I'm a Birdbrain
 

And I have this picture to prove it. This colorful little guy is a kestrel named Falco. He is currently the ward of a terrific group of falconers who have become regular participants in various of our Pagan festivals over the past couple of years. It has been a rare and very groovy opportunity to become intimate (no, not that way, you filthy-minded dregs) with various raptors, including hawks of several species and, this weekend for the first time, their Gyr Falcon-Kestrel hybrid named Lisa.

While not Pagan, these falconers are extremely Pagan-friendly (in fact, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they eventually became Pagan, so comfortable are they around all of us and our naked, partying, drumming, witchy ways.

They do great work rescuing and rehabilitating birds in need, and even, as in the cases of Lisa and Falco, adopting them and making a committment to care for them for the rest of their lives due to various maladies and/or Federal regulations (Lisa should live about another 38 years in captivity...that's a long committment!).

Anyway, all this just to say that I attended another great Fest this weekend, participating in Scottish Highland games in 105 degree weather. I sucked, but I felt pretty manly for a guy who is only two years post-bypass surgery. Made some new friends, caught up with some old ones, and generally acted like a Pagan. Doesn't get much better than this for me...

Lisa the Gyr Falcon
 

Such a cool looking bird. Very vocal, too...

Manly Warriors?
 

This was the fun throw after the axe throwing competition. Normally, contestants throw a little tomahawk sort of thing at a giant log target, but after that's been settled, people break out the ridiculous toys, and we have a go with them...

Carrying a BFR
 

There were two events that would have just been stupid for me to even attempt, and this is one of them. The Stone Carry, or what I prefer to call the BFR Carry...Big Fucking Rock. 185 pounds of solid stone, with rounded edges making it that much harder to grip. No way, Jose. Still, the winner carried it 515 feet in just under two minutes. Just for the record, the guy in the picture wasn't the winner.

I'm thinking those shoes are not OSHA friendly.

Man thats a beautiful bird. :thumb:

I did! I did see a puhdy tat! And I ate it, burp.
I guess you don't mention the skirt when he's got an axe like that.
I tried the caber toss......once. Great pics man, thanks

The caber toss event featured three different size cabers...12', 14' and 16'. I turned the 12', did not turn the 14', and was smart enough to not try to pick up the 16'.

I like the dude's kilt, though (I like kilts generally) ... I think that's one of the "utilikilts" which are made by a company over in Ardmore somewhere ... one of my friends has one, but he hasn't, as far as I know, had the courage to wear it in public as yet. I'll have to check with him.

The raptor pics are great also El, looks like you had a great time.

Preparation H is missing a good bet by not buying advertising space on the cabers.:(

Wolf, the camo job is indeed a utilikilt. There were fewer of those than usual this year for some reason. A lot of the Safety (i.e., Security with a kindler, gentler name) guys wear them at the big Fest we hold over Memorial Day, but most of them didn't participate at Tara this year due to the heat.

It was a blast, though. Lots of great drumming, and I got to play a little music with an old band partner and also with a friend who is a great native flute player.

OH...and in case it wasn't obvious from the subject line, that's my bloated, aging visage in the first pic with Falco on my head.

egad! I love to look at men's legs when they wear kilts. Oh, nice bird too.

Paganism
 

Elspode.....I know this is a bit off the thread, but what exactly do you do as a pagan? I obviously live a somewhat sheltered life (raised Catholic, non-practicing now for the most part), but is this a religion for you (pagan def. according to Webster = same as heathen, one who has no religion) or is it a way of life for you? Are you a witch, or warlock rather? I thought you'd be Wicken (sp?) then. Your festival looks similar to a RenFair. Is that accurate? What's the difference? I'm not trying to grill you or anything, just curious. Maybe I should have sent you a PM with all my questions?

The birds are beautiful. You should feel lucky to have the opportunity to handle them:cool:

Well, I try not to adhere to Webster's idea of Paganism as I do in fact have a religion. I am Wiccan, and the preferred term for Wiccans is 'witch'. Warlock is more properly used for someone who has turned against his or her coven...translation for it is "oath breaker". Much of the information in the world regarding Paganism and other non-Christian paths is promulgated by Christians, who tend to have a very narrow view of spirituality and have very clearly stated that any path which is not Christian is wrong and damns one to hell.

The festival of which I posted photos is actually centered around a Scottish Highland Games, and it isn't overtly a Pagan festival, although in practice everyone who attends is Pagan as far as I can tell.

I am always happy to answer any questions anyone might have about my path or other Pagan paths of which I have any knowledge...education and community service are the primary missions of our coven.

On a lighter note, I think you would find Wiccan and other Goddess worship paths very familiar as Catholicism is practically goddess worship anyway...;) . In fact, of all the former Christian religions from which my Pagan friends and associates hail, Catholicism seems to be the most common...

There is one thing I can say about Pagans. I've met an awful lot of them in my time, and every damned one of them was really nice to me. I've never met a witch who was a mean-spirited jerk. I'm sure they must exist, but they must be pretty rare.

There are many religions that you most definitely can't say that about.

I know what you mean here. That's part of the reason I'm "non-practicing". There are a lot of things I don't agree with in Catholicism and "if" there is a hell, I don't want to go just because I didn't believe some of their "stories".

That's funny. I would have never pictured a witch wearing a kilt.

Maybe I'm missing your humor here, but if you consider the sacrificing of virgins to be Goddess worship I don't want any part of it.

I'm interested in persuing this conversation. I'm still curious. Watch for a PM if you don't mind. I'm having a heck of a time trying to make my post pretty. There must be a better way to respond to parts of a post without all the copying, pasting, and vB coding I'm doing. I realize I'm a computer dummy, but it shouldn't take an hour to reply to a post:confused: