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Well, of all the luck. Our Tradition's founding High Priestess died last week. It wasn't unexpected, but she was pretty young and it still makes us all sad. Her husband had said he was going to plan a big ol' party to celebrate her life and I'd hoped to go. It would've been a brutal drive, but I'd had a couple of folks who agreed to go along and help with driving and gas, and my boss said I could use bereavement leave. But they just announced today that it will be on March 11-12, and I will be in London. There's no way I can change that. Sigh.
There's an article about her in the Atlanta paper here: Jodi Monogue, 49, Wiccan high priestess
They may require a registration, so if you don't want to mess with that here's the article:
ajc.com > Metro > Obituaries
DECATUR
Jodi Monogue, 49, Wiccan high priestess
By HOLLY CRENSHAW
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/16/06
As a spiritual leader of Atlanta's Wiccan community, high priestess Lady Galadriel often found herself fielding uneducated questions about the nature-based religion to which she had dedicated her life.
Her manner was so easygoing, though, and her knowledge so vast that Lady Galadriel—also known as Jodi Monogue—was a natural at dispelling confusion about what it means to be a witch.
Jodi Monogue, also known as Lady Galadriel, showed several goddesses at her Stone Mountain home in this 1999 photo. She and her husband founded a national Wiccan denomination.
"She always had such an easy laugh and was absolutely delightful to be around, so she brought a lot of warmth to her role as a high priestess and witch queen," said her friend Deniz Zoeller of Sandy Springs, also known as Lady Larina.
Joanne Yokell Monogue, 49, of Decatur died Feb. 8 at Emory University Hospital of complications from a liver transplant. The body was cremated. Memorial service plans will be announced. Wages & Sons Funeral Home, Stone Mountain, is in charge of arrangements.
Ms. Monogue, who was born in Nyack, N.Y., joked in a 1999 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article that she was reared as a "good little Jewish girl" but became interested in paganism when she moved to Atlanta in the 1970s to attend Oglethorpe University.
She was working as a receptionist when she spotted an ad for a class on Wicca, also known as witchcraft or the Old Religion.
"That's how I met the goddess, and I've been in her service ever since," she said.
In 1980, she and her husband, John Monogue, a high priest known as Lord Athanor, founded the Grove of the Unicorn, an eclectic branch of Wicca that draws from a variety of cultures and Celtic, Druid and other indigenous religions.
From its initial 35 members, the grove spawned a national denomination of Wicca that has since grown to more than 1,500 participants, and Ms. Monogue rose to national leadership roles.
As an ordained high priestess, she lectured, wrote books, counseled its members and led meetings in her house that often drew dozens of people.
She worked occasional jobs outside the home, most recently as a legal assistant, and was completely dedicated to her high priestess duties, her husband said.
Charlie Moody of Doraville said she was such stimulating company that sometimes their conversations would go on for days.
"We'd break for our jobs and break to sleep, but then we'd pick right back up where we left off and go on for another six hours," he said.
Ms. Monogue was so well-informed about Egyptology that when she traveled to Egypt on vacation, bystanders hung on her every word, her husband said.
"She would point to an inscription on a wall and be talking about it so knowledgeably that people would start following her around like a tour guide until she stopped talking."
"Jodi was a walking encyclopedia of esoterica," he said. "She probably had 6,000 books on the metaphysical, and we broke three librarians trying to catalog it all. But she could tell you exactly what was in that book on the third shelf with the brown cover."
"Sometimes we'd play 'Stump the High Priestess' and I'd hit her with questions up to and including, 'What's the gestation period of an Egyptian dung beetle?' and she'd answer, 'X number of days unless it's the rainy season.' "
Survivors include two sons, Adrian Monogue of Winston and Damian Monogue of Dawsonville; her parents, Art and Barbara Yokell of Riverview, Fla.; and three brothers, Danny Yokell of Riverview, Max Yokell of Brandon, Fla., and David Yokell of Phoenix.
There's an article about her in the Atlanta paper here: Jodi Monogue, 49, Wiccan high priestess
They may require a registration, so if you don't want to mess with that here's the article:
ajc.com > Metro > Obituaries
DECATUR
Jodi Monogue, 49, Wiccan high priestess
By HOLLY CRENSHAW
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/16/06
As a spiritual leader of Atlanta's Wiccan community, high priestess Lady Galadriel often found herself fielding uneducated questions about the nature-based religion to which she had dedicated her life.
Her manner was so easygoing, though, and her knowledge so vast that Lady Galadriel—also known as Jodi Monogue—was a natural at dispelling confusion about what it means to be a witch.
Jodi Monogue, also known as Lady Galadriel, showed several goddesses at her Stone Mountain home in this 1999 photo. She and her husband founded a national Wiccan denomination.
"She always had such an easy laugh and was absolutely delightful to be around, so she brought a lot of warmth to her role as a high priestess and witch queen," said her friend Deniz Zoeller of Sandy Springs, also known as Lady Larina.
Joanne Yokell Monogue, 49, of Decatur died Feb. 8 at Emory University Hospital of complications from a liver transplant. The body was cremated. Memorial service plans will be announced. Wages & Sons Funeral Home, Stone Mountain, is in charge of arrangements.
Ms. Monogue, who was born in Nyack, N.Y., joked in a 1999 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article that she was reared as a "good little Jewish girl" but became interested in paganism when she moved to Atlanta in the 1970s to attend Oglethorpe University.
She was working as a receptionist when she spotted an ad for a class on Wicca, also known as witchcraft or the Old Religion.
"That's how I met the goddess, and I've been in her service ever since," she said.
In 1980, she and her husband, John Monogue, a high priest known as Lord Athanor, founded the Grove of the Unicorn, an eclectic branch of Wicca that draws from a variety of cultures and Celtic, Druid and other indigenous religions.
From its initial 35 members, the grove spawned a national denomination of Wicca that has since grown to more than 1,500 participants, and Ms. Monogue rose to national leadership roles.
As an ordained high priestess, she lectured, wrote books, counseled its members and led meetings in her house that often drew dozens of people.
She worked occasional jobs outside the home, most recently as a legal assistant, and was completely dedicated to her high priestess duties, her husband said.
Charlie Moody of Doraville said she was such stimulating company that sometimes their conversations would go on for days.
"We'd break for our jobs and break to sleep, but then we'd pick right back up where we left off and go on for another six hours," he said.
Ms. Monogue was so well-informed about Egyptology that when she traveled to Egypt on vacation, bystanders hung on her every word, her husband said.
"She would point to an inscription on a wall and be talking about it so knowledgeably that people would start following her around like a tour guide until she stopped talking."
"Jodi was a walking encyclopedia of esoterica," he said. "She probably had 6,000 books on the metaphysical, and we broke three librarians trying to catalog it all. But she could tell you exactly what was in that book on the third shelf with the brown cover."
"Sometimes we'd play 'Stump the High Priestess' and I'd hit her with questions up to and including, 'What's the gestation period of an Egyptian dung beetle?' and she'd answer, 'X number of days unless it's the rainy season.' "
Survivors include two sons, Adrian Monogue of Winston and Damian Monogue of Dawsonville; her parents, Art and Barbara Yokell of Riverview, Fla.; and three brothers, Danny Yokell of Riverview, Max Yokell of Brandon, Fla., and David Yokell of Phoenix.
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Date: Feb. 17th, 2006 02:24 am (UTC)From: