The threads of creation of Hawkwind have come from all directions and all nations. Those threads of healing of come as a product of personal need to let go of 2x4 therapy as a means of personal growth and transformation. My Teachers and Elders have been many. My strong relationship with Jesus as my protector and brother guided me through many a dark and fevered night of childhood illness. Being an atomic child ( born within three hours after the first atomic tests ) of radio active poisoning lead me on a long and twisted journey to create peace and wholeness within my being. A journey that continues today as I rekindle all of the pieces of my soul in a good and Sacred way.

I am Charla Jo, daughter of Shirley Mae, daughter of Edith Wilamena, daughter of Ella Louise, daughter of Wilamena Pauline, daughter of Mable, daughter of Minnie Lee, daughter of Susan, daughter of Mtilida, daughter of Caroline, daughters of Ishtar and time. I am the storyteller and the keeper of myth and wisdom of a generation of healers from a Rainbow Nation.

GRAM & GREAT GRAM, were the two of the strongest women I knew. Pioneers, potato farmers and keepers of men who lived the hard life of the old west. Gamblers, fiddlers at barn dances , mechanics of the first automobiles, farmers, dreamers and keepers of the family. These two old ladies taught me to sew, to crochet, to rock in the chair until so tranced out that all family conflict became a blur. These women were the keepers of the sacred jello recipes of my life. They taught me to dream and to be in charge of life, especially as a single mom. Plain Gram as I called her was my protector, my second main care giver. She was my source of inspiration as I watched her march off to her job at JC Penny’s each day. I always know her comfort when I wear flannel pajamas like she used to make me for Christmas each year. Knowing that they both arrived via strong pioneer women who pushed carts and fought for women’s rights to vote, made me quite proud of my lineage. Well, I also love that the old hedge witch woman from Ireland was honestly named Matilda!

MOM & DAD, are the total yin/yang of life. My mom collecting children and causes, and still teaching special ed on the Wind River as she pushes 80. She took me to church, she taught me respect, she curled my hair and kept me in line. She was boundaries and proper behavior because God and Jesus are always watching.. Dad on the other hand was about raising the bar and exploring the unknown. He brought home mystical books and told grand stories of his travels as a salesman. From my first kool-aid stand at age five or six, he allowed me to work in the family business. Dad taught me how to make money and marketing. Mom taught me how to tithe, pray and give away. Mom taught me to read, and she read to all of us until we were in our teens. Dad taught me to live the stories, like he does. Mom taught me a healthy respect of dis-ease, fear and what happens when you cross the limits. Dad taught me to dance around the limits and transform them with fearlessness. Mom taught me scriptures to r ecite in church. Dad taught me to get up and speak with authority as I explained the scriptures in church. I have needed both sides of what my chosen parents have offered me. I hold the as dear role models of responsibility.

When we were kids, Dad started a family business in our garage. We made “smellys” to hang on the rear view mirror of your car. We took the chenille animals from the crates, shot them up with cheap perfume, bagged them, sealed them and stapled them onto a large cardboard display that had a pair of man’s cuff links in the center. The person who purchased the last smelly on the board got the cufflinks as a free gift. My dad used these to trade for gas as he traveled carrying his amazing array of products through out the Midwest to State Fairs and Trade shows. Dad taught me how to sell those boards door to door along with more Girl Scout Cookies than any other girl in the state of Wyoming. It was a skill that has served me well as I have marketed every single product and service known to mankind in the past 50 years. It is that skill of my ability to sell a hairpin to a bald headed lady that interested corporate leaders and healing elders, alike. Somebody has to tell the story for pe ople to buy the product, service and even Spiritual experience. Today, the past skills of this childhood have become a big part of the story of Hawkwind.

MRS. MABE & MR. DRISCOLL, were the two defining teachers in my life. Both my High School favorites of drama and forensics, they encouraged me to write, to perform, to sing, to dance and to question authority. Mr. D was a great cover for us as we organized sit ins and protests. The only thing I ever got in trouble for in school was being an outspoken activist of the 60's. I had plenty of friends, and these two teachers rescued and inspired me each and every day that I endured the formal education system. They guide my rebel soul!

KATHY RAVENWOOD., is the oldest childhood friend in my life. We met when I was thirteen. We had just returned to Wyoming from living in California for a few years. I was devastated that my amazing life on the beaches of California had ended and we had to move back to cold and dreary Wyoming. Our first Sunday at Church a beautiful angel, who looked to be a few year older than me, stepped up to lead the hymns. She was wearing earrings like Twiggy and had on a very hip dress for someone trapped in Wyoming. I at once became her annoying shadow and stalked her every move. Whatever novel she carried in her school bag, became the next novel I checked out of the library where I was honestly the very organized student librarian for the entire Jr. High. At some point she surrendered and allowed me to become her friend. I idolized her wardrobe, her neat and orderly home. Her normal mom and a dad who came home from a real job every night. She had a bedroom all to herself and she knew “thing s”. She was the beautiful clerk in the jewelry department while I drudged back in the stock room at K-mart to manage shipping and receiving. When she took over fashion, I got moved to the nursery. I have always seen her that way; glamorous and sophisticated. I have always felt more earthy. We have danced a dance of projection and admiration for each other ever since.

