A Love Letter to a Spiritual Community connected in Magic
Personal Musings about the Medicine Festival and reconnecting with home, land and people
Sacred Geometry, Doorway and Goddess Fyr at the Medicine Festival, Wasings, UK, 2023.
My heart is overflowing to see thousands of people coming together in grassland and forest to heal and share. All hearts beating as one, one rhythm, one song. And one knowledge that we all feel deep within those hearts: magic is within us and all around us, connecting each and every one of us with each other, nature and the entire universe. At the Medicine Festival we are taking conscious time to reconnect with magic and ancient wisdoms that are buried deep within our beings.
This blog article is more like a journal entry where you find my reflections on the Medicine Festival, the workshops I attended and my personal development over those days. This is a very personal experience that will of course differ from anyone else's. Although I do add some facts and descriptions, the focus is on the inner works.
Enjoy reading and drop a comment if you have questions.
Arrival at the Medicine Festical -
Let Old Energies drift away with the Winds
First walk on the grounds
Located just about an hour west of London, Wasings Park is an amazing bit of land with rolling hills, ancient oaks and a little natural swimming lake. My busy mind is soothed to slow down as soon as my beautiful friend Viky and I take our camping gear out of the car and set up our tents on a slight slope in the grass. As more and more people are popping up their temporary homes around us, we can spot the large tents and teepees on the festival grounds, hear the first drums and feel the electric currents of anticipation and excitement fill the air. It reminds of Harry Potter, Viky says, the Quidditch World Cup. How fitting, as magic surrounds us so potently. Strong winds whistle to welcome us and play with huge banners that are standing everywhere surrounding the campsite.
The Sound Stage rehearsal
We go for a first stroll on the grounds and immediately pause at The Sound Stage - a group of artists is doing a rehearsal for the stage opening with the song Idé Weré Weré. This song by the Yoruba of West Africa honours Ochun, goddess of love and has entered my life last year. Back in May 2022, my friend Paulina was driving us home in pouring rain after a blissful Earth Frequency Festival in the Australian hinterlands. I kept dozing off, lulled by raindrops on the windscreen and by heart filled to the brim with bliss, light and love, when Idé Weré Weré started playing. Until this day, this song rekindles these blissful feelings in my heart. So, how fitting it is that this is the first song for me to hear now at the Medicine festival. What a start.
Walking on, lush meadows invite me to feast with my eyes upon this mesmerizing display of nature and take in all those shades of greens. The whispering trees invite me to listen closely as they tell each other tales as old as their roots. Strong oaks standing in the grasslands, wisdom pouring out and spreading lovingly just like their leaves.
As my reptilian brain takes in the surroundings and tells me I am safe, my nervous system begins to calm down... and allows me to let go. And I don't mean the subtle, calming kind. The emotional turbulences of the past months, returning to Europe and feeling so disconnected, the end of a relationship and the loss I have felt in my heart - it all comes flooding in and flooding out in what seems like an endless stream of tears and snot. That evening and its opening ceremonies and concerts pass me in a dazed, dreamlike and very red-eyed state. Always accompanied by winds drifting and caressing, promising that all is temporary. Tent site in starlight
What stuck with me, is the feeling of arrival in a space that I felt safe enough to purge and release, with no judgement or even surprise by anyone around me.
Medicine Festival Day 1 –
Let All Expectations Float away with the Waters
My expectations before the festival were to join in on workshops about self-love, sisterhood and healing of the relationship to myself. On Friday just after sunrise, the early morning showers are starting to fade into a drizzle when I stand in front of the program boards showing the timetables for over 25 different workshop and concert spaces. And I am finding myself completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of amazing sounding workshops, talks and ceremonies happening at the same time. How am I ever going to decide? And while my mind is kicking into gear and trying to calculate various options of how and when to fit everything... my legs are stuck in place, unable to move anywhere. So, I am taking deep breaths in and out, soaking up the moisture from the wet grass and the heavy air – and going to buy a hot ceremonial grade cacao. Let’s start slowly and screw expectations.
