Friday, July 1, 2005
by Sabo

Update from Scotland

We are in the big transition from four days of building a camp to the time for actions. Today we finished the six compost toilets and a bunch of greywater systems.

About 100 people have been building a camp on an empty field for the past four days. Today the camp officially opened and people came streaming in. Organizers expect 5,000 people based on pre-registrations, but it could easily be more since few people there were pre-registered.

Thursday Delyla, Lisa, Juniper and Geneva arrived at the camp, so we now have quite a little group. Others are joining us for a pagan village between the Irish and Kiwis. (The camp is organized into barrios.)

We are camping near a fairy Hawthorn tree and visit it each night before bed. Tuesday night we had about a dozen people from all around the world (as Starhawk described in her update). Wednesday night I was by myself and played some fiddle tunes for the fairies. Last night Starhawk, Lisa, Juniper and I charged the bell from the Philadelphia action and hung it in the tree. Starhawk says that the fairies wanted the eco camp there because a portal is opening today. We'll see what happens when we visit the tree this evening.

Tomorrow the actions start with a march against poverty, which organizers expect to be the largest demonstration ever in Scotland.