Quote: "Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe *
"Well-behaved women rarely make history."
--Laurel Thatcher Ulrich *
"Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson *
"My skin, my bones, my heretic heart are my authority!"
--Catherine Madsen *
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
-- Eleanor Roosevelt *
"It is not more surprising to be born twice than once."
--Voltaire *
"Iowa is its own universe. It's like a separate planet."
--William Schneider, CNN commentator *
Location: Iowa, USA
What is Your Path?
Witch
About Me
Freespirit & wild Witch priestess, writer, dancer, & recording artist-- half-New Yorker & half-Iowan-- of English, Scottish, Welsh, & Danish descent & orientation. Sure, and I hear tell there's a wee bit o' Irish mixed in as well, bedad... I fondly believe I can also claim some Italian lineage, however far back in the mists of Roman-occupied ancient Britain it may be-- and believe me, as a fan of Celtic warrior queen Boudicca, I have to admit I am more fond of modern Italians than I am of the ancient Romans, even if some of them ARE my ancestors, heh heh... How can I tell? By the unmistakeable evidence of my Brit-descended dad's classic Roman nose, as well as certain other aspects of his facial features. He's a very handsome mix of Saxon, Celt, and Roman, I'd say... As for ME, I'm a longtime singer-songwriter-guitarist, one of the early founders of the Witch & Pagan music genre. My first album, THE WITCHING HOUR, was released in 1981, and THE QUEEN OF EARTH AND SKY and PRIESTESS OF THE PENTACLE followed in the '90s. All are now being re-released on CD, with new albums forthcoming! I have a professional website with writings, photos, several free full-length Mp3s, and a number of song samples at http://www.ladyisadora.com . My dear and stalwart Witchy friend Lykaina, a writer and professional website designer, is my trusty webmistress.
In the 1970s, Yours Truly (a wild child of the '50s & '60s) was the one and only lonely founder of the only partly tongue-in-cheek Society for the Prevention of Calling Witchcraft "Wicca" (see page on my website: http://www.ladyisadora.com/witchcraft.html ). More recently, I'm co-founder with friend Lykaina of the social club with e-group, the Black Witch-Hat Society. (See our local Covenspace branch in the Groups section, and the BWHS page on my professional website). With my bright and beautiful daughter Andred, a writer and artist, I co-founded Our Lady of Spiritual Audacity (more info at http://www.ladyisadora.com/olsa.html ). Last but not least, I'm the author of THE PEN IS A MAGIC WAND, WILD-HEARTED WITCHCRAFT, and other forthcoming works. Plus, I'm really masked superheroine Captain Valkyrie in my "spare" time! Pssst-- don't tell anyone!
Music
Eric Burdon & the Animals, the White Stripes, Alvin Lee, Yngwie Malmsteen, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Steeleye Span, Bert Jansch, Sandy Denny, Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell, Heart, Billie Holiday (epitome of cool), Bessie Smith, John Lee Hooker (the MAN! Inventor of Boogie!), the Mediaeval Baebes, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Janis Joplin, to name "a few"... what a motley assortment, n'est-ce pas? Also, among others, the compositions of Hildegard von Bingen, Gershwin, Liszt, and Beethoven, the ultimate thunder god.
Some faves among my fellow Witch & Pagan recording artists: Shekhinah Mountainwater, Gypsy, Aradia, Lisa Thiel, Jennifer Reif, Isaac Bonewits, Sharon Knight, the Moors, Legend, Serpentine, Three Weird Sisters.
Movies
In memoriam Heathcliff Andrew Ledger (April 4, 1979-January 22, 2008). This beautiful and brilliant young Australian actor of Irish and Scottish ancestry, who first attained fame playing a 5th-century teen-aged Celtic prince in the TV series "Roar", gave unforgettable performances in every movie he was ever in. My especial faves are "Casanova", "A Knight's Tale", "Four Feathers", "Ned Kelly", "Brokeback Mountain", and "10 Things I Hate About You". RIP and reincarnate in glory, Heath!
