Latest / Random Heathen Ramblings / Random Heathen Ramblings: S5, EP16 - Transitioning Into Adulthood & Coming Of Age (feat. Adam Cage)

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Random Heathen Ramblings: S5, EP16 - Transitioning Into Adulthood & Coming Of Age (feat. Adam Cage) · Random Heathen Ramblings

• 0:01
  Hello everyone, and welcome to the Random Heathen Ramblings
• 0:04
  podcast, where we discussed all sorts of things Germanic
• 0:07
  Heathenry related. My name is Jesse.
• 0:10
  I am your host. Let's get into it.
• 0:33
  The old eight-year workshop is dedicated to the old ways,
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• 0:49
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  Visit our online store at the old eightyear.com and discover
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  the beauty of mountain spirit. All right everybody all around
• 1:07
  the world. Halen, welcome to this week's
• 1:09
  episode of the podcast. Thank you so much for coming
• 1:12
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• 1:14
  Halen, welcome to you. And if you are a return viewer
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• 1:26
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• 1:37
  different, but it I think it adds to the ambiance and looks a
• 1:40
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  then that information is LinkedIn, the show notes of this
• 2:35
  podcast and that link tree link that you see.
• 2:37
  If you click on that, it'll take you to all of my social media
• 2:39
  stuff, my my merchandise store. Speaking of merchandise real
• 2:43
  quick, I am running a special on my merchandise store in honor of
• 2:48
  Earth Day this month. So any any items that you buy
• 2:52
  that are branded with the Sacred Trail Society logo, you are all
• 3:00
  of the proceeds of that are going to be, you know,
• 3:05
  accumulated and donated to The Nature Conservancy at the
• 3:09
  beginning of May. So it's all of the the Sacred
• 3:13
  Trail Society merch. If you go to my spring store and
• 3:17
  just search for Sacred Trail Society, there's a whole section
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  of my store there that has shirts and stickers and various
• 3:23
  things. If you buy one again, all the
• 3:26
  profits of those sales will be donated to The Nature
• 3:29
  Conservancy in May for observation of Earth Day this
• 3:33
  year. So check that out if it's
• 3:34
  something that interests you. Aside from that, we have great
• 3:39
  guests coming on the show today. His name is Adam Cage and he is
• 3:44
  a a local fella who has been involved with a lot of Hagen and
• 3:49
  and Heathen events in the Nashville, TN area and abroad.
• 3:53
  I think he travels a bit. We'll get to know a bit more
• 3:57
  about him and what he's about and what he does.
• 4:01
  But we've met in person and have seen each other at a lot of the
• 4:04
  Raven Moon Hearth events. Him and his, his family are
• 4:08
  usually out there not just participating but being quite a
• 4:11
  an active you know presence of of of helping with like you know
• 4:17
  just various you know work and you know that needs to be done.
• 4:20
  You know, so boots on the ground type stuff, they're always
• 4:22
  really eager. And you know, Adam does a does a
• 4:25
  great job with being a help at at the Raven Moon Hearth events.
• 4:30
  I know he does other stuff too where he goes elsewhere, but
• 4:32
  we'll find out more about that. But he is coming on the show
• 4:35
  here this week to talk with us about something that happened
• 4:40
  last year at the Raven Moon Hearth Shadow Mood event.
• 4:44
  If you've been listening or watching my show for any length
• 4:46
  of time, you know that that is a recurring annual thing that
• 4:50
  happens in Springfield, TN and last year's Shadow Mood event
• 4:55
  involved a coming of age ritual. And so we're going to be talking
• 4:59
  this week about that but also in on on a bit of a broader scale
• 5:05
  or you know a broader spectrum what these, you know, coming of
• 5:08
  age rituals or ceremonies can can do and and maybe
• 5:13
  facilitating something like that here in our area or or
• 5:17
  introducing things like that in our area.
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  So that's about it. That's all I have to say about
• 5:24
  the the intro of it. So I want to I want to bring
• 5:26
  Adam on here and have him introduce himself to to all of
• 5:30
  you guys. And yeah, so let's get into it
• 5:32
  and let's welcome him on to the show now.
• 5:36
  All right. Adam.
• 5:37
  Hey, Jesse. How you doing, Sir?
• 5:39
  I'm good. Hey, I'm welcome.
• 5:40
  No, I'm. I'm here.
• 5:42
  I'm tired. Tired.
• 5:43
  Yeah. You had a busy weekend.
• 5:44
  So I've heard you were out in. Where was that at?
• 5:48
  Where was Pup? So Pup, Right.
• 5:50
  If Unity Festival. Yes, there was Puff.
• 5:52
  It was at Chickasaw State Park. Chickasaw.
• 5:56
  Yeah. How far is that from where
• 5:57
  you're located? About two hours and 55 minutes.
• 6:01
  Oh, wow. So you had a bit of a haul to to
• 6:04
  get there and back again. Yeah.
• 6:06
  Yeah. First night was fun.
• 6:08
  Get down there. It's raining.
• 6:09
  We're trying to put a tent up in the rain.
• 6:13
  I don't miss that. I mean I think it's fun when
• 6:15
  you're, you know when you think about camping and and setting up
• 6:18
  and then when the weather comes in and is less than savory,
• 6:20
  you're like why did I like doing this again?
• 6:23
  Yeah. Why didn't we just opt to get
• 6:26
  the light of the cabin, right. Right.
• 6:29
  But yeah Pagan Unity Festival. So that is a that is AII
• 6:33
  mentioned it kind of in the intro.
• 6:34
  You know you are very active with a lot of different Pagan
• 6:38
  and and or heathen groups in the area.
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  We I, I kind of mentioned the Raven Moon Horth group that you
• 6:45
  come out to and now Pagan Unity Festival.
• 6:47
  So and I also deal with the Pagan Pride day in in Nashville
• 6:51
  every October. OK cool.
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  Now did you go to that did you go to Puff this year just as I
• 6:58
  can attend Attendee or where you I went this year as an attendant
• 7:02
  what last year's attendant well this year actually performed in
• 7:08
  their little they had a what was called Drunken Shakespeare and
• 7:12
  we did Midsummer Night's Dream. Oh yeah, that can get kind of
• 7:16
  interesting even without the drunken part.
• 7:21
  Yeah, well, the drunken part makes it definitely more fun.
• 7:23
  I mean, of course nice. So you are of course here on the
• 7:31
  show representing or or wanting to talk about a a specific
• 7:34
  topic, But would you mind kind of just letting the listeners
• 7:37
  and the viewers know a little bit about your your background,
• 7:40
  if you don't mind, you know, what brought you to paganism?
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  Are you a? Are you a heathen?
• 7:43
  Are you Pagan? Like what's your OK My
• 7:47
  background is is I was originally Christian up until
• 7:50
  the time I hit 13. Didn't feel right there.
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  Met my late wife Mary Clark 1617 years ago and she was dealing
• 8:10
  with the Pagan pride and the more I was around everybody the
• 8:13
  more I felt like the the Pagan community was my community.
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  I met some a a lovely group of people Michael Hubbard and his
• 8:25
  wife and Charles Hunter and his wife and we they had a aid of
• 8:31
  White Oak and I joined them and we just spended a couple years
• 8:38
  later. I've been a sole practitioner up
• 8:41
  until this past shadow moot where Raven Moon Hearth has
• 8:47
  asked me to you know I'm right now I'm one of their
• 8:50
  probationary. Oh wow.
• 8:53
  Congratulations. Thank you.
• 8:54
  I'm. I'm very excited about that.
• 8:57
  They're a good group of people man.
• 8:59
  They are. They are.
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  They are. Me and Greg have talked a many
• 9:04
  of ideas to add for Raven Moon at some of our events.
• 9:10
  I I come up with these silly plans every night.
• 9:13
  You know just sitting around be like why don't we do this or
• 9:16
  this or this and that's how the this ritual actually came about
• 9:22
  that we'll be talking about. But like I'm talking about like
• 9:26
  having like a a story time with the Chieftain.
• 9:30
  Nice. Yeah.
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  And like in certain events like if you showed up and you were
• 9:35
  have the ability to do it maybe have you tell a story to the
• 9:39
  youth. Because my major outlook on
• 9:44
  heathenry Paganism as a community itself as that we have
• 9:50
  to teach these little ones and we have to teach them.
• 9:53
  You know I I know the parents do.
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  But as a community together we need to let them know that they
• 9:59
  they are welcomed in the community at times because once,
• 10:05
  once we're gone there's nobody there.
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  If they're if they're not taking, you know, seriously to
• 10:11
  to go all the way through this. Yeah, yeah there's a there's a
• 10:15
  responsibility on on us I feel to you know be that sort of a
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  guide. You know it's not like we're
• 10:22
  forcing them to think you know one specific way.
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  But with the with the family structure, right, with the SIB
• 10:30
  that that that family unit is a family, does it a certain way
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  and then when the family goes, everybody does it as the family.
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  And so giving them good guidance to to learn and make their own
• 10:42
  decisions and come up with their own, you know, direction in
• 10:46
  life. This is a great way of of
• 10:49
  exposing them to everybody else. You know, because they're going
• 10:53
  to see that diversity. They're going to see, you know,
• 10:55
  Oh, well, that group of people, they look a little bit different
• 10:57
  than we do, but yet we're all here gathering together to for
• 11:01
  the same purpose, you know, whether whether it's shadow mood
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  or whatever The thing is for, for example.
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  You know, yeah, to me, it shows them that it doesn't matter if
• 11:09
  you're different, you're accepted.
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  And that that is the one thing that the Pagan community is, is
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  they're accepted of everyone. They don't care about their
• 11:20
  background. They don't care about what their
• 11:22
  pasts are. It's this is your choice, but
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  you know your family and that's how they want to.
