Mephit Fur Meet 2009 Labor Day Weekend, Memphis, TN

Hey, guys, we've got some exciting news! We just purchased our first load of books for the panels. Since some of you had expressed an interest in obtaining the same resources beforehand, we thought we'd post them here. Most of these can be found on Amazon.com:

Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest by Gerald McDermott

How the Loon Lost Her Voice by Anne Cameron

Myths and Legends of Haida Indians of the Northwest: The Children of the Raven by Martine Reid

How Raven Freed the Moon by Anne Cameron

Masks of God: Creative Mythology by Joseph Campbell

We'll list other resources as we get them!

We've been very busy since September. The cultural theme chosen for 2009 is the Pacific Northwest.  Here's our tentative panel proposals:

- Introduction to Guided Meditation

- Guided Meditation

 These two have been staples in the spirituality track for some time now and since everyone seems to enjoy them, we'll be offering them again.  The first panel is designed to give folk who either have trouble meditating or who have never tried it the tools to be potentially successful in the guided meditation. The guided meditation takes you on a journey to look for your power animal.  You might be surprised at who you meet!

- Anthropomorphics Through the Ages - Pacific Northwest

As we mentioned before, our topic this year is the Pacific Northwest.  It provides an extremely diverse discussion ground for animal symbology, anthropomorphic folktales, and totems.  We'll be looking at some unusual creatures such as Salmon, Coyote, Whale, and Seal as well as the more obvious Wolf, Bear, and Raven.

- Bear Necessities

Our real world totem focus this year is bear, with an emphasis on the species found in the pacific northwest.

 - Mysterious Mythicals - Bigfoot

He's big, he's hairy, he may or may not be part human...the Pacific Northwest is one of the areas from which the Bigfoot legends originated. We'll be talking about the wendigo, said to be either a weremoose or a mysterious cross between a moose and a human being, and about the more traditional Bigfoot as seen in the sequoia forest as well as some of the lesser known sitings such as the Florida skunk ape.

- Totems of the Northwest Pacific

 Not your average totem discussion!  We'll be looking at traditional totems as they were developed in the Pacific Northwest:  what animals were used, the order in which they were carved, the stories they tell according to pose and position on the pole.  Included will be some sort of carving media (TBA, most likely soap bars), the means to carve them (per approval of staff), and paints.  You'll be asked to carve and decorate your own in the traditional style.   We would like to be able to assemble this into a true totem and put it in the charity auction.

- Creative Mythology

A look at how mythology --- specifically how our furry mythology --- gets created and adapted to our own needs and how it changes with the times.  We'll be discussing Joseph Campbell's creative mythology concepts as they apply to furry fandom and constructing a collage to represent the furry fandom mythology.

- Creating a Pocket Shrine 

Back by popular demand!  A review of the basic concept will be given and the focus will be on a different set of techniques TBA.

 Watch this space for more as it develops.

We wanted to extend an enthusiastic thanks to all of you who attended our panels.  It was one of the most successful tracks we'd ever had with the rooms filled to near capacity for most of them.  The high quality discussion and enthusiasm just would not have been possible without you guys.

 And now, a taste of what is to come next year.  The topic for next year is Northwestern Mythology.  This covers everything from the the Inuits and other tribes of the Great White North to the coastal Natives of Oregon and Washington.  Our totem animal will be Bear and our mythological totem panel will be shared by Thunderbird and Wendigo.  It will give our panel attendees a change to explore the true meaning of the word "totem" in its original context and unlock some of its mysteries.

The Shamanic Shapeshifting panel was a huge success and we will be continuing this panel next year.  Additionally, we'll be doing one called Creative Mythology.  The details of the project are currently still in development, but you might want to get started by getting hold of Joseph Campbell's book by the same title.

 Quite a few of you asked about a list of resources used for this year's panels.  Some of these are out of print.  We suggest trying Amazon first or going to a really good secondhand book store:

 Oriental Mythology by Joseph Campbell

A Treasury of Asian Literature by John D Yohannan

Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews

Animal-Wise by Ted Andrews

The Serpent and the Swan:  The Animal Bride in Folklore and Literature by Boria Sax

Primitive Mythology by Joseph Campbell

Creative Mythology by Joseph Campbell

Asian Mythologies by Yves Bonnefoy

Asian-Pacific Folktales by Jeannette Faurot

The Dragonology Handbook by Ernest Drake

The Horse in Myth and Magic by M. Oldfield Howey

Dragonology - The Complete Guide to Dragons by Ernest Drake

Dragonology Field Guide to Dragons by Ernest Drake

Crafting Personal Shrines by Carol Owen

Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade

Myths to Live By by Joseph Campbell

The Snow Lion's Turquoise Mane by Lama Surya Das

Dragons and Unicorns: A Natural History by Paul and Karin Johnsgaard

Power Animals by Steven D. Farmer

Japanese Tales by Royall Tyler

The Book of Shamanic Healing by Kirstin Madden

Beginner's Guide to Meditation by Goswami Kriyananda

Beginner's Guide to Buddhist Meditation by Christina Feldman

Meditation for Busy People by Osho

Half Human, Half Animal: Tales of Werewolves and Related Creatures by Boria Sax

The Strong Eye of Shamanism: A Journey to the Caves of Consciousness by Robert E. Ryan

Power Animal Meditations by Nicki Scully