Here It Is!

WOW Besom Brigade performing at PantheaCon on Sunday, February 17, 2008, DoubleTree Hotel, San Jose, CA. This is only fewer than 30 seconds of a longer performance, but I feel lucky we got anything at all. I think the woman heard the commotion in the lobby and dashed towards it with her camera.

Here are two photos sent to me by Minnha, taken by her friend, Cynthia Larsen.


Here we are displaying our broom pentacle, except that
you can't see the star in this photo. Minnha flying towards
the viewer, followed by me in gray vest, then Toad.

Toad and Minnha marching in formation.

I'm hoping other photographers will post or send photos. I know there were lots. (Gary M?)

An odd thing about the besom brigade: I would think doing this would appeal to any able-bodied Witch with a sense of humor, one who doesn't take herself too seriously. Even so, we attract few, if any, younger folks, and seem to be comprised of grey-haired women and gay men. Minnha is an exception. Malendia, who practiced with us but couldn't be there for our performance, is also an exception. Michele Mueller and a few other younger women have marched with us occasionally. But overall, we tend to be hags and fags. And, boy, do we have fun!

Two Days Post-Con

I emailed the woman who said she was going to post her video of the Besom Brigade on YouTube, still no response. I'm so eager to see it! In a weekend full of highlights, performing in the WOW Besom Brigade with Victoria, Prudence Priest, Julie Epona, Minnha, Gary Suto, and Toad was one of the biggest. Malendia rehearsed with us, but couldn't stay until our Monday performance. Prudence, Victoria and I had all done it before and knew just how much fun it can be. Minha was new and loved it. I've know Gary and Toad for a long time, but this was the first time we were all in the same place at the same time and could do this together. Both have plenty of theatrical experience. Toad contributed some great new steps and gestures that really added to the polish or our routines.

When we marched through the hotel hallways and arrived at the big lobby area, this huge cheer erupted from the crowd. No one could have made her way through the lobby while we were performing because the social area in front of the fireplace, the various clusters of chairs for conversation, the open hotel bar area, and all the space around the central lobby was lined with people, sitting, standing, filling every square inch, and cheering riotously.

Cameras flashing everywhere, we made nary a mistake. Now if I could only get some photos to show you -- and to see myself.

Immediately Post-Con

Just back from PantheaCon today.  One of the best in my experience.  So much to tell.

We began with our (CHS') first pre-Con Winter Intensive, a day-long series of workshops on Growing a Pagan Nonprofit.  Daily posts about the WI and the first days of the Con are here.  

I'm impatient to get the video of our WOW Besom Brigade performance at midday Sunday.  Will post link the minute I get it.  I'll also have a few photos when I can find the cord to download them from my camera.

Yes, We Can!

I guess I'm not a typical Obama supporter: (a) I'm not young and starry-eyed; (2) I'm not a new voter; I have voted in every election since 1964 when I became eligible to vote (you had to be 21 back then); and (3) I've consider myself a dedicated feminist since Second Wave Feminism came on the scene in the late '60s and early '70s.

I would love to have a woman president. I cried when Geraldine Ferraro was nominated for VP in 1984. I campaigned for the late Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in her 1972 bid for the presidency.

I've read both of Barack Obama's books. I find him intelligent, articulate, and reflective, qualities not common to all candidates. I've been working on his campaign here in Marin County since April.

I don't agree with him on every issue. For instance, I do not support the death penalty under any circumstances. I do not support nuclear power or ethanol fuel. I do not think his health care plan is the best. I do not think insurance companies should be involved at all. However, I do think he's approachable and educable when it comes to some of these issues.

I don't think that changing one's mind equates with being wishy-washy. I think open-minded people can change their minds when they're given additional information or persuasive arguments. I respect people who change their minds for good reasons, not just because the direction of prevailing political winds have changed.

While it's true that he may not know, as Hillary supposedly does, "where all the bodies are buried," as one of my Feri friends puts it, I still think he knows how to communicate with people with different points of view.

I consider him very liberal, yet he doesn't threaten more conservative folks. That's why so many centrists are comfortable voting for him.

His campaign has helped to mobilize so many young people and minorities to register and vote that I think that can only be a Good Thing.

On election day I stood at the freeway entrance waving signs for Obama with a 22-year-old woman and two musicians from the Freeway Philharmonic. The young woman, Emily, a Michigan native, had just moved here from North Carolina where she been graduated from college. Emily told me she felt this was the most important election in her lifetime. I've heard many other young people say the same. I feel this this may be the most important election in my lifetime as well.

I choose hope over fear and I support Barack Obama for President

Is Time Accelerating?

Does it feel to you as though the whole world is whizzing by while you're standing trying to keep your balance? It feels that way to me. Especially in the context of contemporary Paganism. What is it? Is it getting completely absorbed into the overculture? Is is selling out? Is it so trendy now that it's lost its edge? I have no answers, just lots of perplexity.

Poem for the Feast of Brigit

Much as poetry makes my heart sing, it's not my gift. So in honor of my friend Oak's call for poetry in honor of the Feast of Shining Brigit, I've chosen a poem by one of my favorite poets, one I'm happy to call a dear friend and mentor, Patricia Monaghan. This is from her collection, Seasons of the Witch.

Praisesong for Her

She is a tree in a circle of stones.
She is a crossroad at noon.
She is a breeze in the red mountain ash.

She is a hill on a night without stars.
She is a tear of the sun.
She is the moon on the ripening grass.

She is a hawk in the circling sky.
She is the eye of a hound.
She is a fish in the river of glass.

She is a berry of red mountain ash.
She is a seed of bright grasses.
She is a stone in the river of glass.

She is the sigh as time passes.

May the blessings of bright Brigit shower you with light!

More about Susan

Susan Grace Falkenrath
July 4, 1954 – January 12, 2008
[photo by Jan Dance]

Susan Grace Falkenrath, who was also known as Susan Green, Susan North, and Susan Oaktree, of Mill Valley, California, lived with humor and intense wonder about life for ten years after her diagnosis with breast cancer. Gratefully, she was able to become more true to herself and witness her children become adults. She died within a sacred circle, surrounded by 25 family members and friends, ranging in age from 7 months on up. Vibra Willow, Susan’s daughter Morgan, Jan Dance, and Juliana Miller performed last rites.

