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Z. Budapest
From Outcyclopedia, the free and queer encyclopedia. Z. Budapest is a Wiccan priestess, feminist activist, and author. She was born Zsuzsanna Emese Szilagyi in Budapest, Hungary in 1940. During the Soviet crackdown on the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Zsuzsanna became one of thousands of refugees who fled across the border to Austria. When refugees were allowed to send messages on Radio Free Europe to loved ones still living in Hungary, the young Zsuzsanna, knowing the reprisals that her family might face if she used her real name, identified herself in her message as "Z. Budapest." It was a name she would continue to use in her life-long quest for freedom and justice for all people, especially women. After completing her education at Innsbruck and studying languages at the University of Vienna, Z. Budapest immigrated to the United States in 1959 and settled in Chicago. She attended the University of Chicago and was also a member of the Second City improvisational comedy troupe. She also married, became a US citizen, and had two sons. Following a divorce, she moved to Los Angeles in 1970 and became involved in the women's movement and joined the staff of the Los Angeles Women's Center. Feeling a need for spirituality and ritual in the feminist movement, Z. began talking with other feminists about laying the foundations of what would later become the women's spirituality movement. Combining the tenets of the religion of Wicca with the goddess myths and folk traditions passed down from her mother, Z. developed a system of Dianic Wicca, emphasizing the feminine aspects of the divine, the sacredness of the earth and motherhood, and the empowerment of women. Unlike other forms of Wicca, only women could participate in this Dianic system. This culminated in the formation of the Susan B. Anthony Coven in Z.'s backyard during a nighttime ritual. Thousands of women's spirituality groups later sprung up around the country. Z.'s disciples and students included many feminist leaders, as well as Margot Adler, author of DrawingDown the Moon, an overview of the Neo-Pagan movement in the US, and Starhawk, whose book, The Spiral Dance, sparked an explosion in growth for the Wiccan movement in the 1980s. Z. formalized the rituals and philosophy of the movement in The Feminist Book of Light and Shadows in 1975. It was re-published in 1989 as The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries. An almanac of myths, rituals, and autobiographical essays, The Grandmother of Time, was published in 1990. In 1975, during a sting operation, Z. Budapest was arrested for giving a tarot reading to an undercover police officer, in violation of California state laws prohibiting fortune-telling. While under probation for this charge, she was arrested again in 1980 along with members of her coven for trespassing after they held a ritual on land that turned out to be owned by the Iranian government, the same government which was at the time holding American citizens hostage in Teheran. The charges in this case were dropped. Nine years after her first arrest, the California Supreme Court struck down the law under which Z. had been charged after she and other Wiccan leaders had argued successfully that because magic and divination were integral parts of their religion, laws against fortune-telling were a violation of their Constitutional rights. For the last thirty years, Z. Budapest has lectured across the country, demonstrated, written several books and countless articles, held classes and workshops, and officiated at rituals and ceremonies, all in the cause of the environment, women's rights, children, gay rights, religious freedom, and other issues. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she hosts her own local cable televison show, 13th Heaven, and directs the Women's Spirituality Forum. External links:
Daughter of the Goddess
An Interview with Z. Budapest by Susan Bridle
Entry revised 23 December, 2004. All text is available for use under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (see Copyrights for details).
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