Confessions of an American Witch

We are going to have a drumming and potluck on September 19, 2026 to celebrate my clean colon screening, and Khari's continued good fortune at her job teaching.  No cats or spells will be harmed at this event. For those who have not memorized my announcement, here goes . . . The address is 2727 N. Cook St., Denver, Colorado 80205. We are just north of the Denver zoo and city golf course, on 27th and Cook. It's an alley house, so it's all front yard; no back yard, but we do have a patio back behind the art studio that we are using for hanging out. Combination of an art gallery and an occult shop that I spent a lot of time class time in, the vibe was something I wanted in my own place. Close friends and work volunteers will show up at 4 pm, others will start to drift in at 5 pm. The potluck begins at 6 pm, and school teacher Khari likes the main event to begin on her planned on schedule 7pm.  Please note that it's a drumming, so people can drift in as late as 9 pm.  The g...

This last Sunday (or was it, Saturday), Morning Glory Reader died in hospice early in the morning. Morning Glory was an important influence in my life because she created Herbs and Arts occult shop at Colfax and Race in 1993. Those familiar with my stories about my Denver occult education will recall that I lived my second life in her shop from September 1996 when I entered the open ritual community until 1999 when she sold the store to another owner, and the vibe changed.  Khari ceased to do business with Herbs and Arts when the new owner wanted pottery at a price point cheaper than her loss point. Sad, really, Morning Glory's Herbs and Arts had been the first to accept my wife's pottery to sell in their store. I wish I had photos from the old days. Being braver than Khari, or having been a Public Witch at Work, I had taken full advantage of the classes that teachers had announced at the Open Full Moons. I took several Wicca 101s, and Tarot 101s. From one couple, we went from ...

There was definitely a winner at last month's Smash a Pot to celebrate Gena Marie getting new kidneys. It was whoever got this potter shard on the studio roof.  Nice color, ain't it? You have to be impressed. Not only did they have to get it up there, they had to get it around the corner from the original angle. It's a little distance--a trick shot, if you were trying on purpose. It's the Olympics! Picture thy enemy's face. Clear the firing range. Why would potters and their friends threw pottery at walls? They claim it's to create pieces for artwork that they plan on doing. I have never actually seen any such work ever made. It might just be a myth. Let's just call this "art."

While I was talking to guests at Smash a Pot earlier this month, I mentioned that I have seen foxes, racoons, and baby bunnies in my yard, yet I have never seen a duck or goose yet in my garden. Well, Monday that changed, for the neighbor brought a duck who needed to rest for awhile to my yard (he has dogs).  Ain't she a cute duck? She stayed in my herb garden for a few hours, recovering from whatever she was resting from. Left sometime during the night, or early morning on Tuesday. So now, I can add Duck to the list of wild life that I have seen visiting my yard and garden. Ah, the blessing of the Earth god, Geb. It's like we created a place for this duck. No sneaking up on this duck.

 Here is a pile of pottery that Khari has reserved for tomorrow's Smash-a-Pot ritual to celebrate our friend getting her new kidneys. We are going to toss these pieces of ceramics at a wall to break them into smaller pieces. Because it's fun to do. And once in the pile of tossing, it can't be removed--sorry. Broken and rejected pottery.

The other day, I made the mistake of looking at the Great Gherkin's website. To see if he was alive. Because he accounts for a significant amount of my pageviews on my old Gleamings from the Dawn blog. Is he (and his model wife) still selling what I was complaining that they were hawking back in the day? No, the video title was about a mind virus. It seems that the Great Gherkin is selling sci fi in the second era of Trump. Probably with Democrats as the alien invaders. I didn't watch the video.  That wasn't my problem with his page. The Great Gherkin will be the Great Gherkin. No, speaking as a teacher that wrote a piece for the Hermetic Golden Dawn Flying Roll commentary book, my issue is the idea that for less than three hundred US dollars, a student can get access to all lessons of every Grade of the HGD system, just so the Pickle can include GD membership as a bonus material to his current scam. How did I get into this book?!? That the understanding of the Golden Dawn ...