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  That's how I feel that we should all look at it.
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  You know, we're one big family no matter what.
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  We're all put here on this planet in these physical
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  containment units for so long. Yeah.
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  Yeah. What are we doing with that
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  time? You know, how are we best
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  utilizing what we've been given? And there's so much too with,
• 11:53
  with, with what you're talking about, with the community that
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  extends beyond just like our spirituality, our religion, our
• 11:59
  beliefs. I mean, there's so many things
• 12:00
  that people can teach one another and skills, you know
• 12:03
  what I mean? Just how to pitch a tent, how
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  to, you know, I don't know, just start to fight.
• 12:09
  Start to fight, right. Exactly.
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  You know, all those basic kind of fundamental type of survival
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  skills and whatnot. That man, if you don't, if
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  you're not taught those things and the day comes that you need
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  it, you'd be, you'd be, you'd be hurting.
• 12:23
  Yeah. When the zombie apocalypse
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  happens, everybody's going to be looking for the heathens, right?
• 12:28
  And where are they going to be? They're going to be far, deep in
• 12:30
  the woods somewhere, you know? You know, you come up on the
• 12:35
  run, Spears, bows and arrows pulled out.
• 12:38
  Who are you? Why are you here?
• 12:40
  You know, we're all in the mountains.
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  We know how to live up there. Yeah.
• 12:44
  Yeah. Well, you have some military
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  background too, don't you, Adam? Yes, Sir.
• 12:48
  Yeah. So you have, you have that
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  knowledge and and those skill sets that I'm sure have played a
• 12:56
  part in your your paganism. You know, there's, I'm sure
• 12:59
  there's certain things about what you learned in the military
• 13:03
  that have bled over into other aspects of your life, right.
• 13:08
  Yeah. And that's basically that I I
• 13:11
  want my children to. I try to teach them to be
• 13:16
  themselves no matter what and stand up for themselves.
• 13:22
  But just like, you know, in in any type of of situation, you
• 13:26
  know, you got your, your brothers and your sisters beside
• 13:29
  you, yeah, yeah, they should be there to to stand up with you,
• 13:35
  you know, or stand beside you when when it when needed.
• 13:38
  And I like how you say, you know, be yourselves.
• 13:40
  You know, there's a lot of things going on nowadays where
• 13:43
  people are trying to figure that out.
• 13:45
  You know, I get I've gotten asked a lot, even just recently.
• 13:49
  You know Jesse, who are you? You know, and I sit and I look
• 13:53
  at myself, well who am I? Am I this, you know, skin and
• 13:58
  bones persona? What, you know, like what am I?
• 14:02
  And you know it's there's there's that identity that we
• 14:05
  all go through. Different people go through in
• 14:08
  different ways. And yeah, one of the things,
• 14:11
  like we were gonna talk about today was this, this ceremony
• 14:15
  that you wanted to have happen at Shadowmoot last year, which
• 14:19
  was a kind of, from what little I know about it up to this
• 14:23
  point, was kind of, you know, sure it was a coming of age
• 14:26
  ceremony, but is that not in a way a, you know, a transition of
• 14:31
  identity or or finding their identity, the new identity,
• 14:35
  right. Transitioning from that
• 14:36
  childhood to the adulthood and maybe even more, right.
• 14:40
  Yeah, rite of passage, as they're telling me back here.
• 14:45
  Rite of passage, rite of passage.
• 14:47
  Yeah, I feel like a rite of passage.
• 14:51
  You know we as a community, we have a lot of diversity inside
• 14:58
  our community. And I know from, I mean say for
• 15:05
  example with Puff, with PPD and and Raven Moon altogether, we
• 15:12
  don't look at the individual as Oh well you're this or you're
• 15:16
  that. We look at them as a whole and
• 15:18
  this is the person. Well, like when I look at you,
• 15:22
  Jesse, I mean yes, I know that you were a very educated man
• 15:29
  from what I what I get from you, but yet you're very respectful.
• 15:34
  You are what? Quit.
• 15:40
  Tell me under your breath, please.
• 15:42
  You got the bug in your ear. But the bug's not quite loud
• 15:45
  enough. I've been quite loud enough.
• 15:46
  And I'm like, participate. Come on, play along with us
• 15:50
  here, you know. Well, yes.
• 15:52
  Yes. It's like you're reading a
• 15:53
  teleprompter. And the teleprompter's
• 15:54
  glitching. Yeah, the teleprompter's
• 15:57
  glitching way. She's she, they said.
• 16:01
  I'm sorry, they said. And it is true.
• 16:03
  I've seen you. You can be goofy at times, you
• 16:05
  know. You.
• 16:07
  You're human. You are Jesse.
• 16:10
  You you are AI consider you a friend.
• 16:14
  Sure. Each other in events he loomed
• 16:18
  when we saw each other in Huntsville for the Yeah yeah.
• 16:20
  With both in them. Yeah.
• 16:22
  Yeah. So I mean it's the way I feel is
• 16:26
  is your work community and in that community you have to be
• 16:31
  doesn't matter your background. Yeah.
• 16:34
  You are who you put forth each day.
• 16:38
  You know, we we are our deeds, right?
• 16:40
  Yes, we are our deeds. Which is one of the books they
• 16:44
  had to read before their coming of age Ceremony.
• 16:47
  Oh really? School.
• 16:48
  Time. More patience too.
• 16:49
  No. You read some of it.
• 16:50
  Yeah, I did. You skimmed it.
• 16:52
  I did skim it because that's what I do best.
• 16:55
  I skim a book and make a conclusion.
• 16:58
  So for everybody that's listening to to this or that,
• 17:01
  that will be listening or that isn't that, you know, when they
• 17:03
  listen to this Adam is, is, is the father of, of, of who was
• 17:10
  going through of Alex, right. That was going through their
• 17:14
  coming of age ceremony, their rite of passage just this year
• 17:17
  And and Alex is present on screen.
• 17:19
  So if you hear guys listening that aren't watching the video,
• 17:22
  this is Alex, right. Yes.
• 17:25
  Say hello Alex. Yeah.
• 17:27
  I'd just like to give people some context.
• 17:29
  So some people that are listening to this would be like
• 17:31
  I hear third voice and what's that?
• 17:33
  Well, there you go. So we got, we got that presence
• 17:38
  here, We got their presence here.
• 17:39
  So that's great. I'm glad that that, you know,
• 17:41
  you were able to join us here, Alex, and and be around for for
• 17:44
  this since it has to do with you, you know.
• 17:48
  So that's cool. Do you do you want to do you
• 17:51
  want to talk a bit about that whole thing, 'cause I I was a
• 17:55
  part of the opening of that ceremony at Shadowmoot.
• 17:59
  But after that it was very much, you know, off limits to a lot of
• 18:05
  others, you know. Or there there were some
• 18:06
  guidelines and there were some rules.
• 18:08
  Would you care to maybe elaborate, paint a picture for
• 18:11
  folks about what all of all that was?
• 18:14
  Well, let's start out of how how we actually came up with this
• 18:17
  idea all together, if we can. Yes, please.
• 18:21
  In our neighborhood there was, AI know, I'm probably going to
• 18:24
  say this wrong. They will correct me.
• 18:26
  Quinceanera. Quinceanera.
• 18:29
  Thank you happening and we were talking about, you know, you
• 18:33
  know, the the coming of age where it was, you know that this
• 18:38
  young person was becoming an adult inside their community.
• 18:42
  And I Simply put a feeder out on Facebook.
• 18:48
  You know, is there a coming of age ceremony for Pagans or for
• 18:54
  for for heathens at this time that is gender neutral And as
• 19:02
  Daphne Reed and Rita Finley No, I'm.
• 19:08
  I'm pulling out the phone because I can have the the
• 19:10
  people they're with. They're sorry.
• 19:12
  They're with the Holly Grove congregation Whitsitt.
• 19:16
  Wait, wait. Sit.
• 19:18
  I think it's it. Why is it?
• 19:21
  I have no idea, but they were, Daphne and Rita said.
• 19:26
  Hey we've we've got an idea. We've got idea.
• 19:29
  Let's let us write this for you and you can go through it.
• 19:32
  And it took them about two days to write the ritual.
• 19:37
  It was very, very good. You soon didn't it was very
• 19:41
  good. They they within two days they
• 19:43
  had it wrote and they're like, tell us what you think we went
• 19:46
  through it with Alex. You know, once everything was
• 19:52
  agreed upon on on the writing of the of it, we went ahead and did
• 19:59
  it. And what it was or what it
• 20:00
  involved with was her or the main goal was for them to be
• 20:07
  able to be seen as young adults inside the community.
• 20:12
  They're no longer children, they're young adults.
• 20:17
  The the ceremony itself or the the the procedure itself.
• 20:22
  Like you said, you came in and did that beautiful song to bless
• 20:25
  the land. Yes, it was grateful.
• 20:28
  It was very gorgeous. Thank you.
• 20:32
  Then they were to keep a fire lit for 24 hour.
• 20:36
  Was it 24 hours? Yes, it was 24 hours.
• 20:39
  No, the 12 hours is overnight. It was overnight.
• 20:42
  Sorry, it was overnight. They had to fast during this
• 20:46
  time. They were allowed water, but
• 20:47
  they weren't allowed food. I put ice.
• 20:50
  In. My water.
• 20:51
  You put ice in your water to get around it.
• 20:52
  We know. Yeah, because I eat.
• 20:55
  But it was, you know, if they were supposed to be there.
