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TWPT: Tell
me about your initial discovery of Wicca and about the
aspects of this path that drew you to it.
ID: As a child I had a number
of undeniable psychic and spiritual experiences so that
by the time I was in High School I was already seeking
magickal knowledge. I read The Secret Lore of Magic
by Idries Shah when I was a sophomore which was quickly
followed by every book that I could find. My father
was a professor at the University of Delaware so I had
access to a real library. Nonetheless, the selection
of books available to me were somewhat limited and tended
towards the ceremonial magick end of things.
Not surprisingly I was a voracious reader of science
fiction and fantasy as well. But I also had the good
fortune of living next to woods so I spent many hours
observing the seen and the unseen in nature which drew
me towards paganism. I have no doubt that a magickal
life was always slated to be part of the work of this
incarnation, but there were two incidents that were
the forks in the road that led me to choose Wicca.
When I was a junior in High School I started going
to the fencing club at the University of Delaware. This
was met with approval and encouragement by my parents
who were pleased to see their bookworm son engaging
in a sport. One day after fencing when we were changing
in the locker room, one man's pentacle popped out of
his t-shirt. He quickly put it back under his shirt
but not before I had noticed it. I said "That's
a pentacle isn't it?" He blanched and stammered
yes. He was nervous because I was a minor, also folks
were pretty much in the broom closet back in 1975, and
he was only a part of the fencing club because he was
an acquaintance of the coach and not officially connected
to the university. In the end I won his trust and over
time he told me about covens and events in nearby Maryland.
He gave me a newsletter from the Keepers of the Ancient
Mysteries which led to attending one of their events.
I was a quiet shy young man when I attended one of KAM's
picnics, a forerunner of the pagan gathering, but it
was enough to convince me that I was a witch at heart.
Decades later, I was quite tickled when Lady Alexandria
Foxmoore, of blessed memory, realized that shy
boy and I were one and the same.
TWPT:
When was it that you first ventured out into the
Wiccan/Pagan community and what were your impressions
of this community as you made contact with it?
ID: Well my contacts with KAM
were brief but significant to my development. Had I
lived closer to their base in Maryland, I might have
petitioned to join them. Occasionally, I found myself
invited to potluck dinners for magickal folks in Delaware
but these were very sporadic. My next formative contacts
came through attending the Darkover Conventions that
focused on Marion Zimmer Bradley's work. I attended
the first one in Brooklyn and was a regular attendee
when the event moved to Wilmington, Delaware. The Darkover
science fiction conventions were attended by many pagans
and there were often workshops related to psychic development,
tarot, and similar topics interspersed with the standard
fare of such events. In 1983, my lover and I opened
an alternative bookstore in Wilmington called Hen's
Teeth which became an unofficial community center for
the local pagan, queer, and progressive community. Much
of the local community flowed through our store. Around
that time in addition to starting a study group we began
to attend larger gatherings. One of our favorites back
in the 80's was the Harvest Survival Festival sponsored
by Silver Web/Earthsong Community. The death of this
organization and festival was also my first real exposure
to conflict and to toxicity in the pagan community.
This did not alter my basic belief in the inherent soundness
of the Wiccan/Pagan community. Evolution is not without
hardship. Perhaps my involvement in queer politics (we
called it Lesbian & Gay back then) had already thickened
my skin enough so that I was not wounded by what I saw.
My initial impressions of our community and my current
impressions have not really changed in a fundamental
way. At the core, our community is serious about the
evolution of people as individuals and as collectives.
Our community is also exuberant about the celebration
of life and of earth our body. That said, we are also
subject to the trials and pains of the developmental
stages of both individuals and aggregations of individuals.
We remain ourselves though the forms of outward expression
continue to change. I do believe that the greatest issues
of the day are the result of the pagan population explosion.
