Church of the Spiral Tree's Earthdance

Earthdance by the Church of the Spiral Tree was held at TheLodge at Turtle Lake in Camilla, GA last weekend.   When you turn off the highway onto the winding dirt road you can feel the hustle and bustle of civilization being left behind.  By the time you wind your way through the trees and get to the clearing where the lodge is you are in a different world surrounded by woods and nature.  The lodge is situated in a large clearing and had tents scattered around it this weekend in a relaxed, casual manner.  There is a small building next to the lodge that can be used for sleeping for those that don’t want to set up tents.  At the back of the property sits this cool bus that is set up to act as an odd cabin of sorts.  A large carport  is nicely sheltered and could be used for workshops, an eating area, a shaded gathering for relaxing, or anything you like.  The Lodge itself has a fully equipped kitchen, a wonderful bathroom with a garden tub and a smaller room for additional sleeping.  There is a large deck that goes around the building to provide a great place for relaxation or as it was used this weekend, for a stage.

The atmosphere is relaxed and feels more like joining a family get together than entering a festival full of strangers.  People greet you as if they’ve known you for years.   On one side of the clearing, people are busily building a sweat lodge for later use.  There is a concert provided by Lucidian, a wonderful duo singing everything from pagan classics, to some old favorites from the charts and movies to originals from their own albums. 

The schedule for the weekend has all kinds of fun things to do, a Walkabout & Craft Class, workshop on Bach Flower Remedies, Drumming Class, Joyful Noise Chant workshop, History of Purification Sweat Lodge Ceremony, Tarot workshop, and an Irish Dance Demonstration.

The vendor, Bio-Buzz, had several tables fully loaded with all kinds of metaphysical goodies.  Their store located in Albany (newest drop-off for Toys for Yule by the PaganAssistance Fund) has a surprisingly wide range of stock displayed in a deceptively small building.   From the outside, the building is brightly colored with hand painted art on the front and the side.  It doesn’t appear to be a large store until you get inside.  As you walk through the narrow rooms they seem to go on and on and every nook is filled with different things to look at.  The scent of the incense from the back draws you through the store as you are constantly turning your head to try and see it all.  If you are ever in Albany, you owe it to yourself to stop in at see the store for yourself.  Bio-Buzz, 612 N. Slappey Blvd, Albany, GA  (229)438-5878.  Bio-Buzz.com