• 20:59
  Technically it was supposed to be them by themselves, but
• 21:02
  unfortunately, with the weather, with possible rain, they had to
• 21:06
  keep the fire lit all night. Yeah, we allowed him to transfer
• 21:11
  to a candle, Mr. Wolf. He actually let them use his
• 21:16
  tent outside of his area to stay dry.
• 21:22
  I stayed out there with her or with them overnight.
• 21:25
  Sorry, I'm still getting used to it.
• 21:26
  But you know, don't worry, you're fine.
• 21:29
  We stayed. We stayed out overnight.
• 21:31
  And the one thing that I did like they were supposed to be by
• 21:35
  themselves. But as the night went on, we had
• 21:40
  several members of the heathen community that would come down
• 21:45
  and give advice or words of wisdom.
• 21:50
  I've you know and then the following morning once their 12
• 21:55
  hours were up, there was a circle that was made around them
• 22:00
  in which me and Lillian Hawkins, my girlfriend, we we stood forth
• 22:07
  to say that we were allowing her or allowing them to do this and
• 22:11
  we were allowing them to go from childhood to adulthood.
• 22:15
  They they asked. Then they go around the circle
• 22:22
  and they're giving gifts that will help transition.
• 22:30
  I know that. Like, I believe it was Miss Rita
• 22:33
  gave her a or gave him a Swiss Army knife.
• 22:35
  Yes, I was given a Swiss Army knife.
• 22:38
  They were given their first horn.
• 22:40
  Drinking horn, Yes. No drinking in it, but they were
• 22:44
  given the horn. I was.
• 22:45
  Given the horn, when I can drink.
• 22:47
  Yes, yes, When you can drink and and little words of inspiration
• 22:53
  from those that did show up and and join around because anybody
• 22:58
  was allowed to. Oh wow.
• 23:00
  And you know, then they go to the gatekeeper.
• 23:05
  The gatekeeper asks, Are you ready to go to the other side?
• 23:09
  They say yes, we form another circle, and then we give them
• 23:14
  gifts or words of wisdom to carry on into their adulthood
• 23:21
  and theirs. I gave them their my mother.
• 23:24
  'S. Shield their mother's shield
• 23:27
  that I'd had made several years ago.
• 23:29
  You. Made.
• 23:31
  I made myself cry. Maybe.
• 23:33
  That's. Beautiful.
• 23:34
  So darn hard not to. But, and then they are viewed
• 23:40
  more in the community's eyes as an adult versus a child.
• 23:47
  A child, you know so like at the say for example in the games
• 23:52
  that we have, well that's coming up which is Feast of the
• 23:56
  following. Technically she can be in the
• 24:00
  kids games, but then technically she can be in the adults games.
• 24:04
  I. Play games anyways.
• 24:07
  Yeah, but some of our adults are.
• 24:10
  Arses. No, not Arses or Blake.
• 24:14
  I mean if you get to play with the.
• 24:16
  Yeah, if you're going to play with the, you know, if you're
• 24:17
  going to play with the big folks, then you know bring your
• 24:19
  game. Yeah.
• 24:22
  Yeah. So the the the ceremony was like
• 24:25
  I said, it was wrote because as far as I know, as far as Mr.
• 24:32
  Greg Strong with Raven Moon, New Daphne and Rita, this had never
• 24:38
  been performed here in the States.
• 24:42
  As far as we know, there's never been a gender neutral.
• 24:45
  It's always been a boy to girl, boy to man or girl tool woman.
• 24:50
  But there's never been one that's just straight out from
• 24:54
  child to adult. Adult, yeah, that's what that's
• 24:58
  what we wanted to do, 'cause we wanted.
• 25:00
  Like I said earlier, the community is made-up of so many
• 25:04
  diversities, you know? Yeah, this one ritual actually
• 25:10
  gives them the ability to. It doesn't, you know, it don't
• 25:14
  matter your your sexual preference, your sexual
• 25:16
  orientation, this is strictly how you feel.
• 25:20
  You feel like you're ready to go from being a child to being an
• 25:23
  adult and being seen in the community as an adult.
• 25:28
  You know, that's how it's supposed to look.
• 25:31
  And that's that's what this whole this whole shaboggle.
• 25:36
  Shaboggle, yeah, that's a good word.
• 25:39
  The whole ritual was about was being able to allow them to
• 25:42
  express themselves and let the community see that they were
• 25:46
  ready for. To go from being a child and
• 25:49
  being seen as a child to being seen as a young person in the
• 25:53
  community and be able to start working in the community to help
• 25:57
  build the community, that's a huge step.
• 26:02
  It is. I'm very proud of.
• 26:04
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 26:05
  You should be, you know, you should be proud of them and and
• 26:07
  they should be proud of themselves I think too.
• 26:09
  You know that's a because I'm sure there has to be like this.
• 26:12
  There has to be consent, right. Like I'm ready for this.
• 26:14
  I'm. I'm ready to to make that jump
• 26:16
  or make that step right. Yes.
• 26:18
  We prefer that if a child wants to go through the ceremony that
• 26:24
  it is, then that wants to go through the ceremony.
• 26:26
  Not the parents. The parents are there to
• 26:29
  basically it's it's sort of like it.
• 26:31
  You know almost like it. Who who gives this child to
• 26:33
  become an adult just like you would at a wedding.
• 26:36
  Who gives this bride away. The parents are there stating
• 26:40
  and giving the child the ability to do this saying yes we're we
• 26:45
  we want this blessing them sort of in it.
• 26:47
  Yeah. Blessing.
• 26:49
  This is our blessing to you. We're allowing we we want you to
• 26:51
  do this. If this is what you're wanting
• 26:53
  to do. You know, they're given the
• 26:55
  option, but it has to be the child's decision to do it.
• 27:03
  And you mentioned too it being not just like the ceremony
• 27:06
  itself, which sounds beautiful from what you've described and
• 27:09
  that's you know that that's definitely a big part of it.
• 27:11
  You mentioned that you know it being a rite of passage and that
• 27:16
  there is ordeal and and challenge that comes with that
• 27:20
  passing into the next page. Things you about having to keep
• 27:26
  a fire lit not eating those are some you know those are those
• 27:30
  can be in especially certain circumstances pretty challenging
• 27:34
  thanks to face. Do you think that they do you
• 27:36
  think that that has to I mean do you I I personally think that
• 27:39
  without that or without some sort of you know adversity or
• 27:44
  without some sort of ordeal you you don't really get the full
• 27:48
  effect of the ceremony. No.
• 27:51
  You're you're you're you're completely correct.
• 27:54
  It's. I mean we we've, we know in the
• 27:58
  teachings that you know Odin hung himself for 9 days from the
• 28:02
  tree for knowledge. He gave his eye for knowledge or
• 28:12
  knowledge of wisdom. Get those two mixed UPS
• 28:14
  Sometimes he gave yeah he he he he gave his eye at Mimir's.
• 28:18
  Well, for the the, the wisdom, yeah.
• 28:22
  And. And.
• 28:23
  And that. But then he hung himself for the
• 28:25
  knowledge of the runes, the mysteries that he hung himself
• 28:29
  from Iggor Seal for those nine days and nights.
• 28:31
  Yeah. So yeah, there's ordeal that
• 28:33
  goes through. Yeah.
• 28:34
  There there has to be some sacrifice to be able to connect
• 28:40
  almost. Yeah.
• 28:42
  Your sanity was not challenged. No.
• 28:44
  My. Sandy.
• 28:46
  Was the sacrifice. Oh your your Sandy was the
• 28:47
  secondary program. No.
• 28:50
  That morning was just a joke between the rest of us.
• 28:52
  Hope we kept telling you 10 more minutes start like clock.
• 28:57
  You start like dialing the analog clocks back.
• 28:59
  It's been 10 minutes. No no it hasn't been.
• 29:02
  No, they're not They're not allowed any kind.
• 29:04
  They're not allowed cell phones. They're not allowed any kind of
• 29:08
  any kind of electronics. They can't have watches on them.
• 29:12
  The because the the deal with the fire is not only are they
• 29:16
  supposed to tend to that fire but it's supposed to allow them
• 29:18
  to be able to meditate and connect with the ancestors and
• 29:23
  the gods themselves. Yeah.
• 29:26
  So no. No distractions basically.
• 29:28
  No just lost because I had no nothing that can avert their
• 29:32
  attention. Correct.
• 29:34
  Correct. That's great.
• 29:37
  I I mean I'm I'm obviously well past like the coming of age time
• 29:42
  of my life. But I had AI had a recent thing
• 29:45
  happened that as you're talking about this, it made me think of
• 29:48
  you know, whether it's coming of age.
• 29:51
  You know a young person transitioning into adulthood and
• 29:54
  and learning the responsibilities or being given
• 29:56
  the kind of the the keys to go now forth and be part of this
• 30:02
  adult community. Right.
• 30:03
  That that or whether it's a stage in one's life where you
• 30:08
  know, you realize like this is I have to go on this sort of
• 30:11
  discovery of myself or find things about myself.
• 30:14
  And then part of that discovery is to withdraw be separated be
• 30:18
  disconnected a bit from the modern conveniences of of of the
• 30:22
  world and society and and go through an ordeal and learn what
• 30:26
  we can through those moments. It's not just for the kids
• 30:30
  transitioning into adulthood. I think it's a great time to
• 30:33
  start that because it teaches you know what it teaches a very
• 30:39
  valuable lesson that what you what you want.
• 30:44
  You know to to obtain out of life.
• 30:45
  You have to you know you have to work hard for those things.
• 30:50
  You know you can't just if you want to stay warm, you got to
• 30:53
  keep that fire going. If you want to stay alive, you
• 30:55
  got to find a way to feed yourself or stay you know,
• 30:58
  hydrated or this or that. Like there's there's certain
• 31:00
  lessons that without those rites of passage as we say you know
• 31:06
  you wouldn't learn that. Yeah.
