(Philadelphia, PA) Elizabeth Kirwin, editor and founder of FairiesInAmerica.com will present her work at the Harvard Divinity School’s Program for the Evolution of Spirituality Conference, Spirituality and the Arts, on April 25, 2025, in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Program for the Evolution of Spirituality is hosting this conference to bring together academics, artists of all types and spiritual practitioners on the leading edge of the convergence of spirituality and creativity. Conference organizers encouraged representations from those whose spiritual focus falls outside the world’s dominant religions, defies societal norms and gives a voice to those whose practices have been marginalized.
Elizabeth Kirwin will present the Fairy Gothic Ballads, supernatural tales steeped in the fairy faith of Ireland. The Fairy Gothic Ballads were written in the United States. Taking her cues from walkabouts in mountainous wilderness areas, and time spent by the Chesapeake Bay, she imbues the ballads with the liveliness of a bardic wanderer whose intimate connection with nature, people and the fairies – inspire and fascinate. For Kirwin, nature’s innate wildness is connected to and expressed by people who live in small villages and have direct contact with the land and sea – and the fairies who inhabit these spaces.
Elizabeth Kirwin holds a M.A. in English from Old Dominion University. She writes poetry and fiction and has been published in the Oyster Boy Review, Café Lit Magazine, Exquisite Death, Locust Shells Journal and Blue Chrystal Literary Magazine.
“Poets and poetry have been a form of rebellion against the status quo and simultaneously – a retreat into the numinous nature of the psyche;” says Kirwin. “By exploring the tapestry of fairy magic and lore, I reclaim my identity as an American-born Irish woman and a fairy.” Kirwin has been a part of pagan communities, spanning five different states in the U.S., for over 30 years.
FairiesInAmerica.com is a community-based website that represents the fairy movement in the Americas. The website accepts content that engages readers to contemplate the neo-pagan movement with an emphasis on fairy magic, a branch of earth-based spirituality that is inclusive of all genders – and expresses egalitarian forms of magical practices. The website has been live for 18 years. FairiesInAmerica.com was originally founded by Elizabeth Kirwin in 2007, in Asheville, North Carolina, a locus for fairy communities. Currently, the website is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For more information, to make a contribution, or schedule a performance, contact info@fairiesinamerica.com.
Debrah Morkun will be reading her poetry publicly for the first time in many years. She’s a well-known poet on the Philadelphia poetry scene and has published several books. Her books include Ida Pingala and Projection Machine as well as numerous chapbooks.
She will read on January 22, 2025 at 7 pm at Fergie’s Pub 1214 Sampson Street, Philadelphia, PA.
Frank Sherlock performed at the Pen and Pencil Club to a full house. He’s pictured here with Elizabeth Kirwin, founder and editor of FairiesInAmerica.com.
I attended a very special poetry performance on Sunday, December 8th. Frank Sherlock, a Pew Fellowship winner and former Poet Laureate of Philadelphia, has re-emerged to share some of his poetry publicly, for the first time in 5 years. He performed to a full house and a diverse crowd, at the Pen and Pencil Club on Latimer Street. Carlo Campbell, another well-known poet, shared the stage with Frank Sherlock.
Over 50% of the audience who attended this reading was African American. Clearly – this audience isn’t concerned about Frank Sherlock’s past.
Does the world of astral travel and out of body experiences (OBE) originate with the divine feminine? I think so. Men (and all people) can have these experiences, too, but I believe they originate from the feminine side of consciousness.
I had some interesting astral travel dreams last night. I visited every apartment and home I ever lived in and they were all meshed into one giant place. Here I was able to wander from room to room and casually eat whatever occurred to my hungry self that I wanted to eat in my ‘home.’
I was surprised when I walked downstairs and saw a male and female couple living in this part of the dwelling. It was like an apartment beneath me and the stairs joined the units. But the man in the dream did not want to speak to me so I held my tongue. Instead I walked back upstairs to my space and wandered around some more.
I wandered around my rooms, which were extensive, and I found my two cats I used to have together. They are both deceased now, but I reached down to pet one and I felt his winter coat and his hind claws as they dug into my arm, like he used to do to show his affection for me. Cats use claws in a variety of ways, but this cat, MoMo, used his to show his love to me when I petted him by pushing his hid claws into my wrists. I woke up so thankful I had seen my cats. I had to rush into the bathroom and brush my teeth to convince myself the dream was not real.
When I returned to bed I was still traveling in my dreams to apartments and this time I met a woman. She was a little older than me and said her name was Rose. I was so pleased she lived in the apartment with me. She was cooking and talking to me like an old friend. I am convinced we knew each other though she was a stranger to me in life. Rose told me many stories as I continued to wander through these rooms.
In real life, some of these travels are memories I cherish that live inside my mind. I was able to wander through them with the help and guidance of my feminine side. When I approached my male side, it was mum. Simply put, this side of me does not help me to travel out of body (OBE), it keeps me enmeshed in the mundane world, which is needed sometimes (a lot actually).
I love to journey like this in my dreams and am able to mainly because I am sober when I sleep. This frame of mind helps me to experience the astral world more clearly then when I imbibed substances like alcohol and cannabis. It’s not that I feel these substances are wrong – they are just wrong for me at this point in my life. When I’m sober I feel a strong urge to travel astrally and visit places I cannot go in real life right now or ever. How could one put together a montage of former residences and visit them all in one night? Impossible! Yet the dreaming mind makes it quite possible indeed.
As the surrealist painters and poets knew, the dreaming mind offers a variety of experiences that are just not available to the waking mind. The landscape of dreams can change quite suddenly and the action changes, too. I find a comfort in embracing my OBEs when awake. I can contemplate them and feel a sense of familiarity or sometimes strangeness that is welcome. All of the feelings dreams bring are important to me and always have been.
I have been a student of my dreams since my 20s. I used to keep dream journals. The blog is my dream journal now. It’s a way of recording these important experiences. I’ve opened up my dream journal to the public, so others can peer into it easily.
Now my dreams are no longer private. It’s true I still am selective about sharing and writing about them. It’s not necessary to write about all of my dreams. I concentrate on those I find most interesting. The dreams where color is bold and it is apparent I am traveling outside my body are what Carl Jung called the ‘big dreams.’ These are the dreams I strive to share with the public.
Last night I had fantastic full color dreams that I want to share. I am certain I traveled to Colorado, where I met some interesting women and men who showed me around. One woman in particular, the first I met, was a stranger to me. She entertained me in her home and when we were through, we took a walk with her dog. There were several dogs in the area, but I noticed a large black animal was there, too. It was a huge black bear! It stood out from the dogs as being a wild animal.
I was not afraid of the bear. This fear would be the usual approach for me spotting a bear in the woods. Instead, I took notice it had a distinctly blue glow surrounding it, as if it were marked as special.
Next the lucid dream took me to the studio of two men, who were obviously musicians. They were working on a project and I was watching their progress. I went looking for a drink in their refrigerators and found one. As I drank the beer it tasted awful, so I put it down and got another one. The second beer I put down again and lost it. This signifies I did not want beer as a drink. Since I am do not drink alcohol, I put it down and never tasted it again.
The two men showed me a large console that was rectangular and had a huge video and audio screen. It could be manipulated to produce video. I was fascinated with this device and as I played with it to figure out the function, the men just seemed to disappear. I was left alone with the device to use it myself.
Next I appeared on the doorstep of two women who were obviously a couple. They were happy to receive me into their home. I believe I traveled from New Jersey, where I live, to their home in Colorado. I was a guest and they were prepared to receive me. I saw their names on the mailbox but cannot recall them now. Often text is introduced to me in dreams but it is hard to remember unless I write it down upon waking.
The home I was visiting was immaculate and well cared for, compared to the studio I just visited, which was a small mess. This was a study in contrast between how men live together and how women live in a much more orderly space (this is not always the case, but mostly plays out as such). The women had thoughts on Colorado to share with me, and I listened. They told me that the wilderness areas were full of wild animals and lots of surprise beasts, too. The women said I had come for a very special purpose of seeing the animals, and them, too. I found them both interesting.
When I left their home I took note of the names on the mailboxes and I vowed to return there.
The dreams concluded with me waking up.
I felt a strong pull towards Colorado upon waking and knew with absolute certainty that’s where I visited in my astral projection. During my life in reality, I spent 2017-2019 in Colorado and was able to travel widely in the state. I saw many things, including lots of wild animals while living in the Black Hawk and Nederland area. Yet I never once saw a bear! I saw two bobcats on the property where I lived. I saw a large brown moose run down a side street in Nederland. I also saw a lovely red fox on my way down the road from Nederland to Black Hawk. The fox revealed itself to me at sunset. I also saw a black moose running around the neighborhood at a friend’s house in Black Hawk. In each instance I was enchanted by the animal sighting and loved watching them. Moose are considered dangerous in Colorado, because they charge human beings with all of their weight. I am thankful I was in the car for the large brown moose sighting. For the black moose sighting I quickly went inside the house.
