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by M.L. Benton
Dorothy is a Wiccan High Priestess of the Georgian tradition and an avid
practitioner of the ancient arts for over 20 years. She teaches the Craft to
students throughout the US and in Australia. Her interests include archery and
bowhunting, magical herbalism, stone work, the tarot, magical needlecraft, and
surfing the net.
She's a charter member of MAGIC, a magical
writer's/artist's organization founded by Patricia Telesco, whose aim is to
strengthen the creative community through networking with other members, genre
publishers, editors and business owners. She's also a member of the Pagan Poet's
Society, and founded the Coven of the Crystal Garden.
Llewellyn Publishing
Interview
By M.L. Benton
Ms. Morrison, let's start with a
small bio of yourself, if you don't mind.
A Wiccan High Priestess of
the Georgian Tradition, I’ve been an avid practitioner of the ancient arts for
more than twenty-five years. I founded the Coven of the Crystal Garden in 1986,
and spent many years teaching the Craft of Wicca to students both in the United
States and in Australia.
A native Texan, I currently live a charmed life
near the nation’s capitol with my husband, Mark, and our black labrador
retriever, Sadie Mae.
I’m also the award-winning author of ten books and
a tarot deck.
When did you find your spiritual path? Can you tell us a
little about this?
Paganism has had a hold on me ever since I can
remember; in fact, I’m not so sure that it wasn’t interested in me - instead of
the other way around! Chuckle! As a child, I saw auras. I never thought to
discuss it with anyone, because I thought it was a normal thing; i.e., I just
thought that everybody was "colored on the outside." I found out differently in
first grade, though, when my teachers insisted that I not color outside the
lines. There was such a ruckus that my parents took me to the doctor to have my
vision and motor skills checked! Chuckle!
There were other things, too,
but probably the most aggravating to my parents was the fact that - even though
I was raised as a Catholic child - I absolutely refused to pray to Jesus. It
wasn't that I thought he was unimportant in the scheme of things – it was just
that I saw it as a waste of time. I simply couldn't understand why anyone would
spend undue time asking him for something when it was just as easy to go to the
supreme source; that, of course, being his mother. Looking at it from the view
of a six-year-old, I reasoned that even Jesus wouldn't disobey his mother. That
being the case, the Goddess and I developed a firm relationship early on.
Twelve years later, I discovered Wicca – and oddly enough, the
introduction came by way of a professional tarot card reader. What I didn't
realize was that the party she invited me to was actually an "after coven-meet"
party – so I was taken totally off-guard. When it finally occurred to me that
everyone in the room was a Witch, I was absolutely terrified. (Of course, I knew
nothing of Witches other than the accounts written by the Brothers Grimm!)
Once I finally understood that I hadn't been invited as a sacrifice for
the main event, though, I settled down. And what I discovered was very
surprising – so much so, that eventually I embraced Wicca, myself.
How
has it inspired your life?
It hasn’t just inspired my life – it is my
life. I embrace it, live it, breathe it, and work it. And it’s to this path that
I attribute my every success – small and large - from my career all the way to
the balancing of my checkbook!
Can you tell us a little more of
your path in the Georgian Tradition?
Founded in Bakersfield, California
by George E. "Pat" Patterson in 1970, the Georgians were chartered first by the
Universal Life Church in 1972, and later, in 1980, as the Church of Wicca
Bakersfield. In 1975, two of the Georgian Covens – the Church of Wicca
Bakersfield and the Sacred Grove of Vril – met with representatives of several
other branches of the Craft to assist in the formation of the Covenant of the
Goddess, an international organization of Wiccan/Witchcraft groups and solitary
practitioners. Georgian beliefs are based in Gardnerian, Alexandrian, and
British Traditionalist traditions. They are God and Goddess oriented, and both
magical and religious in nature.
The history aside, though, Georgianism
is, perhaps, the most eclectic of the Wiccan traditions. Because its founder
believed that creativity was, indeed, the matrix from which all magic flowed, he
encouraged us to use what worked for us and toss out the rest. And, of course,
this leaves a lot of room for personal preference and individuality. For this
reason, you’ll probably never find two Georgians who practice religiously or
magically in exactly the same way.