Instead of the Womb Activation ceremony I was planning on joining (I don’t get in anymore as drinking the cacao makes me late), I stumble into The Hearth space for Dream Temple – The 7 Gates by Amala Kremmel. It is exactly what my still very wounded heart needs after a night of crying. The rain is pouring down again on the warm and comfy tent as we are shedding layer by layer of our self as sacrifices and gifts, stepping deeper and deeper through inner gates into the underworld of our consciousness. Such a freedom to let go of all the hurt and pain, of all I am carrying with me and finally arriving just as my pure essence in the dark depths of my being and rising out of it with my spirit guides.
God Odin at the Medicine Festival
I am using the rest of the morning to wander the grounds, paying visits and tribute to those many nooks between trees and in the grass that hold space for honouring the Nordic and Celtic gods and goddesses as well as displays of sacred geometry .Then I finally decide, again, not to go to a female circle, but instead to join the Ancestral Remembrance Workshop by Katharina Louise in The Haven. She shares her own experience and return to her ancestral roots, and I can feel a flicker of recognition of my own process. I am encouraged to forge a deeper connection to the forests of Europe, to spend more time with the lands I lately have been feeling so disconnected with – it takes time, Katharina says, be patient with the land to open up to you again.
Viki and I spend the evening meandering across the grounds and the vast program of music, wisdom and songs. We listen to amazing and inspiring stories by the fire by Annie Spencer and Malcolm and Josh Green at The Nest, the rain a constant friend.
Tree guardian on the path to The Nest.
The Nest is a small spot tucked away between magical old trees with a fireplace and tarp protecting against the wet. Then I dance at the energetic and touching concert by Ayla Nereo on The Medicine Stage, a beautiful stage set in a great space surrounded by forest and with soft grassy underground.
Later with a heart-warming cacao I return to The Nest for an intimate singing and guitar play by Cynefin, who is sharing Welsh culture, melodies and words. It is long after midnight when I retreat to The Sound Stage for Songs of Before and Beyond with Carolyn Hillyer and Nigel Shaw. I lie down on the ground amongst many other souls and let myself drift, lulled by melodies and voices of those talented beings, to slumber.
Medicine Festival Day 2 –
Of touching Magic and igniting the Fire within
After a dreamful night, the next morning we start looking for showers. Unfortunately, the Medicine Festival is no exception to any other festival regarding personal hygiene in the morning, the queues are suuuper long. No worries, I just wash myself at the hand washing station. After all, nudity is widely accepted at the festival, and quickly I am feeling fresh and ready for the day.
Again, I let myself drift with intuition and spontaneously step again into The Hearth for Witch! by Rachel Rose Reid, a wonderful introduction into the historical stigma of witches, fun facts and then some exchange on herbs in little coven groups.
Sipping another cacao – yes, it turns into a slight little addiction at this point – I stumble upon Sacred Silliness by Dani Tonks in The Shala. To be honest, this is not the kind of workshops I usually go for. However, in this very moment, the energy of the participants was sparking and super contagious. I joined in for intuitive moments and running around and dancing, silly sounds and loads of laughter. Letting go of aaaaaany kind of limiting my own behaviour, just flapping around my limbs in any way it felt good. A bunch of people being silly and happy again, no judgement - exactly what I needed in this very moment. The dancing firing up my body, the laughing lightening my heart. And the sun, too starts shining now.
While some spaces are big enough to host for all interested people, other spaces are too intimate (and the workshops too popular) to fit everyone with the result of people lining up an hour before. As the program is so full of interesting things to do, I have gladly missed out on the waiting time and just joined talks without a queue.
Connection in The Haven
For the first time though, I am feeling so drawn to Woman of Wild Shrines: Lagyâno Traditions by Carolyne Hillyer that I join the big queue. And let me tell you, it is the best decision.
