EXCLUSIVE - The family that inspired the word polyamorous: How a witch coined the phrase to describe her relationship with her wizard husband and their lover as they raised their young children in a VERY unconventional way
- Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and his wife Morning Glory, known as the 'Wizard and the Witch', were married for 40 years and engaged in relationships with a number of men and women during that time
- After Morning Glory wrote a poem to describe their romantic pairings, the Oxford English Dictionary approached her for the definition of polyamory
- Oberon and Morning Glory were married to a woman named Diane for ten years, and together they raised their three children, each from previous marriages, together as one family
- Diane's son Zack and Morning Glory's daughter Gail told DailyMail.com they believe their unconventional upbringing contributed substantially to who they are today
- Oberon now runs a wizarding academy called the Grey School where he and his staff teach courses in magic
- Oberon told DailyMail.com of his adventures throughout his life which include founding a pagan religion, patenting the process for breeding unicorns, and solving the mystery of mermaids
Oberon and Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart knew the first day they met that they would be together forever.
The two, better known as ‘The Wizard and the Witch,’ were married for 40 years, during which time they traveled the world solving the myths of mermaids, breeding unicorns, and explored the world of polyamory – introducing many husbands, wives and lovers throughout the four decades, and raising all of their children as one family.
Morning Glory, who passed away from cancer in 2014, described their relationship as ‘polyamorous’ – the first time the word had ever been used – in an article titled ‘A Bouquet of Lovers’ which she wrote for the Green Egg, a pagan newsletter that they published together for many years.
The Oxford English Dictionary later approached Morning Glory for the definition of the word, which she gave as: 'the practice, state or ability of having more than one sexual loving relationship at the same time, with the full knowledge and consent of all partners involved.'
Throughout their marriage, they were often asked what the secret was to maintaining their newlywed glow, to which they always enthusiastically responded: ‘We’re polyamorous!’
Oberon Zell Ravenheart, better known as the Wizard Oz, has opened the door to a magical realm through his decades of exploring myths that he has made into reality, including breeding unicorns, solving the mystery of mermaids, and creating the terminology for polyamory
Oberon's soulmate Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart was his partner for four decades as the two trail-blazed the frontiers of paganism and polyamory. Morning Glory passed away from cancer in 2014 and is pictured right in the hospital
The first significant relationship Oberon and Morning Glory encountered with another person was with a woman named Diane, center, who had a young son named Zack, pictured far left. They also later reintroduced Morning Glory's first husband Gary (second from left) to their polyamorous family. Pictured from left: Zack, Gary, Diane, Oberon, and Morning Glory
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart first saw his wife from across the room at a Pagan conference in Minneapolis in 1973 where he was a keynote speaker – invited to discuss his theory that Earth was a ‘single vast living organism’. Six months later, at the same conference, the two were married.
Morning Glory had hitchhiked the nearly 2,000 miles from her hometown of Eugene, Oregon to attend her would-be husband’s workshops – which were all named after rock ‘n roll songs.
‘She’d actually had a dream about going to some kind of magical gathering or festival and meeting a wizard who would carry her into the life she was seeking. She was a very vivid dreamer,’ Oberon told DailyMail.com.
Two years after that fateful dream, Morning Glory sat in the front row watching Oberon speak, growing more enamored with each word he spoke. After he was finished, he took her hand and led her away from the crowd that was quickly approaching him – and they found a secluded area behind some potted plants to have a conversation that would change both of their lives forever.
‘We turned to each other and it was like the whole rest of the world just vanished – it was only looking into each other’s eyes,’ Oberon continued.'
Sitting on that bench in a Minneapolis conference hall, they had their first discussion about polyamory – though the terminology wouldn’t be invented by Morning Glory for many years.
Morning Glory told Oberon that she would dedicate herself to him, and that if he wanted to be monogamous she would try her best, but that it wasn’t in her nature.
His reaction was ‘as if he’d just seen the Holy Grail,’ Morning Glory used to say.
At the time, Morning Glory was still married to her first husband Gary, with whom she had a daughter named Rainbow. Oberon was living in St Louis, Missouri and had recently divorced his first wife Martha, who he shared a son with named Bryan.