Susan received a B.A. (Music) from San Jose State University in 1982 and a M.A. (Education) from UC Berkeley in 1994. A popular second-grade teacher at Park School in Mill Valley, Susan leaves saddened students, parents and fellow teachers. She wrote “The Park School Song.”

A long-time member of the Reclaiming community, Susan was a devotée of many aspects of the Goddess, including Mary as Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Mexican Tonatsin), the Blessed Mother, and Our Lady of Lourdes. The last song she wrote before her death is “Mary Stood Up,” about Mary Magdalene’s message: “Look within to find your way.” As you can tell from her names, Susan embodied the Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess.

In the 1980s Susan was a memorable figure at Reclaiming’s annual Spiral Dance Samhain ritual. In a darkened room lit only by a cauldron fire in the center, in her clear soprano Susan sang “Spirits,” a song of her composition about a woman going to the stake and singing to the Elemental Spirits and to her daughter. This song is featured on the album “The Best of Pagan Song.” Her stirring voice can be heard in many songs on Reclaiming albums, and she was the composer/lyricist of the “Circle Casting Song” and composer of “Who Is She?” She leaves a legacy of songs widely known throughout American Pagan communities.

Susan was also a well-loved member of other communities, including a breast cancer support group at the Center for Attitudinal Healing in Marin; the LGBT community of the Bay Area; and Unity of Marin, a progressive church community where she sang in the choir in the past year.

Susan was predeceased by her three brothers: John Andrew, Robert, and William Falkenrath. She leaves to mourn her children, Morgan Green, of Berkeley and son Nicholas Wolf, of Mill Valley; her parents, Clara and John Falkenrath of Milwaukie, Oregon; her dear friend and death priestess, Vibra Willow; a close-knit family of aunts, uncles and cousins in Oregon, Colorado and California; and a huge circle of friends. She leaves a legacy of unique songs that she wrote about the environment, sexuality, change, and peace.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Susan’s memory to the cancer research organization of your choice.

Family and friends are organizing a memorial to take place on Sunday, February 3, 2008, from 2:00–4:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Women’s Building, 18th & Valencia Sts., site of some of Susan’s most moving singing. Anyone who would like to bring flowers, photos, mementos or other altar objects is welcome to do so. Bring potluck refreshments to share and unbreakable and reusable or recyclable plates, cups and utensils (no kitchen facilities). There will be an open mike for anyone who would like to speak, sing, or play music. (Donations to cover costs will be requested.)

A Great Day for Voting & Skating

Well, my man Barack Obama -- yep, I'm an Obama Mama -- took South Carolina handily, while my colleagues in Marin County staffed the phone banks. This is the most exciting election, presidential or otherwise, in my voting life.

I'm proud to say I've never missed voting in an election at any level in all since first registering, in 1964 when you had to be 21 to vote. Once when I was working at Harvey's Casino in South Lake Tahoe for a few months, I drove all the way down to the Fillmore District of San Francisco where I was still registered. I worked on Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm's campaign in 1972, then supported George McGovern after the primaries, but didn't canvass for him like I did for Chisholm. I think that year was the end of grass-roots presidential campaigns. Until now, that is.

Barack's autobiography, Dreams from My Father, reveals him to be a reflective man, one who can write with as much eloquence as anyone. Now I'm reading The Audacity of Hope -- I love that phrase! -- and I continue to be deeply impressed by the man. I'm also reassured that he won't get too far off center because he has his wife Michelle, a strong and uppity woman, to keep him in line.

* * * * *

I'd forgotten about the fact that the U.S. Figure Skating Championship was taking place tonight in St. Paul and was being broadcast on prime time Saturday night. My friends know that I'm wild about figure skating, have been since childhood, when I painted a series of cocktail glasses from photos of skaters I saw at the Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies.

Tonight was pairs and women's; I should say girls because I think the oldest contestant was 20, the youngest 14, with several being too young to be ineligible for international competition due to their age. It was one of those special nights when every skater gave her and his best. In pairs, both Meryl Davis & Charlie White, whom I'd never seen before, and Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto were splendid.

In the women's, I'd been favoring young Caroline Zhang, popularizer of the "pearl spin." She skated perfectly, enough to come from seventh in the short program to first in the free skate. Then Rachael Flatt and Ashley Wagner took our spectators' breath away (even mine on my couch instead of in the arena), only to have the final skater, Mirai Nagasu, take the gold. I'd be happy to see any of those four on the podium. This was skating at its breathtaking best.

Tomorrow night is the men's, where I get to see one of my all-time favorite skaters, Johnny Weir.

Mom at 97

Elizabeth V. O'Brien, January 19, 2008
Photo by Catherine O'Brien

Life is flying by too fast for me to take a breath and blog. Last Saturday afternoon Corby and I visited my mother to celebrate her 97th birthday. My sister Catherine took this photo earlier in the day. She's not happy. We are caught in the middle of the nightmare of US health care and insurance limitations. We don't know what more we can do to make her life more pleasant. Below is her photo at her 90th birthday party.

Susan

More about Susan soon, but for now I'm testing to see if this photo works. Well, it does, but it's only teensy. If I try to enlarge it, it only gets fuzzy. I copped it from SnapFish because Jan Dance, the photographer, is not at her computer in Portland, where the photo lives, but instead is here in the Bay Area dealing with Susan's death. It was taken just a few days before Susan passed. She's reclining on the couch in Vibra's living room. You can see that her hair is gone and her skin has that translucent appearance I've often observed in those who are close to the other side. More importantly, you can see her shining spirit.

Death & Taxes

It's only two weeks into 2008 and already I've lost two friends to death. One died in late December, but funeral was in January. That was Ted Looyen, creator of LooyenWork. There's a story or two about his funeral.

The other, just this past Saturday, was Susan North Green Wolf Oak Falkenrath. Susan changed her magical surname from time to time, which is why you see so many names. For many of the early years of Reclaiming's Spiral Dance Samhain ritual, Susan opened the ritual with her song "Spirits." In a darkened room lit only with a cauldron fire, Susan stood in front of the flames, as a woman consigned to the stake, singing of the spirits to her daughter. You can imagine how powerful that was. Holly Tannen recorded this song on one of her albums (possibly only on LP and not on CD), and it appears on "The Best of Pagan Song" album produced by Anne Hill of Serpentine Music. Some years later, after treatment for inflammatory breast cancer and with a bald head, Susan again opened the Spiral Dance with this song. Among those of us who know and love Susan, there wasn't a dry eye. Now that she's gone, from a recurrence of cancer, we cry again, for loss this time instead of for recovery.