Large mountain lions also populate the Nederland area, making it unsafe for the locals to go out and walk their dogs on some evenings. The mountain lions show during nocturnal hours and are quite large. I heard stories about mountain lions coming into a trailer park and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. This was quite scary for the residents of the trailer park, as one can imagine.
In my astral projection/lucid dreaming about Colorado, the people were so hospitable and I was unafraid of the wild animals. I felt immune to any harm the animals might bring me, which is unusual. When lucid dreaming and waking in between, I always stayed in the same general area of Colorado and experienced more people. This amazes me, but I have developed a way of stationing myself in lucid dreams. I don’t move around on the bed but stay in the exact position on the bed when I briefly wake and recover the lucid dream. Then I deliberately set my intention to stay in the lucid dream and explore further. This seems to work for me as I continue in the dream narrative. Sometimes I switch locations in a minor way, but the thread of the dream remains the same. I am able to capture a moment in dreaming and direct the rest of my dream narrative towards that moment.
Quite a lot has been written about synchronicity. But do we really know the deep meaning of the term, and how it affects our lives? Synchronicity is the simultaneous occurrence of two events that seem unrelated but are related. Synchronicity has deep meaning to the magical consciousness. It’s like an OK from the universe to move the energy forward in any situation that arises. Synchronicities are part of the mysteries and are a significant sign one is on the right path.
If synchronicity occurs as a result of a magical spell, it’s a clear message from the universe to go forward with the spell. I do not do spell work. But others do, so it matters. In divine feminine consciousness, to observe a synchronicity means the universe is communicating with you, and it’s time to move energy in a positive way and a forward direction.
Let me give an example. When I first started communicating with Heather Ifversen, the visual artist who illustrates this writing – a major synchronicity occurred. Often, the divine will communicate in numbers. I passed a manuscript on to Heather to read, and it had my home address on the cover. She looked at it and much to her surprise – living in a faraway state of South Carolina – she had the exact same street number as her address as mine – 307. Not only was the street number the same, the street name was an exact match – 307 Walnut. This was no coincidence. It was a synchronicity that was undeniable. It was quite a shock to both of us! To know we were living in two separate residences in two different states and sharing the same street address was a clear sign we needed to move forward with this collaboration.
Synchronicity has an energy all its own. It’s magical energy stirred up by the universe to let us know we are on the right path. Sometimes you doubt or question being on the right path. But when the same street addresses appeared to me as a reality, I knew I was on the right path. Heather knew this and acknowledged it as well, setting up a circle of energy that was connected by this auspicious similarity,
Both Heather and myself spend a lot of time at home. She paints. I write. The universe acknowledged a strong work ethic as part of the connection. Our addresses are important to us if we spend almost all of our time at home working. We now do video chat and communicate across a great distance to further the collaboration. This matters to the outcome of the work and our lives.
307 by Heather Ifversen
Synchronicity as a result of spell work is also significant. For those who do spell work and expect an outcome, synchronicities noted as a result can have deep meaning. Heather posted a lighthouse on Facebook just before I contacted her through Messenger. It had been 11 years since we were in contact. I wanted to use one or two of her paintings I already had on file to illustrate this blog on the Divine Feminine. I contacted her to make sure she knew I was using the work in my blog and that it was all right with her that I reproduced it.
Prior to putting the lighthouse up, Heather was doing manifestation work for a Divine Feminine spirit to work with her through a difficult period in her life. She actually considered stopping painting. This would have been a terrible waste. Her paintings offer a deeper look into the divine feminine and are valuable for this blog.
Because I made contact, and requested use of her work for this blog, ceasing her work did not happen. Instead, she moved forward with new work that makes a statement about the merging of souls and the energy it produces.
A painting of a lighthouse emerged to commemorate this meeting up of souls. We are doing deep work on ourselves (and others) by this collaboration. It is blessed by the spirit world because our numbers are the same: 307. Other synchronicities have occurred. She has a child named Finn (a girl) that’s about 18 years old and I have a female cat named Finn that’s the same age. Heather is almost exactly 10 years apart from me in age, reiterating the number 10 in 307. These synchronicities are all significant to both of us. It’s like the universe is having a grand parade of synchronicities all at once. This collaboration is meant to be and in divine order. We are in sync.
If you believe in fated occurrences then this collaboration was fated to be. These new paintings by Heather Ifversen are in existence because of this meeting. The activities of painting and writing are important and they occur together, across space and time to meet up on this digital page, creating an imprint of the activities of the mind. I thank Heather for her attention towards me and this endeavor. It’s meant to be.
As the divine feminine rises in me, I realize how much we need others in order to have self-revelations. Human beings need one another for a variety of reasons. For me, the most important reason right now is self-revelation. We see ourselves through relating to others sometimes. That is how we’ve become an advanced species on earth. Looking at our selves through the lens of another can often bring about epiphanies, like mini concerts in our minds.
Self-doubt can be damaging on many levels. I have been feeling a bit anxious these days and when I speak to other women about my vulnerabilities in the anxiety department, I feel I am not alone. I have a kindred tribe. Many of the same themes I deal with on a daily basis (I am not good enough, or anxious about work or what others think), I share these feelings with my neighbor, my artistic collaborator, my reiki master and others. This allowance for vulnerability gives them permission to reveal part of theirs, too.
Self-revelation is a process helped by others. I receive Reiki from a local practitioner who is so fly. I love her. Here name is Lori Daniels Atkinson and she literally just started out as a Reiki Master. I can’t believe how powerful she is. To see a woman self-actualize is mind blowing for me. It makes me want to dance with joy. Lori is seriously on a path she ignited for herself several months ago. She told me she has always dreamed of being a Reiki Master but just got up the gumption to do it in May. I applaud her honesty. I benefit from her work. I don’t care if she’s new at it. Her freshness gives her an edge a vastly experienced Reiki Master might not have.
So it’s hard for me to relax after a long day of mind work (writing and other matters), but on her table, I am able to do so. Last night I saw (in my mind’s eye) a male guide with long flowing hair. He appeared to me at the beginning of our session and stayed long after the session was completed. His presence (coupled with the heat from her hands and the energy of her heart) was such a comfort to me it made me forget anxiety. I let it all go on the table as I had both presences to help coach me down from a day of self-disbelieving as I call it. This is when you are too hard on your self as you (wrongly) imagine what others are thinking and blow these imaginary thoughts way out of proportion. This leads to despair and anxiety about the world surrounding you.
Receiving Reiki helps me immediately switch gears to one of self-revelation. I am not alone in my anxiety anymore because I have others (including my male guide) to help me through the muddy waters created by overthinking. These waters run deep and can seem overwhelming. Then another steps in and says, “It’s OK. I feel that way sometimes, too. Here’s what I do to make myself feel better.” Since I am wide open to suggestions, it works for me. Using another healer as a sounding board is effective for me. Lori came up with some fantastic suggestions. Lori said she had anxiety in the workplace too, until she realized her thoughts are not an accurate representation of reality. Hers is a difficult job, in caring for a high maintenance disabled child, she does one on one with this child. Well, sometimes she is hard on herself, as if she’s not handling him correctly. There is so much emotional content to doing one on one with a child like this it can certainly have scary moments – this occupation. Then Lori looks around and says, “My boss or co-worker is looking at me funny,” and boom! The anxiety sets in. Lori said she has to discount the thoughts in her own mind and say to herself she doesn’t know what others are thinking really, it’s all in her mind.
Just the act of her being vulnerable in this talk after Reiki, helps to ease my own anxiety. I immediately feel better after she shares these thoughts.
I often act as if I know what others are thinking about me, but it’s not real. It’s a false knowing. Even if you believe you’re clairaudient (as I do) it doesn’t mean you’re always right. Dealing with the thoughts of others, rather than your own, is dangerous territory. What are you doing assuming you know what others think? Unless they verbally tell you what they think – you don’t know! It’s better to assume others thoughts are not your own unless they tell you so.
Now, when someone tells you their thoughts, you better listen. Then this person is opening up the channels of communication. It’s time to perk up your ears and do some deep listening. In Lori’s case, she was sharing how she goes about her own self-care. She told me it’s not good to imagine the thoughts of others. You must discount this thought pattern and (hopefully) replace it with something positive that is grounded in your reality. For example, “I am good enough and I care enough to do things correctly with this child who is in my charge. I take charge of this child’s care and I do it excellently.” This immediately stops the fake thoughts that overtake the mind and reframes the experience into something more positive and life affirming. I call this act one of self-care. It involves trust in oneself and the individual voice. It implicitly involves the trust of another. I mean, why not trust the Reiki master. It takes a mountain of trust just to get on her table.
