Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes....

Does a caravan turn back from a journey because 

of the barking and clamour of dogs? 

On a luminous night, does the outcry of dogs 

delay the full moon in its course? 

The moon sheds light and 

the dog barks. 

Everyone proceeds according to their Nature. -Rumi

Bike friendly Portland will allow us to be car-free.
The transit is also so much better than Columbus.

So my family has been doing lots of thinking lately. And we have made some major decisions. We moved to Ohio because it was good for our small family to be near extended family and a support network. We moved here because it was cheaper than our beloved Bay Area and we needed to regroup and get back on our feet financially. But it is NOT home. We have met amazing people here, and Columbus is pretty neat. It just doesn't fit all our needs.

So, here's our plan:
My partner is currently getting out of student loan default. Ohio, with its cheap cost of living is allowing us to do that. He will be able to return to school very soon and will be getting degrees all the way to PhD (to be a therapist, among other things). He will make a great therapist.

I love being near water. Not only does Portland have
the river, it also is an hour from my beloved ocean.

I am in grad school and soon will be switching tracks radically. I have been in seminary part time since 2009 and have decided it is time to move on. I gotten some great things out of SKSM, but it is not the path for me. After serving a UU congregation and finding out first hand what it is like, I have decided this is not what I want to do with the rest of my life.

I have been a healer in between other gigs for quite some time. I went to herb school (and continue a lifetime of that herbal education on my own), and am a Reiki master. I have found the call to heal to be steady and patient in the background- all while I tried on many other hats. I have decided to switch schools and prospective careers. In the fall, I will be attending a master's program in acupuncture and TCM. I will get certified and licensed and start to practice while my partner continues on with his school.

Gorgeous.

We have also decided that after my partner gets his BA and I get my acupuncture MA, we are moving... again. We have decided to move to Portland, Oregon. We have amazing friends there, it is more affordable than the Bay Area, and still has many of the things we love about Oakland, CA. It is beautiful, progressive, and clean. It is close to the radical faerie sanctuary that is near and dear to our hearts. It's a day's journey to see the Bay if we so desire. It is near some fantastic Witches we know. It is also charming in its own right- I have been several times and we have many friends there that tell us- "Come here! It is home!"

It is in Portland that we will settle, raise bees, and homestead further. It is in Portland that I will heal my community through Reiki, herbalism, and acupuncture. We just have to bide our time here a while longer.

Portland is weird enough for us. We need more weird.

So thank you, Ohio. You are good to us, allowing us to regroup and revel in family, good friends and interests, and a decent standard of living while we are here. We got to meet amazing people, and I picked up a student of the Craft while here who needed me. Don't think we are not appreciative of you, Ohio! We know what a struggle life could be- we had that constant struggle in California. While we are still considered "poor" on paper, Ohio is relatively easy and we are grateful for a few years of ease, particularly while Rowan is in these critical developmental years. We get to spend lots of quality time with him now, and that is such a gift.

The Symposium

I arrived in my beloved Oakland day on Monday night and was picked up by a dear friend. She is part of a collective household where I am staying while in the Bay, a lovely assortment of Buddhists and Witches. I missed some morning sits, but I was blessed to sit with them on Wednesday and Saturday!

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I went to Starr King School for the Ministry's first ever Symposium. It was held the days after orientation for new students (which is, in itself quite the affair*!) This year, they are honoring the Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi with an honorary doctorate. He is one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement and we were blessed to hear him and his wife, Eve, speak over the course of three days.

I had never heard of Reb Zalman before, but I had seen the fruits of his labors first hand. I am surprised that I have never wrote here about Chochmat Ha'Lev, the Jewish Renewal temple in Berkeley and my experiences there**.

We Starr Kingers were blessed to be in collaboration with Chochmat on this event, and their musicians and congregants were in attendance- they added joy and ecstacy to our rituals and services. We had a joyful opening ritual, which was a delightful blend of Sufi Zhikr, Jewish Renewal shabbat service, and Unitarian Universalism weaving it all together. This was a ritual that not only talked about "organic multireligiousity" but did it, gladly and wholeheartedly. There is a line that exists between multireligiousity and appropriation- and because SKSM truly encompasses people of all faiths and beliefs and they are bringing their traditions to the table to share- it is the former not the latter. It feels liberating.

As a polytheist Witch, I feel completely at home at SKSM, even when I am misunderstood. There is room for misunderstandings at Starr King, as it always leads us to better understanding through dialogue- because people there are committed to building beloved community***.

At the symposium, I was in for a treat and took copious notes. Expect some philosophical theological posts in the near future! One of the Starr King faculty, Ibrahim Farajaje, introduced our honored guest thusly, "(Reb Zalman) cracks open the cosmic cardamom so that we may enjoy the sweet taste and smell of his teachings." Indeed! I have a lot to ponder and draw inspiration from whilst I review my notes.

