About Us
The history of Lavender Magic
1987-1994
Lavender Magic(k) was initially organized in 1987, after a meeting of local Seattle pagans, Laughing Otter, Tim Ness and Leon Reed, at the old Wortcunning shop on 1st avenue, with Allen Kornmesser (Leon's partner) adding in from his office as he worked on his doctoral dissertation.
According to Leon, "We were inspired by a Wiccan showing at a pride march in San Francisco which we knew about from a photo. These pagans were marching with a banner that said “all acts of Love are my rituals.” We speculated it must be Compost Coven related. [Starhawk] We thought it was a great idea. I took on the job of crafting a banner, Tim brought Lavender, and James put an open invitation in SGN and made buttons. We were motivated by Proposition #1 which was an Anti-Gay proposal."
Lavender Magic took its first steps onto Broadway Ave. on Seattle's Capitol Hill in 1987. The group has had MANY great characters from many communities in Seattle march with it. Thundercloud, who keeps it from raining on our parade, Charlie Murphy, who wrote the song “Burning Times”, has marched with us, Purple Mark, Blue Mark, Radical Faeries, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and many others have joined us. Since 1987 we have lost many friends, Laughing Otter and Tim Ness are among them, and they are very much missed, and gained many more, Hearthstone - The Queer Men's Coven has been a very welcome addition!
1994-2010
After a Seattle AIDS memorial vigil in 1994, as Iain Marlow and his partner Ron Shaw were leaving the Vigil's Midnight pagan circle, the torch was passed. According to Iain, "Leon said something to the effect of “Why don't you two take over Lavender Magic this year…” to which I responded with a loud squawk, and sputtered something to the effect of “Hey we're not that respectable yet!” Leon's reply was “Oh yes you are…” Two days later Ian Marlow became the new coordinator of Lavender Magic.
The 1995 pride Day was the first year Lavender Magick actually registered for the placement lottery to march at the festival and was the recipient of lot # 86. Lavender Magick marched with a good number of others including the Mayor of Seattle.
In 1996 Iain’s partner Ron Shaw took their Jeep and turned it into the Lavender Magick float, complete with vines and garlands along the roll cage and two Transsexual Witches in flowing black gowns perched on the sides of the jeep “riding” their brooms elegantly side-saddle.
2017-Seattle LGBTQI meetup to Lavender Magic
As the Seattle Pride celebration grew signalling broader integration into mainstream society, so too grew the barriers to entry so many marginal, offbeat, and creative groups experience. Entry into the Pride parade now required formal organizational status, and significant fees. As such, the organizers of the group moved on to personal projects and Lavender Magick was on hiatus.
In 2009, Richard Blackcat, a well known Seattle pagan took up the reigns of facilitating a monthly Meetup.com group, The Seattle LGBTQI Pagan Meetup Group. The group's mission is to create an opportunity for like-minded and interested individuals to come together and share information, networking, and ideas focused on pagan topics such as historical practices, comparison of ancient and modern practice, local groups and activities, different branches of neo-paganism such as Asatru, Druidism, Wicca, Chaos Magick, hedgewitchery, and artistic expression, among other topics, all from the unique "GLBTQI" perspective.
According to Blackcat, "I realized that I was in a position to bring back Lavender Magick. I had the experience in the over-culture as well as a foundational group of people with energy thriving from LGBTQI Meetups. Given the continual need for expanding inclusion in the face of bigotry on the rise during 2016, I felt a calling to stand up and relaunch the group. To show a change with the times, we've renamed the group Lavender Magic, feeling that the spelling of Magick with a K is more indicative of Thelema and that the intention of differentiating our practices from stage magic has been fulfilled among the greater populace."
Today, Lavender Magic is a group to march in the Seattle Parade and so much more. This year, the group matched in the national demonstration, March for Equality and will continue to make its presence known in similar demonstrations. We have combined resources with the Seattle LGBTQ pagan Meetup, rebranding it to Lavender Magic and continue to offer monthly in-person meetups.
We March to Show our Pride, To Proclaim our Freedom, and to let the World know that we will NOT go back into the Closets built by narrow minds.