A neighbor shared with me she had anxiety over social situations such as parties. This amazed me. I thought she was the most confident woman in the world – and she is – only when she’s at home. When she’s about to go out to a party or public event – things get messy. That’s because she’s worried about what others think about her and how they interpret her clothes, here hairstyle, the gift she brings. Immediately the imaginary voice of another’s criticism comes into play. That’s right – it’s imagined fear because she hasn’t even left the house yet. Anxiety sets in and it’s scary to now go out to the party because suddenly – she is being judged by many other people. STOP! That’s what she has to do, is re-examine her own mind and see that it’s just fear and imagined thoughts standing in the way of socializing. She makes it out the door to the party. She also added that women of a certain age seem to have anxiety and it could be hormonal.
That was a huge relief to me – to hear my neighbor’s commentary on social anxiety and how she deals with it. As a middle-aged woman, she realizes this anxiety set in at a certain age. Was it due to lack of self-confidence? NO! It was due to the body changing on a hormonal level, leaving a woman open to certain vulnerabilities. The vulnerable word is key here. Everyone must be vulnerable at some point. It makes sense that we all are not as strong as we profess to be all the time and the way we self-confidently project ourselves into the world even when we feel like shit – this is not accurate. It’s a false self-projection if you’re feeling anxiety and come off as over confident.
Being vulnerable allows one to learn about the self through others. Vulnerability is a key to knowledge of self, because now others can share their vulnerabilities. It’s an equal exchange that occurs. There must be an exchange and it has to feel equal.
This is how I experience my own healing – by learning how others heal themselves. It gives me ideas. The main idea is that my own thoughts, just because I had them, are not always accurate. Sometimes there is an error in my own thought patterns that I MUST correct. Without self-correction the anxiety goes on and on. Who needs that? NOT ME. I want to deal with the anxiety monster in a safe, effective way. My friends in the world are teaching me how to do this. I see I am not the only one dealing with anxiety. I deeply listen to others thoughts on this topic and the anxiety lessens. I am out of anxiety and in the energy of self-revelation. Self-revelation is a sacred place to be. It implies deep thinking has occurred. So has a comparison (a healthy one) of self to others.
There’s a real emotional exchange that opens up from being vulnerable.
Right now I am exploring the idea of the rise of the divine feminine. This is an ancient pagan dictum, to embrace the goddess all around you and within self. Certainly, the goddess rises in a number of ways. The most profound way is in a shift in consciousness. This is what the mind knows to be true. It is not always a truth reflected in 3D reality but rather what the mind and heart know to be truths about self in all dimensional realities.
I have been in direct contact with a friend from South Carolina. I reached out to her first but now we are on the same tangential plane. Her name is Heather Ifversen and she is a visual artist who submits her work for inclusion on the FairiesInAmerica blog. She feels the magical shift, too. It’s coming around through lots of women I know. The rise of the divine feminine is a shift in consciousness that reveals the inner truths about our own divine power. Many pagans believe in these magical shifts. They come about organically and can be seen by the dreaming mind.
In this blog post, she has painted a self-portrait. I love when women artists paint themselves because it always reveals their true inner and outer nature. In this piece she is set squarely by the river where she spends her time fishing and camping. These favorite activities bring her closer to herself and the natural world. Lately, she has had car problems so visiting her spot is not practical. So she goes there in her mind and with her art instead. The divine feminine is a spirit that’s a driving force in her life.
Switchback Trail by Heather Ifversen
I have been dreaming about old friends and old friends are dreaming about me. Having deep knowledge about another when you haven’t seen them in ages is a magical shift. Dreams, though less concrete than waking life, are no less important. Dreams point to patterns of behavior and help us analyze the self. I have been a student of my own dreams for well over 30 years. I started with a deep study of Jungian analysis of dreams in my 20s. This provided a good foundation for the work I do now. In an effort to understand my dreams I am sharing them with Heather Ifversen. Then she sends me work that helps explain the dream. The work is already painted in many cases and comes from her vast archive of visual art. Sometimes she will paint for the writing, too. It just depends on the mood and subject matter of the piece.
I am drawn the Heather’s work because it details a very busy unconscious mind. My dream life is quite busy, too. Heather once suffered a fall and a brain injury that opened up a huge creative reservoir of work for her. It essentially let loose a most powerful energy in her mind that in turn inspired so many strange paintings. I love her bold use of color and the mind mapping that goes on in her work. Her mind is surreal, and she is constantly grasping for – and achieving – more of other dimensional realities. My work is so similar that we decided to collaborate to invoke the spirit of the work together. The dream work is deep and exhilarating. It has an energy all its own. Heather is a part of my phantastical world and dream life realities. It’s an honor to work with an artist who is so accomplished and committed to her own work everyday.
Learning about another’s struggles is also a form of listening. This helps us to understand our own struggles. Self-help can come from another’s struggles. We identify and have empathy. Heather struggles with her old car, the death of a beloved dog, and the ending of a partnership of almost four years. I struggle with caring for my father and feeling a bit isolated from other artists. I also fight with addiction issues that have been with me throughout life until recently. I suffer from anxiety and panic disorders which are present in my life. By reaching out to each other we help one another heal.
Night Traveler by Heather Ifversen
The divine feminine is a merging of souls, coming together for the greater good. It’s like a gathering on the 5D plane of existence, which is why dreams and daytime intuitions are so important. This gathering of souls drawing together is a strengthening of the bond we have for one another. Whether someone is going through illness or financial hardship, artistic struggle or damage to one’s property, we can reach out and connect in the 5D. Sharing art makes things better, not worse.
Healing can occur through togetherness. The healing begins when one is alone but is transformed through togetherness. Collective healing is a sign that the divine feminine is at work. Learn to pay attention to the needs of others and you can heal yourself.
Collective sensations are felt in groups. If one person is ecstatically happy this mood can spread to others. If one person is depressed in a group this too can spread. But there is always a chance to change the mood and help the person depressed – collectively. This is what I hope to achieve through this collaboration. Through space and time, this collaboration will help each one of us who participates or reads these messages. It is my hope that by communicating we will help one another on the healing journey.
I had an interesting dream early this morning, where I knew I was out-of-body. In the dream, I was carrying a woman while she performed a wild dance in front of a large crowd. The crowd was dancing ecstatically with her. I was dancing too, but mostly trying to keep up with her movements while I threw her in the air.
The movements where quite challenging for me and very physical. As she descended from throwing her up in the air, her head would wobble off. The woman would gently rearrange her head on the top of her spine and we’d begin the dance all over again. The crowd went wild. She seemed undeterred by her head wobbling off.
As the dance began to wind down, the crowd slowly dispersed. I began to relax as my role as dancer was winding down too. I saw the crowd leave and I decided to go too.
I found a small ravine that led to a stream that was quite wide. I took my shoes off to cross the stream. When I did this I saw a turtle and I asked it if this was the best way to cross the stream. The turtle spoke out loud. It asked me, “Would you like me to give you a ride?” I felt the turtle speaking was so natural. I replied, “Yes, turtle, I would love a ride.”
At that precise moment I woke up. I knew I was headed for turtle island, a place I said I wanted to visit through astral travel with a dear friend in Florida. For us, turtle island is a real island in Fort Meyers, Florida. It’s a place on the Gulf of Mexico where turtles birth their eggs each season. Sea turtles come up from the Gulf and dig large holes where they will bury their eggs. It’s a sacred place to me and Linda, and we have done magic there. I only go there in the morning, because it’s cool then. The turtles go there at night and secretly dig their holes for their young must be born away from the ocean in order to survive.
Once, while walking in my favorite park in New Jersey, I saw a box turtle had come up from the crick. It was inland just a bit and busily digging a hole with it’s back legs. I knew immediately what it was doing. The turtle was going to give birth to its young and was digging a hole for the eggs. I saw this as magical communication that I would reach turtle island in my astral travels.
I see my dream as confirmation that I will reach turtle island in my astral travels. I plan to meet Linda there and do magic with her in my dream. She is a quite accomplished magician and I have faith now this trip will transpire. Or, maybe the dream was signaling me that I already arrived on Turtle Island and was just about to be transported to my friend. As out of body dreams go, it’s hard to ascertain what is really going on until you arrive at your planned destination.
Learning by doing is my main objective with out of body experiences. When I wake up in the middle of an intense and colorful dream, I immediately try to sleep again and place myself in the same exact setting. The talking turtle was still with me.
