Earthsong 2017

By Carrie

I place frankincense on the altars as offering…

I’m just going to say. Earthsong 2017 was an experience that I wouldn’t have missed. I say this every year and each year it is true for different reasons. This year we worked with an Egyptian myth cycle. We invoked Isis, Osiris, Horus and Set. I volunteered to serve the temple this year and my tasks ranged from setting up altars to sweeping the floor. I was privileged to attend the role with another Reclaiming Witch and friend and found it to be a grounding act of service.

Earthsong WitchCamp is held in the Reclaiming tradition. It is ecstatic and entirely non hierarchical and has activist roots. Reclaiming Witches adhere to the Principles of Unity but generally impose few other requirements. Campers attending Earthsong take part in a Path. Paths offered depend on the myth cycle being worked with as well as the teaching team for the Camp. Path is my absolute favourite part of Camp without question. In fact the sole reason I attended Camp this year was to take the advanced path- Pearl Pentacle with the teaching team offering it. Pearl Pentacle is a tool that comes to Reclaiming from Anderson Feri. Earthsong has been honored and blessed by the gifts of so many exceptional experienced teachers across the years and this year was certainly no exception. I find that I am working with the tools, techniques and knowledge long after Camp is over.

With the exception of one night each night of Camp involves a ritual. This year I found the nightly rituals to be a moving arc of grace and beauty. They were priestessed by Witches of considerable strength and experience and skill. I personally found that the rituals added a great deal to my Camp experience.

I was blown away by the strong and demonstrated sense of community that was shown at this years Camp particularly. I’m assisting with organising the Camp for 2018 and I can only hope that this continues next year because the inclusiveness and enthusiasm was so wonderful to witness.

When I attended my first Camp a couple of years ago I was told that they were nothing less than life transforming acts of magic. This years Camp experience as well as my ongoing work with Reclaiming has shown that to be completely and absolutely true. I would encourage anyone curious about Reclaiming to give themselves the gift of experiencing a WitchCamp.