Lady Sintana has died.

Wow.  Honestly didn't think hearing it a couple of days ago that it would continue to affect me the way it has. She passed in hospice, surrounded by her immediate family.
The obituary was of course, complete and utter bullshit served for history and publicity. David (Lord Merlin) was listed as her husband, and while they did legally marry under Georgia law some years back, it was solely to put her under his insurance.
Under Wiccan law, she married and divorced at least 4 other times that I can immediately remember. Those men were her husbands.
But that doesn't look good when writing about an icon.
And I'm not denying her Icon status - she truly was a pioneer who deserves to be remembered.

However I believe people should remember the woman as well as the witch.

Her past is something that is about to undergo some serious editing, in preparation for history.
I was there, at the beginning. I heard the stories first hand.
How she handled her abusive 1st husband by pouring boiling water on his privates -
The particulars of her long term relationship with Sandy, and her bisexuality.
How she was introduced to Wicca by her dresser, who was one of the Brittani tradition.

The stories of Ravenwood - warts and all, will be cleaned up for publication. 

I don't want that to happen. With the sanitizing, comes the forgetting of Jolene. And she deserves more than that.

Strange how the Universe works

Spoke last night to your Uncle Ian - it turns out that one of his new friends in the Dahlonega area belongs to a coven called Ravenwood. After a bit of discussion, it turns out that indeed, this is the current incarnation of the group I belonged to.
Further discussion revealed that Sintana has moved back to North Carolina from the Pacific Northwest, and is living with her daughter.
There is some medical issue involved, however quite honestly I believe it's a result of the breast enhancements she had done for her career as an exotic dancer. I've seen the Xrays, and those weren't your standard bags. There were wires and shit holding those things in place. Add to that, the material of choice for filler would have been silicon instead of saline, as this was prior to the discovery that silicon in breast enlargements was a bad thing.
From what I understand, she's having medical issues - I've been told Alzheimers and I've been told Lou Gerhig's. I don't know, but whatever the case, I want to see her again.
That's an interesting situation, in and of itself. Her daughter, who was raised in the craft, has renounced it in favor of Baptist Christianity.
Talk about Karmic situations. Mother, who was one of the driving forces behind the acceptance of Wicca as a legitimate religion, now living with a born again daughter.
I'm going to try and reestabish contact with Sintana. No matter what, I will always love and respect her, and honestly, I want to see her again.
Besides,maybe now she'll teach me how to make the incense.

Squirrel update

Andrea, I'm hoping that when you're reading this, you'll understand that your Uncle Merlin cusses like a sailor when he's upset. It's not a lack of language skills on my part, it's just that somethings just require cussing.
Like this one little rat bastard squirrel.
I went outside today to check on the gardens, and as I got to the back I heard a rapid series of chuck-chuck sounds.
I looked around, finally looked up, and there was this big fat squirrel on the roof, cussing me like there was no tommorrow.
How do I know he was cussing me? Body language for starters...if you do a little research, you'll find that squirrels use their tails to communicate, in addition to making gutteral chuck-chuck sounds, and the tail motions indicate their level of upset, among other things.
It seems that I had interrupted him while he was feasting on my gladiola bulbs.
How did I come to this conclusion? There were even more leaves by the pots, and evidence of digging.
I suspect my coming around the corner interrupted his meal, and he was expressing his displeasure at that.
If I'd had a gun, I'd have shot the little bastard. Gleefully.
This is rapidly moving into war. And they're going to lose.

I *HATE* squirrels

I know, I'm supposed to have a heart. I do.
However, given what I just found in the yard, it's turned to ice where those tree rats are concerned.
This year, I finally allowed myself to indulge and planted gladiola in the gardens. I put them in the front, a few on the side, and the majority in pots in the back. Things were going well, everyone was coming up, and in a few weeks, I would have had a major color explosion.
I looked outside a few minutes ago however, and couldn't believe what I saw. A squirrel had dug up one of my sprouted glads, and after chewing on it for a few minutes, left it on the concrete surrounding the storm drain. While normally, this wouldn't upset me, it indicates to me that they now realize that I have glad bulbs planted. And they'll be back for more.
This means war.

