After reconnecting with many friends this past weekend, it seems the general consensus is that folks are low on evergy.
To the common question of “how are you?” or “how have you been?” the overwhelming response was: “tired.”
So yeah. By and large, I think we are all dealing with a little bit extra in 2026. And one way we’re all growing? Is learning how to cope with it.
Good morning and happy Monday, friends!
We’re back from festival! After driving through a pretty crazy (although typical for Florida) thunderstorm, we arrived safely at home from Orlando around 7:00pm last night.
Most of this past week was spent either studying or preparing for my workshop, so I’ll just start off on Thursday. Oh, and fair warning: this update seems to contain an inordinate number of pictures of me. So be it!
We pulled up at the Summer Magick Fest hotel close to 8:00pm on Thursday. We unfortunately missed opening ritual and the meet and greet, but we were still able to say hello to a few folks!
I took tons of pictures. You can expect to see more of them later this week (or perhaps next week) when I do a full Summer Magick Fest recap post. For now, just a quick preview!
I sold some books and signed some books 🙂
On Friday, I taught a class on runes. It was titled: “Reading the Runes: From Philology to Practical Magick.” And I think it was well received!
Here’s what I look like teaching.
Although I failed to mention it during the presentation, I will post my workshop slides within the next day or two if anyone is interested.
After that, we snuck off and had dinner with my cousin. Now… I’m sharing this as much for you as I am for future me to reference: we went to a restaurant in Orlando called Budsaba Thai and my food was delicious. Spectacular, actually. It was just a mere ~30ish minute drive from our hotel.
On Saturday, I finally got to meet Christopher Penczak.
I have definitely mentioned this before, but he wrote the foreword to my book and has been a guest on my show twice. It was great to finally meet him in person!
Okay, I may have discovered that I enjoy feather boas.
This particular boa was actually intended for a Rocky Horror costume, but we forgot about it… so it became part of my ritual garb. You see the shirt? It says “sarcasm.” We were supposed to dress as our divine spark.
On Sunday morning, we took attended on of Amber Rae’s workshops and painted with watercolors.
In comparison to other people’s, I can see that many did observably better. But you know what they say? Comparison is the thief of joy! I looked at this painting and was happy with it… and that’s not something I say very often.
And then all too soon, it was over. I guess it’s become a tradition that we use Disney Springs as a portal back to the real world. Food helps ease the transition, so… here’s some bangers and mash!
Always wish we had a full buffer day between festival and the dreaded Monday of the real world, but… well, we’re here! And we’re pushing through.
As soon as I get all of these pictures synced, I’ll start working my recap post. I promise, there’s lots more to share.
That’s all for now, friends. Stay tuned for more soon!
Aerik Arkadian 
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