On Resurrecting A Dead Blog

After some long and careful thought, I have decided to resurrect this blog. I would have preferred to leave the Maetreum of Cybele in the rear-view mirror of my life, as everyone who has passed through there has done. Unfortunately, I do not have that luxury. There are several reasons why. First, because as long as Cathryn Platine is still attempting to recruit vulnerable trans people who may well be fleeing for their lives from persecution in red states, I cannot remain silent. I do not believe that the Maetreum of Cybele, Catskills Phrygianum is a safe environment for trans people, or anyone else for that matter. I covered the reasons for my concern in a prior entry: An Open Letter to Jeremiah Bruce Lennox. Second, given that I was Platine’s second-in-command/heir apparent, I was deeply involved in the organization and heavily promoted it for thirteen years, I feel a moral obligation to continue to speak out. Indeed, I was informed by a credible source that Marina Brown, one of the original four owners of the Maetreum property, credits me personally for the Maetreum’s continued existence. It was her opinion that the Maetreum likely would have folded years ago, had it not been for my involvement, financial investment and downright obsessive promotion of the place. So then why, if I loved it so much, am I now saying negative and critical things about it? And why, if I now claim it is so horrible, did I stick with it for all that time? These are excellent questions, and I absolutely will address them in future blog entries Third, some things are just so awful and so egregious, that they cannot and should not be ignored and forgotten about. My own life was turned upside down and I could have very easily lost my career and livelihood due to the sheer maliciousness and malevolence of these people. Moreover, I was far from the only one. And for that reason, more than anything, is why I am still here blogging about the Maetreum when I have so many better things to do with my life. Fourth, I want to help give cult survivors a voice. My experience with other people since leaving the Maetreum has been positive overall, and I have been touched and overwhelmed by the support that I’ve gotten. Nevertheless, I’ve also run right into a lot of ugly and inaccurate stereotypes and misunderstandings about cult survivors. I want to rectify these. I have also decided to take the blog in a slightly different direction: I am going to open it up as a community space for honest discussion and debate about the Maetreum. I want to emphasize that this is NOT an attack on the Maetreum! Unfortunately, Cathryn Platine is invariably going to regard anything shy of fawning praise as an attack. It’s the nature of the beast and I’m just going to have to live with it. Accountability and honest discussion are only to be feared by those with something to hide. I will accept submissions for guest posts. There are going to be some ground rules, though: 1. Email them to me, viktoriawhittaker@gmail.com with the subject line: Gallae Central House Blog Submission. 2. I will accept all perspectives on the issue, positive, negative and anything else. This is with the caveat that if I disagree with what is said, I will make clear what my objections are. And of course, community discussion in the comments from all perspectives is encouraged. 3. I will put a disclaimer on any such submission indicating that the views expressed in said piece that they reflect solely the opinions of the author and do not necessarily express mine. 4. I will censor the names of any third parties mentioned unless I have written permission for them to be used. 5. I will accept submissions from anyone. This includes the other Maetreum priestesses: Caillean McMahon, Francesca Tronetti and Susan Davis. The only person whom I will NOT accept a submission from is Cathryn Platine herself. There a few reasons for this. First: she has her own blog and her own platforms. Hell, she’s got her own goddamn radio station! Yes, I am aware that she has been using said platform to spew vitriol at me for the last two years. Second, whenever she steps into a debate, she attempts to completely control the narrative and if she cannot, she angrily storms off like a petulant child. You just can’t have a conversation with someone like that. And that is the reason why I have been ignoring the Gish-gallopy word salad that is her blog for the last few years. I will not allow myself to get reeled into an unproductive discussion with a dishonest interlocutor who never intended to fight fair. 6. I will make submissions anonymous if the author wishes. 7. As a final note: NO ONE IS OFF LIMITS. I plan to hold EVERYONE who was involved with the Maetreum who behaved in abusive and unethical ways to account. As terrible as Platine was, she does not and never has operated in a vacuum. She has had supporters and enablers that kept her going. To my great regret, I was one of them for far too long, and that accountability and honesty applies to me as well. I hope to get an honest conversation about the Maetreum going here. Based on what I have seen on online forums regarding Palenville, it seems like there is very little factual information out there and too many of the Palenville community groups shut down discussion of the Maetreum and its place in the community, if there even is one! One day, I hope to share happy memories. Unfortunately, for me, for now, all my memories of the Maetreum are tainted with bitterness. Just how do you get past betrayal trauma, where people whom you loved and trusted not only stole from you but tried to actively destroy your life? I wish I had an answer.

Update On Me

Time flies. It has been nearly four years since I last set foot on the Maetreum grounds and things could not be more different. A year ago, my husband Gary and I divorced. (As an aside, he is most assuredly NOT a millionaire. I should know. I divorced him!) I bought my own home with the proceeds of the divorce. It’s a small cottage: 2 bedrooms 750 square feet and half an acre of land. I don’t need much more than that. My home is the only house that was built on a street that barely exists off the drawing board. Most of my street is still just paper street and is surrounded by paper streets. I like it that way. Although where I live is technically in the ‘burbs, my home is a little oasis of woodland. I live in a hollow that I call Woodpecker Hollow. Just simply because it’s a hollow that’s full of woodpeckers: pileated, red-bellied, Downy and Hairy as well as Nuthatches and Northern Flickers. They say goodbye to me when I leave and are the first creatures to welcome me back home. I don’t just have woodpeckers here, though. I’m also home to a mated pair of hawks and am visited by owls, especially during the winter months. I have heard the calls of Great Horned Owls, Screech Owls and I have seen a Barred owl. It isn’t just birds, although even the little songbirds who visit my feeder are curiously unafraid of me. There is a creek on my property which acts as something of a wildlife superhighway. I am regularly visited by deer. There is a family of beavers who have made their home on my creek. There is also the usual wildlife of groundhogs, skunks and possums. Last autumn, I was also visited by a mother fox and her kits. Bats also roost in the concrete fill that litters the hollow: a failed attempt to build over it prior to 1935 which, ironically enough, created the perfect habitat for them. My woods are also home to wild honey bees and fireflies. Oh the fireflies! Last summer I saw more of them in my woods than I ever saw in the Maetreum woods! I get to watch it all from my deck. I decorated it with all kinds of fairy lights, colorful furniture and woven outdoor mats. Unfortunately, it’s only seasonal. I can’t wait until the weather gets warm and I can chill and entertain people on my deck! My indoor space is chock-full of books, colorful baskets, plants, wall masks, psychedelic art, bottles and throw pillows. Lots of throw pillows. Because throw pillows are cozy and make me happy. I live with my two cats: Squishy, my grey tabby lockdown kitten and Violet, my tortoiseshell girl who was a stray on the Maetreum grounds and was formerly known as Rooftop Kitty or Two-Face. I also have a housemate named Cynthya Brynkattae. She is a legally blind transwoman. She likes to say that I rescued her from Long Island. I suppose I must have. Because of her disability, she was essentially stuck living with family. Since she has moved in with me, she has been able to proceed with her physical transition as well as learn life skills like cooking and cleaning. With the help of organizations such as NABA and The Commission for the Blind, she is finally gaining some life functionality. We have hope that soon she can get an actual job and build her own life. I am extremely proud of her. I am continuing to produce my radio show, Viktoria’s World of Metal. Currently, I am with WCAA-LP in Albany. For a time, I also produced it live at WIOX in Roxbury. It is now available once more through the Pacifica Network’s Audioport database. But what I am most excited about by far is my own continuing ministry. Thanks to Chelsea Goodwin, I have now been initiated into Rachel Pollack’s line. Pollack herself was practicing the Rites of Cybele as far back as the mid 1990’s, well before Cathryn Platine ever did. That, however, will be the subject of a future blog entry. For the last two years, I have been conducting the rites every new and full moon with a small group of celebrants, many of whom are former Maetreum people. We also hold a monthly brunch at our home as well as a monthly meetup at a venue in Durham. I have also conducted classes, particularly teaching magic to blind and other disabled pagans. Both Cynthya and myself have been ordained through the Universal Life Church. This in and of itself may not be something to write home about, but it is how Cathryn Platine and Jeremiah Bruce Lennox got their start. When I was at the Maetreum, I was the only priestess in residence who was a practicing Sibyl. So, to is Cynthya. She is far better at it than I am. She is my dedicant as well as a proud Maenad Galla. I’m very much excited about the future.