August 3rd, 2011

We finally have a trial date set for November 16th at 9:30am. For those unfamiliar with our case, we have been battling over our property tax exemption with our municipality, the Town of Catskill, since they removed our exemption in 2007 with no explanation. We have been fighting to get it back ever since. They have provided no answer to the question of why and as best as we can figure out, they want to make an example of us to any other alternative religious group that wishes to set up shop within the town borders. We are a 501(c)3 religious organization and we use the property as worship space, convent housing for priestesses as well as providing emergency/charitable housing to women in need. All of these are considered exempt uses under New York State Real Property Law. We will need to do some serious fundraising to make sure all of our legal bills are paid. If you would like to make a contribution, there is a PayPal link on our homepage, www.gallae.com.



And speaking of charitable housing, Julia, our last emergency case, has now moved on to a new home after nine months with us. We miss her and wish her well. Now we have a new girl staying with us, and she is something of a first for us in many ways. She is from Nepal, possibly the very first one in her country. She had endured threats and violence in her homeland and is seeking asylum here. With the help of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, we are getting a good start on this process. If anyone out there has any experience with these kinds of immigration issues, please drop us a line. We would still welcome the help and advice.



Palenville Pagan Pride Day for 2011 will be held on August 27th. We still have openings for vendors and presenters. Email Viktoria@gallae.com if you’re interested. Pagan Pride Day is an educational event as well as a food drive. It gives an opportunity for representatives of various pagan paths to educate the public about their beliefs and practices. The event is from 9:00am to 5:00pm.



Here is some more mundane news about what is going on at the Maetreum. The Second floor walls and floor are finally done! I’m hoping to add some decorative molding and stencils to finish it off.



The kitchen has finally been properly organized into a workable space! This one has been plaguing us for years. The room itself is L-shaped and has always been very hard to work with. Last month, I took a few days off and Cathy and I spent them taking down and moving around cabinetry, reorganizing storage, moving the refrigerator and freezer and cleaning everything and the results are so worth it! We have also begun milling our own flour with a grain mill that Julia had given us. We’ve been milling spelt and hope to start growing it next year as a grain crop. This year we planted tomatoes, asparagus, some blueberries as well as squashes. We already have mature Chinese chestnut, walnut and apple trees as well as a blackberry patch. One day we hope to become as self-sufficient as possible.



Another very worthwhile project that is nearly finished is our library. We had long intended to turn the old tool room into a library and we are now almost done. We’ve since moved the tools into the room at the end of the ground floor hallway and removed trash. The room has been cleaned and the book cases and furniture are now in place. I have yet to organize the books as well as finish the decorations (East Indian style!). I have also ordered some special, library book pattern upholstery fabric for re-covering the chairs.

February 14th, 2011

I would like to apologize to all for not writing any blog entries for some time. This was not by accident. In recent months, Cathy’s blog entries have been used against us in this ongoing case. Although it is something we and our lawyer can deal with, I did not want to risk adding fuel to their fire and having my words used against us. I decided to continue not only because there have been a few exciting developments recently. A few days ago, the New York Times ran an article in the Our Towns column by Peter Applebome. Many thanks to Peter for a great interview and a great article! Also, many thanks to Colin DeVries of the Daily Mail and Julia Reischel of the Watershed Post and Jason Pitzl-Waters of the Wild Hunt for keeping our story out there.

It has been a very long, difficult journey for all of us, but especially for Cathryn and myself. Some well-meaning individuals have suggested that perhaps this is an indication that we are not supposed to be here. This is certainly not so. We have already long settled this with Mother that this is Her home as well as ours. She has also made it abundantly clear that there are certain issues that need to be worked out through this case, not the least of which is to temper us and make us stronger. We will never give up. Moreover, the more we discover about our situation taken in the context of the community, the clearer it becomes that this is just pure, blatant discrimination. We simply cannot walk away and let them win. No matter what the cost.

If you wish to help the Maetreum and lack the funds, here's something you can do. Start a letter writing campaign to Catskill Town Supervisor, 439 Main Street, Catskill, NY 12414 or email to supervisor@townofcatskillny.gov. Tell them what you think and spread the word far and wide please...


