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Patricia Robin Woodruff (born April 17, 1966) is an author, expressionist artist, poet, philosopher, and priestess of Łemko Lemkos maternal heritage focusing on earth-based spirituality. Patricia Robin Woodruff is a mystic, in addition to being an author and an artist. Her work has taken her to sacred sites all over the world. She is best known for her research into the indigenous religion of the lands now known as “Slavic”, and her book Woodruff’s Guide to Slavic Deities], (2020).

Early life and education
Woodruff was born on April 17, 1966, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Raymond and Margaret Schwegel. Margaret encouraged her daughter in art from an early age. Patricia focused on academics and art. Her early philosophy was influenced by her high school art teacher. Her schooling led her to concepts of “positive thinking” and how the energy of the mind can influence the external world.

Marriage and Children
In 1987 she married R. William “Woody” Woodruff. Their children are Cameron Arie Woodruff (1991), S. Nathaniel Woodruff (1992-1993), and art photographer & author Coriander Elanor Woodruff a/k/a Coriander Focus (1994). Their middle child was born with a heart defect and his death deepened Woodruff’s spiritual search.

Career and Research
Woodruff obtained her Masters of Divinity and Ph.D. in Metaphysical Theology from the University of Metaphysical Sciences. She was ordained with the interfaith Wisdom of the Heart Church, Arcata, CA. As an ordained minister, a Wiccan priestess, and spirit-initiated Łemko bosorka along with her UU background, Woodruff combined these in her Interfaith work on the East Coast  and in Central and Eastern Europe. She received additional training in pastoral care and other studies with Blackfeather Mystery School of Fredricksburg, MD. Woodruff wrote her doctoral dissertation on The Triple God of Old Europe: Triglav, Jarlio, Perun, Veles, Potrimpos, Rhugevit, and other (A Logic Puzzle).

Woodruff studied and traveled throughout Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, & Slovenia.

Many years of religious research led Woodruff through formal studies with Stone Circle Tradition of Wicca (USA). Woodruff became a certified priestess of Stone Circle Wicca. She began researching the Pagan traditions of her Carpatho-Rusyn (Łemko) heritage, resulting in several books. Her notable works are: Woodruff’s Guide to Slavic Deities (2020), The Prince with the Golden Hand (children’s book incorporating Slavic beliefs) (2019), & Slavic Magic Moon Meditations (2018).

Woodruff is an artist in the Expressionist school. She wrote about and taught about spirituality and art. In 2007, she was a founding member of the Floyd Artists Association of Floyd, VA. In Rome, Italy for over four months in 2013, she studied in museums and cathedrals of Italy. During that time she produced one hundred and eleven paintings. Additionally, Woodruff facilitated sacred art at the 1000 Goddesses Gathering in Washington, DC.(2016).

Teaching
Woodruff has taught about the spiritual approach to creativity and art at the Alpha Learning Institute, SUUSI (Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute,) Floyd Center for the Arts, and other locations.

Exciting Insights on the Indigenous Beliefs from Slavic Lands, 17 October, 2021

Midwest Shamans Conference Midwest Shamans Conference (formerly Shamans Quantum Universe) in Madison, OH (2019) and Sacred Space Conference in Hunts Valley, MD (2019).

Taught Stone Circle Wicca classes (2020-2021)

Woodruff presented at the international Parliament of the World’s Religions in 2021.

“Wildcrafting Your Heritage” - MAGUS the Mid-Atlantic gathering of OBOD Druids, 20 May, 2022

Inception of Theories
Inception of theories

In studying ancient beliefs Woodruff realized that 1) each deity seemed to mainly be associated with a certain season of the early Germanic/Slavic three-part year: Spring, Summer/Harvest, and Winter, as well as stage of life: Maiden/Youth, Mother/Father and Crone/Sage.

and 2) each deity seemed to be linked to a similarly named partner who was described as both sibling and divine lover: Siva and Seibog; Vesna and Vesnik, Mora and Moran, etc. Additionally, there were fey spirits who carried the same title and often mortal magic workers that went by that title. Much like Dmitri Mendeleev developing the periodic table, this developed a theoretical framework from which to look for the matching partner for a god or goddess.  In particular, not much was known about Stribog, but when it is theorized that Striga would be their goddess partner, it becomes obvious the connection with the Germanic Striga Holda/Strigam Holdam, the spirits known as strix and the magic workers known as striga or strega.  This also reveals that the pair of Striga and Stribog is connected to the season of winter and the realm of death and consequent rebirth.

