As Cherry Hill Seminary’s first permanent Academic Dean, Wendy brought a dedication to academic integrity and a devotion to Pagan and Nature Spirituality. By the time she retired in 2018, Griffin had inspired students and colleagues alike with her intellect, skills and engagement. Only recently, the seminary Votaries alumni group created the Wendy Griffin Professor of the Year award in her honor. Read our announcement of her passing here.
Wendy wrote this about herself as author of The Fifth Sun when it was published: I was a college dropout. At the end of my first semester at Northwestern University, back in the days when female students were locked in the dorm at 9 p.m., I made a rope ladder out of sheets and escaped out the window. I fled to New York to do Off Broadway, ending up working with Dustin Hoffman, among others. In between shows, I supported myself as a puppeteer, a “Beat” poet, and a diamond courier. After several seasons, I went with friends to Mexico and from there to Florence, Italy. But the wet Italian winters depressed me, so I strapped my guitar on the back of a motor scooter, and headed across the Alps to southern Spain. During the next decade, I married a Spanish pop musician, had a daughter, worked as a folk singer in London, and traveled across Europe with the band. Ten years later, I returned to the United States to find myself a single parent with a high school education and very limited labor market skills. I worked as a Spanish/English interpreter in Chicago and then branched out into folk and cabaret singing before moving to California. Here I sang in several clubs and got full-time work as a cocktail waitress and bartender while I went back to college. Fortunately, going back to school gave me access to a great library, and I learned to love doing historical research. Finally I got enough scholarships to quit my job and go to school full time at the University of California at Irvine, first getting my BA, Magna Cum Laude, and then my Ph.D. in the interdisciplinary Social Sciences, with an emphasis on the sociology of sex and gender. I spent about 36 years as an academic. When I retired, I was able to return to my first love – writing novels. My academic career gave me the training to be as historically accurate as possible, a fact that I believe enriches my writing and helps bring the stories alive.
Many friends and colleagues have shared their memories of Wendy.
My first encounter with Wendy was when we were joint panellists for the “Reinventing Religion” session of the Association for the Sociology of Religion in Los Angeles, August 1994, but it was really the following year in March during the “Ambivalent Goddess” Colloquium at King Alfred’s College in Winchester when I fell in love with her. Wendy spoke about having lost her daughter, but this was not a ploy for sympathy in any way. She presented it simply as a fact, and it was obvious how she had come to terms and moved on with her indomitable positive attitude and unquenchable joie de vivre. Despite the uneven manner life might deal out her cards, Wendy is someone who could always treasure the gift of life itself.
Over the following years, Wendy and I became the co-chairs of the Contemporary Pagan Studies Unit for the American Academy of Religion. Working together with her, as was also the case when she became the Director of Cherry Hill Seminary, has always been a delight. But more than simply a co-academic, Wendy has also become a dear, dear and much-loved friend. For all her intelligence and erudite astuteness, she has possessed simultaneously a deeply sensitive and fully emotional core that was never something for her to hide.
After the Joint meeting of the American Sociological Association and the Association for the Sociology of Religion conference in August 2001 at Disneyland in Anaheim, Wendy invited a group of us to her home in Long Beach. I was astounded over how perfect and thoroughly thought-through everything was, and I remember once I had seen where and how she was living saying to her, “Well, I know now I will never have to worry about you.” Wendy replied, “I did not know that you worried about me, Michael.” She was at peace and at home with herself, but not too long after this Doug entered her life and swept Wendy off her feet. It was a lovely privilege for Richard and me that Wendy and Doug came to our place in the South of France for their honeymoon. The glow of contentment and happiness in Wendy’s eyes at that time has been unforgettable.
Wendy is one of those pagans who has accepted this world as the sole reality upon which to focus and cherish without the distractions of some supernatural. The gods for her are metaphors rather than ontological realities, but vitally important emblems all the same. If there is a life to follow this one, Wendy will undoubtedly soar through it. If there is not, she will rest serenely and surrounded by the undiminished glow of having lived life as it is meant to be lived – to the fullest.
Michael York
Wendy and I met in person at the American Academy of Religion meeting in 2001. I was involved with something called the Nature Religion Scholars Network, which would be come in 2005 the AAR’s Contemporary Pagan Studies program unit. She was developing a book series for AltaMira Press on Pagan studies and asked I would like to be the co-editor. Together we acquired and published six books during what I think of as the first large wave of academic Pagan studies. Likewise, she was one of the first co-chairs of the Contemporary Pagan Studies unit (together with Michael York), and when I later held the same position, was always there to guide and mentor me. Always determined, always supportive, she was the best possible collaborator. Read more at Chas’ blog.
Chas Clifton
Lydia and I had just sat down to watch a Masterpiece Theatre show last night when I opened FB on my phone for a minute. Your post popped up. I must have gasped. Lydia, of course, wanted to know what was wrong. So, I began telling her about Wendy. Much of it was from our retreat in Missouri. She came to Atlanta a year or so after that for a conference, and I met her downtown for dinner. We had such a good time. One of the things I told Lydia about was Wendy talking about her daughter’s death. Anyone who has a child, or who even just loves children is immediately drawn into a story like that. I so admired Wendy for being able to live her questions about life and death out loud as she did for us. So courageous! This morning during my daily ritual around my altar, I lit a candle for Wendy and talked to her a bit. It was a brand new candle with a rather long wick that had to burn down before it got to the wax. As I lit it and called to her, I felt very distinctly her saying: our lives are like this wick. And when they burn down they finally return to Source and burn so much brighter. Personal gnosis. I know. I could just see her smiling that wonderful smile of hers. I remembered her suffering, and her joy, and her wit, and her incredible mind, and that laughter. What an honor to have been even a little part of her long, beautiful life. I told her that I knew that there would be many witches loving her and supporting her around their altars as she journeyed home, but this Druid had to do that, too. I am so grateful for the years that allowed me not inly to work with Wendy but to get to know her a bit. She was such a strong and generous and confident soul.
Bob Patrick
Wendy was an advocate to non-academics who were practicing goddess spirituality to write about our movement, and our spiritual work with women. I was reluctant to write for academic projects Wendy suggested because it was such a different way of writing and felt so stiff and uncreative. She insisted and encouraged me so that my own words about the Dianic tradition could then be quoted by others writing for academic projects and settings. I am so deeply thankful to Wendy for her understanding the importance of practitioners contributing to these book projects and journals so that the lived experiences could be documented for posterity.
I treasured Wendy as a friend, and remember fondly when we shared a hotel room for the 2015 Parliament of Worlds Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah. Wendy, Barbara McGraw, and I shared some wonderful hours in the hotel bar sharing stories and discussing relevant feminist topics. I loved Wendy for her environmental commitments to our Mother Earth, the Goddess, and for her vision to make sure that women’s spirituality and paganism were documented. Wendy also encouraged me to teach for Cherry Hill Seminary which I was happy to do for a short time.
Every person is unique, and those who pass on leave the living to mourn their loss. Wendy had so much more to share, and for this I am especially heartbroken. Her contributions to the Goddess Movement, to Pagan Studies will live on beyond us all.
I bless Wendy’s brilliant wild spirit and for the honor of knowing her. I send condolences to her beloved husband Doug, and to all who will miss her so much. Rest well in Her arms, friend.
Ruth Barrett
I am so sad. Wendy was not only a wonderful scholar of the Goddess movement, she paved the way for scholar/practitioners who came up after her, was generous with her support to me and other younger scholars, gave so much to our community, and to the scholarly study of Neopaganism and the Goddess movement in her work in scholarly institutions like the American Academy of Religion, and the Cherry Hill Seminary, and through her published works. She was fun to be with, had a wonderful laugh, a shining smile. She did and accomplished so much in her life. We have lost a light. Blessed be Wendy — May the Goddess enfold her, and may her work live on….
Kerry Noonan
The loss of Wendy is very personal to me, as it is for many others at Cherry Hill. We were great friends and the loss is immeasurable. Wendy and I traveled up the coast together, and I stayed with her many times in her beautiful home in Long Beach, sharing wine and stories, some personal and some about the pagan community. She and her husband visited us in the Bay Area too, and we did ritual together. And our many years of fun at the American Academy of Religion stay in my heart.