The proportion of experienced, trained individuals,
who have fully integrated the pagan ethos continues
to shrink. For the sake of an example I'll pull arbitrary
numbers out of the air. When I became active in the
community, for every 10 newbies there was at least 1
old hand. Then it was 50 newbies for every 1 and now
100 newbies for every 1 that had been around long enough
to know the way. To complicate matters, there are second
and third waves of people who were enculturated and
trained by people who themselves were trained by other
newbies who had pieced things together as best they
could. Our current situation is comparable to the troubles
that come of teenagers becoming parents without the
benefit of an extended family or a village.
TWPT:
Did you work with groups as you began learning
about your path? If so what are the advantages that
you see to working with a group as opposed to finding
your own way?
ID: I have always been drawn
to working with groups as either a member or as a student
of their methods. I see your question in a different
light in that I think that whether you are a member
of a group or working on your own that you always find
your own way since spiritual development is internal
and private. The value that I see in being connected
to groups is that you have access to perspectives, critiques,
and reality checks that are difficult to find in solitary
work. Group work, where there is and emotional and cognitive
commitment to being in the group, also fosters refinement
and self exploration. This can be like cream rising
to the top, or scum being skimmed from the boiling honey
before the mead making, or like separating the grain
from the chaff. When it comes to magickal development,
which is distinctly different from spiritual development,
I value of group work or at the very least real teachers
is enormous. Of course, this is also a matter of what
your goals may be.
Think of developing proficiency in magickal techniques
as being like cooking. Many people can learn to cook
well enough to please themselves on their own with the
assistance of a few cookbooks. Others become renown
in their circle of friends and family as someone you
want to encourage into the kitchen. On the other hand
culinary talents worthy of being featured at a fine
restaurant usually come from training in an academy
or through an apprenticeship with a chef.
TWPT:
I'm sure that you had some books that you found
helpful in clarifying and defining your path, could
you tell me which titles aided you the most in building
your foundation and why?
ID: It is hard to answer that
question because I have read so many books.
I'll name a few that had meaning at different points
in my life. My fencing friend introduced me to a book
around 1976 called The Waxing Moon: A Gentle Guide to
Magick by Helen Chappell that set a variety of paths
in context for me. In my early days I would also include,
Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki's First Steps in Ritual, Starhawk's
Spiral Dance, and Dion Fortune's Mystical Qaballah,
The Findhorn Garden by the Findhorn Garden Community,
and various books by Janet & Stewart Farrar as having
a big impact on my development. Later on I read everything
I could find by Regardie, Ashcroft-Nowicki, Fortune,
Crowley, and Murry Hope. Recently I found Ellen Cannon
Reed's The Heart Of Wicca and Bone & Farrar's Progressive
Witchcraft to be particularly meaningful.
In general, the reason that these books made an impression
on me is that they address the question of "why
things are" as much as "how to do it."
Although I own many esoteric books that are the equivalent
of cookbooks and technical manuals, these are not the
ones that shape me.
TWPT:
For those who may be unfamiliar with you, could
you give me an idea as to the particular path that you
follow and why this is the right path for you.
ID: My tradition is Wicca of
the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel flavor. Wicca as we
practice it is the spiritual descendant of the indigenous
religions and folkways of Europe, the ancient triumvirate
of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and the Western Magickal
Traditions. We draw heavily upon Qabala, Astrology,
and Hermetic thought as frameworks to make sense of
things and as inspiration for our rituals. We celebrate
the Wheel of the Year and the cycles of the Moon as
our holy days so that we may connect more fully to the
life of the Earth. We also recognize the Great Year
that is the turning of the Astrological Ages. Our rituals
and methods run the full gamut from simple and primal
to elaborate and ceremonial. This is the right path
for me because it broad enough to include my interests
and deep enough so that I feel rooted.
TWPT:
Do you remember when it was that you first felt
that writing was going to be something special in your
life and what did you do to nurture this new found desire?
ID: I was reading books on my
own when I was 5 years old. A love of words and literature
was a part of my upbringing. I father was a lawyer in
Cuba and then became a professor of Spanish literature
in the United States. My mother was an avid reader as
well. My childhood memories include many images of walls
of bookshelves and dad eternally at the typewriter.
I was 7 or 8 years old when I first started writing
short stories and poems. My sense is that I never experienced
it as special, reading and writing were just a part
of my everyday life.
