Mystical Musings

Hallowed Homecoming: A Samhain Retreat in the Forest

Season 3 Episode 3

This episode of Mystical Musings features a conversation about the upcoming Hallowed Homecoming Pagan retreat near Triangle, Virginia, featuring two of its staff members, Rayne and Frank. They discuss the event’s history, format, and unique features, including workshops, rituals, and the inclusive, community-focused environment. The retreat, held in Prince William Forest Park, offers multiple types of accommodations, caters to various dietary needs, and encourages a full weekend experience from Thursday to Sunday. The theme for this year's retreat is 'Embracing the Darkness,' with a focus on deepening participants' relationships with autumn energies and the spirit of Samhain. Notable aspects of the event include diverse workshops, heartfelt rituals, and a compassionate, welcoming atmosphere. The discussion also touches on the offering of day passes, the importance of community involvement, and the devoted work of the kitchen witches. The video ends with an inviting message encouraging viewers to join the retreat and experience its unique blend of spiritual connection and community bonding.

Hallowed Homecoming Registration: https://hallowedhomecoming.com/2025-embracing-the-darkness/

Prince William Forest Park: https://www.nps.gov/prwi/index.htm

Thank you joining us today, remember to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to keep up to date with your tribe.


Connect with your Hosts!

Tava Baird: tavabaird.com or https://darkflowerbooks.etsy.com.

Jennifer Taylor: Willow Ridge Reiki and Healing Arts https://www.willowridgereiki.com/


Jennifer Taylor: [00:00:00] 

Tava Baird: Hello, Jennifer Taylor. 

Jennifer Taylor: Hello, Tava Baird. 

Tava Baird: Woo. What a week it is. We are getting ready to down Pagan pride in Fredericksburg, Virginia this weekend. And I'm so excited because there's gonna be some good friends of mine there and, uh, of the people from Hallowed Homecoming.

And we have two of the hallowed Homecoming staff members on the podcast with us today. Their names are Rain and Frank, and they're gonna tell us all about this phenomenal pagan retreat that is happening this November. And, um, we'll just dive right in. It's sort of a late. Fall summer camp for pagans to celebrate the coming darkness of the winter and Soen, and it's just all kinds of wonderful.

But before we do that, uh, Jen, would you mind putting us into a [00:01:00] nice head space for our conversation? 

Jennifer Taylor: Absolutely. I bring in the energy that's just right for this conversation today and invite Michael and Samael as always to offer their voices in preparation. 

Who,

who.

Who.[00:02:00] [00:03:00] [00:04:00] 

No.[00:05:00] [00:06:00] 

Tava Baird: Oh boy. Did I need that Thank you so much, Jen. I really appreciate it. 

Jennifer Taylor: Thank you. It was good for me as well. I need to spend some more time in that space today, I think. 

Tava Baird: Yeah. I do have a few words from Samuel for us. Um, here is [00:07:00] what he had to say during your song. In troubled times when all seems focused on destruction, there is often a sense of hopelessness, feeling that one person.

Cannot divert the avalanche or prevent the drowning. What can I do? You ask? 

 I can't turn away. Where do I place myself? Where do I make my stand to do the most good in the community, Shaah in the community. And if you do not have one, you build one. Those who crave power wish you isolated.

Isolation breeds fear. Fear keeps them in control. So get to work children, roll up your sleeves and reach out your hands. What is it that people need? What can you [00:08:00] do to share when it seems there is no refuge, become one and watch joy and your own power grow.

Jennifer Taylor: Wow. Thank you Sam. I think that's what a lot of us needed to hear right now. 

Tava Baird: I feel like we haven't podcasted in forever and it seems like so much has happened in the last few weeks. it's good to hear about community. And speaking of community, we would like to welcome Rain and Frank. From Hallowed Homecoming.

I know a lot of you who listen to the podcast have been very interested in this event that's coming up. and I know I don't ever seem to shut up about it. So now you'll get to hear probably in a much more eloquent and graceful way all about hallowed Homecoming from our lovely [00:09:00] guests today. Thank you so much guys for joining us.

We really appreciate it. 

Rayne: Thank you for having us. 

Tava Baird: So if we start at the beginning, what is Hallowed Homecoming? 

Rayne: Frank, do you wanna take that one? Since you've been there from its inception?