Here is the more mundane news of what has been happening around here: At the end of May, we went to the town Grievance hearing over our denial as we have for many years now. This time, we came with supporters AND our lawyer who read the law to them and cited case law on issues like ours. We even offered to give them a tour of the property (which they refused), but once again, we were still denied.

In June, we completed the columns that form the three gateways to the temple as well as several more benches. We acquired a cement mixer and can now build as many concrete structures as we want. This is very important to us as well, not simply because of the durability of concrete, but also because it was one of the great, technological achievements of the Roman Empire. Still, it’s not exactly easy to work with concrete, especially if you are a woman. The column sections weigh a good 150 pounds each. I regard building with concrete as a testament of faith. Ultimately, we hope to fill the temple with concrete benches as well as cast altars for the Pagan circle. We also hope to create colonnades and fountains for the grounds. (Note: what we are doing with the concrete work is legally nothing more than garden statuary and DOES NOT REQUIRE A BUILDING PERMIT)

During the past Eight months, we have provided charitable housing for a total of four individuals. The shortest stay was 48 hours and the longest has been with us for four months and is still here. She is a remarkable woman who has contributed much during her stay. She has been teaching us weaving and has introduced us to the production of kefir. Thanks to this, we will be able to make our own cheese, beer and bread in the ancient way and without commercial yeast, yet another step toward self-sufficiency which is what we have wanted for a long time.

Palenville Pagan Pride Day was held on August 28th and was a great success. We collected 30 pounds of food for our local food pantries and we had over a hundred participants. We held several rituals and workshops.

Inside the house, we are almost finished with fixing and painting the old plaster walls. We are also almost finished with putting new floor tiles in the upstairs hallway, since we have already removed the old carpet and linoleum that was underneath. We have installed some reproduction as well as reconditioned antique lights adding to the period feel. Ultimately, it’s little touches like this that we hope will truly bring the building back to it’s 1890’s look.

The telegraph office is now complete and is set up in such a way that there are two desks representing two companies, Western Union and Postal Telegraph. They can send messages to each other in demonstrations. We are still hoping to have a remote location set up elsewhere for sending and receiving messages. Our telegraph office may also appear in a documentary about telegraphy currently in production. I’ll keep all the details posted as they occur.

May 9 2010 – Our Case Update

We got our application back from the town for the 2010 property tax exemption. Once again, despite everything, they STILL denied our exemption and STILL gave us a nonresponsive form letter for the denial with the reason that changes every year and that appears to be just pulled out of some bodily orifice.

We will be still protesting our denial at the annual grievance hearing in Catskill on May 25th at 4:00pm. We are looking for a bunch of pagans to join us in a peaceful demonstration there. If you are interested in participating, please email us.

The good news is, that our attorney is moving forward with the service. Hopefully, this will be finished in our favor, soon. Another bit of good news is that we’re now all over the local as well as the pagan news! Jason of the Wild Hunt blog posted an update to our case once again. Thank you Jason, and once again Mother’s blessings to you! This week, we will also be on Pagans Tonight again. Keep your eye out for us!

Cathy has been attending several local meetings. A town meeting was held at the Palenville Fire Department with our Congressman, Scott Murphy on April 19th. Not only did she bring our legal battle to his attention, she also weighed in on how little the residents of Palenville get for our tax dollars in terms of municipal services as well as letting our feelings known on the possibility of natural gas drilling happening in our part of the Catskills. Naturally, we oppose it. One of our priestesses in Western Pennsylvania had lost two wells on her property that were contaminated by the side products of hydro fracturing. This one got on a local radio program.

She also dropped in on a town Assessment Board meeting and let her feelings about our situation be known. She also attended a Town Council Meeting and had it out with Peter Markou, the Town Supervisor over the tax exemption issue. This one made it to one of the local papers.

