Death of a Priestess

Last night my friend Tara Webster passed through the veil. My friend Thorn was among those in attendance at her crossing. Here's the first announcement:

With great sorrow I must report that early on the evening of October 8th, Tara Webster - Ishtara, Soror Adessa of the Order of the Golden Dawn, Witch, Mage, Dancer and Healer - has succumbed to brain cancer and passed peacefully beyond the Veil into the next world.

Her husband Sam, along with many witches and magickal folk were with her, surrounding her with love and singing hymns of Hecate to her as she departed. Sam asks for whatever thoughts, prayers, and energy work you can bring to this transition, with focus on the highest chakras, from now until three days after, or up to 49 days.

Prayers and offerings to Hermes, Psychopomp and Lord of Thresholds, and to Tara's matron goddess Hekate, Keeper of the Keys of all the Universe, are particularly appropriate.

E-mails of condolences may be sent to cancellarius@osogd.org and will be forwarded to the family.

- 555

"Term of all that liveth, whose name is Death and inscrutable, be thou favorable to us in thine hour. And unto her, from whose mortal eyes the veil of life hath fallen, grant that there may be the accomplishment of her true Will, should she will absorption in the Infinite, or to be united with her chosen and preferred, or to be in contemplation, or to be at peace, or to achieve the labor and heroism of incarnation on this planet, or another, of any star, or aught else, unto her may there be the accomplishment of her true Will, yea, the accomplishment of her true Will. AUGMEN."

I knew Tara as a Priestess of Hekate. For many months Corby and attended small New Moon rituals to Hermes and Hekate with Sam and and Tara in their chapel. A graceful bellydancer, Tara wore the mask of Isis* as she danced Her into manifestation at the first incarnation of my goddess masks ritual, part of the Goddess 2000 celebration, at PantheaCon in San Francisco.

Although I knew Sam better than Tara, when Tara and I first met, we discovered we had a lot in common in terms of both approach and praxis. My experiences with my first coven, the Holy Terrors*, paralleled hers in many ways. I spoke of a cartoon published in an East Coast Pagan rag, Harvest (defunct), in the '80s that we Holy Terrors couldn't believe was so like we were. When we HTs first discovered this cartoon, we rolled around laughing. No one we knew subscribed to Harvest (if it even had subscriptions). We treasured our photocopies of the few episodes we'd found; later I found an opportunity to mail away for better copies of a full set. The cartoon was the Death Crones, and Tara was part of the Flaming Crones, the circle from which this cartoon arose!

When I heard she was weakening, I planned to go see her this weekend. I regret I didn't make it in time. I will visit her viewing and offer prayers for her easy transition. My life was enriched by my having known Tara. I will dance with her in Samhain circle. In love may she return again.


* A coven of nine women, Holy Terrors was the first coven to form from classes taught by Witches in what later evolved into Reclaiming Collective, and still later, Reclaiming Tradition Witchcraft. Some day I'll write more about the HTs, maybe even scan the only extant photo of us together.

Masks of the Goddess

My friend Lauren Raine created a set of exquisite leather masks of many goddesses for the 20th anniversary of Reclaiming's Spiral Dance Samhain ritual in 1999. I think we used about twenty of them; I wore the Morrígan, the baddest-ass Morrígan you ever hope to encounter. Even my friend Urania who helped me put it on was afraid once it was in place. To add the effect, I reddened my palms and displayed them as the Washer at the Ford in the processions.

Bad-ass Morrígan

I was displeased with how this use of the masks for the goddess invocation was done. I thought they were given short shrift: a three-minute invocation sung by the chorus, as opposed to eight minutes for the god invocation. What's wrong with this picture in a goddess religion? My displeasure, however, inspired me to create a ritual that I felt was worthy of the glory of those masks.

For PantheaCon 2000 the following February I whipped up a ritual using 13 of the masks. I say whipped up because I had almost no time to fill the ritual time-slot I was asked to fill due to the withdrawal of a concert performer. In spite of our rush, it came off well. At least people said they really liked it. One liked it so well she asked me if I'd do it again. I said I could only pull something like that off if I had a sponsor. I'd love to produce more original Pagan-themed public rituals if I can. I think I have a flare for it. But alas! you just can't do projects of that scale without a good, solid sponsorship and trusting collaborators. Here's the program description:

Goddesses Alive! A processional and experiential ritual of masked, embodied goddesses to bring a re-awareness of the Goddess into current Pagan practices. We encounter the goddess embodied by 13 priestesses wearing stunning leather goddess masks created by Lauren Raine. ... Amadae, Urania, Deborah Grenn-Scott, Mary Kay Landon, Farida Fox, Tara Webster, Sabina Magliocco, Lee Henrikson, Juan Carlos, Corby Lawton, with help from others.

With the sponsorship of the Lilith Institute and the New College of California Women's Studies Department, I was able to recreate, even better this time. The script was written mostly by me; some pieces were written by Mary Kay Landon and one, Brigit, by Diane Darling. Because of a local goddess lecture series called The Goddess Is Alive, I had to give the ritual a new title to avoid confusion. I settled on "A Rainbow of Goddesses," even though I think "Goddesses Alive!" is perfect.