The shofar was blown and we prepared ourselves to listen to this man, whose amazing life and works have touched so many. Over the three days, he talked on so many subjects: how G-d is nature, how to teach children about the universe, brain chemistry and the soul, how we are all not just connected but are divine ("Upon waking and finding myself alive, I say, 'Dear G-d, you decided to be Zalman another day? OK, I'll give you a good ride.'")

His talks gave me a lot to think about and I am still processing. Heck, I am processing the whole experience, really. We discussed Audre Lorde and how two of her essays could be read and combined with Reb Zalman's. We had a workshop on Theater of the Oppressed and I have a lot to ponder on those exercises, too. The Ritual Arts Collective created two amazing rituals that left me breathless and weeping at times. I had a great Symposium and also had a great visit to the Bay afterwards.

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*My orientation was overwhelming and moving. Students are included in a ritual that walks the talk of radical trust and beloved community and are given keys to the building so that they may enter it, day or night. It was such an amazing gesture, I wept.

**How to describe Chochmat? Joyous, inclusive, ecstatic, and mystical. I was blown away by their shabbat service with the singing, dancing, and squealing, giggling children diving into pillows. I would go back in a heartbeat and wish that there was a Jewish Renewal temple in Columbus.


***My first UU Church, in Oakland, CA has a dedication to building beloved community. Here is the statement about it from their website: To build a radically inclusive community, to grow the beloved community by expanding the welcome table and deepening our commitments to countering oppression as an intentional multiracial, multicultural, multigenerational congregation. There is a sermon here about it.

Witch Mom is busy!

These days, I am keeping myself pretty busy. So busy, that sometimes I get a little overwhelmed. I am in school of course, and going 3/4 time with two classes. My classes this semester are fascinating: "The Jewish Liturgical Year in Diaspora" and "The Sacred and the Substance".

For my final papers/presentation in the Jewish class, I am presenting a "Jewitch" ritual, including a seder. While I am not of Jewish ancestry (that I know of), I know many many folks who identify as both Jews and Witches and will be presenting my theological ideas to them before presenting the final product to class. In the Sacred and the Substance, I will be writing a paper on the use of substances in modern witchcraft- from entheogens and flying ointments to herbs for oracular divination. You know, ordinary master's degree topics?!

My son is getting huge and he keeps me busy (I had to pause just then for a toddler dance and cuddle break). He is walking (or should I say running), starting to communicate with us in earnest, and understands simple commands like "bring the keys to mommy". I am astounded at his progress. He is tall for his age and walked early, so many people assume he is older than he is. This is fine until he tries to poke their kids eye out or slap them on the top of the head (we are working on the concept of "gentle"- especially when he is excited). He goes to Pagan Playdate a couple times a month (I host one a month, and his daddy takes him to another). He also sees his best pal, Esme, several times a month (travel and such has kept it from being  weekly lately). We got him a membership to the zoo for his birthday, and we have taken him there several times since. He still loves all animals.

I started several new projects: I am the Bureau Coordinator for Pagan Newswire Collective in the Bay Area. This means I recruit volunteers, edit the content submitted, assign stories, facilitate meetings, keep the project going, as well as write stories myself. I have written two stories so far (we started the project in January). Both are on pagan parenting- this time at PantheaCon.

I have also started a "completely for me" project: I am studying to be a wildlife rehabilitator and get certified! I plan on working with corvids mainly when I am finished. The place I am apprenticing to gets mostly birds (lucky me!) but also some mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. They have a museum attached to the hospital and have several animals that are educational because they cannot be released for one reason or another. Their collection includes many owls (ooh!), a raven (yay!), and even a bald eagle and coyote. I go every Saturday for a while to learn, then I will volunteer regularly in the hospital.

Wheel of Fortune, by Watts

I have been volunteering at the local UU in the kids department. I start out each Sunday in the nursery (where Rowan plays), then go up to be with Club UU (4th-6th graders), then I go to worship myself. It's been great working with kids again, and it has made me consider doing it professionally again.

I continue with my Witchcraft studies and am working with my teacher toward initiation. She often gives me work to do independently, and I also have pet projects in this regard: this year I intend on honing my divination and oracular skills.

I am going to create my own runes (finally!) and re-do a project I did oh-so-log-ago: color my own deck of BOTA tarot cards. Both projects help because you spend a week or so with each card/rune- learning its meanings, meditating on it, and finally coloring or etching it. I will also be working with my mask and other tools to help me be a good, skilled oracle.

New Classes That I Am Taking!