1987-1994
Lavender Magic(k) was initially organized in 1987, after a meeting of local Seattle pagans, Laughing Otter, Tim Ness and Leon Reed, at the old Wortcunning shop on 1st avenue, with Allen Kornmesser (Leon's partner) adding in from his office as he worked on his doctoral dissertation.
According to Leon, "We were inspired by a Wiccan showing at a pride march in San Francisco which we knew about from a photo. These pagans were marching with a banner that said “all acts of Love are my rituals.” We speculated it must be Compost Coven related. [Starhawk] We thought it was a great idea. I took on the job of crafting a banner, Tim brought Lavender, and James put an open invitation in SGN and made buttons. We were motivated by Proposition #1 which was an Anti-Gay proposal."
Lavender Magic took its first steps onto Broadway Ave. on Seattle's Capitol Hill in 1987. The group has had MANY great characters from many communities in Seattle march with it. Thundercloud, who keeps it from raining on our parade, Charlie Murphy, who wrote the song “Burning Times”, has marched with us, Purple Mark, Blue Mark, Radical Faeries, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and many others have joined us. Since 1987 we have lost many friends, Laughing Otter and Tim Ness are among them, and they are very much missed, and gained many more, Hearthstone - The Queer Men's Coven has been a very welcome addition!
1994-2010
After a Seattle AIDS memorial vigil in 1994, as Iain Marlow and his partner Ron Shaw were leaving the Vigil's Midnight pagan circle, the torch was passed. According to Iain, "Leon said something to the effect of “Why don't you two take over Lavender Magic this year…” to which I responded with a loud squawk, and sputtered something to the effect of “Hey we're not that respectable yet!” Leon's reply was “Oh yes you are…” Two days later Ian Marlow became the new coordinator of Lavender Magic.
The 1995 pride Day was the first year Lavender Magick actually registered for the placement lottery to march at the festival and was the recipient of lot # 86. Lavender Magick marched with a good number of others including the Mayor of Seattle.
In 1996 Iain’s partner Ron Shaw took their Jeep and turned it into the Lavender Magick float, complete with vines and garlands along the roll cage and two Transsexual Witches in flowing black gowns perched on the sides of the jeep “riding” their brooms elegantly side-saddle.
2017-Seattle LGBTQI meetup to Lavender Magic
As the Seattle Pride celebration grew signalling broader integration into mainstream society, so too grew the barriers to entry so many marginal, offbeat, and creative groups experience. Entry into the Pride parade now required formal organizational status, and significant fees. As such, the organizers of the group moved on to personal projects and Lavender Magick was on hiatus.
In 2009, Richard Blackcat, a well known Seattle pagan took up the reigns of facilitating a monthly Meetup.com group, The Seattle LGBTQI Pagan Meetup Group. The group's mission is to create an opportunity for like-minded and interested individuals to come together and share information, networking, and ideas focused on pagan topics such as historical practices, comparison of ancient and modern practice, local groups and activities, different branches of neo-paganism such as Asatru, Druidism, Wicca, Chaos Magick, hedgewitchery, and artistic expression, among other topics, all from the unique "GLBTQI" perspective.
According to Blackcat, "I realized that I was in a position to bring back Lavender Magick. I had the experience in the over-culture as well as a foundational group of people with energy thriving from LGBTQI Meetups. Given the continual need for expanding inclusion in the face of bigotry on the rise during 2016, I felt a calling to stand up and relaunch the group. To show a change with the times, we've renamed the group Lavender Magic, feeling that the spelling of Magick with a K is more indicative of Thelema and that the intention of differentiating our practices from stage magic has been fulfilled among the greater populace."
Today, Lavender Magic is a group to march in the Seattle Parade and so much more. This year, the group matched in the national demonstration, March for Equality and will continue to make its presence known in similar demonstrations. We have combined resources with the Seattle LGBTQ pagan Meetup, rebranding it to Lavender Magic and continue to offer monthly in-person meetups.
We March to Show our Pride, To Proclaim our Freedom, and to let the World know that we will NOT go back into the Closets built by narrow minds.