Paranormal State on A&E

There's a program on A&E called "Paranormal State" - the premise is simple, it involves a team of college students investigating paranormal phenomenon and reporting on their findings, including trying to resolve issues with the phenomenon. They actually go so far as to include a hereditary Pagan (they don't go so far as to call her Wiccan) on their team, so that does win some cudos from me.
Now, I realize that with my background and experience, I have a better perspective than most on things like this; however I really take issue with what seems to be a recurring theme - that almost all the phenomenon they are dealing with is demonic in nature. Based strictly on what this show presents, you'd expect a demon under every rock. While I appreciate the fact that sensationalism sells, crap like this does nothing but bring ridicule and misinformation to something that should be studied and dealt with on an individual basis rather than putting it in one box marked DEMONIC.

It appears that the primary reason for this is due to their use of Lorraine Warren as an "expert", (to see why I put expert in quotes, check her and her late husband's work on the "Amityville Horror" case, a phenomenon itself at the time, later proven to be a fraud, to cite just one example.)

Quite frankly, I find it hard to believe that Lorraine Warren hasn't taken issue with the Pagan in the group, calling her a "Devil worshipper" or other similar stereotype.

Andrea, with any luck, this show won't be on by the time you're old enough to understand what I'm writing, and your own opinions on phenomenon like this will continue to be educated (believe me, I'm going to work damn hard on that one. According to your chart, you have great potential and I for one won't see it wasted or warped.) I've already warned your mother about this, so when the weirdness starts happening, we can always cite it as an "I told you so" event. I do have the feeling that your father's going to be a different story, however. Just don't scare him too badly.

Spirituality

Lets see - I started life raised as a Conservative Jew, (the reason that Conservative is capitalized is because there are considered to be 3 "traditions" in Judaism - Orthodox, Conservative and Reform - it has absolutely nothing to do with political views) -

From early childhood, I knew something was different about me - strange things happening around me, knowing things I shouldn't have, being able to do things I theoretically shouldn't have - all contributed to my early acknowledgement of my "abilities" and my lifelong quest to understand and work with them.

As a result, I've been all over the map spiritually and indeed, what a long strange trip it's been - and have come to the conclusion that everyone is right - for themselves.

My Path is not yours and yours is not mine. We might walk side by side for a while, and we're going to end up at the same Place, but your Path is not mine.

I believe that there is indeed only One Ultimate Being, however It is so Ultimate that we are unable to comprehend It as a whole and have to break it into separate Truths. But no matter what, they are aspects of the One.

Anyway, my Pedigree as it were - early teen years, dabbled in La Vey magick (psychic puberty) because it was raw Power and it was fun.

Mid teens, (17) began study at Ravenwood - or as I affectionately call it, "Famous Witch School" - here I was taught in an amalgamation of Traditions: Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Brittani, Strega and Celtic, all of which eventually coalesced into what is now the Ravenwood tradition.

At about the age of 20, I came across a book called "The Spiral Dance" and it signalled the beginning of the end of my active relationship with Ravenwood - I became disenchanted with the politics and became Solitary - interacting only as a social function not as a religious one.

All the while, continuing my research and work - after moving to Miami in 1983, I became involved with a rather diverse group of folks, Burt, Mark, Vicky, Renee, George and Ben; together we explored everything from medium work to Santeria (disclaimer: at no time during study was an animal involved )

These experiences helped me to realize the Truth behind All is that there is only One.

After moving back to Atlanta in early 1985, I continued my Solitary path, however kept in association with my friends in Miami, going down on occasion to celebrate Samhein or Beltane, and act as a sort of Elder in addition to maintaining peripheral ties to Ravenwod.


I came across a group in Lawrenceville around 1989 - while my association with them didn't last long due to a basic philosophical incompatibility (I'll cover this for you later, Andrea) it did serve to create a study group consisting of Shawn, Amy, Greg, John, and Bryon.

Of this group, Amy was Wiccan, Greg was Wizardyn, John was Spiritual, Shawn was whatever, and Bryon was questioning. It was shortly after this group dissolved that I met your Grandpa Don.

To this day, I have refrained from active involvement in any group because I don't like politics mixed with my religion. No matter the group and no matter how well intentioned, politics eventually come into play and if you're not prepared, will end up tainting the group.

I think this covers enough basics for now; if I'm still around when you're capable of understanding what I've written on a deeper level, come tell me and I'll try to fill in the blanks for you.