Meanwhile, my mother turns 97 on Saturday, although she doesn't really know that. Corby and I will attempt some sort of celebration with her.

And it's January, time to catch up on accounting for my income and expenses for 2007.

Still in the Middle

We had a modest Christmas this year, and I have to say a lovely one. We bought very few gifts, since 2006 was a financially challenging year that saw some unanticipated, very large expenses. Corby baked cookies, as is his custom, not as many different kinds as usual -- yet. Deirdre baked cookies too. We received cookies from Corby's brother Blake and his partner Mary, too. Our house has been a Cookie Monster paradise of late.

What little shopping I did I didn't do until Christmas Eve. I took a short list and a credit card. I didn't encounter a fruitless search for a parking space at the mall nor boring waits at the cash register. I had to drive to another shopping center a bit farther down the freeway in order to purchase fresh pasta noodles at the only place in Marin that sells fresh pasta, and then to a corporate pet store for small treats for our family felines, Fernando and Oona.

We didn't even manage to get a tree. I decorated a small desk with a red-and-green plaid tablecloth with some gold thread shot through it, upon which I put a deer antler, several red-and-green tapers, some votive candles, and the few presents. Deirdre has a Christmas stocking with her name knit into it that was made for her very first Christmas by our friend Dee.

We considered having a more traditional Christmas meal, but in the end I decided to make lasagna because Deirdre loves my lasagna. Corby is the cook in the family, so he got a little break, although he did make his delicious, labor-intensive salads for us. Us being my daughter Deirdre, Corby and me -- and aforementioned kitties.

After dinner we watched a DVD of Practical Magic, which, surprisingly, I'd never seen before and neither had Deirdre. Corby enjoyed it enough to watch it again. We like several of the actors a lot, especially Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. We just snuggled on the couch under an afghan my mother made years ago.

I can't recall ever having a mellower Christmas day.

From the Middle of the Holiday Season

For the Solstice, I forewent Reclaiming's annual beach ritual with plunge in the ocean. As it happens, I haven't gone in years, although I find the Solstice plunge at Ocean Beach (at both Solstices) one of [the old] Reclaiming's most moving traditions. Besides, there was no plunge this year due to the recent oil spill in the Bay, which was swept up and down the coast beyond the Golden Gate. Instead, celebrants performed a cool bio-remediation spell using matted human hair. Even though I knew that would be a compelling thing to do, I opted to attend a smaller private circle in Berkeley with some Gardnerian friends in Coven Trismegiston.

Corby had wanted to sing Yule carols that night at Vicki's house. He loves choral singing and had missed Vicki's caroling group last year because he arrived after it was over. Vicki does not operate on Pagan Standard Time. I would have liked the ability to bi- or tri-locate so I could attend all the rituals I wanted to that night. I also had to decline an invitation to Bonny Doon, overlooking Monterey Bay from Ben Lomond Mountain. Corby and I regularly joined this Faery/Feri circle at the Winter Solstice for some years. Then it didn't happen for a few years, and this year we decided it was too far and we couldn't afford the travel time or gas, in consideration of everything else we were trying to pack in. I've missed this annual reconnection with Linnea, Leigh,, Geoff, et al. Missed viewing the Midwinter sky with Linnea's big telescope and sitting under the stars in her hot tub; missed caroling while the mulled wine stayed hot atop the iron fireplace.

As it happened, Corby hadn't finished a job he'd agreed complete that night and got home too late for any of the rituals. I went alone to Berkeley, where I enjoyed the ritual and the post-ritual socializing. I was unable to persuade any of those guests to cross the Bay to San Francisco to party and vigil with the gang at Oak's house. Finally, it was so late I just went home.

On Saturday, Corby and I joined six other people in a ceremony on San Bruno Mountain to celebrate the Solstice by preparing a despacho with our friend Freyja. We offered the despacho, containing bay leaves, sage, a eucalyptus button, flowers, some chocolate, brown sugar, wine, and other organic substances, in gratitude and prayer to the Spirits of Place on San Bruno Mountain.

Not only is San Bruno Mountain "the largest urban open space in the United States - 3,300 acres of undeveloped open space," but it also is "the last fragment of an entire ecosystem - the Franciscan Region - the rest of which is buried beneath the city of San Francisco." Freyja says that this mountain is "one of the Bay Area's major guardians of energy." She serves on the Board of Directors of the San Bruno Mountain Watch, which is working in opposition to the San Bruno Mountain Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), "the test case for the undermining and dismantling of the Endangered Species Act..."

Harvard biologist E. O. Wilson ranks San Bruno Mountain as one of the world’s 18 biodiversity hot spots. It is home to several endangered species, including three butterflies: the Mission Blue Butterfly, the San Bruno Elfin Butterfly, and the San Francisco Silverspot Butterfly (found only on San Bruno Mountain).

Shockingly, neither Corby nor I, both of whom have lived in the SF Bay Area for decades, had ever been on San Bruno Mountain. From Freyja we learned a chant that the band of Ohlone who once lived there used to sing. It was about jack rabbits and quail and dancing on the edge of the world. Ohlone people have left a record of approximately 13,000 years of human history in a large part of what is now California.

As we were concluding the ceremony, Freyja asked me if I had a song or chant we could sing. It just so happened that I was thinking exactly that when she asked. We sang a chant we in Reclaiming have used on Midwinter Morn for many, many years. The words are by e.e. cummings; I don't recall who wrote the tune. It goes "i who have died am alive again today, for this is the sun's birthday, this is the birthday of life and love and wings, and the gay, great happening illimitably earth." I joined our hands in a circle and led a brief spiral dance round the buried despacho.

Midwinter Musing

On December 10th I attended one of MIC's quarterly retreat days. They haven't been going on for long, and I've managed to make it to most of them. I've mentioned them in this blog.

December's retreat, at Santa Sabina Center, was on theme of light and dark. The teachers were Rabbi Stacy Friedman from Congregation Rodef Shalom and the Rev. Tim Mooney from the Lloyd Center at SF Theological Seminary (Presbyterian). Tim's primary pursuit is painting; his "Winter Solstice" appears above.

