About / Services

Spiritual nurture

My ministry focuses on spiritual nurture -- helping people nurture their connection with the That-Which-Is-Sacred.  I work one-on-one with individuals, and with groups of many different sizes.  

"Spiritual nurture" is a large umbrella.  These are the areas that seem to come underneath it in my work and personal life:

About me

I am a Quaker Witch: Quaker in the unprogrammed tradition; Priestess and Witch in the eclectic feminist tradition of Roses, Too! Tradition. 

I've been involved with ministry since 1986, have been a Priestess and Witch since 1991, and have been active in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) since 1997.

For several years, I had a letter of introduction and support, and an oversight committee for my ministry, from University Friends Meeting in Seattle, WA, where I am a member.  Please click here if you'd like to read the letter.   

I've been involved with a number of local and national Quaker groups in the US and the UK.  I've been involved with local and regional Pagan groups in the US and the UK, and a few national ones in the US.  

I spent most of my life in the Mid-Atlantic area of the US, except for a few wandering years while my wife was changing careers and we lived in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest.  Now our family lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, which we love.  I'm a sojourning member of South East Scotland Area Meeting of Friends, and active with the Quaker Concern Around Dying and Death (QDD) as well as some small Pagan groups. 

Services I offer

Meeting one-on-one to talk about your spiritual life and spiritual journey

Designing, planning, and facilitating workshops and retreats

Specific workshops and retreats:

Singing the Goddess

Winter Solstice Celebrations / A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual

Ritual and magic

Sacred Handwork:

Handwork in the Light and Handwork as Ministry (for Friends)

Handwork as Magic (for Pagans)

Handwork, Ministry, and Magic

for Pagan Quakers/Quaker Pagans

Explicit Friends (community-building among Quakers who experience the Divine an an explicit way)

Theaological Diversity Among Friends

Energy work (as trained by John Calvi)

The Goddess Is Alive and Magic Is Afoot

Working with Dying and Death: a Day of Comfort and Healing 

Click here for more information about specific workshops and retreats. 

Energy work (as taught by John Calvi)

Winter Solstice Celebrations based on A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual

Magic and ritual:

I am available to come to your community to facilitate a workshop, retreat, or other event.  

Most workshops can be tailored in length to the needs of your event or group. 

I can also develop a workshop for the needs of your particular group or event.  

Who I work with

I work with people who come from a variety of religious and spiritual backgrounds, and who currently participate in a wide range of traditions -- including none.  I particularly work with folks from Quaker, Pagan, Jewish, and Unitarian backgrounds, as well as with musicians and dancers; I work with people from a number of other backgrounds as well.  I am LGBTQ-friendly,  poly-friendly, and non-theist-friendly.  

Events I host (no charge)

I often offer / host the following events, free of charge (although I will ask for donations to cover rent if I am paying for space):

Rates

Generally, I charge a sliding scale based on income.

For group events, I ask donations to meet expenses, plus a stipend for my time.

If I travel to your community, I ask for travel and lodging, expenses, and a stipend.  I currently live in Edinburgh, Scotland. 

About the name

The song "Bread and Roses"  has been important to me since I first learned it as a teenager. 

Part of the reason why is because it expresses an important truth about social justice -- that physical and economic survival are not enough:

"Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses... Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses, too!”

~ from the song “Bread and Roses,” James Oppenheim and Mimi Fariña

"The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too."

~ Rose Schneidermann, social worker and trade unionist; from a 1912 women's suffrage and labor campaign flier

Since 1991, I've been committed to nourishing my heart as well as my body - to meeting my spiritual needs as well as my survival needs -- and to working with other people who share this commitment.