Artist
Catherine Pennington, ritual chick, with a local friend – a banana slug
I am a writer, priestess and liturgist based in Oakland, CA. Having grown up with the bright lights and grease paint of off-off Broadway theater in New York, I moved to California to try my hand in films and ended up getting a master’s degree in Philosophy and Religion.
In 1995 I founded an alternative performance company called Magical Acts Ritual Theater. I severed as the company’s Artistic Director for eight years, until sanity got the better of me and I choose to take a sabbatical to catch up on my writing and sleep. I got a bit of both, wrote a screenplay called “Persephone Rising” which has made it to the semi finals in one screenplay competition, started the third draft of a book about how I do ritual theater, and then I got really sick.
In the Winter of 2007, after having the flue for about two and a half years, I was finally diagnosed with Multiple Chemical Sensitives which means I am allergic and reactive to about half the planet. After the shock (mostly) wore off I started exploring which doors were now closed to me and which ones were open, and along came the opportunity to fulfill a dream and start my own (for profit) business.
As for the rest of my life… I’m a wife to an amazing man who does amazingly healing body work, and a mother to two remarkable teen age boys. So far the kids haven’t reported me for lack of attention and the husband still speaks to me – so either I’m not doing enough writing and crafting, or they’re as crazy as I am.
Awhile back my friend Jamie of The Silver Kitsune and I started talking shop on a regular basis. Little did we know that all those conversations would lead to the formation of a joint business!
Mirth and Reverence is the multicolored, multifaceted result of that “Ah Ha!” moment between two friends. The company is dedicated to life, laughter, and shiny things. We currently sell jewelry and customized dolls, but fully expect that to blossom as the business grows. Together we write books on ritual as well as collaborate on new projects to drive the other one crazy.
You can see some of our work at our shop on on Artfire at MirthReverence and in our Zazzle gallery
So even though I cant really get out and about because of the MCS … the world seems to be coming to me… so long as they stay chemical and scent free I should be good! 
Welcome!
For more information about my background, training, experience and history, feel free to take a look at my CV: Catherine’s CV
