"To absent friends, lost loves, old gods and the seasons of mists. And may each and everyone of us always give the devil his due."

Tonight I am raising my mug to Hoss, an old and dear friend, BOG Brother, who seems to have passed away during Pennsic. Hoss was the Keeper of the Tree Booth, Dragon and Unicorn Leather Mugs at MDRF. Wanted to pass on the news to any on my friends list who may not have heard, and take a moment to remember him. Hoss was a pretty special guy. Irreverent always, and kind hearted to all who deserved it. Quite famous for installing a fart noise maker behind a garden gnome in his booth, with a remote control. Loved to get patrons with it. Put up with BOG every year, stomping about behind scenes and making a fuss, I think he really enjoyed being an honorary BOG Brother. Had depths to him that I never got to fully know, but I knew they were there. Thanks Hoss.

Hoof & Horn, Hoof & Horn, All that dies shall be reborn, Corn & Grain, Corn & Grain, all that falls shall rise again.

Well, one more May festival to go. I am so far behind on catching up, I might be going backwards. However, I like to post a festival report for every event we do, and it has been a busy season. This one is the last of our Month of May festival, and we have actually just come home from another one, but that will come later.

Like the previous festival, the Maryland Faerie Festival was celebrating it's 5th year in 2009. The show had a set back last year, with a scheduling conflict for the site it using resulting in it being held in June. That weekend turned out to be one of the record breaking dangerously hot periods in MD last year and there were severe complications due to it. I wrote about it Here. The show survived and thrived, and as is often the case, will need a couple of years to reset and reboot. But they sure made a great start of it this year and excelled despite the rough weather, because, well, it has been a wet spring.



( Following the bouncing bubble.... )

The 5th Annual Greenbelt Green Man Festival was on May 8th-10th. Excellent little show. Happens in historic Greenbelt, Maryland at the Art Deco Roosevelt Center. We have attended 3 of the last 4 shows there, only missing a year due to car trouble and stress from our move. It's a great show, other than some logistic difficulties, and the last of our small community shows we do. Everything else is large events drawing thousands, but due to that wonderful theme, celebrating the Green Man and Ecology, and the fact that we have an excellent collector base that makes it profitable, and it being run by several friends, and getting to stay with our dear Sister/Friend Heather and her family..well, we keep coming back.



( Come along to see lots more pictures... )

But I will giving it a try over the next few days. We have just come off a a string of shows, three weekends in a row. Which is a nothing compared to the the nine weekends in a row we do at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, except....at MDRF we are in a permanent booth, the same location, a easy 2.5 hour drive, and have a nice trailer to stay in. Spring shows are an entirely different matter, each event in a different location, and a booth and campsite to set up and tear down, sometimes repetitively. The three weekends in May the weather has been spotty, and at times, down right nasty, as those who live in the Mid-Atlantic well know. Add to that, we, as in the entire family, have been fighting colds and coughs for much of it, then we have had a rough month. However, that is the facts of what we do and it could be worse...it could be raining...oh wait...it did.

However, the 18th Spoutwood Farm Fairie Festival was wonderful all the same, the 9th year for Mythical Masks, Spoutwood being our first every mask show.

You can't have any rainbows without the rain, and there are always little yellow raincoats, wellington boots, and umbrellas, and faerie friends to make up for any weather...



This is VERY picture heavy post, with lots of large format pics behind the cut.

( Lots of pictures and a few stories after the cut... )

Created by the Blessed Order of the Greenman (B.O.G) to support the Order and share our mission with the public.



Available for purchase at the Maryland Faerie Festival May 16-17. For only $3 you will not only support the Order, you receive an excellent little Journal of the Mythic Arts.

Each issue features a biography of a man who we feel represents the ethics and tradition that B.O.G supports. This issue features an extended biography of J.R.R. Tolkien, exploring his life, stories, and inspirations that helped create the epic saga, The Lord of the Rings. This issue also features a full history of the beginnings of the Blessed Order of the Greenman and the remarkable series of events that helped sprout from us a seed of an idea to a growing Fraternal Order. And we offer you a series of short bios showing the diversity of membership with n B.O.G. All of this, plus, essays, quotes, poems and more, on the Nature of the Green Man.

Please stop by the Mythical Masks booth to pick up a copy or find us at any of our festivals this year. Show Your Support For Your Local Boggie!

"Hoof and Horn, Hoof and Horn, All that Dies Shall be Reborn, Corn and Grain, Corn and Grain, All That Falls Shall Rise Again!"


Edited to Offer the Issue for Sale!:

If you can't find me or a Bogie who is carrying the Green Word, then I have created a PayPal option. I am new at creating PayPal options, so if there are any problems, please let me know immediately. Click the button below, and I will get one in the mail to you ASAP. The issue is $3.00 and shipping is $1.00. Make sure to include your address! Thanks to all for your support. Bog needs it and I hope we can live up to it! Green Blessings and Roots! Kubiando!

Just playing a little catchup here, and I need to post my pictures from the Greenman March before updating about FaerieCon. So here are a few more pictures, some Boggies and a few words on the weekend.



( Enter the mists... )

Not much of a post this week. It will have to wait until after the coming weekend to catch up. This week we are madly getting ready for the FaerieCon. So I will catch up later. For now, I will have to offer you a picture and two videos. The 9th Annual Marching of the Greenmen, by the Blessed Order of the Greenman (BOG), was this past Sunday. Here we are:



And here is our entrance at the festival. I am reading a new poem from Brother Dave Landis, called The Green Pledge.



And what I think is best of all, here is a video shot by someone at the festival. I haven't had the oppurtunity to thank them directly, but this moment was one of my favorites at the festival. Really special with Dave Landis, who is in the band Kiva, playing the penny whistle while we were at the Dragon Inn and Boggies keeping time with staves and bells. It was my most amazing time during the March and I loved it. I really do recommend clicking through to YouTube and watching it in high quality.



Harvest Blessings be with you all.

This delightfully sweet song about Spoutwood Farm May Day Fairie Festival was written by Janet Spahr, an excellent musician and player of the Hang Drum. It seems to be essentially an evolved steel drum. It is lovely, and a new instrument that only a limited number play. The simple joy of this song really gets across the spirit of the festival. Little kids in bubble fields. Of course, I was tickled to see them use the B.O.G chant at the end. It was a good Green Man March this year. I will write more about it and the FF later. Now, simply....relax.

Here is how we open the Green Man Marches at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. You can learn more about the Beloved Order of the Greenman (B.O.G) and the mythic image at www.bogbrothers.org.
It was a great March, with sixteen Brothers in attendance. Lots of fun was had by all. Lots of water was consumed in the heat. We hung in there. Don't think we missed a booth.



(Edited to add this Group Picture. Click on it to go to the full size version...)