The better part of the day at these retreats is spent in silence. Unless one has a regular practice of meditation, retreats are the only time most of us manage to take the time to do it. I find it very restorative.

Stacy opened by speaking of the candles of the menorah and of Hanukkah in general, and how glad she was that this year it occurred at a different time than Christmas. She mentioned a medieval debate between two rabbis. One rabbi thought all eight candles, plus the extra shamash candle, should be lit at the beginning of Hanukkah, with one being extinguished each night until there was only one light left. This memorializes the story of having only enough oil for eight nights, and then the light rant out. The other rabbi, Hillel, argued for light one more candle each nights so that the light grew. Most of us know that Rabbi Hillel's practice was adopted.

In the morning, before we retreated into silence, we were each asked to think about what we might be looking for and what we might bring to the retreat. These were not spoken. I decided I was looking for models of eldership as they have manifested in other religions and religious communities. I considered that I brought to this forum a freshness due to the fact that our Pagan religions are 'new,' and an openness to learning.

We remained in silence until mid-afternoon. Art supplies were available for those who wished to explore with those media. We could roam the grounds, the courtyard, the chapel, the library, the 'pillow room,' the 'rose room' and all the other spaces at Santa Sabina that were neither administrative nor lodging.

During the feedback portion after we broke our silence, several participants spokes of profound revelations they'd experienced, from the time spent in silence, from the painting Tim brought out towards the end, and from the words spoken by the two instructors and other participants. This very dark painting portrayed a faceless naked woman holding a small bright candle just beneath her belly. The flame illuminated her belly and forearms, and radiated out to show her form and nothing more. She could have been standing anywhere.

I offered that we Pagans are concerned with honoring cycles: the cycles of life and the seasonal cycles, all kinds of cycles. That we assemble eight times a year to celebrate the turning of the Wheel together; that four of those sacred dates were at the points of the solar year, the Solstices and the Equinoxes. I said that at this time of year I considered that on Midwinter eve we began to sit vigil with the Great Mother -- Mary, if you will -- as she was going into the world of spirit on this longest night of the year to retrieve another soul, that of her divine son, to bring him safely to this plane of existence. I said we tell stories, sing, bake cookies, sit around the hearth fire, as we honor her during her hours of labor to give birth. Then before dawn we go outside onto the hills to sing and rejoice at the Sun's rebirth.

Later, after the retreat was over, several people told me how much they appreciated that perspective and loved the story. The director of MIC told me how glad they were to have a Pagan presence and that, when other interfaith groups learned of this, how 'cool' they thought that was. "Cool" is an exact quote.

What did I come away with, you might ask? I came to realize, yet again, that I really know more than I think I know, and that we Pagans have much to bring to a mutually respectful interfaith environment.

So I offer this story to readers. May all enjoy a splendid return of the Sun and a healthy, happy, prosperous and green New Year!

Stunning Midwinter Phenomenon

My friend Sabina sent me this photo of the simultaneous sunset and moonrise at the North Pole. I don't know where she got it, but I think it's much too splendid to keep to myself. If you know to whom credit belongs, please let me know so I can extend it.

CORRECTION: Thanks to Yarrow, here's the NASA's explanation of this image, created by Inga Nielsen, who, going by her URL, is in Denmark.

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.

Whatever Happened to Macha?

I'm alive, folks. And overflowing with all manner of stuff I want to write about.

Samhain events have caused me to re-evaluate my connections with Reclaiming (whatever that is), to ponder upon dysfunction and roles and honor and honesty and scapegoating and straight-talking and too many other factors to itemize.

My time at Between the Worlds in Delaware was unbelievably affirming. I felt clear and strong and articulate. I felt that my voice was welcome and respected. I was able to hear support for who I am and the value of what I bring to Paganism, to my own communities, to friends and colleagues.

I came home sick and took to my bed with the flu for the entire week after I returned. I still have a lingering cough. Just as well, because I had no money to attend the Conference on Contemporary Pagan Studies (CCPS) and the AAR Annual Meeting in San Diego the following week. I was really disappointed. Here it was right in California; I could have driven. But going this year was not in the cards.

Talking, analyzing and planning with ICT (Independent Craft Teachers), a newish group, small and intimate, deciding on what we want to do now that we are beyond being a counter-influence in the WitchCamp scene (which I never was), has helped in this re-examination.

This period has inspired me to redo my website, with my friend Panthera Orbweaver doing the heavy lifting, as well as to update my résumé. Neither is quite finished yet. Readers of this blog will be among the first to know when they're ready.

On Sunday Richard Man took a series of photos of me in my friend Freyja's backyard in Atherton. Expect to be seeing them soon, too.

At Marin Interfaith Council's quarterly retreat this past Monday I achieved more clarity.

So I guess you could say I've been doing inner work. Obviously I've not been playing in the Pagan blogosphere. I'm back now, though, so please return in a few days if you've a mind.

Keith Hennessey Gets "Goldie"

I last mentioned Keith Hennessey's work a year ago when I wrote about How To Die. I'd call him a friend, because I really like him and his work, except that we never hang out, so I guess he's more of an acquaintance. I first encountered him when he invoked the God at Reclaiming's Spiral Dance Samhain ritual way back in the days when it was at The Women's Building in the Mission District. His invocation left me panting. We know each other through Reclaiming circles, see each other socially and at tribal events like weddings, Obviously I'm a fan.

One of the most powerful theatrical experiences I've had was at the performance of Spell. We, the audience, outdoors in the yard of an industrial building that housed art galleries and a theater, hoisted up a dripping Keith from a tub to a Eucalyptus tree above. Dangling by one foot from the rope, with his body in the form of The Hanged Man and the roar of the Central Freeway practically right next to him, he implored the Ancestors for help. His prayer was so earnest and holy I nearly wept.

The good news is that the latest work of contemporary circus and performance by Keith and his colleagues in Circo Zero, called Sol Niger (Black Sun), will run again in January at Project Artaud. I missed its first run this past September because that month was too crazy for me to find a night to go. Enjoy this YouTube video.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, the San Francisco Bay Guardian has thanked Keith for his work with the award of a Goldie in the category of dance/performance. Congratulations to Keith! May his message spread.

So Many Thoughts Running Round in My Head

I sure wish I had more time to blog. I have a good half-dozen juicy entries in my head. I hope they're not getting stale while they await my attention.