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart first saw his wife from across the room at a pagan conference in Minneapolis in 1973 where he was a keynote speaker – invited to discuss his theory that Earth was a ‘single vast living organism’. Six months later, at the same conference, the two were married
Morning Glory was inspired to attend Oberon's conference after having a dream two years prior that she would meet a magical man that would enrich her life
After Oberon's speech, the two quickly left the conference to find a secluded area to have a conversation that would lead them both down a path they never thought possible
Oberon said of the first time he looked into Morning Glory's eyes: 'We turned to each other and it was like the whole rest of the world just vanished'
Morning Glory then left her home in Eugene, Oregon where she had been living with her husband Gary and daughter Rainbow to join Oberon in his community in St Louis, Missouri
The two were 'left and right hand' from then on, and later introduced a number of other husbands and wives to their polyamorous unit throughout the course of their lives
Morning Glory returned to St Louis with Oberon, where he introduced her to the community he was living with there. The memory is somewhat painful for Morning Glory’s daughter Rainbow, who now goes by Gail.
‘My mother left my biological father and me for him when I was three years old, so there’s always been a fair amount of resentment there,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘She literally came back and said “I fell in love with someone – I’m gonna move out there to be with him”.’
In Oberon and Morning Glory’s St Louis community in 1973, polyamory was second nature.
‘She started finding people to connect right away and I already had lovers there too, so it [polyamory] was pretty much immediate,’ Oberon continued.
In the years that passed, Oberon went on to found the Pagan religion Church of All Worlds, which was inspired by the 1961 novel by Robert Heinlin, Stranger in a Strange Land. He and Morning Glory were also both heavily influenced by the ideals of polyamory that were present in the novel.
The couple settled on a 220-acre parcel on a ranch in Mendocino County, California called Greenfield. About 100 other families homesteaded on the 5,600-acre ranch. Serving as caretakers, they deepened their Pagan religious practices in country living, and even solved the mysteries of mermaids and unicorns.
The couple settled on a 220-acre parcel on a ranch in Mendocino County, California called Greenfield. About 100 other families homesteaded on the 5,600-acre ranch. Serving as caretakers, they deepened their Pagan religious practices in country living, and even solved the mysteries of mermaids and unicorns.
In the years that passed, Oberon went on to found the pagan religion Church of All Worlds, which was inspired by the 1961 novel by Robert Heinlin, Stranger in a Strange Land
On the Greenfield ranch, they established the foundation of their first and most significant relationship with another person – a woman named Diane who Oberon met on a field trip during a pottery class he was taking at a local community college.
By the time the field trip ended, Diane and Oberon were cuddling on the bus, and a spark had been ignited. He couldn’t wait to introduce his new love interest to his soulmate – who matched his joy with the introduction of a new member to their relationship.
‘Of course I introduced her to Morning Glory right away, and they properly hit it off and became real sisters,’ Oberon said.
Eventually, the three participated in ‘handfasting,’ which is a pagan marriage celebration dating back to the 16th century. They later reintroduced Morning Glory’s first husband Gary, who hit it off with their new lover Diane, and the two were later married.
Together, they all lived on the Greenfield Ranch and raised their three children, all from different marriages, as one family. Diane’s son Zack, Morning Glory’s daughter Rainbow, and Oberon’s son Bryan grew to be extremely close – and bonded for life through the extraordinary childhood they shared.
Oberon and Morning Glory both had children from previous marriages, as well. Morning Glory and Gary shared a daughter named Rainbow, who has since changed her name to Gail, and Oberon had a son named Bryan, who passed away last year. Pictured from left: Morning Glory and her mother Polly, her daughter Rainbow, and Oberon, pictured right with Bryan
Oberon said: ‘It was great – the kids all grew up as brothers and sisters. They had been only children before so they were delighted to have each other and were all very close, and still are.’
Oberon’s son Bryan unfortunately passed away in October of 2016 after battling mental and physical health issues for a number of years – which Gail said was ‘very heartbreaking for our family.’
