The Founders of Sisters of the Silver Branch
Doreen Taylor
Doreen
Taylor has known since an early age that there was
more to religion than a set of rules and doctrines. After
discovering
Wicca more than a decade ago she knew she finally came home!
After much reflection and experimentation she knew that
her
life's main area of study would be the Irish magical and
mythological cycle. Doreen believes that good scholarship
is as important as spiritual intent. Among her favorite authors
on pre-Christian Irish spirituality are Steve Blamires
and
his book Glamoury: Magic of the Celtic
Green World
Doreen is a member of ADF and now lives in the UK. Her other esoteric interests are herb lore, pagan chants/songs, drumming, making incenses and oils, tarot, Celtic mythology/history, British folk traditions (such as mummers plays and morris dancing) and the spiritual pleasure she gets out of eating chocolate.
Susan Reed
Susan Reed first encountered Wicca in 1973 and practiced a Wiccan-based religion until the mid-1990s when she realized her beliefs no longer could be encompassed within the Wiccan religion. Through many turnings and meanderings through various Neo-Pagan paths, she has come to a path that weaves together ideas from Celtic Reconstructionism, modern Druidry, and British-Arthurian Mysteries, that of the Quest for the Hallows and the Restoration of the Courts of Joy and combines long-time passions for the Arthurian legends, Welsh folklore and mythology, nature-oriented spirituality, and Celtic scholarship. She would describe herself as a Britano-Gallic polytheist with reconstructionist leanings and modern Druid. Susan is a graduated Bard of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) and joined the ADF in 2005.
Her other esoteric interests are tarot, divine imagery, guided/semi-guided meditation, ritual construction, ritual dance, labyrinths and mazes, and Celtic mythology, history and folklore (and she agrees with Doreen of the spiritual properties of chocolate!).
