October 1 to 9.
Agios Ioannis Beach.
Gavdos Island, Greece.
Join us for a blissful
faerie gathering in the sun.
For more information,
contact Efthimios@aol.com
Dear faerie.
The Gavdos gathering is a minimally structured event. We are basically getting together on a beach to camp (it up?). There is no need to register and there are no fees. Just show up.
You can expect structure to arise, however, from the people attending. There will most probably be heart circles, rituals, workshops, and other faerie activities. Like all gatherings, the content will be created by you and the others attending.
I personally would like to raise energy for the creation of a maze on the beach and for a full moon ritual (she will grace us on the 8th of October).
Although there are no fees, there will be costs for you as you will have to travel to get there and, once there, you will have to eat and drink. The food situation will probably be covered by the local restaurants, but we can also improvise and buy some food and prepare it on the beach. When I was last there in 2007 with some faeries, we quickly gave up on preparing camping style food in favor of the delicious food at the restaurant on the beach. The cook, Sofia, was happy to accommodate my vegetarian needs. There is a mini market on the beach also with some things and a snack bar. (If you would rather stay in a room, you can visit Sofia’s website: http://www.sofiaroomsgavdos.com/)
To be clear, these establishments (which include some rooms to rent), along with toilets and showers, are on the very edge of the beach and away from the camping area, which is clothing optional.
So, what to bring? Bring a tent and whatever you need to sleep on. And whatever else you need for camping on the beach. If you can, bring other faerie paraphernalia (parafaenalia?).
How to get there? You need to get to Crete. You can either fly to Crete or take a boat from Athens (the port in Athens is called Piraeus or Pireas). The closest airport in Crete is Chania (also spelled Hania). From there you need to get to the southern coast to either Paleochora or Hora Sfakion (also known as Sfakia), depending on which day you will be travelling to Gavdos. The timetables for the ferries are to be found on this website: http://www.anendyk.gr/pages/en/timetable.php?lang=EN
To get to either Paleohora or Hora Sfakion, you can take a bus (http://bus-service-crete-ktel.com/timetabledet.php?line=3&lg=2), or a taxi. At only just over 7 euros, the bus is the preferred option as the taxi can be quite expensive (I saw a quote of 90 euros one way on the Internet). If you study the timetables on the websites, you will see that the only way to do the journey in one day with the bus is to be on the bus that leaves the Chania bus station at 5:15 in the morning on either Monday or Wednesday for Paleochora. It is much better perhaps to make it to either Hora Sfakion or Paleochora the day before your ferry departure and stay overnight. You will, no doubt, find inexpensive accommodation at this time of the year without reserving in advance.
Once you get to Gavdos, simply take the bus at the port for Agios Ioannis beach.
I plan on being on the 16:00 bus from Chania to Paleochora on Tuesday the 30th of September. On Wednesday the 1st of October I plan on being on the ferry leaving from Paleochora at 8:30 in the morning. I will be reachable on my Greek number: 6974271472 (dial +306974271472 from outside of Greece).
As you can see, getting there is an actual odyssey. It helps to enjoy the voyage and not be too stressed. Chania, Paleochora, and Hora Sfakion are all beautiful places to spend some time in. Enjoy them. And it is appropriate that the trip is a kind of odyssey. According to local legend, Odysseus spent seven years on Gavdos under the charms of the nymph Calypso before continuing on in the Odyssey. Could this myth suggest a theme for one of our rituals? Odysseus’ ten-year peregrination on his way home contains deep and powerful ideas about life journeys. His path could be symbolically recreated in a maze, which we can create and include in a ritual about inner and outer journeys.
Some words on the beach. Agios Ioannis is a long sandy beach studded with beautiful old and rare cedar trees. It is a special biotope and people who stay there feel very protective of it. This means probably no fires on the beach. It faces north towards Crete and I read on one Webpage that it was voted second most beautiful beach in the world in 2007 by the Travel Channel. To see photos of it, simply Google “Agios Ioannis Gavdos,” there are plenty of beautiful images that will give you an idea of its beauty.
On the beach and in various nooks in the trees, there are established campsites that you are welcome to use, provided they are not occupied. You may find that the previous occupiers have left several items for you to use, you are encouraged to use them respectfully and leave the site special for the next person. The whole beach has an alternative vibe about it and is very popular in the summer with people who want to get away from the trappings of our crazy world. This is one reason we are having the gathering so late in the season: to have lots of space and nice campsites for us. Hopefully none of us will have to camp without the shade of a tree, which is the case in the summer months.
Please do not hesitate to contact me for more information. Or just show up at any time, even without telling me. I envision the gathering to be completely open and stress free. A real beach paradise gathering.
Looking forward to it.
Hugs,
Efthimios