Morning Glory & Otter/Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and the Grey School

[Mahekun]

I think this will become pretty obvious to being a fraud but I thought I should post here anyway in case anyone else has heard of or had experiences with this person.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Glory_Zell-Ravenheart

She claims to be part Choctaw, is an "eclectic priestess of Shamanism" (whatever that is), and runs a "school of wizardry" along with her husband.





edited to change subject title.

[snorks]

Disclaimer: I am a student at the Grey School of Wizardry. 

What discussion that I hear of Morning Glory in various Pagan circles has been focused on her and her husband's founding the Church of All Worlds based on R. Heinlein's book "Stranger in a Strange Land", and her advocacy of the polyamoury lifestyle.  (I do not subscribe to either one.)  Her and her husband are featured in a chapter of Margot Adler's "Drawing Down the Moon", which details Paganism in the U.S.

As for the School, it is run by a group of Pagan people such the former ArchDruid of ADF, noted Pagan authors and artists in the model of Harry Potter's Hogwarts - admitting children and adults in different sections. 

You can find out more from the School's website or by writing to them.  http://www.greyschool.com/ They list the staff of teachers, subjects, and other information you want to know.  Morning Glory is *not* on the staff nor developed any of the courses.

She is however, one of the contributors of the book "The Grey School of Wizardry Grimoire", a text of the School, and is available at bookstores.  My edition of the Grimoire does not address shamanism nor any ceremonies discussed in this forum.  The book is directed to children 11 to 18 years old, and focuses on Western magic.

The School itself doesn't teach shamanism but instead teaches topics such as "dragon lore" which includes learning the different cultural idea on dragons, dinosaurs, and reptiles.  You can also learn hard science such astronomy and the like.  They do also GED training.

I hope this information is informative.

[Mahekun]

Somewhat informative but also concerning. Harry Potter, dragons and "Western magic" are not real things...I hope you realize that these people are ripping you off in order to "teach" you things that they or others simply made up. The fact that they offer this to children is even more concerning.

[Laurel]

I had no idea she claimed Native blood. I don't have any use for these people, but I'd never heard them accused of ceremony selling before.

Her husband Otter/Oberon Zell/G'Zell/whatever claims to have come up with Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis. I first heard of them when they started messing around with the horn buds on baby goats to make "unicorns" and sold one to the circus.

She certainly does claim to practice "shamanism." It's Celtic, it's eclectic, it's pagan, it's "the Shamanic Arts," it's anything but Native American  She never refers to herself as a shaman, just a priestess--er, a "Witch, Priestess, Loremistress and Goddess," I mean.

https://www.google.com/search?q=morning+glory+g%27zell+sghamanism&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[critter - a white non-ndn person]

She doesn't have much compassion for goats.

[Ritaer]

@ Mahedun "Somewhat informative but also concerning. Harry Potter, dragons and "Western magic" are not real things...I hope you realize that these people are ripping you off in order to "teach" you things that they or others simply made up. The fact that they offer this to children is even more concern"

Isn't it a little judgemental to dismiss another culture's magic and religion on a forum dedicated to preserving one's own? I have known Morning Glory and Oberon for at least 30 years. I have never heard of either of them pretending to know or teach Native American religion or ceremony. The do consider themselves Neopagans--attempting to reclaim the preChristian practices of European ancestors. One can argue over how accurate or efficacious those attempts are, but dismissing the whole enterprise as a ripoff  is as presumptuous as for EuroAmericans to claim Native practice is superstition.

As for the unicorn project--the transplantation of the horn buds was done with local anesthetic. The project was based on the work of a Dr. Dove in the 30s, who claimed that legends of unicorns were based on a practice by early herding cultures to create a natural herd leader by moving the horn buds to a point at which they would stimulate the pineal gland. Sorry I can't recall the reference. I think its hokum myself, although the unigoats do apparently make good guardians of sheep. But the goats were very well treated. On the other hand, actually testing the theory shows more of a scientific mindset than accepting or rejecting the theory without research. A number of goats, both large and miniature were so altered, and one was sold to Barnum and Bailey circus, but the Zells discontinued the project after that--they could have set up a unicorn factory if they had been in it for the money.

Rita

[critter - a white non-ndn person]

Well, I don't have much respect for someone who mutilates animals. It's nice to know they used anesthesia, however, it doesn't change the taste in my mouth of someone "doing" something to another living being just because they're (supposedly) higher up on the ladder. And I certainly wouldn't trust a person like that to handle the minds and hearts of others.

[educatedindian]

She calls herself eclectic. Don't pagans, neo or otherwise, use that to mean basically pick and choose? A bit of this and that, whatever they find interesting or useful or even what they feel like. It seems more or less like the pagan version of generic NDN or pan Indianism.

We have longtime pagan members in this forum and have never been disrespectful to them. In fact we've long encouraged whites interested in Nuage to consider trying to turn to the tribal ways of their ancestors. This includes reclaiming, relearning, and recreating their traditions, as daunting as that often is. But eclectic pick and choose is not the way to do it. It's almost the exact opposite, when the accurate and respectful way would be to learn teach or recreate one particular pagan tradition.

She does claim in passing Choctaw ancestry, but thankfully doesn't try to toss their tradition in the mix.

[snorks]

That is one problem that Margot Adler discusses in "Drawing Down the Moon" - how Neo-Pagans borrow from each other and other people's traditions.  Then they see using and claiming to these traditions as being o.k.  Personally, I never understood how someone could have Kali, Odin, Lugh all as Gods they worshipped or revered at the same time.  However, it is easier to take the cafeteria approach since doing scholarship and digging deep is really hard work for specific traditions such as Celtic, Hellenic, Norse, or Roman.  Neo-Paganism is a vast field ranging from the various Wiccan traditions to Reconstructionism of the original religions (i.e. Norse, etc) to eclectic and borrowing.  With Neo-Paganism, there are folks who are Norse Reconstructionists (Asatru) who dislike the Norse-Wicca folks (worshiping Norse Gods in a Wiccan construct) and so forth.

Morning Glory does claim Choctaw but so far in the materials that I seen, she does not focus on "Indian this" or "Indian that".  At present, she is very ill with a chronic blood/bone disease.

[Defend the Sacred]

She calls herself eclectic. Don't pagans, neo or otherwise, use that to mean basically pick and choose? A bit of this and that, whatever they find interesting or useful or even what they feel like.

Yes. The modern, Neopagan church MG and her husband started, Church of All Worlds, was inspired by Robert Heinlein's science fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land. I don't think the Zells (now the Zell-Ravenhearts) have ever claimed to follow a particular ethnic or historically-attested tradition. I think they have always promoted the salad bar approach, pulling as equally (or predominantly) from fiction  (Heinlein, Harry Potter) and their imaginations as anything else. As far as I know, they've always been honest about that part of it. They are firmly rooted in the California Hippie culture. I've never heard of them having anything to do with any of the living, traditional, earth-based cultures like NDN or ethnic reconstructionist communities.

It seems more or less like the pagan version of generic NDN or pan Indianism.

It is. And since eclectic Neopagans don't just combine/homogenize diverse European cultures, but bring in things like Snorks said - outsider appropriations of everything from bits of Hinduism to "core shamanism" to things taken from Buddhism to fantasies of NDN ways - these days the eclectic Neopagan milieu overlaps heavily with the Newage milieu. I think MG's husband, Oberon/Otter/Tim may have come up with the joke that the only difference between the eclectic Neopagans and the Newagers is, "a decimal point". As in: hippie campouts held by eclectic Neopagans usually cost a few hundred dollars; the same event by Newagers will be in a hotel and cost a few thousand. But much of the content, attitudes, and ethnicities will be the same.

We have longtime pagan members in this forum and have never been disrespectful to them. In fact we've long encouraged whites interested in Nuage to consider trying to turn to the tribal ways of their ancestors. This includes reclaiming, relearning, and recreating their traditions, as daunting as that often is. But eclectic pick and choose is not the way to do it. It's almost the exact opposite, when the accurate and respectful way would be to learn teach or recreate one particular pagan tradition.

Agreed.

She does claim in passing Choctaw ancestry, but thankfully doesn't try to toss their tradition in the mix.

I don't know if she does or not. Given the non-Native ignorance about NDNs and "shamanism", I think claiming Choctaw heritage while billing oneself as a "shaman" can be problematic. From what I've seen, she claims Choctaw heritage in some bios but not others. While she is known for being mentioned in some of the foundational contemporary studies like Adler's, MG has never been as high profile as her husband or other members of their circles.

[Smart Mule]

"The influence of Zell’s encounters with pagan groups such as Feraferia resulted in CAW using the Wiccan Wheel of the Year. The group has held Native American rituals, pagan eclipse gatherings and vision quests."
http://www.has.vcu.edu/wrs/profiles/ChurchOfAllWorlds.htm

Explanation of a 'Native American' (no Nation cited) song that Morning Glory felt she had the right to alter -
http://books.google.com/books?id=i3Iqu0h1VH0C&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=morning+glory+zell,+native+american&source=bl&ots=PKKhiv424m&sig=_45yp7mOO0QTN_m6cVVYsKYmckA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6A6sT8XbOcjNtAazspXJCw&ved=0CGIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=morning%20glory%20zell%2C%20native%20american&f=false

Grey School of Wizardry Council member - Ray Barnes (Spirit) (1951-) Artist/Gardener. Cut his teeth in the Anti-war and Environmental movements through the ‘70s-‘80s. Spent some years in Boston working as a professional advertising graphic artist and self-publishing several of his own comics. He says: “At a Rainbow Gathering in North Carolina in ‘85 I had an encounter with Spirit that changed my outlook on every level. I have since settled here in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. The primary project that involves me now is turning a burned out, raped and eroded hillside into a lush magical garden, and a place of power for the region. It is called Cedar Grove. It is also my purpose to chronicle what I have learned in my art and share it with the digital magical community. I am learning food self-sufficiency, frugal living, the uses of herbs, and most of all, sustainable forest gardening. I am currently three years into the project and have gathered a small band of friends around me who share this vision. We live on the land, collect rainwater to drink, sleep outdoors in all seasons, and cook on an open fire in an outdoor kitchen. We also do native style sweats and purifications. It is our purpose to live intimately with Nature, and with humility and quiet listening learn what She has to tell us. We observe the turning of the seasons in the ancient way. My allegiance is to the Great Mother, and my purpose is to act in Her service with humility and thoughtfulness, and courage. There is only one mind.” http://www.smokytopia.com [my bold]
http://www.greyschool.com/index.php?module=Landing&func=display&page=council

LOTS of suggestions for appropriation.
http://themiltondoddreaders.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/8/1/10819822/creating-circles-and-ceremonies-oberon-zell-ravenheart.pdf

ETA - the large PDF file includes a conglomeration of appropriation.  One instance is a submission by Ellen Evert Hopman on page 130, a Hopi 'spell' she claims she was instructed to 'share with the world'.  Actually it is listed as a 'spell' but she states it is a ceremony that she learned from a nameless Hopi elder (funny how Hopi elders never have names! and mostly require white women to do their bidding).

"The Medicine Wheel 201
Credits: 3
Year Level: 2
Instructor: Donata Ahern
Class Description:

(See Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard, pp. 163-164)
You will learn to construct a Native American Medicine Wheel, and how to use and work with it. “Medicine” for Native Americans, means “power”. If a person has Medicine, s/he has power. A Wizard has power, and so does a Medicine person, so learning about the Medicine Wheel can help you to become a more powerful Wizard. Some of the lessons in this class are exercises that will give you experiences to help you understand the worldview, or attitude to life, of Native Americans. This is important so that you can begin to be a Medicine person. The exercises will help you personally feel the energy of the stones of the Medicine Wheel. You will learn to solve problems, learn about yourself, and increase your Medicine and Power with the Medicine Wheel.

Welcome to the wonder and mystery of the Medicine Wheel! I sincerely hope that you will enjoy your studies."
Required Materials:

Recommended for advanced study:

"The Medicine Wheel: Path of the Heart" by Rev. Donata Ahern
http://registered.greyschool.com/index.php?module=Classes&func=deptlist&did=2

Questionable faculty at the Grey School -

"Professor Ahern has followed the paths of Paganism and shamanism since the early 1980s. She is a Druid and Bard Tutor in OBOD, a Wiccan Elder, and Priestess of the Mayan Temple of the Deer. She studied Lakota and Mayan Medicine Wheels for 20 years, developing a personal synthesis and Oracle card set. She led student Circles at SUNYAB for four years, forming Silverweb, a cyber training coven. She is an online counselor and regular presenter at Pagan Festivals in the USA and Canada. Prof. Ahern is the author of "The Medicine Wheel: Path of the Heart" and is currently working on a book of shamanic journeys. She lives in the woods with her German Shepherd companion, Tara, who makes sure she's not "all work and no play"!"
http://www.greyschool.com/index.php?module=Faculty&func=faculty&uid=13

"Professor Moonwriter is a child of the natural world in all of its concrete and magickal guises. Conceived at Beltane, her magickal roots include the vampire lore of a family living in the Carpathian Mountains, a Czech grandmother schooled in traditional healing, paternal links to the Scot's highland pictish Wicca, and a dab of Nez Perce tribal medicine craft thrown in for good measure. Moonwriter's magickal specialties include nature-based magick, outdoorcraft, herbology, and astronomy. Trained as a nurse, Moonwriter holds an MA in nonfiction writing and teaches composition and creative writing at the college level. She has written two books: 'Gargoyles' (New Page) and 'Crafting Magick with Pen and Ink' (Llewellyn). Her hobbies include hiking, camping, organic gardening, and cooking, and she is an aficionado of the art and rock art of Northwest Coastal and Columbia Plateau First People. Moonwriter has three grown children and an exuberant black poodle companion. She watches the Moon."
http://www.greyschool.com/index.php?module=Faculty&func=faculty&uid=6

"Rainbow Stonetalker is of Cherokee and English descent and is an ordained minister. Schooled in the mystery traditions of both Cherokee and Druid, Rainbow is a constant student in the mystery schools of life. A published author, recorded singer songwriter, accomplished storyteller, and intuitive artist; she is at her happiest when she is creating something. While living in England she studied complimentary and alternative healing disciplines, and is a practitioner of aromatic stone massage, crystal healing, and meditation as medicine. She is a member of the American Tarot Association, certified as a professional reader by the Tarot Certification Board of America, and does Medicine Wheel, Shamanic, and Empathic readings for a reputable online company. Rainbow has a flair for recycling by finding new uses for discarded items, and is keenly interested in organic gardening and cooking. Her leisure hours are spent feeding a passion for needlework including knitting, beading, and working with leather. She lives in Illinois with her husband and four-legged kids. For more information please visit her website at www.stonetalker.com."
http://www.greyschool.com/index.php?module=Faculty&func=faculty&uid=39

"Solaris has walked a balanced path between dark and light. She has served her community as a Healer, Teacher, Mentor, Priestess, Magician, Meditator, Counselor, Historian, Animal Activist, Humanitarian, Leader, and Mental Health Professional. Solaris was born and raised in a haunted house, and ahs been involved in the magickal arts all her life. A practioner of Dragon Magick, Solaris has multiple magickal talents and experience in several forms of magick including Healing, Divination, Beast Mastery, and Mind Magicks. She has studied several Martial Arts, and lived by a strict moral code. Solaris is a member of ADF, and serves as a Clergy member of the Correllian Nativist Church. She was a contributor to the Companion for the Apprentice Wizard."
http://www.greyschool.com/index.php?module=Faculty&func=faculty&uid=26
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correllian_Nativist_Tradition

[Smart Mule]

I'm modifying the subject line of this thread to include Oberon/Otter, Morning Glory's husband, as well as the Grey School of Wizardry.

[Defend the Sacred]

Wow. That's much worse than I knew about. There's some really shameful stuff there. I had no idea they'd gone so far into misappropriating and misrepresenting NDN ways, and promoting people who do such things

Professor Moonwriter is a child of the natural world in all of its concrete and magickal guises. Conceived at Beltane, her magickal roots include the vampire lore of a family living in the Carpathian Mountains, a Czech grandmother schooled in traditional healing, paternal links to the Scot's highland pictish Wicca, and a dab of Nez Perce tribal medicine craft thrown in for good measure.

(emphasis added)

Wicca was made up in the 1940s by an Englishman;  it's a hodgepodge of material swiped from Celtic cultures, but it steals even more from Seton's fantasies about plains NDNs, Hinduism, and anything that didn't or couldn't run away fast enough. The Picts (which is the English name, not the name they used for themselves) were an ancient tribe in Scotland, whose language was probably of the P-Celtic linguistic branch. While those of us with Scottish ancestry may have some Pictish ancestors, the Pictish culture itself was absorbed by the northern Gaels and ceased to exist as an independent culture millenia ago. Wicca has nothing to do with what little we know of Pictish culture.

