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TWPT: Before
you discovered Wicca what kind of a spiritual path were you on?
MM: In Simple Wicca I talk about going to church with
my family when I was young, and feeling very odd—sad, displaced,
like I didn't’t belong. I knew there had to be something more,
some greater connection to God than what I was being offered, and at
times, that longing became almost unbearable. I felt that way for
years, even attempting to “fix” the feeling by getting
baptized in the Christian church when I was in high school. This
actually made it worse, because I experienced a tremendous amount of
hypocrisy within the youth groups at the church I was
attending—certainly no one “walked their talk,” and
yet all delighted in the judgment and condemnation of others. I
explored some of the Native American teachings, but more from a
creative standpoint, rather than a religious one; I even went so far
as to spend an afternoon with two Catholic priests, because I had so
many questions I wanted to find answers to, but after they backed me
up against a wall (and I do mean literally, physically against a
wall!) and told me even though I had been baptized, I was still going
to burn in hell because I hadn't been baptized in their church, I
escaped and said goodbye to religion as a whole. At that point, I
became one of the righteously disillusioned.
TWPT: Do
you find an equal amount of hypocrisy among those who claim to follow
the Wiccan path and yet do not apply themselves when it comes to
“walking their talk?”
MM: I think that sanctimoniousness exists in all
religions. In my line of work, I meet people on just about every
spiritual path there is, and find those who absolutely embody their
faith, and those I call “pseudo-spiritualists;” people who
can quote from the teachings of the masters, and own all the
best-sellers, but whose behavior and attitudes are a far cry from
what they purport to believe.
TWPT: Was
there a hint in these earlier spiritual experiences of what was to come?
MM: Because “religion” wasn't working for me,
I opened myself up even farther to my intuitive nature and the
experiential connection to music, art, my writing, and the rhythms of
the Earth...all very much components of the Craft.
TWPT: When
was it that Wicca entered your life?
MM: I was in my late twenties when I actually began
exploring the Wiccan path. Wicca gave me a language, and a tangible
framework, to put to my instincts regarding Spirit—all along
knowing that it was something so much deeper, and so much more real
than what others had been preaching. With Wicca I could hold God in
my hands, and know that my voice was being heard without question.
This, in turn, helped me to understand the limitations, but also the
gifts, of religion as a whole—simply different dialects with
which to define the truth of who we are as spiritual beings. Having
found my native tongue, so to speak, I was able to put away my rebel
attitude, and hear the similarities in what everyone was ultimately
saying. Quite a freeing experience!
TWPT: Once
you began to walk the path, was it what you expected?
MM: Much more so. Being a Solitary, my creative muse
was completely cut loose, and I had an absolute blast exploring
ritual and magical doings. I loved understanding the ancient agenda
behind what I had always been instinctually drawn to—the
energies of color, myth, seasons, directions; to be able to utilize,
in such profound and tangible ways, the kinds of “fantasy”
things that had always captivated me, like dragons and faeries,
glitter and moonlight, and most of all, "words". But the
most powerful aspect for me was the immediate and tangible connection
that I forged with Spirit.
TWPT: What
made you decide to practice as a Solitary as opposed to working with
a group or coven?
MM: One word: control. (Big toothy grin)
Honestly...I’m a self-professed, semi-recovered,
work-in-progress control freak. (Sun and Moon in Sag, with a Virgo
rising. ‘Nuff said.) I wanted to write it, speak it, dance it,
dress it, make it up as I went along, without rules. I learned the
basics from a wonderful, brash, red-haired Priestess, who taught me
that the most important thing about Wicca, or any spiritual path, was
to trust my own instincts. Later, I did participate in a few coven
celebrations, but found it didn't’t engage me in the same way as
my Solitary practice did. Later still, I organized and presided over
a few Moon circles for some other folks, and loved it... but again, I
was in the driver’s seat. {{{Sigh.}}} What can I say? Wicca has
always been about spiritual communion for me, and I really tend to go
the monk route, except, of course, when I’m standing at the
pulpit preaching!
TWPT: What
kinds of contact did you have with the community at large and were
they what you expected?
MM: I haven’t actually had a whole lot of
connection with the Wiccan community. I will say, however, that in
the experiences I have had, in particular through the process of
writing Simple Wicca, I was surprised to find there were
Wiccans who were every bit as zealous and dogmatic about their path
as the most fanatical Christian or Catholic ever was. Fascinating to
realize that that kind of blindness actually has little to do with
religion, and more to say about fear and personality.
TWPT: What
are the dangers of zealous and dogmatic Wiccans and how does it
generally manifest itself in outward actions? As Wicca becomes more
widespread and out in the open, do you see this dogmatism becoming
more of a problem?
MM: In my experience I’ve only seen it appear as
major attitude and self-righteousness. Spirituality is such a hot
button for the human species that until we’ve come round again
to everyone finding and owning their own spiritual truth, there will
always be those who insist that theirs is the “one, right
way.” It’s really a symptom of the pack mentality, the
basic survival instinct of the human animal: “If I’m not
accepted by the pack, I’ll be abandoned and left to die.”
People need others to see the world the same way; it helps support
the illusion of safety. My personal opinion is Wiccans should know
better... the essence of the Wiccan path is one of peace and
acceptance, and most Wiccans have dealt with prejudice and oppression
in some form or another (and usually in more than one lifetime!) so I
guess I expect them to be more conscious than most.
TWPT: Were
there any books that you found helpful at the beginning of your journey?
MM: Absolutely. Scott Cunningham’s Wicca for
the Solitary Practitioner, Laurie Cabot’s Power of the Witch,
and To Ride A Silver Broomstick, by Silver RavenWolf. There
were others, which I list in the back of Simple Wicca, but I
practically wore those three out.
TWPT: When
was it that writing became a force in your life? And how did that end
up being a career option?
MM: I’ve been writing since I was old enough to
hold a pencil. I used to sit at the fireplace hearth in our living
room, writing and illustrating “books” on wide-ruled
notebook paper. When I was about seven, I was working on a
masterpiece entitled “The Country Mouse,” and I asked my
mom who wrote the biographies of the writers on the backs of books,
because I wanted to go ahead and write my own! Poetry and fantasy
fiction have been my main expressions, until Simple Wicca.
I’ve been heading towards this piece of my career path for a
long time, with a lot of side trips, re-routes, and the inevitable
roadblock or two. I was fortunate enough to be tapped by Starwave in
1994 to write the script and act as Tarot consultant on Sting’s
CD ROM project, “All This Time,” a personal exploration of
Sting’s life and music, in which he appears in one part as a
“seer” who reads the Tarot cards. Then I hooked up with
Conari Press for Simple Wicca, and my current work-in-progress,
due for release in February of 2002, tentatively titled Tarot:
Finding Your Intuitive Voice. I also have a fantasy novel, The
Seventh Moon, I’m working on finding a home for!
TWPT: How
in the world did you hook up with Sting and end up as his Tarot
consultant on the CD-ROM project?
MM: The company that produced the project, Starwave, is
located in the Seattle area, and they sent someone to EastWest
Bookshop to scout out a good Tarot reader to help on the project.
EastWest recommended me, I let Starwave know I was a writer; they
liked the samples I sent them, and they hired me. I never actually
met with Sting, because they were filming the project segment in
England; but I did get to see a video of him “acting” the
script...he’s a very interesting man. The CD-ROM is pretty
amazing--very complex and strange, with awesome graphics. Fun stuff! |
