A new conference bounded onto the scene in July 2017 called Mystic South. Several reviews and articles have been posted this week while I've mulled over my own experience at the conference. A little over a year ago, my partner and I were experiencing our first Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG). It was hot, it was challenging, and it was amazing. During this experience, we heard the first rumors of an "academic" pagan conference being planned in our local area. We were excited and intrigued, and we spent some time trying to hunt down the organizer, but never managed to connect that week. We went home and didn't hear anything about it, but occasionally wondered if it was proceeding.

The next spring, we revisited the idea, took a moment to find their webpage, and got excited again. It was going to be in Atlanta during July, in a HOTEL! A hotel pagan event was an exotic concept; we weren't quite sure how that would pan out, but were willing to jump on the bandwagon. However, at that time ,the website was filled with TBA announcements, so we again were unable to proceed.

Around the end of May, we again visited the website, and goodness, but the train had left the station! There were prices of hotel reservations to consider, along with lots of other things.

Unfortunately, we'd missed some of the deadlines that we'd have like to have made, but never the less decided to attend, even if we couldn't submit papers or have a table. It still sounded amazing! Well, it was amazing! Others have written about the location challenges, but to be honest, those were mild to some of the flood, heat, and storm stories I've heard about other pagan events. The staff handled the heat and the lack of water throughout the hotel well and kept the attendees updated. It was a shared challenge that caused many of us to get to know people we might not have otherwise. The workshops were well attended and those I went to – each hour had multiple choices so I had to miss others that I also desperately wished to have been able to attend – were well done. They varied from 101 type offerings such as "The Power of Line and Sigil" or "Ochun's Honey Pot", to advanced work such as "Appalachian Folk Medicine" to "Fairy Magic and Re-enchantment of the World", and offerings all between. I had the great pleasure to attend Orion Foxwood's and Byron Ballard’s workshops, and loved them both, even though their styles of presentation were vastly different.

Orion's workshops were inspiring and thought provoking, and Byron's were humorous and down to earth. I totally expected to have challenges with her "Willful Bane" workshop that covered the 9 Levels of Bane and the Marshmallow Hex, but walked away without one issue!

I also attended Amy Blackthorn's "Hoo Doo and Aromatherapy" workshop. It was well attended and very interesting. She's well versed in the material and a lovely presenter. She covered methods for determining how pure an essential oil is that you might purchase since many companies are diluting their essential oils for profits. She also discussed why certain oils were considerably more expensive than others in detail. Another favorite was Heron Michelle's " Theology of Perfection" that discussed how we can be in perfect love and perfect trust when entering the circle, and Tempest's "The Power of Line & Symbol". Tempest made sigil building practical and easy to comprehend. Her knowledge of historical folk symbols as well as ceremonial symbols was impressive. I don't know too many people who are versed on Berber symbology! Really not one workshop was bad or poorly done. There was a range of topics and levels for all comers.

There were also some lovely vendors with interesting items that I enjoyed perusing. Items from oils to brooms and a lovely wand vendor who was also a presenter Gypsey Teague, a fascinating Hoo Doo Museum, as well as a healing room for those who overdid their day in the heat and needed some care. The main provider in the healing room was Revitalize Health and Wellness, an Atlanta massage therapy group.

In addition to the workshops, there were academic papers being presented. I only made it to two presentations, but both were informative and interesting. The first presentation was on how social media affected pagan activism. Three online social groups were studied during the year long project. The second presentation was on how witchcraft was both empowering and dangerous to women in today's world. It focused on the abuse of the witchcraft label in third world countries. As someone interested in pagan academics, I was very excited to see and attend one of the first pagan presentations of papers. I look forward to next year's presenters.

There were also rituals, which due to the tight scheduling I was unable to attend, and an amazing concert on Saturday night by Tuatha Dea. If you haven't experienced their brand of magic, you really should attend one of their performances. It's an amazing blend of myth, music and showmanship. Their energy is always happy and upbeat.

So much was happening that weekend, and I missed lots of it not being able to bend time and space! I hope that lunch allowances will be built into the schedule next year, but that was really my only suggestion. It is horrible to have to choose between eating and wonderful offerings. What an awesome problem to have! I look forward to next year's offering and hope to be more involved.