• 31:08
  And I believe that, I know that me and Greg strongly have talked
• 31:14
  about it and I believe he's actually wanting to do something
• 31:18
  more of a a bigger scale event that would allow, you know,
• 31:24
  several young people to, to make this transition when they feel
• 31:28
  that they're ready, yes. And I would be their guy.
• 31:34
  I would. End up being up all night,
• 31:37
  guiding once. Again.
• 31:40
  Oh, you would be like a like a yeah, yes, that's, that's one of
• 31:44
  the things that we would have is like since if the if it was done
• 31:48
  again, they're the first ever done it.
• 31:51
  So they would be, it would be up to them to guide them through
• 31:56
  like all of it like sort of like a sort of, you know, sort of
• 32:01
  like a, a, a, a in structuring that.
• 32:06
  Yeah, for a better lack of the terms and instruction guide.
• 32:08
  Would be a human destruction. Yeah, I mean it's like you,
• 32:11
  well, you've got to be, you've got to go through this yourself.
• 32:13
  It's kind of like when I think of any any sort of like a like a
• 32:17
  medicine retreat or anything like there's there's the
• 32:20
  designated medicine person or the shaman or the whatever, who
• 32:23
  is there to be that, you know the guide for the rest of people
• 32:26
  that that haven't gone through that thing yet.
• 32:28
  It's like I'm not I'm not going to make, you know, I'm not
• 32:32
  you're still going to have to go through this yourself.
• 32:34
  You're still going to have to feed this yourself.
• 32:36
  But I'm here to administer aid or whatever.
• 32:39
  You know, be I'm here for backup, you know.
• 32:42
  Yeah, kind of maybe like a tether or or a like a cable toe
• 32:45
  in a way you know that that connection when you need it.
• 32:51
  There's definitely I think a place for that in the community.
• 32:55
  I think that just hearing about it, I feel like there's a
• 32:59
  definitely a degree of privacy that is demanded of such a thing
• 33:04
  for the families that want to partake.
• 33:06
  But I think that it's great to involve the community such as
• 33:10
  they can be to really drive the point home.
• 33:14
  You know like you might be going through this thing right now but
• 33:17
  and it might be feel like you're alone in this but you're really
• 33:19
  not truthfully in your entire community with the yeah.
• 33:24
  You know which can be really I think an emboldening emboldening
• 33:28
  experience. You know to know that you've got
• 33:30
  a village behind you or you know your your family and and this
• 33:34
  and that are are are there to to kind of support and you know not
• 33:40
  like pick you up prevent you from falling but pick you up
• 33:43
  when you fall right or or let you figure those things out and
• 33:46
  be there to to cheer you on. I was talking with, I was
• 33:50
  talking with some friends of mine recently about like the
• 33:55
  people that we love. And whether it's, you know, our
• 33:59
  immediate families or extensions of our families that we've come
• 34:03
  to connect with through these, you know, events like in the
• 34:07
  community of Pagan communities, etcetera.
• 34:09
  When we, when we develop a relationship, when we have love
• 34:13
  for people, it's it's got it's almost kind of like becomes
• 34:16
  ingrained into us to never want to see them hurt.
• 34:20
  Never want to see them fail, you know.
• 34:24
  And and then when they do you're like, oh, come here, let me help
• 34:27
  you. You know.
• 34:29
  And I was talking with them. It was a couple friends of mine
• 34:32
  recently I've had conversations bleed over so it all kind of
• 34:36
  comes together in this neat little bundle but that
• 34:39
  essentially you know what what what that love what what the
• 34:43
  true love means is that you if they fall, they fall.
• 34:48
  You'll be there to help them get up.
• 34:49
  But they sometimes people have some people.
• 34:51
  Sometimes you have to go through that.
• 34:52
  You have to fall in order to learn how to pick yourself up.
• 34:58
  You know, you have to mess up along the way because without
• 35:03
  those mistakes, you're not going to learn.
• 35:05
  So if you try to shield or guard or protect somebody from going
• 35:09
  through those experiences, you're really doing a worse
• 35:13
  thing than if they had been messing up all along.
• 35:16
  They're given that chance to learn, you know and figure out,
• 35:19
  Oh no, don't do that again or well that worked.
• 35:23
  I can learn from that. You know, and well see one one
• 35:26
  of the other things that I feel like with this, this ceremony
• 35:30
  and allowing the child to, for a better lack of the words, go
• 35:34
  from childhood to adulthood and be seen as an adult that it also
• 35:40
  allows that person that did it. The the knowing that if they
• 35:49
  need to talk to someone, they don't have to feel like, well,
• 35:53
  I'm a kid, they're not going to listen to me, you know.
• 35:57
  Yeah. If somebody had a spiritual
• 35:58
  question, like if they had a spiritual question, they didn't
• 36:01
  want to come to me about it. And they're like, well, you
• 36:04
  know, Mr. Jesse may know better or may know something different.
• 36:08
  And they they could come to you and be able to talk to you or
• 36:11
  Mr., you know, Mr. Strong or Rita or Daphne or any of the
• 36:16
  other community that knows that this child has gone from this
• 36:20
  point to this point. Yeah.
• 36:22
  You know, it it allows it to open up to where they can see
• 36:26
  that they have more than just the parental or as we call, as
• 36:31
  we call ourselves here, the parental units telling us this
• 36:34
  is what you do, this is what you don't do.
• 36:36
  That's being, you know, that's like being a child.
• 36:39
  Well, now, now you're we're looking at an adult.
• 36:42
  So yeah, yeah it's a totally different dynamic now you know
• 36:49
  and and that's really when the when the learning really begins.
• 36:51
  You know like sure there's it's great to have that you know
• 36:56
  milestone of an event the the ceremony itself to kind of be
• 37:00
  the mile marker of when it began.
• 37:02
  And then now it's now now now time now when's when the real
• 37:07
  work kicks in. You know now you're in this, now
• 37:11
  you're in the the big boy pen or the big girl pen.
• 37:13
  You know, I mean you're you're playing with the, the big dogs
• 37:15
  now. Yeah.
• 37:17
  So that was, yeah, to happen. Yeah, we'll see.
• 37:21
  That was like at at at Puff Prime example I they looked at
• 37:28
  me and says, Dad, we're going down here to our friends, OK
• 37:31
  Next thing I know is can't find any of them.
• 37:33
  Where do we find all three of the teenagers?
• 37:37
  They're all in the kitchen volunteering, helping.
• 37:40
  I don't know who who had that idea.
• 37:44
  I believe Logan did. OK, cool.
• 37:46
  Logan was originally volunteering because his step
• 37:48
  mom wanted him to. OK, so we tacked the lawn
• 37:50
  because it seemed. Fun.
• 37:52
  But there you go. I mean, and and these were three
• 37:55
  youths, young adults that they they took it upon themselves to
• 37:59
  help without being asked. They were just like, where's it?
• 38:03
  Where do you want us to go? Yeah.
• 38:05
  How can I help? What can I do?
• 38:07
  Yeah. And and I like seeing that
• 38:08
  because that shows me as the parent of somebody that
• 38:16
  especially with this one, that they've been the only ones that
• 38:19
  have done. It shows that I've done right in
• 38:22
  some way, yeah, that I've brought what I wanted to do,
• 38:27
  which was have them be respected in the community, you know, and
• 38:33
  they were able to be respected on their own.
• 38:37
  They stepped up. They did this.
• 38:40
  I didn't, Right. Yeah, you were the kind of like
• 38:44
  it sounds like you had planted the seed and nourished it to
• 38:49
  some form of growth. But it reached a point now where
• 38:52
  the, you know, the caretaking of that transition from you with
• 38:58
  them to themselves, with themselves.
• 39:01
  They have, they have to take care of this now.
• 39:02
  They have the cold. They have to feed it.
• 39:03
  They have to do the things that are going to nourish and allow,
• 39:06
  allow, allow themselves to grow instead of being told go over
• 39:10
  here, go do that, pick up your toys, pick up your mess, this
• 39:14
  and that. You know, like, yeah, there's
• 39:15
  there comes a point where you ought to be doing that yourself.
• 39:19
  You ought to be thinking of that yourself.
• 39:20
  How can I help? What should I be doing?
• 39:22
  If you have to ask, then that's fine.
• 39:25
  But at least, you know, also be aware of what's going around
• 39:27
  like, oh wow, you know, I see that, you know there's a garbage
• 39:30
  pail full of trash and nobody's emptied it yet.
• 39:32
  Well, that's something I could do because that what's that's
• 39:35
  what needs to be done, you know? Yeah.
• 39:37
  Sometimes, though, you do have to tell them to still clean
• 39:39
  their room. Well, yeah.
• 39:41
  I mean, shoot, my wife still has to tell me to do the laundry.
• 39:44
  Oh, some things never change, you know.
• 39:47
  Decently clean. OK, OK.
• 39:50
  I sit on my bed most of the day. Decently clean, you know, it
• 39:55
  seems pretty. Clean.
• 39:59
  But yeah, I remember that too. Growing up as a youth, you know,
• 40:01
  when I started to get to it, a point in my life or an age like
• 40:05
  there wasn't. And I grew up in a it wasn't a
• 40:07
  heathen or Pagan community. It was a Christian and you know,
• 40:11
  environment and the the beliefs that I had were Christian
• 40:13
  beliefs that was raised in. But the point being was that the
• 40:16
  the community was very tribal in its construct and everybody has
• 40:22
  a role, everybody has a responsibility.
