Crafting Magic (and Magic Crafting) with Reclaiming Scotia

Last fall, I began to go to the monthly socials put on by Reclaiming Scotia, the local chapter of the Reclaiming Collective.

One of the things we talked about at the socials was that Reclaiming Scotia had been asked to present the late afternoon ritual at this spring's Pagan Federation Scotland Conference, and who wanted to be involved in ritual planning and in doing the ritual?  And, what would the ritual be? 

I didn't particularly expect to be part of the planning or presentation -- I was so new, for one, and I wasn't even sure I was going to the Conference, even though it's only one day and it's here in Edinburgh -- but over time, I found myself first drawn into conversation, and then actively involved.  

And this has been a delightful, growthful, and deeply satisfying experience.

I love crafting magic.  And I am loving working with these particular people, individually, and all of us together.

Every single one of us has brought something this event wouldn't have had if that person wasn't part of this.  Every single one of us brings wisdom.  Every single one of us has knowledge and experience the others don't, and every single one of us respects and honors the others' experience.  This has been just wonderful for me. 

This interweaving, this whole-greater-than-the-sum, this collective creativity, this everyone-bringing-something-essential, has happened over and over -- from initial brainstorming; to discerning the big-picture concepts of what we want to offer in this experience; to determining finicky details like what to bring and who needs to be where, when; to buying craft supplies; to just about everything in our crafting afternoon last weekend when we made the ribbon wands we're going to use at the Conference ritual. 

This is not the ritual any of us would have planned ourselves.  These are not the wands any of us would have made ourselves.  And that's been a delight, because that's one of the things Reclaiming Tradition does best, at its best: working collectively. 

I have no idea how people will respond to the experience we are offering them.  We are preparing a container where people will have the opportunity to encounter Mystery; we're not actually in charge of what happens.  Based on 20-odd years of experience, some will think it's fabulous, and some will think it's awful, and some will be in between.  :)

No matter what other people's reactions, the process itself, the experience so far, has been magical and a blessing for me.

This brings me joy.  

Thank You, She-Who-Is; thank You, Hecate, Aengus, Bridhe; thank you, E, S, J, S; thank You, Spirits of Place.

Blessed be!