The struggle and journey to find a spiritual home in NYC has been real. There is a need in the pagan community to find stability and support that allows devotees to balance structured study with exploration. My father, who was not actively religious, taught me about herbalism and often regaled my sister and I with Greek & Norse folklore and pantheons and as I grow in my studies, I realize that a lot of practices I use formerly as a Pagan I had been practicing intuitively as a child, particularly in devotions to the Goddess, alter construction, astronomical observance, and herbalism. I was lucky to be raised by my mother in an extremely inclusive Unitarian Universalist congregation that included many Wiccan concepts, rituals and holidays which I was forever drawn to. The UU congregation sends teenagers through a Coming of Age program in which young adults explore as many different faiths as possible and volunteer their services. After completing this quest, I decided an earth/science-based religion would always be the one for me. In my quest for Temple, I’ve encountered many courageous figures of various Pagan traditions who keep the torches aflame to light the way and have watched them face endless financial, educational and physical barriers to doing so, for which they have earned my utmost esteem and gratitude. While I can only describe my faith as a patchwork; there is always a strong emotional connection that qualifies what I incorporate and I certainly have gained that from several faith leaders whose tools and expressions I use on a daily basis. These priestesses have instructed me in the Wiccan tradition and through my familial ties and travels, I’ve been instructed on a number of rituals of the Congos Del Espiritu Santo tradition which have helped me to reconcile and find ancestral connection with a traditional Italian Catholic faith; particularly the use of Solopachesi which I represent as the Triple Goddess. With their help, I have also found deep satisfaction and growth by methodically working through study of Tarot and Clairsentient development as well as the construction of wards. It is an ever-unfolding adventure that leads me to add more and more. I read an inordinate amount of occult philosophy and have always been drawn to Genesis P. Orridge – who’s urgings for Pagans to consider the future I would say most closely aligns with my personal beliefs. I am deeply fascinated by the burgeoning landscape where humans begin to merge with AI and robotics. The possibility of a truly global consciousness where individuals can create gods, spells, demons is at once a glorious and terrifying reality that is just on the verge of arriving. I hope to combine my Pagan beliefs with Biomechanical Engineering study to orchestrate a true Reincarnation in order to shape an informed and Rede conscious future for humanity – that is my truest and deepest wish. On the day of our shoot, I represent this through a story that is not traditionally Pagan but contains themes I feel represents this concept. I recommend it to any comic enthusiast, it’s Pretty Deadly’s Deathfaced Ginny, a demi Goddess fathered by the Lord of Death:
If you done
been wronged,
say her name,
sing this song,
Sound the bell's knell
that calls her from hell
Ginny rides for you on the wind, my child... Death rides on the wind