Introductory Practical Dowsing – Friday, June 25, 2021 – 3:00 PM
Hosted by Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az 85171
RikJohnson@juno.com
About the Presenter:
What can I say about my past, for biographies should be exciting and filled with the wonder that encourages one to explore the written word as Hillary explored Everest or Livingston explored Africa. But, alas, you are doomed to disappointment for I, as my family before me, have led a dull and completely normal life. My father was born in a railroad car within sight of the Superstition Mountains. As a child, when he could escape the life of the Western Ranch and its duties, my father explored these mountains seeking the same gold that had been found by the Dutchman, finding only turquoise that he sold to Navajo silversmiths. At the tender age of fifteen, my father lied about his age to escape the overly romantic ranch-life of a cowboy and enlisted in the Marines, carrying a flame-thrower across the Pacific Theater, then later Korea and Vietnam before he settled down to the equally dull life of an Air Force police officer in such locales as Egypt and Arabia and Vietnam. His father was the first white-man born in Northern Arizona and worked as a telegrapher horse-drawn supply wagon driver to Jerome during the earthquake and, of course, a cowboy. His father was a Norwegian pirate from Oslo who sailed as a pirate upon the Barbary Coast, eventually seeking the safety of Arizona, believing that the US Navy would not chase him that far inland. And so he traded the cutlass for lariat and became the owner of the oldest working ranch in the West, a ranch whose size increased with his entry into the Mormon Lake Sheep Wars and became a major character in one of Zane Gray’s western novels. My mother’s life was equally dull, arriving as an illegal immigrant from Ireland in 1925. Her mother was Irish Nobility of Claire and was descended from the Great High King, Brian Boru as well as the Baron O’Neill of Antrim and a Tierna of Claire, both titles to which I may lay claim should I so desire. She married into Irish Nobility from Antrim causing her children to argue between the Orange and the Green. Being good Catholics, they gave half their wealth and half their children to the Church and supported the IRA with funds and sons back when these heroes were Freedom Fighters seeking to form a Republic free from British rule. Freedom being their war-cry!With this background, I grew up not only upon Arizona Ranches, but also on Eastern Farms.
My fondest memories, however, were growing up in Okinawa, searching among
the post-war ordinance that still littered the jungle and discovered two Cryptids, a giant centipede and an extinct salamander, ignoring the living dead I found in Okinawan crypts. And when time allowed, I became politically active, fighting for and winning various civil rights for oppressed minorities on both a state and federal level. And so, I grew up, living a normal and dull life, studying Martial Arts such as Karate, Kendo, Fencing, Archery and Ninjutsu. I worked as a farmer and cowboy when necessity called, exploring the jungles and deserts when possible and seeking the crash site of that famous incident in Roswell, New Mexico when desired. I eventually achieved my Degree from a well-known institute of learning in the field of Psychology and Sociology but left academia shortly before achieving my Masters in Anthropology, choosing to marry, enlist and follow in my father’s footsteps. However, as he chose the life of action, I chose the dull life of a Construction Engineer satisfying myself with building a school in Panama for Indians, repairing the homes of the unfortunates on a leper colony, building a hospital in Belize, a fire station for 16-year-old Apache smoke-jumpers in New Mexico, and serving in three wars. Not particularly exciting but satisfying on a spiritual level for my military career was based upon making people’s lives better. And exploring the forbidden areas of these and other nations taught me that learning to say “please” and “thank you” in the local dialect and a polite attitude saved me much trouble, my Martial Arts training filling in on those rare occasions when courtesy failed. I formed the oldest existing Coven in Arizona, fighting for Pagan Civil Rights including being the first member of the Armed forces to have ‘Wicca’ listed on their dog tags and becoming, perhaps the first member to be promoted based on performing a public Wiccan Rite. I also taught the oldest known public class on Wicca, from 1982 to 2016.I am also a Wiccan High Priest, holding the Third Degree in both Alexandrian and Gardnerian Traditions. And so, some decades later, after leaking blood upon the soils of nations most Americans cannot find on a map, I felt it time to retire when my beliefs that every nation possessed the right of self-determination countered the actions of the leaders of America. As a Mead brewer, I am also adequate, though the butler to Prince Charles did ask for a bottle and my 1992 batch received many $500 offers and one $1,000 offer from Austria. I am not responsible for what happens when you drink my Beltane “Oh My Gods” Chocolate Mead that was infused with a lust spell. But I am certain that you have tasted equal meads. I am doing the unthinkable, rereading the Gardnerian Book of Shadows (Ye Boke, Gardner’s personal BoS, Text-A, Text-B, Text-C and Text-D as well as those of Valiente and other founders of our faith and asking embarrassing question that are forcing me to reevaluate The Book of Shadows. My footnotes often outweigh the original. In my spare time, I build items from scraps such as pirate treasure chests, Wiccan Tools like the Sistrum and Thyrsus and create a Circle comfortable to foot and back. So, I continue my dull life of retirement working in the Justice system, teaching Witchcraft, paddling kayaks, creating DIY camping gear and running the occasional river race, Geocaching, martial arts, rebuilding my sailboat, inventing and making ‘toys’ for my various compatriots who are involved with the ’scene’ as well as the outdoor sports of hiking and kayaking, brewing Mead, seeking a future Mrs who can bake a decent pizza and, of course, writing. I must admit that I am bored with my oh so average life and long for the excitement of my forebears.