by John C. Sulak
Plenty of books are available with instructions on how to do Magick or be a Pagan, a Witch, or a polyamorous person. But this book is different from those—it’s a gonzo document of what it is like to actually live a magickal life, to exist as a Pagan or a Witch, and to truly and completely be polyamorous. This is not a book of guidelines—it’s a look at what it’s like to do those things in the real world. Welcome to the adventures of Morning Glory and Oberon Zell!
When they began their paths to self-discovery, there weren’t any instruction manuals available. So, in the tradition of the pioneers, pilgrims, rugged individualists, and inventors who had come before them, they had to create new lifestyles, communities, and worlds. And they’ve been doing it ever since.
Oberon, then named Tim Zell, was one of the first and hardest-working people to advocate for the use of the word Pagan to describe who he was and the kind of folks he was starting to meet. It was in the 1960s, when the astronauts brought back the first pictures of Mother Earth as seen from outer space and people everywhere seemed to be worshipping her. Pagan was a word, and concept, that was part of a much larger cultural revolution. He wasn’t preaching dogma or trying to set himself up as a guru, which was a trend at the time—he just wanted a religion in which people could think for themselves and make up their own minds about spirituality. The revolution didn’t go as hoped for, but his use of the word began to catch on. Today, Pagan (with a capital P) means many different things to many different people, but it’s still being used. It’s been more evolution than revolution, and that’s part of the story that is documented on the pages that follow.
As Tim Zell continued to follow the Pagan Path, he met the Goddess herself, Gaia, the living Earth, along the way. And then he met his soulmate, Morning Glory, and from that moment on they have walked their beloved Earth together. At the heart of this book is the story of their love, and the people they love and who love them. The Zells were polyamorous before polyamory was cool. Morning Glory coined the word polyamory to describe what they’d already been doing before they met each other—they were both born that way. The Zells were there for the early discussions of what it meant to live polyamorously, and brought their decades of experience to the conference tables. (Their words of wisdom? “Be excellent to each other!”)
Polyamory has, in recent years, been growing rapidly, and the public is becoming more aware of it. There has been a great deal written about poly theory and practice, but no one has practiced it as much and as long as Morning Glory and Oberon. This is the first book to document an open relationship that has been going on for forty years. Anyone wanting to learn about the gritty, messy, yet beautiful truth about the subject can start right here.
Morning Glory was a Witch way, way before that kind of thing was cool. Even in the midst of the Neo-Pagan revival that began in the 1960s, Witchcraft was cloaked in secrecy, with mysterious initiations, rituals, and, uh, people wearing cloaks. That didn’t stop the teenage Morning Glory, who knew no Pagans or Witches at the time, and had no idea who Gerald Gardner was, from beginning her commitment to being a Witch in the modern world. Just what it means to be a Witch, and what the lineage of Wicca and Witchcraft is, is still the subject of vigorous debate today. Most Witches are “solitary,” self-taught and practicing alone. That’s how Morning Glory began, but she soon took her practice and her passion public, where her growth as a powerful Witch, a Priestess, and a human being continued.
And there’s more, of course, including magic, Magick, Wizardry, and getting legal recognition for Pagan churches. There’s the complete saga of how the Zells created the first unicorns in modern times. There are trips to the Underworld, visits to Pagan sacred sites from the old and new world, and Pagan rituals and festivals around the globe. There are not just poly-relationships but child-raising poly-families and poly-breakups, which could offer lessons to present and future readers who are considering some alternative to monogamy. There is social networking in the days before the Internet; there is science fiction and fantasy becoming reality; and there is a sex-positive, sex-sacred religion that has some real difficult and scandalous moments as it evolves. There is life, death, and rebirth. And there is, at the very least, some lively entertainment.
All this is told in the words of those who were there. I wanted reading this book to be like the ancient ritual of sitting in a circle with families and friends, paying attention as they each take turns talking. Imagine that! You’re being invited to join a circle around a campfire with the village elders!
I was initially inspired to begin working on this project because I personally thought that Morning Glory and Oberon were really awesome and that the world needed to know more about them. Many moons have come and gone since then, and I still feel that way. It has been an enjoyable and educational experience for me. Their story is both a fairy tale and classic Americana: two people who were on the outside of society but believed in each other. Through thick and thin, for better and for worse, Morning Glory and Oberon have stuck together and remain together today. She’s in her sixties; he recently turned seventy-one; and they are hanging in there. Their lives have not been easy—they have made countless sacrifices for their spirituality and their tribe. They have worked hard to avoid conformity and compromise. As senior citizens, it is becoming difficult for them to stay healthy and financially stable, but they remain loving and giving.
All of the people who were interviewed for this book were really amazing. Some of them are no longer with us, and we shall not see the likes of them again! You can find more information about each of these participants as they are introduced into the tale by turning to “Appendix II: Cast of Characters” in the back of the book, and there is also a timeline to help put things into context. I feel honored to have had the opportunity to have interviewed each of these people and to share their words with you and future generations of readers. I hope you enjoy what they have to say as much as I did.