Sisters Mothra Stewart and Gay Bitch Milkshake attended and helped out with Southern Illinois Roller Gremlin's derby on Saturday. As part of their annual Halloween fundraiser, SIRG announced they were changing the G in their organization's name from "Girl" to "Gremlin" to be more gender inclusive. Go Grrrrremlins!!!

The Sisters were joined by the totemic Sr Dead Bitch Milkshake who apparently thought she could play with dead and injured bodies in the arena. She obviously understood the rules of Roller Derby about as well as Sister Mothra--thank the Goddess Sr Milkshake had done some Googling and was able to educate them both.

Sr Mothra helped with the 50/50 raffle benefiting "Wild Again" animal rescue. $20 bought a wingspan of tickets for the raffle, which might have been a reasonable plan before inviting a kaiju moth to help. Seriously! That moth nun has a massive...wingspan! In the process of selling tickets, she learned that the theme of the evening was cryptids--she met a gorgeous MothMan and came this close to breaking her vows.

Sr Milkshake delivered an awesome blessing to kick off the after party, putting both her uplifting spirit and recently learned Roller Derby knowledge on display. Sr Mothra shamelessly recruited among the weary and bruised players, offering healing antennae for rink rash. Sr Dead was sent to the corner for terrifying young children and not allowed any pizza. Bad zombie nun!

On this first of two days of Brawl-O-Ween, SIRG raised just south of $2K. Not bad for a bunch of gremlins on skates! Glad to help, friends! Gratitude to Kris Schachel for the invite. The SOIL Sisters are eager for future opportunities to help with SIRG events.

The SOIL Sisters made their third year in a row appearance at VultureFest in Makanda, IL. Sisters Mothra Stewart and Gay Bitch Milkshake were joined by GBM's formerly absorbed twin, Sr Dead Bitch Milkshake, who was partially manifested in flesh and bone to try to attract some vulture attention. That grrl is a hoe for a scavenger! The Sisters quickly learned that a skull in a habit definitely knows how to photobomb!

The SOIL Sisters were welcomed to the festivities with mostly open arms and a fair amount of familiarity and recognition. Those few festival goers with the judgy side-eye were definitely in a minority, and they knew it! The rest of Makanda was too committed to having an inclusive good time! Many pictures were taken, including some fabulous group photos with Abraham Lincoln--proving coming back from the dead was the trend of this year's VultureFest. (Is that a vulture gag?)

On the way to the festival from the free parking at Sr Mothra's home (don't she just got "Makanda" written all over her???), the Sisters were escorted by a very loud and proud calico cat. The same cat showed up to escort Sr Mothra back home at the end of the day. Neighbors noted the cat was new and unknown. When the little fuzz ball, whose colors complimented Sr Mothra's, followed her all the way home, it was apparent this was gonna be more than just a festival fling. That's right! Sister Mothra Stewart may have gotten her wings from Infant Island, her black veil from the SoPI, and her CBD from Snoop Dawg, but she got her pussy from VultureFest in Makanda, IL! As Dead Bitch Milkshake is our witness!!!

A good time was had by all, a homeless kitty found a home, a dead sister got to be ghoulish with the vultures, and many crystals were fondled in Sr. Unity's name! All in all, not a bad third VultureFest for the SOIL Sisters!

Sister Mothra Stewart, in and out of face, was the convener for the 34th Fall Conference of Gay Spirit Visions. The keynote speaker and workshop leader was performance artist, Tim Miller.

Miller and three other artists, the so-called “NEA 4”, successfully sued the federal government in the 1990s with the help of the ACLU for violation of their First Amendment rights and won a settlement where the government paid them the amount of the defunded grants and all court costs. Though the Supreme Court of the United States decided in 1998 to overturn part of Miller’s case and determined that “standards of decency” are constitutional criterion for federal funding of the arts, Miller vows “to continue fighting for freedom of expression for fierce diverse voices.”

Based on his recent book and solo performance, A Body in the O, Miller offered reflections on the place of embodied experience, queer connections, and spiritual growth. Jumping off from a day in 1984 when Miller scrambled up inside of the O of the Hollywood sign and imagined the performance space tree house of his dreams (Performance Space 122  in New York and Highways Performance Space in L.A.), A Body in the O journeys through the hoops of the Department of Homeland Security, a queer boy’s truth-telling, a performance at Performance Space 122 in 1980, and finally a wedding day in NYC in 2013 as Miller imagines the full possibility of performance that changes the world inside these wooden Os!

Although for most of the conference the convener was out of face and merely manifesting their faerie persona of Mothra, the veil came out as Sister Mothra Stewart joined Atlanta Sister Right Sarong to participate in the GSV Variety Show on Saturday Night. While it was definitely a fabulous evening of over-the-top performances, it also included a contribution from Mikel Wilson sharing the origins of GSV in the annual Radical Faerie Gatherings at Running Water Farm in North Carolina (the first gathering there precedes Harry Hay's first gathering in California!). You can see Mikel's narration of the origins here: part 1, part 2. 

Mothra was happy to travel to and from GSV with T Brown who, among other distinctions, is known locally in Carbondale for whistle-blowing on the Sufi cult. As a result of cult trauma, T found the rituals and traditions of GSV difficult to participate in but, ultimately, was deeply moved by the experience. Mothra and T have a conversation about the experience on this week's episode of Isn't It Queer.

Sister Mothra Stewart received her faerie name, "Mothra," at the 2017 GSV Fall Conference from Sister Unity and Lord Peregrine. Even at that time, the seed was planted for the fuller name and her ultimate SPI manifestation. GSV is central in informing her spiritual practice and sister service.