Poetry & Plays

Kate MacDowell's written work, like her musical work, has been deeply focused on giving voice to experiences that otherwise defy language. Her collection of poetry, Witness, seeks to give voice to events in recent human history, both public and private, that often slip from social consciousness.

Sacred Groves: Creating and Sustaining Neopagan Covens is an in-depth exploration of the role of groups within Neopagan religious practice. Specifically designed for clergy and clergy-in training, Sacred Groves seeks to provide critical guidance, exploring issues such as: historical and theological purpose of groups; stages of group development; member selection and retention; teaching and training; tradition development; working with families; multiculturalism; ethics and more. Sacred Groves is grounded in the latest theories from social, developmental, and group psychology to provide students and current clergy with a firm and practical foundation in understanding how these elements of group work operate within a religious context to ensure that group leaders care, not only for the spiritual lives of their members, but also their emotional and relational ones. Due out October 2009.


Ethics & Professional Practice for Neopagan Clergy is the first text of its kind, designed to provide an in-depth exploration of the parameters of ministerial practice and the importance of such practice being grounded within an ethical framework. Specifically designed for clergy and clergy-in-training, Ethics & Professional Practice seeks to provide critical guidance, exploring issues such as: An introduction to the philosophy of ethics; the intersection between ethics & religion; discussion on values, virtues, & worldviews; professional parameters of practice, including an in-depth discussion on the role of pastoral counselor; introduction to religious developmental theory with spiritual care tips; ethical issues associated with money, sex, working with children & adolescents and more...

Complete with case studies, questions for contemplation, diagrams for decision-making, and ample journal activities, Ethics & Professional Practice for Neopagan Clergy empowers the religious professional to feel confident in their capacity to care for the spiritual and emotional lives of their membership and students.

She is currently at work on a second volume of poetry, two plays, in addition to two Neopagan theology textbooks and a critical introduction to the New Testament.

" To hold traumatic reality in consciousness requires a social context that affirms and protects the victim and that joins victim and witness in a common alliance. For the individual victim, this social context is created by relationships with friends, lovers, and family. For the larger society, the social context is created by political movements that give voice to the disempowered. "

- Judith Lewis Herman, MD., Trauma and Recovery