Two Open Letters
To The
Pagan Community
From Rev. Lori Bruno
(Scroll Down for Second Letter)
Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful for all that we have in our hearts, to be thankful for the good things we have, and also thankful that we can overcome the times of sadness that we must overcome.
This Thanksgiving week, we are thankful that we can still hold in our hearts Truth, Justice, and the fact that we can learn about all those who come to us, whether they are honest or have secret agendas.
At this Thanksgiving time, it was with much sadness and yet with much gladness that I was able to see that which was around me. The Gods work in strange ways, sometimes they let you see things that break your heart and sometimes they let you experience gladness in your heart.
This Thanksgiving, I have had my share of both, and it has made me stronger in my resolve to make Justice prevail in all aspects of both my life and the lives of my people who have Trust in me; so with that I say, I am thankful. I am thankful for the people who have maintained their dignity and not sold themselves out for the greenback dollar or what they think their commodity of the future might be.
There are some who would betray those who trust them and then snicker over it, thinking a person does not know what they are doing or what is going on. The Gods always send Truth to those who serve them every single day, not as a show, but devotedly in their Rituals to Light. The Gods always make Justice prevail and Truth come out. The betrayer is constantly in a fearful world! They may show that they are on top of the world, but in reality they are the bottom of the barrel, and it never ceases to amaze me how people will go and try to put on someone else’s Cape to bypass the mediocrity in which they themselves have lived.
You will always know a true member of the Craft by the generosity of Spirit and the Kindness in our Hearts, seeking no recompense for that generosity! The takers always show who they are; they may get away with it for a while, but then they are found out and their transparency is so great that a blinding Light shines upon them and that Light cannot be diminished, because that Light comes from the Ancestors. Here we are during this time of the Living and the Light, and those whom we serve, those who are in the Light, make that Beacon come forward. Trust me, that Light surrounds the people of Trinacrian Rose and all Crafters of True Heart.
The betrayer is the coward and the coward is the forerunner of the betrayer. The betrayer says, “Well, if I go with this person, I can make some money!” Their only talent is greed, they will align themselves with people like themselves, the vipers clothed with lamb’s skin; but that’s alright, they make money so they can get on the same band wagon. When they betray Goodness, it starts to show forward; the betrayer is always found out! They are naked in that blinding Light of the Ancestors, they cannot hide any longer. No matter what pretty words they use, it always comes out who they are! Oh, they will travel far, but in the long run, when they go down that icy hallway and see the mirror next to them, when they are truly naked, they will look to the other side of that hallway and see all the people they betrayed, laughing in the Garden of Delight! What a horrible way to end your life, in an icy, closed in hallway, naked before a mirror so you can see how wonderful you look, but you can never go through to the other doorway, the one that leads to the Garden of Delight.
Many years ago someone said to me, “What is Hell, Lori?”
I answered them; “Hell is not hot, it is not burning fire; it is an icy hallway, ice that never stops freezing you so you can never keep warm, you can never know the warmth of Truth, the Kindness that you spit on. You can never feel the warmth of the people you’ve betrayed with the greed and avarice that was in your heart. You will never know that again, that only comes once in a lifetime. Each and every one of you who would think of betraying a friend or a cause, think of that icy hallway, which is your Judgement Day. It does come, trust me, it does come, and that Judgement Day will go on for all Eternity, you shall never see the face of the God and Goddess.
The Egyptians explained it like this; when you get to Land of the Dead, your Soul is weighed against the Feather of Ma’at. If your Soul outweighs her Feather, you aren’t allowed to go into the Hallway of the Gods. Your Soul gets fed to the Devourer, your Soul that was once in the Heart of all Magick. Now you are naked and cold, because your Soul in life was naked and cold, your whole being surrounded by greed and avarice and how many people you could step on; husbands, wives, trusted friends, families! Before you want to betray a good Soul, think about it!
I am thankful now to be surrounded by those of the Heart, I am thankful for that. This Thanksgiving I sat quietly with my family and thought of Thanksgiving greetings, and today I said, this is what has to be written. I am thankful for the people around me now, who have proven to be of the Heart and of the very Soul of Humanity. I am thankful to be rid of anything that would be a deterrent to the future of the Craft, I am proud to say Thanksgiving was a proof to me.