Frank Stormchaser: so, uh, Hallat Homecoming started back in 2015. When a bunch of folks in the Northern Virginia Pagan community got to talking and said, you know, we really don't have a sound event. We've got a really good Beltane event, which is fertile ground gathering. and there's a great, for lack of a better term academic event known as sacred space that happens each spring, but we really don't have a silent event.

And so we're like, we should do something about that. [00:10:00] And, with a lot of good intentions, hope, stubbornness and plain old blotting, this, we've been going for, it'll be 11 years this year. 

Tava Baird: Wow. And is, has it been held in the same place? I know I've been there previously, but I don't know. Has it been held in the same place the entire time?

Frank Stormchaser: It is been held in the same park, which is Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia. However, when we started the event, we were in camp two, also known as Mavi. for those who go to Fertile Ground Gathering, it's the same camp that they use. And we were there for a number of years. And, then, one year, in fact, it was the second year after COVID, that would've been 2022, I think.

 our dates had been snapped up by the park for one of their internal events for [00:11:00] that camp. So we're like, well, what the heck are we gonna do? And, we knew about Camp Five, which is the one right next door to Camp two, and Camp Five is known as Happy Land. And, we'd been told that, oh, they've got bunkhouses.

And we had this awful image of like just a big open room with a bunch of cots along each wall and not very warm and inviting at all. So we never thought about it, but we're like, you know what? If we want to keep the same date range, we really need to check this out. So we go to look at the camp and we're like, we should have been here from the start there.

There bunk houses, sleep, 25 people, but they're in these cozy little four bunk cubicles where if you bring an extra sheet, you could have a lovely blanket fort and they have their own bathrooms and showers and it's just like, wow, we really should have been here. However, for the folks that do like the rustic cabins like you find over in camp too, there [00:12:00] are those available as well.

Uh, and there were just a bunch of other wind about the site, uh, one of them being.while it holds about the same number of people, it's not as large and it's on much more even ground. And since a lot of yours are demographic skews a little bit older, that's a huge plus. 

Tava Baird: I know with my bad knee, I very much like the, oh, you can get to everything on flat ground, fairly easily and not have to, go crepe, sing along with your wagon for a very long distance to get between events.

And speaking of events, so what's the format like, you come into camp and what happens to you? 

Frank Stormchaser: Okay. Rain your turn. 

Rayne: So I'll chime in and just tag a little onto what Frank just said about the campsites. I was at the first hallowed homecoming in 2015 and then I took a very long break and came back in, it was 2022 or 2023 when those [00:13:00] bunkhouses were available.

 because the first year it was, I mean, it's early November, it can get very cold at night. and I came wholly unprepared for how cold it was gonna be, even in a cabin. and I will admit it turned me off a little bit. I was so frigid the whole time. and so when those, bunkhouses became available, they're heated, they're comfy, they're cozy.

 I came right back. I was so excited by the event that I was like, I gotta get in here. this was my year to come back. and I've been back every year since. but as for the experience, I'll say, I've, so I got to see what that first year looked like. And I've seen the evolution now to years nine, 10, and now into 11.

Um, that there is so much, Learning to be done. I mean, you come in and yes, you have all your camp gear and, you get to meet all sorts of new people. and then you spend quality time in these workshops. I mean, there's something really [00:14:00] special about attending workshops out in nature. whether it's in a cabin space or some of these are done outdoors, for example, archery.

 there is a special level of peace I think, that you get a hallowed homecoming that, you can also take workshops at Sacred Space. I love Sacred Space Conference, but you are in a hotel, you're in a hotel conference room or what have you. and it's not, it doesn't have quite the same vibe. 

It's a series of workshops. you have options as to, how you want to cater your time. it's diverse. Whatever your pagan practice might look like. There are,plenty of options, for how you wanna tailor your learning experience. there's also a guest of honor, and we all get to participate in those workshops, which is great.

There's no conflicts. You never miss the guest of honor. and then we have rituals. And to me, ritual is there's no match for it when [00:15:00] done out in the woods like that. I vividly recall one year, main ritual being, genuinely outside, under the trees. And it was, Oh, it just gave me chills.

It was beautiful and wonderful. There's so much, passion and compassion behind the way that these rituals are, portrayed. And you get to have this experience of, I'm coming here to learn, but I'm coming here for true powerful ritual as well. And I'm coming here to make pagan friends that I might bump into at fertile ground or sacred space.

