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Well, magical folks. It’s been about a week, and now I finally have enough time, energy, and understanding to share about my experiences at Mystic South 2018. Wow! What an event! It takes a whole week (or more) to process experiences like this – a Southern Pagan conference full of love, learning, magic, healing, and mysticism.

I arrived to Atlanta “a day late and a dollar short” (as Grandpa used to say). Despite missing a day of workshops, as well as literally losing hours to Atlanta traffic, I was able to settle in nicely on Friday night. The kind, patient, and smiling folks at the registration table set the tone for the rest of the weekend – everywhere I went I was greeted with friendly smiles and welcoming energy.

Mystic South is a new (and awesome!) Pagan conference that was recently held earlier this summer in balmy, bustling Atlanta, Georgia.  I’ve never been to a big Pagan festival or conference, and every year Southern and East Coast folks are tempted with stories of PantheaCon or Many Gods West, much to our consternation.  Imagine how thrilled I was when friends sent me a link to a big event that was (mostly) local!

The Mystic South founders wrote on their website that when creating the conference they were focused on offering a “Southern-based conference – one that was not only [easy] to attend but also had a Southern flair and spoke of the mystic spirit of our own part of the country.  Since there [was] no such event to meet that need, we decided to create it.”  As a bona fide Southern Pagan, I was ecstatic for the chance to attend a conference that was local, affordable, and also spoke to my concerns as a Pagan practitioner and priestess living in the South.  I was also intrigued by a key concept – these folks saw a genuine need in our community and decided to step up and fill that need.  This is so, so incredibly impressive and inspiring to me!  I am humbled by their work and dedication to such an undertaking!