Greetings friends,

We've just spent the last weekend at the International Alchemy Conference, here in Las Vegas. This was the largest gathering of alchemists in 500 years, with two hundred and fifty people attending from all over the world. Our Alchemical Ritual Theater team, including me, Jeff, Nikki, Joshua, Deb, Robin, Draco, Morganne, Samina, Will-I-Am, Sheila Z, Erin, Christian, Liz Greene, Rhonda K, Matt P, Matthew C, Padme, Nekkid Shawn, and Katlyn were all there, holding the container and brewing up some incredible magic. Thank you all for showing up and adding your energy to this great work!

Our group was responsible for the opening night's Crucible Melting Pot ritual. We started out by drumming as everyone was coming in, and Jeff did some magic with lights to entertain folks who were arriving. Jeff introduced Dennis Hauck, (who many of you remember as our special guest from a couple of our Mysterium gatherings). Dennis and Jeff introduced all the speakers who would be presenting that weekend. This was one incredible group of people-- Thom Cavalli, author of Alchemical Psychology and past presenter at Mysterium was there, presenting a workshop called Egyptian Alchemy: Secrets Beneath the Sand, (which I found really informative and interesting). Also present were Dr. Werner Nawrocki, Dr. Stanton Marlan, Dr. Gudni Gudnasson, Dr. Bruce Fisher, our own wizard Gary Stadler, Paul Bartscher and Micah Nilsson, Daniel Coaten, John Michael Greer, Nicki Scully, Art Kunkin and, of course, Dennis Hauck.... What an outstanding line-up!

After the introductions, we had the entire group go through chaos into cosmos, moving their chairs against the wall, milling around the room, and forming a circle. We passed a caduceus around the room, and everyone had the chance to say their name and where they were from. We did a movement meditation that many of you are familiar with, "I Offer You Peace," and then Katlyn offered the following gorgeous blessing, which she had written:

Let this be a re-union of seekers
individual minds, like stars, come to together in constellation
Let this be gathering of Seerers, and Sages  igniting a lantern of truth
individual hearts on a mutual path of illumination
Let this communion distill within us the essence the One thing
individual hearts and minds offered to one sacred flame
We come together as philosophers 
honoring the wisdom of those who have come before us..

And then, everyone who wanted to called out the name of a teacher or guide whose work they wished to honor. Draco offered his Emerald Formula poem and members of the ART team, in masks and costumes, entered the circle with the alchemical banners that Duncan designed for us in a planetary procession. After the poem, the group chanted:
"from the One, toward the One, by means of the One,"
as the players moved out of the circle.... and then I led the group in a guided meditation to meet the wise alchemist within... and afterwards, people split up into groups of two to share their visions and experiences.... We ended the evening by singing:
"Fires burn, wheels turn, planets circle the sun
Lead to gold, new from old, many become One."
while the group re-formed a circle, and did a spiral dance into the center... It was a strong, powerful, fun opening ceremony, and everyone seemed to enjoy it very much.

The highlight of the weekend, by far, was our Alchemical Fire Circle workshop and indoor fire circle. During the workshop, we showed a clip from our recent documentary ENIGMA, focused on the fire circle and briefly explaining the planetary symbology. We spoke about the alchemical underpinnings of the fire circle ceremony, and gave a brief introduction to the four portals and how to access them.... And then, and then.... the group became connected through the breath, the circle was sung into being, the energies of the four directions were called, the way was opened and the magic began to spin... for almost four hours, there was drumming, singing, spontaneous offerings of spoken word and magic. The magic of the fire circle happens from our intention, regardless of whether we're indoors or outdoors, regardless of whether the fire in the center is electric candles or burning logs, regardless of whether the participants are seasoned fire family folk, or academic alchemists.... The magic is real, and our group did a phenomenal job of transmitting it, in the Palace Station casino in Las Vegas....

Our next event is Fall Fest, and free registration is still open at www.vegasvortex.com. I found this quote the other day, and it seems to speak exactly to what Fall Fest is all about.

"The urge to transform one's appearance, to dance outdoors, to mock
the powerful and embrace perfect strangers is not easy to suppress . . .
The capacity for collective joy is encoded into us almost as deeply as the
capacity for the erotic love of one human for another. We can live
without it, as most of us do, but only at the risk of succumbing to the
solitary nightmare of depression....
Why not reclaim our distinctively human heritage as creatures who
generate their own ecstatic pleasures out of music, color, feasting, and
dance . . . There is no 'point' to it -- no religious overtones, ideological
message, or money to be made -- just the chance, which we need much
more of on this crowded planet, to acknowledge the miracle of our
simultaneous existence with some sort of celebration."
-Barbara Ehrenreich, *Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy*

We'll hope to see you there soon!!

Yours in the great work,

Spinner & Jeff