You likely will. and it becomes family. 

Jennifer Taylor: And how many days is this, like when you come and it, so it's obviously you're staying overnight. How long is this? This whole retreat? 

Rayne: It's Thursday through Sunday. 

Jennifer Taylor: Nice. Yeah. 

Tava Baird: Wonderful. You get day passes to it. I know there are sometimes people who wanna come for the day.[00:16:00] 

Rayne: I believe there are. or even just like weekend passes, Frank. 

Frank Stormchaser: I know for a fact that we do a day pass for the Saturday because that's usually the main day. That's when main ritual takes place, where, the big formal meal takes place, that sort of thing. I don't believe we have a weekend pass per se.

I think it's just either the whole event or the day passed for Saturday simply because that we're trying to encourage folks to be there for the entire experience. 

Rayne: we do start off the weekend with an opening ritual, that leads us into the main ritual on Saturday.

So you have Thursday ritual, or Friday Thursday ritual, Saturday main ritual. And then Sunday we have a closing ritual, that kind of ties everything together. So to Frank's point, it is very, encouraged that you're there to have that full, ritual arc experience. 

Jennifer Taylor: And I would assume also that, when somebody's there and they're there, for the whole time and [00:17:00] wanting to participate, thatthey can follow the flow of how they're feeling for that weekend of, you know, can they choose, all right, I'm going to attend certain things, or I'm also gonna go off and have some just personal sacred space to, to process what I just experienced in the last workshop or that kind of thing.

Rayne: Absolutely. that's something I love about this, it's when you need quiet time, you can get away. I absolutely need that time. And one of my favorite places to go is, we decorate a cabin as an altar space, a sort of sanctuary, with, places to meditate.the person who puts it together is just so gifted at creating all these altars, 

 for different purposes, different areas, whether it's a particular deity or pantheon or, nature spirits. and of course, an altar to, hail the travelers. And that's honestly one of my favorite places to disappear to. But you can also go back to your bunkhouse. You can go back to your cabin.

It's all very centrally located. It is very easy to pop in and out [00:18:00] when you need to. so if you're one of those people like me where you've done enough people for a hot minute and you need to take that step back, it is very available to you. 

Jennifer Taylor: I love the idea of having Antar Cabin where you can go.

That's just a sanctuary to get away or connect, you know? And. That's designated as I'm assuming, a quiet, sacred sort of space where people can go inward and connect and have those, all the different types of alters too to, be able to find that space that resonates with you.

Sounds really amazing. I,

Tava Baird: one of the things that I love about Hallowed Homecoming is, the inclusion and the diversity of it. you guys have had a lot of very different teachers over the years come in to be the special guest at different times. Frank, would you mind just listen up a couple who've been there in recent years that, some of our listeners might have [00:19:00] heard of.

I know more Telus was there last year.

Frank Stormchaser: yes. More tells was our,featured guest this past year, which was our 10th year. 

Rayne: Selena 

Frank Stormchaser: Fox. 

Tava Baird: Rain says Sel Fox. 

Frank Stormchaser: Yes. Thank you, Selena. Selena, who is an absolutely charming lady, uh, we've had Evo Dominguez, uh, Kirk White, Byron Ballard, Amy Blackthorn, Tempus Cro. Um, en book. En book was just, 

Tava Baird: oh en and our podcast listeners are familiar with En FFAs because En FFAs has been here on the podcast.

there's just phenomenal company at this thing. And the ritual every year is very different too. 

Jennifer Taylor: And I realize that, I don't think that we've mentioned that, 

Isn't Tava Baird the, uh, special guest this year? 

Frank Stormchaser: I, I heard a rumor to [00:20:00] that effect, you know, but you know, I don't listen to these things. 

Jennifer Taylor: Yeah, yeah. She's managed to sort of slip that under the radar as though she's just maybe gonna go this year. But, um, you know, all of the people that would really like to go and dive more into her work, she is the special guest, the one that you can attend all the workshops and not have a conflict with any of the other workshops, which I know is a really amazing idea.

I love that because so many times you'll go to a workshop and or retreat and there are things you really want, or you know, the special guest, but then you're trying to figure out which one you're gonna choose. So I think it's really amazing the way you've set that up to where you know that whoever the special guest is.

