It all begins with an idea.

The Sunken Lake pagan retreat is the start of an annual festival held in the beautiful province of Nova Scotia, Canada. This retreat is a celebration of the ancient ways of the pagan community and is a time for people to come together and connect with nature, the earth, and the spirit of the land.

The festival takes place at Sunken Lake Scout Camp, a historical site for many Nova Scotians. The festival is held over the course of Natal Day weekend and includes a variety of activities and rituals.

One of the festival's main events is the Lughnassa ritual, which is a ritual performed to honour the spirits of the land and ask for their blessings and protection. This ceremony is led by a group of Local pagan priests and priestesses, who will call upon the spirits of the land and invite them to join in the festival.

Throughout the festival, there will also be workshops and classes on various pagan practices and beliefs, such as meditation, divination, and spell-casting. There will also be opportunities for people to connect with nature through activities such as hiking and camping, as well as to learn about traditional pagan crafts such as herbalism and weaving.

Registration

August 1st - 4th 2024

Fees

Adult 18+ (Camping) - $50/Weekend
Teen 13-17 (Camping) - $25/Weekend
Adult 18+ (No camping/Day pass) - $25/Weekend
Teen 13-17 (No camping/Day pass) - $10/Weekend
Kids under 12 - Free
Family (two adults + teen Camping) - $75/Weekend

Schedule

Workshop Registration has closed

Registrants are welcome to arrive Thursday August 1st after 15:00 to set up camp. No Festival activities are planned for that evening. This schedule will drastically change as we approach the dates of the festival. This is last years schedule and will change before the upcoming festival.

Time	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
8:30AM		Hosted Communal Coffee & Tea in Lodge	Hosted Communal Coffee & Tea in Lodge
9AM		Morning Yoga with Melissa in Lodge	Introception: A mindful strategy to reconnect to your body* with Kaylee in or in front of Lodge
10AM		Finding your Mother or Father God or Goddess with Meave in or in front of Lodge	Clay Goddess with Lily in Lodge
11AM		Retreat Champion Relay Main Field (please sing up with Karen)	Building your own Book of Shadows with Melanie in Lodge (optional: bring crafting supplies to share)
12PM	Opening Moot at Fire Pit (All please attend)	Lunch Break	Lunch Break
12:30PM	Children's activities: Seed Bombs in or in front of Lodge	Children's Activities: Scavenger Hunt starts at lodge scavenge around main field	Children's activities: Painting Mushrooms in or in front of Lodge
1PM	How to play Hnefatafl (Viking age game) with Andrew in Lodge (Ages 12+)	Lughnassah Ritual with Drum and Brian in Main Field	Candle Making for Magical Use with Shari in Lodge (Children MUST be accompanied by an adult)
2PM	Making Black Salt with Margo at the fire pit (bring small herbs/items to burn with protective properties	Doing Druidry with Drum in or in front of Lodge	Rockhounding in NS with Sarah MacDonald in or in front of Lodge
3PM	Sacred Smoke with Rowan in or in front of Lodge	Survival Knots with Doug in or in front of Lodge	Closing Ritual with TBD in the main Field
4PM	Candle Magic with Karen in or in front of Lodge (bring small carving tool)	Future Paganism- Prospice with Drum in or in front of Lodge (bring ideas about the future of Paganism)
5PM	Dinner Break	Dinner Break
6:00PM	Welcoming Ritual with Mave in Main Field (child participation encouraged)	Music and Ritual with Mike in or in front of Lodge
7PM	Soul Alignment and Self-Cleansing in the Anderson Feri Tradition with Kamela Hutzley in lodge (Adults Only, Please bring a cup with water , an pen & paper)	Bardic around fire
8PM	Wine and Cheetos Meet and Greet around the fire
9PM	Feminine Ritual with Meave and Rowan in front of the lake
10PM	Masculine Ritual with Adam in the woods	Sumbl around fire

Directions from Highway 101 Exit 11:

1. Turn south (uphill) onto Greenwich Rd South (signposted Ridge Rd) - travel 900m, past Old Orchard Inn to a T-intersection. 2. Turn right onto Ridge Rd signposted White Rock - travel 2.5km to a T-intersection. 3. Turn right onto White Rock Rd (not signposted, but there's a white church at the T) - travel 100m to a 4-way intersection where you do not have right of way. 4. At the 4-way intersection, turn left onto Deep Hollow Rd (signposted Sunken Lake) - travel 5.1km over a bridge and up the hill to a T-intersection. [do not turn right after 800m onto "Sunken Lake Road" - this is actually Lower Sunken Lake Road and is a much longer route. Continue up the hill.] 5. At the T-intersection, at Black River Community Hall, turn right onto Sunken Lake Rd - travel 2.7 km to the old white bungalow at #536 Sunken Lake Road. Long Road/Scout Camp are not signposted, but the entrance is next to 536 Sunken Lake Road, which is in Google Maps (N44.997870, W-64.444185).

[Note: the asphalt road ends 40m past #536, so if you find yourself on gravel you've gone too far]

Alternative Directions from Highway 101 Exit 9 (scenic route) A. Turn south/left at roundabout if coming from Halifax - travel 200m to a T-intersection. B. Turn right at T-intersection onto Gaspereau River Road (signposted) - 9.0km, past the turnings for Grand Pré, Luckett's and L'Acadie vineyards. C. As you leave Gaspereau Village you will pass a gas station on your left, then travel over a bridge. As you come out of a sharp right bend, turn left at Gaspereau Vineyards onto White Rock Road - travel 4.8km to a 4-way intersection where you do not have right of way. Rejoin directions at #4 above.

GPS Coordinates - N 44 59.858 W 64 26.661

Valley Regional Hospital: retrace steps to Exit 11 @ Hwy 101; travel west to New Minas; get off @ Exit 12; take the connector North and follow "H" signs through Kentville.

Registration (only Day passes)

About the Land

Geology of Sunken Lake

Another interesting glacial feature that only occurs in the Black River is Sunken Lake. This lake is unique to many lakes in Nova Scotia in that it is largely spring-fed rather than having water run into the lake from the surface. The lake water is clear and does not have the typical bronze colour water that gives the name of Black River to the main drainage river of the community.

Sunken Lake was formed when a small glacier was left isolated from the retreating and melting main glacier. Glacial gravels were shed and deposited around the perimeter of the ice block during the melting process. The sand and gravel that was trapped in this ice block and shed around the perimeter of the block provided a natural filter for the water making it clear. After the ice block melted only the lake remained with no large surface inlet to the lake and only a small drainage creek in the southwestern portion of the lake. This drainage creek is mostly active during spring runoff. There was a sawmill located in this outlet for a number of years. This type of lake is known geologically as a Kettle Lake. The melt waters from the Sunken Lake ice flowed eastward joining the melt waters from the main glacier in the Bentley Meadow area contributing additional water to the Schofield Brook drainage system. Residents of Black River always said that Sunken Lake has no bottom and the true depth of the lake is not known. There is truth in this statement and confirms the Geological origin of the lake as an ice block hole surrounded by glacial gravels and sand shed from the ice during the melting process of the ice block.

This lake is on the highest part of the South Mountain and on some topographic maps was named Summit Lake, but locally the lake is Sunken Lake.

For many years ice from Sunken Lake was harvested and in the authors, memory was stored in the Clifford Long ice house buried in sawdust for year-long use. This ice was the source of ice for making ice cream during the hot summer months and for those who owned an ice box before the days of refrigerators. The clear clean characteristics of the lake water made ideal ice.

- Ron Buckley, from a draft of "Geological History of Black River, Kings County, Nova Scotia"