PantheaCon 2008 was at it's usual spot, the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose. I took workshops, attended rituals, partied with friends & shopped till I dropped lol. There were 2 experiences that really stood out for me.

The first was the Ancestors Celebration presented by Ile Orunmila Oshun and Lusiah Teish. We channeled our ancestreal spirits. This was the most powerful experience I've ever had....or witnessed in others. Participants were having extremely moving experiences, getting messages, being filled (to the point of possession) by the ancestors..etc. There were plenty of Priestesses and Priests on hand to help people in need and keep the group grounded. I had a hard time grounding after that ritual & that's very unusual for me. I felt like there was a huge energy sitting right on top of my head. I had to get a little help from a Priestess to "come back."
After the ceremony I was still buzzing so I sat down & started to write in my notebook. I wrote down words as they came to me....but they weren't my words. I wouldn't call it automatic writing.....but I knew I was writing down messages from an ancestor.
Luckily, I ran into my friend & gave him a big hug. He asked me if I was ok & I told him I was still tingling from my last experience....so we sat down & I just leaned on him until I felt better. We've all had moments where we just needed to hold on to a friend until we "came down."
The Ile Orunmila Oshun is located in Oakland and I'm anxious to find out much more about their practices.

The second experience I most enjoyed was seeing Christopher Penczak. He gave an afternoon lecture about his book, "Acension Magick." His overall theme was about "going deeper." Going deeper into other worlds, having deeper experiences & deeper connections. He has a Wiccan background and I find his work to be pretty progressive. I went & purchased his book.

Christopher had a ritual the next night called Garden of the Gods. Here's an excerpt from the PantheaCon program about the ritual:

Gather together in this time beyond time where the three rays of creation manifest on Earth. Join with your allies in this Grand Circle with the realms of the angels of the Straight Line, the nature spirits of the Bent Line and those of flesh and blood coming from the Crooked Line. With the three rays and four directions, open the twelve gates of power. Through drumming journey, work with the spirits of the three rays for your own healing and to partner humanity with the primal vision of Earth where all realms are honored and the gods walk amongst us, awakening on our god within.

I really enjoy trance meditation and found his techniques to be pretty powerful. There was a lot going on in his meditation. Working with the power in 3 realms at the same time was something new for me....and I enjoyed the experience. I'm at a point where I want to go deeper and use all that I've learned to move me forward and experience even more.

I went to a few other presentations but the ones I just mentioned were the most moving for me. Every PantheaCon offers me a moving experience and I was very grateful to have some powerful things going on around me.
Blessed Be!