Mask-Making at Easton Mountain

We all wear masks – carefully crafting our personas to suit friends and lovers.  Masking-making can be a way to reveal what we hide even from ourselves.

Last week, at Easton Mountain Retreat, I participated in a mask-making workshop, part of Gay Freedom Camp.  We started in pairs, covering our partners’ faces with plaster-impregnated fabric.

Sunfire in plaster mask

Next day, we decorated our masks.  Our leader suggest that we craft a mask that reflected the spiritual forces in our lives – but I found myself drawn to expressing the shadow.

My mask is second from the left on the bottom row.

A bonfire was scheduled for the evening – with body painting as a preparation.  Sundown brought a chill to the air, and I thought the body painting might not take place, but to my delight, I found my self in a group of men stripping down and decorating each other’s bodies, with no particular plan or design.

Sunfire, ready for the bonfire

Other highlights of Gay Freedom Camp for me were the morning meditations that I led.  I had recently completed a Body Electric Retreat, Experiencing the Heart of Stillness.  It was a wonderful opportunity to have a full morning of naked seated and walking meditations – and then to participate in meditative erotic rituals in the afternoon.  At Gay Freedom Camp, my morning meditations included naked walking meditations and Osho’s Dynamic Meditation.

Our next community-led retreat will be Gay Spirit Camp – August 1-7.  Steve Schwartzberg, a leader of Experiencing the Heart of Stillness, will be the keynote speaker – and I’m sure, as in the past, he will also be leading meditations and an erotic ritual.  If you’re a man who has never attended an event at Easton, you qualify for a 25% discount.  When registering, type “BRING A FRIEND DISCOUNT – SUNFIRE” in the comments field.