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Ra - Priestess of Moon Magic, Visionary of Sacred Space

 

Introduction—the beginning

February, 1986

 

Tonight I have gathered pastels and paper

Collected my thoughts and headed for the roof

I’ve decided upon a new art project

One which conforms to a cycle of nature

Choosing the duration of thirteen months

And the simplicity of the moon when full

A cycle I can remember

A drawing every 28 days

Observed from my studio rooftop

A unique perspective of downtown LA

A soft blush casts a spell as I watch

Dusting over this industrial landscape

The glow immersing the functional buildings

A sense of anticipation reaches upward

Revealing new outlines and mystical shadows

My blood quickens—I wonder what this is about

I’m simply here to draw the circular moon

But the air seems to swell with enchantment

Sending this atheist mind into chaos

My insides respond without hesitation

A mysterious unspoken knowing

Archaic memories long since forgotten

A sense of futures now altered forever.

 

Full Moon, February, 1986

 

All of my art, since the time I entered graduate school, was committed to creating environments.  So it was only natural that when I entered my path as a Priestess that this would include creating sacred space.

 

My transformation actually began in October of 1985 when I had a one person exhibit in Santa Ana, California. For that exhibit, I covered the gallery floor in sand, half white, half black with stepping stones down the middle. Figurative sculptures emerged out of rock form and earth to create a sense of connection. It was then that I began to question my atheism. Raised in a fundamentalist preacher’s home, I had turned to atheism in my late twenties. Then, as I agonized over the meaning of this October 1985 exhibit, I began to see that I still valued the importance of the spiritual connection of all of life. That December, a friend gave me “The Mists of Avalon” to read.

 

The next month, I found Lucy Lippard’s book, Overlay which is a book that deals with artists who work with the earth as a major element of their materials. Inspired by these artists, I decided to create an art project that would be based on a cyclical element of nature. The Full Moon seemed the easiest and so I committed to drawing the milky orb every full moon for a year. That was February of 1986 and so it began: with a simple art project in February of 1986. It became a way of life—honoring the moon and, unknowingly, creating ritual.

 

In February of 1987 I was the Director of the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art. We hosted an exhibit curated by a Los Angeles artist, Cheri Gaulke. Cheri titled her show “Between the Worlds: The Art of Women’s Altars”. A woman named Susan Gray exhibiting in that show put out a flyer announcing a Spring Equinox workshop. My Exhibitions Director and I decided to attend laughingly announcing that we were going to learn how to become witches. At the end of that workshop, I felt I was home.

 

Later that Spring, I was involved in the Southern California Women’s Caucus for Art. We staged a performance at City Hall in Los Angeles to bring about visibility for women artists. It was through this event, creating and building a 16 foot Goddess, that I became friends with Sue and Cheri who soon easily enticed me into joining their coven Nemesis. That was twenty years ago. . .

 

Now after years of active participation as a witch, priestess, artist and teacher of pagan spirituality, co-leader of an annual women’s weekend in the mountains that focuses on spiritual retreat, writer of women’s spiritual community and creator of annual journals with meditations of the moons, agricultural cycles, drawings and writing space, I felt ready to take the next step—to officially become ordained.

 

Truly my art led me back to my roots of spiritual engagement and it is through my art that I serve the earth as my Goddess, my Mother and my Guide. For me, the moon is her messenger. I envision my path to continue to create sacred space for women, community and public ritual.