At the beginning of August was our annual summer camp, held in a wonderful part of the country next to ancient woodland and a clear, babbling stream, where swallows swooped and circled us as we walked between our tents and red kites hovered overhead, searching for the tiniest of movement on the ground.

It's always a very powerful and magical space and this year was no different. In fact there were less of us than last year - mostly due to clashes with other pagan events - but it was no less magical!

As I was doing site crew before and after the main camp, plus coordinating the cafe which offers vegan evening meals to all campers that want one, I had plenty to do but was lucky to be staying on-site for a total of 17 nights! It was blissful to be away from the 'mundane' world for so long and in the company of magic-workers, shamans, witches and so many people with unique, diverse and wonderful paths. Although our paths, work and approaches may be different, we all come together under the word 'queer' where we can fully express ourselves without the often experienced ridicule, prejudice or intolerance. Nowhere else I have ever experienced in my life is more packed with love, friendship, care, laughter and magic!

The highlights for me (or at least the highlights I'm going to tell you about - you'll have to come to the camp to really find out!) were the Hermaphrodeities Ritual that five of us put together (I'm going to write another post about this). Although it may not have happened entirely as we'd initially planned, it certainly was powerful and you can never really tell what will happen when deities start manifesting! Also, sitting around the large fire, watching a huge lunar halo was another stunning moment as was trance dance, where I drummed and floated around the space! But all in all it was a camp of wild places, laughter, rejuvenation and freedom!

Roll on next year, and in the meanwhile; we now have Samhain Camp, Yule Gathering, Drum Camp and Beltane Camp to keep us going!