The Georgian Path of Wicca seems so
interesting. I like the independence of it very much. I feel thinking for
oneself is the greatest gift we can have. How would someone go about learning of
the Georgian path? Could you tell us how we would go about contacting them?
The very best way to learn Georgianism is to find a Georgian teacher –
or of course, begin with The Craft and go from there. Contacting Georgians
really isn’t a problem. Folks can surf over to the Georgian website – http://www.angelfire.com/wa/georgian
and click on their contacts list for more information.
How do you feel
it's different from the other paths?
Though we definitely subscribe to
the Wiccan Rede and the duality of the Godhead, this path is anything but hard
and fast. As individual practitioners, we tend to create our own spells and
rituals, formulate individual teaching methods, and make personal decisions
about the worthiness of material when it comes to passing it down.
Some
traditions are much more stringent when it comes to this sort of thing. You
probably wouldn’t, for example, find an Alexandrian or Gardnerian varying much
from the prescribed teaching materials or rituals. It simply isn’t done.
As we are each individuals, I believe our paths are as well, no right
nor wrong in religion. It's what is right for the individual. Some of us go
through one religion or path all our lives, while many of us have experienced
many. Again, this is individual.
Can you tell us what makes your chosen
path now the right one for you at this time?
I enjoy having the
license to make my own spiritual decisions without having to fight against the
sort of dogma that probably once had its place, but is now outdated. I like
knowing that I can talk to my Gods at anytime or any place, and that They hear
me. I also like knowing that I am responsible for my own life, for my own
actions, and for any mistakes I make along the way. But most of all, I take
great joy in knowing that no matter how badly I screw up – and being human, I do
that a lot – my Gods still love me. No other spiritual path that I know of
offers all of that.
Let's discuss some of your favorites if you don't
mind. Can you tell our readers, who is your favorite author, and why? What is
your favorite book?
There are just so many to choose from! But as far as
Pagan authors go, I’d have to say that Scott Cunningham will always be number
one in my book. :)
My favorite book of all time, though, is "Of Mice and
Men" by John Steinbeck. In fact, I secretly wish that I’d written it!
What type of music do you like?
That depends on what I’m doing.
When I’m writing, it’s classical or some light instrumental. [I find that lyrics
get in my way when I write. Before I know it, I’m way off course and thinking
about the words of the song.]
If I’m on the road, though, it’s a
completely different story. For that, I like country, big band, or the show-tune
stuff that simply begs folks to sing along.
Who is your favorite singer,
and why?
Bette Midler. Whether singing a torch song or a children’s
nursery jingle, her voice has always been able to lift me right out of my world
and put me right in the middle of song. It’s quite a feat!
Do you watch
TV? If so what is your favorite show or movie?
Seldom, but I always make
time to watch "King of the Hill," and "JAG." I also like sports, so football,
baseball, hockey, and NASCAR are good bets as well.
My all-time favorite
movie is "Gone with the Wind." Even though I know every line by heart, I never
miss the chance to see it. :)
Also who is your favorite actor/actress?
That would have to be Bette Midler, too. Of course, I’m old enough to
remember when the Divine Miss M was also the "queen of raunch," her act was
somewhat of a cult classic, and "Sophie" – the name she chose for her daughter –
was the main character in her one woman show! Today, she’s much more poised and
elegant. But every once in a while, Sophie – that wonderful character she
developed so long ago – still creeps through.
What is your favorite
magazine and also e-zine and why?
Now you’ve really put me on the spot!
LOL! I used to really like Circle Network News, The Crone Chronicles, and
SageWoman, but I have to admit that it’s been years since I’ve had the luxury of
just idly thumbing through one of them.
What is your favorite color?
I really like teal – but mostly in combination with plum and cream.
What is your favorite time of year, and why?
It would have to be
Autumn. There’s just something about crispness of the air, wood smoke curling up
from fireplaces, and the beauty of the leaves that only Nature, Herself, can
supply.
What are some of your favorite hobbies and past-times?
I
love to bead, work with counted cross-stitch, and piece quilts. Unfortunately, I
haven’t had much time to do that lately, and I’ve really missed it. I’m still
hoping to take a month off this year or next so I can dive into some of the
projects on my list. The only problem with that, though, is once I get started,
I may not stop for a very long time! LOL!
And the last of these...What
is your favorite time on day/night?
