We are delighted to announce that our Samhuinn 2022 Court have made themselves known! These excellent humans will be pivotal in creating our festival and have kindly crafted some words to introduce themselves.
Alixandra Prybyla, The cailleach
My name is Alixandra Prybyla and I have the honour of embodying our Cailleach for Samhuinn 2022. As I dream about how the Cailleach will manifest Herself this Samhuinn, I look to the oral and written histories that shape our understanding of Her. Often, they feature Her bitter caprice: She helps deer escape the hungry huntsmen, She whips gales up to inconvenience fisherman, and, by spring, Her subjects rebel against her reign. But, in a myth local to Edinburgh, I see a softer image of our Crone. When snow blanketed the city, people would comment that it was the “Old Woman over in Fife” plucking her geese. I imagine Her, our Cailleach, firmly planted in the Lomond hills, humming to Herself and preparing a winter feast. I am excited to share the yet untold bounty of that feast with all of you this Samhuinn.
Hannah smith, the summer king
Hello, I’m Hannah and I have the honour to be Summer King this Samhuinn. I’ve been involved with BFS since 2015, and explored a variety of groups including MANY fire groups, some drums, Whites, Wild Hunt, and Stewards. You might have seen me organising the Goblins at the Fire Arch last Beltane, or the video projects I ran for our online festivals. If we don’t know each other yet, I look forward to meeting you!
My Summer King will embody the FIRE aspect of the Samhuinn Fire Festival. I’ll bring a blazing, fiery King forward. So let’s all come together and burn away the old, to get ready for winter as a community. The catharsis of the final blaze of summer’s glory, and the dying out of those embers, are the core of my King.
orion toivonen, the winter king
I’m Orion and for those that haven’t met me… you will have seen me. I’m the one with crazy hair running around and sticking my tongue out at everything and everyone. I’ve only been a part of the community for two festivals now, having lovingly tested everyone’s patience as a red both times. I’ve lived in Scotland for just over one year now, having originated from the even colder climates of Finland. But no one’s necessarily here to learn about me… you’re here to learn about this year’s Winter King…
ME!
I’m bringing anarchy. I’m bringing mischief. I’m bringing chaos, and maybe just a little bit of fun. Inspired by an interesting Scandinavian cocktail of myth and lore, this Winter King will be a little… unpredictable.
Winter is fantastic, and so am I.
Beltane Fire Society 