TWPT:
You have been teaching since 1982. What is it
that makes you a good teacher and how do you see teaching
as an extension of your work as an author?
ID: My normal mode of thought
is images, similies, and metaphors which makes it much
easier to communicate the intricacies of metaphysical
thought. My first language was Spanish, followed by
fluency in English around age 4, exposures to some French
and then 5 years of German classes in high school and
college. I do believe that language has a powerful shaping
effect on how we think. My knowledge of more than one
language was given me a bit more mental flexibility
to wrestle with ideas. My psychic skills and powers
of observation also allow me to adapt my workshops on
the fly as I teach. Although I almost always have an
outline, a handout and many diagrams for my workshops,
I never give the same workshop twice. When I teach I
feel more like a musician or a dancer using the outline
as a cue to performance.
I see myself as a teacher first and as an author
out of necessity rather than love. I don't enjoy the
process of writing and I always have misgivings about
how my written words will be understood. I think that
witchcraft, magick, and religion are best taught from
mouth to ear. I think that some concepts are best communicated
when the student and the teacher can be in each others
energetic presence. Teachings are transmitted as much
as they are spoken. However, I cannot travel constantly
to teach nor will I live forever so writing is a tool
to compensate for these realities. I can teach on a
single topic from morning into the evening without being
exhausted whereas an hour or two of writing is tiring.
In part this is about energy flow and in part it is
because when I write I must anticipate the mindset of
an uncounted number of readers instead of the 30 students
or so in a class.
TWPT:
Tell me about writing your first book, why you
wrote it and the experience you had in finding a publisher.
What kind of feedback did you receive from readers and
others when your book became available?
ID: My first book was not a metaphysical
title though it did include spiritual perspectives and
material gleaned from my experiences as a witch. It
is entitled Beneath The Skins: The New Spirit And Politics
Of The Kink Community and was published in 1994 by Daedalus
publishing out of Los Angeles. I gave a talk at the
National Lesbian & Gay Health Foundation's annual
conference in 1993. After my talk I was approached by
the owner of Daedalus at the time, Race Bannon (yes
that is his name) who had been in the audience. He liked
my ideas and how I presented them and asked if I did
any writing. I said that I had written several essays
on sexual identity and he asked if I would be willing
to write a few more and submit them as a manuscript.
I did and after several courteous and fair exchanges
I had a contract and a published book. It was well received,
is still selling, and has been reprinted.
My first book of a metaphysical nature was Castings:
The Creation Of Sacred Space which was published in
1996. It began its life as a teaching tool and as a
manual used by the covens within the Assembly of the
Sacred Wheel. After it had proved its worth within the
covens, I decided to submit the manuscript to Llwellyn
Publications because they had a good distribution network.
When they did respond it was in the negative and whoever
read it must have been a rank amateur. The reviewers
comments showed so little knowledge and understanding
that I was appalled. At that point I decided to self-publish
as SapFire Productions. Not to compare myself with her
but Dion Fortune's books were originally self-published
so I felt I wouldn't be in bad company in publishing
my own books.
Castings has done well and has received nothing but
excellent reviews both here in the US as well as in
the UK.
Castings is actually the first book in my Wheel of
Trees series. Each of the books I have written and those
I will write stand alone but they build upon and relate
to each other. The concept of the Wheel of Trees is
based upon the 13 month Celtic tree calendar and is
a framework to focus my ideas. When they are all written
the 13 books will be an organic whole that will be a
summation of my insights and perspectives on Wicca and
Magick. I don't emphasize the idea that they are a series
because I don't want to give the impression that they
must be read together or in a specific sequence to have
value.
After Castings I wrote Of Spirits: The Book Of Rowan
which was published in 2001. This book is a guide to
understanding the nature of discarnate spirits. I have
gotten many positive emails and comments about this
book. I was also heartened by the great review that
the late Ellen Cannon Reed wrote for PanGaea.