Thank Goddess we still have the incomparable Johnny Depp, and I especially love his amazing work in "Sweeney Todd", all three "Pirates of the Caribbean" flicks, "Finding Neverland", "The Libertine", "From Hell", "Chocolat", "Secret Window", "The Ninth Gate", and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" (in which he played an Iowan. Of COURSE!)
More movie faves: All three versions of "Little Women"-- 1933, 1949, & 1994-- with Katharine Hepburn, June Allyson, & Winona Ryder, respectively, as Jo March... movies with great adrenalin-charged sword-fighting battle scenes, or WWI or WWII aerial combat scenes (I cannot tell a lie-- this aging flower child has a warrior's heart-- it's a deja vu thang-- but to quote the old Eric Burdon song: "NO MORE WAR"!!! I don't believe in war for war's sake-- only for the immediate and necessary defense of one's own, or for the heroic protection and rescue of the innocent under direct attack or in urgent distress... or if somebody attacks MY plane first! Woe unto him! hahahahaha!!!!!)... Hayley Mills in the original "The Parent Trap"... "The Wizard of Oz"... "The King and I"... Disney's "Peter Pan"... "Oliver!"... Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 production of "Romeo & Juliet"... "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", a true comedic classic... Danny Kaye in "The Court Jester" ("the Chalice from the Palace has the pellet with the poison-- the Vessel with the Pestle has the brew that is true!" etc.)... "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (admittedly my bro and I were kinda scared by the robot "Ghort" when we were little, though now of course we just laugh! )... anything with that sly, yummy-voiced devil Tim Curry in it (let me count the films, LOL-- a fave trivia pastime of my daughter and me, since after all, the guy's been in everything from "Rocky Horror" to "The Worst Witch" to "Clue" to "Muppet Treasure Island"-- arrrr!)... Robert DeNiro in anything, but especially "Meet the Parents" and "Taxi Driver"... the divinely dashing Patrick McGoohan in "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh", in which he portrayed an 18th-century C of E vicar boldly "moonlighting" (literally) as a good-guy outlaw, fearlessly fighting the king's tyranny and oppression... old '30s and '40s flicks, especially starring the gorgeously god-like swashbuckler Errol "Be Still, My Beating Heart" Flynn in "Captain Blood", The Adventures of Robin Hood", "The Sea Hawk", "Dawn Patrol", etc., etc... oh, and let me not forget Errol's stirring role as an anti-Nazi Norwegian resistance fighter in "Edge of Darkness", a nowadays-little-known film which contains one of my VERY FAVE MOVIE SCENES OF ALL TIME: when the town minister suddenly leans out of the church tower with a machine gun, and at the very last minute totally mows down the Nazi firing-squad about to dispatch heroic Errol and his heroic girlfriend in the town square (better luck next time, Schweinehunde... NICHT!!)... those adorably zany Marx Bros. in "Horsefeathers!", "Duck Soup", "Night at the Opera", et al... peek-a-boo-bang pin-up girl Veronica Lake (nee Connie Ockleman) in "I Married a Witch"... brunette siren Ann Blythe & "Thin Man" William Powell in "Mr Peabody & the Mermaid" (the spine-tinglingly mystical mermaidy vocals one hears in the opening theme are what first made me want to be a singer!)... beloved b-b-b-bbboo-boy crooner Bing Crosby & the radiantly lovely Ingrid Bergman in "The Bells of St Mary's". Sniff. Oh yeah, and for a change of pace: "Rosemary's Baby". 'Nough said. Well, wouldn't YOU think it was kinda perversely exciting to live next-door to real-live Satanists? Cackle.
TV
Classic TV: the Mary Martin version of "Peter Pan"! Plus Dark Shadows, Columbo, Dobie Gillis, Bewitched, Get Smart, Beverly Hillbillies, I Love Lucy.
