Spirituality Track

"Spirituality" is a misnomer, at least the way we run it. The majority of our tracks deal with anthropomorphic applications historically within a chosen culture. We try to choose a culture in keeping with the year's theme. In this case, since we've been granted a brand new start, we chose one of the early civilizations. Typically, our main panel does an overview of the culture, what animals were prevalent, what those animals meant to them and how they were symbolized, and their place in mythology. It goes without saying that a lot of the animals are anthropomorphized to varying extents.

We typically also single out one group of real animals or an animal for similar treatment, avoiding the obvious (foxes, wolves, etc) to provide interest and variety. We do the same for a mythological panel, choosing a mythological creature from the culture featured.

A few of our panels do, in the most general terms, deal with spirituality. These are focused broadly on things like animal guides and how to find them or on spiritually experiencing more about your favorite animal. They are not directed at any one religion and we --- at MFM at least --- keep the panels neutral and friendly so that anyone from the curious to the die hard lifestyler or hard core Therian would feel welcome.

It's also interactive. We don't just talk, we often learn from our audience. Our panels are generally full to capacity and it's not unusual to have someone among the attendees who has either been to the countries we're covering or who has handled the animals we're featuring. Attendees are welcome to put in their own experiences and feelings, to suggest resources, and to ask questions.

From what I understand, the manner in which MFM runs its spirituality track is somewhat unique. Most simply have round table discussion sessions or are specifically oriented to pagans and lifestylers only. We wanted ours to be open to and interesting for everyone, not just a small subsection of the convention population.

Organizer: Walker, Texas Kitty/P'shaw Raven