The official opening of the event began on Friday night at the White Horse on Canongate. Some of us had returned there from the Edinburgh Dungeon. The tour of this attraction was a fun 'spooky' one which included displays of period torture devices and some short skits which included some of the elements of the old Spook Shows. To see a group photograph taken at the end of this tour click on the picture below.

On getting back to the White Horse, we were treated to a wonderful Buffet Dinner put together by Alex Wallace, Margaret Clark and others. We ate, drank, talked and were merry.

Saturday's portion of The Gathering was held at the Edinburgh University's Cabaret Bar. This was an excellent choice as there was plenty of space and a reasonably priced bar. We started off by seeing several dealers selling their Bizarre Magick and related wares.

After lunch we got seated for the first of the lectures. This was presented by Michael Diamond. He lectured us on some of the finer details of fire eating. He then displayed some bizarre items from his personal collection which was reminiscent of the old Cabinets of Curiosity.

After a short break, we returned to be involved in a Handfasting Ceremony, joining Shaun McCree and his lovely wife Jackie. The Handfasting was facilitated by Frank Allan and B.J.Powers with an American Indian ritual by Brother Shadow.

After this ceremony, Mark Edward presented his lecture of Séance materials. He discussed some of the séances he has performed at the Magic Castle as it's past 'Resident Medium'.

The Saturday night part of the event was open to the public an began with a sort of 'This Is Your Life' segment highlighting the Magikal career of Charles Cameron and was hosted by Alex Wallace, a.k.a., the Queen of Hearts. We were then treated to another sumptuous buffet dinner. Shortly after this, the evening show hosted by Dr. Raven (Shaun McCree) began.

The show included various Bizarre Magickal acts and there was a varied selection of styles and presentations. Mark Sherman commented, "the evening show was--to this date--the highest quality bizarre show I've seen". The show finished late and we stayed on later, drinking and chatting.

On Sunday, several of the attendees went off away from Edinburgh to Visit Rosslyn Chapel, a wonderful feat of 14th/15th century architecture riddled with Templar and Masonic symbolism.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Alex Wallace, B.J.Powers, Margaret Clark, Karl Bartoni and everyone else involved in making this an unforgettably enjoyable event and vacation for all. A job well done!!!

Magickally yours,
David Birtwell (U.S.A.)