Although I get up at 5:30 every
morning, I’m really not much of a morning person. [I’m such a grump, in fact,
that my husband doesn’t even speak to me when I first wake up. He just serves me
coffee in bed, kisses me good-bye, and leaves for work!] Barring the unforeseen,
though, I’m always working by 6:05. And while this may seem a little ridiculous
for someone so obviously anti-morning, it just makes good sense. My phone
usually starts ringing at eight, and if I haven’t had a couple of hours to wake
up, I tend to be really bitchy. And that’s certainly not an image I want to
project! LOL!
Who was the greatest inspiration to you growing up, and
who is now?
When I was young, it was my father. An incredible man,
he was a mathematical genius and one of the great criminologists of his time. He
instituted the police department in my home town, served as a law enforcement
officer for over forty years, and was the first chief of police there ever to
admit African-Americans and Hispanics as officers to the police force. Huge
accomplishments for anyone – but especially for someone with only a third-grade
education!
Of course, I learned a lot from him. He’s responsible for my
sense of independence, my love of community service, and the knowledge that I
can not only achieve any goal I wish, but that I can accomplish it with flair
and success. [I only wish he had lived long enough to witness my success as a
professional archer, and see my first book published. :)]
Today, though,
inspiration comes from two sources: my husband and my readers. It’s their belief
in me, their questions, sense of excitement, and words of encouragement that
keep me going.
Did your parents ever come to except your choice of
faith?
I never discussed my choice of religion with my parents. My
father died before my first book came out, and my mother – a devout Christian –
was very ill for many years before she passed on. And because of Mama’s illness,
I went to great lengths to shield her from everything that could worsen her
condition. What I didn’t know until after she died, though, was that one of my
sisters had already told her and it wasn’t any big deal. Now, of course, I wish
I’d felt free enough to share my success with her.
The biggest problem
religion-wise came only recently. My oldest sister – who’s quite narrow in her
thinking and married to a retired Baptist minister – insisted on having a copy
of my Yule book. And even though I didn’t want to send her one, she became so
insistent, that I had no choice. In fact, once she got the book, I didn’t hear
from her for more than six weeks. Terribly upset by my bio, she even went as far
as to announce to a neighbor that she just couldn’t have a sister who was a
Witch. When her neighbor retorted that it was too late for that – that she
already did – she sort of changed her tune. I received a really sweet note from
her, and we’re back in touch now. While I’m sure she doesn’t agree with my
choices, that’s not the issue. The issue is that we’re family, and she seems to
have agreed that’s all that really matters.
You have had a lot
of personal loss in your life, your mother, father and sister have moved on to
their next journeys. Yet you have a natural spirit that could light up the
darkest night. Can you express your philosophy of life to us?
It’s
really fairly simple. If something isn’t going to matter to me in five years, I
just don’t waste my energy. If it will, though, I meet it head-on and deal with
it. Not tomorrow or next week, but immediately. Then I let it go.
I’ve
also come to understand that I have choices in this life. I can either wake up
in a good mood or a bad mood, and it’s this decision that flavors my entire day.
[Pretty easy choice, really, since most folks tend to ignore me when I’m in a
bad mood! LOL!]
The other thing – and maybe, the most important – is
that the Ancients never deal any of us a hand we can’t play. Some moves are
easy. Others are more difficult. But the fact remains that how we play those
cards is all that matters – and we’re always rewarded for a hand well played.
Since I live this way, personal loss really doesn’t even enter into the
picture. I’ve been blessed with fond memories – memories that I often recount in
my books – and because of that, everyone in my family who’s crossed over still
lives on. So, you see, it really isn’t loss at all. It’s the birth/death/rebirth
cycle at its best. And that’s the most important blessing of all.
Who
are your favorite Deities, or rather the ones you feel closet with?
Though I feel close to many, I’d have to say that Kali and Calliope are
the ones I’m most closely aligned with. In fact, my Craft name is Kalioppe – a
combination of the two. Calliope strengthens my poetic senses, while Kali keeps
me on the straight and narrow, and encourages me to tell things the way they
are. They provide a really good balance for me.
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Please take us step by step through your books, what inspired you to do
each?
