Witchcamp – Into The Woods We go

Morning fog clings to bright green ferns, kissing mushrooms and banana slugs. Ravens overhead caw and click as they effortlessly navigate their way between bay trees and redwoods. The smell of last night’s bonfire still perfumes the air and the memory of a hundred witches chanting, dancing, drumming, thrumming and joining together to create incredibly potent magic comes flooding back in. Soon, those same witches will gather for breakfast in a rustic dining hall – some bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, some wide-eyed as they take in the magic. Later in the day they’ll work magic in small groups, make music, create intentions, plan rituals, laugh and cry and witness and support and revel in the knowledge that they are not alone in the world. My community does exist, it just takes meeting in the woods.

For almost a decade we’ve headed up to the Mendocino coast and turned inland toward the majestic redwood forest to meet with our witch-kin at California Witchcamp. Witchcamps happen all over the world, but the one in California is a seven day, intensive magical practice. We eat amazing healthy vegetarian food that is sustainably sourced and prepared with great love and attention. We sleep in tents or cabins or in the stumps of giant redwoods. We engage with all of the beings of the forest; green-bloods and red-bloods and those fae things that we only notice when we’re still. We recharge our weary souls. We offer support. We receive support. And we come back (sometimes begrudgingly) to the everyday world ready to raise our voices for the causes we believe in.

Phoenix: A Witchcamp is a retreat unlike any other. There are plenty of Pagan gatherings, conventions, celebrations, camping trips, and so on, but a Witchcamp is something different. Each camp works under the umbrella of a specific myth or story; Baba Yaga, Odin, Dionysus, Alice in Wonderland, and through the telling of these stories and entering into the mythic realms of the Gods we learn about our inner selves and how to become more effective human beings. The length and intensity of a Witchcamp allows us to go deeper; all human needs are taken care of for us, we don’t have to worry about who is making dinner, who will wash up, paying the bills, feeding the dogs, none of life’s daily concerns are present, only me.

Gwion: I’ve been on many retreats in my lifetime. Nothing compares to witchcamp. It’s equal parts community gathering, deep ritual, academic and experiential learning and magic. I learn (and teach) devotional practices to the gods and goddesses. I get to sit and talk with people from all walks of life that are engaged in real and visceral  ways of changing the world. People that work every day to make this planet better for our children and those that will come after us. People of colour, queer folk, trans folk, polytheists, activists, witches of every stripe and new witches too. All sharing their life experience together. It is simply stunning and humbling and amazing.

Phoenix:There is no better way to unplug from the world as well. There is no wireless network, no cellphone reception, no way to connect to my regular flow of life. This is a really challenging part of the camp experience for me. I am really plugged in and sometimes I use that plugged in way of being as a means of escaping the things that I don’t want to deal with or are unable to process. At camp those distractions fall away and I am left with only me. There isn’t anything to drown out the things I don’t want to see and I find myself coming home each year with a deeper understanding of who I am.

Gwion: The thing about witch camp that is hard to explain is this sense of coming home. The rocks and land, the ritual circle, the ravens and the trees, they are all so familiar. Each time I get to Witchcamp, I’m reminded of the year I was working on becoming a student teacher, or the year I completed my initiation or the year that I faced a particular fear or finally understood that piece of magic. No two years are ever the same and yet there is a lovely continuity even as everything changes.

This year the myth we’ll be working with is Baba Yaga and Vasilisa. We will be deep in the forest, with a chicken footed hut, flaming skulls, a magical poppet, and maybe if we are lucky a mysterious rider or three. And really, what could be more witchy than that?

Note: Photos are from our personal stash and from mendocinowoodlands.org, The Vasilisa picture is from the wikipedia commons

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