Sometime this fall Spirits Of Earth & Faerie
will hit the shelves. I am not adverse to going the
route of a publishing house and may try again for the
fourth book in my Wheel of Trees series which will be
a book on designing and enacting rituals.
TWPT:
You were/are involved with the Assembly of the
Sacred Wheel, why was this group formed and what were
some of the goals of the Assembly and the covens that
were formed through it?
ID: The first coven of the Assembly
of the Sacred Wheel was Keepers of the Holy Chalice
which was formed in March of 1984 in Newark, Delaware.
Keepers had arisen from the study group that was
started in 1983 out of Hen's Teeth, our bookstore in
Wilmington. The initial group of people in Keepers had
worked with, and/or attended workshops and rituals
from a broad range of traditions including: Gardnerian
and Alexandrian Wicca, Keepers of the Ancient
Mysteries, the Sabian Society, Sun Bear's teachings,
Patricia Hayes' teachings, Masonry, and the Golden Dawn
as described by Regardie system. A brief history of
the Assembly is available at www.sacredwheel.org/bhistory.html
. We are currently 5 covens, about 65 members, and another
2 covens in the pipeline for the near future.
We differ from most Wiccan traditions in that though
the covens are fairly autonomous, the tradition as a
whole is truly one organization. Moreover there is a
carefully articulated plan for the growth of the tradition
so that it remains a cohesive in effective in acting
as a unit. Our decision making process varies according
to the issue or the task at hand. Some things are taken
to a vote. Some things are processed by consensus. Some
things are handled by a judgment call on the part of
the 3rd degrees or Elders.
The Assembly has many goals and purposes but there
are two that are dearest to me. One is the re-enchantment
of the world which, among other things, means lessening
the perceptual difference between the various planes
of being resulting in more magick and more beauty in
the world.
Another is the evolution of magickal systems and
magickal culture which means involvement with many other
communities and traditions. This means we are
as interested in the development of other systems and
other communities as we are of our own. Evolution, in
this case, is seen in the context of a spiritual ecology
with each system and tradition have its own niche and
purpose.
TWPT:
Another major project that you have been working
on for a number of years is the New Alexandrian Library
Project. What is this all about and how will this benefit
the community at large once it has opened?
ID: Once, the Great Library of Alexandria in
Egypt served as one of the major focal points for scholarship
in the ancient world. Moreover it served as a spiritual
crossroads for the exchange and advancement of esoteric
knowledge. The New Alexandrian Library Project is working
to create a library worthy of its namesake. The New
Alexandrian Library will be a modern, state of the art
facility, comparable to the quality of a university
library. It will be a specialty library whose collections
will center on spirituality, magick, and religion. This
project was formally announced in May of 2000 at Between
The Worlds: A Grand Magickal Congress. By no later
than 2010 the New Alexandrian Library will open its
doors. This will be a free library with no required
membership fees.
It will be supported by donations, fundraising, and
fees for services such as copying. The library will
be located in Southern Delaware on land that has already
been donated to the project.
The New Alexandrian Library will be primarily a research
and reference library; there will be a small lending
collection. The rare material won't leave the
building, but there will be many duplicate copies of
more common books and these we will lend out. We
will also engage in interlibrary loan with other similar
libraries. It will provide onsite workstations and other
facilities. We are also planning housing options for
people who will be spending a weekend or a week at the
facility.
Books, periodicals, special collections, music, media,
digital data, etc., will all be carefully cataloged
and cross-referenced to ease the work of research. The
Library will work to restore and to preserve rare and
damaged documents. The history of our magickal communities
will also be collected for the future. In addition to
its physical presence, the New Alexandrian Library will
have an internet component to maximize its utility.
Over time, as much material as is possible, within the
limits of logistics and legalities, will be available
online.
The New Alexandrian Library's resources will act
as a magnet that will draw together teachers, authors,
and scholars from many paths. There is no other project
working to create such a cultural focus and magnet.