Animals speak to us all the time, albeit in their own language. It’s up to us to interpret them. This is why I call it the Rise of the Divine Feminine. These talents are present in all of us and need only be developed and practiced. Each night, I practice lucid dreaming in order to get better at it.
In listening to female tarot readers, I often hear them speak about the Rise of the Divine Feminine as they read the cards. These are usually general readings geared towards the public. I have also heard magical friends detail this Rise of the Divine Feminine excitedly. This notion rings a bell in me and sets off my latent feminist principles. It’s so telling that women are picking up on it. I wonder if men, too, are realizing the Divine Feminine within themselves. I hope so.
At the risk of being called a womanist, I consider myself a humanist at heart. This involves looking at the world from all angles, not just the female perspective. So I think women’s perspective has been eclipsed until now. The Divine Feminine rises in each one of us, not just women. But it has a curiously female overtone to it.
Many women of my past are coming to haunt me in real life and in dreams. I know I am actively dreaming a lot these days and I see I am out of my body quite frequently. I received a call from an old friend I had been out of touch with. She says she dreamed of me 3-4 times in the past month.
I know I am actively hopping out of my body and going astral, because I wake up in the middle of lucid dreams. I could be anywhere on earth. I suspect I have my favorite places. The dream realm is so nebulous. Dreams have always belonged to the Divine Feminine for me. Long ago, I learned the difference between the garden variety dream and an out of body experience. The regular dreams are mundane and run like a film reel. While out of body dreams are so vivid they feel like real life. I at once experience the intensity of color. I am not a visual artist, though I admire them greatly. I see color in an intense way in out of body dreams. Then there is the feeling like I am actually there. That’s right, I am physically present to the dream to the point where I can taste, touch and feel the person or people I interact with. It’s like I am part of the film on screen. The reality of the dream life really grabs me and when I wake up I am still within it. I wake in a total sweat and my heart is usually pounding. My mind is a bit confused. Am I home in bed or somewhere else? I have to reorient myself at first.
Once I assure myself I am home, in bed, it feels safer to go back to sleep and re-enter the dream. That’s right. I don’t allow the dream to slip away, I replay the last part again and again in my mind and hold onto it. Being briefly awake, allows me to now consciously re-enter the dream and do some lucid dreaming. Let’s face it, some out of body dreams are so incredible, you simply don’t want to let go and come back to the mundane world. Plus there are hours of dreaming left and sleep comes easily. Yet I am not fully asleep. My mind is awakened. The sleep I experience post waking up is unsettled. There is no firm sleep just a feeling of being caught between the world of waking and sleeping. Some have described this state as lucid dreaming. It’s when the dreamer can now control the reality of the dream and direct the action.
Often I am dreaming of women. That’s why I refer to this activity as the Rise of the Divine Feminine. I am holding onto women as if for dear life. Surely whomever is in the dream must feel me. I have had others besides my long lost friend describe me as a character in their dreams. Having another’s perspective here is so valuable and fascinates me to no end. I don’t always wake up, nor do I always remember everything. Having another tell me what I did in dreams makes me realize the out of body lucid dreaming is real. Plus, when another tells me about my out of body travels, it validates the whole experience for me.
Most likely, the Rise of the Divine Feminine is occurring in my female counterparts. We all fall asleep and dream. The trouble is, when you abuse substances like alcohol and cannabis, you don’t remember your dreams as much. Getting sober and facing the evening brings about lucid dreaming for me. I recently got sober and have felt more energy at night. I believe the sober state brings about remembrance. Lucid dreaming is always possible. It is not always possible to remember our dreams.
I used to keep dream journals. I have not had one in years. But when I wake from and out of body dream, the dream stays with me all morning and sometimes all day. There’s an impact the dream has on waking consciousness, that takes the out of body lucid dreaming act for real. The body/mind continuum is activated in lucid dreaming.
I believe these dreams happen for a reason. In my case, the reason for out of body travel is quite obvious to me. I have not been able to travel lately, due to life circumstances. I am caring for an elder parent who really needs me. So I stay home rather than accept the invitation to travel. It’s not easy for a lifelong traveler to stay home. So at night, I leap out of my body and travel anywhere I want. I feel the conscious and unconscious mind can work together to create this happening. Also, with the Rise of the Divine Feminine running tangential to my dream life, it works for me. I get what I want, a traveling binge, and I am at home too, which is what I need at this present time.
I have not always been so complicit with the needs of others, but sometimes life changes, and one has to roll with the changes. The benefits are that I get to practice out of body astral travel. Not everyone has these talents. But I do. And I need to practice to get better. Just like anything, astral travel can become somewhat normal if one just practices it. I don’t know why astral travel and lucid dreaming go together for me. They just do.
Dream experiments are a prolific part of my night life nowadays. Sometimes I wake up with a song that goes along with the dream in my head. The song is quite obnoxious and won’t go away. I let it play on loop in my brain until I am absolutely sick of it. Then I replace it with a protective chant I developed for my lucid dreams. I say, “Angels, spirits, ancestors and guides – give me divine protection.” This mantra effectively chases the song on loop away. It’s a way of saying to my unconscious mind – STOP with the song on loop. If I don’t interrupt it the song keeps looping and it gets boring.
I believe, in my lucid dream state, I am calling out to other women whom I need to speak to, but for some reason cannot in waking life. So I call out to them to converse on any variety of topics. Night time used to be a time of loneliness for me, when I had no company, I set my mind to daydreaming. Being a social person, COVID-19 really messed me up. I got used to being alone, or so I told myself. I realize now when you bend space and time as a regular act, there’s no reason to be alone. Plus I am never alone as I have my elder father with me 24/7. But having a variety of company is what I miss most. So I seek out this variety in the dream landscape. It’s fun and it keeps me amused and happy.
On a trip out to the biosphere near Tuscon, Arizona with a colleague, I learned that trees, like humans, breathe in a way. Their ‘breath’ is our form of life. Trees inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. This is why trees are so important at a fundamental, biological level. Trees provide the oxygen human beings need to breathe and live. We exhale carbon dioxide and so provide the necessary element for trees to live.
Look around. How many times per day do you see someone on an oxygen tank? This is a necessary piece of equipment for those who need more oxygen to breathe and stay alive. The oxygen tank improves quality of life and ensures survival for those just on the edge of it.
How are trees also important in the magical universe? Trees are like human beings.
A tree has a long trunk and many branches. Humans have a ‘trunk’ or body and arms, legs, fingers and toes.
A tree has friends, such as squirrels and many varieties of birds that live inside of it. Humans can live alone, but often choose to live with other human beings.
A tree has speech. It speaks when the wind blows and rattles its branches and leaves. Humans also speak in verbal language, often too much.
Trees have deep roots that wander in the soil far beneath their obvious growth. That ‘s why when a tree is taken down, it still seems to grow. Humans create deep roots with their homes, often staying in the same place for a lifetime.
Trees lose their leaves in the autumn, retract totally in the winter and are reborn in the spring. Humans get nervous in the late fall, retract totally into their home in the winter (except for winter sports lovers) and seem to be reborn in the spring and summer months when they begin to go outdoors again.
Trees give birth to baby trees. An oak tree carries acorns that it discards on the ground, and if they take to the soil are born as new trees. This is how a forest grows through propagation. Humans are mammals, so when a human egg is fertilized it takes nine months to grow into a child and be born into the world.
We as humans have a great deal in common with trees. Perhaps some may think this blog is as a bit of a stretch, but I don’t think so at all. After visiting the biosphere, I learned how critical trees are on earth. That’s why there’s so much screaming when trees (or whole forests) are demolished. Don’t be one of those people who heartlessly tears down trees and thinks it’s OK. It’s not OK. Trees are a form of life on earth that are so necessary to our survival. Why do humans harvest trees? For money of course. When a landowner decides to ‘timber’ land and rid it of trees, there is money to be made. So many objects, including homes and furniture, are made from trees.
There are alternative living beings (such as bamboo) that can be used for building homes and furniture, floors and other objects humans cherish. Bamboo is so prolific it grows like weeds and repopulates itself in just a season. It takes a tree so much longer to propagate itself that it just can’t keep up with human greed or need. We need to re-envision what materials are used in building and stop heartlessly ripping down trees and whole forests.
The natural world is filled with the perils of human greed and need. When a forest is ripped down, animals and birds lose their homes – that is the trees. Humans would not like it if animals and birds destroyed our homes, so why do we take the destruction of trees so lightly? The answer is there’s an almost total separation of humans from the natural world. Nowadays, devices and computers continue to separate the human from nature as we automate almost everything.
