Hyfler/Rosner
2006-02-16 13:43:33 UTC
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution February 16, 2006
Thursday
by Holly Crenshaw
Jodi Monogue, 49, Wiccan high priestess
As a spiritual leader of Atlanta's Wiccan community, high
priestess Lady Galadriel often found herself fielding
uneducated questions about the nature-based religion to
which she had dedicated her life.
Her manner was so easygoing, though, and her knowledge so
vast that Lady Galadriel---also known as Jodi Monogue---was
a natural at dispelling confusion about what it means to be
a witch.
"She always had such an easy laugh and was absolutely
delightful to be around, so she brought a lot of warmth to
her role as a high priestess and witch queen," said her
friend Deniz Zoeller of Sandy Springs, also known as Lady
Larina.
Joanne Yokell Monogue, 49, of Decatur died Feb. 8 at Emory
University Hospital of complications from a liver
transplant. The body was cremated. Memorial service plans
will be announced. Wages & Sons Funeral Home, Stone
Mountain, is in charge of arrangements.
Ms. Monogue, who was born in Nyack, N.Y., joked in a 1999
Atlanta Journal-Constitution article that she was reared as
a "good little Jewish girl" but became interested in
paganism when she moved to Atlanta in the 1970s to attend
Oglethorpe University.
She was working as a receptionist when she spotted an ad for
a class on Wicca, also known as witchcraft or the Old
Religion.
"That's how I met the goddess, and I've been in her service
ever since," she said.
In 1980, she and her husband, John Monogue, a high priest
known as Lord Athanor, founded the Grove of the Unicorn, an
eclectic branch of Wicca that draws from a variety of
cultures and Celtic, Druid and other indigenous religions.
From its initial 35 members, the grove spawned a national
denomination of Wicca that has since grown to more than
1,500 participants, and Ms. Monogue rose to national
leadership roles.
As an ordained high priestess, she lectured, wrote books,
counseled its members and led meetings in her house that
often drew dozens of people.
She worked occasional jobs outside the home, most recently
as a legal assistant, and was completely dedicated to her
high priestess duties, her husband said.
Charlie Moody of Doraville said she was such stimulating
company that sometimes their conversations would go on for
days.
"We'd break for our jobs and break to sleep, but then we'd
pick right back up where we left off and go on for another
six hours," he said.
Ms. Monogue was so well-informed about Egyptology that when
she traveled to Egypt on vacation, bystanders hung on her
every word, her husband said.
"She would point to an inscription on a wall and be talking
about it so knowledgeably that people would start following
her around like a tour guide until she stopped talking."
"Jodi was a walking encyclopedia of esoterica," he said.
"She probably had 6,000 books on the metaphysical, and we
broke three librarians trying to catalog it all. But she
could tell you exactly what was in that book on the third
shelf with the brown cover."
"Sometimes we'd play 'Stump the High Priestess' and I'd hit
her with questions up to and including, 'What's the
gestation period of an Egyptian dung beetle?' and she'd
answer, 'X number of days unless it's the rainy season.' "
Survivors include two sons, Adrian Monogue of Winston and
Damian Monogue of Dawsonville; her parents, Art and Barbara
Yokell of Riverview, Fla.; and three brothers, Danny Yokell
of Riverview, Max Yokell of Brandon, Fla., and David Yokell
of Phoenix.
GRAPHIC: Photo: StaffJodi Monogue, also known as Lady
Galadriel, showed several goddesses at her Stone Mountain
home in this 1999 photo. She and her husband founded a
national Wiccan denomination.
Thursday
by Holly Crenshaw
Jodi Monogue, 49, Wiccan high priestess
As a spiritual leader of Atlanta's Wiccan community, high
priestess Lady Galadriel often found herself fielding
uneducated questions about the nature-based religion to
which she had dedicated her life.
Her manner was so easygoing, though, and her knowledge so
vast that Lady Galadriel---also known as Jodi Monogue---was
a natural at dispelling confusion about what it means to be
a witch.
"She always had such an easy laugh and was absolutely
delightful to be around, so she brought a lot of warmth to
her role as a high priestess and witch queen," said her
friend Deniz Zoeller of Sandy Springs, also known as Lady
Larina.
Joanne Yokell Monogue, 49, of Decatur died Feb. 8 at Emory
University Hospital of complications from a liver
transplant. The body was cremated. Memorial service plans
will be announced. Wages & Sons Funeral Home, Stone
Mountain, is in charge of arrangements.
Ms. Monogue, who was born in Nyack, N.Y., joked in a 1999
Atlanta Journal-Constitution article that she was reared as
a "good little Jewish girl" but became interested in
paganism when she moved to Atlanta in the 1970s to attend
Oglethorpe University.
She was working as a receptionist when she spotted an ad for
a class on Wicca, also known as witchcraft or the Old
Religion.
"That's how I met the goddess, and I've been in her service
ever since," she said.
In 1980, she and her husband, John Monogue, a high priest
known as Lord Athanor, founded the Grove of the Unicorn, an
eclectic branch of Wicca that draws from a variety of
cultures and Celtic, Druid and other indigenous religions.
From its initial 35 members, the grove spawned a national
denomination of Wicca that has since grown to more than
1,500 participants, and Ms. Monogue rose to national
leadership roles.
As an ordained high priestess, she lectured, wrote books,
counseled its members and led meetings in her house that
often drew dozens of people.
She worked occasional jobs outside the home, most recently
as a legal assistant, and was completely dedicated to her
high priestess duties, her husband said.
Charlie Moody of Doraville said she was such stimulating
company that sometimes their conversations would go on for
days.
"We'd break for our jobs and break to sleep, but then we'd
pick right back up where we left off and go on for another
six hours," he said.
Ms. Monogue was so well-informed about Egyptology that when
she traveled to Egypt on vacation, bystanders hung on her
every word, her husband said.
"She would point to an inscription on a wall and be talking
about it so knowledgeably that people would start following
her around like a tour guide until she stopped talking."
"Jodi was a walking encyclopedia of esoterica," he said.
"She probably had 6,000 books on the metaphysical, and we
broke three librarians trying to catalog it all. But she
could tell you exactly what was in that book on the third
shelf with the brown cover."
"Sometimes we'd play 'Stump the High Priestess' and I'd hit
her with questions up to and including, 'What's the
gestation period of an Egyptian dung beetle?' and she'd
answer, 'X number of days unless it's the rainy season.' "
Survivors include two sons, Adrian Monogue of Winston and
Damian Monogue of Dawsonville; her parents, Art and Barbara
Yokell of Riverview, Fla.; and three brothers, Danny Yokell
of Riverview, Max Yokell of Brandon, Fla., and David Yokell
of Phoenix.
GRAPHIC: Photo: StaffJodi Monogue, also known as Lady
Galadriel, showed several goddesses at her Stone Mountain
home in this 1999 photo. She and her husband founded a
national Wiccan denomination.
