Hello, Fellow Travelers

The air is warm and stuffy from where I'm sitting, ensconced at a comfortable desk on the fourth floor of the public library on East Kingsbridge Road. Smooth granite and muted grays envelop me in a heather-soft caress, the sloping walls and ceilings and stairs creating a womb-like cocoon that unfocuses my gaze and activates my pineal gland. My desk is next to a row of huge picture windows overlooking a gritty expanse of Bronx rooftops and discount stores on an overcast and cloudy day.

It is a Friday, and today marks the first day of this blog, Handmaiden of Isis. It is a blog which, while written by a woman dedicated as a priestess of Isis, is dedicated to the occult (or hidden) traditions of all the mystery schools. For those who are unfamiliar, the mystery schools were ancient institutions dedicated to initiating aspiring priests and priestesses into the knowledge, wisdom and skill of what some today might call magick. They were called mystery schools because their domain was the world of shadows, the unknown; they were the universities of their day, but the textbook-heavy, left-brain bias of today's universities would have scandalized them. The knowledge such schools imparted could not be "taught"; it had to be experienced.

The mystery schools taught priestesses how to see anger in shadows, how to read the wind; in short, it taught them how to listen. They existed in all major civilizations of the time, such as Egyptian, Buddhist and Aztec, and taught similar things; Jesus came to earth to make their teachings accessible to all. Consequently, true mystics learn from all religious traditions. I have walked a sad and painful path as regards this fact; born into Buddhism in an abusive family, unfortunately I rebelled against my childhood faith and became a staunch fundamentalist Christian. Driving myself to the brink of insanity, I eventually attempted suicide because of my religious beliefs. It took this massive crisis for me to finally accept my mysticism, but I'm so glad I did.

This blog will be dedicated to my walk with Divinity. Amazing things are happening in my life right now, and I am so happy to be able to share them with you. I look forward to sharing the magick!