One day, when I have so much money I can’t keep track of it, I am going to buy whole mountains in order to preserve the trees. The forests are so integral to my way of life, living close to the earth and taking pleasure in walking in the woods for so long, I want to give something back – and that is keeping trees alive. Without trees, where would we be? Even large cities and the people who run them think it’s important to plant and keep trees.
Stop with the ignorance! Hugging a tree is just one way of saying, “Tree – you are important to my life.” In fact, if we come to understand the way in which trees breathe, we find out that we need trees for life on earth. Think about the way trees live next time one is torn down. Look around and see how the animals and birds react differently, once the tree is gone. Understand you can be a part of preserving trees, right on your own property – if you are lucky enough to own it. Honor. love and respect trees and thank them aloud for keeping us alive.
Magic is a fluid, self-actualized activity. It’s best when magic can be performed in the natural world, rather than inside. The natural world interacts with us when performing magic, giving signs and clues to the origins of the act and the intensity can even be measured by these signs.
Let me give an example. My friend, Mary Singing Bear, recently built a green man for burning with her husband and others who wanted to partake of the ritual.
The burning of the green man is a traditional ritual performed at or around Summer Solstice. First, one must build the green man out of sticks that are ready to burn. Then, the magical practitioner will bless and anoint the green man, in preparation for ritual burning. This whole activity is performed outdoors. The animals can see everything. They feel the energy too. The plant world and trees are witness to the activity as well, and the trees give up their dead branches to build the green man. All of this activity creates a stir in the natural world, one that is felt and reverberates in the general area. Once the act of magic is put in motion, all of nature responds, whether it is seen or unseen. This makes the performance of magic extra special, because there is a response, sometimes dramatic.
Response from the natural world can be as quiet as a light wind passing through the area, or a sudden rain storm that erupts with lightening and thunder. Leaves may drop from the tree, or flowers may expand their blossoms in anticipation. Sometimes nature is subtle. Yet the natural world is alive like us, and aware that energy is being shifted.
In the case of the green man ritual burn at Summer Solstice, Mary Singing Bear first saw an eagle flying high over the ritual space. The eagle is a special symbol in the Native American ritual, signaling high magic is taking place. Flying above the green man prior to burning it, the eagle was a welcome sight. Mary Singing Bear most likely acknowledged it by calling out to it or in burning some incense. The call and response by nature is so critical to the magical act.
Not long after the eagle circled, a snake appeared in the ritual space and came in close to the green man. This was once again a sign that high magic was underway and the snake was blessing the circle prior to the burn. Mary Singing Bear also lovingly acknowledged the snake, welcoming it to the ritual. Now the fire was set and ready to ignite, it was just before the burn the snake came. The snake symbolizes a rebirth in the act of ritual, washing away what is past and cleansing and purifying the space for what was to come.
The green man was finally ignited. And in the circle, a sacred pentacle was drawn in the dirt, to symbolize infinity and the repetitive motion of the green man burning ritual enacted each year, in various ritual spaces. The ritual ties together other pagans, those who walk the Red Road and Wiccans and worshippers who use it to honor the day – the longest day of the year.
The magical act is seen by nature, acknowledged and blessed by the animals and plants. This is why magic performed in the natural world is so extra powerful and it sets up an energy that is in motion. Even after the burn, the animals that visited carry the energy of the ritual with them. The people in attendance and even those nearby carry the energy of the ritual, too. It’s an important act that is noticed by all, because energy is raised and released.
Nature can encompass and contain all of the energy raised and released in ritual. It is not coincidence or happenstance that the natural world responded. To the one practicing magic, seeing the animals partake is a gift from the Gods and Goddesses. It is a signal that the magic is being received by the natural world. It is a marker of sorts to the practitioner, that the work is good, it is intense and it is loud.
Performing magic indoors is sometimes necessary and is just as powerful. What is lacking is the call and response from nature, that’s all. For the practitioner there is no greater thrill and joy then the response from the world of nature to come and join in the performance of ritual.
Anne-Adele Wight is the author of a new book of poems, Sidestep Catapult.
I woke this morning from a dream of wild animals carousing in the backyard – so I reached for the book beside my bed: Sidestep Catapult, by Anne-Adele Wight. I found those same creatures described by my own unconscious lurking in her poems. Some animals are hungry; some just curious; others are downright vicious. Wight embraces the moods of these animals in all their complexity.
Wight’s poetry brings our primitive nature to consciousness. As I read, an insistent remembrance of my primal side erupts through the surface, illuminating everything. Neuropsychology has mapped this part of our brains. Sometimes it is referred to as the reptilian brain, and part of it sits at the base of the skull. It lives within us and informs our behaviors, though many are eager to deny it.
A mystic teacher, DC Vision, once said to me, “People think the natural world is beautiful. It’s not always so glorious. When you look closer, you see nature is savage. It devours itself.” He spent several years traveling by horse across the United States, so he should know.
I have my own gut feelings about the reptilian brain. Avoiding interactions with the natural world and denying we are part animal pushes our primal instincts deeper into the unconscious. Repression makes this part of human nature, which is linked to survival, more dangerous – or something to fear. Wight chooses to confront our inherent animal instincts instead. In What Led to the Hawk’s Nest, her wild creatures appear unbidden in the civilized landscape. “Florida panther paces towards you out of garage.” Later, “teeth close on your wrist.” This theme is reiterated in Leopard Flower, “did you order animals for the toolshed?/ they’ll split it open.”
To our civilized minds, wild animals are unpredictable and cruel. Yet there is a distinct memory of the human world being a part of this:
Eons have passed since we lived in the sea
still speechless
in language heavy-forest
our throats lack bone and cord.
Anne-Adele Wight is a poet based in Philadelphia, PA. She says her poems come from speaking to the wild creatures.
Wight points out the separation between humans and animals: communication through language is what drives a rift between species. Yet even with all their skill, humans lack the apparatus to speak to animals.
Wight’s subjects are imbued with light and fired by crystal energies. Her book harbors the uncontainable: the elemental forces of nature and the mysteries that envelop them. Earth, air, water, fire and spirit coalesce in many of her pieces.
Crystal communication, plant energies, expressions of water and bursts of air emanate energy and light through movement or even in stillness. Though these elementals travel a slightly different frequency than humans and animals, they are no less powerful. When activated, the elementals portend signs of supernatural importance. Transatlantic Night Flight is a good example of this:
From inside Ptolemy’s crystal
gridlines divide the Atlantic
humming traffic control.
Emeralds fall around me
sounding calliope
brings them down in a windfall
hooting carousel tunes.
Is this the music of the spheres?
I love the way Wight posits the final question, set apart from this stanza. She is adept at perceiving through multiple senses. Wight is also attuned to the experiences of the astral body.
Christmas Shopping takes this holistic, sensual awareness even further:
every letter an element
each element its opposite
each opposite a color
every color on fire
Solstice Eve recounts a magic ritual where those gathered fuse with the natural world and initiate a stream of energy that is set quickly into motion.
Four people five trees
how force is number
working here and now.
Something pulls toward tree skin
from the core of a ring of five
music struggles in upper branches
In magical rituals, intention guides outcomes. The act of gathering creates a centrifugal force held onto by those in circle and perceived and expressed through feeling, sights and sounds in nature.
Wight’s work is the product of a mind with acute sensitivities. For those who see themselves as a part of the natural world – not just a banal observer — Sidestep Catapult will provide a jolt of recognition and a renewed sense of unity with our wild animalistic core.
After spending 2017-2019 in Colorado, and now living in New Jersey, I am absolutely a Medical Cannabis activist. I feel there is really no need for recreational marijuana dispensaries in the U.S. if Medical Cannabis is made legal throughout the land.
The problem is that we have been working on Medical Marijuana since the mid 1990’s in California, and the rest of the country just has not caught on completely. Places in the South, where cannabis has always been grown and sold illegally, are set staunchly against cannabis legalization for instance. Even conservative politicians warm far more easily to the idea of Medical Marijuana programs with proven results.
Yet the medical cannabis programs sometimes meet resistance at a state level, too. It could take years to pass a medical marijuana bill with a list of realistic medical conditions that can be addressed by cannabis. Then, some states, like Oklahoma, take forever to start launching the actual growing and dispensing of marijuana because matters are held up by politics for – over two years. Where is the sense in this? What is the capitalist equation? It’s an equation for disaster if a dispensary is in business to make money.
When a consumer has to cross state lines to obtain medical marijuana it’s a great big hassle. Even in states in the U.S. where medical cannabis is legal, medical cards are not honored across state lines. Some states have reciprocal agreements, but not all. For example Coloradans with med cards can cross over into Nevada and use their med cards there. Nice job Nevada.