Like the original Great Library of Alexandria, the schools
of Qabala in medieval Spain, and the flourishing of
magick that occurred in renaissance Italy, the diverse
confluence of minds and resources would result in great
leaps forward in theory and practice. There will
be many conversations between people of different traditions
that will result in greater intellectual vitality and
new awarenesses for all. No doubt people will gather
in the meditation garden, go out to lunch together,
etc. The benefits of these face to face encounters
are incredible. In a way it is like an esoteric conference
that never ends. The New Alexandrian Library will be
one of the cornerstones of a new magickal renaissance.
The benefits for future generations are incalculable.
Like many academic libraries, the New Alexandrian
Library will have a museum/educational component to
its programs. This means that it will make meeting
space available for appropriate community activities.
Moreover, The New Alexandrian Library will also host
exhibits, talks by authors, lectures, etc. There will
also be a garden that will be available for outdoor
rituals and events such as handfastings. The New Alexandrian
Library will to a certain degree, act as a center to
build the community.
The New Alexandrian Library will be collecting materials
from all spiritual traditions and faith communities.
Like the original Alexandrian Library in Egypt, it will
be an interfaith crossroads. This means we will also
include books and media from mainstream religions. Additionally,
books on history, the arts, and the sciences will also
be a part of the collection. The principal interest
of the New Alexandrian Library is esoteric material
but in order to see things in context, exoteric knowledge
is also needed.
One of the tasks that will be tackled by The New
Alexandrian Library is the creation of extensions to
the existing systems of cataloguing and cross-referencing
books and media to make them useful to people doing
esoteric research and study. Magickal folk have different
sorts of knowledge and categorization schemes that are
not a part of mainstream academic thought. By the way
this is one of the areas that will generate, actually
requires, extensive collaboration on the part of many
traditions. This will be one of the most traveled bridges
between communities. One of the great triumphs
of the original Alexandrian Library was the creation
of the first card catalog (actually clay and wood tablets).
I hope that one of the New Alexandrian Library's great
triumphs will be systematizing esoteric knowledge in
a comparable manner.
It is now a clichéd complaint that most of the esoteric
books available are basic and aimed at the mass-market.
That is the nature of the publishing industry and we
should expect little more. More advanced materials are
usually published by university presses and by publishing
houses owned by charitable institutions where profit
is not the primary motive. The New Alexandrian Library
will in time either directly publish such works or facilitate
the bringing together of the people and groups to engage
in such activities.
The plan is for the New Alexandrian Library to be
a world-class facility. This does not mean that you
need to be a world-class scholar or a student working
on an advanced degree to use it, just a desire to do
more in-depth study. There are many types of people
who use university libraries or institutions like the
Library of Congress who are not members of the academic
elite but who derive great benefit from their studies.
Perhaps it is a question of empowerment, or the lack
thereof, that makes phrases like "doing research"
seem daunting. In truth just about anyone who stays
on their spiritual/magickal path is or becomes a seeker
of deeper knowledge.
TWPT:
How far are you along on this project and how
much further do you have to go to get it finished? How
can someone be involved with this project in a large
or in a small way?
ID: In addition to the donated
land (worth about $250,000) we have raised a bit over
$50,000 in cash. You can play an important part in bringing
this dream into reality. Although donations of books
and other materials will be welcome, the immediate need
is for the funds to build the library.
Until we are closer to opening the library, donations
of books are really more of a burden than a help. There
will be a sculpture of a tree in the library that will
bear the names of those that make sponsoring donations.
The names will be engraved on small plaques in the
shapes of leaves, flowers, fruits, and stars mounted
on the tree. See our website for details on making larger
donations. Once we break ground, donations of labor
and building materials will be welcome.
The New Alexandrian Library Project is also raising
funds by sponsoring workshops, conferences such as Between
The Worlds: A Grand Magickal Congress (www.sacredwheel.org/btw),
and through the sale of a chant CD.
The entire project is about furthering esoteric knowledge
and it is fitting that the fundraising efforts serve
this purpose as well. The audio CD is entitled "A
Dream Whose Time Is Coming" and consists of 21
chants for rituals and devotional ceremonies.
