10 Apr Z for Zsuzsanna
In 1975, a “sting” was arranged by an undercover policewoman against a lone Tarot card reader at her store in Venice, CA, “The Feminist Wicca.” It is hard to believe, but only such a short time ago practicing “fortune telling,” including Tarot, astrology, and psychic readings, was against the law.
Zsuzsanna Budapest (born 1940 in Budapest, Hungary), more simply referred to as “Z,” is a leading figure in feminist spirituality and Wicca. She is the author of numerous books and articles including The Feminist Book of Lights and Shadows and The Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries. Now in her 80s, she leads rituals, workshops, classes, and is an activist and the President of the Women’s Spirituality Forum. Many teachers and writers of the Goddess religion cite her work as a major influence.
Z and her lawyers described her 1975 arrest as “the first witch prosecuted since Salem.” When she was found guilty, they proceeded on to the Supreme Court of California on the position that Wicca is a bona fide religion. After nine years of appeals the verdict was finally reversed as unconstitutional and as a violation of the Freedom of Religion Act. It is because of Z that the laws against fortune telling in California were struck down.
Z’s mother was a medium, a practicing witch, and a sculptor in Hungary, and Z had been raised in the goddess religion. She moved to Chicago in 1959 where she studied at the famous Second City improvisational theater, and where she was married with two sons before she came out as a lesbian. Z moved to Los Angeles in 1970, and in addition to her store on Lincoln, was active at the Women’s Center and in the Women’s Liberation Movement. She currently lives in Santa Cruz County.
Previous site of The Feminist Wicca
442 Lincoln Boulevard
Venice, CA 90291
This is an excerpt from Catherine Auman’s book Guide to Spiritual L.A.: The Irreverent, the Awake, and the True
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