Well, books don’t always come about as one might think. Magical
Needlework was, in fact, the brain-child of Patricia Telesco. [She’d seen a
needlework lesson I’d prepared for my students, and encouraged me to turn it
into a book.] I can’t take credit for the initial ideas of Everyday Magic, Yule,
or The Craft, either. They were prompted by conversations with Nancy Mostad, the
Acquisitions and Development Manager at Llewellyn Publications. The others were
an entirely different story.
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In Praise
of the Crone came about when I realized that women of age had somehow gotten the
idea that their lives were over. That they thought they’d suddenly lost their
intrinsic value. Having been through the menopausal transformation myself, I
knew better – and I thought it was important that they did, too.
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Bud, Blossom & Leaf, on the other hand,
was a book that I’d always wanted to write. There was a lot of good herbal
information on the market alright. But the books out there were either solely
magical or mundane in nature. There was nothing on the market for the
practitioner who loved to garden, but had no idea how to turn it into a magical
process.
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The Craft Companion, of course, was
born of The Craft – and though it’s been tremendously successful – I have to
admit that it was an afterthought. Folks needed a place to record their progress
when working the exercises in The Craft, and unfortunately, most people simply
won’t write in their books. To that end, I proposed a spiral-bound, lined,
semi-blank book with a spell on every other page – the format of which lends
itself to a ton of other uses.
That brings us to Enchantments of the
Heart: A Magical Guide to Finding the Love of Your Life, which should be
shipping to stores sometime in December and is published by New Page. This book
is for folks who are tired of kissing frogs in hopes of meeting Prince Charming
or Princess Perfect. It outlines a personally perfected system to conjure the
perfect love while squelching the most annoying sound in the world: The sound of
"ribbit" in the morning! J
What do you hope each reader will walk away
with after reading your books?
A sense of hopefulness and empowerment,
and renewed joy and excitement at greeting each new day.
What is the one
thing that you hope each of us would learn?
That every single one of you
is the master of your own destiny. That you have the power to change your own
reality, become anyone you want to be, and live any life you choose.
I,
for example, didn’t just wake up one day and become a successful author. I
stumbled around through life, trying this and that, and worked in more
professions that you could shake a stick at. Still and all, I wanted to write.
Even more important, I wanted to be able to make a living at it. I just didn’t
know how.
And then one day, I got tired of my life and decided to change
it. I wrote every morning from 3:30a.m. to 6:00a.m., then I went on to tend to
my family, and work a day job that entailed 70 hours per week. Yes, it was hard
work – and I lost some things along the way – but I wanted it so badly that I
was one with the effort. In fact, nothing else mattered. Not the divorce. Not
the bankruptcy. Not even the loss of my job after my first local book signing.
Instead of dwelling on the losses, I began to count my blessings. And
because I persevered, the rewards were many. A successful writing career. An
incredible new husband. And the freedom to be who I am, rather than who others
might expect me to be.
The point is this: Life is magic – and the only
way to change it into what you want is to live it as if you were performing a
spell. Become one with the effort. Want it so badly that nothing else matters.
And above all, never let it occur to you – not even once - that anything less
than success will manifest. Once you truly believe in your own personal power,
things will turn around – and the phrase "...magic is afoot" will have new
meaning for you.
You spoke of having many jobs before you went to
writing full time, can you tell us what is the worst job you ever had?
It was probably the job I took as administrator of a Humane Society
Animal Shelter in Missouri – though I have to admit that it was also rewarding
in many ways as well. The rewards came when good people adopted homeless
animals. The horror, though, was in the fact that I was faced with putting down
forty to fifty perfectly wonderful animals every single day. It was the hardest
thing I’ve ever done, and I don’t think anything – even personal homelessness or
severe starvation – could ever make me work somewhere like that again...
Tarot has always been one of my favorite divination's, can you tell us
about your tarot deck?
Illustrated by Mary Hanson-Roberts and based on
fairy-tales, nursery rhymes, and children’s literature, the Whimsical Tarot is a
deck for children and the young at heart. It’s a very simple system and one that
anyone can use. There’s no memorizing, no use of reverses, or anything like
that. Fact is, if you know who the character on the card is and know the story
behind it, you instantly know what the card means. It’s so easy, in fact, that
kids as young as two can work with it.
Can you tell us what you are
working on now?
