We welcome Briana Murray as our new editor-in-chief of the Temple eNewsletter. She has been with the Temple since 2006, quickly moving from congregant to facilitator; assisting anyone who needed help with ritual set-up and take-down. When a Temple Guardian Angel gave us the use of lighting trees for our rituals, Briana began setting up, operating, and dismantling the cumbersome equipment. The Temple facilitator "manual" states that tasks are asked for, not "assigned". When Briana asked to take a more active part in the rituals, Xia suggested reading the liturgy. Briana accepted, and has been doing an excellent job. Recently, she asked if she could work on the eNewsletter. The answer was, and is, a resounding, "Yes!"

I have personally joined with her in rituals, both public and private, and am proud to say that I witnessed a young, sincere, powerful, deeply spiritual human being. I am glad that Fate has chosen to have Briana come into my life. My life is better for having her in it; Mother Earth is a better place for having her living in these times of so much destruction and pollution. Young people like her can, and will, change the world for the better.

Thank you for bringing more love and laughter into my life.

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What type of spirituality surrounded you as a child?

I grew up with a strict, fundamentalist upbringing that I questioned from a very early age. Inside though, there was always something deeper where I felt a strong connection to nature. I was most at peace when I was outside climbing a tree, lying under the stars or swimming in the ocean.

I was first introduced to the "harm none" and "lead your own path" philosophy when I attended TOG's spring equinox of 2006 for a class assignment on spring festivals, and was first introduced to the Goddess through an Art History professor of mine at CSUN in 2005.

What is your vocation?

I am an assistant teacher and coach at a private school for "gifted" youth.

I believe I was born to teach and have found that I love teaching the children I work with. It is through them that I often see the potential for great change in this world.

I plan to be at my job for the next year, at least, continuing to guide and inspire young ones to embrace the unique, caring and strong individuals they are, while at the same time prepping to enter a Graduate program in Anthropology by the fall of 2011. I see myself continuing to teach as I continue to grow and learn.

I am very passionate about spreading knowledge, especially the knowledge that we are so much more capable than most of us were taught. If people learn to recognize their strengths and believe in their ability to make a real difference, then a difference is what we will see; a difference in the way we treat each other, a difference in the way we treat our planet, and a difference in the way we treat all living things.

I am also very interested in Peace Studies and the promotion of equality, especially among the LGBTQ community.

Having a feminist witch as my Art History professor! Camping in the woods, surrounded by women who saw the divine in each other, and bore witness to the greatness of Mother Earth. Spending four months in Ghana, in West Africa, where I spent countless nights on rooftops and beaches, exposed to the beautiful and wondrous sky and moon like never before. Having the most beautiful and encouraging woman tell me she would be my mother.

I see myself becoming more in tune with personal strengths and wisdom. I see myself reclaiming the power that has been stripped from countless women for countless years and sharing it with as many people who will receive it.

For the future: People sharing rather than crushing one another to get "ahead". A change in the story of creation that we pass down to our children so that we no longer rape this planet of all her precious resources, only to gain an inaccurate and fleeting sense of control and power.

For myself: to have the determination and a lack of fear to be all that I am destined to become, so that I may make a significant and positive impact in this world. I dream that the love and power that flows through my veins will radiate out into the world, providing a contagious source strong enough to overcome the ever-so-destructive powers that rule most of this world today. (You did say dream :)

For my community: of the Temple of the Goddess that they continue to find ways to survive and thrive in this big business of a world and continue do the beautiful work they are already doing in inspiring change towards a more balanced and peaceful world.

Tonight, this tale explains why things are the way they are. Coyote is the primary trickster of the Southwest. This tale comes from the Pima peplum, a group of Native Americans living in Arizona. Tricksters are the animals that never seem to get it right, but in their silliness and missteps they often bring us a glimpse of something new and different.

How Bluebirds and Coyote Got Their Colors

retold by Oban

Long ago, Bluebirds did not have the beautiful blue feathers they have now, and Coyote's coat was bright green.

One morning two dull Bluebirds were flying and chasing each other. They found a lake they hadn't seen before. It was like a giant puddle and it was a beautiful blue color. From up in the sky the water looked so cool and inviting they dived down into it.

The Bluebirds bathed, splashing and singing, "This water is so blue and we are in it. We will be blue too." They came back to the lake the next three mornings, bathed and sang the song again. On the next morning after that, when they flapped their wings under the water, their dull feathers came loose and dropped out. New shiny blue feathers grew in their place.

When the Bluebirds came back to the tree they usually rested in, Coyote was dozing in the shade of a nearby rock. He was very surprised to see their blue wings. "What have you done to your feathers?" he asked.

The Bluebirds twittered, "We've renewed them and they'll always be blue now." Coyote wanted his coat to be blue too. "I hate my ugly green coat. How did you make your feathers blue and beautiful?" He said, "I want to be blue too."

The birds told Coyote about the blue lake, and how he needed to bathe on four mornings and sing the magic words- "This water is blue and I am in it. I will be blue too." Then they said, "On the fifth morning your coat will turn blue. Be careful, Coyote. You must follow the rules and bathe each morning."

The next morning Coyote went to the lake and bathed. He was impatient. "I want my coat to be blue today," he said. "I'm not going to wait four mornings." So he jumped back in the water four times that same morning.

On the fifth time, the hairs in Coyote's coat came loose and floated away, and new blue hairs grew in their place. He was very excited. He ran out of the water and raced back along the track to show his beautiful new blue coat to the Bluebirds. But he was admiring his coat while he ran and wasn't looking where he was going. Because his feet were wet, he slipped and fell, rolling over and over in the dust and dirt.

He got up, shook himself and howled when he looked at his coat. It was no longer blue, but dirt-colored all over.

And that is why Bluebirds have shiny blue feathers and Coyote's coat is the color of dirt. He was impatient and didn't do as he was told.