You are going to be able to attend all of those things and not have to pick and choose between like, oh, I wanna see Taba and I wanna do this other class. 

Frank Stormchaser: I was gonna say that is actually a direct result of, guest feedback. We always ask folks to fill out a, survey at the end of the year to let us know [00:21:00] what was going on.

And a couple years into it, we had noticed that a lot of folks were saying how they had a hard time trying to choose because they really wanted to go to this workshop, but the future presenter was doing it. And so we decided to adopt a policy where, We will have a single track going whenever our featured guest is presenting.

And then our, with our additional presenters, we can set up like one or two tracks depending on the facilities we have available. But that way no one has to miss out, including the other presenters because a lot of times,our presenters are like, I really wanna go to that workshop, but I'm teaching.

Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. I have heard that so much with people that we've had on talking about various situations and the people that are leading the different workshops are here and they're like, but I wanna go to yours. How am I supposed to do that? I love it. 

Tava Baird: and not only am I going to be going this year and teaching, but I'm actually doing a workshop on finding your spirit guides and spirit communication, which means that a certain [00:22:00] seraphim is going to be, right there with me.

 if you listen to the podcast and you hear, me pass on Sam Miles's words all the time, if you actually just wanna come and ask him a question, this is the place to do it. this is a rare thing that I don't generally do. I teach classes all over the area, but to sit down and talk advice for spirit guides with a spirit guide is something 

That's a little unusual. I am also doing a, class, I believe on the Morgan there that I have taught, several times. But the thing that I love about the fact that we're doing it out in the woods. We go outside and there's a whole little exercise that we do that's on battle cries where you are just letting whatever is sitting deep in your belly come.

And, as I know a lot of, you know, puppet making is pretty much my main form of magical practice and we're going to be [00:23:00] making a little Morgan alter dolls to the people who were in that class to take with them, so that they'll have those to go at the end of the weekend. I'm also super excited because I have a theater background ritual.

This year we got all the other hallowed, homecoming theater kids together and we are pulling out all the stops. So, the ritual for Saturday night this year is going to have a host of. Costumes and people representing different entities. I know I've got my feather and my cloaks on, 'cause I'm coming dressed as the Morgan.

It's probably the only time you will ever see this. it's just going to be, we really want to bring the community together and raise power together. And coming to a gathering like this helps you remember that while you may be a solitary practitioner or a solitary explorer during a lot of the year, you are [00:24:00] in fact never alone.

Your community is here with you. Frank recruited me a couple of years ago to first start getting involved in hallowed homecoming. I was at a market and I had a whole bunch of bones out on the table. 

 he saw the bones and came over and said, would you heard of something hollowed homecoming, because the bones were in line with the theme for that year. And I ended up going out and teaching a bone casting class out there and was just blown away by the compassion and empathy and beauty of this group and how the safe space that was really created for every single person there and the amount of respect that was there for all pagan pathways coming in.

So, I would like to thank Frank. For coming over to my table at a market several years ago and saying, have you heard of [00:25:00] this? And because of that, that's how I also ended up getting involved with Free Spirit gathering because the folks at Hallowed Homecoming do a lot of stuff at Free Spirit and Core.

Frank drove me and my butt and my nine bins of clop making supplies all over the grounds of free spirit gathering. And I'm super excited, 'cause I'm going back to teach again there this coming year. 

Frank Stormchaser: Yeah, we'll make sure we have a cart available. 

Tava Baird: Oh yeah.

I'm bringing it all, man. I was, so lucky 'cause I got out of the car and thought, I don't know anybody here, but Frank, I don't think, where could he be? And I took about four steps from my car and there he was in a golf cart. So I think that 

 Frank is being, uh, I think steered around by a golf cart goddess.

The other thing that I, uh, want to say about main ritual this year is that I have buttered up Jennifer Taylor here to record some [00:26:00] music for us to be played, at the ritual. you'll get me in the flesh and gente and spirit helping to set our sacred space before the big so and ritual.

Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. It doesn't take much buttering.

So I'm so excited to hear more about the things that are happening and the themes for this year. Can you, tell me a little bit more about, what the theme is for this year and what other types of, classes or things are gonna be available for people.