I just finished Everyday Tarot – a book formatted much
like Everyday Magic – for Llewellyn, and hopefully, it will be in bookstores
sometime next year. Currently, though, I’m working on a project for New Page
that’s tentatively titled, Familiar Ground. It’s a book about the use of
domestic familiars, and because I used to work as the administrator of an animal
shelter, it’s a project that’s very near and dear to my heart.
Can you
tell us more about Familiar Ground"? Just the name alone makes me want to buy
it.
This book came about when I realized just how little magical
practitioners knew about the use of domestic animals even though they often used
them as magical partners. Most people don’t seem to realize, for example, that
the familiar’s main function is to absorb karmic backlash. That it’s their job
to shield their practitioner. Or that familiars lose their lives every day for
no other reason than the fact that their practitioner sent some negative magic
swirling around through the Universe. If they did, perhaps they’d be a bit more
careful. And that’s part of what this book is about.
The other part has
to do with showing folks how to choose a familiar. In addition, a discussion of
nine common household animals, their magical specialties, and instructions for
training these animals for magical work is included. Of course, I’m also
planning sections on proper animal care. Sadly enough, it’s something that seems
lacking in today’s world.
What would you like to accomplish with
"familiar Ground?
I’d like to give magical practitioners a clear
understanding of what working with domestic familiars entails: the pros and
cons, and the responsibilities – both mundane and magical. Unfortunately, that
information seems to be lacking in our community.
Will your new book
Titled, Everyday Tarot come with a tarot deck?
No. Everyday Tarot is
more of a tarot magic book – complete with over 140 easy-to-perform spells – and
designed for use with any deck.
As you look back and see the roads your
journey of life has taken you down, where would like to see it go next?
To be perfectly honest, I’m not really sure. The Ancients have managed
to fill my life with such wonderful people, opportunities, and surprises, I
think I’ll just let them take the reins for a while and see what happens!
If you have learned one thing in your experience, can you tell us what
this has been?
That there is no such thing as coincidence. That even
things that seem awful at the onset – in my case, this was spousal abuse – have
reason and purpose in lessons that need to be learned. The key is to learn from
your mistakes and go on, knowing that surviving these events only makes you
stronger.
If you could change one thing from your journey what would
this have been?
Not a thing! Why? Because the person I am today was
born of everything I’ve experienced along the way – and if one thing was
changed, I suspect that I’d be very different, indeed.
What would you
like to accomplish before your next journey?
Ideally, it would be to
learn every karmic lesson on my plate so there wouldn’t be another journey! LOL!
Since that’s highly improbable, though, my main goal is to change the
way the mainstream views Wicca and its practitioners. I hope that in some small
way I’ll be able to help others understand that we aren’t evil people. Instead,
that we’re people just like they are – walking the spiritual path that right for
us.
Let's discuss your book , The Craft, Ms.
Morrison. I found this book easy to read, and not only enlightening but
enjoyable. Can you tell us what was your inspiration for this book?
Even
though the book, itself, was born of someone else’s suggestion, the real
inspiration came from fan mail. Nearly every person – young, old, and in between
– was interested in the religion and wanted to know where to begin. Since I
didn’t teach anymore, I thought I really couldn’t help them. However, when I
started rolling things around in my head, I realized that I’d been wrong. I set
about gathering the lesson material I’d always taught my first year students,
and included it in The Craft. That way, even though I couldn’t be physically
present, I could still give folks the basics they needed to get started on the
path.
In your credits you write, "In Memory of My mother, Laura Belle
Potter, who charmed all in her path with the magic of rhyme, And to her great
Aunt and first Poet Laureate of Texas." It sounds as if you not only came from a
family of poetry and rhyme but you seem to have a flair for it. Your writing
style seems as if it's second nature. As if not much thought is having to be
used; very naturally. Can you tell us a little about this?
Since
writing is part of my genetic make-up, it’s always come easily to me. This
doesn’t mean that I don’t get stuck once in a while, though. I do. But when that
happens, I just stop and think about what I’d say to someone if I were having
coffee with them at my kitchen table. And that always seems to obliterate the
block for me.
I think some folks simply try too hard when they write.