Gail, now 45, lives in Oakland with her husband and 11-year-old daughter. She told DailyMail.com that despite feeling a lot of angst towards her mother and Oberon as a child, becoming a parent herself has allowed her a greater understanding of the complexities they faced raising children while trailblazing the frontiers of paganism and polyamory.
Gail, now 45, lives in Oakland with her husband and 11-year-old daughter. She told DailyMail.com that despite feeling a lot of angst towards her mother and Oberon as a child, becoming a parent herself has allowed her a greater understanding of the complexities they faced raising children while trailblazing the frontiers of paganism and polyamory
Her relationship with Oberon, she said, has been ‘up and down’ her entire life – but she views him as a father figure who was always very fun and active. Of the three children, she spent the least amount of time on the ranch, as the majority of her life was spent living with her biological father in their home town of Eugene, Oregon.
This was not for lack of trying. Gail recalls moving to the ranch with her mother and Oberon at the age of three, before a horrific incident took place, leading her father to take her back home with him.
‘They let me go off with a friend of theirs to some freaky commune and some nutter showed up – a Jim Jones kind of guy – who dosed me with an insane amount of LSD, shaved my head, told me my parents were dead and I belonged to God. I was three years old,’ she said.
“As soon as they were told – a friend of a friend said “Hey, you’d better go get your kid, this is going down” they showed up, and they were mortified. Oberon got in a huge fight with the guy, the guy pulled a gun, Oberon pulled the gun from him – I mean, it was a big deal,’ she continued.
Gail said she was aware from a young age about the ‘poly’ aspect of her parent’s relationship, though she wishes that her parents had been ‘a little more discreet, but their whole attitude was shove it in everybody’s face - me included.’
‘It was a bit more than I think I would’ve liked to have been exposed to. Kids don’t want to know all of that.'
Becoming a parent was a life-changing element to Gail's perception of her own mother, and her relationship with Oberon. She also found that she was able to recognize how her upbringing had shaped her into the person she is today.
'It took that, [parenthood] because I was pissed. How she left, they exposed me to all this crazy, crazy, crazy drug use, parties, orgies, all of it. But, you know, it is what it is. I had a really unique upbringing – I’m a really open minded person because of it, so it has its gifts.'
‘I think outside the box. I don’t stereotype people, I don’t judge them – I pretty much communicate with all walks of life, which makes me a pretty good hairdresser because I don’t judge people. I’ve kind of seen it all, in a way.
Gail often traveled with Morning Glory and Oberon to Renaissance Fairs and Ringling Brothers circuses where they showed off their prized unicorn, Lancelot
Diane’s son Zack now lives near Gail in Northern California working as a CEO (which he calls Chief Eternal Optimist) of his own creative company, and DJ-ing at music festivals.
Diane was later married to Gail’s father Gary in a handfasting ceremony – and they became somewhat of their own family unit, while living next door to Oberon and Morning Glory.
‘On the outset I know it sounds a little incestual, but it really wasn’t,’ Zack told DailyMail.com.
‘I remember one day my mom got in a car accident. It wasn’t a bad one, but it was enough to realize what flashes in front of your face and you realize what’s important to you. And she realized that her connection with Gary was profound and she decided that she needed to see what was there and they fell in love.
‘We went from being this three party family, single family, to being two separate families living side by side in the community. My mom and Gary got married, and Gary was a different father figure to me throughout high school and my teen years.’
Oberon proudly says that Zack introduces him as the best father he ever had, a fact that Zack doesn’t dispute. Zack’s relationship with his biological father is labored – they’ve only spoken ‘three or four times’ throughout his life. Oberon home-schooled Zack for a number of years on the Green Field ranch, and taught him biology, geology and other scientific topics.
