Founders

Black Earth Institute

Connecting earth, spirit and society through the arts

Lay of the Land (Patricia's Blog)

Patricia Monaghan serves on the interdisciplinary faculty at DePaul University, where she teaches science and literature. A widely-published author, she has won the Pushcart Prize and the Friends of Literature award for her work. She is the author of four books of poetry, including Dancing with Chaos (Salmon Poetry), a book that explores chaos theory through poetic images. Her latest book of poetry is Homefront (Word Tech Editions), a book that explores the lasting impact of war on families of psychologically-wounded veterans.

She is a frequent collaborator with musicians who have set her work to music, most recently folk composer Michael Smith, whose Celtic-inspired art-song settings of Patricia's poetry have been released on the CD, Songs of the Kerry Madwoman, while the Alaska a capella group the Derry Aires did a two-CD compilation of Patricia's poetry under the title, Seasons of the Witch.

In nonfiction, Patricia is an active scholar and author. She has written two encyclopediae of mythology: The Book of Goddesses and Heroines (Llewelllyn Worldwide) and The Encyclopedia of Celtic Myth and Folklore (Facts on File). Her most recent nonfiction book, The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog, explores ecology, myth and folklore in Ireland. She is also author of an introduction to goddess spirituality entitled The Goddess Path (Llewellyn Worldwide), a book of translations of classic goddess poetry (The Goddess Companion, Llewellyn Worldwide) and a book of goddess stories for girls (Wild Girls, Creatrix Press).

Spirit to Change (Michael's Blog)

Michael McDermott is a semi-retired physician and social activist. He has lived at Brigit Rest in Black Earth, Wisconsin for over 15 years. During this time he has worked to develop Brigit Rest into a retreat for artists and activists based on a reverence for the land and as a setting for Celtic influenced spirituality. He has provided Brigit Rest as home for the Black Earth Institute.

In his years as a physician, McDermott worked in the South Bronx at Lincoln Hospital and for almost 30 years at Cook County Hospital on Chicago's West side. In his work he sought to identify with the life of the patients, staff and colleagues in a way that went beyond the technical excellence of medicine. His work included Director of the Adult Emergency Department and founder and leader of the adult asthma clinic, where he still works part-time. McDermott has published many articles on the clinical as well as the social aspects of asthma in our society. His research has stressed the practical and realistc solutions to complex problems.

As a social activist, Michael McDermott has been involved in the key issues of the last 40 years, including civil rights, labor causes, opposition to war, woman's struggle for equality, and protection of the earth from environmental degradation and destruction. He also spent time in Nicaragua teaching medicine and helping people in the town of Esteli to plan and build a health clinic, returning to Chicago to raise money to assist in successfully build the clinic. He is committed to bringing a spiritual awareness to the pressing need to change society. He sees the profound importance of placing his work within the experience and suffering of ordinary people.