Maerinn's Bio 

Maerinn entered the Summerland on March 9, 2001,
after a car accident near her hometown in Upstate New York.

She was dearly loved and is fondly remembered in our hearts.

Memoriam Page

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Maerinn’s been on a search for a religious community since she can remember. She always held particular views on Deity (influenced by her parents, the offspring of farmers), but she wanted to be part of a group that felt the way she did. Her first experiments were with Catholicism. She practiced for four years, but balked when it came time to start the official conversion process. She didn’t want to join a religion that she wasn’t going to believe in whole-heartedly. So, although she loved the actual Masses and the Catholic community, she decided Catholicism wasn’t for her.

Maerinn happened to stumble across the Craft in 1998. She found some information on the Internet—she was looking for little wizard icons and the next thing she knows she’s reading stuff about Witchcraft. She had finally found a religion that all parts of her could follow—the religion that she’d been a part of her whole life! Of course, *now* she remembers that time she got the Buckland Blue Book for free, read it, and threw it out. The Gods were paging, but the beeper was turned off. <g>

She did a whole lot of reading, and in October 1998 performed her first ritual. She kept reading, but wanted to find a teacher. She ran across a class being taught by Sylvan Circle, and although she was nervous about meeting these Wiccans (she was scared that they’d be flaky!) she worked up the nerve to go. She loved it! She finished the eight month class, and was debating petitioning for initiation. However, she decided to leave the area after class and not initiate. Then, through a strange twist, she ended up staying in Maryland and petitioning for initiation. She initiated into Sylvan Circle in July 2000. Then she up and moved to New York to work on getting a graduate degree.

Currently she lives in Upstate New York and is hoping to pursue a graduate degree in Religious Studies. She hopes to spend as many of the Sabbats as she can with her Sylvan Circle family. And maybe she’ll move back to Maryland someday (although she gave up making plans as a New Year’s resolution!)

Things that Maerinn digs: Reading, walking in the woods, a really good debate, astrology, cooking, gardening, herbalism, aromatherapy, collecting things from nature (like rocks and pine cones) and coloring (great stress relief!)

Things that Maerinn has no love for: flaky people, stress from DC drivers, and people who misspell words (Use your spell-checker, for Pete’s sake!)

Some cool books:

The Sea Priestess by Dion Fortune

Moon Magic by Dion Fortune

Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

*** These books are fiction, but I think that they provide a good peep into what it’s like to work your beliefs into your everyday life.

Wicca books:

Green Witchcraft by Ann Moura

Wicca: A guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

Buckland’s Complete book of Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland

Each of these books are good in their own way—depends on what kind of Wicca you are most drawn to. Green Witchcraft is more along the kitchen-witch line, Guide for the Solitary Practitioner is more New-Age/Eclectic Wicca, and Buckland’s "Big Blue Book" is more traditionally oriented. If you’re not sure where to start, get the Moura and start from there.