Sept. 22, 2O23 

Josh,

Mabon Blessings, my Friend… 

I saw the first signs of Autumn the other day, with leaves turning orange, yellow, and red.

The evenings are getting chilly now as well, and I found myself wearing a hoodie the other night.

Aside from a few little adventures and excursions, things have been somewhat quiet.

Summer was robust with events, shows, festivals, and all kinds of activity, and now the Autumn lull is descending, bringing with it the scent of drying leaves, camp fires, and a hint of chilly wind.

The second Harvest is upon us now, and I wonder to myself what that will look like for our work.

What cycles will be coming to their conclusion..

What new cycles will be beginning..

What will the next plot point be in the storyline of The Fools’ Journey…

Maevyn and I went to Salem a few weeks ago, and you were thought of often, for many reasons, but most prominently because I was wearing your boots *laughs*, I’m truly walking miles in your shoes, and as I’ve written before, that creates a deeper experience of you for me.

It was raining heavily, and my sandals, well, they weren’t gonna cut it…

This is the second time I’ve walked in your soles, only this time I wasn’t dressed as Santa.

While in Salem, we were visiting Gypsy Ravish who you met at Oberon’s birthday party back in 2O18, and she spoke fondly of you without having even really known you beyond that one time.

She said to me, “It’s hard to lose a friend”, when I was speaking about you.

Her words were very compassionate, sincere, and heartfelt, which made me once again realize that people love and loved you without even knowing you, because I hear this often from people.

All I have to do is evoke your name and people get it, they get YOU.

This shows me that you are just as alive in death as you were in life, and that comforts me.

I showed Gypsy most of the movie - we had limited time so watching the whole thing wasn’t possible - and of what she saw she showed enthusiasm for, and she had some ideas of how it can be utilized, particularly as an educational tool or as a class, along with ideas on selling it.

You likely didn’t get to spend enough time with her to know that she was, and still is, a bit of a force in Pagan music world, having released two albums between the 8O’s and 9O’s, and she even covered Gwydion songs, just like us!! - she has a cover of “We Won’t Wait Any Longer”.

She was excited to hear our version, and of course we listened to hers; they were very different.

Hers was more like an invocation, and ours is a bit more anthemic;  both serving the cause.

We spoke about how amazing and somewhat paradoxical it is / was that you, as a Christian, 

put your effort so genuinely, and energetically behind a Pagan ethnomusicological  project.

Bridge building.

Moments like this serve to validate our work in deep and meaningful ways.

These seeming synchronicities kind of act as a guideline, much like you do, for me, showing me that I, and we, were and are doing very important work that stretches far beyond our own selves.

I’m proud of you, every day, and I am always reminded of your brilliance.

There are days where I revisit our work, just to check in with it, and I’m like DAMN,..

We captured lightning in a bottle and used it to illuminate both of our lives.

Thanks for being there to get the fire started, Josh

 

Onward and upward,...

JC