• 40:25
  And as I got older, you know, going into like my early, early
• 40:30
  teenage years, you know, I was probably getting close to
• 40:35
  finishing up like high school somewhere around that age.
• 40:38
  So about three years ago. Pretty much, yeah.
• 40:41
  How'd you know? You got me, you guys, you got me
• 40:47
  over video. But yeah, no, it was like it was
• 40:50
  it was like well now you know you're you're you're responsible
• 40:54
  to be more present be more active and and do more things
• 40:59
  and not just be told, you know when we're having this, you
• 41:04
  know, gathering or when it's a you know a an event or something
• 41:07
  that that we're that we're putting on that, you know you're
• 41:10
  not just one of the kids that are running around playing
• 41:12
  around outside not helping. You have a role now.
• 41:16
  You have a responsibility now. And it was, it was a it was a
• 41:20
  lot of learning at that stage 'cause I was I was so used to
• 41:24
  being the kid, you know, now I'm the oldest kid, essentially.
• 41:28
  I mean I'm still, you know, like I couldn't legally vote.
• 41:31
  I couldn't, you know, I could drive but I still, you know, I
• 41:34
  couldn't like rent a car or any of those, you know, big adult
• 41:37
  things that you sometimes get known for.
• 41:40
  But in, in the, in the sense of of of that community that I was
• 41:44
  in, it was, you know, you have, you are no, you are.
• 41:46
  You're becoming a young man now. You're not a child anymore and
• 41:50
  you put away those childish things when you enter into that
• 41:55
  stage of life. So now now I I do.
• 42:00
  Yeah. I was going to say I I still.
• 42:02
  They still have their childish side which I find great because
• 42:06
  that that. Yeah.
• 42:07
  Never grow up. Never grow up.
• 42:09
  No. We're all supposed to be Peter
• 42:10
  Pan's for life. It's just very rare to see.
• 42:15
  You do not recommend. Yeah.
• 42:16
  We we all thought we weren't We were young.
• 42:18
  We're like I can't wait to grow up And now we're all sitting
• 42:21
  here going what were we thinking?
• 42:23
  Yeah, I want that nap again. You know right I.
• 42:28
  Don't want to give me that. I'll be happy.
• 42:31
  Seriously, You see? You realize now it's very easy
• 42:35
  to please me. I'll apply some juice, a juice
• 42:37
  box, and some crackers in a nap. That's all I want.
• 42:41
  I still want to live. Out Big Three the the Big Three
• 42:43
  juice crackers in a nap. Screw it.
• 42:47
  You can burn my phone. For all I care.
• 42:49
  Oh, yeah. OK, give me your phone.
• 42:51
  Unless we're gonna it. Looks like.
• 42:53
  Every. Day after school with the juice
• 42:55
  box and crackers? Ain't no way.
• 42:57
  How about soda cookie? That's like the teenage version
• 43:03
  of those items. Yeah, there we go.
• 43:04
  Stop trying to make me grow up. I mean, I honestly either one
• 43:07
  sounds pretty, pretty OK with me, you know?
• 43:10
  But yeah, the grown up version is, you know, I'm usually
• 43:11
  sitting around if if it's it's like I just, you know, relaxing
• 43:15
  and I'm when I'm, you know, sipping Scotch or or a beer or
• 43:18
  something, you know, or Mead, whatever happens to be available
• 43:21
  or accessible. And I'm just.
• 43:23
  I'm just like, yeah. This version.
• 43:26
  Of that is a a grown up version of nap time.
• 43:29
  You know, my dad, the the adult version of nap time is like 9:00
• 43:34
  at night till 4:00 in the morning where we're like. 40
• 43:38
  minute power nap. Yeah, 40 minute power.
• 43:42
  I remember that was on the working on the road, man, I used
• 43:44
  to never get really good rechargeable sleep.
• 43:48
  So I got it when I could. And if that meant, you know, a
• 43:50
  power 45 minute power nap in the passenger seat of the van or two
• 43:55
  hour nap in the bunk like you, you, you definitely you, you,
• 44:00
  you, you realize now I remember now why, why kids get so cranky
• 44:04
  when they don't have their nap. And then and then on top of
• 44:12
  that, we're behind 2 tons of steel and now we're cranky.
• 44:15
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
• 44:18
  That's. Amazing all the all the grown up
• 44:20
  things. So, so you've got more members
• 44:25
  of your family who will eventually be reaching that age
• 44:28
  of transitioning into adulthood, right?
• 44:32
  We've got one more, which will be Serena.
• 44:36
  But so the the age that we look to do this for is somewhere
• 44:41
  around the 13 to 14 year old because we, we try to let them
• 44:46
  be a child as as long as we can. Sure, Phil, they're asked, you
• 44:51
  know, hey, do you want to do this?
• 44:53
  No, I don't want to do this this year, OK?
• 44:55
  We come back the next year. Do you want to do this, you
• 44:59
  know, And eventually as they see it and as they want to be seen
• 45:03
  in the community, that is their decision.
• 45:08
  So if they want to be 16 and still seem, you know, actually,
• 45:11
  you know, acting like a child, then they'll be treated like
• 45:14
  one. But for someone like Alex, who
• 45:17
  at 14 actually you were 13 and you were 14.
• 45:22
  No, I was 13. Were you 13?
• 45:24
  I was 13 turning 14 because I'm turning 15 this year.
• 45:26
  OK. Thank you.
• 45:30
  So you were already 14? No.
• 45:32
  Yeah, that was last year baby. But four you know 1314 whatever
• 45:38
  they we we brought this up. They were like yeah, I want to
• 45:42
  do it and we we told them how you know what it would look like
• 45:45
  through. And here we are, you know fixing
• 45:51
  to start our, as I call it, the camping seasons again, where it
• 45:56
  the event seasons where we're eventing everywhere.
• 45:59
  And they are always, you know, they may not want to help me,
• 46:05
  which is fine. I understand that they they
• 46:07
  helped me some. But the fact that they would
• 46:10
  rather go out and they would rather help the community
• 46:14
  actually makes me happier and more proud as a parent that they
• 46:19
  have chose that. Yes, Dad, you have it you you
• 46:24
  can do this all by yourself. You can do this all day long,
• 46:26
  twice as long as I can, twice as fast as I can.
• 46:29
  I'm just going to get in the way.
• 46:30
  Let me go help this person over here.
• 46:34
  That's great. Prime example, Shadowmoot last
• 46:38
  year when right after this one of the vendors needed help
• 46:41
  tearing down the tent and instead of coming to ritual,
• 46:45
  they looked at me and said, dad, can I help tear down this tent
• 46:48
  because they want to go home. It wasn't right.
• 46:53
  You know that. They.
• 46:54
  I guess they weren't. Something happened where they
• 46:58
  had to leave, This is. Yeah, their tent was.
• 47:02
  Yeah, their tent was turned up. Yeah.
• 47:04
  And I don't. But Alex said, you know, came to
• 47:08
  me and said, hey, Dad, can I do this instead of ritual?
• 47:11
  Ritual. Well, yes, please do that.
• 47:14
  Because you're you, you have already taken a step forward
• 47:17
  that you you know that we can do this anytime, but yet you're
• 47:23
  willing to go out of your way to help at that time a complete
• 47:27
  stranger. You know, you're willing to help
• 47:33
  a complete stranger then no, please.
• 47:35
  By all means, go do that. Yeah.
• 47:37
  But don't. You don't have to ask me.
• 47:40
  Yeah. Why aren't you gone yet?
• 47:41
  Like go right. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 47:43
  It's like, I don't care. Go.
• 47:44
  Thanks. Well, I mean you.
• 47:46
  Find me to participate in ritual for once so.
• 47:49
  Yeah, no, I get it, you know, because that's a special thing
• 47:52
  too. You know they.
• 47:56
  Don't particularly call to me. Then the rituals don't call to a
• 47:59
  lot of people. Some people like me and and it's
• 48:02
  cool. You know like they you know they
• 48:04
  they found a better use of their time that I feel the gods would
• 48:10
  exactly. They they can't get their own
• 48:13
  ritual. Yeah.
• 48:15
  You know and they're and they're they're acting upon the thing
• 48:17
  that they were. They were that that they had
• 48:19
  just come out of. You know it wasn't like up I did
• 48:22
  the ceremony. It's done now.
• 48:23
  Back to life as usual. Like, no, now it's it's go time.
• 48:27
  Like I said, that's that's exactly what they just kind of
• 48:30
  whispered over here beside me. It's like, Yep, it's go time.
• 48:33
  No, I. Said all about, oh 'cause I put.
• 48:35
  The cold screen chase down on my way it.
• 48:37
  Sound like you said go time. It's all like, Yep, there you
• 48:39
  go. I equally.
• 48:40
  Put it both though I don't know what I was thinking when I went
• 48:43
  into this I. Feel like you?
• 48:47
  Don't like. It I hear.
• 48:51
  It so was there any like was there, was there, was there ever
• 48:54
  a moment? Since Alex is here, I'd like to
• 48:56
  ask if it's OK Was there ever a moment during that ceremony or
• 49:00
  during that any point at at that point where you were like, I
• 49:05
  don't know, this isn't did I did I do this at the right time?
• 49:09
  Am I ready for this? Like, did you have any sort of
• 49:12
  feelings? You know, apprehension or or
• 49:14
  doubt go through it. It would have probably had that
• 49:19
  moment, probably would have had to been like at the very last
• 49:22
  part of the ritual with the circles.
• 49:26
  Then again, that could have just been me being socially horribly
• 49:31
  awkward. But I don't know.
• 49:33
  But. They are kind of a they don't
• 49:36
  like big social crowds. Introverted and.
• 49:39
  Social. Oh yeah.