They worry about every word being perfect. And though perfection has its place,
human communication is anything but perfect. We speak in slang, converse in
fragments, begin sentences with conjunctions, and end them with prepositions.
That being the case, I follow suit. I simply write the way I talk, and have a
conversation with my reader. It not only doesn’t take much effort, but it’s
probably what keeps me from experiencing the burn-out I’ve found so prevalent in
other authors.
On page three, Walking the Path, you open it with "Wicca:
The Religion." The first paragraph begins: "The Craft' is not for everyone." The
second paragraph begins: "Neither is it a role-playing game. It has nothing to
do with canned magic." I have to be honest. I laughed at that phrase. I found it
delightful. It seems we spend more of our time trying to explain always first,
what it is not, then what it is. Can you give us your feelings on it a little
more?
I think the reason we find ourselves constantly explaining
what the Craft isn’t, is because of the many misconceptions of what it actually
entails. Some folks, for instance, don’t realize that anything but magic is
involved. Others want to learn because they’re into power trips. Still more
think that once they learn the Craft, all their problems will simply cease to
exist. And these are the sorts of myths that must be dispelled right up front.
On page 11, Unconditional Love versus Perfect Love, Perfect Trust, and
Harm None. Can you explain this one a little more for us?
Perfect love
and perfect trust is something that is taught to every Wiccan neophyte. In fact,
it’s a tenet that they live by. Sadly enough, though, most of them don’t have
the first clue toward what that really means. They somehow equate perfect love
with unconditional love – and no two terms could be further apart in definition.
Simply put, unconditional love means that you love someone regardless of
their behavior. Perfect love is a completely different story. It has to do with
common courtesy, good manners, and compassion for the feelings of others. It has
to do with taking responsibility for one’s actions, and learning to apologize
when necessary. It is a key ingredient in the "harm none" law – and that’s
something that unconditional love simply can’t boast.
The Craft seems to
be so thorough in its subject matter. Every topic that a beginner would need to
know to get started is there. Can you tell us why you felt The Craft was so
important to write, compared to others in the market?
While there were
lots of Wicca 101 books on the market, there just didn’t seem to be anything out
there for readers to sink their teeth into. No magical exercises. No mental
theory. And no instructions on how to apply the Craft to real life. Worst of
all, folks got the idea that once they read them, they were, for all practical
purposes, an instant Witch.
So, when the opportunity arose for me to
write The Craft, I decided that it needed something more – and that was
substance. The same sort of substance that one would get with a physically
present teacher. And I hope the book reflects that.
As we move on to
Everyday Magic, I found this book to be an utter delight. There are thousands of
books on the market, but not many that discuss our life now in this century. Can
you tell us your inspiration for this one?
It’s always been my
understanding that magic was supposed to make life easier. However, most spell
books on the market would have you believe that some set of arcane ingredients
is necessary, or that you have to possess a string of mysterious powers to cast
an effective spell. To that end, I felt that something a bit more convenient and
up-to-date was in order.
Chapter four is titled Living the Charmed Life.
Can you explain this one a little more for us?
This particular
chapter deals with taking the Law of Three and taking responsibility for magical
actions. It’s important to understand that everything we do both magically and
mundanely affects other people – but it’s especially true of magic. That’s
because every magical effort causes a ripple effect of sorts. It’s sort of like
tossing a rock into a pond. Ripples form at the point of entry and radiate
outward, touching those we know and those we don’t.
If the effort
performed is of a positive nature, blessings abound on those we touch and on
ourselves. But what if it’s something nasty or manipulative? We not only get
that back, too – but in triple magnification. And most of us can’t stand that
much aggravation!
The other part of this chapter deals with what I call
"unconscious magic." And this has to do with the thoughts that run through our
minds when our emotions peak. We think something and it happens. Just like that.
Since anger is usually the culprit, it’s the best reason I know to stay cool and
calm when working with any type of magic.
In Everyday Magic
there are spells and rituals for addiction, computers, gambling, parking places
and weather, just to name a few. I found this very enlightening. And I never
thought about a chant, or a spell to change a traffic light, unless you include
cursing under my breath. But as I read your book I realized I should have. Can
you elaborate for us the backbone of this book to our readers?