In this circle of women, all seeking to remember our heritage, to listen to the voices of our ancestors, I touch magic. And I do not mean it in a metaphorical or sentimental way. I quite physically touch and feel magic on this Saturday afternoon rushing through my hands straight into my heart. The session starts rather lovely with singing proto-Celtic words and connecting with all fellow sisters in the room.
We then receive ideas of how building shrines ourselves to forge a relationship with our lands, regardless of where we are from.
Next, we are introduced to the important parts of the Lagyâno Shrine: feathers, bones, paintings and carvings. All those talismans and vessels are holding memories of the souls of the moor and the energy of the sister’s wishes and dreams. When the sister’s bundle – the bones of a powerful wild mare of the moors, tightly wrapped in green cloth – is shown around, I am allowed to place my hands on the bundle. There is no expectation from my side. Yes, I do hold my own talismans of stones, crystals and feathers and I do feel their own life grow. However, the moment I place my hand on those bones, it is like an electric shock running through my veins, colourful and wondrous. It is like a prism of light entering my heart, quick and full of wisdom. It feels like waking up. A new resolution is forming – I, too, will reconnect with my lands. I, too, will find my home again. The session ends with sisters in small groups creating and singing new songs with 5 powerful proto-Celtic words. Power of creation.
After such an intense session, I am drawn to nature. Passing tents, people and music, I walk to the lake for a quick dip in the late afternoon sunshine.
Seven goddesses singing in front of Goddess Fyr
Not for too long though, as the goddesses are calling. Sitting in front of a huge bonfire by the incredible statue of the Goddes Fyr, head and hands towering from the earth like a mother’s embrace, I listen to the music of united female goodness. Shivers run down my spine when Fia starts singing “I hear my ancestors calling, I feel it in my bones”. It is just what I have started to discover at the Medicine Festival. Other beautiful, heart-opening performances of Carrie Tree, Ayla Nereo, Nessi Gomes, Zoe, Bettina Maureenji and Ayla Schaefer follow and my heart sings with them in happiness.
Meanwhile, night has fallen. Again, I start to wander across the grounds, listening and joining here and there. At the Medicine Stage I try to find Viki, after all, I haven’t seen her all day. But also now, it seems like her path led another way. And my path is guiding me back to The Haven for more emotional moments. Lex Empress and Gilian Baracs are composing and singing soul songs on the spot. What does that mean exactly? They pick a person in the room and gift them melodies and words from their hearts and intuition. A very moving procedure, I stay for a long time, joining in the creation for other soul’s music.
Night time at the Medicine Festival
Time passes quickly, and it’s long past 1 am when I hear the soft thud of electronic music at Advaya Stage. I grab a pair of headphones and start dancing in the tent until I feel drawn outside to dance underneath the soft starlight twinkling and the trees are dancing with me.
Again, the freedom to just be myself ignited a wholesome fire in me. I am in a community where it is not only accepted that I dance freely underneath the stars, but even appreciated. Not sure how much time passes, other people join me in the grass, when I finally decide to move on. I listen to drumming in one tent, then head on to mystic electronic sounds in The Night Shala. Until I feel that I crave rest and retire to sleep in the tent.
Medicine Festival Day 3 –
My Return to Flesh, Bones and Earth
Gwynn's Grove Workshop Space
Although I merely slept four hours, my mind is wide awake, and my bladder seeks release.
Sighing, I get dressed and continue walking from the toilets to another session, this time in Gwynn’s Grove. It is called Playing the Game of Life by Alex Szepietowski.
Expecting to manifest the s**t out of my current situation (as you know, my manifesting powers are quite strong as soon as I know what my heart desires), I am rather surprised that this workshop is more of a guided meditation. It is almost a relief not having to “work” on myself, to allow myself to just be and to not know what my heart desires. We close with a sharing circle, tears are falling from many of us. We feel understood, we feel seen. We feel accepted in all that we are.
