I was born in Carmel, California in 1967, to a couple of young artists. My family recognized immediately that I was "just like aunt Eva," my spiritualist great grandmother. No one can agree about where she came from, maybe Missouri, maybe Louisiana, but she did seances and laying of hands, and married Uncle Billy, a Christian Scientist, in Alameda Ca. In 1910.

 

They knew to let me be, and how to encourage me without jinxing it. When I was five I learned to read palms from an elderly East Indian man I found hiding in the reading room at an otherwise wild hippie party my parents had taken me to. He told me to always deliver even bad news in a positive light, because, "It is impolite to cause people discomfort."

 

When I was seven, my goddess worshipping artist mom married a Catholic priest. We moved into the house his father had built near Stanford campus. The house was full of friendly ghosts. One sang to me at bedtime. His parents had been Spiritualist Catholic converts, he told me, when I asked about the ancient Ouija board I found in the basement.

 

Soon Aunt Eva and my new step-father's dead mother were giving me lessons in the basement. Automatic writing is much faster, as it turns out, and can be done in code, or with invisible ink made out of lemon juice. It was around this time that I began to converse with plant spirits about their medicinal uses.

 

On my step fathers days off from his job at the book store I would climb onto the back of his old Schwinn bicycle and accompany him to weddings - every weekend he performed another wedding. Each one was an adventure into a new world, with lots of food and a different very excited family. It could be in a church, on a boat in the bay, in the park, or up in the mountains under the trees, but it was always beautiful. I loved watching the moment when his vestments went on and his whole demeanor changed to that of a priest. He did baptisms and funerals too, which I also went to. One time I even got to see last rites.

 

In my teens I taught myself to read tarot cards, but without guidance I soon became troubled. My mother had the good sense to take me to a specialist who worked with mediums. Dr. Edith Fiore taught me past life regression, non-demonic de possession (works on minor demons too) and a few things about damage control. I was taught certain habits around diet and sleep, and given practices to keep me grounded. I began studying the healing arts at nineteen, starting with massage. I studied Thai medical massage at Wat Poh in Bangkok, and Anapanasiti meditation at Suan Mokh in Suratthani, and then came home to California to get my state license.

 

In my twenties I lived in central Italy, where I studied alchemical astrology, learned how to make my own Bach flower essences, did the first two levels of Reiki, and had a baby. I had one spiritualist friend, a Bavarian Pranoterapista, with whom to practice. From there I traveled to Switzerland where I did a two year training with Dub Leigh and Audrey Nakamura in a Rolfing hybrid they call Zentherapy (R).

 

I travelled to Sri Lanka where I took a short, six week course in acupuncture and homeopathy with Anton Jayasuriya. When I moved back to the States in my thirties, I began working full time as a body worker in collaboration with Dr. Lisa Polevoy a chiropractor in Berkeley. Not satisfied with just working the physical, emotional and mental bodies in the arc of a session, I deepened my inquiry into the mysteries.

 

I became associated with a Hindu teacher named Ammachi. I sat with her twice a year when she made visits. Still do. She gave me a mantra and a name. I continued to sit zazen weekly with Roshi Sylvette Orlanges, of Chozenji. I did four more Zentherapy (R) trainings with Garner Okinaga. I raised and homeschooled my son, supported by a tight knit community of Oakland single moms. Slowly I came out of my shell enough to start practicing spiritualism with a group, which led to my Vodoun and Lucumi training.

 

In 2004 in Orlando, Florida, in the company of my mother, my son and my daughter, my godparents, Iyakere and Oba Fefe, and community, I was crowned to Chango Jakuta at the hands of the Oriate Okantomi. My Ocha name is Oba Iku Daijo, which means King of the Dance of Death. From that moment on my life and work took on a new light. For the first time, I felt aligned, integrated, and whole. I finally had enough energy to do everything I wanted to do. Chango loves to study, to travel, and to have a good time. With his fire in me I am constantly challenged to embody the virtues of joyfulness, justice, and excellence which he inspires in his children.

 

Also in 2004, I began my seven year journey of Vortex Divine Energy Healing (R) classes, with Alexandra Marquardt and Ric Weinman. For three years I studied Orgasmic Meditation with Nicole Daedone at OneTaste San Francisco. Later I worked with a group of creative Wiccan re-constructionists, designing theurgical ritual on the wheel of the year. In 2011 and '12 I completed Prima, Secunda, and Terza courses in the art of classical Alchemy with Robert A. Bartlett. 2013 I dedicated to pilgrimage, documented here in the photo gallery. I currently reside in Forestville, California with my husband, and the neighbors goats. I work in Berkeley, Mill Valley, San Francisco, Puerto Vallarta, and at a distance, on FaceTime or Skype.