People thought I was ignorant because I did not know the computer; big mistake, I did, but I let them think I didn’t. I like to give people an inch so they can take a yard. I don’t mind that people want to make a living; I will help them because I have no jealousy or animosity in me, I never have and I never will. I will help anyone find employment, people know that; I will help anyone buy food for their table, people know that too.
I do not take joy in seeing people suffer. But the Gods have Joy when they see people hurt people and laugh when they step on them. The Gods are the final Justice of us all, they are the finality of it and their Justice is swift. You may have position, you may have things, you may have the brightest Rubies, Emeralds, Diamonds, Sapphires, all the precious stones and the best homes, but when you have become a betrayer, those beautiful things start to lose their luster. Why are people with you, for the True Love that they have for you? Or for what you can give them.
Understand me; I have seen a lot in this World that would turn the stomach of any average human being. Yet I would go to the worst of the worst to see if I can make them the best of the best! I have failed many times in that test, but then again I have not failed. Always there is someone who does come forward who has been at the bottom of the barrel of Life who truly wants to help themselves. That Light, which was never lost, comes out in that person; that Soul Light that says, “I’m still here, they haven’t diminished me, the chaos of this World has not taken it away from me, can you help me?” I will go out full force and take that person and help them, I will not turn my back on that person.
Try to understand me, I am not using this platform today to hurt anybody or speak ill of them, I am just saying I am thankful I have found out in my life who is who and what is what and why people do things. In this Life either you do things for a gain-say or you do things truly of the Heart. Do you think the things you do for the Mother and the Father are only for your part? Think well, that dark, cold hallway is waiting for you, and it is a frozen Hell!
So this day I say to you all, Many Blessings, may you rise and never fall! If you are a person out there that is going to betray a friend; if you are a husband or a wife that will betray your spouse, think well of what you do! If you are a friend or a business associate; a husband with a husband or a wife with a wife think well, before you do your evil thought and open your own door to your own private hell! Think well, who you are and about the things you do, is it a path of Light, or again, a hell for you? Be thankful that we are here today; be thankful that we can be free!
May the Gods Bless you and keep you strong in your resolve to do the best you can and to make someone breathe a little easier because you existed, that’s True Success! The snickering betrayers have no place at the Table of Life.
May the Gods Bless you and keep you Safe and Sound, wherever you may be, on the Air, the Land, or the Sea; may the Cosmos impart upon you Strength and Well Being. May the Light of Lights be unending in your Life, providing you areTrue in all that you do!
Blessed Be Between Thee and Me from Now through All Eternity!
Reverend High Priestess Lori Bruno-Sforza
- Our Lord and Lady of the Trinacrian Rose Church
- Magika of Salem, MA.
- The Slopes of Mount Etna &the Strength of my Ancestor,
Giordano Bruno
- The Vast Cosmos
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
To All Those of the Craft of the Wise,
It is with a deep sadness that I reply to a situation that has been presented to me that I feel I must clarify.
A concerned party from the West Coast contacted me by phone and read a recent Face Book post regarding me and the recent reorganization of our affiliation with The Temple of Diana. The only way to present this is to state the facts in chronological order, because as more facts are uncovered, I am shaken by my own inability to see clearly through my desire to love and trust a person who called me her “Spiritual Mother.” The more information that comes to me, the more directly I am wounded by the discrepancy between my expectations of trust around being someone’s “Spiritual Mother” and the agenda of the person who called me that.
Many years ago I was approached by Darcie Clausen Velez, a woman who told me she had a dream of my Spiritual brother and Family in the Craft, Dr. Leo Louis Martello. That connection led me to open my heart and my life to this person. She has stayed in my home and, among other things, she did some wonderful work in regard to copyright protection of Leo’s writing. She started her own Church, the Temple of Diana, and I gave her my family’s cross as a foundation for the cross of her Church. She called me her “Spiritual Mother” and presented herself to those whom she met through and because of me as my “daughter.”
From the earliest times in our relationship, her advice to me was to stay away from a certain individual who was vile and abusive to many women, including she and I. For the entire fourteen years of our relationship, she held the same position, and as time went by, her position of intolerance for this individual and his behavior had its effect. I finally decided enough was enough and recently took action on my own behalf and on behalf of all women who have been, are being, or will be impacted by the heartless and dehumanizing behavior of this person. The position I took was fortified by the knowledge that among those I was representing was my “Spiritual Daughter,” Darcie Clausen Velez.