The most forward thinking, best plan for interstate medical marijuana card usage is occuring, of all places, in Washington D.C. Yes, my friends you can use a medical marijuana card from every state in the land in Washington D.C. All of the medical dispensaries happily announce this to potential customers. If you happen to be in Washington D.C., legal medical cannabis cards are honored from all states.Thank you Washington D.C. for showing us, the good people of this country, how it should ideally work.
Now, why haven’t other states replicated Nevada and Washington D.C.’s initiatives to honor medical cannabis cards from other states? I ask, what possibly could be the benefit of allowing a medical patient no options once they cross certain state lines? Not only does it absolutely suck for the patient, it also does not make any sense from a money-making point of view. Visitors from other states should be allowed to purchase marijuana in medical dispensaries in states where medical is legal. It’s just that simple.
It’s time to start putting reciprocal agreements in place for states that are medical cannabis friendly. This system as it stands is not fair to the consumer nor is it fair to the dispensary owner and grower, who need to move product. More patients equals more product sales.
I applauded Governor Murphy during my last post for expanding the medical marijuana program to include conditions like chronic pain and anxiety. I also want to give him a big KUDOS for the way he has handled the COVID-19 Pandemic in the state of NJ, right from the outset, deploying all of the best strategies to help mitigate the number of infections and death.
Today I have to criticize the Medical Marijuana Program in NJ, of which I am a part. The process takes entirely too long. I can get a NJ license from the DMV same day. A Medical Marijuana license took three weeks, from the date I first visited the Realeaf Alternatie clinic which cost $400!. That’s too long for any patient to wait and too much money for anyone to pay. In Colorado, I had to wait a maximum of 3 days in order to print my own license on my home printer. The visit to the clinic cost like $80 and my license from the State of Colorado was $15.
The other issue, which is major, is a lack of innovative product lines, such as a MUCH wider choice of medical edibles, wax and/or shatter and other innovative ways to drink or eat thc,
I got my new license in the mail one day late. On April 15, I went to the Curaleaf dispensary and waited two and one half hours to gain entrance to the dispensary.
Isn’t there a more efficient way to go about a legal cannabis purchase in the state of New Jersey? Why is there only one dispensary in all of Camden County? This drives the price up significantly. With less competition, the big players can dominate the market. Why has it taken so long for new medical dispensaries to open? Has the COVID-19 Pandemic really slowed things that much?
It’s not fair to low income residents of the State of New Jersey with a medical marijuana card to pay these exhorbitantly high prices for cannabis (90-110 per quarter). There are actually gluts in the market in Colorado. In October of 2019, when I left, the retail price of cannabis was $950/pound. In many medical dispensaries in Colorado Springs one could obtain an ounce of weed for $60-100. Why is is so expensive in New Jersey?
Governor Murphy, I implore you, please do something to expand the program here so that residents can legally grow their own small supply.It helps to bring the price down, and it is just a weed after all.
What is wrong with the medical marijuana system in New Jersey? It’s about to be subsumed by Corporate greed, that’s what. There’s no reason for this to happen right away or – ever.
Give people a chance to grow their own and they won’t mess it up. Expand the number of dispensaries right away. Also, make it easier and less expensive for people to see marijuana doctors. The clinic is a great idea.
Thank you so much Governor Murphy for opening up the Medical Marijuana laws in New Jersey. Now people with chronic pain can make the transition off opiods, which are highly addictive and not recommended for long-term use.
Medical Marijuana laws in NJ also allow patients with Anxiety and Depression issues to cycle off the high addictive pychotropic drugs. Now, these patients have the option for a less addictive and gentler on the body type of relief: Indica strains or indica dominant hybrid strains of thc.
Most importantly, Governor Murphy saw the need to offer patients on Medicaid, SSI, SSD, and Disabled Military to receive special pricing at dispensaries. This includes a 20% discount on flower at my local dispensary. The program the patient is a participant in is noted on the NJ Medical Marijuana card so no extra IDs are needed at the dispensary.
Governor Murphy took the time to construct a program that will benefit many people in the state of New Jersey.
Don’t expect your regular primary doctor to prescribe medical cannabis, however! Jefferson Health System in Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey has zero doctors who will prescribe medical marijuana. Other health systems may have pain management doctors who prescribe medical marijuana.
The best way to obtain a med card in NJ is to to go directly to a Medical marijuana doctor or clinic and have health records transferred there. I went through Releaf Alternative Medicine in Mount Laurel and had a good experience.
Cost for a medical marijuana doctor to examine your medical records and make a recommendation based on your qualifying condition(s) varies, depending upon the practitioner and the number of times the Marijuana doctor needs to see you in one calendar year.
It may take a little more time than Colorado to receive a NJ medical marijuana card, but it’s worth the wait. Medicine is high quality and consistent and the product market in NJ is expanding as new dispensaries come online.
Eunita Biskit says, don’t miss this drag show in Norfolk, VA!
(Norfolk, VA) Penny Tration, of Ru Paul’s Drag Race Season 5, will make a special appearance in Hampton Roads on January 11th, 2013 at 10:30 pm at the HeBar, in the back of the Hershee Bar at 6117 Sewells Point Rd in Norfolk, Virginia. Cost of admission is $5 worth of non-perishable pet food or cash. Jello shooters will be available and all monies received along with those received at the door will go to the Pet Food Pantry.
Penny Tration, Ru Paul’s Drag Race Season 5 Viewer’s Choice Contestant, will star in a benefit show this Friday for the Mr. Wiggles Pet Food Pantry at the Hershee Bar www.facebook.com/thehersheebar?ref=ts&fref=ts in Norfolk. Ru Paul’s Drag Race is a popular reality drag competition show on the Logo network that starts its 5th season on January 28th. Penny started performing in 1992 and honed her skills before embarking to New York City from her native Cincinnati in 2000. She returned home to Ohio two years later and focused on a career in a self- produced local cabaret as well as producing many benefits for HiV/ AIDS & breast cancer charities. This past November she was selected as RPDR Facebook fan favorite and a contestant in this season’s competition.
The event is hosted by local drag sensation Eunita Biskit, also known as ‘That Crazy Bearded Lady’ who has emceed drag shows in the Hampton Roads area for over five years. The show includes other local drag queen performers, such as: Sharon Husbands of Richmond, Jasmine Spaulding, Lily Dolce & Alessandra McQueen of Hampton, Virginia. The Infamous Ms. Biskit hosts a Friday night show at Hershee Bar and is known for her benefits and comedy shows.
Mr. Wiggles Pet Food Pantry is a non-profit organization assisting pet owners who are dealing with financial difficulties due to loss of job or other unexpected crisis. The organization has recently depleted most of its supplies sending much needed items to people in New York & New Jersey affected by Hurricane Sandy. In addition to pet foods, they graciously accept donations of new or slightly used pet accessories.
Hershee Bar has been at its 5 Points location in Norfolk for nearly 30 years and has hosted many benefits for the lgbt Hampton Roads community.
Michael Rumaker Engages a Crowd with “The Fairies are Dancing All Over the World”
I met Michael Rumaker twice in my life. The first time was about five or six years ago, when he visited Asheville to read from his memoir, Black Mountain Days, at UNC Asheville. At the time I had no idea what a powerful poet Rumaker was, although I thought his work was electric, and he had a charming presence. Like Jonathan Williams, he was able to make his memories of Black Mountain College come alive for me. Black Mountain – that great educational experiment – how can we ever forget it?
The second time I met Rumaker, he read, “The Fairies are Dancing All Over the World” to a crowded gallery full of people at the opening reception for the 75th Anniversary of Black Mountain College. I experienced his poem deep in my body, tingling all over with excitement with hairs standing on end. I said to myself, this poet really knows the fairies. That is how I knew Rumaker was exceptional.
In fact, Mr. Rumaker might just be a fairy.
The next day I saw Michael at another reading. Afterwards, I commented on his poem, and how it made me feel that connection we all crave – I call it plugging into the web of life. For the most part, I never ask this question, but the spirit moved me to do so that afternoon. I asked Michael Rumaker if he had any knowledge of the contemporary faery movement. He got very excited and said that he knew the radical fairies in New York City in the 70s. That would put him at the beginning of a wave of popularity for fairies.
Just by chance he had his novel for sale at the event that referenced this period in his life: My First Satyrnalia, so I purchased it. Michael Rumaker has given FairiesInAmerica.com permission to re-publish this wonderful poem. At the bottom of the page, there are related works in both fiction and poetry that may be of interest to fairykind.
–Elizabeth Kirwin
For a beautiful hand-made edition of “The Fairies Are Dancing All Over the World” created by Rutherford Witthus, via his Phi Press, Email him: info@rutherfordwitthus.com.