In the meantime, post-Samhain, I direct readers to Blog o'Gnosis and branches up, roots down, and my comments therein.

I'm off on my trusty broomstick to Between the Worlds in Wilmington, Delaware, and very excited at the prospect.

Hallows' Eve

By Mexican artist José Luís Serrano,
permission to use pending.

"This is the Feast of Samhain, when the veil is thin that divides the worlds, the seen from the unseen, the day-to-day from the mysteries. ..."

I've been so wrapped up in celebrating this, my favorite sabbat, in ritual, I've had no time to tend to this blog.*

A week ago Sunday afternoon some Witchen friends and I sat at the big table in Victoria's loft making El Dia de Los Muertos candles. This was a year for deceased men in my life. I made one for John Patrick McClimans, my brother Jimmie O'Brien, my dad James T. O'Brien, and my late husband Rod Wolfer. Victoria has taken some fine photos of the altar in her shared yard, but she's been so wrapped up in her demanding new job that she's disappeared from the Pagan blogosphere for a time. I'm happy with the way they came out.

My brother Jimmie at about age 20,
shortly after the accident in which
he lost his left arm and his right leg.
You can see that his right ear has
not been entirely reconstructed with
plastic surgery yet.

My Dad Jim (Seamus)

My friend John Patrick. As you can
see, he had lost his legs when this photo
was taken. It's not very high resolution
because this is a color photocopy of a
photo which was then scanned and
saved as a jpg to put on the candle.

Friday night some Dianic friends graciously included me in their Samhain rites, also in Victoria's loft.

Saturday night I proclaimed the feast at Reclaiming's 28th annual Spiral Dance ritual** in San Francisco. I went with my friends Michael York and his partner Richard, who were virgins to this experience. I told them they would love the spiral dance (meaning the dance itself, not necessarily the whole ritual), and they did. Michael's knees were hurting so I insisted he sit in a chair in the center of the spiral with the wheelchair-bound, sleeping babies, and the likes of me, whose arthritic back cannot take that long dance. We were just as much a part of the spiral as the dancers. We looked into each pair of eyes as they danced by. A most intoxicating experience!

Sunday Corby and I were back at Victoria's big table carving jack o'lanterns with Prudence and Pasha and her. We were among the later arrivals; everyone else was gone when we arrived. That's because I was so wiped out from the night before I couldn't get going any earlier.

When we finished, we took the jack o'lanterns out in front of the El Dia de los Muertos altar and sat in a circle in the firelight and sang Samhain songs to our Beloved Dead. Accompanied by Pasha's guitar, we harmonized, in particular, a song that begins:

Dark is the night, still is the Earth
As the veil unfolds.
Turn the shining Wheel of rebirth.
May Earth received thy soul.

For me, that was the most moving and magical moment of this year's celebrations -- so far.

Tonight we are going to use those jack o'lanterns to mark our circle as we dance with the dead under the starlight.

You think that's enough? Nope. Next Saturday we, meaning ICT (Independent Craft Teachers, a guild), will be presenting a Dinner with the Dead at Martin de Porres Hospitality House in San Francisco. We will bring foods our ancestors loved, laid out on tables draped with black lace and topped with sugar skulls freshly-made by Oak. I've never done this particular ritual and I'm looking forward to it.

"What is remembered lives." May your departed loved ones live on on your hearts and minds. Blessed Samhain to all!

*Come back soon for two posts that aren't ready yet, one about death and dying practices and the other about critiquing rituals.

** Stills and videos of this ritual will be made public shortly.

Ancient Seasonal Songs Concert

Saturday evening on Corby's third day post-surgery, he felt strong enough for me to accompany him to an intime concert in Vicky and Shelby's downstairs "concert hall." About 40 people listened as Vicky's group, Women in Song, opened. Among the eight or so songs they sang, one was one of my favorites, "All Among the Barley,"

Broceliande, a Celtic and Early Music quartet comprised of two women and two men, all of whom both sing and play a variety of instruments, enchanted us with Autumn songs from their album called "Barley Rigs."

I've been enjoying the CD in my car ever since. It was a refined evening in a beautiful home, with elegant intermission comestibles, lovely people, and entertaining, accomplished musicians.

Macha twirl

My dear friends Sparky T. Rabbit and Steven Posch have stated that they think this photo of my most typifies who I am. It's not the most flattering photo in the world, but I agree it captures something. George Franklin took it during an antiwar March when our WOW (Witches Opposing War) Besom Brigade made our first public appearance. He put it on the cover of Reclaiming Quarterly. I got a kick out of being a cover girl. Anyway, I think it suits the Broomstick Chronicles so I've changed by profile photo to this one.

In Hot Water

Well, I did my best, but, as my friend Oak would say, "mistakes were made." No sooner did I release that press release than I received objections and corrections. My most egregious mistake was to list Lady Liberty League as a supporter. LLL does not take public stands on political matters, only those that directly concern Pagan legal rights. For that, I apologize to LLL and to Jerrie Hildebrand personally. My mistake was using a former press release that LLL did sign as a template for this one and neglecting to remove their names.

I also apologize to Caroline Kenner, the Chesapeake Pagan Community and the Sacred Space Foundation.

A few folks complained that their names were not included and they would have wanted to sign. I circulated the press release -- so many people seem to confuse 'press release' with 'petition' or 'letter'; it is neither -- with the words "TIME-SENSITIVE" in the subject line and said in the text that we intended to release is around midnight on October 12. Yes, it was rushed.

I had tried to list organizations separately, to strengthen the statement by inferring memberships. In order to accomplish that that, I lifted the names of people who'd signed and listed an organizational affiliation and put them into a list of organizations. This was a mistake. As things turned out, I got some of those folks in trouble with their organizations because they apparently weren't authorized to sign on behalf of the entire groups. To them I also apologize, and will do so to their memberships as a whole if requested.

I also tried to keep it to one page, also not possible. Anyway, after the fallout, here is the corrected press release:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Press Release

PAGANS OPPOSE MILITARY INTERVENTION IN IRAN

October 12, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ellen Evert Hopman saille333@mindspring.com 413 323 4494 East Coast
M. Macha NightMare herself@machanightmare.com 415 454-4411 West Coast

We are an ad hoc group of Americans who practice diverse Earth-based religions. We affirm the wisdom of peace, tolerance, and justice. These principles are consistent with the values and beliefs of our Pagan religions. We seek to exist in goodwill and fellowship with all peoples, cultures, and nations. In so doing, we express our love for the Earth and acknowledge our interconnectedness with all living things.

