08 May 2004
The May Day Moot

Well, I suppose I should give an accounting of our trip to the May Day Moot, if for no other reason than to preserve my own memories. It was a memorable event.

Our plan was to get out of here no later than 8 am last Thursday morning. We finally left about 9:30 ... Kevyn had stopped by to take the bottle babies over to his place. He gathered all three of them and threw them into the front seat of his truck - not the smartest thing in the world to do as it turns out. He'd asked if we had any coffee on - of course we did, so he came into the kitchen to fill his cup. The goats were jumping around and having a grand old time in his truck, and one of them happened to hit the door lock. His keys were in the ignition.

By the time he'd borrowed our truck, went home, found his spare keys and returned we were seriously late getting started! But it was hilarious, and I'm sure it will be the cause of much gentle teasing in the future!

The trip out was pretty uneventful until we hit Springfield, Missouri. We'd decided to try and stop there for the night, reasonably early. But there was nary a hotel room to be found, as there was a convention in town. The Assemblies of God were having their "Youth Ministry" convocation all week - I was accosted thrice before I'd even left the lobby on one inn, by earnest young people asking if I was "saved". I finally got frustrated and retorted "What do I look like? An investment banker?", but my attempt at wit was utterly lost on the girl with the clouds in her eyes (not to mention her brain).

We caught a bit of dinner, and headed to Joplin, where we ended up staying in a Hampton Inn. We were back on the road by 8 Friday morning, and headed to Oklahoma.

I'd been to Oklahoma City and to Tulsa in the past, but I'd always flown in. Driving allowed us to discover something we didn't really expect - Oklahoma is pretty forested in the eastern half, and even has it's share of hills. I was expecting a drier Kansas, what we ended up with was a flatter Missouri.

We cut across country from Tulsa, and stopped for a fine bit of barbecue in Guthrie at a place called The Stables. Good stuff.We arrived at the campground about 2:30 pm, a half an hour before the gates opened, and were met by Bubba, Booda and Bear.

These were three rather fierce looking gents, with the decided air of men who ride Harley Davidson motorcyles, and frequent tattoo parlors. They were a kindred from Oklahoma City who were to provide security services (good choice!) - they've been together for almost thirteen years but had never come out to a moot or any gathering before: they were somewhat fearful of the reaction they might get.

No need for that: these were some of the finest folks we've ever met in Heathen circles, and were a true highlight of the event. Not only were they just nice folks, they were astonishingly intelligent, even by the standards of "the religon with homework", as Heathenry is often called. It was a rare treat to discuss the Kemetic influence on later Greco-Roman culture with a biker...

Dinner Friday evening was a tortilla soup, which was superb. There was an "impromptu" sumbel that evening - it should have given us some idea of what the "formal" High Sumble would be like on Saturday evening.

The event was co-sponsored by Raven Heart Kindred, a more or less "classic" Asatru group, and a couple of Theodish groups. We fain the same pantheon, and our rites have the same basic format, but there are a lot of differences, some subtle, some not too subtle.

A sumbel is a basic ritual of all Heathen paths: in the northern traditions it's generally a drinking ritual, with a horn of ale or mead passed from person to person in a specified number of rounds (usually three), with each participant making a toast or a boast when the horn reaches him or her. The first round is traditionally to the gods and goddesses, the second to the ancestors and the third (and any subsequent) rounds are "open" or free form.

The first glaring difference between Theodish ritual and Asatru practice came to light here: the Theodish sumble always takes place indoors, and once started, folks should not consider leaving. An Asatru sumbel can happen anywhere, and while it's considered "bad form" to leave in the middle of a round, it's in no way forbidden. Theodish sumbel also has a definite order or service: from the higher to the lower ranks, rather than just around the room or circle. Asatru has no such thing, really, as "ranks", so the effect can be disconcerting.

Theodish ritual tends to use a lot more of the elder tongues than Asatru, and furthermore, Theodsmen tend to be a bit on the, um, windy side. With much flowery prose, many long tales, songs and stories are told over a horn. I've been to many sumbels in the past quarter century, and I don't recall an Asatru sumbel lasting more than a couple of hours, unless it was at a really large gathering (100+) and had some Theodsmen in the crowd. The "impromptu" sumbel Friday evening lasted nearly four hours, with 37 folks present.

The fact that it was indoors was OK, though, as the weather was sucking. Bubba managed to get a bonfire of sorts going despite the weather, and there was a bit of talk around it after the sumbel broke up, but mostly we scurried off to bed.

Our crowd nearly doubled the next day, and we got to meet and talk with many old friends. The Maypole Dance was cancelled due to high winds, so with the exception of a few workshops, the entire day was filled with nothing but what Christians would call "fellowship". It's a real human need to meet with others of like mind from time to time, especially when the minds turns to thoughts of religion, and we availed ourselves of the opportunities.

I put my wares out for sale Saturday morning, and sold out of books within a couple of hours. I sold two larger horns I'd brought almost immediately, and several smaller ones. The fleeces went later that afternoon. All in all, I earned enough to pay for our gas money, which, given gas prices these days, helped.

The blot and sumbel Saturday was definitely "high church" - but the food was again excellent, as was the fellowship. The Theodsmen have a custom of gifting folks, and good gifts were passed about indeed. However, all the boasting, gifting and sumbeling (is that a word?) took an immense amount of time, and I left the hall and headed for the fire (where most of the Asatrurar had gathered) at the end of the first round: 1:30 am!!! Theodish custom be damned - we wanted to sit around a roaring fire and swap tales! I'm told the ritual continued until nearly 5 am, which has got to be a record of some sort.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed for home early, planning to stop in St. Louis and spend the night. It was pretty uneventful - but the night in the hotel was a blessing, as it saved us getting home hungary and dirty at 2 am, and allowed us a little more time to "vacate".

All in all, it was a great weekend, and with the possible exception of some of the moots sponsored by the Our Meadhall Yahoo! group, the best one I'd been to in quite a while. It'll take months before all of fascinating stuff we discussed with our fellows sinks in - and that's a good thing.

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