Rayne: Absolutely. So, the theme this year is Embracing the Darkness, which I am ecstatic about. I think it follows very well on the heels of,everything we covered last year, but I kinda say that every year I feel each theme is, building and, and deepening, that relationship with the energies of sa um, and autumn.

Um, and we have so many incredible [00:27:00] courses. I'm going to go off the top of my head 'cause I don't have the list in front of me. I know that there is one,panel style workshop, where, uh, panelists will discuss deities that they work with that, maybe aren't the typical deity you see that are a bit darker, a little bit more, ominous, um, and what that relationship looks like, and maybe taking away some of that stigma around it.

 what else do we have going on? 

Tava Baird: well I know one other workshop we have, um, folks you've heard me talk about the mock home funeral. That I was in, in, enrichment that Jennifer Gerland, she's launching Thistle community, death care next year that she led. Jennifer is going to be at Hallowed homecoming doing a pagan mock home funeral, heavy on the ritual aspect, and I'm gonna be her corpse again.[00:28:00] 

So this is really a gathering for if you, if you like me, come to my class. If you prefer to think of me dead, come and go to Jennifer's class because she'll get to see me all shrouded up and lying there like, I have exited from this incarnation. So whether you love me or hate me, there's something for everyone at Hallowed Homecoming.

Jennifer Taylor: And if they love you, they can come and celebrate your life at the same time. So you can have people celebrating all the different aspects of relationship. And I have to say, I know that that is gonna be really powerful and beautiful. Having heard your experience from doing the one that she had before in Richmond, and knowing Jennifer, I have no doubt that that is going to be a really transformational experience.

I, 

Tava Baird: I, I am not ashamed to say that I begged her to do it the first time, and then I begged her to do it at [00:29:00] Hallow Homecoming because there is something incredible and it gives you a new perspective on your life when you start thinking about what your death will look like. And I know we've talked about this before, that, the modern pagan movement here in the US is not that old.

A lot of our early leaders are still alive. And, a lot of our early leaders also may have felt compelled to have a,funeral.that fit more in line with society's accepted practices. And so Jennifer is doing some groundbreaking work in terms of working with Pagan families and saying, what do you want this to look like and what can we offer you so that you have choices?

 since we're celebrating embracing the Darkness, it's just a wonderful line up there. So I [00:30:00] will be the one walking around wearing the corpse t-shirt. 

Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. And I'm so glad that that is something that's being really highlighted too, because when we had just had Jason Mankey on, who was talking about the Raymond Buckland, who wrote the biography of Raymond Buckland.

And one of the things that really struck me in that was that the person, and I do not remember her name, that was the like high priestess of the Arian, um, you know, Wicca was corresponding with, Rosemary Bucklin about, death. And Rosemary was asking about what happens, what are the death rates and what are the things that happen as far as funerals, um, when somebody dies.

And the response was, once the body's dead, we leave that It was like, we just sort of leave that. It's like we don't really have anything. And probably largely because so much of it had to be closeted for safety at that time.

Right. But it's amazing how recently all of this has come to be and how the death and [00:31:00] funeral part of it hasn't been maybe something that has gotten as much attention. And so I think it's really amazing that, all of that is really coming out now.

Tava Baird: And it follows up really nicely with Ellis' work because Mors having a background as a mortician. I got to talk with them at, free spirit gathering. And Mors was talking about how, someone passes away, you go to the funeral home, they're like, well, where's the book that tells me what you want?

And there really wasn't one for Pagan, so Mor Telus set out to write one. So this is an area where the community has a need and we have people like Mor and Jennifer Gerland with Thistle Community Death Care that are moving in to try to help fill that need. And so you can be really on the ground floor of this work at Hallowed Homecoming this year, 

Jennifer Taylor: ground floor

or below, depending on, or the under the ground floor. [00:32:00] 

Tava Baird: You'll be buried in good stuff at hallowed homecoming, but dad jokes will not stop. So when does the registration close? If people listen to this and they say, oh man, I really would like to go, where do they go to sign up and how long do they have?

Frank Stormchaser: where you go is hallow homecoming.com. Very simple. All you can register through the site there. I believe we will have registration open up until, I think, two weeks before the event begins. And the reason for that is that's when we do our counts for how much food we need to purchase for the event.

 the logistics related to that. And, uh, oh yeah, by the way, you get fed. 

Tava Baird: Oh yeah. Well, I was gonna say, 

Frank Stormchaser: well. Yeah. 

