branches up, roots down

We are in Mexico. We is myself, my sister, and my brother-in-law. He has never been out of the country. My sister and I have. Many times. We went to Canada and to Mexico with our parents as children and at 15, I traveled with my sister, 3 years younger, throughout Europe for six weeks on our own. And I do mean on our own. But that is a story for another time.  This story is about being here in Mexico and about gratitude. It turns out this week is the week of the Mexican Revolution. I was happy to fly out of San Francisco. I love my city but it  has has been a party that will not end for weeks. The city has been crowded with celebrations for the The Giants, Halloween, Day of the Dead, and the exhaustive re-election. The City and I are weary with gratitude for all the wins and the dead working with us. Victory is exhausting.  We arrive to Puerto Vallarta to find it also on a bender, flooded with folks from Guadalajara. Warmer shores are something all peo...

Last night I danced my patootie off under the big harvest moon, celebrating the hand fasting of two dear queer Pagan friends. In my hurry to dress and beautify for the event, I'd left my cell phone at home. Some mistakes are gifts. The gift of being without my phone left me able to be fully present. If I'd brought it, I'd have been checking it persistently, as this weekend was the deadline for Governor Brown to sign or veto the bill I've been working on for about two years. The hand fasting was juicy love magic. My rag tag Pagan community was dressed to the nines and tens, as only Pagans can dress. Sequins, feathers, and glitter abounded, and Pagans and other family and friends all glowed with happiness.  Love is something to celebrate. Commitment is something to honor. These two woman have been together for almost a decade, and it was perfect timing for this particular spell.  The setting was exquisite, high on a bluff at Fort Mason, overlooking our beautiful bay. W...

“The Universe is made of stories, not of atoms.” Muriel Rukeyser The Universe is made of stories and each story is made of words. And each word itself has a story.   To name a thing is powerful, in itself a story invocation.   And, as in most invocations, we rarely are in control of what comes in and what magic it will work and what story will unfold. Taking a new name as part of following a spiritual path is nothing new. I would guess it is a cross-cultural experience, an innately human part of trying to give voice and name the experience of expanding consciousness, being reborn, and/or committing to a particular path. The name I was given at birth, Deborah, I seized back after years of being Debbie. It was in itself a story changer, moving me into adulthood and away from childhood. Only one person remains in my life who calls me “Debbie”, the very person who named me Deborah; my mother. Can you sense the story behind that? There have been three ...

I went to Dandelion, the big Reclaiming gathering, being told there would be a pool.  I love pools. I imagined myself sunning and swimming and enjoying all the people I love (and I do love many many Reclaiming Witches!) and avoiding most meetings. An important intent of the gathering was to address changing the Principles of Unity, principles I was part of creating, to be more inclusive and gender fluid. I trusted that this would turn out okay, and it did. I like the changes, and honor the hard work that went into creating them.  I was reading David Richo's book,  The Five Things We Cannot Change , on the flight up to Portland.  This  proved to be incredibly helpful when I found out on arriving that there was no pool. One of the five givens is that things do not always go according to plan. The gift of that given is that this we can grow from dealing with the unexpected. I dealt with the bitter disappointment of no pool with maturity. I had good books, a...

The following was a column that was published in the Reclaiming Quarterly, Spring 2002.  Everything remains the same except the faith I had in Reclaiming was shaken deeply when my teacher's guild - The Independent Craft Teachers -put forth a  proposal about transparency and accountability at witch camps. The fight against transparency and accountability was ugly and all of us but one do not remain in Reclaiming leadership or teaching.  What does remain is my love for the Principles of Unity. Meeting On The Field From as far back as I remember, I have questioned why things are the way they are. This has worked out well for me as psychotherapist, as much of my job entails having a questioning attitude, exploring with curiosity why my clients are emotionally structured the way they are. However, the questioning attitude has not been received so well in other parts of my life. Questioning the dress code as kindergartner by wearing my beloved red velvet toreador pants ...

For many years I had a column in the Reclaiming Quarterly. It started out as a column on aromancy, but led over the years to be so much more. I post here a column that was published in August of 2003. I had to fight hard to get it printed, the issue being it was seen as an attack on leadership. My column was soon dropped. Rereading it this week, I just shook my head and felt incredibly sad. The blend that was and is Reclaiming has lost potency due to views like mine being experienced as attacks on leadership, and consequently so many of us putting our energy elsewhere. Why can't things like this be expressed in Reclaiming? Feel free to answer... or question!!! An Aromancer's Dream - Views on leadership in Reclaiming and in the world I have a magical drawer that is chock full of essential oils. Opening it is always an olfactory experience, the scent changing according to which bottle has been opened last, which random drop still clings to label or top. What pleasure to...

I wrote this many years back for the British Reclaiming Newsletter - I have been going through both my blog and old articles and felt compelled today to post this... with a few small edits. More will follow! For many years now, when asked what flavor of witch I am, I reply “Reclaiming Feri”. Considering myself such, I make an uneasy peace with what formerly felt at odds. I now practice, teach and initiate from this perspective, and there are a growing number of Witches and priestesses who identify similarly, many who are active in British Reclaiming. So, what is Reclaiming Feri? Answering this question requires first an understanding of the relationship between Reclaiming and Feri. My coven Matrix and Windhag sister Starhawk was one of the founding mothers of Reclaiming. She brought to it a Feri flavor, being a Feri initiate of Victor and Cora Anderson. Her book, the Spiral Dance, primer on Reclaiming style magic, is full of what previously was considered solely Feri concepts and...

Here is my offering: Someday Our Peace Will Come - Ellyn Maybe one day poetry dropped from the sky and the animals grew iambic pentameter tails and the people breathed in stars one day music dropped from the sky and the architecture turned symphonic and the people breathed in harmony one day memory dropped from the sky and the past present and future sifted like flour and the people breathed in wonder smoke and ash as distant as two sides of the same coin