(period costume murder mystery party for Wendy’s 75th birthday; note that the cigarette is a prop)
I can’t imagine the world without her. As Michael York has said, she was an incredible force and a major figure in the Pagan community for many years. She began with Moon Birch Grove, when I am not sure, but it was at least late 80s. One of the most amazing Pagan events Wendy organized was in Long Beach in the 1990s in an amphitheater there. It was a glorious event that included beautiful invocations of the directions, with real waterfalls and song calling the West, and much music throughout the ritual, followed by all sorts of bands, dancing, vendors and more. (The rightwing Christian community there protested the event with signs and chanting outside the park grounds, which was a plus for Wendy because she was all about going against the tide to make a mark and the world a better place, which she did so many times in her life.)
Before becoming an academic, Wendy was a folk singer. She had married a Spaniard and lived in Europe for many years. When that marriage ended, she moved back to the United States and was a cocktail waitress for a time. Sadly, her daughter died at 12 years old, a devastating loss. But then she found her way to all of us – and eventually to her beloved husband, Doug Cox, who was and is a true gentlemen. They both married up, and I was honored to officiate at their beautiful wedding with my husband, Patrick McCollum. Talk about a happy day! Wendy sang for Doug at the reception, and I don’t think there was a dry eye.
Wendy was a dedicated frame drummer and started Lipishau with group of frame-drumming women who played at pagan gatherings all over Southern California — and other places. That was a sacred feminist practice for Wendy. And Wendy was in a coven for several decades, still ongoing, called Dragonweyr.
Wendy was instrumental to Cherry Hill Seminary, including as a benefactor. With Michael York, she started the Contemporary Pagan Studies unit at the American Academy of Religion as the first co-chairs, which continues to provide an ongoing, secure place in the academy for Pagan studies. And on top of all of that, she was a brilliant sociology scholar, having published numerous scholarly works, including the anthology she was so proud of, Daughters of the Goddess: Studies of Identity, Healing, and Empowerment, and having given numerous academic presentations over many years at the annual conferences of several scholarly societies. One of the best presentations I ever saw at the AAR was when Wendy left her notes in her car and spoke extemporaneously, not missing a beat. She was a real pro.
But she was also a novelist. She wrote steamy novels before she became an academic, but when she returned to that writing in her last years, it was historical novels. That was to be her retirement occupation. She was so excited when she published her last novel in 2018: The Fifth Sun, about the conquest of the Aztecs, under the name Wendy Lozano. It was a truly great read, and I recommend it highly. It should be a movie! Wendy actually had her stroke while giving an author presentation about the book while giving a public reading; she was rushed to the hospital, but the damage was serious. She never fully recovered her speech although her loving husband said he always could understand her. Her beloved hobby was knitting — she was an amazing knitting artist. I will cherish the beautiful sparking shawl she made me until the day I die. Sadly, she lost that ability after the stroke, too.
I am glad, though, that she is suffering no longer, that her last days were not painful, and I am grateful that her wonderful husband, Doug, stood by her so well these last couple of years. Wendy was a brave heart throughout her life — and to the end. May she be surrounded with love from all of us and the Mother of All.
Barbara McGraw
Hello remarkable Cherry Hill community, Wendy was a gorgeous soul, a blessing and a joy. I’m grateful to have known her and grateful for all of her remarkable and important work.
Phyllis Curott
Wendy Griffin was truly one of those who “spoke for Gaia”, as an activist, scholar, ecologist, mythologist, and theologian. She spoke eloquently, factually, and passionately. She was also a warm and encouraging woman who it was my privilege to meet at the Pagan Studies Conference in California, and in the course of a course I took with her through Cherry Hill Seminary. I am truly sorry that she has left us all too soon and untimely, bur she leaves behind a legacy that will continue to speak for Gaia.
Lauren Raine
Like many who have written, Wendy was my friend and my colleague. I met Wendy at a Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) meeting. I can no longer remember where it was held or how many years ago it was, but certainly more than 30 years ago. Wendy was doing research at that time with Tanice Foltz on Goddess Spirituality. We were all delighted to find one another. I studied mixed groups of women and men; Wendy and Tanice [were in] Dianic groups that were women only. But, at a time that there were very few of us studying contemporary Pagans we were joyous to meet, to share our thoughts, support one another, and pretty quickly to organize contemporary Pagan sessions at the SSSR.
Initially we were accommodated but really not taken as seriously as we should have been by the SSSR. Our sessions were always at the least convenient times and we were put in small rooms. One year we were in a room behind the kitchen that was freezing because the air-conditioning level was set for the kitchen. Having come from New England I had a winter coat in my room, which I ran to get. None of the other presenters had that advantage. After the session we were all complaining about the accommodation of our area of research. But, Wendy, stopped us and said we need to go now, find the business manager of the society and make it clear that in the future we will not tolerate this. She led us to him, smilingly laid down the law, and from then on we got better time slots and rooms. That to me is Wendy in a nutshell. She knew how to organize, how to get things done, and how to make change happen. She did this over and over in helping create a Women’s Studies Department at her University, the section on contemporary Paganism at the American Academy of Religion, the book series she did with Chas and in her work at Cherry Hill Seminary. She was a leader and a “doer” as well as an exquisite writer and intellect.
Wendy, Tanice and I came through the academic ranks, in different time zones, but together. We all went up for tenure and promotion the same year and we all got it. I still remember our meeting at the first academic meeting we attended after we all heard. We formed in a small group hug and danced in a circle. Wendy was always supportive, for example, encouraging me to put myself forward when I remained silent at a meeting when she knew my work spoke to what was being discussed. Wendy demanded respect but she supported others—she supported me. She didn’t see the world as a zero sum game.
After leaving Cherry Hill Seminary there was one more chapter in Wendy’s career. As Barbara McGraw mentioned, Wendy had returned to being a novelist. I remember speaking to her after she made this decision. She was delighted to return to an occupation she had put aside to become an academic. She had just published the first of what she hoped would be a three part series of novels. She told me how much fun she was having, being retired, married to Doug, writing novels and being a grandmother. Doug came with grown children into his marriage with Wendy and they were a gift, particularly the grandchildren. Wendy had thought she had lost all chance to grandmother after her daughter’s death but Doug through his son provided her with grandchildren whom she loved with all her heart. I wish she had had more time to enjoy all she had worked for and created. I wish we all had more time to spend with her.
Helen Berger
Ronald Schaefer
Col. Ronald Schaefer is a 26-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, former Squadron Commander, F-16 Fighter Pilot, F-4E, T-38, and T-37 Instructor Pilot with over 3500 hours total flight time. He is also a well established aerospace industry business developer. Key areas of pursuit include engineering services, studies and analysis, instructional systems design, information operations, technical applications of radio interoperability solutions, airfield management, unmanned aerial systems, human systems integration and homeland security solutions. He is also a subject matter expert in the field of instructional systems design and flight training and flight operations. He commanded the USAF’s only outsourced, contract flight training program and managed previous contracts for aerospace and defense consulting business with ARINC (Annapolis, MD), Spartan College (Tulsa, OK), I-3 (Huntsville, AL), and Lincoln Technical Institute (Orange, NJ), to identify and qualify government business opportunities and assist with writing proposals. Colonel Schaefer holds the requisite security clearances to facilitate performance on classified USG contracts. He holds a Masters of Aerospace Technology with a focus on cockpit design, human systems interface and instructional systems design. He speaks several languages, is a published artist, musician and writer and holds the USAF highest classification (CAT III) for diplomatic work in international relations and training for allied nations supporting foreign military sales and the USAF security assistance mission. Ron served on the Cherry Hill Seminary Board of Directors for seven years.
Carol Kirk
In the secular arena, Carol graduated from Michigan State with a BS in Nursing. She served for 22 years as an Army trauma nurse, including an 18-month tour in Vietnam. During her time in the Army she graduated at the top of her class in Command and General Staff college. In addition, she earned an MS in Guidance and Counseling from Murray State University.