The Fairies Are Dancing All Over the World
by Michael Rumaker
The fairies are dancing all over the world
In the dreams of the President
they are dancing
although he dares not mentions this at cabinet meetings
In the baby blood of the brandnew
they are dancing O most rapturously
and over the graves of the fathers and mothers
who are dead
and around the heads of the mothers and fathers who are not dead
in celebration of the sons and daughters
they've given the earth
The fairies are dancing in the paws and muzzles
of dogs larking in the broad field next to the church
The fairies have always danced in the blood of the untamed
in the muscular horned goat
and the shining snake
in the blood of Henry Thoreau
and most certainly Emily Dickinson
And they skip in the blood of the marine recruit
in his barracks at night
his bones aching with fatigue and loneliness
and pure dreams of women
and his goodbuddy in the next bunk
They are most lovely in the eyes of the black kid
trucking in front of the jukebox
at the local pizzeria
more timorous in the eyes of his white friend
whose hips are a bit more calcified
with hereditary denunciation of the fairies
May the fairies swivel his hips
On sap green evenings in early summer
the fairies danced under the moon in country places
danced among native american teepees
and hung in the rough hair of buffalos racing across the prairies
and are dancing still
most hidden
and everywhere
in some, only in the eyes
in others a reach of the arm
a sudden yelp of joy
reveals their presence
The fairies are dancing from coast to coast
all over deadmiddle America
they're bumping and grinding on the Kremlin walls
the tap of their feet is eroding all the walls
all over the world as they dance
In the way of the western world
the fairies' dance has become small
a bleating, crabbed jerkiness
but there for all that,
a bit of healthy green in the dead wood
that spreads an invisible green fire
around and around the globe
encircling it in its dance
of intimacy with the secret of all living things
The fairies are dancing even in the Pope's nose
and in the heart of the most stubborn macho
who will not and will not
and the fairies will
most insistently
because he will not
In the Pentagon the fairies are dancing
under the scrambled egg hats
of those who see no reason why youths should live to old age
The fairies bide their time and wait
They dance in invisible circlets of joy
around and around and over the planet
they are the green rings unseen by spaceships
their breath is the earth of the first spring evening
They explode in the black buds of deadwood winter
Welcome them with open arms
They are allies courting in the bloodstream
welcome them and dance with them
Copyright Michael Rumaker 1975, 1977, 1983, 1986, 1988, 2005, 2008
Some books by Michael Rumaker and some contact information for their purchase:
Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center/Black Mountain Press, bmcmac@bellsouth.net: A memoir, Black Mountain Days; Dossier No. 6
Eroticizing the Nation:Michael Rumaker’s Fiction, by Leverett T. Smith, Jr.
Novels: Pagan Days
My First Satyrnalia Poetry: Pizza: Selected Poems
Circumstantial Publishing, RC8232@aol.com:
Contact the following for titles below: rafountain.com Gringos and Other Stories: A New Edition;
a novel, To Kill a Cardinal;
anthology, 3×3
CAConrad will give a reading at Malaprop’s Bookstore in downtown Asheville, NC on Thursday, March 17th, at 7pm. Malaprop’s is located at 55 Haywood Street. The direct phone number is 1-800-441-9829.
In The Huffington Post poet and novelist Eileen Myles cites CAConrad as one of the most influential contemporary poets. Eileen Myles also wrote the Afterword of his latest title, The Book of Frank (WAVE Books, 2010). This book is the recipient of The Gil Ott Book Award for Chax, as chosen by Nathaniel Mackey and Myung Mi Kim. In the Afterword Myles writes, “In piecing together, configuring and releasing his extreme miniatures – agonized fables, poems about America, CAConrad includes us all in the enormous outside of his heart. Which is the world in all its possibility.” For more details on The Book of Frank, visit http://BookofFrank.blogspot.com/
Other titles by CAConrad include Advanced Elvis Course (Soft Skull Press, 2009), Deviant Propulsion (Soft Skull Press, 2006), a collaboration with poet Frank Sherlock titled The City Real & Imagined (Factory School Press, 2010), and a forthcoming book of (Soma)tic poetry in Fall of 2011 with WAVE Books.
CAConrad is the son of white trash asphyxiation whose childhood included selling cut flowers along the highway for his mother and helping her shoplift. He lives and writes in Philadelphia with the PhillySound poets. He is the editor of JUPITER 88: a video journal of contemporary poetry. He is also the poetry editor of Bardic Sephulchral, an imprint of Fairies in America, published out of Asheville, NC by publisher Elizabeth Kirwin. Visit JUPITER 88 and Bardic Sepulchral can be found at http://CAConrad.blogspot.com
CAConrad is also the author of (Soma)tic Midge (Faux Press, 2008), which was the first of many (Soma)tic Poetry Exercises and their resulting poems. In (Soma)tic Midge he ate a single color of food for a day for seven days, resulting in poems for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white. Since (Soma)tic Midge he has been creating (Soma)tic Poetry Exercises, which he posts monthly for FREE on his website http://somaticpoetryexercises.blogspot.com/. He has taught (Soma)tic Poetry Workshops at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, at City University of New York, the University of Pennsylvania, as well as at St. Mark’s Poetry Project, NYC.
Contact CAConrad for interviews, workshops, readings, or other engagements by emailing CAConrad13@aol.com or calling 215-563-3075.
(Philadelphia, PA) On February 13th at 7 p.m., The Jubilant Thicket Literary Series will present Elizabeth Kirwin, performing the Fairy Gothic Ballads with the music of LiamSckhot, Jonathan Pogoda reading poetic fiction, and poetry by Quincy Scott Jones. The event will be held at The Walking Fish Theatre, 2509 Frankford Avenue, in Philadelphia, PA. Donations are accepted.
Debrah Morkun founded The Jubilant Thicket Literary Series, where she has created a venue to showcase the work of avant-garde poets, featuring them alongside artists of different media and scholars. The series takes its name from the Selected Poems of Jonathan Williams. Debrah Morkun recently published a selection from her new book, Hera Calf, 2. Her calf whispering room in Bardic Sepulchral, the section of FairiesInAmerica.com that features the poetry of fairies, witches, friends of the fairies, the literary avant-garde and more. Bardic Sepulchral is edited by CAConrad, who recently published an expanded version of The Book of Frank with Wave Books.
Elizabeth Kirwin, the editor and publisher of FairiesInAmerica.com, has been collaborating with the music composer LiamSckhot for three years on the Fairy Gothic Ballads, an audio collection of tales of magic sprung from Ireland in the 18th Century. LiamSckhot is a master percussionist and he illustrates the ballads with electronic and acoustic music. Kirwin is of Irish American lineage and she is a performance artist who dresses as her magical male character — the bard. The performance at Jubilant Thicket is the first public presentation of the ballads.
FairiesInAmerica.com was founded in 2007 to document the cultural, spiritual, sexual and gender revolution being sparked by the faery movement, an eclectic branch of neo-paganism. FairiesInAmerica.com is open to submissions in gender, sexuality, music, spirituality, art, writing, poetry and more. The website has published the work of Michael Rumaker, Penny Arcade and other writers and artists. FairiesInAmerica.com is currently seeking section editors. Email info@fairiesinamerica.com to submit work or inquire about editorial positions.
For those interested in text link or banner advertising with fairiesinamerica.com email info@fairiesinamerica.com for rates.
l have believed in the fairy folk for over 50 years, and spent most of my childhood in the forest behind my home looking for them. Now l once again live in a very remote area ( old growth woodlands of eastern Texas) and still go out to hunt mushrooms and see what l can see….l have goats and chickens and 2 welsh ponies as well as dogs and cats.
Are the Fairies at Work?
When feeding my oldest mare yesterday, l noticed that she had a double braid in her lovely mane- something like a “lover’s knot” in the middle with 2 braids cleverly woven coming out of the knot on either side! (IMPOSSIBLE to untangle, so l let it be). Now my family settled this area over 100 years ago and l have heard no stories about the fairies living here.. But as we have had some other strange occurrences around here lately, l wonder if they have sought out remote places to reside, or have we in the USA always had our fair share?
l will say that l am of lrish background ( dating back to the lreland of the Norman Conquest, when my family was given land in return for fighting with William the Conquerer). My ancestors fled lreland to the “colonies” in the 1700’s to escape the wrath of the English… but that is another tale. So, am l just imagining things like my wise old granny or is it possible that wee folk live in my hollow trees?
(Philadelphia, PA, December 31, 2009) The publisher of FairiesInAmerica.com is pleased to announce a new poetry editor for Bardic Sepulchral, CAConrad. He is reviewing all poetry submissions for Bardic Sepulchral and can be reached at CAConrad@fairiesinamerica.com.
CAConrad is a nationally acclaimed poet and performer. The son of white trash asphyxiation, his childhood included selling cut flowers along the highway for his mother and helping her shoplift.