Current or more recent TV: "Roar", starring the late lamented Heath Ledger as a teen-aged prince-with-sword-and-swagger in ancient Celtic times; Passions (former NBC daytime soap, now on DirectTV, starring Juliet Mills as the 300-year-old town witch);
Roseanne (dig the Witch-on-broomstick logo at the end of the later shows... and in one episode, Rosie was reading *The Once and Future Goddess*!);
Diagnosis Murder;
Murder She Wrote;
Law & Order SVU;
Bones; and last but not least:
Nancy Grace, Goddess love her.
I tend to watch telly these days when I'm knitting. Otherwise, I'd rather be reading a good book! Still, I've always loved a good story no matter what the format, so I don't condemn ALL TV-watching-- just the indiscriminate constant- background-noise kind! Get a life, sofa spuds!
Books
Thousands & thousands!
I'm a devout bibliomaniac... so many books, so little time, indeed. Titles forthcoming!
Likes
Snowstorms, Yuletide, trees, jack-o'-lanterns, Hallowe'en, tea, champagne, roses, rainbows, the color blue, patchouli oil, British murder mysteries, vintage Nancy Drew books, vintage Wonder Woman comics, NYC, the NYY, the Statue of Liberty (she ALWAYS gives me chills-- I call her "NYC Goddess"), seriously sharp cheddar cheese, yum... gingerbread "guys", almost too cute to eat, the spicy little devils... "these are a few of my favorite things", tra la...
Dislikes
Smug, self-righteous hotline-to-heaven types who LIVE for sheer joy in the shameless mass thought and behavior control running rampant in so many organized religions. Aaaagh! Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Paris Hilton. Is anyone surprised??
Hobbies
Cloak & daggering; recipe-collecting; cat-fancying (especially my darling "Wacky", aka Princess Pyewacket); compulsive book-collecting; attempting actually to READ as many books as goddessly possible from my staggeringly high TBR tower; knitting frenziedly with far- too-expensive but insanely luscious designer yarn; falling wildly behind (you don't wanna KNOW how far) in mounting my ever-burgeoning stamp collection into the Mystic Stamp Co. album my dad gave me as a kid; dancing to old '60s British Invasion hits whilst fondly recalling my desperately mod, fetchingly long-leggedy, fishnet-bestockinged & mini-skirted pre-hippie girlish days; going for long walks in all weathers; feeding the neighborhood wild critters that flock adoringly to my door-- most notably Queen Squirrelina the Splendid & royal offspring Belinda the Bold (with "war"-torn ear), Buster the Bad, and Betsy the Beaut... oh yeah, and once in a while even King Dagobert the Flirt shows up, when he's not off, er, gallivanting... then there's my beloved wee lively ground squirrel, Patchy the Persistent-- she's got a patch of fur missing from the top her head... from a scrap with Belinda the Bold, perhaps?? Just call me "Dances With Squirrels"!
Vices
Tsk tsk tsk... I'll never tell! A girl's entitled to SOME secrets, eh?
Virtues
"Brave, courageous, and bold", like the old song says, or as near as dammit, LOL. What can I say: I'm a staunch and loyal defender, willing to lay down my life for the truth. I'm also no slouch as a conversationalist, I hope-- full of fun, with a good sense of humor, or so I'm told, but you do NOT want to get into a debate with me! Cackle, cackle. Maybe this is a vice?!
