Confessions of an American Witch

Let it be known that I am not going to be suffering from a lack of tomatoes this harvest season.  Center box is all tomatoes. The pit has been taken over by three tomato plants. This spring, due to having to buy a new car for Khari, our garden was put on "no budget." As in everything that is growing this year is from Gifts, or Wildcrafted Seeds, or the mere three seed packets that Khari brought in Nebraska. I am not sure what basket to put my tomatoes in: Gift or Wildcraft. Thanks to what type of tomatoes that came up, I know exactly where some of them came from. Cherry tomatoes, I buy them. If the plants were all cherry tomatoes, then I would say that all my volunteer tomato plants that started to grow in our compost pit which we transplanted were the product of our own household.  What? Ordinary garden tomatoes?!? Plum tomatoes? Wait a minute. But thanks to the presence of ordinary garden tomatoes and the plum variety, plus the timing of when the plants sprouted, I know tha...

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...

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."

 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.

Given my experience as a lodge officer and student of the Hermetic Golden Dawn and its offshoots, occasionally I need to explain (if only to remind myself) why I am not allowed to teach and lead in GD.  A who's who of the Golden Dawn community. I was not selected by a lodge to be a leader, or teacher. No, I accidentally declared myself one when attending my first Open Full Moon in fall 1996. Finding myself in the presence of a hundred-plus Denver witches, all who seemed to be experts in some esoteric field or another, I introduced myself with the only thing that I felt confident in discussing: Hermetic Golden Dawn, Thelema, and Aliester Crowley. It was either that, or talk about being an erotica author, right? Everyone who heard that initial introduction of mine, which included the mention that I was a published writer, no one ever allowed me to move past, or forget that intro. I got rewarded, or punished for it, depending upon the ego of the occultist. A couple of shop owners used...

Our second garden party of the 2026 season (July 18) will be celebrating Gena Marie getting her new kidneys. She was on the list for several years waiting for new kidneys, and finally got them. Yay! Khari has decided that besides the potluck, we are doing a pot smash. So we will be smashing all the "seconds" (pottery that came out of the kiln flawed), symbolizing the negative stuff in our lives going away. It's a fun ritual that I have never been able to do at an OFM (Open Full Moon) at a rented location because of the clean up (churches and spiritual centers frown on the broken pottery shards). But we have a nice wall to use just outside of the studio, so we can smash away. And we own the property, so we can do whatever we want to. Hence, smashing pottery is a go.  Location: 2727 N. Cook St., Denver, CO 80205 Date: July 18, 2026 Time: 6pm to 9pm.  Cost: Bring a pot, or plate to smash, if you have one to spare. The more, the merrier. 

 Given my multiple month silence on this blog, and its recent birthday, let's do a status update. Khari's Garden with a little grape vine. We are still doing the Garden Parties. Because Khari gets bored without friends and company around. The same reason that she is polyamourous---and I am not. All my events have been killed, and with good reason . . . a colon test came back bad, so I have a physical health problem on top of the mental ones. Oh, and me blogging about my secret Mormon daughter and wife for the first time in 22 years was me being Paranoid Delusional, according to a newly minted medical doctor who never saw me before, who checked with other expert, who did not speak to me. Took me off the majority of my meds (bipolar and anxiety/panic) and put me on an anti-psychotic that crashed a brick through my sphere of sensation. The proof that I was delusional was that Khari could not verify that my daughter, Zee, existed. Because I had never talked to her, or anyone, about...

We will be doing a Garden Party/ Drumming/ Ritual on June 13, 2026. At the moment, the guest list is mostly Dragonfest staff, due to Khari being involved with Kidfest; but I am open to showing off the garden to anyone who shows up . . . because I am lonely.  Oregano--how big will it be in a month? The potluck is "cover your own dietary needs first." Khari is gluten-free, wheat-free, soy-free, due to IBS. So she will probably make a dish along those lines for us. That or we will be BBQing all beef hot dogs.  The ritual will be whatever the mood is, but I fairly sure that there will be some drumming.  June 13, 2026 2727 N. Cook St. Denver, Colorado 80205 Helpers and close friends show up at 5pm. Regular folks at 6pm. Khari likes the ritual/ drumming to start at 7 pm. Closing at 9 pm. Lockdown at 10 pm. 

 Sad, that you missed the event, don't be. Here's the best bit. My artwork. Nice, right? How did I not end up in Egyptian art school? Yep, if anyone show up to my no-longer-advertised event, I make them aware of how easy, it is to make a power book--allowing one to post political messages all over. I am starting to memory some of this. Another bit that I have filed to memory. We are working from page two. Here'e page one. Sometimes, simpler is better in a Power Book. I am being loud . . . in my own garden. By names and images are all powers awakened and reawakened.

