NIGHTMARE, M. Macha (a pseudonym) 1943-

PERSONAL: Born February 25, 1943, in Milford, CT; father, in agriculture; mother, a homemaker; married Corby Lawton (a healer and contractor); children: Deirdre Blessing Wolfer; stepchildren: Lee R. Wolfer, Ross A. Wolfer, Andy. Education: Attended San Jose State College, 1960-61; Stockton College, A.A., 1963; attended San Francisco State College (now university), 1964-66; Goddard College, B.A., 1980. Politics: Green Religion: "Witchcraft." Hobbies and other interests: Hiking, habitat restoration, watching figure skating.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—P.O. Box 150694, San Rafael, CA 94915-0694. Agent—Jennie Dunham, Dunham Literary, Inc., 156 Fifth Ave., Suite 625, New York, NY 10010-7002.

CAREER: Worked as an architectural secretary, engineering secretary, and legal secretary in San Francisco, CA, between 1964 and 1997; legal secretary and paralegal in Marin County, CA, 1997—. Reclaiming Collective, original member, teacher, ritualist, and administrator, 1980-97; Covenant of the Goddess, member, 1981—, national president, 1997-98; Reclaiming Tradition Witchcraft, elder, 1997—; circuit priestess, teacher, ritualist, and consultant. Cherry Hill Seminary (Pagan seminary), faculty member; Auburn Theological Seminary, presenter and consultant; guest lecturer at University of California—Berkeley, New College of California, Golden Gate Interfaith Institute, Sonoma State University, Seattle Pagan Scholars, College of Notre Dame in Belmont, CA, College of Marin, and Academy Arkadia. Biodiversity Project, member of Spirituality Working Group, 1998; Sacred Dying Foundation, member of advisory council, 1999—; Death Options Alliance, member, 1999-2000; member of Marin Interfaith Council, Nature Religions Scholars Network, and Ord Brighideach.

WRITINGS:

(Coeditor) WomanBlood: Portraits of Women in Poetry and Prose, Continuing Saga Press (San Francisco, CA), 1981.

(With Starhawk) The Pagan Book of Living and Dying, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 1997.

Witchcraft and the Web ECW Press (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 2001.

Pagan Pride: 101 Reasons to Be Proud You're Pagan, Citadel (New York, NY), 2003.

Work represented in anthologies, including Irish Spirit: Pagan, Celtic, Christian, Global, edited by Patricia Monaghan, 2001; and Beginning the Pagan Path: Wisdom from Elders, edited by Kristin Madden. Contributor to periodicals, including Pomegranate: New Journal of Developmental Neopagan Studies, Reclaiming Quarterly, Green Egg, Hole in the Stone, PanGaia, Circle, PagaNet News, and Accord: Journal of the Council of the Magickal Arts.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Giving Great Rite: Creating Effective Large-Group and Public Rituals; Goddesses Alive! A Masks Ritual, an illustrated book with calendar and meditation/divination cards; The Triple Goddess in History and Today.

SIDELIGHTS: M. Macha Nightmare told CA: "The first commercially published book I coauthored came out of work done within my own community with the dying and death. I believe that book provides an important and valuable set of tools for Pagans and others. If our work can help others, help people have a kinder, gentler, more self-determined death, help them to care for the dying, to grieve, to counsel, and to memorialize the beloved dead, then I'm happy.

"I feel that the subculture for and with which I write is maturing and that there is a great need for more advanced writings in the field of witchcraft and Paganism."