Contact Information
The New Alexandrian Library
14914 Deer Forest
Road
Georgetown, DE 19947
NAL@sacredwheel.org
www.sacredwheel.org/nal.html
TWPT:
In one of your other answers you talked briefly
about your new book coming out this Winter called Spirits
Of Earth & Faerie. Could you give the readers of
TWPT an idea as to what the book is about and who will
find the information the most useful.
ID: In writing Spirits Of Earth
& Faerie my main goal was to encourage the process
of reuniting the different realms that have been parted.
Just as the work of spiritual development on the individual
level is about integrating the various parts of self
so is the reconnection and balancing of the greater
life of the Earth, both seen and unseen, our collective
work. This book also approaches nature spirits, elementals,
and the fae from a very different perspective than other
books that are in market. Spirits Of Earth & Faerie
is not driven by the lore or mythology that surrounds
these beings or by the teachings of particular traditions.
Like its companion volume, Of Spirits: The Book Of Rowan,
it is informed by the desire to understand the nature
of these associated phenomena through the lens of the
sacred sciences. This means that if you have a specific
tradition or group of techniques that you use to access
these beings and these realms, the material presented
will expand what you have instead of offering a replacement
to what you practice. For those that are new to this
sort of work, then this book will provide a framework
that will assist them in making sense of experiences
and systems as they go about their explorations. The
book had a bit of a delay in printing but will be available
in January 2005.
TWPT:
As a teacher what is it that you find satisfying
about going to the many conferences and festivals and
teaching those things that you have learned along your
path? What is it that you would like for those who attend
your classes to take with them when they go back to
their individual lives?
ID: The single greatest gift
that I get from going to conferences and festivals is
the opportunity to observe and to participate in the
life of various communities. This stimulates and enlivens
me in countless ways.
Barely second to that is the joy of watching the
process of growth and the unfolding of selfhood that
happens during workshops, rituals, and in follow-up
discussions. I hope that people come away from my classes
with the knowledge that there is more and the desire
to become that more. One of the greatest obstacles to
all magickal folks is the slumber and the inertia of
complacency, satisfaction, and low expectations. If
I can stir them, even a little, I am happy.
TWPT:
I was reading a description of your teaching methods
and it said that your techniques are rooted in a synthesis
of traditional metaphysical teachings, modern science,
and memories from past lives. How is it that you blend
all of these facets harmoniously into a cohesive whole
style?
ID: There is a great teaching
in the Western Mystery traditions that says that everything
that rises must converge. Well the process of synthesis
is in part about raising consciousness to the point
that the commonalities, or ideally the root sources,
of things become evident. I also believe that things
must be tested and prove themselves as safe and worthy
before they should be shared with others. There are
many things that look plausible and seem to have the
ring of truth that fail when tested in the field of
life. This is especially true of information gleaned
from past life memories or in conversations with spirits.
Another thing to consider is that the development of
a cohesive teaching style is directly related to the
amount and the quality of effort applied in doing your
own work. In the arena of magickal and metaphysical
teaching, those that can do it can teach it. If you
can't do it, you can't teach it.
TWPT:
Tell me about Between the Worlds and what this
conference stands for in the Pagan community and why
you have decided to be involved with it each time it
occurs.
ID: Between The Worlds: A Grand
Magickal Congress is sponsored by the Assembly of the
Sacred Wheel and as such it is my duty and my pleasure
to work for this event. This particular conference happens
roughly every 3-6 years whenever there are astrological
aspects that support the work of an interfaith esoteric
conference. I believe that it is very important to encourage
the cross-pollination, the exchange of ideas, that is
one of the benefits of interfaith esoteric work. Between
The Worlds strives for diversity and high quality in
its workshops and rituals. It is easier to achieve this
with a conference that occurs every several years. This
conference also is an opportunity for powerful large
group rituals. It has been my experience that many festivals
and gatherings have almost given up on their main rituals
being anything more than non-participatory ritual theatre
or watered down celebratory ceremonies. What a wonderful
gift it is to the community to offer a ritual that pushes
the boundaries of their experience into new territory.
