Turtle
After a long struggle with lung cancer, George Marvil III (Lord Turtle), bluestarturtle, High Priest of
Balefire Coven in New Jersey, passed into the Summerlands this morning at midnight. He was 49 years old.
As a Priest of the Blue Star tradition, an event coordinator, and a spokesperson for various communities, Geo’s contributions and service cannot be overestimated. In 1992, his development of a directory of Blue Star folk throughout the US provided the unprecedented guidepost that would later lead to an annual reunion of its members and made the familial social relationships so vital to that tradition possible.
On Samhain 1994, before BarleyMoon Priestess doverider and myself, and with Seed Moon Priestess sabrinamari, Geo took the oaths of initiation into the Priesthood of the Craft. He had already been Inducted as a member of BarleyMoon, among the first to receive that advanced rite, and would receive his initiatory tattoo a little more than a year later. With his wife and partner, catpaw67, he would found Balefire Coven, which has since mothered a number of successful hives throughout the eastern United States.
Branching outward, he applied his organizing skills, always coupled with his sharp wit and suave character, tirelessly toward developing new and improved networking opportunities throughout the Pagan and polyamourous communities. With vision and calm confidence, Geo provided safe havens.
Geo’s efforts revolutionized the FreeSpirit Gathering, held every summer in Maryland, and he later developed its Sacred Sexuality Beltane Festival as a supportive means for people to celebrate the ecstatic. The success of that event led him to develop the PolyLiving Conference, and soon after, Geo found himself a sought-for figure among journalists throughout the US seeking to understand the growing polyamory phenomenon.
Geo was an accomplished chef, a coffee aficionado, and a martini purist. He loved fast sports cars, Philadelphia jazz clubs, conservative politics, his numerous body piercings, and in one memorable event, created a contest to aid a Pagan scholarship fund he had developed. “We so love our young Pagan students,” he would say, “that we’re willing to offer living flesh!” Participants selected a number of tattoo options for Geo to receive. The winning entry resulted in his receiving cartoon character Pepe LePieuw on his left arm.
During a 1993 panel discussion hosted by the Rutgers University Pagan Students Association, Geo refuted a comment about whether modern witches committed acts of ritual abuse by saying that “children are too high in cholesterol.” The quote made the local papers.
Already hampered by lung cancer, Geo developed an inoperable form of leukemia within the last week. After multiple tests and the determination that few choices were left, Geo’s family followed his wishes to not remain on support if hope were lost. “Cheating physical death through the actions of science stutters the turning of the Wheel,” he once wrote to me.
Geo’s departure is a great loss to these communities. He will be missed for his humour, elegance, wit, charm, and vision. He served the Gods and Their children with a tireless devotion that overcame obstacles, doubt, and often his own pain. He will be greatly missed by many hundreds of people whose lives have been changed in beautiful, transformational ways because of him and his service.
One might be hard pressed to find greater praise for any Priest of the Gods.
We will remember him at Samhain.
I will miss my friend, who was part of the same training generation as I. I've lost a brother.
Balefire Coven in New Jersey, passed into the Summerlands this morning at midnight. He was 49 years old.
As a Priest of the Blue Star tradition, an event coordinator, and a spokesperson for various communities, Geo’s contributions and service cannot be overestimated. In 1992, his development of a directory of Blue Star folk throughout the US provided the unprecedented guidepost that would later lead to an annual reunion of its members and made the familial social relationships so vital to that tradition possible.
On Samhain 1994, before BarleyMoon Priestess doverider and myself, and with Seed Moon Priestess sabrinamari, Geo took the oaths of initiation into the Priesthood of the Craft. He had already been Inducted as a member of BarleyMoon, among the first to receive that advanced rite, and would receive his initiatory tattoo a little more than a year later. With his wife and partner, catpaw67, he would found Balefire Coven, which has since mothered a number of successful hives throughout the eastern United States.
Branching outward, he applied his organizing skills, always coupled with his sharp wit and suave character, tirelessly toward developing new and improved networking opportunities throughout the Pagan and polyamourous communities. With vision and calm confidence, Geo provided safe havens.
Geo’s efforts revolutionized the FreeSpirit Gathering, held every summer in Maryland, and he later developed its Sacred Sexuality Beltane Festival as a supportive means for people to celebrate the ecstatic. The success of that event led him to develop the PolyLiving Conference, and soon after, Geo found himself a sought-for figure among journalists throughout the US seeking to understand the growing polyamory phenomenon.
Geo was an accomplished chef, a coffee aficionado, and a martini purist. He loved fast sports cars, Philadelphia jazz clubs, conservative politics, his numerous body piercings, and in one memorable event, created a contest to aid a Pagan scholarship fund he had developed. “We so love our young Pagan students,” he would say, “that we’re willing to offer living flesh!” Participants selected a number of tattoo options for Geo to receive. The winning entry resulted in his receiving cartoon character Pepe LePieuw on his left arm.
During a 1993 panel discussion hosted by the Rutgers University Pagan Students Association, Geo refuted a comment about whether modern witches committed acts of ritual abuse by saying that “children are too high in cholesterol.” The quote made the local papers.
Already hampered by lung cancer, Geo developed an inoperable form of leukemia within the last week. After multiple tests and the determination that few choices were left, Geo’s family followed his wishes to not remain on support if hope were lost. “Cheating physical death through the actions of science stutters the turning of the Wheel,” he once wrote to me.
Geo’s departure is a great loss to these communities. He will be missed for his humour, elegance, wit, charm, and vision. He served the Gods and Their children with a tireless devotion that overcame obstacles, doubt, and often his own pain. He will be greatly missed by many hundreds of people whose lives have been changed in beautiful, transformational ways because of him and his service.
One might be hard pressed to find greater praise for any Priest of the Gods.
We will remember him at Samhain.
I will miss my friend, who was part of the same training generation as I. I've lost a brother.