PDX Pagan Pride and thoughts on disconnect.

A few days ago I briefly attended the Pagan Pride festival down by the river. I had planned on getting in on the workshop that Lupa from Therioshamanism was doing, on Bioregional Totemism, but I arrived a bit too late due to a bus kerfuffle. So, I ended up walking around the vendors a bit. It was neat to see Acorn Guild Press there!

I stumbled upon some nice evil eye beads. I only had three bucks on me, so that's what I ended up spending it on. I hope to put them to good use soon. I've had a couple of projects stewing in my brain.

I was alone and didn't know a soul there, so, I made my way back down by the river. It seemed better than crowds of people. I had no idea there was a beach area on the Willamette in that part of Portland. I sat for a bit in the sun, it was somewhat relaxing, there were quite a few people about and a particularly rowdy bunch of teens. It was nice to check out, but I ended up leaving sooner than I thought I would.

But, to get to this disconnect...

I was riding the train before I hopped the bus to the Fest gathering, thing. And, a honeybee managed to find its way into the area I was sitting, which was filled with about 20 other people. Everyone literally freaked the fuck out. They kept swatting as she flew around confused and they moved, like a scared herd of bovines. I told them it was a honeybee, and if left alone and not swatted at, she would remain quite docile (to which a few people shot me 'WTF is wrong with you' looks). She finally calmed down and settled on the window pane of the train. Before I could even open my mouth a man ripped his hat off and beat her off the window. She fell on the ground and he threw in a few more swats just to make sure she was good and dead. Fellow passengers thanked him for the removal of this supposed horrid pest. I shot daggers into his back. He spent the remainder of the ride, boasting... boasting that he killed a bee. How small does your dick have to be dude? A bee.

I sat quietly, a little heart broken and unable to comprehend his actions. Bees are quite sacred to me. They frequent my home, and they always strike such wonder in my heart when I see them. Little pollinators, providing us with fruits and vegetables, nuts and their own golden honey, fragrant wax, pollen, propolis... Sacred, magic things, in my eyes. How could you not have the utmost respect for these little creatures? If you eat any amount of fruit, vegetable, nut, seed, you have them to thank. Did any of these people on the train with me, think about it like that? I don't think so. The ferocity with which that man killed that bee was shocking to me. She was harmless. Nature is a pest to them, invasive. This crawling, buzzing thing that invades their precious little plastic bubbles. It makes them uncomfortable. A life I cannot imagine.

Kitchen visitor,

She buzzed drunkenly into a spiderweb in my kitchen window, I helped untangle her.

She is sitting quietly, even now, on the ledge of my window.

I still wonder why they seek me out. I haven't figured that out yet.

Honey bee encounters,

(work of Rachel Lattimore)

I keep finding honey bees on the sidewalk, usually dazed and walking in circles. I offer them my finger for a ride to a safe place so that they don't get stepped on. They'll sit on my finger, cleaning their little antennae before buzzing off into the sky. I had the pleasure of walking with one for a couple of blocks once! They'll fly up on my kitchen window to peek in on me and occasionally fly into the house and I'll have to shoo away the cats before they try to eat them.

We have so much to thank them for.

Once I've done a bit more personal research, I'd like to dedicate a day or few days even, to honor the bee and her tireless labor.

Solstice and some stuff,

I didn't have much planned for the solstice. A few days before hand, I decided it would be a good idea to leave offerings at the stream and bathe my Hekate plaque and my newly acquired statue of Artemis. So that's what I did. I read hymns and talked to the spirits of the stream and local woods. Left crystallized honey, my best pink lady apple and borage flowers. I lit up a tiny bit of tobacco as well. Daises were everywhere and so were the blazing foxgloves. It was a lovely day.

I also harvested the tallest grasses in the yard, to make a hand broom. I cut back the lemon balm and harvested tons of it. I want to use part of it in a tincture of perfumers alcohol - I am going to be experimenting in making botanical perfume for ritual use. I'm really into the idea of slow brewing alcohol based perfumes, the possibilities are endless.

The bees have been hard at work in the raspberry patch. All the flowers are now small little fruits, getting a little bit more plump everyday. It should go without saying that the first harvest is for offerings only, after that, I will be fucking drowning in raspberries!

Thank you sweet little bees, without you, we would not have such lovely and sweet things to eat.

Tomorrow I go to Eugene. The man and I are thinking about relocating there, actually, we are going to be relocating there - sometime in the future. We both rather prefer living in college towns (we met in a college town actually) they have a unique current that runs through them. We also dislike living in hipster central.