In the face of escalating international tensions regarding Iran, we urge the use of diplomatic actions for a peaceful resolution of differences. We reject any rush to military action, since we believe that diplomatic means will lead to a safer, more just, and more constructive solution. Therefore, we call on our political leaders to use diplomacy to create goodwill, peace, and harmony among nations, religions, and peoples.

Respectfully:

Maureen Duffy-Boose, Rainbow Chalice CUUPS, Salt Lake City, UT
Board of Trustees, Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS)
Ellen Evert Hopman, Co-Chief, Order of the WhiteOak, Massachusetts
Nancy Machin, Pagan Educational Network, Indiana
M. Macha NightMare, P&W, San Rafael, CA
Cairril Adaire, Founder, Our Freedom: A Pagan Civil Rights Coalition, Bloomington, IN
Rev. H. Byron Ballard, Coalition of Earth Religions (CERES), Asheville, NC
Jo Carson, Fairfax, CA
Phyllis Curott, New York, NY
Max Dashu, Oakland, CA
Gus diZerega, Ph.D., Sebastopol, CA
Ivo Dominguez, Jr., Elder, Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, Delaware
Holli S. Emore, Columbia, SC
Cerridwen Fallingstar, Forest Knolls, CA
Rev. Sean W. Harbaugh, Sierra Madrone Grove, ADF, California
Caroline Kenner, Board Member, Chesapeake Pagan Community &
Sacred Space Foundation, Washington, DC
Rev. Robert Lee (Skip) Ellison, Archdruid, Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF), East Syracuse, NY
Sabina Magliocco, Ph.D., Northridge, CA
Rev. Patrick M. McCollum, Director, Our Lady of the Wells Church, Moraga, CA
Michael McDermott, M.D., Black Earth, WI
Katrina Messenger, Founder, Connect DC, Washington, DC
Nava Mizrahhi, Oakland, CA
Ariel Montserrat, Editor, Green Egg Zine, Tennessee
Anne Newkirk Niven, Editor in Chief, PanGaia Magazine, California
Penny J. Novack, Elder, Step by Step Tradition, Buckland, MA
Rev. Rayna Ardren Owens, PhD., Miami, FL
Beth Owl’s Daughter, The Dragon’s Cauldron, Reclaiming, Durham, NC
Lynn Pacifico, New York, NY
Lauren Raine, Tucson, AZ
Angela Roberts Reeder, Baltimore, MD
Vibra Willow, P&W, Reclaiming, California
Rose Wise, Administrator/High Priestess, Ozark Avalon, Boonville, MO
Michael York, Ph.D., San Francisco, CA
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Church of All Worlds, Cotati, CA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So here I am publicly going on record that I'm sorry for those misunderstandings and my big mistake with LLL.

I'm embarrassed about those mistakes, but not sorry that we made the effort. It's high time for us to engage with the world. Make of this what you will, but I am pleased to get this response from Beth Owl's Daughter:

Thank you, Macha, for the powerful and focused intention behind this. Your timing turned out to be impeccable, paralleling Gen. Sanchez's bitter testimony yesterday about our "failure" in Iraq.

Through our actions and our magic, may peace and wisdom prevail.

The water's cooling off, so jump in and join me. Let's keep a-brewin' that magic.

Hoping & Praying & Casting Spells

This is what I've been up to this week, with three collaborators: Maureen Duffy-Boose, Ellen Evert Hopman, and Nancy Machin of Pagan Educational Network. We four live in different parts of the US (Utah, Massachusetts, Indiana and California). I think it's also fair to say that we represent the diversity of American Paganism (Ellen is Druid and the rest of us are Wiccans or Witches of one sort or another). I want to thank these colleagues publicly for helping to make this happen, especially Ellen, whose original idea it was, for nudging us to speak up as a demographic.

We (not exactly the same "we"; "we" meaning an ad hoc group of Pagans) did this once before when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's ruling on Newdowe v. Elk Grove Unified School Dist., et al., a lawsuit to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. That press release was issued on July 4, 2002, Independence Day.

This time it was my desire was to release this on October 12, Indigenous People's Day (fka Columbus Day). I chose that date arbitrarily for two reasons: (1) I think time is of the essence in terms of the administration's plans, and (2) I like issuing these things on "patriotic" days. I guess you could say I like the magic of the timing.

I know we rushed this. I felt a sense of urgency. I don't know how widely this will eventually circulate, and I am not so naïve as to think it will do much good in terms of influencing the administration, but I do believe it shows solidarity among Pagans, concern for the commonweal, and a willingness to stand up and be counted. The more we can act in solidarity, the more seriously we may be taken as a valid voting block.

You are free to circulate this widely. In fact, if you'd provide a copy to your local press (newspapers, radio and TV), that can only help. You may also wish to print this and send it to your elected representatives.

I'm viewing this as a big spell-working.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Press Release

PAGANS OPPOSE MILITARY INTERVENTION IN IRAN

October 12, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Ellen Evert Hopman saille333@mindspring.com 413 323 4494 East Coast
M. Macha NightMare herself@machanightmare.com 415 454-4411 West Coast

We are an ad hoc group of Americans who practice diverse Earth-based religions. We affirm the wisdom of peace, tolerance, and justice. These principles are consistent with the values and beliefs of our Pagan religions. We seek to exist in goodwill and fellowship with all peoples, cultures, and nations. In so doing, we express our love for the Earth and acknowledge our interconnectedness with all living things.

In the face of escalating international tensions regarding Iran, we urge the use of diplomatic actions for a peaceful resolution of differences. We reject any rush to military action, since we believe that diplomatic means will lead to a safer, more just, and more constructive solution. Therefore, we call on our political leaders to use diplomacy to create goodwill, peace, and harmony among nations, religions, and peoples.