Diane’s son Zack now lives near Gail in Northern California working as a CEO (which he calls Chief Eternal Optimist) of his own creative company, and DJ-ing at music festivals
Oberon proudly says that Zack introduces him as the best father he ever had, a fact that Zack doesn’t dispute. Zack is pictured bottom left with his mother Diane, Morning Glory and her mother Polly, and Oberon, as well as a number of their animals including ferrets, cats, and owls
As unconventional as their home life was, so were the lessons that Zack learned from Oberon over the years. Zack reflected on experiences with wildlife they would often have on the ranch: ‘We would frequently come across deer who had been hit but weren’t fully killed, so we would always carry a knife in our glove box and a tarp in the back of our cars,’ he said.
‘A number of times we’d come across a deer that had been hit and was in pain, so we’d put it in the back of the car and take it home and bring it out and we would cut its throat and then sing to it - and sing it to places of green pastures away from cars and hunters – then we’d string it up and gut it.
‘And for me – a kid that was being home schooled – one of the best biology lessons I ever got was when Oberon and I gutted the deer and learned about the body. There were four fetuses in it and we looked at it and understood them. Those kinds of lessons – you can’t get that kind of stuff in public schools these days.’
Both children developed a strong connection to animals that sprouted from their upbringing. Gail worked as a veterinarian for many years, and Zack originally went to school for zookeeping before taking a different route working in music and creative pursuits.
‘We lived in a menagerie,’ Zack said. ‘I went through one time and I counted every single animal that we had and I counted 67. Granted that was counting every rat we were raising to feed the owl or the pythons and boa constrictors. We had ferrets, chickens, iguanas, tarantulas, pheasants, doves, goats, and unicorns.’
It was during their ten-year marriage to Diane that the conversation about polyamory came about in 1990, and Morning Glory decided to write a piece about their lifestyle for the Green Egg publication – their pagan newsletter.
Despite the fact that it had been normal to them for many years, there had never been a concrete discussion about the concept of their polyamory.
Zack said that had his mother stayed with his biological father, his life would have turned out completely differently
It was during their ten-year marriage to Diane that the conversation about polyamory came about in 1990, and Morning Glory decided to write a piece about their lifestyle for the Green Egg publication – their pagan newsletter
Despite the fact that it had been normal to them for many years, there had never been a concrete discussion about the concept of their polyamory
‘That’s where Bouquet of Lovers came from – and that was the first time we ever said anything about it publicly because it wasn’t really our focus. Our focus was other things – raising unicorns and the church and all that stuff,’ Oberon said.
Together, Diane and Oberon continued to make pottery, which Morning Glory painted and sold, and the three launched a successful business selling their figurines. They argue that one of the positive aspects of polyamory is the ability for each person to fulfill a need for another that might go unattended to in a monogamous scenario.
Oberon and Morning Glory, for example, took to breeding unicorns, which was one of their most notable adventures in the early 1980s. They also traveled to a remote island in New Guinea to explore reports of mermaid sightings - leading them to solve the mystery of the famed creatures.
The decade spent trailblazing the mysteries of the deep and unknown provided a lasting legacy for the group, though the closure of Morning Glory and Oberon’s relationship with Diane in 1994 proved that not all things can last forever.
‘It was awesome – it was an amazing relationship,’ Oberon said. ‘We raised unicorns and we undertook the value of the Church of All Worlds and of course relaunched Green Egg and made it phenomenally successful.'
He continued: ‘Then with the polyamory we started going out and being invited to go to polycons and presentations and workshops and stuff, because there’s a whole community of people who are trying to grip the complexities of relationships, especially the marriage things.
‘When Morning Glory came up with the language for that – she proclaimed the terminology – polyamory and polyamorous and stuff – it galvanized the whole thing. We were very much involved in that stuff. And because we were ritualists as well – we designed a lot of ceremonies and rituals for these events so there was another whole range of cool stuff that came out of that.’
When Morning Glory, Oberon and Diane parted ways, it marked the end of the first serious relationship that Oberon and Morning Glory had taken on together.
‘She was the only one who was really a partner in that sense – we joined our lives and our children and our destinies. Other people were people we saw or visited or met on the road and they were wonderful relationships. I went to Europe and eventually Peru with this woman Dona that I met at the Texas Renaissance festival – there was a lot of that – but it didn’t involve merging households and lives and destinies in the same way.
