Ash McSidhe, formerly known as Moondancer, has been a dedicated practitioner of the Craft since childhood, formally stepping onto the path at Beltane 1973 under Lady Aphrodite of the Georgian Tradition. Ash later studied under Zanoni Silverknife, co-founding the Sacred Grove of Vril and the StarBorn (Sothis) Tradition.
In 1975, Ash was elevated to 3° in the New York Coven of Welsh Traditionalists, a branch of N.E.C.T.W., and early branching of the N.E.C.T.W. “family tree”, shifting focus to teachings from Lady Gwynne.
In 1981, following military service, Ash met Raven and made her the Lady of their life. Together, they worked in StarMist Cuveen, the second StarBorn Coven. In 1984, they met two Elders from the Tuatha de Danann Tradition (another branching of the N.E.C.T.W. family tree) and were reinitiated and elevated to 3° by the “Old Rites of N.E.C.T.W.” Shortly thereafter, they moved from California to Washington to begin a new chapter.
In 1992, they connected with the N.E.C.T.W. Historian, and in 1993, Ash and Raven were elevated to the N.E.C.T.W. Priesthood degree, the highest rank of the Tradition.
Following her transition from male to female, in 2019, Ash returned to Rhode Island, reaffirming her role as a High Priestess. Ash’s personal practice blends N.E.C.T.W. with elements from the traditions she has studied and/or been initiated into, however, her coven practice firmly rooted in N.E.C.T.W.
Beltane 2023 marked Ash’s 50th anniversary in the Craft, and the approximate 60th anniversary of when she first learned the words by which to call the ceremonies she had been performing in her back yard as a child in New Mexico every month at the Full Moon.. Emphasizing inclusivity, Ash upholds that gender and sexual orientation are irrelevant to the practice of the Craft, with no sexual rites involved in N.E.C.T.W. practices.
Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me;
(The Grateful Dead)
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me
what a long, strange trip it’s been.
