This was my first trip to the lovely state of Iowa. The wonderful people from IPAN invited me to give workshops and do a pre-release reading from my upcoming book Aidan’s First Full Moon Circle (available at Magical Child Books for pre-order), at their annual Iowa Lammas Fest held in a cozy little camping area in the Cottonwood Reservoir in Coralville, Iowa. The event went from Friday Aug 3 at noon through Sunday Aug 5 until noon. A ritual was held each day, there were lots of workshops given on Saturday, and musical performances for the evening’s entertainment. and of course the wonderful vendors with an assortment of wares for attendees’ shopping pleasure.

The workshops I gave were called:

• Crafting the Children’s Circle which was scheduled at 9:30 am and lightly attended. My husband tells me if I offered hot coffe along with the workshop in my early morning appearances, I’ll have better attendance. I’ll have to fugire out how to make a coffee pot work without electricity, since I haven’t mastered that trick quite yet.
• Bringing Ritual into your Everyday the second workshop was better attended. People are actually awake in mid afternoon. We had a very spirited discussion on what ritual is and how to move from a mundane place to a more spiritual one in our daily activities.
• Late afternoon brought the reading from Aidan’s First Full Moon Circle. Since the book is not yet done, I read from the art I am preparing for publication. All the kids under Jr. High age attended. From their reaction, I am confident that Aidan will be a big hit with kids when it is released.

I had a great time at Lammas Fest and hope to be invited back sometime in the future. I highly recommend this event for your first foray into the world of Pagan retreats. It is rather intimate, has a secure campground close to civilization while still being remote enough for a private feel. The three day event was perfect for celebrating the first of the Harvest Sabbats and a great way to end the summer events for me.

My next appearance is scheduled for September 25th at the 10th Annual Pagan Pride Day to be held at Woodland Park in Portage, Indiana from 11am to 5 pm.