We have also been detailed in two articles in a new online magazine called the Watershed Post. One was just profiling us and another was about our battle with the Town of Catskill(We defy you not to harbor this kitten!). Despite a gaffe made about Salem witches being burned at the stake, it was an excellent article. Since the reporter also interviewed Nancy McCoy the Town Assessor and Daniel Vincelette the town attorney (the one who wrote that objectionable legal opinion about us), it is worth checking out to see just how arrogant and small-minded these people really are. It’s also worth noting, that this is the first time we’ve been given any notion as to just what their objections actually are. Also interesting that now it comes out when the eyes of public scrutiny are finally upon them. Fancy that.

April 17th, 2010

We finally have some good news regarding our legal case! Last week, Judge Pulver made a ruling in our favor. The case itself is not over, but we did achieve what we feel is an important victory. The town’s attorneys have focused their legal strategy on trying to get our case dismissed due to some errors we made in service. Our original attorney had told us to only serve the Assessor’s office, which we did. They countered that we needed to serve the county and the school board as well, and asked that our case be dismissed on that basis, as well as the fact that we basically started this case pro se, or basically we had to go it alone because our prior attorney took herself off the case. Although we were upset at the time, she probably did us a favor in retrospect since she claimed she was not competent in this area of New York law.



The decision was thus: not only is Pulver refusing to drop the case, he is also allowing us to amend our filing to include the county and school district, as our attorney requested. This is just in the nick of time, because we have already started to get threatening letters from the county about seizing our property by the end of the year if we are not paid up by then! Although it’s not over until it’s over, we are pretty optimistic about how things will turn out. Thus far, they have shown that they really have nothing against us other than the legal equivalent of clerical errors (which is how the judge put it). If they try to defend themselves with the real reasons for this, they will open themselves up to pretty hefty damages from a civil rights or Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act case which we are completely prepared to file and pursue if they don’t just concede and give us our property tax exemption back. Given that both the Town of Catskill and Greene County are going through a fiscal crisis of their own, it would be an incredibly foolish gamble for them to make.



As for other news around the Maetreum, we held Season of the Tree on the last weekend in March. We had hoped that by holding it the weekend following Ostara/Spring Solstice that we would have had more pagans coming. I think it did help more pagans show up, but we had a low turnout – only 7 people came. Ironically enough, the next weekend, 11 people came, including 5 people strangers who just turned up at random. Go figure. Nonetheless, it was a great Season of the Tree. Some of our new friends participated and undertook the Mysteries.



We have finished the painting work on the bulk of the 2nd floor hallway. Now the only common areas that are left still paneled are the bathrooms and the immediate hallway surrounding them, the stairs and main entranceway. We have found some nice, commercial tiles for the hallway as well, having also gotten rid of the carpet – finally! We have also found just the perfect things to re-do the ceiling. Armstrong makes these wonderful acoustic tiles just like the old ones we have – only they have been pressed into patterns matching old, tin-tile ceilings! Since we already have the tracks laid, they’ll be a snap to install; it’s just a matter of getting the money for the things.

March 7th, 2010

Cathy, Caillean and I have been doing research into the origins and history of Central House. Our research is still ongoing and we may well fill in more blanks in the future. Eventually, I would like to create a whole webpage dedicated to the history of the house but I still wanted to report on what we have thus far.

We had been told by the prior owners that Central House was built in the 1850’s and originally was a tavern. We have not found anything thus far that either proves or disproves this. It’s still a very real possibility that this was so.

In order to research a house, you not only have to look at the history of the house but also of the people associated with it as well as the history of the community it is a part of. Doing a deed search as only brought limited success, so we had to go about it through indirect means.

The hamlet of Palenville had been previously known as Three Corners and Irvingsville. It did not appear to have been called Palenville until 1859.  Even then, it had a decidedly poor reputation. It was described in an 1860’s publication as a “primitive wayside”. As of 1859, it had 18 dwellings, 2 taverns, a tannery and not much else. Even though the renowned Catskill Mountain House had already been there for a number of years and Palenville had a gorgeous view of it, its glory days were yet to come.