When I left home at 17, Kathy was my roommate at BYU, where she was already a third year student. It was my radical behavior that probably got us both kicked out. This lead us to living in the only Hippie house in town. That took us to living on the beaches of California in 1969, oh yea. We got married, divorced, healed, gave birth, got married, divorced, studied healing so we could get healed. We got skilled and shattered and skilled again. We got enlightened and disenchanted and still had each other to weave life with back and forth and onward and upward, AGAIN and still. She is of course so cool she lives in New Mexico, and still looks as gorgeous as the first day I met her. She teaches Alchemical Healing as we share a place in the lineage circle with Nicki Scully. She reads cards and does hands on work that is only topped by the incredible light of her energy. She is my oldest and dearest friend, and she has quested, lodged, danced and sang and added her juice to the creati on of Hawkwind. She has been the great balance point in my journey, no matter where that journey took me. Any day that I am thinking of giving up she is a good enough friend to offer me a bedroom, and an even better friend to remind me of the promises that I have made to Creator and the young ones around me. Ravenwood lives in beauty and good sense as I create the Altars of Hawkwind. And hey, she gives a darn good card reading, so if you are ever looking, let me know, I will hook you up.( She doesn’t have a web site yet)

There are many more strands of that web;

PIR VILIAT, wh taught me to meditate, and to spin energy. JOSE SILVA, who taught me to look with new eyes and feel the diagnosis with my heart and hands, before turning to my brain. FRANKIE HEWITT, who ran the Ford’s Theater and was am amazing writer who encouraged me to expand my journals into pieces of art. I honor ROBYN QUAIL who brought the first Peruvian Elders to Atlanta to share the great mysteries with us. I cherish NANCY HART who lead the CNN group through trances and healing circles. Both of these ladies were on a special police task force of physics with me during a very rough period of a serial killer in Atlanta. ( yep, we all jumped in to draw, douse and lead the cops from crime scene to crime scene one year. Which was down right fascinating.) I include in those honors REV. BRITT WILLIAMS, a beautiful lady who took me in during my pathfinding and shared with me her love for the ministry and guided my studies to take on that role with the commitment I carry forward t oday. Include the transforming energy of JANE MAXWELL, ROB BARNES AND ED TURNER, all of CNN and those who guided the integrity of the work and programs that I developed at CNN. AND they shared a deep friendship and commitment to changing the world with me, never putting down a single idea I had, but always looking for ways to help me make it work.

And finally, I wish to acknowledge the other two guys who got me to Hawkwind; OSCAR MIRO QUESADO AND SIXTO PAZ WELLS. Both Shamans of Peru who allowed me to work closely with their organization RAMA. The weekly meetings were often held at my house in Atlanta as did many of the classes they taught. It was through them that I quested and saw the bigger picture of Hawkwind. When Oscar would ring his silver bell and call to the ancient ones, my heart would come alive. His wisdom as a professor made him wildly popular with the college students. His charming smile and laser light , healing hands, made him even more popular with the New Age group that was growing rapidly in the South. Oscar brought us Sixto, who spoke little English. It did not matter, because everything these two men spoke came out flowers of life, anyway. One cold December night in North Georgia, we all joined hands to call in the “Star Nations”. Over 100 of us, formed a human Medicine Wheel in the frosty night on a Mountain Top. We chanted until our toes were near frost bit. We chanted some more. Then we gave in and went inside to share stories of our visions and hone in our own healing skills. Right after we got inside the two doubters in the group came running I to tell us the Star people had arrived. We all ran out to see the results of our chanting, only to see a brief streak of light in the sky, and the glistening frost on the field revealing where each of us had been laying, hand in hand to pray for a better world. It was a night to remember. I have used those same chants in Peru, and have each time an amazing experience of coming to know other nations above and within us. I cherish these two men, and look forward to the day of joining them both in Peru, once again. Oscar and Sixto are both quite accessible for tours of Peru and to offer healing training. They are amazing and well worth the experience, frost bit toes or not. You can keep track of them on their web site: www.mesawork.com and if you see them before I do, give them a big hug from all of their friends at Hawkwind.

Blessings to one and all

Rev. Charla Hermann