Tava Baird: And you mentioned the big dinner. Frank, can you talk about the big dinner? 

Frank Stormchaser: [00:33:00] Oh, R Rain should talk about the big dinner. I'm just, 

Rayne: I look, I, we definitely have to give a shout out to our kitchen witches because I have never been more impressed or well fed at an event.

 it is a crew of incredible cooks who not only make amazing dishes, but really make sure that you are fed no matter what your dietary restrictions are. if you are gluten free, if you have an allergy, um, if you're vegetarian, vegan, what have you, uh, they got your back. you will not go hungry and you even get to take leftovers home at the end of the weekend.

I adore coming home after the weekend with so many leftovers 'cause I am exhausted and I don't want to cook as soon as I get back from hallowed homecoming. I don't have to. It's great. but the big dinner. It is, Saturday night, and it really is a feast and it is, done family style where, we're all sitting together.

 it's easy during meal times to kind of [00:34:00] end up in the same pockets or like bouncing around between the people, but this is a really great way to also interact with people you haven't bumped into yet. I mean, it's not that many people, but, it's a great way to, to connect and really share a meal together and not just have your own individual plate, but really, that family style vibe.

And there's historically, and Frank correct me if I'm wrong, but the years I've been there, there's been an ancestor plate, the empty plate always,great. so there's always something there for the ancestors. 'cause of course it's soen. and that is a featured part of said dinner.

Frank Stormchaser: That, that's actually something else I'd like to talk about, uh, and something we invite people to join us on from the beginning. We've had set up in the main dining hall an ancestor altar so that anyone, if they wanna bring photos or other keepsakes of, folks in their lives who have passed, they're welcome to bring them and place them on the altar for the duration of the event.

Um, actually have a patron ancestor [00:35:00] for the event, for anyone who's been to fertile ground gathering. there, was a ranger there by the name of, Brian McKay, who was. Great guy. I mean, this guy loved Pagans. He thought that we were the bee's knees. He would come hang out with us the one year that he couldn't come and stay for dinner.

We were giving him shit about it and he is like, well, I've got a date. And we're like, oh, well we wanna report the next day. the first year that, uh, we were holding hall at homecoming, I was speaking with some of the other rangers 'cause I knew, I had known Brian had retired and his plan was to do the camp host tour where you go from National Park to National Park and basically you're the person who mines the campground, and just see the country.

And, we found out then, that shortly after he retired, he passed. So, uh, ranger Brian is now the patron [00:36:00] ancestor of Hall Hallowed Homecoming, and we have a, oh, I love. We have a photo of him that, my wife made a frame for, she's a stained glass artist, so she made a frame for it and it passes year to year amongst the, organizers.

We take care of it during the year and then at the event it goes front and center on the ancestor altar. 

Jennifer Taylor: That's beautiful. 

Tava Baird: I love that. Absolutely love that. Oh my goodness, 

guys. So this is just out of left field. What are you both looking forward to the most this year? Hallowed homecoming. 

Rayne: Honestly, this is my first year being staff.

Oh. So that is what I am looking forward to most, is getting to I, well, I've already been a, been a part of developing the main ritual, which has just spoken to my soul. I have loved this process of being a part of that from the other side. Um, so yeah, I think, I love the experience of being an attendee so [00:37:00] much that I wanted to,step in and help.

Um, and so to methe most exciting part is I get to see a whole different side of, of hell at homecoming this year. 

Tava Baird: Oh, that's awesome. And how about you, Frank? 

Frank Stormchaser: Um, before I give my answer, keep in mind, uh, this will be 11 years of me doing this. The thing I look forward to most is putting the last bin back in its storage area for the year.

Tava Baird: What's a tremendous amount of work? I mean, how many people are on staff for Hallowed homecoming?

Frank Stormchaser: I wanna say folks who are actively organizing probably about between 10 and a dozen. And then we have some folks who help out at the event proper. we've basically divided the event [00:38:00] organization into different teams that handle different things. Uh, so that basically, so the load is spread out a little bit better, but, in the words of our site coordinator, everyone is work crew when we get on site and when we leave.

Yes. the way you know that you're no longer work crew is when the kitchen is set up. 

Tava Baird: And can you tell the people, listening about how many people come to this gathering? 