This time we had original music for each goddess by Amy Luna Manderino (koto music for Amaterasu, Mexican guitar for Guadalupe, chimes for White Tara). We also had a little chorus I called "Corby & the Arctoi," since the single male voice was Corby's and most of the other singers were young women and teens. Jan Dance flew from Portland, OR to drum.

"Corby & the Arctoi," showing Jan Dance
on left, Corby in hat, Luna on right.*

Hekate, Valley High.
This mask is the face of
our late friend Judy Foster.
Luna's jazzy-bluesy composition
was absolutely perfect -- for both Hekate and Judy.

Laura Janesdaughter flew up from Los Angeles to do Amaterasu.

Amaterasu, Laura Janesdaughter

Dawn Marlowe and friends drove from San Bernardino so she could do Oshun.

Oshun, Dawn Marlowe

And Willow Kelly and Crow came all the way from Virginia so Willow could wear the Isis mask. Tansy Brooks, a belly dancer and keeper of snakes, danced with her snakes as Inanna; one of them slithered up her neck and over the the queen's crown while she danced.

Susan Levin (Kala) as White Buffalo Woman
engaged the help of attendees.

Frejya Anderson's Sedna,
with deep, resonant music evoking
the underwater, solicited compassion.

Amie Miller danced Pele
swinging balls of fire.
Photo by Peter Hughes

There's so much more to tell about this ritual. Did I mention it was performed in the dark? And boy, was it low-tech! I loved it.

Other ritualists took off with the idea and created goddess masks rituals of their own. Some used newer goddess masks Lauren made in the years since Goddesses Alive! I had always hoped to recreate the one I did using the 13 (for the number of lunations in a solar year), but alas! they are now to be released into the universe of art lovers and Pagans everywhere.

This is your chance to bring one of these gorgeous images into your home. Go here, feast your eyes on all of them, and put in your bid

Visit Lauren at her Threads of Spider Woman blog. Tell I said hi.

* All mask photos by Tom Lux except that of Pele.

Blog of a Pagan Artist

My friend, mask-maker extrordinaire Lauren Raine, has just begun a blog, Threads of Spiderwoman. Lauren has made a series of goddess masks for use in ritual that are utterly exquisite.

They were first used (20 of them) in the 20th Anniversary Spiral Dance in 1999 in San Francisco. I felt they were not used as effectively as they deserved, so was inspired to create a ritual I called "Goddesses Alive!," using only 13 of the masks, for PantheaCon 2000. Under the sponsorship of The Lilith Institute and New College of California Women's Spirituality Department, I polished and recreated this ritual, renamed "A Rainbow of Goddesses" to distinguish it from other non-mask-ritual entities with similar names, in December 2000.

The New College performance included original music for each goddess by Amy Luna Manderino -- koto music for Amaterasu, Mexican guitar for Guadalupe, bluesy jazz for Hekate. I loved it!

Since my original production, others have created different rituals using the masks.

The 2006 performance of Reclaiming's Spiral Dance ritual featured many more than the original 20 masks. The photo above, taken at that event, was published on the front page on the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle.

With a good sponsor, I'd love the opportunity to recreate the complete "Goddesses Alive!" masks ritual.

In the meantime, however, I wanted to alert readers to Lauren's blog.

Oh, Bridey, Come, Come, Come!

I'm always glad when the Feast of Brigit rolls around, never less than this year, when I'm dealing with some serious healing issues in my family. Deirdre is melting in Brigit's forge, being hammered on Her anvil, shaped into something new and glorious. I am calling for Brigit's healing balm, carrying Her waters to those who have need of their healing. But basically I don't feel very creative. So in answer to the request for Brigit poetry, I offer this piece created by Diane Darling and me for a goddess masks ritual I created at New College of California back in 2000. The accompanying photo shows Lauren Raine's gorgeous mask of Brigit, worn by Diane, and photographed by Tom Lux.

I am Brigid, Lady of the Celts,
Creatrix of the Island of Ireland,
Midwife to new life in Spring.

You may know I am here
when the snowdrop flowers
When the lambing begins,
and the calving and foaling,
When the babes conceived on Beltane are born.

I am Lady of the flame,
Mistress of changes,
without and within.
I shape the bright metals:
gold and silver, spirit.

I shape the bright hearts of the lover,
the poet,
the smith.
Feel My hand on yours as you craft your lives,
Shape your loves,
build your great works,
grow into your true self.

I am Lady of the Well,
the deep well
That reaches into the darkness
and rises to the light,
The spills the waters of wisdom
for all who care to drink.

I am the great fount of Inspiration
for poet and bard.
The harp sings in My voice,
and the pipes and drums
My song is sung in all the lands,
by bird and bard and babe.

You may come to Me for healing,
be it of beast or human;
For beginning new life,
for insight, for love,
Or just to shelter within My cloak
from life’s tempests and sorrows.

Call Me by My many names:
I am with you,
children of the children of the children of
The Lost Isles,
the Western Shores,
children of Turtle Island.
I have not forgotten you,
far flung though you may be.

Remember Me also, My beloved ones,
when the poet sings,
When the cow rises from the calving
and the fever leaves the brow.

Tonight I'm going to renew my connection with Brigit in community. I will thank Her for all She's given me, renew my pledge to Her, and relight a candle with Her flame. Here are the words with which I'll seal the spell.

What we have received tonight has been held in our keeping.
What passes now flows out of our hands and into the Earth,
Trusting in time and right season,
Let us go on.