Carol earned her 3rd Degree in the Oak, Ash, and Thorn Tradition in 1995 and subsequently ran a large teaching coven, Tangled Moon, until 2008. In 2012 she became a 3rd Degree in the Gardnerian Tradition.
For many years now, Carol has been part of the Cherry Hill Seminary family. She earned her Master of Divinity in Pagan Pastoral Counseling in 2016. She completed her internship as a hospital chaplain at Huntsville Hospital. During that time she was ordained by Sacred Well Congregation. Since then she has actively mentored in the Cherry Hill Seminary Community Ministry Certificate program as well as with Sacred Well Congregation.
Troy Robinson
Troy is a native Kansan with a lifelong connection to the agrarian landscape and a strong solitary practice within Germanic Heathenry. With over nearly four decades of combined service between the U.S. Marine Corps, Corrections, and Law Enforcement, Troy has extensive experience designing curriculum, building training and policy manuals, and developinginstructor certification programs. Presently Troy facilitates group therapies providing cognitive-behavioral interventions to enhance moral decision making and improve behavior through addressing risk, needs, and responsivity for justice-involved individuals.
A strong supporter and student of Cherry Hill Seminary, Troy completed the Community Ministry Certificate and the Writing as Spiritual Practice programs. He is a member of the Votaries Alumni Association and serves on the Board of Directors. He is an ordained cleric priest with Sacred Well Congregation.
Troy enjoys adventures with his wife, children, and grandchildren; exploring the less traveled, scenic backroads and educational opportunities available throughout the United States. A published author and artist, Troy uses his spare time to challenge his creativity to craft within a variety of mediums.
Michael Owens, JD
Michael is a 1988 graduate of New College of Florida and a 1993 graduate of Vermont Law School with Juris Doctor and Master of Studies in Environmental Law and Policy degrees. He has practiced environmental law for more than 15 years while volunteering time to Pagan organizations and earth religions rights groups. Michael has been involved with the Craft for over 23 years. He is a Georgian Tradition Elder with an eclectic practice, and has been active in the Covenant of the Goddess, serving as First Officer and Publications Officer on its national and local council boards, helping found the Everglades Moon Local Council.
Michael McDermott, MD
Michael is a semi-retired physician and long time political activist. Raised an Irish Catholic, passing through Marxist atheism, he became a Pagan about 30 years ago. This spirituality has provided him with a way to see and be in the world that puts his mind and heart at ease and at the same time is endlessly challenging.
He has lived in rural Wisconsin and has land that is named for and dedicated to the Goddess Brigit. Brigit Rest is now the home of the Black Earth Institute (see www.blackearthinstitute.org) founded by himself and his wife, Patricia Monaghan. The institute is dedicated to using the arts to promote the causes of earth, spirit and society. It is set up as a think tank where artists can join together to address the secularization we see in progressive organizations.
In addition Brigit Rest can be a center for Celtic spirituality. Michael believes very strongly that Paganism offers a path for so many in our society and consider a seminary a crucial part in developing a truly Pagan infrastructure. He hopes to contribute to Cherry Hill Seminary so that it can succeed in this essential role.
Ronald Hutton, PhD
Ronald is professor of History in the University of Bristol, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, and formerly a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Hutton is a historian on the commission which runs English Heritage, and has published fourteen books on aspects of political, social, cultural and religious history, including a monograph on the English Civil War, a narrative history of the Stuart Restoration, a biography of Charles II, a survey of what is thought about the pagan religions of the ancient British Isles, two large-scale studies of the history of the ritual year in Britain, an analysis of Siberian shamanism, the first history of modern paganism in Britain, and a survey of the treatment of Druids in British culture over the centuries.
Hutton is perhaps best-known in wider Pagan studies circles as the author of the much-acclaimed Triumph of the Moon.
Tom Gordon
Tom has been active with nonprofit environmental boards for over 50 years. He coordinates soil and water conservation programs for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry. Previously, he served as Executive Director of the Maine Association of Conservation Districts and was an elected Supervisor of the Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District. He served for 19 years as Executive Director of the Cobbossee Watershed District, Maine’s first regional lake management agency, and directed the District’s innovative lake restoration programs. He is a founding member and Past President of the North American Lake Management Society, and Vice President of the Maine Lakes Society.
Tom graduated from Colby College in 1973 as its first environmental studies major and earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Maine. He has been active with Cherry Hill Seminary since 2005 and served on the CHS Board as Treasurer for two terms.
Phyllis W. Curott, JD, HPs
Phyllis is an attorney, writer and one of America’s first public Witches. Her best-selling books, published in 14 languages, and her YouTube series What is Wicca?, with over 2,000,000 views, have introduced the world to Witchcraft.
An outspoken advocate in the courts and media, she handled or consulted on groundbreaking cases securing the legal rights of Witches, including cases of child custody, religious assembly, organization, expression, and free speech.
Phyllis is the founder of the Temple of Ara. She is the first Wiccan Trustee and Vice Chair Emerita of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, creator of the historic 2015 Inaugural Women’s Assembly and drafter of the Declaration for the Dignity and Human Rights of Women adopted by the 2015 Parliament, was the Wiccan representative to the Harvard University Religious Pluralism Project’s Consultation on Religious Discrimination and Accommodation as well as the Religions for the Earth Conference at Union Theological Seminary. She has spoken at numerous universities, churches, organizations and conferences.
Phyllis received her B.A. in Philosophy from Brown University and her J.D. from New York University Law School.
Diane Cacciato, MA
Diane is program coordinator for Writing As A Spiritual Practice. She holds a B.Ed in English and School Library Science from University of British Columbia and an M.Ed in School Library Science from University of Alberta. She is currently working on a second master’s degree in Theology and Religious History.
ADF priest Diane has 33 years of teaching in the public school system in British Columbia, and three years of teaching in private schools and colleges in Japan. Since retiring from the public school system in 2016 she has been teaching group and private writing classes, and facilitating writing groups.
Diane is the author of seven books:
Fiction: Greenwich List, The Bastard of Saint Genevra, A Curse of Magick,
Travelogue/Cookbook: Mancia di Sanu: A Canadian Expat’s Take on Sicilian Life and Cuisine,
Poetry: Gratitude and Betrayal | Betrayal and Gratitude: Poems,
Children’s Books: Moo-Moo Saves the Day, Alberi:Trees
as well as numerous articles on Paganism and other topics.
Wes Isley, MDiv
Wes holds a Master of Liberal Studies from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a Master of Divinity from Cherry Hill Seminary (CHS). In addition to 20+ years in publishing, Wes is a Pagan and Interfaith minister with experience in grief workshops, LBGTQ Pride events and the spiritual dimensions of racial justice.
They have worked as a hospital chaplain and served as a volunteer chaplain with the American Red Cross and a local sheriff’s department. A CHS Faculty Mentor since 2018, Wes recently joined Starr King School for the Ministry as a Spiritual Advisor for its chaplaincy program. They have also served as founding Chair for the CHS Votaries Alumni Circle.
Wes is a kanzo initiate of LaSource Ancienne Hounfo and is ordained by Sacred Well Congregation where they also serve as Congregational Chaplain.
They live with their husband and black lab Harley in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Rev. Cynthia Cebuhar, MA, MDiv
Cynthia wears many hats. She completed an MA at Northern Arizona University and an MDiv with Cherry Hill Seminary. She serves as co-director for Temple of the Creative Flame in Arizona, on the board, and resident clergy for interfaith and Earth-traditions with the Shrine of Holy Wisdom, also in Arizona.
She also serves as a faculty mentor with Cherry Hill’s Community Ministry Certificate program and works in various ministerial capacities where she is called.
Liz Watkin, MA
Liz is a fiber artist and practicing witch in Western North Carolina. She has been hand sewing since a child and runs a small business called Open Coven selling embroidery kits based on her own artwork and teaching fiber art classes.
She has a Master’s in Liberal Arts from UNC Wilmington where she focused her scholarship on witchcraft and the occult.
