Joan Virago DeArtemis, M.Div.

Joan Virago DeArtemis, M.Div., has been a practicing Pagan since the 1982 when she first began studying Dianic Witchcraft. It was when she was initiated, after her Year and a Day that she legally changed her name. Keeping her first name, “Joan”, (because her mother named her after Joan of Arc), she formally changed her middle and last name to mean “Strong Warrior Woman of Artemis”. Her wide-ranging experience in the Pagan community includes studies with many teachers of various Pagan traditions, and is a Consecrated Priestess of the Western Mystery Tradition since 1994. In 2008, Joan received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Syracuse University in Religion & Society where she served as an Elder in SPIRAL, the school’s Pagan group. In 2014, Joan received a Master of Divinity degree from Claremont School of Theology with a primary focus on Religious Leadership. After graduation, Joan became a regular guest speaker at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Riverside as well as presenter at the Conference on Current Pagan Studies in Claremont. In 2015-2016, Joan served as Chaplain Resident at Yuma Regional Medical Center where she earned four (4) units of Clinical Pastoral Education from the Association of Clinical Pastoral Educators (ACPE).