Being a psychic, I can be clear for others who need my help, but as the seeds of doubt began to show up in regard to Darcie’s behavior towards me, her “Spiritual Mother,” I pushed them away, but with her absence in regard to my recent court battle with the person she consistently professed to despise, the discomfort could no longer be ignored. I rationalized that she was newly in a relationship and had been taken out of the loop by “love.” I turned it over to the Gods to give me the information I would need to answer the growing discomfort I was feeling in regard to a person who would become insulted if I ever questioned her loyalty or trustworthiness. I chose to have Faith despite my uneasiness, the Gods will provide, they always do.
My moments of denial ended abruptly when I received a call from someone who had spoken to Darcie and had enough respect for me to bring the Truth to Light.
I was told that three months prior, Darcie had received a call from the person she consistently encouraged me to stay away from. Apparently that person apologized to her in a way that made her feel he was genuinely remorseful, and she chose to forgive him. I cannot lie, I was surprised to hear of this occurrence, but the real shock was that this “Spiritual Daughter” of mine, a woman who called me her “Spiritual Mother,” would choose to withhold that information from me for a period of three months despite the many opportunities she had to tell me. Despite all of this, I refused to believe that she would keep it from me for much longer; the relationship between she and I, as in all my relationships, was founded in honesty and respect, at least from my perspective. I drafted a letter resigning my position as Vice President of The Temple, fully believing I would never have to send it. I waited an entire month, keeping silent in the hopes that she would choose to do the right thing. The right thing in this case would have been to be honest with me about her choices. She and everyone in my life have a right to make choices; no one is a slave to anyone. If she had called me and spoken honestly about her decisions, I would have accepted her choices despite the huge discrepancy they presented to her past position. We could have worked through that.
What has been brought to my attention recently is a post by Darcie Clausen Velez, stating that I broke ties with her because she chose to forgive someone. Nothing could be further from the Truth. I did indeed resign my duties with The Temple, because when she called her “Spiritual Mama” to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving, I waited for the honesty I believed would come forward. After a time it became obvious to me that the call was not about revelation of the Truth but about upholding the pretense. I could stand it no longer. I confronted her about all of it and she admitted everything to me once it became evident that I had all the information. I resigned my position as Vice President of the Temple of Diana on that phone call and backed as far as I could away from this person who could let me go on relating to her from a perspective which she no longer held. How do you continue to trust a person who would do that?
All of this created a deep sadness in me over the Thanksgiving Holiday, but the plot only thickened from there. Forty minutes after the conversation with Darcie, I was in touch with someone who is a minister in my Church and a minister in the Temple of Diana, who told me about a Temple of Diana Board Meeting he attended via conference call, a meeting that I, as the Vice President of the Temple of Diana, should have been present for. He told me that this meeting had been held the prior Tuesday, well before the discussion between Darcie and I on Thanksgiving Eve, and that he had been surprised that she nominated him for the position of Vice President, a position I have held for many years and as far as any of us knew, I continued to hold. This man, who is honorable and innocent in regard to any hidden agendas, said he was told the position was vacant and she was nominating him for the position. As far as he knew, he was in consideration of the nomination. I conferenced in Dennis Kirkpatrick, our Church Secretary/Treasurer, who checked out the online filings for the Temple of Diana. It turns out that not only was my name removed as Vice President of the Temple of Diana without notification, this man’s name was listed as Vice President without his knowledge or consent immediately after that Board Meeting.
A person of lesser metal might have been crushed by the level of divisiveness and betrayal the facts portray, but I am certain that the Gods brought this information to me for their own reasons, and any pain that knowing the Truth has caused me will only make me and the True Craft stronger in the World. The reason I have to make a statement is because Darcie has now stated openly that the reason I separated from her is because she found it in her heart to forgive someone, and that is a spin on the Truth that makes me appear to be as petty and vile as the person she chose to align herself with. My only issue with this person who calls me her “Spiritual Mother” is her lack of respect and caring for someone who has laid themselves on the line for her consistently and unendingly. I am sure my withdrawal from the Temple of Diana came in handy, but the statements I made came days after she removed me from the position of Vice President, another piece of withheld information.
