The
Eclectic Coven of Red Mountain

Coven
Travels
Merry Meet
2001
by Lycia
Acting as ECRM's representative, I
attended the Covenant of the Goddess Merry Meet 2001 festival in Dallas,
Texas on August 24-26th. The
Covenant of the
Goddess, one of the largest and oldest religious organizations for
witches, has members in North America, Europe and Australia. Merry Meet is
The Covenant's annual national conference. This is ECRM's second year to
attend.
The workshops I enjoyed included a
lively session on handfastings, a candle making workshop, and a discussion
of Ellen C. Friedman's As Above, So Below: A System of Value-based
Ethics for Wiccan Clergy. I also sat in on some of the Grand Council
meetings and delivered ECRM's contribution to the silent auction
fundraiser for the Covenant of the Goddess national fund -- a basket of
handcrafted and blessed Samhain Soaps.
Saturday night's ritual, presented by
the American Tradition of the Goddess, was an elaborate masque titled "The
13th Goddess." The ritual was followed by the T-Dance and Talent Showcase.
For the talent show, I did a short retelling of the corn mother story I
had prepared for Lughnasa (see "The Corn Woman's Blessings" on our Mythology
page).
I met a number of interesting people
during the extended weekend (including a nice witch from Roswell, New
Mexico, who offered to show us the real crash site when we're in town). I
also heard about Cherry Hill Seminary, a Pagan seminary offering classes
in pastoral counseling. The weekend ended, ironically, with a storm that
kept me stranded at the Houston airport for most of Sunday (where I had a
statue of George Bush to keep me company). Still, the trip was worth it,
and I'm looking forward to next year!