Let me share a few of my experiences with Ellen, keeping names out to protect privacy. Ellen was the best friend of a woman who become one of my Sire Priestesses, Sandy Kopf…but *I* met Ellen in the early summer of 1993 when I was living in Southern California. I had just had an incredibly traumatic June: I lost my job, broke up with my boyfriend of 3 years, lost my coven & home (I was living with covenmates and the boyfriend who were all in the same coven), and I had to move back with the parental units. All this occurred in the span of 48 hours! I searched for the Gods, but they were nowhere to be found. I guess you could call it a crisis of faith.
This previous coven had a long and sordid history with Ellen, not surprising as witch wars were prevalent in California during the 1980’s and 90’s. I was always instructed to never speak with “that woman”, but I was never told why. Of course, the moment I left the coven, I procured Ellen’s phone number through my pagan contacts.
I’ll never forget that conversation. I introduced myself brashly, “Hi. My name is Kaerwyn and I was told never to talk to you. I just left my coven [Name] and Priestess [Name] – have you heard of them? And why am I not supposed to talk to you?”
Silence.
I thought I had a bad connection, but it was just a stunned Ellen. True to her nature and maturity as a Priestess – she began to talk to me and explain the history I was never afforded by my ex-coven.
Over time, we became friends. She and her husband Chris ran a pagan gathering called Pacific Circle every summer in the Angeles Crest Forest in the hills high above Los Angeles. Going was a highlight of my pagan life for 3 years until I moved to the Midwest in 1996. It was the first time I experienced people going Skyclad! OMG!
Ellen was the Priestess I continue to strive to be. She was a shoot-from-the-hip person, didn’t take any guff from anyone, she was fearless and above all she maintained her sense of humor. She didn’t sugar coat anything and was unrepentant about it all. She was a gifted writer, songwriter, pagan visionary and activist. Ellen gave so much to the pagan community, not just through her writing but through the various pagan organizations she belonged to, by teaching others, speaking at festivals/gatherings around the country and more. She always had time for new people in the Craft and told me often that they were the future of Witchcraft and we had an obligation to treat them with kindness and respect. She is the one who inspired me to work with new pagans through my own personal outreach.
Beyond the Witches Tarot and the Witches Cabala, Ellen wrote “The Heart of Wicca” in 2000 which remains one of my favorite pagan books ever. She put her Tradition – Western Isian – on the map. She went through her share of heartaches, from living in a tent after the 1994 Northridge earthquake make her home unsafe to live in, to having troublesome students, to dealing with the progression of her leukemia, to experiencing the death of her dear friend (and one of my Sire Priestesses) Sandy Kopf. She weathered all of it with love and strength.
Most of all, I remember Ellen thusly – a swarthy woman with long dark hair, laughing, sitting around a campfire with Sandy, and calling me – me, a two-bit just-turned-initiate! – to come join them. I was excited, honored and scared! She gave me a mug of hot mulled cider (surreptitiously spiked with pear brandy) and I ended up having the best time ever, just chatting, laughing, singing and learning from Ellen.
That is the Ellen who remains in my memory and my heart.
They don’t make Priestesses like her anymore. I miss her to this day and I think I always will. Safe journeys, sistermine. And save me a glass of cider!
For another beautiful testimonial, go to: http://lotuspharia.freeyellow.com/thecircleofisis/id299.html
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