Fires of Venus 2011

Fires of Venus 2011

Fires of Venus is a unique in the pagan community. It is a festival devoted to one deity, and, since Venus is all about Love and Sex, those things are included in large measures as well. This festival consists of a ritual that spans three nights built around the idea of fire circles. You know, those pagan festival events where a bunch of dancers cavort around a huge bonfire to drumming? The work of the ritual shifts somewhat from night to night and year to year, but always involves loving better, removing the barriers to love, and becoming closer to Venus and to love. It is always intense -- the most intense, most personal spiritual work I’ve ever done. It takes place in a campground in Maryland that I go to for several other events, including FSG. It’s cabin camping with hot showers, flush toilets, a dining hall, lots of indoor event space, and lots of woods.

I’m a priest of Aphrodite. I haven’t quite pinpointed what Venus is to me. Is She Aphrodite under a different name? Is She a sister or cousin of Aphrodite? Essentially, are there one or two individuals involved? I’ve decided it doesn’t matter. As long as the work and insights I gain pertain to my own Path of Love, then it doesn’t matter. I devote myself to Venus for the duration of the festival and then continue afterward with Aphrodite as my patroness.

This year’s Fires was amazing on multiple levels, as usual. Spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, sexual, friendships, lovers, community. Last year, I was an assistant Keeper, part of the ritual staff. This year I was an attendee, and therefore had no extra duties or  meetings to attend, other than those I wanted to go to as part of the ritual process. This meant that I could fully engage in the work of the festival, and also that I had more time to rest.

Last year, my wife, G, and I arrived just as the Thursday ritual was starting. I had duties in the Temple of Surrender, but G was overwhelmed by the transition from mundane to ritual and had to retreat to her cabin for awhile. This year I arrived on Wednesday night, so I had all day Thursday to settle into the festival.

G couldn’t attend this year, because of her daycare business. I spent the weekend with a long-distance lover, D. It was the longest we had ever spent together, and we really got close.

Master of Ceremonies and high priest of the rituals in the past was ill and could not attend until Saturday night, and then only a little. The rest of the ritual staff made adjustments and took turns performing the role. Everything worked wonderfully.

When you sign up for the festival, you choose a tribe to join. The tribes are associated with the various aspects of the ritual. I was in the Surrender tribe again this year. In this context, Surrender has a distinct BDSM flavor. I decided that Surrender was the best choice for me, because I surrender to Venus and Love at this festival and in my life, and I also have a knack for helping others surrender as well.

Some highlights of the festival for me:

• Being at the camp is like coming home for me. I’ve been coming once a year for ten years, and recently started coming an additional two times a year.
• Sleeping late in the morning. Breakfast at the dining hall is scheduled late (945a to 1045a), since most of the hard work takes place from 9pm to 3am. Few classes are scheduled in the morning too. The coordinatrix is good to us poor late-night wretches.
• The food in the dining hall was pretty good. Buying our dinners meant we had more time for resting and hanging out.
• The Chrysalis, a pallet wrap mummification with caterpillar-to-butterfly guided meditation done in the Surrender Tribe on Thursday. I helped wrap several people up, since I have experience doing it. I also got my hands bound over my heart. Through the meditation, I set forth my intentions for the festival and the work with Love and Venus ahead.
• Crying at some point in every ritual through the weekend, even the ten-minute closing ritual. This indicates both how deep the work was.
• Take a Risk -- Thursday’s ritual. The randomly distributed Risk I got was not a big challenge for me. “Go to the Gratitude Zone in front of the drummers and have an orgasm, either real or Meg Ryan-style.” I went to the zone and shouted “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” after suitable warm-up moaning. So, since it wasn’t a difficult task for me, later a bigger risk presented itself. Suffice it to say that I’m usually not an exhibitionist. I jumped in with both feet.
• The Fire Circles. A few years ago, fire circles were only somewhat interesting to me, mostly for watching naked tits people bouncing around the flames. I wasn’t comfortable dancing or drumming. Since then, I stopped judging myself, and started dancing like no one was watching. I love dancing around the fire now. I often do it till I’m exhausted. This has bled into mundane life and dancing in clubs.
• Naps. The schedule contains an hour of Quiet Time before a late dinner. D was busy with Keeper duties during this time, so I often went to sleep to be well-rested for the evening’s activities.
• Taking a Breath - Friday’s ritual. This ritual was an excellent breathing meditation that energized the chakras. Working our way up from the root to the crown, with drumming and rattles, incense, and Aurora’s wonderful voice. I was energized, and Venus came to me.
• Kissing the Keeper of the temple of Affection. Mmmmm.
• Having the time to reconnect with a bunch of my long-distance friends that I don’t see enough.
• Making several new friends. I got a ride to the airport from one couple from Nebraska that I later discovered knows my other friends from KC. I got to know someone I had met at FSG, but had no time to talk to at that event.