I have no desire to control anyone in my life, and I always look for the best in people. When I trust, I trust with my whole heart, and I am well aware of the human condition and the ability of individuals to make mistakes. What I have seen in the past month has challenged me, but the Gods have deemed that I look squarely into the face of who I would like her to be and see the Truth of who she chooses to be. The fact that she would make a posting stating that I separated from her because she forgave someone is a manipulation of the facts. It’s easy to interpret it in that way if that’s the reality a person wants to project minus the details to the contrary.
I am not averse to anyone changing their path or their position; however, I am very averse to manipulation and triangulation which seems to be an art in some people who call themselves spiritual leaders in the Pagan Community. I have seen enough. I would never have answered this, but now I deem it mete and just to do so. I hope you can understand me, yes, I do bear a hurt in my heart; this person was a guest in my home, and I treated her as a daughter. I have two biological children and many whom I consider children of my heart. Darcie was one of them. I no longer wish to be affiliated with her, I wish her people well and I wish her well and may the Justice of the Gods reign supreme. I do not care who she is with, this is her life, so perhaps I have served the purpose that she needed me for.
Hope springs eternal in me, and I hold onto the belief that this person who came into my life with a professed respect and dedication to honoring and protecting the memory of Dr. Leo Louis Martello, the man that she called, “Papa Leo,” one of a few people she called Papa in her life, never saw the disrespectful posts made against him by those with whom she now aligns herself. I would like to believe that if she had seen them, and I am in possession of them and am willing to share them, she may have decided in alignment with right action. May Leo’s sword come from the Other World and clear away any and all evil that has been said about him or those that he loved. May it all come out to be, the mistreatment of the Dead that this person purports to love; or is it just a festival of money?
I leave all of this in the Hands of the Gods, they are the Final Analysis of all. They remove shams, They remove lies and They remove hidden agendas; I have seen it happen many times.
- In the Light I Remain,
- Reverend High Priestess Lori Bruno
- Salem, Ma, The Slopes of Mount Etna, The Vast Cosmos
To The
Pagan Community
From Rev. Lori Bruno
(Scroll Down for Second Letter)
Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful for all that we have in our hearts, to be thankful for the good things we have, and also thankful that we can overcome the times of sadness that we must overcome.
This Thanksgiving week, we are thankful that we can still hold in our hearts Truth, Justice, and the fact that we can learn about all those who come to us, whether they are honest or have secret agendas.
At this Thanksgiving time, it was with much sadness and yet with much gladness that I was able to see that which was around me. The Gods work in strange ways, sometimes they let you see things that break your heart and sometimes they let you experience gladness in your heart.
This Thanksgiving, I have had my share of both, and it has made me stronger in my resolve to make Justice prevail in all aspects of both my life and the lives of my people who have Trust in me; so with that I say, I am thankful. I am thankful for the people who have maintained their dignity and not sold themselves out for the greenback dollar or what they think their commodity of the future might be.
There are some who would betray those who trust them and then snicker over it, thinking a person does not know what they are doing or what is going on. The Gods always send Truth to those who serve them every single day, not as a show, but devotedly in their Rituals to Light. The Gods always make Justice prevail and Truth come out. The betrayer is constantly in a fearful world! They may show that they are on top of the world, but in reality they are the bottom of the barrel, and it never ceases to amaze me how people will go and try to put on someone else’s Cape to bypass the mediocrity in which they themselves have lived.
You will always know a true member of the Craft by the generosity of Spirit and the Kindness in our Hearts, seeking no recompense for that generosity! The takers always show who they are; they may get away with it for a while, but then they are found out and their transparency is so great that a blinding Light shines upon them and that Light cannot be diminished, because that Light comes from the Ancestors. Here we are during this time of the Living and the Light, and those whom we serve, those who are in the Light, make that Beacon come forward. Trust me, that Light surrounds the people of Trinacrian Rose and all Crafters of True Heart.
