Aliens at the Easter Confest?

I had a very bad back for the last few months of 2010 and though on the mend was not up to going to the Christmas/New Year Confest so I was looking forward immensely to Easter and another chance to enjoy the unique offerings of this festival. As the time approached my wife and I checked and rechecked our camping equipment, especially the airbed, it is vital to have a good one if your back is prone to misbehaviour. We decided to take two tents, as there are no space restrictions at Confest where approximately 3000 people camp on a site of 100 ha or 250 acres. One tent would be for us, the other for the stuff that always seems to accompany us on these trips. We are veterans of three summers at Confest but this was to be our first Easter visit and looking back we could have taken a few more warm clothes.

We spent most of the day after ten o’clock in a sarong or in our birthday suits but were glad for any warm clothing once the sun went down. There is a lot going on at the village and the fire and drumming circle after dark which we missed out on because we got cold and had to sneak back to the tent and climb into bed to warm up, this meant that we often woke up in the small hours so would then go to one of the camp fires and drink cocoa; and on one occasion, we stripped off and climbed into a hot tub. This was fabulous, with the smell of wood smoke, the chatter of the few hardy folk around the fire and the incredibly beautiful star-filled sky: fabulous until it came time to jump out, dry off, and race back to the tent in the cold night air.

During the day, we spent time brushing up on our massage technique in the twenty-table massage tent. Quite often someone would give a workshop and we learnt a few new and interesting tips, as well as having fun with the "ten hands" massage: five people around the table take turns to all massage the one on the table. Interesting! Also we had our first introduction to Lomi Lomi massage, which uses the entire forearm, not just the hands on the body.

Another favourite pastime was checking out the huge notice board, where all the different workshops are advertised. You may not know, but all the workshops are run voluntarily by people who are pleased to give their knowledge or advice to anyone who is happy to listen to them. There are maybe 15 different locations around the site for workshops to be held, some areas have a theme; for example photography, yoga, or music, and others are just random. I was keen to see if the workshop entitled ‘How to recognise if you have been abducted by aliens’ was being held again, as I had missed it last year; but alas, it was not to be. Possibly the giver of the workshop had himself been abducted by aliens. One workshop attended by my friend Phil, who we met again at the festival, was entitled ‘How to organise your time more effectively’...and, you’ve guessed it, the presenter never turned up; so the attendees conducted an impromptu workshop themselves and are thinking of doing it again next year, if time permits.

I am a great fan of body painting; and although there is a designated area with free paint and brushes, I find it gets a bit crowded and people join in painting your model when you don’t really want them to. So I decided to set up shop with my own paints along a path to the beach (rivers edge) and see what happened. The first person I asked to paint said yes and by the time I was halfway through painting her there two more wanting to join in. It was a really fun afternoon with good conversation, some startling body painting, and a steady stream of passers-by admiring and complimenting the work. At Christmas, I often paint mud-covered people once the mud has dried to a crust. This gives an appealing texture and makes for great photos. At Easter, no one wanted to wait long enough for the mud to dry in the weak sun. They would hang around for a few minutes and then make excuses and rush off to the river to wash the mud off before they got any colder. The next day, I set up paint shop on a huge fallen tree that was half in and half out of the river and had a constant stream of work there, too.

My favourite workshop this year was the Tantric Massage on the last day. My wife and I got there early, we thought, and were surprised (as was the presenter) to find a large group waiting. By the time the workshop got started the group had more than doubled and the organiser was getting us to spread out more tarpaulins to sit on. Eventually we got underway and we were told what to expect. We were to get into pairs with our partners (it had been advertised bring partners) and anyone on their own was to put up their hand. Well three guys and one lady put up their hands and she was told to pick a partner if she wanted to. The other two guys had the option of partnering each other or waiting till next year. They left by separate paths. The lady on the other hand got lucky because the guy she choose turned out to be a professional masseur looking to learn more about Tantric Massage. During the demonstration we were told about the seven chakras and how to awaken them by tapping and gently rubbing them in sequence, starting at the crown of the head. The presenter said we were quite at liberty to be naked as this was the best way to experience massage; indeed, some of the attendees were already naked anyway. So with me laying on my back my wife proceeded to explore my chakras using the oil supplied as a lubricant. It was an unforgettable experience, being massaged in a large group (possibly 70 people) made up of aging hippies like us, right down to a large number of pairs of girls in their early twenties.

The instruction was good, not rushed, and easy to follow. The idea seemed to be to stimulate blood flow and then energy flow from the pelvic area up the back to the head. The massage culminated in the receiver lying face down with their pelvis over the crossed legs of the sitting giver. In this position, with both facing forward, the base of the spine is presented to the giver who briskly rubs it in a circular fashion for a minute or so and then sweeps up the back to the head in a swift movement. This is repeated several times and is indeed very stimulating. After the final sweep, the giver takes hold of the receiver’s wrists and by pulling on their arms lifts their shoulders off the ground and raises their torso in the air. This looks and feels amazing and is a great way to end the massage.

We thoroughly enjoyed our latest Confest experience and intend to go again this coming summer. We hope to meet you there. If you are interested in finding out more about this unique event, check it out at: http://www.dte.org.au/