• 49:39
  And then now all of a sudden, all the tension's on you.
• 49:42
  I can imagine that was. Really.
• 49:43
  Yeah, that was. That's probably the only time
• 49:45
  they're like, what did I get myself into?
• 49:49
  You saw me somewhere around the circle.
• 49:52
  Yeah, because, yeah. But that was because there were
• 49:54
  people that you knew. There were people that you
• 49:56
  didn't know. The people that you knew.
• 49:58
  You stopped and talked to them. I stopped and talked to.
• 50:01
  Everyone, Well, I understand that.
• 50:04
  Well, thanks for that. Thanks for thanks for answering
• 50:07
  that. And I was always I was you know
• 50:09
  hearing different people's stories.
• 50:11
  I like to get a little glimpse inside sometimes and know a
• 50:14
  little bit more about what what person went through if they're
• 50:16
  willing to talk about it. That's that's why I'm here,
• 50:20
  that's why I'm existing right now in this space of time, in
• 50:26
  case you have questions like that.
• 50:28
  Yeah, no, I appreciate that being accessible like that.
• 50:32
  So with with the future of not just your family, you know
• 50:36
  coming into you know family members of your of of your
• 50:40
  hearts, having you know the the comings of age that they are
• 50:44
  going to be experiencing. Do you think you would like to
• 50:47
  be a part of other larger, not to say larger scale but like
• 50:53
  other other such things outside maybe help, facilitate or or
• 50:58
  anything like that. Like do you see yourself getting
• 51:00
  into, you know being part of a participant in another coming of
• 51:05
  age ceremony for other people And this is, this could be for
• 51:08
  for Adam and and Alex both really.
• 51:10
  So here. No, no, you you go.
• 51:16
  OK, As for myself, I would be honored to help anybody that
• 51:21
  feels like they want to do this. To me it doesn't matter their
• 51:26
  their path at all. If this is something that they
• 51:30
  want, I don't mind helping facilitate it.
• 51:34
  I don't mind helping go through and say OK, this is this is how
• 51:39
  we did ours. But if there's something that
• 51:42
  the parents want to change, say for example you and your wife,
• 51:50
  you y'all decide y'all have a child, y'all wanted to go
• 51:53
  through this, but you don't like the idea of them having to learn
• 51:59
  well, not learn how to start a fire but keep a fire going all
• 52:01
  night, you just that doesn't sit with you.
• 52:05
  For them to be there by themselves all night, they
• 52:08
  wouldn't give well. And if what I'm saying is if you
• 52:13
  weren't there to be with them like I went to Jesse's his
• 52:20
  kindred and did it you know or his heart.
• 52:24
  I gotcha. So like the framework could be
• 52:27
  there but you you know the framework, the framework's
• 52:30
  there. It just has.
• 52:32
  But it it needs to exactly pretty much what she, you know,
• 52:36
  they just said it needs to fit the mold of the person that is
• 52:41
  transferring from childhood to adulthood.
• 52:45
  I think that the the parents of said child need to be heavily
• 52:50
  involved in that because this is a big step because not only is
• 52:54
  it for the community, but it's also for the parents to say to
• 52:58
  see the the the child's like, hey look, I'm done, yeah, I'm
• 53:02
  still going to be childish. I'm a kid.
• 53:04
  You know, I'm 45 years old and I'm still a child at heart.
• 53:09
  Yeah, be youthful, you know what I mean?
• 53:11
  Have that, that vigor, yeah, But have the ability to be able to
• 53:15
  go up and like you said, put on our big, our big panties and go
• 53:19
  out and face the world. Unfortunately.
• 53:21
  You know and and and be able to do that and know that they've
• 53:25
  got the backing from the community because the community
• 53:28
  already sees them as an adult. They don't see them as a child.
• 53:31
  Yeah, you mentioned something earlier that, I'm sorry, Alex,
• 53:35
  did you want to add to that as far as participating in other
• 53:39
  people's ceremonies and stuff that you have?
• 53:43
  Yeah, I probably would as like a guide.
• 53:46
  I I I most likely would. Yeah, I think that could be
• 53:49
  beneficial, 'cause I was thinking though, you know that a
• 53:52
  lot of different cultures you you had mentioned earlier that
• 53:55
  it was a neighbor or somebody nearby who was having their.
• 53:59
  Yeah, neighbor who had recently hosted A quinceanera for someone
• 54:04
  who was turning 1515, right. Because they don't do it when
• 54:09
  they're 16. That would be a sweet.
• 54:12
  Right. Yeah.
• 54:13
  So the, you know, the Latin community has that for, and I
• 54:17
  think the quinceaneras are, are, are, are mainly for the girls,
• 54:21
  right? I think.
• 54:21
  That's yes. Yes, there's a whole different
• 54:24
  thing for boys. That was another reason why we
• 54:26
  kind of came up with this whole gender neutral is, didn't it?
• 54:32
  It it doesn't matter. It's it's it's not a title as
• 54:39
  oh, you are now a man or you are now a woman.
• 54:41
  It is no, you were you are now an adult.
• 54:44
  Adult. Injured adulthood.
• 54:47
  Well I think it's cool to think of it in that way but and and to
• 54:50
  also allow for if if it's a, you know if somebody is is wanting
• 54:57
  to move from their youth as a boy into their adulthood as a
• 55:01
  man then the ritual, the ceremony would be geared towards
• 55:06
  that. And the same way for, you know,
• 55:09
  a girl into into womanhood, if that's how they identify and
• 55:12
  that's how they want to take it, like the the, the ceremony
• 55:14
  itself, there's that framework. But the specifics of it, which
• 55:17
  involve the guardians, the parents, etcetera, could be
• 55:21
  tailored to really tap into that what they're coming into, what
• 55:26
  they're transit, what they're moving forward into, right the.
• 55:28
  Gender neutrals rituals is basically the.
• 55:31
  Foundation and. Yeah, that.
• 55:32
  Yeah, exactly. You could, you know, everybody's
• 55:34
  got to be able to stay warm and keep the fire going.
• 55:36
  I mean, that's kind of a neutral skill.
• 55:38
  You know, it's not just for men, you know that.
• 55:42
  You know, that nonsense. But yeah, and and a lot of
• 55:46
  cultures have that. Not just the Latin communities,
• 55:48
  not just the Latin cultures. There are other cultures that
• 55:51
  have these, you know, long lasting traditions of, you know,
• 55:56
  these rites of passages. Yeah, Bar mitzvahs, yeah, Bar
• 56:01
  mitzvah, Bat mitzvah. For the girl, I think there's
• 56:05
  even. And I'm not too versed on it,
• 56:07
  but I'm pretty sure that there's even points in time in in like
• 56:11
  the native indigenous communities that you know, when
• 56:18
  the boy becomes a man, when the girl becomes a woman, this
• 56:20
  thing. And then the other there's
• 56:21
  there's, there's rites of passage.
• 56:22
  They have to go and they have to face things kind of on their
• 56:26
  own. They have to learn, you know,
• 56:28
  the spirit journeys or whatever they want to, you know, medicine
• 56:30
  walks. They have different names for
• 56:32
  it, I think. But still like again it goes
• 56:34
  back to there's there's challenge there's ordeal that to
• 56:37
  be faced because now it's it's again it's yeah you're you're.
• 56:42
  The name for the name for the Indigenous People's Coming of
• 56:46
  Age ceremony would be a vision quest.
• 56:50
  Vision Quest. That's the Yeah.
• 56:51
  Thank you Alex. I was trying.
• 56:53
  I was like, I know it's something to do with.
• 56:56
  Google. Hell yeah.
• 56:59
  Need AI. Need AI.
• 57:00
  Need AI. Need AI.
• 57:00
  Need AI, Need AI. Like on the Joe Rogan, I need
• 57:02
  AI. Need a Jamie in the room.
• 57:03
  Jamie, can you pull up. You know Alex, can you pull up
• 57:06
  what a what a Native American coming of age I've.
• 57:11
  Just had my thing right here. But I don't have another guy in
• 57:15
  a room here to do that with. So it's just me.
• 57:17
  But yeah, thank you. But that was that was the one
• 57:20
  thing with doing it. Gender neutral.
• 57:22
  That means that another way that I look at it is that puts
• 57:27
  everybody on the same playing field.
• 57:30
  It's all. It's all.
• 57:32
  Leveled in even it's it's it's a level playing field.
• 57:34
  It doesn't matter if you're guy girl.
• 57:36
  Non binary, gender fluid, etcetera, etcetera.
• 57:39
  Yeah, you we can bring in the whole alphabet and it doesn't
• 57:41
  matter. You're it's you're a human,
• 57:46
  right. This is the path that you're
• 57:49
  choosing and this is what you want to do and you want to be
• 57:53
  seen because I mean, yeah, that's what needs to happen to
• 58:01
  to to me or for me. I would like to see more more
• 58:06
  youth their age to to want to do this and not matter their.
• 58:13
  Gender, sexual preferences, et cetera, et.
• 58:16
  Cetera. But then then wanting to be seen
• 58:18
  as adults in the community. In their community of any kind
• 58:22
  because it can be adjusted to religion as.
• 58:25
  Well, yeah, it can be. That's the one good thing.
• 58:26
  The way that we did, the framework is the framework can
• 58:28
  go for Druid, it can go for Wiccan, it can go for.
• 58:33
  Atheists. Pagan Heathenry.
• 58:38
  You're able to write it your own way, but the foundation is
• 58:41
  there. Wow.
• 58:45
  I could imagine many people hearing this.