The PDF  Sky linked to above contains a few things that are presented as Scottish or Celtic, but have been altered to bring in non-Celtic concepts from Wicca. Since the authors never indicate what bits they changed, those unfamiliar with the source cultures will probably assume these changes are part of the original;  this leads to the traditional ways being forgotten and replaced with fantasies. For instance, there is some pretty serious misinformation about ceremonial fires. The traditional lore has been fiddled with to the extent that it goes against traditional spiritual knowledge of which things are prohibited in those ceremonies... unless you want to anger the spirits. Probably the people using that misinformation will just be ignored by the spirits... but if their ritual is interrupted by a thunder storm or a tornado they might want to think about who they offended. I don't know if the author simply didn't know the traditional lore, or decided to change it for some other reason, but it's irresponsible to publish that sort misinformation. Actually, I think that if one doesn't distinguish between fantasy and traditional knowledge, they probably see no reason to follow any tradition. I guess they think it's all in their minds and the spirits aren't real.

Those sorts of things will not help anyone get in touch with Scottish (or "Pictish" or any other real culture's) ancestors or ancestral spirits; they contribute to the erasure of our actual traditions and encourage the ignorant to do things that are spiritually offensive to the very spirits they claim to "call".

[critter - a white non-ndn person]

and encourage the ignorant to do things that are spiritually offensive to the very spirits they claim to "call".

Well, what's concerning to me (as well as all the other things pointed out here) is that most likely
some spirits will come up but they are not good beings, and most likely lie to these folk and abuse
them, and misuse them as well as others who may be affiliated with these people, but perhaps not
involved in these things. Like family members or co-workers.

It's very dangerous to be calling up spirits if you don't know what/who you're calling up and are
just relying on someone's word that this is a good way.. or .. relying on the spirits to tell you
they are good. People seem to think that if it's a spirit, it must be of "higher" whathaveyou, and
this just is not the truth.

Best to not do any ceremony or attend any ceremony unless it is within the containment of a
real tradition, with real, authentic leaders/practitioners.

Sometimes I just wonder about this world, and all these people going about these conjured
ceremonies, and what havoc they are wreaking on our world because of what they are calling
in.. all because they cannot contain their human egos and instead have to play (believe) that
they're some kind of wise person, knowledgeable and knowing.

[Smart Mule]

@ Mahedun "Somewhat informative but also concerning. Harry Potter, dragons and "Western magic" are not real things...I hope you realize that these people are ripping you off in order to "teach" you things that they or others simply made up. The fact that they offer this to children is even more concern"

Isn't it a little judgemental to dismiss another culture's magic and religion on a forum dedicated to preserving one's own? I have known Morning Glory and Oberon for at least 30 years. I have never heard of either of them pretending to know or teach Native American religion or ceremony. The do consider themselves Neopagans--attempting to reclaim the preChristian practices of European ancestors. One can argue over how accurate or efficacious those attempts are, but dismissing the whole enterprise as a ripoff  is as presumptuous as for EuroAmericans to claim Native practice is superstition.

Umm...Harry Potter is fiction.  I suggest you read through the information provided, showing that Morning Glory and Oberon have actively participated in and promoted cultural appropriation.  They have also participated in pagan festivals such as something called Starwood where cultural appropriation abounds.

As for the unicorn project--the transplantation of the horn buds was done with local anesthetic. The project was based on the work of a Dr. Dove in the 30s, who claimed that legends of unicorns were based on a practice by early herding cultures to create a natural herd leader by moving the horn buds to a point at which they would stimulate the pineal gland. Sorry I can't recall the reference. I think its hokum myself, although the unigoats do apparently make good guardians of sheep. But the goats were very well treated. On the other hand, actually testing the theory shows more of a scientific mindset than accepting or rejecting the theory without research. A number of goats, both large and miniature were so altered, and one was sold to Barnum and Bailey circus, but the Zells discontinued the project after that--they could have set up a unicorn factory if they had been in it for the money.

Rita

Just because some veterinarian was performing experiments on animals in the 1930's does not make it okay.  Normal goats, herding dogs and llamas/alpacas make excellent guardians of sheep without being surgically altered.  I don't take issue with anyone, not even the Zell's, keeping and selling livestock however I take personal issue with cosmetically altering an animal for the owners vanity.  It does nothing to benefit the animal, only the owner.  It's selfish and irresponsible.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association states: “Surgical operations for the purpose of modifying the appearance of a companion animal for non?therapeutic purposes should be actively discouraged. Where possible, legislation should be enacted to prohibit the performance of non?therapeutic surgical procedures for purely cosmetic purposes.”    This position is supported by small and large animal veterinarians as well as zoologists from America to Zimbabwe.

sky