Liz is currently training to be a Pagan minister through Cherry Hill Seminary’s Community Ministry Certificate and writes occasionally for the Wild Hunt.
Kathleen Rivers, Ph.D.
Kathleen is an educator with over 16 years teaching experience in public high schools, and eight years in corporate technical training and writing. Her doctorate is in Psychology with a concentration in Transpersonal Psychology and a specialization in Creative Expression from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. Her Master’s degree is in Organizational Management (essentially an MBA for non-profits).
Kathleen is a practicing Wiccan and shamanic journeyer who is grateful for the opportunity to apply her experience, education, and passion for learning to Cherry Hill Seminary.
Kathleen contributed to the anthology, It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living. She has presented the topic and research method of her dissertation, Transpersonal Genealogy: An Autoethnographic Study Juxtaposing the Lived Experience of An Early Mormon Ancestor With Her Lesbian Descendant, at a myriad of conferences, and is currently co-authoring a book tentatively titled, Rescuing The Beauty: Healing Trauma Through The Ancient Art of Moxibustion.
Kathleen lives in San Jose, California, with her wife and three children.
Katharyn Privett-Duren, Ph.D.
Katharyn specializes in Goddess Theology, Feminist Rhetoric and 20th Century American Literature and has taught university courses (both undergraduate and graduate level) since 2000.
As a family traditional witch and priestess, she has led the Gangani Tribe of Alabama (a Southern Cherokee/Celtic coven) since 2008.
Both an academic and an ordained minister of Pagan faith, Katharyn has published in academic, peer-reviewed journals as well as Pagan anthologies and is a recurring columnist for Crone Magazine.
Ava Park
Ava is the Founder and Presiding Priestess of The Goddess Temple of Orange County, a “world sacred site of devotional pilgrimage, historical education and spiritual ceremony,” now in its ninth year of service to the spiritual community of Southern California, with Sunday Goddess Services both for women only and for all genders. The Temple, a permanent structure of 3,200 square feet in Irvine, California, maintains the “Goddess Antiquities Collection,” an ongoing display–open to the public, free of charge–of educational artifacts, statues and information telling the ignored, denied and suppressed 30,000 year history of goddess spirituality and women’s power on earth.
Rev. Ron Padrón, CMC
Ron (he/him/his) is a gay Cuban-American hedge priest from the swamps of Florida now living in the mid-Atlantic with his husband and their small cryptid dog. He has been a member of the pagan community for nearly two decades with specific interests in divination, Queer Ancestor veneration and necromancy, hedge witchery, and spiritual activism. He is the creator of White Rose Witching through which he manages a blog sharing Queer Ancestor Spotlights and rituals. He has presented at gatherings such as the Salem Witchcraft and Folklore Festival, Hallowed Homecoming, Free Spirit Gathering, various Pagan Pride Days, historic sites, and small museums on topics such as colonial witchcraft politics, spiritual activism, and queer-affirming spirituality.
Ron has completed the Community Ministry Certificate Program through Cherry Hill Seminary. He is a member of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), and has completed the Bardic grade through the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD). The nature-centered aspect of his witchcraft focuses on bioregional animism, permaculture, and (sub)urban homesteading. As part of his spiritual practice, he tends to his own productive garden and supports local farms when possible. Weather and ability permitting he can be found hiking in local parks as a means of grounding and connection with local spirits.
Ron has worked as an educator and administrator in higher education for nearly two decades. His work centers justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. He has presented locally and nationally on inclusive practices in education and the physical, embodied impact of diversity work. He is dedicated to the development, implementation, and assessment of equitable institutional practices that foster diversity and inclusion in both the for-profit and nonprofit sector.
He serves as Associate Editor for an academic journal, Including Disability, that centers the intersection of disability with other social identities through essays, academic research, poetry, and visual art. He is also a founder and co-editor of a punk spirituality zine, ALTAR PUNK, which is an interfaith project focused on reclaiming discourse around faith and spirituality from nationalist movements.
Aline O’Brien
Aline (M. Macha NightMare), Priestess and Witch, is a ritualist, both solo and collaborative, and a published author. Macha joined in the formation of Reclaiming Collective, to teach Craft and to perform public sabbats in San Francisco. The collective evolved into a Craft tradition, and eventually dissolved itself in 1997, to re-emerge as a much larger and more inclusive international entity.
Macha co-created with Starhawk The Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over and is author of Witchcraft and the Web: Weaving Pagan Traditions Online and Pagan Pride: Honoring the Craft and Culture of Earth and Goddess. She has also contributed to several anthologies, religious studies textbooks, encyclopedia entries, and guest blogs.
Macha holds Elder and ministerial credentials through The Covenant of the Goddess. A member since 1981, she currently serves as one of the Covenant’s national interfaith representatives. She’s a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Nature Religion Scholars Network, and Marin Interfaith Council, a Cooperation Circle of the United Religions Initiative. She also serves on the Sacred Dying Foundation Advisory Council.
When the opportunity presents itself, Macha travels the broomstick circuit, where she enjoys immersing herself in the diverse community that is American Witchcraft.
Sushmita is an interfaith/interspiritual minister, educator and soul-companion, and a practicing biomedical research scientist. Her work emphasizes encountering the divine by living an “imaginal life.”
For her, image, imagination and creativity serve as portals to approach a lived sense of wholeness. In this space, apparent dualities of sacred and profane, light and dark, consciousness and the unconscious, cease. Instead, they emerge as dance partners, as members of an orchestra, or as colors of paint on the palette, interweaving and intermixing to create a rich, expansive and multi-faceted experience of life.
Sushmita’s soul-work involves engaging with the archetypes that arise from myths, dreams, poetry and art, to deepen an encounter with the divine. Her work is deeply influenced by Jungian thought, and post-Jungian thinkers such as James Hillman, Joseph Campbell and Clarissa Pinkola Estes.
Scott Mohnkern, BA, JD
Scott founder of http://www.modernheathen.com began his computer training in 1979. While he has developed many skills, including dancer, musician, lawyer, teacher, and others, he has always been drawn back to the technical fields, particularly with respect to educational endeavors. Scott’s technical background includes working for the University of Denver, owning his own Internet Service Provider, doing research and development on Video Conferencing, System Administrator for the National Weather Service, as well as serving as a technology consultant for various companies, being director of education, and ultimately President of the Capital PC User Group.
His spiritual upbringing was originally Methodist. Since that time he has migrated through various philosophies which ultimately brought him to heathenism, where he has been active for more than two decades.
He currently teaches courses about Asatru and Heathenism online, and provides instruction at pagan gatherings.
Scott received his B.A. from Beloit College in both International Relations and Music, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver College of Law.
He currently resides with his wife and her partner, in Germantown, MD.
Race received his Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee with a concentration in Information Technology, building on a prior Master of Religious Studies degree from Nations University and undergraduate degrees in history and modern languages, both from the University of Alaska Anchorage. He is a member of Atla, where he serves on the Atla Press Coordinating Committee, and is also an occasional respondent for The Religious Studies Project as well as a former intern for Feminism & Religion. An Ovate in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids as well as a Dedicant in Ár nDraíocht Féin, he has twice presented at Paganicon in the Twin Cities, where he lives with his wife and son, and has been published in Academic Librarianship, Theological Librarianship, Implicit Religion, and other journals, in addition to contributing to the Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions and a variety of Pagan magazines and blogs.”
Heather Greene, MA
Heather is a freelance editor, writer, and journalist in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also currently an acquisitions consultant with Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd, the former Managing Editor and writer for The Wild Hunt. She has served as public information officer for Covenant of the Goddess, Dogwood Local Council and has worked with Lady Liberty League as a media consultant.
Her writing has appeared in Circle Magazine and various online blogs. Her professional background is in advertising, public relations and information technology. She has a master’s degree in Film History and Criticism.
Michelle is an aromatherapist, Reiki Master, and Shamanic practitioner. She holds multiple certifications in aromatherapy, Shamanism, Reiki, ancestral healing, life transition coaching, and more.
