{"id":29555,"date":"2023-10-08T13:28:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T19:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=29555"},"modified":"2023-10-08T13:28:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T19:28:32","slug":"olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html","title":{"rendered":"Olivia Pettijohn (1982 \u2013 2023)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Longtime Denton CUUPS member and my friend Olivia Pettijohn died yesterday. She was 41.<\/p>\n

I first met Livvy when she came to one of our CUUPS circles in 2005. She was a very active member for many years. Later she became more of an occasional participant, but she was always a friend, and someone who would do her best to help out whenever we needed her to take a part in a ritual or a Sunday service \u2013 or to give a ride to someone who needed it.<\/p>\n

Livvy loved poetry and was very good at reading it. If there was an important but difficult reading in a ritual, it went to Livvy. She could recite \u201cThe Genealogy of Brighid\u201d at any time and often did. She was good at writing poetry too. She would roll her eyes anytime someone said something was \u201conly a metaphor\u201d \u2013 Livvy said metaphors are some of the most powerful things in the world. Even someone as literal-minded as me has to admit there\u2019s great wisdom in that.<\/p>\n

There were a couple of times in the social hour after a CUUPS circle when I could tell that some clueless young man had mistaken Livvy\u2019s friendliness for flirting. I told them \u201cum, you\u2019re hitting on the gayest person in the room.\u201d She laughed when I told her afterwards, and was especially proud that I described her as \u201cthe gayest person in the room.\u201d Though to be honest, I may have heard her call herself that and I was just repeating it.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Livvy on the Fourth of July, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2006 Denton CUUPS\u2019 Samhain ritual featured a journey into the Cave of the Oracle \u2013 it was our reimagining of the Oracle of Delphi. Livvy was our oracle. The participants gathered in one part of the building, then after the preliminary ritual we processed into a different part that was set up with an altar, a tall stool, and a scrying bowl. The script call for Livvy to stay secluded until time for the Oracle to come out. Livvy took that a step further and stayed secluded from all of us, and she spent the day fasting in meditation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been 17 years \u2013 I don\u2019t remember what Livvy said when the priestess asked for her visions. I do remember her voice was soft but her message was clear. It wasn\u2019t acting \u2013 her words were completely unscripted. Livvy didn\u2019t just play an oracle, for that night she was<\/em> an oracle.<\/p>\n

Livvy was there when I had my first ecstatic experience of Cernunnos. I remember very little of what happened after it was over, but I will always remember Livvy saying \u201cwhen you were on the ground, I saw antlers growing out of your head.\u201d We tend to rationalize our ecstatic experiences away once they\u2019re over \u2013 this helped me to remember that what I saw and heard and felt was very real. I will always be thankful for her affirmation.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Denton CUUPS Egyptian Summer Solstice Ritual at White Rock Lake Park in Dallas, 2009. Livvy is in the middle, between Michi Harper and me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The word \u201cshaman\u201d gets thrown around too casually in our wider community. A few years ago some of us argued about whether it\u2019s right for any of us to claim \u201cshaman\u201d as a title or if that\u2019s cultural appropriation. My take then \u2013 as it is now \u2013 is that we need to focus on the work we\u2019re called to do and not on the title<\/a>. Many of us do some of the things that shamans do, but few if any of us do all the things shamans do, because \u201cshaman\u201d isn\u2019t a set of skills and activities. \u201cShaman\u201d is a role within a community.<\/p>\n

[Whether we should use \u201cshaman\u201d as a generic term for a spirit worker in an indigenous society or if it properly applies only to the Tunguskan people is a different topic for a different time, and one I am absolutely not interested in debating right now.]<\/p>\n

Livvy should have been a shaman.<\/p>\n

She had many of the skills. She had some of the markers, or at least, some of the markers I recognize as the calling of a shaman in many cultures. She had a community that loved her and a family that supported her unconditionally.<\/p>\n

But she couldn\u2019t be a shaman because she lived in a culture that has no place for people with her skills and calling\u2026 and limitations. Still, she lived her life as best she could, and she made her community better as best she could, until she couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

This is what I mean when I tell people not to wish to be a shaman. You will live a life that is difficult, painful, and most likely, short.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Livvy on a CUUPS camping trip in 2011. I wish I had gotten a better photo of her chest tattoo. I kept meaning to, but I never did. If I had asked, she would have said yes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Livvy was devoted to Brighid and to the Morrigan, and I trust with all my heart that They are caring for her now.<\/p>\n

But this much I know: that which is remembered lives. Olivia Hope Pettijohn will live on in the thoughts and memories and stories of those of us who knew her, and loved her, and are already missing her.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Livvy at Halloween 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Livvy Pettijohn will live on in the thoughts and memories and stories of those of us who knew her, and loved her, and are already missing her. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":29564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[272],"tags":[535,5,8],"class_list":["post-29555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-2","tag-denton-cuups","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism"],"yoast_head":"\nOlivia Pettijohn (1982 \u2013 2023)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Livvy Pettijohn will live on in the thoughts and memories and stories of those of us who knew her, and loved her, and are already missing her.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Olivia Pettijohn (1982 \u2013 2023)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Livvy Pettijohn will live on in the thoughts and memories and stories of those of us who knew her, and loved her, and are already missing her.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-08T19:28:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2023\/10\/Livvy-Fourth-of-July-2015-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html\",\"name\":\"Olivia Pettijohn (1982 \u2013 2023)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-08T19:28:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-08T19:28:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"Livvy Pettijohn will live on in the thoughts and memories and stories of those of us who knew her, and loved her, and are already missing her.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Olivia Pettijohn (1982 \u2013 2023)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Olivia Pettijohn (1982 \u2013 2023)","description":"Livvy Pettijohn will live on in the thoughts and memories and stories of those of us who knew her, and loved her, and are already missing her.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Olivia Pettijohn (1982 \u2013 2023)","og_description":"Livvy Pettijohn will live on in the thoughts and memories and stories of those of us who knew her, and loved her, and are already missing her.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html","og_site_name":"John Beckett","article_published_time":"2023-10-08T19:28:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2023\/10\/Livvy-Fourth-of-July-2015-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John Beckett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Beckett","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html","name":"Olivia Pettijohn (1982 \u2013 2023)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-10-08T19:28:32+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-08T19:28:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad"},"description":"Livvy Pettijohn will live on in the thoughts and memories and stories of those of us who knew her, and loved her, and are already missing her.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/10\/olivia-pettijohn-1982-2023.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Olivia Pettijohn (1982 \u2013 2023)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/","name":"John Beckett","description":"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad","name":"John Beckett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John Beckett"},"description":"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}