Frank Stormchaser: it varies. Like how many were 

Tava Baird: there last year? 

Frank Stormchaser: Uh, last year I think we had about 55 or 60. we went down after the pandemic, of course, you know, everyone got hit hard by that.

Um, the most we had in one year was 99. and usually we average between like 65 and 75 a year. Great. Um, the unofficial cap is a hundred people because that's how many people we have, place settings for. 

Jennifer Taylor: what is the cost for [00:39:00] the event, 

Frank Stormchaser: I believe tickets this year are 3 75. 

Jennifer Taylor: And so that includes, I think you're right, the lodging, all of your meals, all the workshops. Is that accurate? Everything 

Frank Stormchaser: is included. 

Jennifer Taylor: Nice. Yes. 

Frank Stormchaser: 3 75 is the full event registration and the day pass for Saturday is 1 75, which again, includes all workshops, all your meals.

Tava Baird: Main ritual. 

Frank Stormchaser: Main ritual. Yeah. 

Jennifer Taylor: Yeah. And as far as, um, I know it was somebody new, maybe that's coming in because it sounds like there's definitely a lot of stuff there for people who have been on this path for a while and wanna really dig deeper for somebody who's really new, who's maybe like, I kind of think maybe I'm a pagan, or I think I'm a witch, or I'm just kind of dipping my toes in.

Is this a, retreat or a place that would be good for [00:40:00] somebody who's just starting out as well as people that are really, deep into their path and are wanting to dive deeper. 

Frank Stormchaser: in conception, the event is mainly aimed at folks who are to use academic jargon 200 level and above.

But there is always something for anyone at any level to come in and, they'll get something out of it. 

Jennifer Taylor: Yeah, that's, I really appreciate that answer too because it's really helpful. I think we probably have a lot of people who are just kind of on that fence. And it's good to get a sense of, where this kind of falls in the, beginner to advance kind of level things.

Tava Baird: And one of the other things to remember is that though you may have been on the path for a long time, that doesn't mean you've done everything. you might have been practicing. 25 years, but you've never done bone throwing or you've never done a lot of spirit communication or there's a particular entity or deity that you're curious about, but you've never [00:41:00] communicated with them.

So even if you're a veteran. there's always something new. Like, when I taught my bone casting class at Hallowed Homecoming a few years ago, first off, it was so welcoming. I had, so many people trying to get into the class, and I was literally like counting my bones.

Like, how many people can I fit in that we can, make this work? And we had this, this cabin just filled to the rafter of people. And I had some people who said, you know, I've been practicing 20 years, but I've never done this. Oh my gosh, I think I might have finally found my favorite divination method.

and then you had other people who were experienced at it. So one of the things that I really love, like when I do my classes, I'm teaching them for those more advanced practitioners But if you ask me, or if there's a need for it in the class, I'm gonna alter.

What I teach to reflect that. So one of the things that I love about so many of the teachers in the Pagan community is how, we want this community to thrive. [00:42:00] We know it can be hard and lonely sometimes to find other practitioners. And so, all of the teachers that, that Frank mentioned before, these are all people who try to meet you where you are, right?

 one of my main goals in going to free spirit gathering is I drove onto the property going, I just wanna meet more tellis. I just wanna meet more tellis. Because somehow I had always managed to have a near miss with wherever Mort Telus was. I was there six months to a year afterwards, and Frank introduced me to Mortel because Frank's makes everyone's dreams come true all the time.

And I spent every spare minute I had between classes, basically sitting at Mort's knee and learning things that I didn't know. And I mean, I've been on the path for over 35 But the food alone is worth that journey to Hello Homecoming, and you are gonna meet some absolutely stunning people doing [00:43:00] breathtaking work.

And, even though there are lots of advanced practitioners there, good teachers try to meet you where you are. And Hallowed Homecoming has the reputation of having very good teachers. 

Frank Stormchaser: one of the, the folks we didn't mention earlier, one year we had Scott Ern as our featured guest who he was, uh, one of the event coordinators for FSG.

Um, and he provided an. Excellent introduction to Heathenry for non heathens at our event, which was wonderful for those of us who are heathen and kind of feel like, we're the dirty secret off in the corner. he did a wonderful job of presenting Heathenry in a way that made sense to folks who have not been exposed to it or had very limited exposure to it.

