Friday, 6/29/18

The last two days have been adventuresome. Yesterday we went shopping at a whole foods store called “Sprouts” for groceries for the week, and picked up a bouquet of sunflowers to offer when we visited Samina’s friends Heather and Marco. Their beloved 19-year-old kitty, Sunflower, was on her last legs, and for her final day on Earth she was holding court regally over a moving and tearful celebration of her life, as friends gathered to honor her. Deaf for the past few years, she sat enthroned on a cushion as a slide show behind her projected images from her long life. To our dogs and cats, we are the immortals, living for generations of their kind.

Marco had read about me in “Drawing Down the Moon,” and had to explain to folks who I was, and my role in founding and fostering the Pagan movement. Samina mentioned that I was on Walkabout, and planning on spending a month in Guatemala, at the LaKazonA Lodge eco-resort on Lake Atitlan. Marco had grown up in Cancun and Tulum, where Dona and I were in January. But he was very familiar with Guatemala and Lake Atitlan, and recommended them highly. He and Heather want to have me over for dinner next week, so we can talk about life, the universe, and everything.

After our visit with Sunflower, Marco and Heather, Samina took me to the Venetian, where she works four days a week as a singing gondolier. We went to the new “Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire” in the Void which was an amazing hyper-reality experience. We put on equipment similar to that for laser tag, but with a virtual reality helmet that took us into an awesome walk-through video game adventure as rebel infiltrators disguised as stormtroopers on the lava world of Mustafar…sometime between movie Episodes 3 and 4.

We explored a few of the many art galleries in the Grand Canal Shoppes, and talked with the artists of some truly fabulous works. One guy created ingenious steam-punk kinetic sculptures we could animate with cranks. Others had fantastic paintings and sculptures far beyond anything I’ve seen in museums. So inspiring! They asked me if I was an artist too, and I felt almost embarrassed to say I was, as my work isn’t anywhere in the same league as theirs.

This morning we drove up north into Mount Charleston and went hiking for a few hours at Cathedral Rock with Samina’s giant 9-month-old puppy, Jester (American bulldog and bull mastiff), followed by outdoor lunch at the Lodge. Three different people (including a Park Ranger) called me “Santa Claus,” and one guy had to take a photo of Jester.

This afternoon we went to the comfy-chair Galaxy Theater to see the new Jurassic World movie, “Fallen Kingdom.” It was quite entertaining, except that the volume was turned up so loud we had to stuff tissue in our ears.

Tonight Samina is making seared tuna salad for dinner. She’s a pescatarian, and I love seafood.

Tuesday, 6/26/18

After driving 9 hours, including a couple of hour-long breaks, I spent last night in a Motel 8 in Buttonwillow, off Hiway I-5, near Bakersfield. Had a yummy dinner of chicken tikka masala at a vegan Indian restaurant next door to the motel.

I arrived safely at Samina’s in Vegas this afternoon, after a hot 5-hour drive. I’ll be here until July 10, when I fly to Starwood, leaving my car here ‘til I return in late August. I look forward to reconnecting with so many dear friends here over the next two weeks, from Desert Moon Circle and Vegas Vortex, and the community of Pagan stage magicians and performers centered around Jeff and Abbi McBride.

Morning Glory and I first met the gorgeous and multi-talented Samina in Jan. of 1999, when Jeff brought us to Vegas as Elders to conduct an initiation ceremony for her and a few others into the Priesthood of Desert Moon Circle. She sang a beautiful song she’d written of the Wheel of the Year. At that time she was an exotic dancer. We became lifelong friends, and participated in many events together, including years of Firedance, Bonedance, Mayfire, Mysterium, the Alchemical Firedance, and Burning Man. She introduced us to the “Star Trek Experience” at the Hilton. For the past ten years she’s been working as a singing gondolier at the Venetian.

I’ll be presenting an afternoon workshop in Vegas on “Awakening to Quantum Consciousness;” Sat. July 7, 4:00-6:00.

