Crucible Recap

Another Crucible has come and gone and though it was a smaller affair this year than the last few, this year stands out as one of my favorite in recent memory.

As to the size: Hurricane Joaquin was threatening NJ so a lot of people I am sure cancelled their travel plans. NJ Pagan Pride happened in south Jersey and of course the amazing and wise Dolores Ashcroft Nowicki was speaking in Philadelphia. As much as it is nice to have Crucible grow, it was nice to enjoy a smaller more intimate setting.

I got to appear on panels on magical ethics, and another that was allegedly about evolution of consciousness but which turned out to be more about astral and energy work. Both Panels were quite full of smart people with varied opinions.Arthur Moyer,  Victoria Whitfield, Maggie Horseman, Ernest McClosky and Soror LM, and some guy names Rufus Opus all were present to comment on the topics that Jason Colwell tossed out. The ethics talk this year was particularly good I thought and avoided the stale “is it ok to curse” debate in favor of how the community at large handles itself.

With two events going at any given moment, you cannot do everything at Crucible, but the lectures I attended were all top-notch.

Arthur, host of the event, gave perhaps his clearest explanation of Omnimancy to date and had people break up into small groups each with an experienced Omni in it to do some energetic/astral experimentation. Omni is a strange thing for most people coming from Pagan or traditional occult backgrounds to get a handle on and I think this did a lot to make the basics of it clear.

Rufus spoke on the Seven Spheres and gave a very impassioned account of the theory behind the work, a streamlined and simple method for performing the work, and a deeply personal autobiographical account of how he came to the work and how it has changed his life.

The only thing that I was not terribly happy with was my own lecture. My topic this year was a talk called Proccultism and was meant to be stories and tips for those who are making money via spiritual arts. I spent far to much time deconstructing arguments of  haters and nay-sayers, and took the opportunity to release a blow off some steam at people that I usually ignore. Because of this I didn’t quite cover everything I wanted to. Still, I think it was helpful to those who were meant to hear it.

Truth be told I am a little uncomfortable talking about the business of occultism because I tend not to like it when people start teaching how to do what they do rather than doing it. It is a slippery slope to the “let me teach you how I made money by telling people how to make money” nonsense. I felt a call to do it this year and I did. I am re-working the talk now in case I ever decide to do it again.

Crucible of course more than just the talks. It was wonderful to re-connect with old friends that are just coming back on the scene after a long hiatus, and to hit it off with new friends. This is also a great time to connect with peers that I came up with like Rufus and the charming Deb Castellano to talk shop and compare notes like we did back before the books and businesses, when we were all just bloggers.

Big thanks to Arthur and the Omnimancers for hosting this event and making it what it is. Thanks to all my fellow speakers for sharing your dropping your knowledge, and thank you to everyone who attended for spending your hard earned money and time on coming out to events like this and giving your support.