“Ours is a planet in pain. If you need me to convince you of that, if you are unaware of the destruction of forests, oceans, wetlands, cultures, soil, health, beauty, dignity, and spirit that underlies the System we live in, then I have nothing to say to you. I only am speaking to you if
Five years have now passed since I received the original vision of the Hermitage in 2011 and started this blog to chronicle the development of the vision. Now, the time has come to take the leap of faith. I’ve committed myself to a full-time path of creative self-employment, contemplative solitude, and service work as a
Recently I was interviewed by Sarah Sadie, a former Madison, WI Poet Laureate and a student of Cherry Hill Seminary, for a class on Pagan leadership. With her permission, I am publishing the full-length interview here. Q: Coming across your work and the ideas you present online has helped move me further down my own
Intrigue, mystery, and intensity: this is the essence of dark fusion dance, and Lumen Obscura Productions’ Visions DVD delivers eleven riveting dark fusion performances packed with theatrical drama, ritual elements, ethereal atmospheres, and compelling artistry. In addition to the range of belly dance styles featured in this DVD – tribal fusion, American Tribal Style, American
I am pleased to announce the new website for Shrine of Skaði, my dark fusion ritual dance project. The site – like the project itself – is a personal devotional work in honour of the goddess of Northern mythology Who is closest to my heart, and it is being made public in Her service, as
Today, for the first time, I posted a short improvisational video clip from my Shrine of Skaði dance practice to the Facebook page associated with this blog. Since I’m not a performer – and in fact am an extreme introvert who has never enjoyed drawing attention to herself – it took quite awhile before I
This is the first in a series of posts I’ll be making in which I link to some of my all-time favourite performances in dark fusion or gothic bellydance. This list will be limited to the performances I love so much that I watch them over and over again, drinking in every nuance of the
“Martha Graham said, ‘A dancer is not great because of her technique. A dancer is great because of her passion.’ Dancing lifts and carries me away to a place where my soul is free. Belly dancing is one of those dances that calls to your soul. When you answer its call, healing begins. The movements
Finally I am back online after spending more than a week mostly bedridden with a nasty head cold, and then – just as I recovered from the illness – another week dealing with the worst computer issues I’ve ever faced. The power supply for my old desktop PC died, and my motherboard went kaput right