Michelle attended Youngstown State University (Ohio) and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. Michelle has studied aromatherapy with Katherine Graf, Shanti Dechen, CCAP, Bruce Berkowsky, Ph.D., and Aromahead Institute. She has trained with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, where she earned a certificate in Harner Shamanic Counseling™, and studies Shamanism with Valentine McKay-Riddell, Ph.D. She has studied ancestral healing techniques with Daniel Foor, Ph.D. and is a certified Seasons of Change™ transition coach.
Michelle is also a nationally recognized artisanal soapmaker.
Michelle’s journey through illness and personal trauma taught her that at the root of all disease is a disconnection of self and spirit, and the practices she has used to heal herself are the ones she offers to her own clients.
In 2015, Michelle has conducted research into the role of intuition in transpersonal aromatherapy practices, and how these practices impact well-being from a psychoneuroimmunological standpoint.
In her spare time Michelle can be found visiting her favorite hickory tree and revitalizing her property, converting it into a wildlife habitat and home for native plant species.
Justin Ferko
Justin is an interspiritual Spiritual Pathfinder and a 2022 New Contemplative with Spiritual Directors International. He is a Board Member of Oasis Ministries for Spiritual Development, and instructor and supervisor in multiple spiritual direction training programs.
He and his spouse Craig live along the banks of the Susquehanna in East Pennsboro with their dogs Yeshe and Benny where Justin practices relationship with the More-Than-Human world. He celebrates the spiritual giftedness of the LGBTQIA+ community and provides spiritual pathfinding to individuals and groups as Earth-to-Earth Companionship.
He is a Certified Forest Therapy Guide with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (August 2022), Spiritual Director (Oasis Ministries for Spiritual Development 2021), professional chaplain (5 years), Tibetan Buddhist, and Carpathian Mountain spiritual practitioner.
Angela Farmer, Ph.D.
Angela has taught at the university level for over a decade and has mentored initiates since 2008. She is published extensively in in national and international peer-reviewed journals as well as writing several articles for internet-based Pagan and Heathen magazines (under her pen name, Ehsha Apple). Angela holds a Ph.D. in English-Gender Studies from Auburn University. She earned her Master of Arts in English from Saint Xavier University, where she also earned a Certificate in Pastoral Ministries. An ordained Pagan minister and Grove Steward, Angela is active in her local Pagan community.
Sandra D. Costa
Sandra is a founding member and elder of Treibh na Tintean in Joliet, IL and a lay community minister at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet. She is an artist, activist, healer, writer, and college instructor. She works for social justice and interfaith harmony. Her great loves are community organizing, rites of passage, her Dark Moon group the Seedling Seesters, and ritual choir.
Robin Douglas, Ph.D.
Robin is a writer and researcher based in London. His academic background (PhD, Cambridge) is in the ancient and modern history of Paganism and Pagan ideas. He is the author of The Pagan Revival (Equinox, 2024) and the co-author, with Francis Young, of Paganism Persisting (Exeter University Press, 2024). He has also published a growing series of articles on Pagan history.
Angela Chamberlain, MA
Angela is a speaker, researcher, and a perpetual student. She earned her first degree, a B.S. in Biology, Psychology, and Sociology from Drury University in 2010. She earned a M.A. in Counseling (with emphases in Marriage, Family, and Children) from Webster University in 2013. She earned a MA in Psychology from Fielding Graduate University in 2019. Angela is currently working on her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA.
Her theoretical orientation is Humanistic and she strives to be a whole, authentic, and congruent human in all areas of her life.
She is provisionally licensed as a professional counselor in the state of Missouri. She co-founded the Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling in the state of Missouri.
Angela is a 1st degree Correllian priestess and a Priestess Hierophant with the Fellowship of Isis. She is the founder of the Pulaski County Pagan Alliance in Missouri.
Angela is currently working on two pieces of research – her dissertation on the spiritual identity of Wiccan women experiencing infertility and a project using Archetypal Imagery with women who have experienced infertility.
In her personal life, she resides in the state of Missouri. She is the wife to the love of her life, Jeremy, and mom to their 9 children. She helps homeschool their children. She is also a certified professional dog trainer (CPDT-KA) who trains and competes with her dogs – a bunch of unruly Belgian Malinois.
Arnold Ramon Bustillo III, DBA
Arnold was born and raised in Southern California. Having lived in Mexico for nearly a decade, he writes extensively on the topic of Santa Muerte, the Mexican folk saint whose name in English means Holy Death.
Arnold is also the founder of Santa Muerte Ministries, which allows members to recognize and elevate those who do good work in service to others and in the name of Holy Death.
Apart from his spiritual work, Arnold is a gay military veteran of the Iraq war, having served in silence during the era of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and today he holds a doctorate in business administration, which he was able to earn thanks to the military GI Bill.
Alison Beyer, MFA
Alison received her MFA from Columbia College Chicago (2008) in Interdisciplinary Arts & Media where she currently teaches in the Television Department as well as teaching at Cherry Hill Seminary.
A working artist and an open Pagan educator, Ali was raised in an out Pagan family in Madison, Wisconsin, and her artwork is created from an inherently Pagan perspective. Ali is also a Pagan Minister and a member of Prodea Coven in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Kristal Barrywood, MA
Kristal is a recent graduate from the University of Chicago with a MA in Liberal Arts. Her research interest in Paganism through the lens of Cultural Anthropology is reflected in her master’s thesis: Inherent by Proxy: A Study of Intentional Environmentalism Within Pagan Rituals. Inspiration for her academic research stems from her personal Pagan path that she has been practicing and evolving since 2013. She intends to continue her career in Pagan Studies by enrolling in a PhD program for 2022. Until then, Kristal leads a small coven and resides near the Twin Cities in Minnesota with her fiance, Rich, and her furry baby, Mochi.
Michael York, Ph.D.
Michael has retired as Professor of Cultural Astronomy and Astrology with the Bath Spa University’s Sophia Centre. He also directed the New Age and Pagan Studies Programme for the College’s Department for the Study of Religions and coordinated the Bath Archive for Contemporary Religious Affairs. He continues to direct the Amsterdam Center for Eurindic Studies and co-direct the London-based Academy for Cultural and Educational Studies.
His major publications are: The Roman Festival Calendar of Numa Pompilius (1986); A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-pagan Movements (1995); The Divine versus the Asurian: An Interpretation of Indo-European Cult and Myth (1995); Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion (2003); Pagan Ethics: Paganism as a World Religion (2016); and Pagan Mysticism: Paganism as a World Religion (2019), and his latest book is Matter Matters: End of Life Reflections on Paganism (2023).
Caroline is a Pagan, Witch, and Archaeologist. Her interests include ancient Mediterranean religions, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Thelema and contemporary Paganisms, particularly Witchcraft and Pagan Reconstructionism.
Caroline is an expert on Egyptomania and the religion of Minoan Crete. She is the author of The Cultic Life of Trees in the Prehistoric Aegean, Levant, Egypt and Cyprus (Peeters 2018), and many academic and popular articles.
Caroline has curated exhibitions of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities, and regularly presents lectures and workshops on ancient religion and magic.
Francesca has a passion for the mythology and folk tales of the United States. She is a monthly contributor to Return To Mago, an online publication for women interested in the Feminine Divine and Women’s Spirituatity.
This year she joined the editorial board of S/HE: The International Journal of Goddess Studies.
For the past several years, she’s hosted a public radio program on green living and the organic gardening movement and has a large collection of books and articles on everything from homesteading to survivalists.
Outside of academia, she works as a museum educator for a small railroad museum in North East, PA.
She is also a published poet and short story author who enjoys scaring her readers just a bit.
Michael F. Strmiska, Ph.D.
Michael is Associate Professor of World History in the Global Studies Department at SUNY-Orange in New York State in the USA, and has also taught courses in Modern Paganism and New Religious Movements at Hampshire College in Massachusetts.
He was the editor and a co-author of Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives.
His research on Baltic and Norse-Germanic Paganism has been featured in a number of journals including Nova Religio, The Pomegranate, and the Journal of Baltic Studies.
In the fall of 2015, he was a visiting lecturer at Masaryk University (Czech Republic).