• 58:46
  Now if, if, if, because this, you know, this gets into the
• 58:50
  ears and across the eyes of people, not just in the Middle
• 58:53
  Tennessee area. Is there is there something that
• 58:57
  they can maybe or some way that they can maybe find out more
• 59:01
  about the ceremony, the specific type of ceremony that you guys
• 59:05
  were? Pretty much I think.
• 59:07
  I mean it's historical. If you think about it, like if
• 59:09
  if you have elders of the community that like I'm pretty
• 59:11
  sure this has never happened like this in our state that's
• 59:14
  historical and and people hearing this or watching this
• 59:17
  might be like wow, that is important.
• 59:20
  I want to, I want to do that. How can I learn more?
• 59:23
  How could they learn more? Most of them can find me on
• 59:26
  Facebook. I'm.
• 59:28
  I'm open to talk to any anybody about it.
• 59:31
  OK, that's good. And if that's if that's
• 59:36
  something they want, I've got the PDF file for the the ritual
• 59:40
  that we did and stuff. I can e-mail it to them and then
• 59:45
  they can go from there and and and be able to adjust it to
• 59:50
  their. Yes, thank you.
• 59:53
  Yeah, I think that's important too right.
• 59:56
  Having a sense of building our own traditions developing our
• 1:00:00
  own traditions we've we've as I think as a whole society really
• 1:00:07
  is just kind of lost the sense of their their identity in in
• 1:00:15
  that where you know oh I want to do it because that's the way you
• 1:00:19
  know. So and so did it and everybody
• 1:00:21
  else that way did it. It's well what what's your
• 1:00:23
  tradition about it? Have you built one.
• 1:00:24
  Have you created your own harth cult around it.
• 1:00:27
  And sure you might need a framework to build off of but
• 1:00:30
  don't be so rigid with it. You know there's there's a
• 1:00:35
  rigidness to it anymore. There's there's sure there's
• 1:00:37
  certain ways to do certain things but when I think it comes
• 1:00:40
  I think when it comes to stuff like this there's some fluidity
• 1:00:44
  that's that that's that's needed a bit.
• 1:00:47
  I mean the one thing that we, we as a community have to do is
• 1:00:52
  yes, we have our old traditions and the teachings that we have
• 1:00:57
  our old, but we have to modernize some of it because if
• 1:01:03
  we don't, we will lose we we will lose mean and we we can
• 1:01:10
  still have the meanings of the old ways.
• 1:01:14
  But to put it more modernized because we have the ability, it
• 1:01:17
  gives us the ability to reach others.
• 1:01:19
  It gives us the ability to to learn more, to connect us.
• 1:01:23
  They just said and we kind of have to as a community itself,
• 1:01:28
  we kind of we got to like for example, you with RHR, you're
• 1:01:35
  able to you, you sit there and communicate with people all
• 1:01:40
  over. I know the country because I've
• 1:01:42
  listened to several of the podcasters on Patreon and you
• 1:01:48
  know, you you talk to people in Texas and one week and you might
• 1:01:52
  talk to somebody in Washington. Yeah, California, Washington,
• 1:01:56
  You know, the next day you talked to somebody over in
• 1:01:58
  Hawaii, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, you know, Yeah, I did.
• 1:02:03
  I had somebody on Hawaii here from Hawaii.
• 1:02:05
  I got somebody coming up here I think in the next week or so.
• 1:02:09
  Who is in Europe? I don't remember this, the
• 1:02:12
  Netherlands or or where. But yeah it's it's around but
• 1:02:17
  and I you know I think that's it's important to give the youth
• 1:02:21
  a chance to prove themselves because they're we can learn so
• 1:02:24
  much. A lot of people don't don't I
• 1:02:28
  think give the youth enough credit you know they think well
• 1:02:31
  they don't know they haven't been around as long you know
• 1:02:34
  that what what could they possibly teach us right.
• 1:02:37
  Wrong. You can learn so much from these
• 1:02:40
  young minds. These young people.
• 1:02:42
  Exactly. The the, like you just said, the
• 1:02:44
  young minds, they fresh look on things, man.
• 1:02:48
  We we we look at things the way we've always looked at them and
• 1:02:51
  they're like, well, you could do this, this and this and OK,
• 1:02:55
  well, you know what? That ain't a bad idea, and it's
• 1:02:57
  just listening to them. It's.
• 1:02:59
  Afraid of Life, it's called. Imagination.
• 1:03:04
  I'm glad you didn't do the way I thought you were fixing to do
• 1:03:05
  it. Imagine Nation.
• 1:03:08
  What do you want? Yeah.
• 1:03:10
  I can't tell you how many times I've been in the company of of
• 1:03:13
  of young UNS, man, and I've just been sitting there going, how
• 1:03:16
  old are you again? You know, like you're talking
• 1:03:19
  way over your years, per SE, You know and you don't.
• 1:03:22
  There's a lot of kids. You know.
• 1:03:25
  Yeah, I know. But there's a lot of kids
• 1:03:27
  nowadays who end up having to mature a lot faster, right?
• 1:03:32
  Of their circumstances. And it's kind of.
• 1:03:36
  Sad. Yeah, Yeah, that's true.
• 1:03:38
  It's almost like the a, the you know, the, the, the number in
• 1:03:41
  front of their name is inconsequential.
• 1:03:44
  Many times, you know, yeah, sure, you may be 19 or 15 or
• 1:03:48
  whatever, but your experiences that one goes through can, like
• 1:03:54
  you say, really put some age. Physical age does not compare to
• 1:04:00
  the mental age. No, you're right.
• 1:04:03
  You're right. And we see that reverse too.
• 1:04:06
  We see some. We see.
• 1:04:07
  You know, Adam, you know, people are people are aged that are
• 1:04:11
  like, you ain't grown up yet, have you?
• 1:04:12
  Yeah, boy, your daddy hits you on the head way too hard.
• 1:04:19
  When you will, baby. And then?
• 1:04:21
  Then it's the mental age. Looks like the physical age,
• 1:04:25
  basically. Yeah, well, we don't go that
• 1:04:27
  way. I can't.
• 1:04:28
  If I do, I'm dead. I'd be like Keith Richards.
• 1:04:33
  He's been dead since 1970s. He just hasn't gone to sleep
• 1:04:36
  yet. No, no, no.
• 1:04:40
  No, no. Oh God.
• 1:04:40
  Satan. Fearsome.
• 1:04:43
  No, no, The story on that one is, is Adam and Eve looked at.
• 1:04:48
  This is a slight Christian joke and it's kind of, I found it
• 1:04:51
  funny. My boss told me he says Adam and
• 1:04:55
  Eve looked at him and said, all right, so we're the only two
• 1:04:57
  people here on earth. God said yes, I created you in
• 1:04:59
  my own image. Adam looked at God and then
• 1:05:04
  said, who's that? He said, I don't know, that's
• 1:05:05
  Keith Richards. He was here before I got here.
• 1:05:11
  He he's he's proof that the One Ring exists.
• 1:05:15
  Yeah, he has proof that the One Ring exists.
• 1:05:18
  He had to have had it for for a while after Gollum or whatever.
• 1:05:21
  You know, he had to into the most unlikeliest person of all,
• 1:05:27
  you know Keith. Yeah.
• 1:05:33
  Well, this has been a lot of fun.
• 1:05:34
  Both of you. Thank you so much for for being
• 1:05:36
  on here and shedding a little bit of light into what I felt
• 1:05:41
  was a very meaningful and and closed off sort of private
• 1:05:44
  thing. But being you know doing it in a
• 1:05:46
  in a space and with others around that really allowed for
• 1:05:50
  others to you know be present and learn about it.
• 1:05:56
  And then secondly, to come on here and and share it with the
• 1:05:59
  world in a way you know, no, we we appreciate you having us I.
• 1:06:06
  We appreciate you having him. I just kind of popped up.
• 1:06:11
  Well, you know, nothing's by accident, you know what I mean?
• 1:06:13
  May have been an afterthought in your mind, but it was planned
• 1:06:15
  out. Somewhere, yes, yes.
• 1:06:19
  That was it. That was it.
• 1:06:20
  I had it all planned out. They just didn't know.
• 1:06:25
  It's all the part of the plan, you know, twiddling the fingers.
• 1:06:30
  But I think that I think it's a good seed to plant in, in
• 1:06:33
  people's minds, right? So even if they can't
• 1:06:35
  necessarily connect with you, Adam or or you know, or Alex
• 1:06:39
  even, you know, but just to have that in their minds of this is
• 1:06:42
  there is a need for this. I think.
• 1:06:45
  I think there definitely is a need for this.
• 1:06:46
  And if you're thinking about there being value to what we're
• 1:06:50
  saying here today, then you know, if you can't connect with
• 1:06:53
  Adam, 'cause you're not on Facebook or whatever, but come
• 1:06:56
  up with it yourself, right? I'm sure there's other resources
• 1:07:00
  you can tap into to help you if you're curious or if you don't
• 1:07:03
  know where to start. But just knowing that there's a
• 1:07:06
  need there that's enough to start somewhere.
• 1:07:09
  You know that that's a that's a baseline that you can start
• 1:07:11
  with. You know, and I'd love, I love,
• 1:07:14
  I love hearing about and seeing, you know pictures online or
• 1:07:17
  videos and stuff where the where the youth are participants in
• 1:07:21
  ritual or in community activities.
• 1:07:23
  Like even if it doesn't even have to be religious or or or
• 1:07:26
  spiritual. Like there's there's so many,
• 1:07:28
  like nature Conservancy things going on here in in the Middle
• 1:07:33
  Tennessee area. I see so many kids and young
• 1:07:36
  adults going out and volunteering to help pick up
• 1:07:40
  trash and stuff in our areas, you know, and I love to see
• 1:07:45
  that. It's not just, you know, full
• 1:07:46
  grown adults. Like these are kids, These are
• 1:07:48
  sometimes, you know, younger than Alex, even in All in all
• 1:07:53
  ranges. You know, I'm like that's great.