While I would love to allow the natural lack of advertising do my job for me, I know to cover my rear end better than that, so I will make it legitimate by announcing it.  The OFMs are as done as this bench is. The Wiccan Open Full Moon Saturdays that I was trying to establish are a NO GO. Cancelled. Forever. Will not be coming back.  At least not with me present. Because Khari used the words "violent" and "scared." At my doctor's appointment. Not my regular doctor. Still got my meds adjusted . . . not right . . . because I still have anger towards things that Khari insists that she should be getting a free "Get out of Karma" jail card for because it was for my own good; and I would have been miserable working in food service--instead spending time in college, taking out loans, away from my daughter. Unfortunately, her need to ensure that Khari got her Get Karma Jail Free card included the need to insist that any anger I felt was bipolar, or the demon,...

For those of you who cannot attend my Open Full Moon events because you live on the moon, or work for our Commander-in-Chief, or simply have common sense, here is what you missed . . . or didn't miss at the cancelled (or not) Open Full Moon in August. These choke cherries are ripe. And this choke cherry tree is in wrong place. If you would have showed up in person on the Friday, Saturday, or the Sunday of August (7, 8. or 9th), you might have been put to work. Unless you were Car Rat . . . sorry, I would not want her touching my babies. Because we were doing whole tree harvesting here. This was a year that I wished my kin was closer because I got a Harry Potter wand out of this. Maybe some runes--depends on how they carve, or burn after drying. In my head, I was discussing the hows and whys of what we were doing with an invisible grandson or granddaughter. Sad, but true. Someone of Harry Potter age. Because how hard it was to get these out, me and Khari might never any reach this s...

 Just in case, I wasn't clear in some of my previous posts, while the Wiccan Open Full Moons that we were hosting have been cancelled, the Golden Dawn study is still on. Isis always plays three games at the same time; it's not cheating. Yes, the remote and (if anyone shows up) local Denver study of the Papyrus of Ani as Source Code for Hermetic Golden Dawn is still happening. I did not cancel my project. Just Khari's. After all, she's the one that's investing in Dragonfest as if it's going to lead to new members. It won't. If it does, then she deserves to be elected Hierophant.  Sadly, my nearly thirty years of experience in the Denver's Wiccan event community tells me that Dragonfest people only do Dragonfest--nothing else.  They only have time and energy for Dragonfest.  And there are organizational meetings all year round, so it's an all year commitment. No, we just lost Khari as the next Hierophant. Hence, if I attract members who want to elect m...

Let it be declared from the East: The Hierophant of Bast Temple has cancelled August 9, 2025 Open Full Moon. Reason? It's too close to the end of Dragonfest. Which is important. I am never going to get this ever again. Because Khari believes that Dragonfest people are going to sign up for her classes.  Basically, cutting me out of the teaching loop, right? No one from that crowd will be Thelemic or Hermetic . . . or anything that I am selling . . . it's a waste for me, simply the wrong audience bucket. But Khari insists that the business has to go this way. Because the pottery artist slash witch knows best. Not the Confidence Artist who has dreamed of owning an occult shop and esoteric school since 1984--no, it has to be her--and her ever random whim that has to be the correct business plan.  The amount of work that woman has made me trash over the years. And here I am again . . . no stable event schedule because Khari demands having my business have Stop and Go Scheduling to ...

 Announcement: The July 12, 2025 Open Full Moon Saturday will be the last one of 2025. Witches will fly before I will ever do another OFM, I swore. Khari came back from camping, and the Dragonfest meeting, announced that we were delaying the August 9, 2025 Open Full Moon because Dragonfest attendees were unlikely to attend . . . okay, no, it's cancelled. Once we go down this hell road, we are hostage to All. So this also means that September 6, and October 4, are cancelled, for similar reasons. Oh, my favorite--November 1, an actual sabbat--cancelled--because remember you have to reserve sabbat dates for actual coven to work privately on--no public events, that's an no-no. So, Khari loses her Day of the Dead event--hehe, too bad, everything must burn. And finally, that Yule Ornament Workshop on December 6--yes, that's right--cancelled!!! Now, Khari does not have to worry about work conflicts, or her health, or needs of her friends. My stupid occult shop idea, or was it my d...

For those who have been following the Cloud Weather Station Drama, yesterday bird sighting in the Buddha Worship Lounge, was an slightly wounded female magpie. Best chair for keeping an eye out for that evil Hood Cat, Blue. My intent in moving the chairs was to make a clear line of sight between the kitchen window and the Buddha station--in front of which I placed a bowl of water.  Don't judge me, for my mixed pagan magician beliefs and practices. Turns out that the arrangement was bad for human vision. But I was loading the dishwasher, and that might have been more important. Because I want to go write science fiction, and the kitchen being a mess is going to stop the Flow at some point.  I am a Virgo Sun, Cancer Rising, Scorpio Moon, with a Leo Mercury . . . my only Fire.  To say that I am overly "anything" is probably an understatement. It was slightly better when I still had my Demon; I had distance between me and the emotions. Now, I am at the center of the bloody cr...