Free Spirit Gathering

Editor's Choice: Poisoned mushrooms nearly killed me - now I'm launching ...

EATING wild mushrooms at a family gathering in Scotland three years ago changed Charlotte Gordon Cumming's life forever.

The mushrooms were poisonous and singersongwriter Charlotte, her husband Nicholas Evans - best-selling author of The Horse Whisperer and The Brave - together with another couple nearly died.

Against the odds, they all survived. But, for the next eight months, even her toothpaste made Charlotte sick and her kidneys were damaged so badly that she needed dialysis.

Now, Charlotte is hoping her life will change, thanks to the kindness of a woman she met through their sons' shared passion for football.

The unnamed woman, who has only known Charlotte for a couple of years, has offered her a kidney and they hope the transplant will take place next month.

Charlotte, 53 - originally from Forres, Moray, but now living in Devon with her nine-year-old son, Finlay, and husband Nick - said: "My donor is like an angel sent from heaven. She has an incredible empathy and to step forward and say she would help me is a complete gift.

"It is an extraordinary feeling to realise that someone who isn't family wants to help you, especially when it is a life and death situation."

Charlotte's life was turned upside down in September 2008 during a visit to her brother, clan chief Sir Alastair Gordon-Cumming at his 13,000-acre Altyre estate near Elgin, Moray.

Her husband Nick headed into the forest to pick mushrooms, something he had done for many years.

Usually, if he had any doubts about their safety he would check with a book. But this time he mistook deadly webcap for edible ceps and served them up in parsley and butter.

Luckily, Charlotte's son and her brother's three children didn't want any - if they had, they would have almost certainly died. But Charlotte, Nick - who had previously survived skin cancer - Charlotte's brother and his wife, Louisa, all tucked in.

By the next day they were seriously ill and their chances of survival were slim. Incredibly, all four of them pulled through, although each suffered varying degrees of kidney failure.

Three years later, Charlotte could get a new lease of life. And she says her donor's selfless act of kindness not only affects her but everyone around her.

She said: "I truly believe it is beneficial for everyone concerned. Something even shifts for the donor and they benefit in many ways.

"It is a very courageous thing to do. Donors don't think about themselves at all and it is very moving, magical even. We were just mothers on the frontline who became great friends. It has been such a special thing to happen, especially as I have had some terrible experiences in trying to find a donor.

Free Spirit Gathering - Witchvox Article

Free Spirit Gathering

Author: Mattistopheles
Posted: July 3rd. 2005
Times Viewed: 7,382
Sponsored by: Free Spirit Alliance
Location: Darlington, Maryland
Event Date(s): June 14th-19th
Attendance: 300+

“Magic Happens.” Or so I’ve read on the bumper sticker of my friend and mentor’s vehicle. As a Pagan who is relatively new to the calling and the community, present time has been one awe-inspiring series of auspicious events and thrilling discoveries as new concepts are being introduced to my mind along with the introduction of relatively untapped energies on an almost daily basis. Magick (as I prefer to spell it) does indeed happen, and it never ceases to lose its glamour or the childlike sense of wonder that it inspires in me and I hope this remains true throughout the rest of my life. Upon continued reading of this humble review, you shall find within one such encounter that I’ve had with magick and have been encouraged to share about.

Concluding a prolonged period of anxiety, expectations, excitement, wonder, and wistful anticipation I have recently attended my first Pagan event: the Free Spirit Gathering in Darlington, MD. As has already been mentioned, I am a veritable newcomer to the “community” and to the refined practice of magick so organized events and Neo-Pagan subcultures are an entirely new subset of my reality, which - in light of recent experiences - I am eager to explore. This did not, however, come without a long list of concerns and reservations.

I was invited a number of months ago by some close friends with whom I correspond regularly and participate in rituals and council, along with a handful of other mundane and magickally oriented dealings. My first reaction was one of flattery, acceptance and eagerness, which were all quickly replaced with disappointment when I realized how much this venture would cost me. Upon further investigation, I learned that FSG is a clothing optional event and that sexual reservations are virtually nonexistent amidst a number of what I perceived to be hedonistic rituals and affairs. Being what I would consider relatively conservative, I quickly found myself rationalizing that the financial expenditure would not merit the uneasiness coiling about my inner parts.

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