The betrayer is the coward and the coward is the forerunner of the betrayer. The betrayer says, “Well, if I go with this person, I can make some money!” Their only talent is greed, they will align themselves with people like themselves, the vipers clothed with lamb’s skin; but that’s alright, they make money so they can get on the same band wagon. When they betray Goodness, it starts to show forward; the betrayer is always found out! They are naked in that blinding Light of the Ancestors, they cannot hide any longer. No matter what pretty words they use, it always comes out who they are! Oh, they will travel far, but in the long run, when they go down that icy hallway and see the mirror next to them, when they are truly naked, they will look to the other side of that hallway and see all the people they betrayed, laughing in the Garden of Delight! What a horrible way to end your life, in an icy, closed in hallway, naked before a mirror so you can see how wonderful you look, but you can never go through to the other doorway, the one that leads to the Garden of Delight.
Many years ago someone said to me, “What is Hell, Lori?”
I answered them; “Hell is not hot, it is not burning fire; it is an icy hallway, ice that never stops freezing you so you can never keep warm, you can never know the warmth of Truth, the Kindness that you spit on. You can never feel the warmth of the people you’ve betrayed with the greed and avarice that was in your heart. You will never know that again, that only comes once in a lifetime. Each and every one of you who would think of betraying a friend or a cause, think of that icy hallway, which is your Judgement Day. It does come, trust me, it does come, and that Judgement Day will go on for all Eternity, you shall never see the face of the God and Goddess.
The Egyptians explained it like this; when you get to Land of the Dead, your Soul is weighed against the Feather of Ma’at. If your Soul outweighs her Feather, you aren’t allowed to go into the Hallway of the Gods. Your Soul gets fed to the Devourer, your Soul that was once in the Heart of all Magick. Now you are naked and cold, because your Soul in life was naked and cold, your whole being surrounded by greed and avarice and how many people you could step on; husbands, wives, trusted friends, families! Before you want to betray a good Soul, think about it!
I am thankful now to be surrounded by those of the Heart, I am thankful for that. This Thanksgiving I sat quietly with my family and thought of Thanksgiving greetings, and today I said, this is what has to be written. I am thankful for the people around me now, who have proven to be of the Heart and of the very Soul of Humanity. I am thankful to be rid of anything that would be a deterrent to the future of the Craft, I am proud to say Thanksgiving was a proof to me.
People thought I was ignorant because I did not know the computer; big mistake, I did, but I let them think I didn’t. I like to give people an inch so they can take a yard. I don’t mind that people want to make a living; I will help them because I have no jealousy or animosity in me, I never have and I never will. I will help anyone find employment, people know that; I will help anyone buy food for their table, people know that too.
I do not take joy in seeing people suffer. But the Gods have Joy when they see people hurt people and laugh when they step on them. The Gods are the final Justice of us all, they are the finality of it and their Justice is swift. You may have position, you may have things, you may have the brightest Rubies, Emeralds, Diamonds, Sapphires, all the precious stones and the best homes, but when you have become a betrayer, those beautiful things start to lose their luster. Why are people with you, for the True Love that they have for you? Or for what you can give them.
Understand me; I have seen a lot in this World that would turn the stomach of any average human being. Yet I would go to the worst of the worst to see if I can make them the best of the best! I have failed many times in that test, but then again I have not failed. Always there is someone who does come forward who has been at the bottom of the barrel of Life who truly wants to help themselves. That Light, which was never lost, comes out in that person; that Soul Light that says, “I’m still here, they haven’t diminished me, the chaos of this World has not taken it away from me, can you help me?” I will go out full force and take that person and help them, I will not turn my back on that person.
Try to understand me, I am not using this platform today to hurt anybody or speak ill of them, I am just saying I am thankful I have found out in my life who is who and what is what and why people do things. In this Life either you do things for a gain-say or you do things truly of the Heart. Do you think the things you do for the Mother and the Father are only for your part? Think well, that dark, cold hallway is waiting for you, and it is a frozen Hell!
So this day I say to you all, Many Blessings, may you rise and never fall! If you are a person out there that is going to betray a friend; if you are a husband or a wife that will betray your spouse, think well of what you do! If you are a friend or a business associate; a husband with a husband or a wife with a wife think well, before you do your evil thought and open your own door to your own private hell! Think well, who you are and about the things you do, is it a path of Light, or again, a hell for you? Be thankful that we are here today; be thankful that we can be free!
