or tattoo
protection symbols around their eyes, nose, mouth and ears to keep evil
spirits from possessing them. They also use henna to protect from the
curse of the evil eye.
For the start of 2016 I have decided to create a sigil for
new beginnings. I used the Theban alphabet with some creative flow to create a power
sigil. After I had charged and activated it, I decided that I really wanted to
put it into a henna design. 2015 was a rough year, full of transitions and
death like energy. I wanted to counteract the death of last year with a bright
flaming design! I wanted there to be warmth and sunshine, new beginnings and
growth expressed in a design and to start the year of right! So I thought that
a Sun would perfectly represent that. I created the sun motif around the new beginnings
sigil surrounding it with the power of the sun and flame. I chose to add spirals
to symbolize the ever turning spiral nature, of always going back to the
beginning and deepening our practice. Being a child of the Water I also wanted
to represent my watery nature and the spiral shape of the nautilus. When the
design was finished I knew there was one element missing, the flickering flames
of the sun. So I chose to shade in a rough manner behind the sun like petals of
the blooming sigil to represent the flames flickering off the sun and to ignite
the sigil! This is also a perfect motif to celebrate the coming of spring and
the Feast of Brigid in February. 