Heroes
Peter Pan! Away to Neverland! My dad, the greatest guy who ever lived; King Arthur; Robin Hood; Count Claus von Stauffenberg, the attempted assassin of Hitler in the tragically failed bomb plot of 20. Juli 1944; Manfred von Richthofen, aka "the Red Baron"; Steve Irwin, the late great "Crocodile Hunter"; and the absolutely astonishing Criss Angel, aka "Mindfreak" (beware of gorgeous hypnotic-eyed Greeks bearing card decks and levitating over pyramids, LOL). Och aye, I should also mention Robert the Bruce (King Robert I of Scotland), since I'm a descendant of his. Also Eric "House of the Rising Sun" Burdon, my favorite singer, still rockin' at 66, for being so amazing. Some of my beloved heroines: my mom and daughter; Pippi Longstocking; Nancy Drew; Jo March; Joan of Arc; Queen Elizabeth I; Isadora Duncan; George Sand (Aurore Dupin-Dudevant); Anne Frank; Louisa May Alcott; Mildred Wirt Benson, the Iowa native multi-talent who, among many other professional pursuits, was the original "Carolyn Keene", the ghostwriter for most of the classic '30s & '40s Nancy Drew mysteries; Celtic warrior Queen Boudicca; Cleopatra VII-- THE Cleopatra; Janis Joplin, a truly brilliant vocal improv artiste (and as part-bacchante along with my part-bluestocking, I do understand the hedonism, even though I myself was a bit more careful with mine back then); Annie Oakley; notorious women pirates Anne Bonney, Mary Reade, and Grace O'Malley; and early 19th-century German soldier Eleonore Prochaska, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars disguised as a man, alongside her husband, and was awarded the Iron Cross.
Happy Summer, Covenspace Cronies! :-) Yes, I'm back... my spinal fracture from late last winter is mostly better now... and I will try to be around much more often again from here on in. I realize I'm LOOOOONG overdue for another exciting installment of Nancy Druid, Grrl Goddess Gumshoe, for one thing... !!! Hmnmm... how about THE SINISTER SECRET OF THE MYSTERIOUSLY INVISIBLE TINY ICY PATCH ON ISADORA'S FRONT STEPS? Sigh... ;-)
Meanwhile, does anyone have any idea how to get in touch with Little Wing? She's been one of my favorite friends here for many months, but seems to have dropped off the face of... well, Covenspace, at least... and I'm afraid I don't recall the address of the music homepage she has-- I believe under her given name. :-( Please advise, anyone?
Love & BB, Isadora aka "Dizzy Aura" or just plain "Diz"
P.S. This pic of me was taken a few summers ago, in August 2005, to be exact, on the corner of John Lennon's "Dakota" apt. bldg. of yore in NYC-- across the street from his "Strawberry Fields" memorial in Central Park. Rock on, dear John... I "Imagine" you'll be back sooner or later, one way or the other, so I won't say "Rest in Peace". Just "Peace, brother!"
And you thought there WERE no Winter Olympics this year. Wrong! Yours Truly won a gold medal in the, er, Involuntary Skating category. Ooops.
Now what, you may ask, does the above photo of the controversial Mary statue in Ely Cathedral, England (one of my fave pics, in fact-- I call Her "O Mighty Isis!" Mary) have to do with me or my (literally) stunning Olympian turn? Only that I can still move my arms like that, thank Goddess, and my legs, too, for that matter, after suffering a partial spinal fracture late last month in a fall down some icy stairs. And me a devout Winter-lover! Well, let's put it this way: I still do love the SNOW.
My injury will heal, but it will take several more weeks. Sigh. I should be dancing.
Please stop by my page and say hi, Besom Buddies! I should be around more often again from here on in.
Thursday, December 27, 2007, 03:11 AM CST [General]
Forsooth and what ho, my goodly Covenspace cronies... I bring you tidings of great joy! Yea, verily, yea: that peerless paragon of gumshoe goddesses, Nancy Druid, is alive and well, and dining daintily in a local Italian ristorante known for its rather bizarre and garish if quaintly endearing decor. What thrilling mystery Nancy will solve next when she finally emerges from the blissful culinary throes of her tongue-twistingly tangy pizza margarita and temptingly tingly dry white pino grigio is ANYBODY's guess! So stay tuned for the ensuing mayhem, if ye dare!! ;-)
Send Message
Add Friend
Block User
Have a great day!
Eluned Bridhe
07:16 AM CST