Fact is,
we live in a busy world – a world where magic definitely has a place, but is
seldom utilized. The reason is two-fold. First, with all the other stuff going
on in our lives, we just can’t find the time. But second and most important,
most spell books – at least, at the time that Everyday Magic was published –
simply didn’t have solutions to the problems appropriate to modern life. If you
weren’t concerned about love, money, or protection, you had only two choices.
You could either forget about it entirely, or you could sit down, write your own
spell, and hope it would work. And while the latter was an excellent solution,
it brought us back to the time factor problem. In the end, all that remained was
a vicious cycle.
When I wrote Everyday Magic, my goal was to dissolve
those problems. I worked with modern convenience items that enhanced magic and
saved time. I worked with subject matter appropriate to today’s busy lifestyles,
and easy-to-find ingredients. And while nothing will ever charge magic like
taking the time to write your own spell, I offered workable solutions that could
be personalized and expanded upon. [It seems to have worked. Everyday Magic not
only won an award in 1999, but is now in its ninth printing! :)]
Bud, Blossom, & Leaf is one of my all time favorite books.
In this book you have brought Mother Earth to attention. Can you tell us your
inspiration for this book?
As an avid gardener and magical practitioner,
I’d searched for a book that would offer both the magical and mundane sides of
the gardening process. No matter where I looked, though, I came up empty-handed.
When it occurred to me that others might be looking for the same type of
material, I simply sat down to write it myself.
There are many how-to
garden books, but this is the first one that I have read that is so elaborate
and thorough for the gardens whether inside or out, for the magickal side of it.
Can you tell us why you feel this book is so important to our everyday lives?
For one thing, the Craft should never be something that’s tossed on
the shelf and taken out for occasional dusting. It is, instead, a belief system.
And that being the case, it should always be practiced as a way of life.
This is especially true of herb gardening, though. Why? Because herbs
have a raw, unregimented energy that rivals no other magical component. When we
use them in magic, they not only act as a catalyst for our spells, but we
receive their residual energies. Because of their connection with the Earth,
though, they also ground us. And this is important when it comes to taking the
mundane steps necessary for successful spell manifestation.
When we work
with them in the direct gardening process, however, wondrous things begin to
happen. We begin to see their direct link between the Earth and the Cosmos. We
begin to understand how the natural order of the physical world is necessary for
manifestation on the spiritual plane – and how one cannot work without the
other. Best of all, though, we begin to understand our personal links between
the two worlds and the keys to balancing between the two. And that’s information
that we just can’t do without.
What do you hope for us to learn from it?
That living in both worlds is not a difficult process. Neither is
finding the key to one’s own personal existence. It’s all a matter of cycles –
those begun, those in progress, and those completed. And once those cycles are
studied and understood, absolutely nothing is beyond your reach. Not even the
dreams conjured of your wildest imagination.
I could never find enough
to say of your writings and trying to choose a favorite among them would be very
difficult. Maybe because I am such an avid gardener, Bud, Blossom, & leaf is
one of my favorites indeed. Is another book about herbs and gardening in the
future? {I hope so...smiles}
Looking at it from a sales angle,
unfortunately, magical gardening seems to be much more of a niche market than
I’d originally thought. You can’t ever tell, though. If I could come up with a
fresh approach – and one that folks would seem more interested in – I’d love to
do another herb book. :)
You seem to have touched on so many different
topics with your books. What topic have you yet to do that you would find
interest in? Do you see this happening in the near future?
I’d really
like to do a day-by-day celebrations book for Pagan families. And though there
are some good Pagan family books on the market, they just haven’t been done with
the detail I think is necessary.
The good news is that this book is
already under contract, and should be out sometime in 2004.
How do you
feel this book will be different from the others?
I’ve never done
anything that covered all 365 days of the year before – and while it’s certainly
going to be challenging, I think Pagan parents will find it useful for years to
come.
Thank you Mrs. Morrison for taking time out of your busy schedule
to do an interview with us. It's been such a pleasure. Will you come back in the
future to do another one with us?
I’d not only be delighted, but honored
to come back and visit again! Thank you so much for having me – and the
brightest of blessings to you all! :)
Dorothy Morrison
Article by M.L. Benton
Copyright © 2001-2003 by Echoed Voices. All rights reserved.
echoedvoices@hotmail.com
http://www.paganvillages.com/Magick/echoedvoices
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