Dr. Strmiska is currently at work on a book entitled Unchristian Eastern Europe: Pagans, Jews and Gypsies.
His research interests involve the political dimensions of modern Pagan and Native Faith movements in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the United States, the interaction between popular culture and Paganism, and developing ethnically-rooted but non-racist forms of Paganism.
Deirdre Sommerlad-Rogers, Ph.D.
Deirdre has served as Cherry Hill Seminary faculty since 2011. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from San Jose State University, in Psychology and Sociology, and her Ph.D. in Sociology from Bowling Green State University, with minors in Women’s Studies and Social Psychology.
She had held the position of tenured professor and Department Chair in Sociology and Criminal Justice. She is currently consulting as a statistical and dissertation consultant. Her areas of focus and teaching have included criminal justice, inequalities, and social construction of difference.
Rev. Chris Rothbauer, MDIV, MALS
Chris (they/them) is a Unitarian Universalist minister, spiritual companion, and dreamworker based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. They earned their Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Leadership studies from Meadville Lombard Theological skill.
Throughout over a decade as a minister, they have served in a variety of contexts, including parishes, religious education, hospital chaplaincy, social justice ministry, and spiritual direction. They are a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) and a dedicant in Ár nDraíocht Féin.
Chris lives in Lewisville, Texas with their partner; a senior rescue beagle; and a spoiled rotten cat.
Megan Rose, Ph.D.
Megan is an initiated ceremonial magician, Shakta Tantric practitioner, and is a senior apprentice to Orion Foxwood in the Celtic Faery Faith tradition of Faery Seership. She is also an ordained inter-faith minister through Seven Sisters Mystery School.
Megan Rose holds a doctorate in East-West Psychology from the School of Consciousness and Transformation at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and a master’s degree in Religion in Society from the Graduate Theological Union.
She has a private practice specializing in transformational psychology, holistic healing, divine embodiment practices, and eco-spirituality.
Jo Pearson, Ph.D.
Jo is a British academic now resident in Canada. She has a degree in early modern history, and gained one of the first Religious Studies Ph.D.s in Britain in the field of contemporary Paganism, with a thesis on Religion and the Return of Magic: Wicca as Esoteric Spirituality.
She previously worked at the Open University, Cardiff University, and Winchester University in the UK, before moving to Canada in summer 2012. She has organised two international conferences on Paganism, and delivered papers at international conferences over the past 20 years.
Her publications include Wicca and the Christian Heritage and Nature Religion Today, plus numerous articles. She is presently working on a study of post-Christian priest/esshood and contributing to explorations of disability in ritual contexts.
Robert Patrick, MDiv, Ph.D.
Robert resides in Lawrenceville, GA, a suburb of Atlanta. He holds a BA in Biblical Literature from Oral Roberts University, a Masters of Divinity from Emory University, and a PhD in Latin and Roman Studies from the University of Florida. His dissertation focused on the presence of sacred groves in the Metamorphoses of Ovid as nonlinear events, and he has continuing interest in sacred groves in surrounding European and near-eastern cultures, particularly Celtic cultures.
An active member of the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Gwinnett, he co-founded both the Oak Grove CUUPS and the Druid Order of Three Realms (www.druid3realms.org) whose mother Grove, Sylvan Sanctuary, meets at UUCG.
His religious and spiritual path is labyrinthine including ministry in the United Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and for the last twenty years, Druidry and Unitarian Universalism.
David Oringderff, Ph.D.
David is a graduate of Dallas Baptist University, and holds an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Bowie State University (Maryland) and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The Union Institute School of Professional Psychology in Cincinnati, Ohio.
He is a retired Licensed Psychologist and Licensed Professional Counselor. He is currently a consultant and trainer in forensic and organizational psychology, and psychodiagnostics.
Dr. Oringderff is a veteran of over twenty-seven years in military and civilian law enforcement and intelligence work. Dr. Oringderff holds a Missouri and a Texas Peace Officer license with Master Certification, a Police Instructor license, a Forensic and Investigative Hypnotist license.
He retired from full-time law enforcement in 2021. Dr. Oringderff is a Subject Matter Expert consultant to the Department of Defense Armed Forces Chaplains Board on Alternative Religions, Sects and Cults.
He has appeared on ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, NBC Dateline, VRT Television (Belgium), ZDF Television (Germany), and national and international printed media including Time Magazine, Texas Monthly and US News and World Report.
Thomas Nowlin, Ph.D.
Thomas holds a Ph.D. in leadership from the University of Central Arkansas. His dissertation title is Leaderships Influence Upon Muslim Identity Formation in Arkansas: A Qualitative Study. He also holds a Master of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, with an emphasis in Pastoral Care, and a B.A. from Charleston Southern University in Charleston, SC, with an emphasis in Religious Studies. He is a graduate of the International Institute for Japan Studies, Nigawa, Japan, and the Kansai Missionary Language Institute, Kobe, Japan. He is fluent in Japanese.
Dr. Nowlin completed 5 years of work toward a PhD in Theology, Church History and Missiology at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, TN. He also completed independent study in philosophy and Japanese at the University of Memphis in Memphis, TN.
Dr. Nowlin has 23 years in Christian ministry – a pastor of four stateside churches in Kentucky and Arkansas (11 years) and a denominational missionary to Japan (12 years).
Having studied the Shinto paleo-paganism of Japan he became interested in studying the Irish Druidry of his family ancestry.
A graduate of the US Navy’s elite nuclear power school, and a former submarine nuclear operator during the Cold War, he later became a Conscientious Objector to the use of nuclear weapons.
He is currently an electric utility office manager and a farmer in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. He is committed to clean efficient energy use, sustainable agricultural practices, and whole natural foods.
Dr. Nowlin is passionate about the study of leadership, philosophy, theology, and ethics, and their disciplined practical application in facilitating the health and well-being of humanity, our planet, and our environment. He is a practitioner of the spiritual disciplines – simplicity, meditation, virtuous living, piety, study, service, etc.
Shane Nelson, MDiv, MA, BCC, LPC, NCC
Shane is the Executive Director of Sacred Well Congregation, a Board Certified Chaplain, and a Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in working with trauma and addiction. He completed his Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Bushnell University and his Master of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry. Currently, he is completing his Doctor of Ministry in Interreligious Chaplaincy at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
Shane serves in the Pastoral Counseling and Chaplaincy department at Cherry Hill Seminary. He is trained and ordained in GreenCraft Wicca, Asatru, and Druidry.
Cedar Monroe, MDiv
Cedar is a writer and chaplain. They hold a Masters in Divinity from Episcopal Divinity School and worked as an interfaith chaplain in poor communities for thirteen years. They co-founded Chaplains on the Harbor, a ministry for and with people experiencing homelessness, incarceration, and addiction, in western Washington state; co-founded Harbor Roots Farm, a supportive employment project supporting people coming out of jail to learn how to farm and connect with the earth; and is the author of Trash: A Poor White Journey (2024).
They have practiced earth centered spirituality and paganism for the past fifteen years and worked with young incarcerated pagans in opposing and countering the rising interest in white supremacist versions of heathenry in US prisons.
They live with their partner and two cats in the Pacific Northwest, and are a cheesemaker and a student of North American Indigenous studies and language, in preparation for a PhD in comparative paganism at University College Cork in Ireland.
Valentine McKay-Riddell, Ph.D.
A graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, Valentine earned a Masters in Counseling Psychology and a Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology at the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology (now Sofia University). She has a private practice in shamanic healing and wellness counseling in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Ben Luoma, MDiv
Ben first felt pulled by the Gods while wandering the pine barrens of New Jersey as a child. He eventually found his way to British Traditional Wicca, which he has been practicing for over a decade.
He has an M.Div from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and completed Clinical Pastoral Education at Norton Healthcare in Louisville.
Since 2018, Ben has served as a staff chaplain at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.
He lives in North Providence with his wife, 2 children, 3 cats, and 1 dog.