• 1:07:55
  You know that they are being brought up to know the value of
• 1:07:59
  giving back and and being contributing members of a
• 1:08:04
  community of society in general. Just knowing that, you know,
• 1:08:09
  they're eager and they want to be there.
• 1:08:11
  They want to have a place and they deserve that place.
• 1:08:15
  Yeah. And and that's what I I, I
• 1:08:18
  really, you know, again. But I keep going back to this
• 1:08:23
  past weekend at Puff the the youth group themselves, which
• 1:08:28
  yeah, it was only three of them. But rather than go frolic at
• 1:08:34
  all, you know, just go out and do whatever they wanted to, they
• 1:08:37
  actually, every meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner.
• 1:08:40
  They were helping in the kitchen, you know, doing what
• 1:08:44
  they were asked to do. But nobody said, hey, we want
• 1:08:47
  y'all to go do this in the kitchen.
• 1:08:49
  Yeah, that was their to do it. And it it, it does make me proud
• 1:08:57
  of this one that they're not, you know, when their friend
• 1:09:01
  Logan's like, well, hey, I want to go do this because my mom
• 1:09:04
  said I need to volunteer. The other two didn't go well.
• 1:09:07
  OK, you volunteer. We're going.
• 1:09:09
  We're going over here. I.
• 1:09:11
  Mean we we befriended and you know us weirdos got to stick
• 1:09:17
  together. What do you want?
• 1:09:20
  I will only. The.
• 1:09:22
  Truth and the truth alone. Yeah, the weirdos stick
• 1:09:25
  together. That's funny, 'cause the weirdos
• 1:09:27
  stick together. But you know what's the goonies?
• 1:09:31
  Never die. I was thinking that one, you
• 1:09:32
  know, never die. It's that that that that group
• 1:09:35
  of misfits, you know, like they're always, they got each
• 1:09:37
  other's back. It's it's you know, you always,
• 1:09:40
  you know. If you find one, you find them
• 1:09:41
  all right. If and if they're rated, then
• 1:09:43
  somebody's out trying to help the other.
• 1:09:45
  It's, it's. Great.
• 1:09:46
  We have done something where we where I knows it.
• 1:09:49
  We had done something where we were sitting on the porch doing
• 1:09:52
  the see no evil, hear no evil, Speak no Evil type thing.
• 1:09:56
  And we have labeled ourselves the Muska Clears.
• 1:10:02
  That's our official title. You're not weirdos.
• 1:10:05
  We are not freaks. We got the Musco queers.
• 1:10:09
  Trademark that you can you make millions?
• 1:10:11
  Yes, yes. Premark that goat.
• 1:10:14
  I don't know. But that way soon when I have to
• 1:10:16
  be, when I have to be putting a nursing home, I can be putting a
• 1:10:19
  good one. Think of the future.
• 1:10:24
  Make sure it's right next to Jesse and me and him.
• 1:10:25
  Got an endless supply of meat. Yes, yes.
• 1:10:30
  Give me a win. Give me a give me a room with a
• 1:10:32
  view of the river or something man.
• 1:10:34
  Give me some you know. But this has been a lot of fun
• 1:10:38
  guys and gals thank you all for for coming on here and and
• 1:10:41
  helping educate me a bit too because again I had very little
• 1:10:46
  you know intimate knowledge of of what really happened.
• 1:10:49
  So getting to hear more about it and and know who were involved
• 1:10:52
  and the outcomes of things like that was that's really special.
• 1:10:55
  So yeah appreciate that. Well like like again, again you
• 1:10:59
  you have no idea that the almost homage I felt when you did what
• 1:11:07
  you did you you know you you came up and said hey I would
• 1:11:11
  like to do this and I'm like OK. I was actually nervous because I
• 1:11:18
  know your standard or your your statue inside the community and
• 1:11:24
  for somebody like you to want to to offer that that was just a a
• 1:11:30
  a very, very big honor And you know I I couldn't thank you
• 1:11:36
  enough with what you did. Thank you.
• 1:11:40
  Thank you for this. Thanks.
• 1:11:44
  You know it was it was it was a good it was an idea that at you
• 1:11:48
  know I didn't want to overstep or whatever.
• 1:11:50
  But thank you for giving me that opportunity and I'm glad that it
• 1:11:53
  was well received and that it fit the occasion.
• 1:11:58
  I mean hell man like there's almost not on an occasion we're
• 1:12:01
  calling upon Thor to protect an area.
• 1:12:03
  You know I can't think of an occasion that that's not called
• 1:12:05
  for. Right.
• 1:12:06
  It's always good to call on old Red Beard for for some backup
• 1:12:10
  you know. So it was my honor to be there
• 1:12:14
  and be able to do it. But I think we're about ready
• 1:12:17
  for the for wrapping things up. Anything else that either one of
• 1:12:21
  you wanted to to say to the people about this or any other
• 1:12:24
  things on your mind? Actually, no.
• 1:12:30
  I'm pretty good. I'm, I'm, I just, I again, thank
• 1:12:34
  you for having me on here. Thank you for allowing us to
• 1:12:38
  discuss the ritual. Anybody has any questions, I
• 1:12:43
  mean, you see it, you can direct them towards me.
• 1:12:47
  Like I said, they can find me on Facebook.
• 1:12:50
  Yeah, I'll have your information you know your Facebook details
• 1:12:54
  and stuff for folks that are listening to this on the on the
• 1:12:57
  audio platforms they they they can, they can find you through
• 1:13:00
  through that. Anybody else like yourself who
• 1:13:02
  watches these on on Patreon, it'll be down in the video
• 1:13:05
  description. So I think some folks that watch
• 1:13:08
  these videos might know you too. But yeah.
• 1:13:12
  There's a there's a band called the Muska Queers.
• 1:13:14
  We can't. Too little, too late?
• 1:13:18
  Well, what about the three queers?
• 1:13:21
  I think that's what it said. What else we're we're really.
• 1:13:25
  Trying to make money here. Figuring something out.
• 1:13:29
  They're called the Three Muska Queers on SoundCloud.
• 1:13:31
  OK. Muska Queer has.
• 1:13:34
  OK, it has its. Own Urban Dictionary.
• 1:13:36
  OK. Oh wow.
• 1:13:38
  Everything hasn't got. Everything's got to have an
• 1:13:40
  urban dictionary now. But yeah, but no thank you guys.
• 1:13:43
  Adam and Alex too. I wasn't.
• 1:13:44
  I It was a pleasant surprise to have Alex present for this.
• 1:13:49
  She, she asked me last, I think it was last night and this
• 1:13:52
  morning. And she goes, I can, can I be
• 1:13:55
  there with you about this? Because his mind, I'm like,
• 1:13:59
  yeah, at least because that allows you to.
• 1:14:02
  If there's questions that I can't answer because it wasn't
• 1:14:05
  me, then you can answer them. No, I think that's great.
• 1:14:09
  I mean, you know, you heard it here.
• 1:14:10
  It's like not a, not a slight anyway, but there's a phrase,
• 1:14:14
  right? It's like you hear it straight
• 1:14:15
  from the horse's mouth. Again, not good to call you a
• 1:14:18
  horse, but that's just the term. But it's a, you know.
• 1:14:20
  Hi. What better?
• 1:14:21
  What better way of hearing something about something than
• 1:14:24
  to hear it from the person who went through it, you know.
• 1:14:26
  Yes, yes, hear it from the serpent's tongue.
• 1:14:28
  It's the. Primary Source Story They're
• 1:14:31
  Christ they. OK, primary sources.
• 1:14:39
  All right. Well, you guys don't go
• 1:14:40
  anywhere, just hang out for a second while I wrap this up.
• 1:14:43
  I'll, I'll end the recording and I'll, I'll touch base with you
• 1:14:45
  to offline on on here. So just hang tight a second.
• 1:14:49
  But for everybody else that is listening and watching to this
• 1:14:52
  episode, we hope you enjoyed it. If you did give the video heart.
• 1:14:56
  If you're on the Patreon platform, if you're listening to
• 1:14:59
  this on the audio platforms, upvote it, download it, share
• 1:15:02
  it, You know, just engage in whatever way that you can that
• 1:15:05
  helps with the algorithm, figuring out that this is stuff
• 1:15:08
  that it's that is worth being shared out and abroad.
• 1:15:12
  And especially to my patrons like Adam here that are on
• 1:15:15
  Patreon, you guys are the real MVPS that help the video
• 1:15:18
  production of this podcast continue.
• 1:15:22
  So thank you all so much for that and keeping that the wheels
• 1:15:24
  of that machine running. You're the reason why we do it.
• 1:15:28
  And yeah, be sure to check out Adam's details and you can say
• 1:15:31
  you can find him on Facebook. His his information is going to
• 1:15:33
  be either in the show notes or or down in the description.
• 1:15:36
  So connect with him. If you have any questions, check
• 1:15:39
  out all of my stuff on my link tree link.
• 1:15:41
  You know, follow me on all the socials.
• 1:15:42
  Get some sacred trail Society merch to help benefit The Nature
• 1:15:46
  Conservancy. And that's that's about it.
• 1:15:49
  That wraps this one up. So thank you, Adam.
• 1:15:51
  And thank you again, Alex, for being here this week.
• 1:15:53
  It was an honor and a pleasure. Thank you for having us and for
• 1:15:57
  everybody else until we talk to each other again.
• 1:16:01
  May the gods continue to notice you, and may your ancestors
• 1:16:04
  smile upon you. See you in the next one.