‘She’s a wonderful person and I love her dearly, but sometimes things come to a head and they don’t work anymore – and that’s okay,' Oberon said.
The research revealed that horns don’t develop from the skull – but rather from enzymes injected into the skull from nodes in the skin called horn buds. Oberon and Morning Glory decided to see if they too could move the buds to form one horn – creating a unicorn
The decade spent trailblazing the mysteries of the deep and unknown provided a lasting legacy for the group, though the closure of Morning Glory and Oberon’s relationship with Diane in 1994 proved that not all things can last forever
When Morning Glory and Oberon parted ways with Diane, it marked the end of the first serious relationship that Oberon and Morning Glory had taken on together
Zack says that he felt somewhat disconnected from his mother’s split from Morning Glory and Oberon – as he was enrolled at zookeeping school in Florida at the time.
However, the breakup was particularly painful for his mother – though there has been ‘a bit of healing’ in the years since.
‘It was heartbreaking for her and it broke her in a lot of ways. It was difficult because they ended up so polarized that I had to make a choice to support my mother or be there for my god parents – or my goddess parents as I call them. It’s one in which I’ve really had to navigate for many years since then.
‘My mom felt abandoned. After everything she invested in the experience with them – in the Green Egg magazine – there were other people involved in the magazine who got involved who tried to take it away from her and it was really hard for her. She didn’t get the level of solidarity and support that she needed and had always thought would be there. It was kind of a tragic end to an amazing story.’
Despite the difficult circumstances surrounding the breakup, Zack says that his time with Oberon and Morning Glory provided the foundation for who he is today – and wouldn’t change it for anything.
Although he did feel some judgment from the community surrounding his paganism, he didn’t feel the same pressure about having polyamorous parents – perhaps because it wasn’t something he often shared. To this day he credits it for allowing him to be an open-minded person when it comes to relationships in his own life.
‘That’s the thing about polyamory is – it’s all about the heart. It’s all about love,’ he said.
‘Like the pioneers of polyamory, my folks were breaking new ground and learning the ways people could love eachother unconditionally in a variety of different family dynamics. And for me, I never saw it as weird or messed up – I didn’t have a lot of judgement about it.
‘What I saw was just an abundance of love.’
He muses about what his life would have been like had his mother not left his biological father in Minnesota nearly four decades ago.
‘Had my mom stayed with him I would just be, you know, a Midwestern dude with a job and a pretty average life,’ he said. ‘Instead, by my mom doing something really crazy and moving out to California and joining hippie communes and finding the goddess and joining the pagan movement and falling in love with Morning Glory and Oberon – I got one of the most extraordinary upbringings anyone could possibly imagine.
‘I was raised by witches and wizards.’
Diane's son Zack said that although his mother's breakup with Oberon and Morning Glory was painful for everyone involved, he wouldn't change a thing. 'I got one of the most extraordinary upbringings anyone could possibly imagine. I was raised by witches and wizards,’ he said
Things began to go south for Oberon and Morning Glory after the dissolution of their second family unit, the Ravenhearts
That relationship unfortunately went sour as well around 2005, ending with Oberon and his beloved wife, and her mother Polly, living in a small home together in northern California
Oberon and Morning Glory went on to form another significant family unit beginning in 1995 – which they titled themselves under the communal surname ‘Ravenheart’.
That relationship unfortunately went sour as well around 2005, ending with Oberon and his beloved wife, and her mother Polly, living in a small home together in northern California.
Polly later passed away in 2006, and while Morning Glory was collecting an urn for her mother’s ashes, she slipped and fell and was taken to the hospital.
Doctors did a biopsy on Morning Glory while she was in the hospital, and the results were life-altering: bone and blood cancer.
A combination of magic, prayer and medicine granted Morning Glory eight years of life after her diagnosis. And then, in 2014, she died – 40 years after she married her Wizard.