Carol Kirk, MDiv
Carol is a military veteran, having served in the U.S. Army as a trauma nurse from 1966-1986. During that time she served in various military hospitals around the world, including 18 months as an operating room nurse in Vietnam. She retired in 1986 but was called back to active duty for the duration of Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
Carol became Wiccan in 1980 and eventually trained in the Oak, Ash, and Thorn Tradition, earning her Third Degree in 1996. She subsequently founded Tangled Moon Coven, a large Wiccan training coven, in 1996 and ran it with her husband until stepping down in 2008. In the fall of 1998 she entered training with a Gardnerian coven, subsequently earing her Third Degree in the Gardnerian Tradition in 2013.
Carol holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Michigan State University, a Master of Science from Murray State University in Guidance and Counseling, and a Master of Divinity in Pagan Pastoral Counseling from Cherry Hill Seminary.
Candace Kant, Ph.D.
Candace holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in history from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Ph.D. in history from Northern Arizona University. She has taught history, women’s studies, and religious studies courses at the College of Southern Nevada since 1976, including such classes as the History of Witchcraft, Goddess Traditions, Introduction to Modern Paganism, and Modern Pagan Thought, all of which she developed.
After 32 years of teaching Candace retired and was awarded the title Emerita. She developed and taught courses in practical Pagan and Goddess Spirituality at the Temple of Goddess Spirituality dedicated to Sekhmet in Cactus Springs, Nevada and through the College of Southern Nevada Continuing Education. A devotee of Sekhmet, she was ordained at the Temple of Goddess Spirituality in 2003 and has served as one of the temple priestesses from 2006 to the present. In 2023 she was presented the Hypatia Award for Excellence in Education by Cherry Hill Seminary.
Lynne Hume, Ph.D.
Lynne is an Anthropologist, Honorary Research Consultant, and Associate Professor (retired) in Studies in Religion at The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. She has researched and published on Australian indigenous culture, contemporary Paganism, new religious movements, altered states of consciousness, and sensorial anthropology as well as magical experiences and religion and dress.
Her book publications are: The Varieties of Magical Experience: Indigenous, Medieval, and Modern Magic co-authored with Dr Nevill Drury (Praeger 2013); The Religious Life of Dress (Berg 2013); Portals: Opening Doorways To Other Realities Through The Senses (Berg 2006); Ancestral Power: The Dreaming, Consciousness and Aboriginal Australians (Melbourne University Press 2002); Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia (Melbourne University Press 1997); Anthropologists in the Field: Cases in Participant Observation (with Jane Mulcock) (Columbia University Press 2004); Popular Spiritualities: the Politics of Contemporary Enchantment (with Kathleen McPhillips) (Aldershot, England and Burlington, USA: Ashgate 2006).
She has also published work in numerous academic journals and several encyclopedias and supervised PhD students through to completion of their doctorates. Hume lives in Australia.
John is a Massage Therapist, a Reiki Master Teacher, a Tai-chi and qigong instructor, a Workshop Leader, and a Certified Life Coach specializing in Reinventing Work and Spirituality. He has written several books and articles on Practical Spirituality and at present he specializes in a mind, body and spirit healing practice as well as a radio show and forum he hosts on Podcast. Dr. John (Om Prakash) is a retired Unitarian Universalist Minister after more than 20 years in the parish and as a JUUST Change Consultant, and Director of Racial and Social Justice for the Joseph Priestley District. He has been a CUUPS member for several years and is now serving on the CUUPS (Covenant of UU Pagans and Earth Based Traditions) Board as Co-chair and Right Relations.
Padraic Fitzgerald, Ph.D.
Padraic is an adjunct instructor at the College of Charleston in their Religious Studies department. He graduated from the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology Joint Doctoral Program in Religious Studies (’23). His dissertation, titled Til Valhall!: The Formation of Nordic Neopagan Identity, Religiosity, and Community at a Norwegian Heavy Metal Festival, explores the Midgardsblot heavy metal festival as a temporary sacred space where people self-identifying as belonging to or adjacent to Nordic Neopaganism engage with manifold forms of Nordic folk symbolism to refine religious identities and achieve religious experiences. His research interests include material religion with an emphasis on the natural environment and religious musicology, the “greening” of religion, Northern European folk traditions, Neopagan movements, and the relationship between religion and popular culture.
James Fielder, Ph.D.
James (Pigeon) received his PhD in political science from the University of Iowa and researches emergent political processes inside game worlds. He has published and lectured widely on the psychology and ritual aspects of gameplay, including The Conversation, The Conference on Pagan Studies, Gen Con, Mystic South, Around the Table, Summerland, Enheduanna Journal, and as a TEDxMileHigh speaker.
He teaches at Colorado State University and is a roleplaying game content creator for Mobius Worlds Publishing. He has served as a Non-Officer Director of Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF), is a member of ADF’s Denver-based Chokecherry Grove, and founded ADF’s Games & Play Special Interest Group.
Vivianne Crowley, Ph.D.
Vivianne a psychologist and was formerly a professor at the University of London, teaching psychology of religion at Master’s level and supervising PhD students. She is a Wiccan High Priestess and has been teaching Wicca and the Western Magickal Tradition internationally for thirty years. She is on the Council of the Pagan Federation where she focuses on interfaith issues.
She is the author of many books on Wicca, Paganism and spiritual psychology, including Wicca: A comprehensive guide to the Old Religion in the Modern World. The current focus of her spiritual work is in supporting and fostering the development of those who lead groups and teach others.
Valerie is a practicing Reclaiming Witch in Washington, DC. Previously Chair of the Pagan Pastoral Counseling Department for Cherry Hill Seminary, Valerie currently works as Senior Associate, Disaster Mental Health, at the American Red Cross. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and began conducting sabbat rituals while in graduate school. She taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the Department of Psychology and helped develop the Masters in Mental Health Counseling program at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY.
Valerie also maintained a private psychotherapy practice for several years, focusing mainly on relationships: relationship with the self, with one’s higher power, and with others. She uses meditation, guided imagery and ritual to facilitate personal transformation.
Her article “Healing Principles: A Model for the Use of Ritual in Psychotherapy” appeared in Counseling and Values in 2003.
Keith Cates, Ph.D.
Keith received his Ph.D. In Counselor Education and Supervision from Auburn University. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds state licensure in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. He currently works in private clinical practice and specializes in working with Military, EMS, Fire, Law Enforcement, Educational, and Medical personnel and providing clinical supervision for counselors seeking licensure. He is a member of the Ordo Templi Orientis where he has served in the role of Bodymaster as well as worked with the OTO’s Psychology Guild to serve the pastoral counseling training needs of the OTO’s clergy.
Stacy Brooks, Ph.D.
Stacy received her Master’s and Doctoral degrees from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Mythology with an emphasis in Depth Psychology, her dissertation titled is Eco-Mythology of the Cherokee in Southern Appalachian Mountains: The Bedrock of Appalachian Culture. Her Bachelor’s in Elementary and Early Childhood education was earned from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She has lived the past 20 years in Boone, NC in the high country of the Appalachia Mountains.
Jenny Blain, Ph.D.
Jenny is an anthropologist and writer, Heathen, and with a strong interest in shamanism and the practice of Seidr, which is northern European shamanistic community-oriented practice, based in the accounts from the sagas and Eddas, developed as practice for today.
She writes about Seidr, and also Heathenry, or Northern Religion, generally. In addition to her book Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic (Routledge 2002) she has been editor with Graham Harvey and Doug Ezzy of Researching Paganisms (Altamira 2004), author with R J Wallis of Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights (Sussex Academic Press, 2007) and numerous academic articles and chapters on Paganisms, Seidr, Heathenry, landscapes, Ancestors and wights, and lately on Scottish identities.
Amy Beltaine, MDiv
Reverend Amy Beltaine is a spiritual mentor, providing a ministry of helping allies, friends and family of the marginalized and oppressed, whose hearts are breaking, but who wish to break open rather that break down, to mend themselves and the world.
When (spouse) Hawthorne and Amy are not pulling their little home behind them they live in Portland, Oregon with (son) Corey, (beagle) Zim, and (cat) Annie.