Organizations:

Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF)
Assembly of the Sacred Wheel
Cherry Hill Seminary
Chesapeake Pagan Community
Church of All Worlds
Coalition of Earth Religions (CERES)
Connect DC
CUUPS-Continental
The Dragon’s Cauldron
Green Egg Zine
Lady Liberty League
Order of the WhiteOak
Our Lady of the Wells Church
Pagan Educational Network
Reclaiming
Sacred Space Foundation
Sierra Madrone Grove, ADF
The Suppressed Histories Archives

Individuals:

Maureen Duffy-Boose, President, CUUPS-Continental, Salt Lake City, UT
Ellen Evert Hopman, Co-Chief, Order of the WhiteOak, Massachusetts
Nancy Machin, Pagan Educational Network, Indiana
M. Macha NightMare, P&W, San Rafael, CA
Rev. H. Byron Ballard, Coalition of Earth Religions, Asheville, NC
Jo Carson, Fairfax, CA
Max Dashu, Oakland, CA
Gus diZerega, Ph.D., Sebastopol, CA
Ivo Dominguez, Jr., Elder, Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, Delaware
Holli S. Emore, Columbia, SC
Cerridwen Fallingstar, Forest Knolls, CA
Rev. Sean W. Harbaugh, Sierra Madrone Grove, ADF, California
Caroline Kenner, Chesapeake Pagan Community & Sacred Space Foundation. Washington, DC
Rev. Robert Lee (Skip) Ellison, Archdruid, ADF, East Syracuse, NY
Sabina Magliocco, Ph.D., Northridge, CA
Rev. Patrick M. McCollum, Director, Our Lady of the Wells Church Moraga, CA
Michael McDermott, M.D., Wisconsin
Katrina Messenger, Founder, Connect DC, Washington, DC
Nava Mizrahhi, Oakland, CA
Ariel Montserrat, Editor, Green Egg Zine, Tennessee
Anne Newkirk Niven, Editor in Chief, PanGaia Magazine, California
Penny J. Novack, Elder, Step by Step Tradition, Buckland, MA
Rev. Rayna Ardren Owens, Ph.D., Miami, FL
Beth Owl’s Daughter, The Dragon’s Cauldron, Durham, NC
Lynn Pacifico, New York, NY
Lauren Raine, Tucson, AZ
Angela Roberts Reeder, Baltimore, MD
Vibra Willow, P&W, Reclaiming, California
Michael York, Ph.D., San Francisco, CA
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Church of All Worlds, Cotati, CA

Collective Joy

Just finished reading Barbara Ehrenreich's fascinating study of the history of collective joy, Dancing in the Streets. The occurrences she describes are so like our biggest and best Pagan rites. Here's one of many quotes I could excerpt. This one has relevance to interfaith dialogue.

...[C]ompared to the danced religions of the past, today's "faiths" are often pallid affairs--if only by virtue of the very fact that they are "faiths," dependent on, and requiring, belief as opposed to direct knowledge. The prehistoric ritual dancer, the maenad or practitioner of Vodou, did not believe in her god or gods; she knew them, because, at the height of group ecstasy, they filled her with their presence. Modern Christians may have similar experiences, but the primary requirement of their religion is belief, meaning an effort of the imagination. Dionysus, in contrast, did not ask his followers for their belief or faith; he called on them to apprehend him directly, to let him enter, in all his madness and glory, their bodies and their minds.

Photograph of "Dancing Maenad"

by Dimitrios Constantin, Greek,

1865, from the Getty Museum,
Los Angeles

I might add that Dionysus is the original Christos, or the god who is apprehended by the worshipper's consumption of his essence. In the case of Dionysus, wine. In the case of the Christian eucharist, the body/bread and blood/wine of Jesus the Christ. The Christos is an entheogen ("becoming divine within").

Stanislaus Pagan Pride Alive & Well!

Dorothea in front of CHS banner in our pavilion

This is a late report, but a good one nonetheless. Dorothea, a seminarian at Pacific School of Religion who's doing field work with CHS, and I drove to Modesto for the Stanislaus Pagan Pride Day. The last time I was there was for PPD in 2004 and I think that may have been the most recent PPD in Modesto. This community, like most, has had some struggles, but I'm happy to report that they've coalesced into a wonderful group. All very helpful, very friendly, and very enthusiastic.

Several members drove to Lafayette when Victoria and the Pagan Alliance performed a ceremony to honor Wiccan military casualties. They come to PantheaCon in San Jose in February. I saw their crew two weeks earlier at the Sacramento Sacred Harvest Festival Honoring Pagan Pride Day.

They were kind enough to provide us with a pavilion and people to set it up for us. The site near the riverside was shaded by Valley Oaks native to California with lots of their unusual looking acorns covering the ground. We used them to prevent our flyers from being blown off the table by the wind.


Our booth

A producer, cameraman and interviewer Martin Sargent from Revision3 came to interview me for a Web Drifter podcast. Martin interviewed me a few years ago for a now-defunct late night show called Unscrewed with Martin Sargent for TechTV. Martin and I participated in the main ritual as more and more people browsed the booths and gathered to watch the circle from outside. Thankfully, Dorothea covered the CHS booth while I gave a talk, attended the ritual, and conversed with Martin for the interview. Martin's a wise guy, so I hope I held up under his jesting.

They extended warm hospitality, fed us, and treated us like visiting royalty. I even won two prizes in the raffle drawing!

Dorothea and I joined fellow presenters Oberon Zell and Michael Gorman, and others for dinner to fortify ourselves before the long drive home. I enjoyed our lively conversation tremendously.

I'm glad to have been invited and I wish this community continued healthy growth.

Holy Convergence

Yesterday Patrick and I attended an event at Peace Lutheran Church in Danville, CA called "Holy Convergence: An Interfaith Festival for Families." Billed as "a celebration of Ramadhan (Islam), the Feast of St. Francis (Christian [at least those brands of Christianity that have saints]), High Holy Days (Jewish), Divali and Gandhi's Birthday (Hindu) [is Gandhi's birthday a religious holiday or a national holiday?], Indigenous People's Day [fka "Columbus Day" and now known in PC San Francisco as Italian Heritage Day], Sikh Guru Gadhee, In Love with Life Season (Buddhist, Sufi and Bahai), and World Communion Sunday (Protestant Christian). Note there is no mention of Autumn Equinox, which is called by different names but celebrated by nearly all Pagans.

At the opening ceremony in the sanctuary, I met Bob Stranathan, a Christian Science practitioner, who seemed bewildered by my presence, and said he thought that Pagans were godless. I told him we had lots of gods and goddesses. Bob asked me if I were 'black or white'? We conversed in a spirit of openness and friendship. He did ask me if my poppy-tattooed arms were part of my religion. I said, no, they weren't a required accoutrement of Paganism, but, yes, they express, for me, my connection with and dependence upon the land where I live, a land covered with these flowers from early Spring until late Summer.