On my way back to the tent, I am given a secret code to enter a very popular workshop – and how else could it be: Ancestral Healing Ceremony by Mailé Moon Kaloura, Mmabatho Montse and Philiswa. I am beyond excited. Funny, how well everything aligns on my path to reconnect with my roots and ancestors.
This workshop is probably the most intense experience of the whole festival. I guess it is hard to describe what is going on in the space and within me, so I will make but a feeble attempt. Imagine a strong community sitting in concentric circle. Magical women chanting and dancing for us to open a portal to ancestral healing. Mailé reminds us, don’t go off in the spirit world, return to your flesh. Return to the wisdom in your bones. Remember your ancestors. Seek that wisdom that is within your physical heart. And so, I do, I feel rivers running down my arms and I begin to remember. Drums beating, hearts pounding. I see my ancestors walking those mountain paths, drumming in tune with my heart and calling me to return. Calling me to come home. Meanwhile, Mmabatho is falling into a trance, the energy in the room is rising, the portal is open. She is gifting her energy to my sisters in the room. And we join in, feeling our sister’s pain as if it is our own, sending her love, sending her light. Mailé and Mmabatho continue soaking up all that we need to let go of...
Falling asleep next to this oak tree
Need less to say... after two hours, I only make it a few steps out of the tent. I need to rest. As I sit down in the sunny grass, I let the experience sink in. Magnificent connections are forged between me and our ancestry. It really feels like my body has opened up, willing to finally show me the wisdoms that are encrypted within my blood and cells. Now, that my mind is finally ready to remember, my body is willing to share. Helping me to remember. I know, sitting on this magical land, that this is only the beginning. The start of a long journey towards remembering my ancestors and healing those wounds of forgetting.
The afternoon session I join at the WildWise space, results in me falling asleep under an oak tree in the grass, lulled by the voice of the workshops holder and the calming energy of the participants. They let me rest while they mindfully connect with nature.
Sharing stories and cacao
And just like that it is Sunday evening. Finally, Viki and I manage to meet again and share our stories and experiences with a cup of cacao in our hands and happiness in our hearts. We sit at The Sacred Glade space to listen to Facesoul’s fun and inspiring music. I lean myself back into the warm hay to lie down on the ground and look up to the treetops and starry night. Feeling grounded and blissfull.
At last, our feet find the way to The Sound Stage for the closing ceremony with the Medicine Family Song Circle. Of course, as a loving embrace Ide Weré Weré reverberates goodbye and my heart is bursting with happiness, healing and overflowing with gratitude. Hundreds of people joining in with their voices, celebrating life with this song. I feel deep gratitude to have found this community, to reconnect with who I am and gratitude for the magic of life itself with all its mysteries and wonders.
Time to integrate my Learnings of the Medicine Festival
So many impressions, so much learning. Wounds opened that require healing. What a beautiful process. Now, I need time to fully comprehend all the inner changes that have been activated. Returning to Germany has left me feeling not only disconnected from myself, but also feeling alienated from the society I used to belong to. I leave the Medicine Festival with knowing that I do belong and that there is so many of us coming together seeking to reconnect and live our truth with each other. A spiritual community exists full of love and understanding. Young and old, new generations already growing up withing this harmony. And to experience how many we are, who know in our cores that life is so much more than we have been shown by the society we grew up in. To feel like I can fully be myself, because we are all one and we all understand, no need to explain magic and energy, witchcraft and dreams, we all already know. No judgement, no expectations on how one is supposed to behave. A magical place where we can just be and dive into deep connecting with nature and each other.
Coming together in front of the Medicine Stage
There is not enough space to describe all spaces, artists, talks and workshops I have witnessed and visited. I did try to limit myself to the most powerful experiences. However, the sum of all the little snippets NOT mentioned here would make for an unforgattable memory already. If you are interested on further information, please reach out.
Thank you, Medicine Festival – I see you next year!
I am hosting sister's circles starting now in September on the topics: reconnect, release and rewild. Message me to join!
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