For the Friday evening there was a multi-round quiz chaired by Cassandra Latham, with teams formed more or less at random - great for making new friends! A hard-fought and not entirely sobering few hours followed until by evenings' close, 'The Foreigners' had narrowly but victoriously drawn ahead of stiff competition. No doubt rivals will be already leafing through dusty tomes in preparation for next years' re-match.

With Saturday morning came the conference proper, and as the first folk dragged themselves from the arms of Morpheus, Rory "Mr Raffles" Te'Tigo - also a most talented sculptor - was easily winning a bet to sell more than £20.00 worth of raffle tickets before breakfast. The raffle, in aid of restoration work at the St Clether Holy Well Chapel (FFI see www.peaceland.org.uk) was well supported through the day. Levannah Morgan, Conference Organiser & MC, led the opening attunement, a heartfelt pathworking dedicated to the spirit of the great, ancient, forest of Nemet that once lay between Exmoor and Dartmoor and is still, upon the inner planes, the sacred heart of that land.

The first speaker was Hamish Miller on "The Earth is Listening". Hamish is a dowser, blacksmith, sculptor and writer who has spent many years studying earth energies around the world. He spoke of the earth as a living system which tries to communicate with us through sacred sites and energy lines. We needed to relearn the use of our psychic powers in order to listen. Illustrating his talk with slides, Hamish recounted experiences in New Zealand where the Maori still retain their ancestral knowledge of the land. He described the tracing of the Michael/Mary ley line across England, and later of the Apollo/Athena ley across Europe, producing fascinating diagrams mapped by dowsing of the changing geometries of the energy patterns over distance, and through time. Hamish's dedication was obvious, and his approach offered a very interesting insight into the study of earth mysteries.

After Hamish's talk, Graham King gave an update on developments at the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle (www.museumofwitchcraft.com). Tremendous, but expensive, progress has been made in repairing the flood damage but continuing reconstruction work in the village itself is reducing visitor numbers. Help is needed to encourage more folk to visit, and hopefully to become Friends of the Museum. It's certainly a unique and invaluable resource for the Pagan community, and well worth helping.

The next speaker was Adrian Harris on "Us and Them: Listening to the more-than-human majority". Adrian, of the Dragon Environmental Network, is always both illuminating and inspiring. His talk dealt with embedded knowledge, a different way of knowing and experiencing the world that underlies our conscious intellect, and both the focussing techniques and the entheogens which can help us access it. This body-knowledge is embedded within our very flesh and bone. At a deep level, our bodies are connected to everything around us and are constantly interacting with our environment. There are no hard boundaries between ourselves and the rest of the world. Although long denied by mainstream, Western culture, body-knowledge offers a sensual, even an eco-erotic, means of deep connection with nature. One that allows us to listen to, empathise with, and above all express gratitude to, the many other-than-human-beings with whom we share this world and who so enrich and underpin our lives. Our bodies have great wisdom if only we can re-learn how to listen. Adrian proposed "Seeking to create a culture of sensuality that knows the sacred through the physical."

After lunch, Cassandra Latham spoke on "The Life and Times of a Village Wisewoman". Her account of the responsibilities, challenges and rewards of such a way of life were very warmly received. Of particular interest was Cassandra's account of the recent opportunities she has had to meet, and share knowledge & experience with, other indigenous wisewomen (or their equivalents) amongst the Ojibway in Canada, and the Masai in Africa. Whatever the cultural differences, the basic role of working with the land and spirits of the land on behalf of your community had provided much common ground. This kind of cross-cultural comparison obviously offers much scope for further development.

After a quick break the raffle draw and the Demons & Daemons fancy dress contest - what sane person would ever be persuaded to judge between three rather 'fetching' demonesses??? - the talks resumed.

Professor Ronald Hutton is an outstanding orator as well as a brilliant academic. In a detailed and closely argued presentation on "Why are people afraid of Witches?" he challenged a number of assumptions cherished by many in the modern Pagan community. While the benign, Pagan, definition of Witchcraft has become increasingly accepted in the West over the last thirty years, it remains completely at odds with how witches have been viewed throughout history, and are still viewed across most of the world today. To most people, ancient and modern, witches are evil doers of both sexes who use magic to harm others. Witch-hunts were not a Christian invention but occurred to at least some degree in nearly all cultures, including those of ancient Pagan Europe. Witch-hunting was mainly inspired by popular fear of harmful magic, rather than directed from above by the state or by religious institutions. As a consequence of decolonialism, there has been a resurgence in the persecution of suspected witches across modern Africa, South America and parts of Asia. A growing number of countries now have laws against witchcraft on their statute books. These laws result in the imprisonment of many suspected witches, but paradoxically often saved lives by protecting the accused from being murdered by their neighbours. In emphasising the remarkable tenacity of belief in malicious witchcraft across the world, Professor Hutton warned of a danger this potentially posed to modern, Pagan, Witches. In our overwhelmingly secular Western society, very few people now believe that magic works and consequently very few fear Witches. Yet magic is an intrinsic part of modern Pagan Witchcraft, and some Witches go out of their way to publicise it. If belief in the power of magic ever becomes widespread in Western society once more, witch-hunts may well return.

All too soon it was time for the closing ritual, with Lindsey Long serving as HPS in a beautiful and dignified honouring of Pan. Cornish piper Merv Davey then led the company into an enthusiastic serpent-dance about and beyond the hall. But that was not quite the end of things. Later in the evening we had Damh the Bard on top form with old songs and new. "Merlin am I", "Green & Grey" and many more from one of the very best performers in the Pagan scene. First folk listened, then they danced, with the chairs getting shoved back and at least three generations of Pagans jigging about the floor. A grand ending to a spectacularly good conference. It's a long way from Scotland to Cornwall but the excellent talks, strong sense of community, great craic and beautiful surroundings made it very well worth the journey. Kitty and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Very highly recommended!

John Macintyre

Next Conference is at Penstowe Manor. Watch this space!!