May the Gods Bless you and keep you strong in your resolve to do the best you can and to make someone breathe a little easier because you existed, that’s True Success! The snickering betrayers have no place at the Table of Life.
May the Gods Bless you and keep you Safe and Sound, wherever you may be, on the Air, the Land, or the Sea; may the Cosmos impart upon you Strength and Well Being. May the Light of Lights be unending in your Life, providing you areTrue in all that you do!
Blessed Be Between Thee and Me from Now through All Eternity!
Reverend High Priestess Lori Bruno-Sforza
- Our Lord and Lady of the Trinacrian Rose Church
- Magika of Salem, MA.
- The Slopes of Mount Etna &the Strength of my Ancestor,
Giordano Bruno
- The Vast Cosmos
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
To All Those of the Craft of the Wise,
It is with a deep sadness that I reply to a situation that has been presented to me that I feel I must clarify.
A concerned party from the West Coast contacted me by phone and read a recent Face Book post regarding me and the recent reorganization of our affiliation with The Temple of Diana. The only way to present this is to state the facts in chronological order, because as more facts are uncovered, I am shaken by my own inability to see clearly through my desire to love and trust a person who called me her “Spiritual Mother.” The more information that comes to me, the more directly I am wounded by the discrepancy between my expectations of trust around being someone’s “Spiritual Mother” and the agenda of the person who called me that.
Many years ago I was approached by Darcie Clausen Velez, a woman who told me she had a dream of my Spiritual brother and Family in the Craft, Dr. Leo Louis Martello. That connection led me to open my heart and my life to this person. She has stayed in my home and, among other things, she did some wonderful work in regard to copyright protection of Leo’s writing. She started her own Church, the Temple of Diana, and I gave her my family’s cross as a foundation for the cross of her Church. She called me her “Spiritual Mother” and presented herself to those whom she met through and because of me as my “daughter.”
From the earliest times in our relationship, her advice to me was to stay away from a certain individual who was vile and abusive to many women, including she and I. For the entire fourteen years of our relationship, she held the same position, and as time went by, her position of intolerance for this individual and his behavior had its effect. I finally decided enough was enough and recently took action on my own behalf and on behalf of all women who have been, are being, or will be impacted by the heartless and dehumanizing behavior of this person. The position I took was fortified by the knowledge that among those I was representing was my “Spiritual Daughter,” Darcie Clausen Velez.
Being a psychic, I can be clear for others who need my help, but as the seeds of doubt began to show up in regard to Darcie’s behavior towards me, her “Spiritual Mother,” I pushed them away, but with her absence in regard to my recent court battle with the person she consistently professed to despise, the discomfort could no longer be ignored. I rationalized that she was newly in a relationship and had been taken out of the loop by “love.” I turned it over to the Gods to give me the information I would need to answer the growing discomfort I was feeling in regard to a person who would become insulted if I ever questioned her loyalty or trustworthiness. I chose to have Faith despite my uneasiness, the Gods will provide, they always do.
My moments of denial ended abruptly when I received a call from someone who had spoken to Darcie and had enough respect for me to bring the Truth to Light.
I was told that three months prior, Darcie had received a call from the person she consistently encouraged me to stay away from. Apparently that person apologized to her in a way that made her feel he was genuinely remorseful, and she chose to forgive him. I cannot lie, I was surprised to hear of this occurrence, but the real shock was that this “Spiritual Daughter” of mine, a woman who called me her “Spiritual Mother,” would choose to withhold that information from me for a period of three months despite the many opportunities she had to tell me. Despite all of this, I refused to believe that she would keep it from me for much longer; the relationship between she and I, as in all my relationships, was founded in honesty and respect, at least from my perspective. I drafted a letter resigning my position as Vice President of The Temple, fully believing I would never have to send it. I waited an entire month, keeping silent in the hopes that she would choose to do the right thing. The right thing in this case would have been to be honest with me about her choices. She and everyone in my life have a right to make choices; no one is a slave to anyone. If she had called me and spoken honestly about her decisions, I would have accepted her choices despite the huge discrepancy they presented to her past position. We could have worked through that.
