Hello witches and beautiful souls
I find myself stood at this pc not knowing what to type! This summer has been fantastically busy and rich with wholesome experiences, sea swimming, penny falls, forest stays, video games, but zero witching. We have just not had the time. This summer has been mostly camping at Pagan and spiritual festivals, in our big 5 meter psychedelic bell tent. There has been witching in terms of rituals, so I realise I haven’t been totally starved of magic, I probably would be more stressed out if that had been the case.
The first one was Oakleaf, a festival we go to every year. It is so good! Small, friendly and fun. This time I had a little stall of witchy swag and offered reiki healing in a borrowed tent. It was all new territory for me as I had my two daughters with me and relied heavily on friends and other kids to keep my two entertained for my 30 minute treatments. I learned a lot for the next festival, which was the Northern Green Gathering. Completely different to Oak Leaf, but still wonderful. Flossy got a bit fed up that I couldn’t be away from the tent for too long, bless her, but in terms of other kids and child friendly activities it was brilliant. My girls made lots of new friends, got dirty, and their imagination grew wildly as they created a house by a fallen tree and a fishing lake. They became wild children again, and that’s a big reason we camp at the places we do. They don’t get the freedom we got, in most cases, with playing outside. In the old days I was playing out with other kids till dusk, coming back muddy and full of ideas to dream about that night. I often mourn this magic for today’s children, and a way I can give my witchlings something like that experience is via camping.
The last camp of the season however was very different. What I would call ‘mainstream camping’ in a very clean and organised campsite called Flower of May near Scarborough. It’s amazing how different it was, I had forgotten what mainstream camping was like, a bit of a shock to the system actually. My girls were so excited to have an extra camp with their Daddy, who doesn’t come out with us so much due to a capitalist society chaining him to a desk 5 days a week, sometimes weekends too (I am not bitter about it honestly). This place had been on my wishlist since before lockdown (and before Pagan camping began) so I was excited too. Showers, pot washing stations and clean WCS are upper class to us now. There was a bar with live entertainment nobody was interested in, a tiny arcade hall and a swimming pool (big win). What’s not to like? The camp was solitary in social theme, families came in big groups and didn’t talk to neighbouring tents, and I was shocked how unfriendly some seemed to be. At times I forgot I was in Yorkshire, shocking!
It was bizarre, but the hardest part to see was the lack of camp friends my girls made, not for want of trying. Kids just didn’t mix there, they stayed away from other children, glued to their screens. Flossy thought she had made a friend briefly, but then got hurt when the new friend wasn’t interested in knowing her anymore. I found this quite challenging as a parent. To explain that this was a completely different social dynamic to our usual witchy camps, one that even took me by surprise. I was shocked how even the adults avoided my ‘good mornings’. I was falling into the trap of presuming they were very unfriendly, perhaps even a bit judgy. I had to remind myself that you never presume what others think, as it will be wrong and do you no good. Trying to explain this to an 8 and 5 year old that take everything to heart was a test.
We did have a good time, and the weather was glorious, waking up to sunshine every morning was a blessing. I swam in the sea with them often and we collected shells, built sandcastles and saw plenty of wildlife. A toad and a vole passed by our tent. However, the disregard for the environment and littering we saw did become upsetting.
I am now aware that I kind of mis-sold the idea of camping to my kids, taking for granted that the general camping community is similar to the Pagan community, which sadly in this experience is not the case. The difference didn't suit us, so we will stick to our Pagan camping from now on if we can.
Swailes the Friendly Green Witch https://linktr.ee/friendlygreenwitch
Listen to The Bell Witch Podcast. Available wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Flossy has also released her first podcast- The Adventures of Lilly Thystle & her Flower Dargon. Please listen to this bedtime story and leave her some stars!
By Emma Swailes
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