Morning Glory found out she had bone and blood cancer after she fell while carrying an urn for her mother Polly's ashes following her death in 2006. A combination of magic, prayer and medicine granted Morning Glory eight years of life after her diagnosis. And then, in 2014, she died – forty years after she married her Wizard
The two prided themselves on the publication of their pagan magazine The Green Egg, which immortalized Morning Glory with a tribute issue after her passing
‘That mortality thing can be a real b****,’ Oberon said. ‘Those of us who live the longest have to bury the ones we love the most – our closest friends – we have to deal with losing them. It’s just the way it is – the price of mortality.’
Although Morning Glory is gone from this earth, Oberon still feels that he communicates with her frequently – and he’s not the only one.
‘As most religions have taught, we don’t die exactly, we just go on to the other side of the veil somehow. But we’re still there, and it seems very much that Morning Glory is still there.
‘She often comes to me in dreams that are so vivid that in the dream itself I’ll say: “Hey – you’re dead actually – this is a dream.” And she’ll say “Yes, yes, I know I’m dead this is a dream but I’m here anyway and we’ve got work to do".'
Although Morning Glory is gone from this earth, Oberon still feels that he communicates with her frequently – and he’s not the only one
While Oberon has committed to moving forward one step at a time without the love of his life, he concedes that it’s a strange experience to sleep alone after all these years.
‘It’s not the same. Sitting side by side, sleeping together, cuddling, sex, adventures - it’s not the same when your partner isn’t physical in the same way.’
Oberon said he’s also heard from children who had Morning Glory as their imaginary friend, and a number of people who have been able to ‘conjure’ Morning Glory and talk to her, or had visitations from her in some sense.
One of those people is Oberon’s new lover Meia, who is 36 years his junior. As a lifelong poly, he says he is involved with three women significantly at the moment, and isn’t quite sure where those relationships will go.
Meia, who lives in Reno, Nevada, appeared on Oberon’s doorstep a few months after his wife died. She told Oberon that although it sounded strange, she’d had a dream that Morning Glory sent her to care for him in his time of need.
While Oberon has committed to moving forward one step at a time without the love of his life, he concedes that it’s a strange experience to sleep alone after all these years
As a lifelong poly, he says he is involved with three women significantly at the moment, and isn’t quite sure where those relationships will go
This was not of significant surprise to Oberon, who had been promised by his late wife also in a dream that she would ensure that he found a source of healing.
‘Interestingly enough I’d had a visitation from Morning Glory in one of these amazing dreams and I was just totally broken. And I said: “When will I ever know love again?”
‘Then she said: “Don’t worry – I’ll send someone to you”.’
Now based in Santa Cruz, California, Oberon spends a lot of his time working at the Academy of Arcana, where he pioneered a Museum of Mysteries. It contains his personal library of mythologies and anthologies of secrets unknown to much of the world.
Now based in Santa Cruz, California, Oberon spends a lot of his time working at the Academy of Arcana, where he pioneered a Museum of Mysteries
It contains his personal library of mythologies and anthologies of secrets unknown to much of the world
In the three years since Morning Glory’s passing, Oberon, now 74, has thrown himself into his newest adventure: The Grey School. It’s an online wizarding academy hosted on the internet platform Second Life that has more than 300 students currently enrolled from 50 different countries.
Students can take more than 400 classes on topics such as dark magic, sorcery, beasts, and lore.
He now lives with a couple at their home in Santa Cruz – called the Quantum Keep, which Oberon refers to as ‘The Castle’.
Through all of his new endeavors, he hopes to keep alive the memory of his and Morning Glory’s love that has remained in this life and onto the next.
‘I’m trying to somehow to continue the legacy of what we had – and all the people who believed in us and loved us deserve that. I can’t just give up,’ he said.
‘Our lives were so bound to each other even though we were poly.
‘What I hope to see come through is the profound, cosmic and prophetic love story that we shared. Our adventures, our passion and our love was beyond a fairy tale or storybook – we really did have a happily ever after.’
Through all of the supernatural he has experienced in his life, finding his soulmate was the most remarkable.
‘As everyone will tell you in the whole magic realm – love is the most powerful magic there is.’
Through all of his new endeavors, he hopes to keep alive the memory of his and Morning Glory’s love that has remained in this life and onto the next
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