Monday, 6/25/18

Finally down from the mountains, and back in cell phone and wi-fi range. Right now, I’m sitting in a Carl’s Junior using their free wi-fi. But I have to quit and get on the road, as it’s a 6-hour drive to Bakersfield, where I expect to spend the night on my way to Vegas by tomorrow evening. Unfortunately, the folks I was planning on staying with in Bakersfield have an event and a full house, so it looks like I’ll just have to take a motel for the night.

After leaving Tom & Joy’s last Wednesday (the 20^th), I drove up to Hayward and spent a poignant last night with Meia. Thursday I drove up to Ukiah and crashed with Kiri and her family, reviewing Kiri’s latest paper for her graduate course at Pacifica. This paper addressed the current border crisis of children being taken from their parents, and especially Melania Trump’s stunningly callous statement emblazoned on the jacket she wore to meet with the immigration authorities and the press: “I really don’t care. Do U?” Kiri’s paper was on Thomas Mann’s “Dr. Faustus,” and Kiri titled it: “Melania, meet Mephistopheles.”

The same day Kiri received her Master’s Certificate in the mail, which we celebrated with champagne.

Friday morning I drove up to Annwfn, CAW’s 55-acre sacred land in the Misty Mountains of Mendocino County. Annwfn is a small part of the 6,000-acre Greenfield Ranch, one of the two oldest Hippie homesteading communities in the world, founded in 1972, where MG and I lived for 8 years (1977-‘85). This weekend was our Litha (Midsummer) celebration—and also a fabulous party at Jonna and Ryan’s home in Willits, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Brad and Terrie Wolfe-Lee. The highlight was a grand re-handfasting ceremony, in which I officiated to proudly re-pronounce them “husband and wife.” Maybe 75 people were there—much of the wonderful community Morning Glory and I came to know and love during our four decades in Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, where I hope to return someday in a new home…

Our CAW Litha celebration was small, but sweet and heartful. Fish conducted the ritual on Sunday, and afterwards we went up to the Ranch pond for a relaxing afternoon of skinny-dipping. However, I have been off-grid with no Internet or cell service since Friday morning…

And now I’m back on the road again…the Great Walkabout continues!

Sunday, 6/17/18

Yesterday Damian Lanahan-Kalish came to Eclectium to interview Tom, Joy and me for his Master’s Thesis in Anthropology. He’s doing a major study of the Church of All Worlds. He came to Beltaine at Annwfn, and looks forward to Samhain and other CAW Sabbats on the Land. Next he’ll be talking to Anodea and Motherbear.

Saturday, 6/16/18

The Journey has begun! Yesterday afternoon I arrived at Tom & Joy’s about 5:00 for a wonderful evening of dinner and conversation late into the night. They’re both fabulous cooks, and Tom is also a brewmeister of considerable talent. Appropriately replete and lubricated, we reminisced over our 50 years of respective and mutual adventures (including the great Mermaid Expedition in 1985), the incomparable Morning Glory, and other avatars of The Goddess we have been blessed to know and love. We talked about the whichness of what, and how to unscrew the inscrutable.

Tom & Joy live at Eclectium, a little Pagan enclave of 8 households in Scotts Valley, founded by Alison Harlow and a few friends in 1982. I’ll be staying here for the next few days, before going up to Annwfn with Meia for Summer Solstice and our CAW Litha. Meanwhile, however, it seems they are out of cell phone range, so I can neither send nor receive calls or texts while I’m here.

Friday, 6/15/18

Today I bid adieu to The Keep in Bonny Doon, Santa Cruz, Califia, where I have lived with Anne & James for the past 2½ years. I’ll be spending a few days with my oldest friend, Tom Williams (we met in 1967!), and his wife, Joy (MG and I performed their handfasting in 1994). Then I’ll be going up to Annwfn with Meia for Summer Solstice. After that, I’ll drive to Las Vegas for a couple of weeks, and from there, fly to Ohio for Starwood (July 10-16).