Right after we concluded the opening with self-introduction of religious representatives in attendance, a lovely young woman approached me and said how glad she was to see a Pagan presence there. She introduced me to her female partner and their daughter of about 9. We only had a few minutes to chat because Patrick and I were off to the first of two panels.

The first panel addressed the questions: "What are the 'end goals' of your faith? And how are they achieved in practice?" Each panelist had five minutes to speak, with the rest of the time taken up with Q&A. I didn't get all their names. A Sikh man said that Sikhs live in the world, and must leave themselves as Allah made them -- meaning no shorn head or facial hair, no embelleshments of the body (while seeming to be looking directly at my colorful arms).

The Rev. Carole Anderson from the Church of Religious Science in Concord said that there is only one god but that god can be complimented and integrated into other religions.

Rabbi Dan Goldblatt of Beth Chaim Congregation in San Ramon, said the world is borken and needs repair. He seeks to find a balance between justice and compassion, to seek peace. He said there is little in Judaism by way of theology, but that we should listen with our whole hearts.

The abbess of Buddha Gate Monastery in Lafayette, Master Jian-Sheng, claims that all sentient beings have the potential to attain Buddhahood, or enlightenment, by (1) observing the precepts -- she spoke of five precepts and eight precepts, but only itemized the six I'm mentioning here -- (2) practicing tolerance; (3) practicing charity, with no attachment and without greed; (4) practicing meditation; (5) being diligent; (6) attaining wisdom, beyond knowledge. She cautions to avoid extreme views and keep to the middle way.

The final panelist, a Sufi woman from the Rahima Foundation, said that the goal of Sufis is to attain divine pleasure and divine love, to serve 'the lord' (I don't know what lord, exactly; Allah, I assume) by serving his creation.

During the Q&A, I wanted to bring up the topic of the feminine divine. I said I felt at a disadvantage because there had been no expression of anything other than monotheism and that in NeoPaganism -- yes, I used that term in this rather conservative context -- and my question was about acknowledgment of the feminine divine. I said that many women left the religions in which they were brought up because they saw no image of the feminine divine in those religions, and instead they found a more personally meaningful spiritual path in Paganism.

Having been specifically invited to this event, you can imagine my surprise when several people, both panelists and particularly two men in the audience (one a Muslim, one Euro-American, presumably Abrahamic) spoke rudely and condescendingly. The Muslim man told me how Allah revered women. That, my friend, is not the feminine divine. The Euro-American man gave me a lecture about all the deities of both sexes in Hinduism (he neglected Ardhanarishvara and other androgynous or two-sexed deities); how highly esteemed women are in Christianity and Judaism. Again, so narrow and limited were their world views that they couldn't seem to grasp the meaning of my question. They were nasty and I was upset.

I told myself that encountering Pagans was a new experience to this community and that I should cool it and speak to individuals afterwards. I leaned over to Patrick, all nice and proper in a suit, with a CHS pin in the lapel, and tie, and whispered, "Am I being too contentious?" He said definitely not, but wait till later to address my discomfort. I said, "These guys are gettin' my Irish up. Am I being too thin-skinned?" I experienced these men (and even the abbess) as patronizing us. And if you wanna piss me off, just talk down to me.

I could have told this fellow that I attend Kali pujas on the New Moons. I could have told him lots, but alas, there was no time.

I felt that the moderator, who was at the rear of the room rather than on the dais with speakers, should have interrupted and made it clear that this was an interfaith gathering, and at interfaith gatherings we come together in respect. At that point in the day, I was ready to just leave and go home; instead, I walked around and cooled off between sessions.

While the interfaith discourses were taking place, there were other activities going on at the gathering. The various local churches and other religious organizations had tables in the courtyard where they handed out literature and had some refreshments. The Buddhists, bless them, had free bottles of water on this hot dry day. Meanwhile, some people took their pets the Children's Garden for a blessing of the animals; the Sikhs led people in chanting and dancing in the sanctuary, others walked the church labyrinth (a medieval circuit labyrinth), while children got henna tattoos or made balloon animals, worked on a large mosaic. The design of the mosaic, by Richard Caemmerer, is pictured above. Whether Pagans paths were intended to have been interwoven into this design, when I see the multicolored spiral uniting all the images, I know we're there.

After a short break, we reconvened for an "interfaith discourse" on the questions: "What are the views within your faith about other faiths? What are the relevant scriptures? What is the status of interfaith relations within your faith?" I'm happy to say that Patrick was the first to speak, and he stopped immediately when the moderator, still from the back of the room, signaled time. He was followed by a Baha'i gentleman, then Father Tom Bonacci, a Roman Catholic priest from St. Ignatius of Antioch.

Bob, the Christian Scientist I met earlier, said Jesus' job was to express the divine, not to tell about it. The goal of Christian Science is to heal "sin," and its teachings are Bible-based. He said we are to "be merciful, just and pure." From the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Danville, Bob also maintains a healing practice from his office in Walnut Creek. He prays and performs healings by telephone or e-mail, but prefers working face-to-face.

The last to speak was the Sufi woman from the Rahima Foundation.

A woman went up to Patrick right after the discussion, so I left the room to look around at what I had missed in my hurry to get to the opening ceremony in time. People, but for a few stragglers like me, were packing their instruments and literature, folding tables and chairs, and cleaning up. I went back into the room after a bit, but I could see Patrick and the woman were deep in conversation. After another little while, I returned to the room and sat quietly waiting for them to finish. Evidently the conversation had gotten very heated on both sides; I don't think it would be constructive for me to detail it here. Suffice to say that the woman, who happened to be a Protestant convert to LDS, was apologizing profusely to Patrick, saying how ignorant she had been. What a guy he is! One of the smoothest talkers -- he surely kissed the Blarney Stone, he has such Irish charm -- one of the most diplomatic people I know, Pagan or not.

I'm glad we made this connection with the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County. Patrick was wanting to connect with a local interfaith group close near his home.

I'm a little confused: our invitation came from ICCCC, the sponsor, yet the program indicates the event was sponsored by Interfaith - San Ramon Valley. For a completely different perspective on this event from mine, see this article from The Argus, a local paper. It also seems to have caught the attention of the Huffington Post.