Post No. 087 - Order of Hermes-Australia at the PoWR: Day One - Thursday 3rd December, Year Aquarius 9 (2009)

This was supposed to be the first day of my holidays. However, as usual, I still had some work to attend to - which was useful, as I could "do some horse trading" and print out some materials I needed for the Parliament (problems with the printer at home!). I now have some temporary business cards, albeit on paper, given that my attempts at pasting them onto light cardboard didn't work (the problems of trying to work in a hurry - I rather do have a heavy workload in my day job, and it does cause problems at times ...).

So, then it was off to register at the venue. I've been to the Exhibition Centre previously (for many events, actually, including Mind, Body, Spirit Festivals (which I stopped going to when I felt they became too commercial), but this is the first time I have been to the Conference Centre part of the venue. The conference is relatively expensive (although, by the standards of many professional, conferences, on the less expensive side), but having seen the venue (and having been involved with organising conferences [the 2005 Victorian Queer Spirituality Conference]), I can see where the money is going.

I would like to see the Parliament adopt some of the innovations we have at the VQSC 2005, such as poster papers (including by people who couldn't attend), and getting people together at the start and end of each segment of the day so volunteer "rapporteurs" could give others a run down on what had happened in other sessions (and, I thought, that also helped build a "sense of community/family" for the conference). Actually, that latter one may not be practical: shame, as there are ALWAYS at least two events I want to go to on at the same time ...

When I walked out of the car park, I was met by the view of dozens of people in various forms of dress - Sikhs, monks, nuns, and people in everyday clothes, and the "vibes" were absolutely wonderful. (I've heard that 10,000 people are expected at the PoWR.)

The energy so far at the Parliament has been extremely rejuvenating for me - in fact, my partner commented last night on my eyes having much more colour in them :) Apart from my other goals at the Parliament, this has been a personal joy (well, so far).

I didn't get to the Opening Plenary Session. Obviously, that is a disappointment, but the need to go to work, and a few domestic needs (little things like grocery shopping ... :) ) combined with my low energy levels (apart from being overbusy, I am going through a change of medication for my diabetes) to make it impracticable to get back there for that session. I am sure it was wonderful, and look forward to catching up with someone who was there so I can talk about it.

In fact, I suspect the plenaries are going to be a challenge, as I do have other (mainly family, but the cat litter will also still need to be changed :D ) commitments to attend to.

Media coverage of this day includes:
Underground warrior for women, The Age, December 3, 2009 - 12:00AM: http://www.theage.com.au/national/underground-warrior-for-women-20091202-k6cc.html

See also:
http://earthspiritcommunity.blogspot.com/2009/12/first-official-day-at-parliament-of.html
http://parliament.pagannewswirecollective.com/2009/12/parliament-has-a-social-network/
http://parliament.pagannewswirecollective.com/2009/12/the-pagans-meet-and-begin-rattling-at-the-parliament/
From the other mob of Correllians: http://www.witchschool.com/page/pagans-at-the-parliament-1 and http://www.witchschool.com/page/parliament-of-the-worlds

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Tags: Parliament of World Religions, pagan, communication, cross-fertilisation (ideas), interfaith, multifaith, mind body spirit festival, Order of Hermes, VQSC,

First published: Friday 4th December, 2009

Last edited: Sunday 13th December, 2009