And, since that year, I like to think of Scott as our favorite bad penny because we can't get rid of him. he's been at the event every year and we love having [00:44:00] him. Every year. he's there. He is one of our greatest supporters and he's a lot of fun to have around.

Tava Baird: Was there anything else you guys would like to share that we haven't asked you yet?

Rayne: I would just say to your point about, is this for beginners or, intermediate or advanced? one thing that I just had a conversation about this week was, if you're not sure, and you've been beginner for a while and you're learning and you're asking yourself, should I go?

 the fact that you're asking yourself that question, then make the answer yes. this is a great place to take that first step into considering, am I intermediate? Am I ready to, learn more? and even when you are advanced, I would've loved to take an intro to Heathenry course and learn it all over again and experience, you know, what does this person say about it?

BecauseI'm sure I would learn something new. it's all about. [00:45:00] Getting to hear other people's perspectives as well, because even if you're a pro, like one of the workshops we have this year is on chakras. I know a good chunk about chakras. I'm gonna learn so much I already know and whatever topic it might be.

 this is just an excellent place with like I said, passionate and compassionate teachers for you. Frank, anything 

Tava Baird: else you would like to add? 

Frank Stormchaser: Don't go into the kitchen unless you ask permission first. Have you 

Tava Baird: tried that, Frank? 

Frank Stormchaser: Oh, I know better than to try that.

I am married to one of the kitchen witches and the other head kitchen witch is the one who presided over our wedding. I know better than to cross them. 

Tava Baird: Do not mess with the witches folks. Do not mess with them. 

Jennifer Taylor: Good to know. Stay out of the kitchen, which is really a [00:46:00] great thing then, because you don't have to have this guilt over, I should really go in and offer to help.

You can just say, all right, I'm not supposed to go in the kitchen. I'm just going to relax and be taken care of, which is a really nice way to go for a weekend. 

Frank Stormchaser: That's not to say you can't volunteer to help in the kitchen. Just don't go in the kitchen unless they know you're coming in. 

Jennifer Taylor: Oh, gotcha. 

Tava Baird: It's a well-oiled machine in there.

They're cooking for all those people. 

Frank Stormchaser: Oh, yeah. They, the kitchen, which is, takes such good care of us and all seriousness, the reason for that rule is people are cutting things. They're moving hot dishes around. They want to know who's there, so they don't inadvertently hurt anybody or themselves.

Jennifer Taylor: That sounds like a good reason, 

Tava Baird: so everybody listening. Hallowed homecoming.com. Our arms are open, we are ready to embrace the darkness, and we are ready to embrace you. Come spend a weekend in the woods and, remember what [00:47:00] community feels like. Thank you so much, rain and Frank for coming today to talk all about hallowed homecoming.

Jen, would you like to sing us out? 

Jennifer Taylor: Absolutely. And I know at the beginning I was about to sing, I had said that I was bringing in, um, Michael and Sam all, and just before I sang, Sam all had the suggestion of inviting Gabriel to help to settle everything. Does Samuel have any recommendations for bringing this all together?

Tava Baird: Of course, he's gonna give you a tricky suggestion, right? Oh boy. Right toward the end of the day, he said sing people towards the temple. 

Jennifer Taylor: Okay. 

Tava Baird: She knows what that means. To clarify, I was 

Jennifer Taylor: gonna say, I'm assuming I know what that means. Okay. Yes. You know what that means. All right, will do.

oh.[00:48:00] [00:49:00] [00:50:00] [00:51:00] 

Tava Baird: That was lovely, Chen, thank you so much. 

Jennifer Taylor: Thank you. 

Tava Baird: Nice and uplifting and settling at the same time. I have a few closing remarks from Samuel

in times of strife. Yes, as the tree at the center of the storm branches swaying roots, deep holding tendril hands with the other spirits of the forest in the tumult. A slow unfurling and twisting in the dark towards peace. Settle into the arms of the unseen, return to yourself and grieve under the clearing sky.

Thank you once again to Rain and Frank for coming on with us today. Uh, if you are ready to hear the [00:52:00] thunder of the Divine's voice in your life and find the next branch on your personal path, it is waiting for you@hallowedhomecoming.com. Hope to see you there. 

Jennifer Taylor: Many blessings to all of you and thank you again for joining us. 

Tava Baird: We'll see you next week 

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