I just started my new semester at seminary, and am taking two classes this fall. I have a liturgy writing class on Mondays called "Writing the Rites" that will undoubtedly make an appearance here in the blog. And my other class, Sex and Spirit, is on Thursdays! I wanted to share a bit, after all, sex and religion is a powerful mix!
In Feri, Sex is considered the life force that connects all living things, and it is the origin of the universe (not just genital sex, but it includes that, too). Sex is not always about procreation, rather it is about creation of all kinds, be it of another human being, a work of art, a good orgasm, or an ecstatic experience. In Feri, there is no shame in sex- and there is no guilt, either. Sex is a good healthy thing, when consensual.

But I know that other religions have their issues with sex for whatever reason and often have prohibitions on what kind of sex one is allowed to have (if any), when you can have it, and with whom. That is why I am glad to be in a class with people from diverse religious and cultural perspectives. I am glad to see that future clergy of many denominations and traditions will be sex positive.


As a future priest and present parent, the messages that I transmit about sex to those around me matter. Sex is a normal bodily function and a part of creation. I want my son growing up embracing his human birthright to have sex and hold it as sacred, as a gift.  I want him to get pleasure from his body as is his right. I want him to know the names of all his body parts, and the names of other body parts he does not possess. As a young girl, I was not told the names of all my body parts, and had to learn about sex mostly on my own. I already have a great children's book for Rowan when he gets a little older called a Kid's First Book About Sex. He will learn anything he wants to know, and he will get information without having to ask. Teaching him about sex will be like teaching him about art, math, or insects. It is a commonplace thing, and happens to almost everyone in their life.

About the class (from the syllabus):

If we want to bring our whole selves into connection with Spirit, we can’t forget our sexual selves. In this class, we will explore the effects of erotophobia on sexuality and, by extension, spirituality in order to discover how we can integrate these foundational aspects of our humanity. Some topics we will discuss include: sexual well-being, the effects of shame on relationships, sexual diversity, how our sexual selves can inform our spiritual practices, and the dance between boundaries and connection with others. The class will include lecture, interactive exercises, group discussion, and personal reflection in order to offer a range of perspectives and experiences.

Course objectives: By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Discuss how sexual well-being, shame and interpersonal boundaries influence and are influenced by their relationships with the Divine.
• Identify and commit to at least one step they can take to deepen their understanding of sexual diversity and overcome erotophobia.
• Explore ways in which their personal sexualities can both inform and hinder their roles as ministers.

Sound good? So far, it is! My professor for the class is an old friend, actually- Charlie Glickman. We worked together at Good Vibrations, among other things, back in the day.

I'll be journaling for the class and posting some of those entries here. For homework for our first class, he asked us to write about this:
What messages have you received about sex and spirituality? How have those messages shaped your studies? Your spiritual journey? Your daily life?


Interesting questions for me to ponder. How about you?

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If all goes according to plan, I should become a better, more creative writer in the next 14 weeks: "Writing the Rites" is my way of getting up to snuff in the writing department.

Technically, it is a liturgy writing class for wannabe Unitarian Universalist ministers. But what is liturgy if not creative writing for religious thinkers? And not just "the big 5" have liturgy. My religious tradition has gorgeous liturgy written by poets more talented in that arena than I. But I aspire, and in order to succeed, work is to be done! We will be writing as a daily practice, checking in with a writing partner weekly on top of class time, and checking in monthly with the professor about our journaling. I am looking forward to honing my skills!

We started the class by doing some automatic writing and (gulp) sharing it in front of the class - twice. I took a chance and made myself vulnerable, exposing personal details about my life. It's going to be an interesting semester, I think!

From the syllabus:

I. Description:

This course will provide religious leaders with tools to create meaningful, multi-vocal worship in the UU congregational setting. In class and in the community we will be creating and leading traditional and transformational worship for people at all ages and stages. Students will gain and understanding of the psychology and spirituality of ritual and liturgical forms within an historic context. In addition to the Sunday service, we’ll create a calendar and write ceremonial rites to prepare for the leadership of weddings, memorials and other special religious occasions.

II. Course Aims and Learning Objectives:

Aims

This course will include a lot of writing. In and between sessions students will be writing for the various elements that make up Sunday services, and traditional rites of the Unitarian Universalist community. Students will explore the necessary rhythms of writing for professional sustainability.

Students will share their writing with others and be expected to offer, and receive, affirmation and critique. We will create a community of hope expressed in written and spoken words.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this course, students will: •Have a portfolio of writing samples for various religious

occasions; •Understand the history and intentions of various liturgical rites and

increase in their confidence and ability to lead congregations

through familiar and new rituals; •Be able to adapt written material from a variety of sources with

attention to the integrity of the original and the issues of

appropriation and fair use; •Find meaningful tools for incorporating writing into a public and

pastoral ministry.

I'm looking forward to creating some gorgeous litugy for Feri rituals in this class!