Branwenn’s interest in Paganism descends from a Pagan, Irish (Galway and County Clare), maternal grandmother (born on the way over from Ireland on the boat according to the family legends) and a half-Cherokee, herbalist, paternal great-grandmother.Branwenn met Selena Fox (by phone) in 1982 and attended her first Pagan festival, Pagan Spirit Gathering, that year. In 1988, she moved from the Pittsburgh, PA area to the Washington, DC area and joined her first real coven, Vision Weavers, facilitated by Larry Cornett. During her time with Vision Weavers, she met with and studied with amazing folks she still calls brothers and sisters, Ric Campbell, Myth, Byron, Julie, Vickie, Patricia, Patrick Maritz and Shireonay, the last three now sadly deceased.
As a member of Vision Weavers, Branwenn was honored to have a chance to meet and circle with Janet and Stewart Farrar during their first trip to America. She also was influenced by meeting once again, Selena Fox and her husband, Dennis Carpenter at the last Esotericon convention in Newark, NJ, At Esotericon, she also had the chance to meet and take classes with Ray Buckland and Isaac Bonewits.
In 1990, Branwenn left Visions Weavers (called hiving off) to form the first of her three covens, Crystal Visions I. She also joined with Morgan ap Tairn, his wife Sabrina,
and Thaddeus Venar, to become one of the co-founders of the Church of the Olde Religion . COR created and managed the COR Coffeehouse, a very successful gathering, held monthly for a few years in Springfield, VA. During her time with COR, Branwenn was fortunate to meet many incredible Pagan and Wiccan elders, teachers, musicians and writers who influenced her own path greatly.
At COR, she first met Gavin and Yvonne Frost who founded the Church and School of Wicca, now located in Hinton, WV; She also met Nybor, an amazing Pagan artist, and Grandma Elspbeth, his wife, founders of the Haven Community Church in Keyser, West Virginia. She also met Ariana Lightningstorm, founder of the DC area Pagan band, KIVA; Kenny Klein, a musician, writer, and photographer currently living in New Orleansn ; Tzipora Katz, Priestess of the Blue Star Wiccan tradition (started by Frank Duffner in 1975); Wohali Agnive, of the Free Cherokee and many others.
In 1992, she was initiated as a second degree Gardnerian and immediately left that tradition and embracedritish traditionalist Celtic Wicca as taught by Vivianne Crowley. Branwenn was initiated as a third degree Wiccan Priestess on a firefly lit summer night in 1993, the most memorable night of her life until she was legally handcrafted to her soul mate, Jamey Eddy, on August 5, 2000 In 1996, she re-dedicated herself to the Priestesshood in the Standing Stones of Callanish on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. In 1997, she became a Daughter of the Flame, at Brighid’s Holy Well just outside Kildare, Ireland.
Today, Branwenn practices and teaches her own eclectic brand of Wicca called Crystal Visions Celtic Wicca. CVCW is based on British traditional Wicca plus many ideas from more eclectic Wicca. CVCW is then sweetened with Jungian psychology, stirred by the mythic heroes quest ideas made popular by Joseph Campbell and finished by a.liberal dusting of Celtic mythology, traditions and Celtic Gods and Goddesss.. Branwenn is a legally registered and ordained non-denominational reverend in the state of Virginia. She is founder of the Celtic Crystal Visions Community Temple of Lynchburg, as well as founder and past President of the Blue Ridge Pagan Alliance.
Branwenn has been published in Circle Magazine, PagaNet News, and soon, many other publications, including her own newsletter for the Celtic Crystal Visions Community Temple, which is published eight times a year. The International Library of Photography has featured her photos of the sacred archaeological sites in the British Isles in a collection of award-wining photographs, A Timeless Journey, published in October of 2004.