On an 1856 map of Greene County that showed the current landmarks and property owners, nothing was noted on the spot where Central House lies. On an 1867 map, the property owner listed in this spot was a farmer named John Harford. This does not rule out that Central House once was (or grew out of) an 1850’s wayside tavern. It was not uncommon then for farmers to make their own beer and sell it, thus letting their homes evolve into taverns.

By 1879, the property owner listed was Calvin Goodwin (1839-1917). Goodwin was a Civil War veteran (5th Heavy Artillery) and a teamster by trade. At the time there were many Goodwins living in Palenville, and to this day there is a local cemetery is known by their name. In the 1880 census, his occupation was still listed as “teamster” rather than boarding housekeeper, although he was living at this location. From this, we have inferred that Central House had not yet become Central House. The earliest mention yet found of Central House in Palenville is 1888. Therefore, we are making the assumption that the little farmhouse/tavern had mushroomed into Central House during this time. The last part of Central House to be added on was the rear wing, in which I am sitting and writing these words. It’s not much younger than the main part of the house. It probably all came together within a 10 year period.

By the turn of the last century, Central House was a very busy and popular place in Palenville. This is likely because the Goodwins made every effort to keep the place up-to-date, comfortable and yet reasonably-priced. At that time, the rooms cost $7-$10 per week as opposed to the Pine Grove, in which they cost $10-$12 per week. The Palenville Zephyr – a local paper published at the time – would list weekly arrivals to all the local inns as well as deliver some tasty gossip.

Goodwin died in 1917. Central house continued on as a successful boarding house during this time. Curiously enough, during the mid 20th century, the house passed through the hands of a number of women owners. One of these owners was the mother of our old neighbor, the late, great Kitty Garrison. Sadly, she passed away a year after Cathy and company moved in at the age of 89.

Cesare Genetelli, the patriarch of the family from Cathy and her partners purchased the property in 2002, purchased the property in 1955 and owned it until his death in 1988. The Genetelli family had run it as a boarding house and restaurant until the late 1960’s and afterward kept it for private use. After Cesare died, the property had fallen into disrepair. Cesare’s son Olindo eventually put the property on the market. He was extremely particular about it, looking for just the right buyer. After it was on the market for 10 years, he finally sold it to Cathy and the original partnership on the condition that we agree to restore the building. Apparently, he had turned down other offers – no doubt for considerably more money – from others who had wanted to tear down Central House or turn it into slum housing.

We have since made good on our promise. We have been truly *restoring* Central House rather than renovating it as all to many “restoration” jobs actually are. The original turn-of the last century linoleum floorcloths still adorn the floors of all but 3 of the bedrooms. Most of them still have the original light fixtures, although they have been rewired. The entire original footprint of the rooms remains. The original bathrooms with original beadboard stalls (complete with 1930’s graffiti!) remain. The original wooden, Victorian “fancy chairs” still adorn the porch and coffee bar areas and the original beds are still slept in. Much of the work that we had to do – barring certain updates needed for safety – was strictly cosmetic and/or finish work. After all those years the house was still structurally sound. For all the bizarre and nonsensical features on the inside which confuse even Cathy herself, the builders clearly knew what they were doing. The floors do not bounce and the stairs don’t even creak! The house was built quickly with the intent of cashing in on the Catskills tourist trade, but yet somehow the house endured.

February 19th, 2010

We are holding our own through this winter and I am finding that living here and commuting to Albany is not as bad as I had feared.



As of this writing, our court case has not yet been resolved, but the judge has now rejected the oral arguments. What this means for us is that there will be no trial – the judge will issue a verdict based on the evidence submitted. Our attorney is optimistic – we’ve submitted some pretty strong evidence! Among that evidence are copies of those pagan-oriented books mentioned in the first October 20th entry. Right now, we are still playing the Waiting Game. In the meantime, we carry on with our work.



We are preparing for Season of the Tree and Cathy and I have begun to work on a new body of ritual for the other three major Cybelline holidays. We are quite excited about this, since we are branching out into other goddess traditions for these, and not just sticking to the Roman Cybelline period. This religion spanned several aeons and cultures, and our rituals should reflect this.



