About Oberon Zell
Oberon Zell (born 11/30/42) has accomplished many things in his long and colorful career. A modern Renaissance man, Oberon is a transpersonal psychologist, metaphysician, naturalist, theologian, shaman, author, artist, sculptor, lecturer, teacher, and ordained Priest of the Earth-Mother, Gaia. Those who know him well consider him to be a true Wizard in the traditional sense. He is also an initiate in the Egyptian Church of the Eternal Source, a Priest in the Fellowship of Isis, and an initiate in several different Traditions of Witchcraft. He holds academic degrees in sociology, anthropology, clinical psychology, teaching, and theology.
On April 7, 1962, inspired by Robert A. Heinlein’s 1961 science-fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land, Oberon co-founded the Church of All Worlds. He has served as the Church’s Primate ever since. First to apply the terms “Pagan” and “Neo-Pagan” to the newly emerging Nature religions of the 1960s, and through his publication of the award-winning Pagan magazine, Green Egg (1968-1975; 1988-2000; 2007-), Oberon was instrumental in the coalescence of the Neo-Pagan movement, which for the past third of a century has been reclaiming the religious heritage of pre-Christian Europe. (Identified as the fastest-growing religion in the English-speaking world, US membership in the Pagan community is currently estimated in the millions.)
In 1970, Oberon formulated and published the thealogy of deep ecology which has become known as The Gaia Thesis—that our entire planetary biosphere comprises the body of a single vast living organism universally identified as “Mother Earth.” He met his soulmate, Morning Glory, at the Llewellyn-sponsored Gnostic Aquarian Festival in 1973, where he was a keynote speaker on the Gaia Thesis. They were legally married on April 14, 1974, in a spectacular Pagan handfasting in Minneapolis.
For eight years (1977-1985) Oberon and Morning Glory lived in a 5,600-acre intentional community called Greenfield Ranch, in the mountains of northern California, establishing a rural homestead and a Pagan retreat center. During this period they created large festivals, vision quests, ceremonies, and ritual events on the land. This work continues to this day on Annwfn.
Oberon and Morning Glory co-founded the Ecosophical Research Association in 1977, and their research into arcane lore and ancient legends resulted in the Living Unicorn project, begun in 1980. For the next four years they traveled all over North America exhibiting their authentic Medieval-style Unicorns at Renaissance Faires, before arranging a four-year exhibition contract with Ringling Bros./ Barnum & Bailey Circus—“The Greatest Show on Earth”—which brought these legendary creatures to millions throughout the world.
In Feb. 1985, Oberon organized an ERA diving expedition to Australia and New Guinea which identified the species of the mysterious “Ri” and solved the ages-old mystery of the Mermaid; and in 1987 he conducted a research tour of ancient oracles and archaeological sites throughout Mediterranean Europe. Other magical journeys have taken Oberon to Peru, Hawaii, Alaska, back to Australia, and, in 1999, to the British Isles for the century’s last total Eclipse of the Sun.
Oberon is the author of numerous published articles on history, Gaian thealogy, magic, shamanism, mythology, anomalies, dinosaurs, archaeology, cosmology, and related topics, and has been interviewed and quoted extensively in many books on New Age religious movements and the occult. With many years of theatrical experience, Oberon has been an entertaining guest on a number of radio and television talk shows around the country (and in England, Canada and Australia), as well as being a regular featured speaker at various Pagan festivals and conventions. Oberon is also an accomplished ritualist, creating and conducting rites of passage, seasonal celebrations, Mystery initiations (such as the Eleusinia and the Panathenaia), Earth-healings and other rituals for up to 3,000 people.
Oberon’s artwork has illuminated the pages of various fantasy, science-fiction, and metaphysical magazines since the late 1960’s, as well as illustrating a number of books. His T-shirt designs may still be seen at any gathering of environmental activists. His favorite art project, however, is his ongoing sculpture series of ancient Gods and Goddesses, and of mythological creatures, currently marketed through TheaGenesis LLC, as the Mythic Images Collection. His masterwork is “The Millennial Gaia.”
In 2002, Oberon gathered together many of the best-known minds in the Neo-Pagan movement to form the “Grey Council.” In 2004 Oberon and the Council published Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard, a book filled with the accumulated wisdom and insight of dozens of the most experienced magicians, priests, artists, and authors in Pagandom. Also in 2004, Oberon created his proudest accomplishment, the online Grey School of Wizardry (www.GreySchool.com). The Grey School currently offers over 200 classes in 16 Departments, at seven levels, with over 650 students aged 11-73. The faculty number 40 highly-qualified teachers. Graduates are certified “Journeyman Wizards.” Oberon is the school’s Headmaster, and has been called “The real Albus Dumbledore.”
Oberon and Morning Glory currently reside in Sonoma County, California.
Copyright © 20070 - 2008 Oberon Zell, all rights reserved.
Photography by Nemea Arborvitae
