FROM THE DIRECTOR

 

This is the inspiration, the story of how the vision of The Hagia Sophia Lifetime Achievement Award and The Wisdom Legacy Library came into being.

 

Once Upon A Time . . .

 

. . . after one of our end-of-the-ritual hugs, Nancy Ann Jones, a long-time supporter of the temple shared a most gracious idea. She told me she wanted to gather some of her writings and art together and pass them on to the temple as a legacy for future generations of the temple community who would value them and learn from them. That initial idea, and impulse, to pass on the wisdom and beauty of some of her life's work, offered in service to Spirit, struck a resonating chord within me. In that moment, an important seed was planted as the realization of the legacy of generations who parted the ways for us fell onto fertile ground. That visionary seed, and the responsibility of it, like the vision the Goddess gave me to create Her temple, began to gestate. I did not yet know how that seed Nancy Ann planted in my psyche would manifest, or take form, but that seed had fallen on the fertile soil of my heart.

 

The following year Nancy Ann came to one of our rituals wearing, with profound enjoyment, a little tiara and it touched me deeply. I saw her exit Hecate's Cave of Mystery during the drum and dance enactment with her crown and I saw myself, in a surreal moment, going to her and placing my TOG priestess crown on her head. I realized, in that moment, that the temple needed a way to recognize, honor, and celebrate women, and men, who have paved the way for coming generations; those who held a space for knowledge, for the old ways to come full circle; for courageously passing on their learned wisdom.

 

It is with a deep appreciation for all that Nancy Ann Jones has so graciously given to our community as well as to me personally, that Temple of the Goddess asked her to be the 2011 recipient of Temple of the Goddess' Hagia Sophia Lifetime Achievement Award. She is, no doubt, the first of many others to come.

 

We chose to hold the awards ceremony the week of Lammas, one of the holy days for Pagans. Lammas is a time of completions. It is the fertile, prosperous harvest that assures life's survival is nearly ready but not yet certain. By honoring the harvest of elder wisdom given to us as a community, we truly ensure the survival of life. We build on the knowledge passed on to the evolutionary tribe.

 

Please join us for this special event and celebrate the life and work of an amazing woman who has touched the lives of many.

 

Thank you Nancy Ann, also known as Annie RedCrow, for keeping our traditions alive.