As we count down to the Moot Anniversary, we wanted to share a little more about one of our long‑standing friends of the Moot someone who’s been with us since those early days: Gordon MacLellan (Gordon the Toad).
Gordon invites us to travel with him, however your journey comes: broomstick, horse, drumbeat or boar at your side. Through stories of those early years that gave rise to the Stockport Moot, he takes us back to the late 80s and early 90s that were times of change for the pagan communities.
Carefully stepping out of our broom closets, we entered a public space to meet welcome, hostility, ridicule and celebration. In the north-west, there were shops and ‘zines. There were secret rituals in closed rooms and picnics in housing estates.
There was sunrise at Alderley Edge and along the valley of the River Mersey. There was laughter, fear, anger and a growing confidence. Gordon the Toad was one of those early networking troublemakers, working with the Pagan Federation, Paganlink and the first meetings of Manchester Pagan Wheel
Today, Gordon is a writer, poet and storyteller whose work explores the relationships between people, places and wildlife.
He has been an active member of the pagan communities for nearly 40 years now and is an honorary life member of the Pagan Federation and has a wealth of stories to draw on.
Find Gordon online:
Website: creepingtoad.com
Blog: creepingtoad.blogspot.com
IG: creepingtoad
FB: Creeping Toad
Bluesky: creepingtoad.bsky.social