This was my first time visiting Pantheacon and I had a really wonderful time. The Pagan Alliance folks were wonderful and hospitable - and they had the best party in the whole convention!
I was set up in the gigantic bath tub in my swimming tail, which had been decorated with all kinds of mermaid-y stuff and looked fabulous. I sat in the tub, splashing people, telling fortunes, blowing bubbles and being wooed by pirates. It was a fabulous night!
I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the fortune telling / oracle aspect of this gig. I hadn't ever done fortune telling before. Nobody expected "serious" fortune telling or true oracular ability, of course, so I just decided to keep it silly and fun. After all, a mermaid who's allowed herself to be captured and confined to a bathtub in San Jose can't be *that* all-knowing, right?But the very first "client" I spoke to had a semi-serious question.. will my son be happy? I looked back at her and opened my mouth.. and the words that came out left tears of emotion rolling down her face. (I made her cry?? Wow.. that was unexpected..) But they were tears of gratitude.. it seems she had simply needed someone to listen to her and believe in her, and.... well, if a magical creature such as a mermaid believes in you, then you're gonna be okay, right?
I answered so many questions throughout the night - serious ones, silly ones, irreverent ones and flirty ones, and I actually felt like a few of the people got some real answers. Is perhaps the value of an oracle simply a sounding board? A magical-seeming echo of our own thoughts, stirred around in the sea and repeated back to us with a more confident tone?
Or, is it simply that when we open up and ask for advice from a stranger, we get a new perspective on our problems?
Whatever the reason, this was a great party, a unique experience and a delightful crowd. I hope I get to do it again next year!
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