A graduate of Unitarian Universalist Meadville Lombard School for the Ministry, Amy is a professional Spiritual Director and Supervisor, serving on the coordinating committee of the UU Spiritual Directors’ Network, and recent President of the Covenant of UU Pagans.
Amy is a nearly life-long earth-honoring Process-Panentheist, with training in Gardnerian Wicca and Reclaiming, and ancestral roots in Scotland and Slovakia. Amy aspires to become a Love-Ninja.
Erica Baron holds a Master of Divinity degree from Andover Newton Theological School and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Thought and Political Economy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is an ordained Unitarian Universalist (UU) minister who has served UU congregations in Vermont and New York. She is a high priestess and ordained minister of the Temple of Witchcraft, centered in Salem, NH. When she is not leading religious communities and teaching, she makes quilts.
James Acken, Ph.D.
James Acken is a trained medievalist whose work focuses on the culture of poetics around the North Sea, particularly as it relates to Ireland and Scotland. Specializing in Gaelic and Norse literature, he has taught in Scottish cultural studies in both Canada and Scotland. His publications focus more on the poetic tradition of Ireland as illuminated in the didactic text, the Auraicept na nÉces.
Mason is the Student Services Manager for Cherry Hill Seminary. He has held a variety of roles in enrollment services and academic affairs over his 16 year career in higher education administration.
Mason received a M.A. in theology from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2013, and has served as a Steward of The Wilderness Between, a Druid-inspiried, nature-revering collective in the Washington, DC area since 2016.
Since graduating with CHS’s first cohort in the Spiritual Direction Certificate, he also offers spiritual accompaniment in private practice.
A member of Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD) and the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), Mason is seeker and aspiring mystic following a winding path of Druid wisdom and intuitive magic. When not in the forest or in his head, he can be found in the joyous company of his spouse and their cats.
Margo Wolfe, Ph.D.
Margo earned her Ph.D. at Walden University in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment and has taught at several universities in her hometown. She has over 25 years-experience leading Pagan groups in Northwest PA and New York and has served in multiple organizations including the Sisterhood of Avalon.
In addition, Wolfe has liturgical experience in the larger religious community, has presented at various festivals and conferences such as Sirius Rising and PantheaCon, and is published in several Pagan anthologies. In her spare time, she creates large-scale interactive and immersive art installations with her partner.
Holli S. Emore, MDiv
Holli is the executive director for Cherry Hill Seminary, Chair of Interfaith Partners of South Carolina, and was the first Regional Lead for Disaster Spiritual Care for the American Red Cross in South Carolina.
She is the founding priestess of Temple Osireion which has developed its tradition based on ancient Egyptian religions. Emore is the author of Constellated Ministry: A Guide for Those Serving Today’s Pagans (Equinox, 2021).
Ryan Ridpath, MA, CMC
Ryan is the Treasurer of Cherry Hill Seminary’s Board of Directors. He has served on the Board of Directors since May 2023, graduating from the Community Ministry Certificate program in 2021. Since 2019, his religious calling has been as Ewart (senior minister) of Reginveg, a Germanic pagan fellowship located in Durham, NC.
In the secular world, Ryan has taught and advised secondary and post-secondary students in educational contexts. His passions include providing equitable access to education, offering compassionate spiritual support, and leaving this world a little better than he found it.
Jeffrey M. Keefer, Ph.D.
Jeffrey Keefer, Ph.D., serves as an Educational Consultant and EcoSpiritual Guide, combining rigorous academic training with deep experiential wisdom in nature-based spiritual practice. With a Ph.D. in Educational Research from Lancaster University (U.K.) and graduate degrees from Columbia University, New York University, Hunter College, and the Institute of Religious Studies, he brings scholarly depth to contemplative traditions. As a Professor of Research Methodology and Chaplain at New York University’s Office of Global Spiritual Life, Jeffrey bridges academic inquiry with spiritual formation in diverse educational contexts.
An ordained Wild Guide and active member of Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF): A Druid Fellowship, Jeffrey has walked the French Le Puy route of the Camino de Santiago five times, developing practices that weave ancestral wisdom with sacred presence in the natural world. His approach to EcoSpirituality transforms how people experience “walking as spiritual practice,” guiding nature-minded seekers from digital overwhelm to lasting connection with the more-than-human world. His work embodies his guiding principle that “Where Insight Meets Earth, Growth Begins.”
Van(essa) F Hurst, MS, CMC, currently lives in Louisville, Kentucky. She received her spiritual direction certification from Cherry Hill Seminary in April 2024 and her CMC in April 2025. She is a member of the Votaries Alumni Association. Previously to her time as a student at Cherry Hill Seminary, she earned a BA in Religious Studies from Indiana University Bloomington and a MS in Natural Health from Clayton College of Natural Healing. She is a Reiki Master and a medical intuitive.
Van’s career and vocation has been in the nonprofit sector working primarily with organizations that have spirituality focused missions. As a program director for a retreat center and as an executive director, her focus was on developing programming that invited individuals to engage the sacred contemplatively or through their experiences and while in relationship with one self, others, the sacred, and all of creation. She is the author of five books. As a spiritual director, she companions seekers who yearn to live within the wonder of both immanent and transcendent mystery in ways that deepen their connection to the sacred. She also mentors individuals who wish to deepen their connection to and understanding of their intuition.
As an eclectic Pagan contemplative, she lives into the awareness of the mystery of the sacred present in her every day experiences in ways that deepen her relationship with spirit. Van’s core belief is that within each moment is the opportunity to connect to the sacred through internal life and external experience by being in relationship with our self, others, and all of creation.
Helene Grogan, MA, CMC
Helene earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994, then came back to school to study sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she earned a master’s degree in 2023 and continues to work on her Ph.D. She completed her CMC at Cherry Hill Seminary in 2024, and was ordained as clergy through Sacred Well Congregation.
Her current practice follows dual paths of Irish Pagan spirituality and Hekatean sorcery. She is a US Air Force veteran, and has worked in fields related to computer network security, technology consulting, office management and web accessibility.
As a queer, non-binary, and neurodivergent person, she has also been involved in advocacy supporting the value of disability and LGBTQIA+ perspectives.
Helene lives in the wooded mountains of western Massachusetts with her spouse, rescue dogs, and much surrounding wildlife.
Lawrence Lerner
Lawrence is a Pagan priest, elder, and end-of-life doula dedicated to guiding others through life’s most transformative thresholds. With decades of experience in spiritual leadership and holistic care, he serves as a board director at Cherry Hill Seminary and is the President of Pagan Pride in Washington state.
His priesthood is more than a role—it’s a vocation rooted in sovereignty, Sumerian reconstructionist rituals, and modern spiritual insight. Through his work, Lawrence invites individuals to explore the magick within themselves and their connection to the world around them.
As a certified end-of-life doula trained by INELDA, Lawrence provides compassionate, grounded support for individuals and families navigating the end-of-life journey. His approach honors death as a sacred passage, offering rituals, legacy work, and presence that bring meaning and peace.
Outside of spiritual work, Lawrence is also a seasoned C-suite executive and digital strategist. He speaks globally—at the World Economic Forum and the Parliament of the World’s Religions—on the intersection of innovation, human connection, and spiritual wisdom.
Whether holding space at life’s edge or leading strategic change, Lawrence’s gift is helping others meet the moment fully—guided by clarity, compassion, and care.
Dana Doerksen, MLIS, CMC
Dana earned her Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia and her Bachelor of Arts and Certificate of Liberal Arts from Simon Fraser University. She has worked in public, academic, corporate, and special library settings doing research, teaching classes, and providing reference. She has been a long-time supporter and student of Cherry Hill Seminary and has served on the Board of Directors, the Votaries Alumni Association, and other committees. She completed the Community Ministry Certificate through Cherry Hill Seminary and was subsequently ordained through Sacred Well Congregation as a minister and cleric priestess. She is an elder and high priestess in the Georgian Tradition of Wicca and has studied and practiced ceremonial magick in the Golden Dawn tradition for 20 years. She is a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) and serves the community in her UU church and more generally in the Seattle Pagan community.