We also use this conference is an opportunity to
raise issues and to support community projects. We have
raised funds for the New Alexandrian Library at this
conference. At the Between The Worlds we just held,
there was quite a bit of healing that occurred around
the issue of the presidential election. At our plenary
sessions, panel discussions that have nothing scheduled
against them so that the majority of the participants
attend, we hear articulate discourse on many of the
core issues in our community.
We also have a lot of fun at this event which is
also a worthy thing indeed.
There is an excellent review of the last Between
The Worlds at: http://www.witchvox.com/festivals/fest_btw04.html
TWPT:
You have quite a few creative outlets at your
disposal, tell me more about how music and art help
you to express different aspects of your spiritual nature.
ID: You have probably heard the
idea that there are some phrases or words in one language
that have no direct translation into another language.
That is the way that I feel about painting, drawing,
chant writing, carving, sewing, and all the other forms
of creative expression that I so enjoy.
Living a magickal life means an increase in your
creative powers because the Great Ones are creative
and we are their children.
TWPT:
From an author and teacher's perspective what
do you see happening within the Pagan community in the
here and now and where is it that you would like to
see it go over the next ten years?
ID: I think that I have in part
answered this question in several other questions, but
there is a bit more I'd like to add. I would like to
see a deepening of our community to match and to balance
the wild expansion that we have seen in the last few
years. A tree whose roots do not delve as deep as its
branches reach high will fall. I would like to see more
brick and mortar presence in the physical world to anchor
our huge cyber presence. I would like to see more academic
programs, more real training, and higher standards for
our priestesses and priests. I want us to take
seriously what it means to be a religious movement.
TWPT:
What is it that you would like to see your books
accomplish as they are sent forth by you into the world?
ID: I want my books to be part
of the magick that helps to manifest the world that
I and my fellow seekers are visioning. My public magickal
name is Panpipe and I am often correcting people who
turn it into Panpipes. It is singular because I am one
reed that plays one note. It is my hope that my books
add one note to a greater melody.
TWPT:
Your partner Jim and you have been together for
quite a long time. How does that kind of security
and support in a relationship translate into helping
you focus your creative energies in your art, your music
and your books?
ID: Jim and I will be celebrating
26 years together in February. A good lover is like
a good editor, they bring out the best in you and point
out the worst. I can tell you that Jim does more than
support my work. He inspires me and I would not be alive,
let alone sane without him. I also take pride in his
work as a Wiccan Priest in the Assembly and in his work
in HIV/AIDS work nationally and internationally where
he is a name to conjure with. We also have the strength
of a well grounded open/poly relationship. Our beloved
Adam has been in our lives for 7 years and we teach
and are taught by him. We also have the joy of continuing
deep friendships with our past lovers.
TWPT:
Looking towards the future a little, what other
books do you have inside of you that are just dying
to get out and do you have an idea as to when you might
let them out?
ID: The next one after Spirits
Of Earth & Faerie is a book on ritual design. After
that probably a book on the Elements or the Tree of
Life. I have more books in me than I have time. I also
put my work as an Elder first, which means that my work
as a writer comes after teaching, mentoring, and organizing
in my priority list.
TWPT:
To close out this interview do you have any thoughts
or encouraging words you would like to share with those
who are fellow travelers along this spiritual path?
ID: A Zen Master and a discouraged
student are walking together along the shore of a lake.
The Master asks the student to pick up a pebble and
throw it in the lake. The student does so, and is asked
to observe the lake. The Master then asks him if it
has changed. The puzzled student finally answers that
there is no difference. The Master explains that though
they cannot see it, be assured that the level of the
lake has risen. Trust in the weight of the pebble.
www.seeliecourt.net/panpipe
The New Alexandrian Library Project: This
project is working to create a library worthy of its
namesake. By no later than 2010 the New Alexandrian
Library will open its doors.
http://www.sacredwheel.org/nal.html
TWPT:
Thanks for taking the time out to talk to us especially
with all the activity that you've been involved with
lately concerning the Between the Worlds event
just past. I wish you the best of luck with your latest
book due out in January and success in your efforts
to complete the New Alexandrian Library Project.
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