Over the course of the last 2 years, CAConrad has published three books: Deviant Propulsion, by Soft Skull Press, a book that inspired a Publisher’s Weekly reviewer to draw parallels between his work and the poetry of Allen Ginsberg; The Book of Frank, a magical book of poems that brings to life an alter ego character who speaks a continual stream of uncensored truths, won the Gil Ott Book Award and was published this year; and The Advanced Elvis Course, also by Soft Skull Press in 2009 is a rollicking and surreal book about the mythological Elvis. In 2010, Factory School will publish a collaboration with poet Frank Sherlock titled The City Real & Imagined.
Elizabeth Kirwin, publisher and editor of FairiesInAmerica.com, is pleased to be working with CAConrad. She wanted to bring his approach to poetics to FairiesInAmerica.com.
Kirwin remarked, “During the 1990s, CAConrad introduced me to the American Pagan movement and the radical faeries, feminism, and the art of writing concise verse. CAConrad was the first person to help me to understand my shifting gender identity was a way of manifesting my own magic. CAConrad also made me see that the divisions within the GLBT movement were simply imagined, and could easily be overcome by everyday personal action.” Website visitors will notice a pansexual approach to the faery movement (representing all sexualities on the continuum) and a wide scope on gender.
CAConrad will be giving public readings of his recent work in 2010. On February 3rd he will perform at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. Lucy Gallun will give a lecture on her video installation at 6:30pm, and a book party for The City Real & Imagined (Factory School, 2010) by CAConrad & Frank Sherlock will occur at 8pm with Zoe Strauss. Zoe Strauss provided the book cover photograph, and will be presenting a slide show of her work and also selling her photography book America (AMMO Books, 2008).
On February 4th CAConrad & Ana Bozicevic will read at Stockton College in New Jersey. CAConrad will read at Philadelphia’s Temple University on February 11th for the Creative Writing Program. Look for these and other related events to be posted on the home page of FairiesInAmerica.com or at CAConradEVENTS.blogspot.com.
FairiesInAmerica.com was launched in April 2008 as a collective effort to accurately represent the creativity and unique philosophies of the faery community. The website publishes performance art, music, poetry, writing and visual art. FairiesInAmerica.com also features essays on sexuality, gender, spirituality and more. Currently, membership to the website is free and those who join may post to the blog, or comment on blogs or pages on the website.
Published by Vulgar Marsala Press, July 2009
133 pages
ISBN: 978-0982007723 Review by Edmund Margary, L.O.B.
Nearly eight years ago, I wrote of the forsaking of humankind by our gods. Thanks to author and researcher Shannon Avery, it seems we have one last chance at redemption.
Redemption is a recurring theme in Avery’s new book of poems and stories: The Queen’s Rune and Other Tales of the Sidhe. The “Dirty Little Secret” of Sidhedom is hinted at throughout the book and readers who take the time to explore Avery’s masterful rendering of Sidhe language and culture into a form relatable to humans may just decrypt the puzzle. But even for the Uninitiated, Avery performs a remarkable feat of linguistic and cultural detective work, not to mention a literary high-wire act, as she virtually channels the Fair Folk, balancing razor-sharp analysis with rich imagery.
For those of you new to the Sidhe world, They are humanoid creatures sharing our Universe and our planet, removed from humanity only in our limited ability to perceive them. Their culture is several thousand millennia older than our own and Avery deftly handles half-a-million years of history with an insight that could only have come from a deep devotion to honoring the subject. Her translation of the Ann Amrahn Atraighn, for example, captures the cold, otherworldly arrogance of Our Friends, The El’Ohim, as They attempt to instruct their “most puerile kin” in the mysteries of the Universe as well as the very human-like sense of betrayal and regret the teachers feel when their experiment goes so violently awry. Avery’s translation feels like redemption itself after the travesty that was Hammond Cole’s version of 1649, not to mention the abomination inflicted on the world by the Reubenites in their heretical and error-laden Genesis chapter of the Torah.
Redemption flows through the Sidhe “love” poems as well; Avery’s poetic language—delicate one instant; eviscerating the next—evokes for human readers the depth of Sidhe passion and the core conflicts in all Sidhedom. Like Perceval in the Fisher King, Avery’s Sidhe lovers—Amfortas and Eriu; Rhiannon and Pwyll—kneel in the Temple of Sound and ask “Whom does the Grail serve?” In the Lay of Amfortas, the title character sings: When my body and my harp are ashes/your conjured rage has laid us bare/and I regret it not. True appreciation of the torment of Amfortas and Eriu may still elude humans, but Avery’s eloquence conjures a musical spell that insinuates itself into our all-too-limited flesh.
To assist Avery in weaving her web are illustrator Danae Bentley and performer Lea Ann Douglas.
Bentley’s illustrations run the gamut from colloquially charming to harshly disturbing to enticingly encrypted with delicate high-order mathematics. Her literal, yet hauntingly whimsical, depictions of some scenes in the Kambuzi Massacre left this reader feeling oddly dirty—like catching an accidental glance at a child while he changes clothes. And the imagery of that story—the illustrations and text combined—evoke memories of horrors from my younger days as a soldier and scholar in war-torn Europe: “They are our enemy. They are not us. Their blood is not ours. Their blood is a river. This river will flow across Benue State and out to sea. Benue will be clean.”
Lea Ann Douglas is Avery’s patroness and herself a devotee of Sidhe culture. She combines Avery’s research with her own performance and creative writing background to generate live performances about and in the style of the Sidhe.
Perhaps the only negative aspect of The Queen’s Rune is that, in its emphasis on ancient Sidhe culture, it fails to address the gathering storm of Sidhe-Human relations at this time. Avery’s lyrics evoke the culture of the Sidhe—their complexity, their passion, their devotion, their pain, their playfulness—but gloss over some of more disturbing aspects of Sidhedom. Most particularly, Avery leaves out the implications of the Kambuzi Massacre. The book, for all of its success in creating a bridge of understanding between the two species, fails to warn humanity of just how dangerous our “closest cousins” are and what is at stake should we fail to heed their message yet again. Avery’s Ann Amrahn Atraighn ends with the Loyalist Seth Levian heading forth “to seek mankind’s redemption” but neglects to mention that the sands of time have run quickly these last 5769 years and that our hour is nearly up.
In summary, this collection of Sidhe art, literature and lore is very highly recommended. The poetry and stories will entertain, engage and enchant and, for the reader with Ears to Hear, dares us, in the words of Brother W.B. Yeats, to “Come away, O human child!/ To the waters and the wild /With a faery, hand in hand/ For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.”
It’s been a wonderful spring here in Virginia, but I miss my tribe. With the destination of short mountain 13 hours away, it seems like such a long distance to drive. I will not be attending this year, though some of my magical companions from Asheville will be there.
I can feel the spirit of the Spring Gathering, and those who participate, already welling inside of me. I know Yurt Village will be full to the brim, and a fire will burn on the knoll each night, until Beltane Eve, when the old Maypole is taken down and burned in solemn ceremony. I dream of witch camp on the edge of the lovely faery gardens, the bottoms, and the lodge in the morning. While coffee is brewing we catch up after six months or so of not seeing each other, and exchange exciting ideas about our craft, earth worship, living on the land, living in a city, and whatnot. Before long it is noon and the lunch bell is ringing.
I have heard from many faeries across the East Coast and into TN that they will not be able to make it this year. Resources are scarce. Many say, that the spring gathering (which was overflowing with too many people last year), will be smaller than ever. No matter the number of faeries attending, it will be alive with excitement and all of the delights of the faery world.
While I’m dreaming in my own backyard, on Beltane, I’ll be with the tribe, stirring the cauldron, and inviting the elements to join us in our earth dance.
Beltane is upon is and the tribe is now gathering to celebrate this sacred time. In faeryland, preparations are already being made and connections from years long past are being renewed
As we share in this sacred time together, I have noticed that our tribe is expanding. In years past, there have not been so many as there are now. As the earth changes, we welcome new people with their energy and ideas for collective action. Just leave behind those broken hierarchical and materialistic patterns of behavior and embrace the faery way.
I met so many exciting, creative, spontaneous people in fairyland this past weekend. I can feel the love from everyone and the anticipation that we are beginning to form a whole new tribe and hive of beings, interwoven with one another. We are making some uplifting magic together.
The faeries have become known and are on the way to ‘popular.’ Let’s not forget to remember who we are during this heady time.
In Celtic mythology, humans are abducted by fairies. This poem celebrates the capture of a moon tide swimmer by a sea fairy. The moon tide is the catching tide.
Contact: Elizabeth Kirwin, Editor