We are also moving forward on our historical projects. I am pleased to report that Chessie has been mentioned in Cambridge Who’s Who for her work on the Women in Technology project for her work on our telegraph office. Congratulations, Chessie! Caillean is also looking to collaborate with the Mountaintop Historical Society on this project.



We have found more historic postcard images of Central House. This brings the total up to five. Unfortunately, one of them was from an image of a postcard of Central House from 1906 on Worthpoint that we didn’t get. However, we did acquire a black and white postcard image that we think dates from 1890-1900 as well as the crowning pride: an A.S. Landis birdseye view of Central House and the grounds that was postmarked in 1930. This one in particular solved a few mysteries, one of which was the purpose of those tiny sheds behind Cathy’s house. We thought that they were outhouses, but they were actually icehouses! We have had Helen blow them up and we now have them framed and hanging in the downstairs hallway, which is starting to become our gallery of historic images. We have also put up some other historic images of Palenville landmarks there.



Helen’s kiln is now operational and she has done her first firings. In the near future, she plans to hold pottery classes as she prepares her studio. If you are interested in taking a pottery class, please email firstchurch@gallae.com for details.



As for other events, we are having the first organizational meeting for Palenville Pagan Pride Day 2010 on February 28th at 2:00pm. We are also starting up a new bisexual brunch here at Central House that will be held on the second and fourth Sundays of the month from 11:00am to 1:00pm. We hold it through Meetup.com. If you are interested, check out this link: http://www.meetup.com/Hudson-Valley-Catskills-Bisexual-Meetup

December 20th, 2009

A Blessed Yule and Saturnalia to you all! Here’s an update on our legal situation. Thanks to our October missive to the larger pagan community, we now have a lawyer and the means to continue our legal battle. Once again, I would like to offer thanks to Jason Pitzl-Waters, author of the Wild Hunt Blog for helping to spread awareness of our plight. I would also like to offer thanks to my old friend, Ed Hubbard of Witchschool and the Pagan Newswire Collective for allowing Cathy and I to call in to the internet radio show Pagans Tonight to tell the whole story to the community. We would also very much like to thank the mother and daughter who each gave us an incredibly generous donation that made it all possible! Our situation as it stands is this: right now the judge is reviewing our case and deciding whether or not to issue a summary judgment restoring our exemption, or whether the town has a strong enough case to take it to trial. As of now, it's all in the judge's hands and we are playing the Waiting Game - and hoping that this all ends soon.

We also have a special request to anyone and everyone who ever participated in an event at the Maetreum. Our lawyer has requested that we obtain as many affidavits from people who have attended events here as possible. Yes, I know, it's kind of ridiculous and insulting that we should have to do this, but just remember, we have been placed in a ridiculous sitiuation of having to actually prove that we are a religion, and that means proving that we have engaged in religious activities here that people have actually participated in.



As for the more mundane goings-on at the Phrygianum, this past fall we re-decked half of the front porch and will continue with the other half in the spring. We also reinforced the underdecking, because a lot of it came loose over the years, although the only real rot that we found was at the edge, where rain and snow came into contact with it. We used Southern Yellow Pine wood for the new decking and with weather treatment it has the look of amber shellac over pine. Not only is it harder than regular pine, it's also much more rot resistant. This new porch should last another hundred years!



We have also finally completed the kiln room, which has consisted of rebuilding the floor in that shed (the old floor was rotted and had termite damage) as well as putting on a new roof using salvaged timbers from the porch. We fire-proofed the inside of the room with corrugated metal and put the kiln into place. All that’s left is to hook up the kiln at its ready to go!

Thanksgiving was lovely, with Caillean and her daughter Chessie attending as well as Marina and Laura. It had been Laura's first time up here in many years and it was good to see her at last. She took a lot of wonderful pictures, including my cat, Shadow, helping himself to leftover turkey. Unforunately, even though she submitted it to icanhascheezburger.com, Shadow did not get enough votes to become an LOL cat. :(