Sacred Nectar Sanctuary, a new earth intentional community , in Sandwich, New Hampshire was hosting a three day gathering. There would be multiple workshops, such as different yogas, breath-work, and ancient survival skills, along with multiple DJ’s and dancing. I had been looking forward to this for a while.
I arrived for the event on Thursday. The activities didn’t start until the next day, but I showed up early to assist with the prep. I helped my friend Paige set up the tea tent. At the end of the day, whoever was there gathered to have dinner together. We had spaghetti squash that was cut into halves so we could use them as bowls. I filled mine up mostly with rice and beans. We ate and hung out for a while before heading off to bed. I retreated to my tent, which I had pitched in a nearby field.
The next morning I woke up early and helped make breakfast. I spent the day floating around, chatting with different people and growing more excited as additional people showed up. Chris and I made soup and rice for everyone for dinner in the outdoor kitchen.
That night everything was getting into full swing. There was music playing in a big building called the Warehouse. It was an interesting building with a stage up front that had a motorcycle and a jet ski on it. There was a skateboard ramp off to the side and two different loft hang-out areas. I joined multiple people on the dance floor, and we danced while different colored lights swirled all around. When I started getting tired, I went off to the edge of the dance floor where there was a chair swing. I sat in the chair and swung along to the music as I felt the rhythm run through me. Eventually I went out to sit by the fire where a drum circle had formed. A girl named Teja was leading everyone in healing songs. She would sing us the lines and we would sing them back until we remembered the lyrics and then we sang together. She told us how our voices could heal us. It was absolutely beautiful.
The friend who had been watching my dog Maggie showed up with her late that night. Maggie was going to be joining me on my travels. The next morning, I intended to walk Maggie around the land and introduce her to some of the dogs she didn’t know. When I let her out of the tent she just wandered off and introduced herself. All the dogs there roamed free and I let her do her thing. She did fine without my help. After getting coffee I joined a yoga led by Ashera. It was the perfect thing for the morning. Afterwards we all gathered in the kitchen as Joy made us cacao. Before serving it, we gathered around it and sang as Chris played his flute to bless the cacao, after which we had opening circle. Nick, the man who owns Sacred Nectar, was in the middle and spoke about how the weekend was going to go. We all went around the circle and shared our names, where we were from, and one word of what we wanted to get out of this weekend. My word was connection. To close up the circle, a woman sang us all lovely songs she had written.
After opening circle came breakfast. Everyone participating in the gathering brought random food that was all placed in the kitchen. The cooks were whoever decided to jump in and help. We cooked at the outdoor kitchen on propane stoves. There were potato dishes, eggs, pancakes, and an entire spread of random food. I wandered around talking to everyone, excited to see a lot of people that I hadn’t seen since the last gathering, and making new friends as well. As I wandered up through the woods, there were people in the fairy garden making malas, which are bead necklaces that have 108 beads with a tassel in the middle. One hundred eight is considered a sacred number in Hinduism, Buddhism, and yogic tradition, and these necklaces are often used in meditation or prayer. Joy was leading the workshop, showing everyone how to make them. I joined in the fun and made one too. We all thought we were good at counting until we had to get exactly 108 beads. It somehow ended up being harder than we had expected. My necklace has mostly wooden beads with a large teal glass one at the bottom. It was my first mala, which made it quite special to me.
Afterwards, I wandered up through the woods to the warehouse where a large group of people were doing partner Acro Yoga, a physical practice that combines yoga and acrobatics. I quickly joined in. I was a flyer first, and we did a pose that is almost the same as how you would play airplane with a child. My partner Vanessa H. laid on their back and placed their feet on my hips, lifting me in the air while we held hands. Then they let go of my hands so I balanced my body on top of their feet so I was parallel with the floor. From there we went into chair pose. My partner moved each of their feet one at a time from my hips to under my calves and I lifted myself up to a sitting position so I was sitting on their feet.
That night after grabbing dinner, everyone gathered to hear Charles Eisenstein speak. He is a teacher, speaker, and writer who focuses on themes of civilization, consciousness and human cultural evolution. We sat around mesmerized by his words. He even offered a gift of some of his books for free, which were placed in a pile in the warehouse. Unfortunately by the time I got to there, they were all gone. I hung out in the warehouse waiting for music to start. A group of kids were on the skate ramp off in the corner. That was when I realized Maggie, my dog, was also on the skate ramp. It looked as if she was biting onto the kids’ skateboards and trying to steal them, so I ran over to get her. When I picked her up the kids protested, saying, “awww, please don’t take the dog! She’s trying to skate with us.” Since the kids absolutely loved her, I set her back down to skate with the kids. When the music began playing in the warehouse, everyone started dancing. I joined in, and so did Maggie. Maggie loves flashing lights, and I always used to have dance parties with just the two of us when I had an apartment, so she absolutely loved this. She danced around in all the lights, weaving in and out of all the people on the floor. She spun around in so many circles. Almost every time I looked at her she was dancing with a different person. When the music stopped, Paley, who is a professional cuddler, led a cuddle puddle. We all grabbed our blankets and pillows. He talked about consent, and made sure everyone was comfortable before we all piled into a giant heap. There were probably about 20 of us. It was the biggest cuddle puddle I’ve ever been in. Some people eventually wandered off to bed, but a group of us stayed in the warehouse all night.
The first activity I wanted to go the following morning was a women's circle. I had never been in one before so I was eager to go. There were 20 of us and it was a very powerful and moving experience full of sharing and support that I was so grateful to be a part of. After the circle I went with my friend Myra to an all women's sweat lodge. This was only my second time doing a sweat lodge. We all piled in and sang different songs. Some women took turns talking. In between rounds, they would open up the door. Maggie was outside and would try to come in every time. We had to keep her out, though, because sweat lodges are extremely hot and rather uncomfortable. After the sweat lodge I ran over to the little creek and dunked myself into the icy water twice. Needing to warm back up after the cold water, I went over and stood by the fire. Being a part of two extremely powerful workshops back to back was intense. The stress and worry inside me that I had been holding onto was released. I felt so much lighter than I had in a long time. Music had started playing at an outdoor stage and I went over and started dancing. It was the most into dancing I had gotten since I’d been there. I twirled and spun around and even laid on the ground and danced by putting my legs up to the sky and dancing with them. There was a large group of us and we all just kept dancing as the sun went down and the sky turned black. We danced until we had to stop because of the intense darkness. I went up to the warehouse, where we were having the closing circle. Everyone from the gathering was there. It was as if everyone who was there was one big family at this point. I could feel the love from around the room as we all joined hands and yelled up to the sky.
For the last night, music played and a bonfire burned outside. I was finally too tired to dance, so I laid at the edge of the dance floor in a little cuddle puddle with a few close friends. We enjoyed each other's company as we watched all the others dance across the floor. Eventually I got too sleepy, and retreated to bed early that night. Although the festival was over, the next morning a few people hung around and spent some time together before heading out. I wandered around chatting with everyone and relaxed a bit before packing up my pup and myself. I'm so grateful I was able to be part of this magnificent gathering, and connected with so many beautiful souls.
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