How to Recover After a Pagan Event

Okay, the title is a bit click bait-ish. Instead of giving you tips on how to recover I wanted to take some time to write to you, dear reader, about my recent experience in attempting to recover from one of the most extraordinary experiences I have had as a pagan. Only two days back and I am still trying to revert myself back to my “normal” routine and maintain the feelings, experiences, and power I gained on my journey.

If you listen to my podcast, Millennial Pagan Podcast, or follow me on social media, you know I went camping! But not just any type of camping. I was blessed to go to Pagan Perspectives Arizona‘s Midsummer Gathering. I had a wonderful time and you can hear about my experience there on our next upcoming episode along with Jera and Sunshine’s experience at Reclaiming Witch Camp.

After attending a public ritual, there are a few self-care things any magickal practitioner needs to do, but when returning from a multi-day magickal event, these things become even more pertinent and difficult to do. I left the event in a way that I hate to do: feeling like there was still something to do. I have had that feeling at the end of events before and have taken time to make sure I have found and completed the remaining task. This time, however, I did have an obligation I could not be late to, so I had to leave at a certain time. Thus making it difficult to hang around, help break down, and find what I was missing. This was the first thing I did wrong. Something I would always caution against.

The second was out of sheer stubbornness. I wanted to carry the feeling of being at camp for as long as possible so instead of changing my music to normal rock or mediation, I continued to listen to Pagan music such as Damh the Bard, SJ Tucker, Wendy Rule, Spiral Rhythm, and our good friend Badger Bard sing the songs of community and the Gods. Not only were these songs stuck in my head for days the refusal to change to non-magick music made it harder for me to change out of a magickal mentality.

When I returned home it took me a few hours to realize there was something wrong. I unpacked and chatted with my roommates then I asked my roommates a question. That’s when I realized there was definitely something wrong. I was met with negativity for the first time in 4 days. My roommate was not feeling well and her answer was not rude or out of line but it was negative and I suddenly felt slapped in the face. I knew my feelings were unnecessary and an over-exaggeration but I was upset. I went into my room and started journaling my experience. This, I strongly advise. You want to write down how you felt, what you saw, and what you did so you can remember and compare. I took the time to write everything over the past 3 days to get everything out of me and on paper where it could live forever.

After some retrospective thinking, I realized why I had such a reaction to negativity. I had, over the weekend, let down all my shields. Something that, as an empath, is hard and very dangerous to do. My refusal to change music allowed this mistake to go undetected until it was too late. It took the rest of Sunday night and Monday for my shields to return to normal and I had an overwhelming feeling of mourning for the remainder of that evening. I was lucky that I had the day off on Monday from my mundane job and the knowledge to meditate and pray.

I hope that I will continue the practice of prayer and meditation before bed and keep this feeling of spiritual connection. I have also learned to listen to my gut more. If I have a need I must fulfill it.  I have come away from this experience with homework in the form of books I must read and shadow work I plan on doing. I hope my experience helps you see the importance of self-care and knowing what your limits are before you go to your next event.