Please sign a Waiver of Liability when you register and read it carefully.
This is a clothing optional camp. There may be displays of sexuality here and there. Make sure you and your children are comfortable with this.
Children under 18 years of age are not permitted to attend the adult May Games. Please respect this even if you think your own child is old enough. This is in respect for legal ramifications around children and sexuality. There are adults who would be unable to participate if children were present.
Please do not use illegal substances at our gatherings. It puts us at legal risk.
Magical Clans will be encouraged to decorate the altars, gates and Maypole. Please do not use plastic ribbons for decorating. They decompose in the soil. If you put up anything that cannot weather organically, take it home with you at the end of the weekend. Use organic substances that can return to the earth.
Do not leave lightsticks on the land, or open them and let the chemicals dribble. They have glass tubes inside. Treat the lightstick as you would a deity for it is your symbol of such.
Please respect the Circle area. Do not leave belongings, garbage, clothing etc. strewn around the circle.
Allow designated fire tenders to stoke the ritual fire.
Enter and leave circle through quarter gates. Other circle etiquette will be enumerated at clan meetings.
Don't bug Priestess before the ritual. She is trying to get everything ready and be in a magical headspace. This is especially true if you want things to start on time.
Do help others to feel comfortable and part of it all.
Park 2WD cars below.
Do not take pictures of people without their permission.
Staff members are recognizable by the harried look on their faces, ask anyone to point one out. Staff can be asked for help.
The law of the circle is "Perfect love and perfect trust." Enter only if you can embody these principles throughout the ritual. Leave negative energy behind, work through personal difficulties ahead of time, be in your highest magical self.
The circle is our Sacred Space. All that occurs in circle can be magnified threefold, so be careful about what you put out or ask for.
Speak only truth. Be silent when others are speaking. Avoid "mundanifying" the sacred space with irrelevant small talk.
It takes everyone to make a circle happen. Use internal visualizations when invoking or doing anything magical. Use your energy to help make the magic happen, to keep things moving. Don't depend on the Priest or Priestess to do it for you. Our style of ritual is participatory.
The Priest and Priestess, are the main conductors of the ceremony, and final say in the circle is usually up to the Priestess. She is also the channeler of energy into the magical purpose. Give her your support and focus. Save criticism until after the circle. If there is something you cannot go along with, cut yourself out of the circle.
Movement in the circle is very important Feel free to dance and move. If the circle is cast deosil, meaning clockwise (literally sunwise), then all your movements in the circle during that time should also be deosil up until the time of dismissal, unless you have a very specific reason for doing otherwise. Your clan leader will explain this to you more fully.
Each clan will create a gate from which they can enter and depart the circle. Only leave and enter the circle through this gate.
You may take your Deity with you out of circle if your Deity/inner voice instructs you to do so (They may want to take you on a meditation in the woods, for example). Do not, however, take your Deity out of circle otherwise, or for casual reasons. While they visit your body, they deserve the utmost respect, and we do not want people to forget they are Deity while in the hottub or having an argument with their spouse. So unless you are willing to continue being a God or Goddess, thank and dismiss your Deity and hang your lightstick on the gate or altar of your quarter. You may return and pick it up again if it feels right to do so.
Annwfh is our Sacred Land and a wilderness sanctuary. It is hard on the land to have so many people here, yet we feel it is important to share this resource with the community. While none of us like rules and regulations, it is crucial that we respect the land and our impact on it. Therefore we ask that you read carefully and abide fully by the following rules and suggestions:
Camp in designated campsites only. They are marked by orange ribbons and have been raked and leveled. If by some chance they are all taken, be careful not to trample little trees or patches of wild-flowers as you choose a space. Try to make it look unvisited when you leave. Watch for ants, they can get in your sleeping bag.
Do not leave food in your tent. It draws critters and you may find it eaten and crumbs left all over. It is possible to put it in a stuffsack and hang it from a tree.
Stay on established trails when walking through the woods. If you must wander, be extremely careful of vegetation and wildflowers. Trampling contributes to erosion and may damage rare plants.
Do not pick the wildflowers. They are just starting to come back after five years of drought.
Pee on the ground. Use shitters for solid waste. Do not leave toilet paper in the woods. Put it in your pocket or the trash can. Do not shit in the woods, but use designated shitters. There are three: one to the west of the fire circle, one to the south, up the hill, and one outside the goat lodge down in the village. It is important not to pee in the shitter. It changes the decomposition process and also fills it up too fast.
Leave pets at home. There is a delicate balance of wildlife here, as well as several indigenous felines. Personal pets are inappropriate and will be asked to leave.
Avoid shining flashlights in people's eyes. But do carry one at night, as it will be dark moon.
Please take garbage home with you as much as possible, and recycle all that you throw away here.
Behind the North altar, we will provide large cans labeled for garbage separation. Please respect it and do not leave compost, such as orange or banana peels in the woods.
Do not bring styrofoam to Annwfh. If you do, please take it back with you.
Do not dump trash in sacred fire area.
Smoke in designated areas only. They are: on the dam up the hill, and in front of the goat lodge down the hill. Do not throw butts on the ground, in the pond, or in the fire pit. Use ash cans.
There will hot tubs, sweats, and swimming in the pond. Please rinse off before entering the hot tub Hair washing and soap scrubbing is to be done with biodegradable soap only, which we will provide, and only in the bathtub behind the red house. There are also solar shower bags which may be used. Do not use any soap in the pond or the hot tub.
Children must be supervised while swimming in the pond. Please be careful of waterhyacinths which are in little pentagonal floats. Do not bump them and advise your children. Wash off face or body paints before swimming. Be careful of sunburn.
The red house at the bottom of the hill is a private caretakers residence. Do not enter their space without specific invitation from one of them.
The brown house (Goat Lodge) in the middle of the village is for food preparation, first aid, etc. Stay out unless you have business there. If you use any dishes from there, please wash them yourself. Do not store food there during festival without permission.
The tall wooden yurt (known as the Shaggy Mushroom) is our Temple. We encourage your to visit there, but please respect it as Sacred Space and use it for meditation, sacred talking, ritual, etc. Remove shoes before going upstairs, and follow other rules as posted. Do not handle or remove magical objects on any of the altars, upstairs or down, without express permission.
You are welcome to visit the garden. Please keep garden gates closed at all times (whether you are in or out) as the deer and animals can get in and f;at everything in very short order.
Do not pick flowers or vegetables unless you have permission from someone in charge. Be careful not to walk in the beds, even if you see no plants there. There may be young seedlings getting ready to sprout.