What has been brought to my attention recently is a post by Darcie Clausen Velez, stating that I broke ties with her because she chose to forgive someone. Nothing could be further from the Truth. I did indeed resign my duties with The Temple, because when she called her “Spiritual Mama” to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving, I waited for the honesty I believed would come forward. After a time it became obvious to me that the call was not about revelation of the Truth but about upholding the pretense. I could stand it no longer. I confronted her about all of it and she admitted everything to me once it became evident that I had all the information. I resigned my position as Vice President of the Temple of Diana on that phone call and backed as far as I could away from this person who could let me go on relating to her from a perspective which she no longer held. How do you continue to trust a person who would do that?
All of this created a deep sadness in me over the Thanksgiving Holiday, but the plot only thickened from there. Forty minutes after the conversation with Darcie, I was in touch with someone who is a minister in my Church and a minister in the Temple of Diana, who told me about a Temple of Diana Board Meeting he attended via conference call, a meeting that I, as the Vice President of the Temple of Diana, should have been present for. He told me that this meeting had been held the prior Tuesday, well before the discussion between Darcie and I on Thanksgiving Eve, and that he had been surprised that she nominated him for the position of Vice President, a position I have held for many years and as far as any of us knew, I continued to hold. This man, who is honorable and innocent in regard to any hidden agendas, said he was told the position was vacant and she was nominating him for the position. As far as he knew, he was in consideration of the nomination. I conferenced in Dennis Kirkpatrick, our Church Secretary/Treasurer, who checked out the online filings for the Temple of Diana. It turns out that not only was my name removed as Vice President of the Temple of Diana without notification, this man’s name was listed as Vice President without his knowledge or consent immediately after that Board Meeting.
A person of lesser metal might have been crushed by the level of divisiveness and betrayal the facts portray, but I am certain that the Gods brought this information to me for their own reasons, and any pain that knowing the Truth has caused me will only make me and the True Craft stronger in the World. The reason I have to make a statement is because Darcie has now stated openly that the reason I separated from her is because she found it in her heart to forgive someone, and that is a spin on the Truth that makes me appear to be as petty and vile as the person she chose to align herself with. My only issue with this person who calls me her “Spiritual Mother” is her lack of respect and caring for someone who has laid themselves on the line for her consistently and unendingly. I am sure my withdrawal from the Temple of Diana came in handy, but the statements I made came days after she removed me from the position of Vice President, another piece of withheld information.
I have no desire to control anyone in my life, and I always look for the best in people. When I trust, I trust with my whole heart, and I am well aware of the human condition and the ability of individuals to make mistakes. What I have seen in the past month has challenged me, but the Gods have deemed that I look squarely into the face of who I would like her to be and see the Truth of who she chooses to be. The fact that she would make a posting stating that I separated from her because she forgave someone is a manipulation of the facts. It’s easy to interpret it in that way if that’s the reality a person wants to project minus the details to the contrary.
I am not averse to anyone changing their path or their position; however, I am very averse to manipulation and triangulation which seems to be an art in some people who call themselves spiritual leaders in the Pagan Community. I have seen enough. I would never have answered this, but now I deem it mete and just to do so. I hope you can understand me, yes, I do bear a hurt in my heart; this person was a guest in my home, and I treated her as a daughter. I have two biological children and many whom I consider children of my heart. Darcie was one of them. I no longer wish to be affiliated with her, I wish her people well and I wish her well and may the Justice of the Gods reign supreme. I do not care who she is with, this is her life, so perhaps I have served the purpose that she needed me for.
Hope springs eternal in me, and I hold onto the belief that this person who came into my life with a professed respect and dedication to honoring and protecting the memory of Dr. Leo Louis Martello, the man that she called, “Papa Leo,” one of a few people she called Papa in her life, never saw the disrespectful posts made against him by those with whom she now aligns herself. I would like to believe that if she had seen them, and I am in possession of them and am willing to share them, she may have decided in alignment with right action. May Leo’s sword come from the Other World and clear away any and all evil that has been said about him or those that he loved. May it all come out to be, the mistreatment of the Dead that this person purports to love; or is it just a festival of money?
I leave all of this in the Hands of the Gods, they are the Final Analysis of all. They remove shams, They remove lies and They remove hidden agendas; I have seen it happen many times.
- In the Light I Remain,
- Reverend High Priestess Lori Bruno
- Salem, Ma, The Slopes of Mount Etna, The Vast Cosmos