3) The shifting of the calendars and the consequent implementation of dates under the Gregorian and Julian calendars caused a disconnect from the lunar/solar foundation of these holidays focused around the Summer and Winter Solstice, the Equinoxes, and the Cross-Quarter days. For example, the same “new year” traditions fragmented and left vestigial traces upon many holiday dates: the beginning of May, Easter, Spring Equinox, before Lent, Winter Equinox, St. Nicholas’s Day (December 5th), St. Lucy’s Day (December 13th), and January 1st.

Art
Woodruff attended art classes at Bucks County Community College. She attended Tyler School of Art in Elkins Park, PA. In 2009, a joint exhibit of her artwork was featured at the Woman’s Creative Alliance on South Street in Philadelphia, PA. “Women’s Creative Alliance @ Zeidler Gallery” - Art of Patricia Woodruff & Barb Baur, 20 January, 2009

Publications
Bibliography

2007 - Strange Tales of Floyd County, VA

2014 - Naked Morsel: Short Stories of Spiritual Erotica (under the pen name of Robin Rumi)

2015 - “Being a Creator” book section in Floyd Folks: Collective Wisdom from a (One Stoplight) Mountain Community Vol.1 edited by Tommy Bailey

2016 - The Call of the Spectacled Owl: An Artist’s Journey thru History, the Amazon & Spirit (an autobiographical account of Woodruff’s journey with her daughter, Coriander to the Amazon jungle of Peru)

2018 - Slavic Magic Moon Meditations

2019 - The Prince with the Golden Hand: Book 1 of Baba’s Secrets of the Old Ways (young reader book)

2020 - Woodruff’s Guide to Slavic Deities

Contributions
Contributions:


 * 1) “Touching the Creator”, Thrive Magazine
 * 2) “Valentine Sonnet”, (Donna DeVane) Thrive Magazine, JooMag, February, 2014
 * 3) “Being a Creator”, Floyd Folks: Collective Wisdom from a (One Stoplight) Mountain Community (Editor Tommy Bailey) Createspace 2015
 * 4) “Archeological Dig into a Floyd Native American Village Site” Floyd Magazine, Fall/Winter 2014, p. 42
 * 5) “I Am A Poem That Tells A Lie”, Museletter: Community Education Resource Cooperative, June 2013
 * 6) “Floyd Artist in the Amazon Jungle” Floyd Magazine Fall/Winter 2016/17 p. 30, 31
 * 7) Cited in The Home Voices Speak Louder Than the Drums: Dreams and the Imagination in Civil War Letters and Memoirs by Wanda Easter Burch, McFarland, May 22, 2017
 * 8) The Triple God of Old Europe: Triglav, Jarilo, Perun, Veles, Potrimpos, Rhugevit, and others (A Logic Puzzle)

Artistic Contributions
“Chestnut Fences” in UUWorld Magazine Winter 2009

Book Illustrations

 * 1) Naked Morsels; Short Stories of Spiritual Erotica (Robin Rumi), Createspace 2014.  ISBN 9781499114164
 * 2) 52 Prescriptions for Happiness: A Year of Inspiration for the Body, Mind and Soul (Mali Apple; Joe Dunn), A Higher Possibility, San Rafael, California 2013
 * 3) The Complete Pressure Cooker Book (Barbara Baur)

Interviews
“Spiritual Artist Review: Patricia Robin Woodruff” - DiversiTree: The Divinely Inspired Publication for Inclusive Spirituality, 20 October, 2015

“Interview with Rev. Patricia Robin Woodruff” - Goddess Morning Show, 21 Jan., 2020

“Talking My Path: Patricia Robin Woodruff” - ev0ke Publication, Feb., 2020

[https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-ancestral-eyes-life-is-the-62566935/episode/ancestral-eyes-e21-w-dr-patricia-71389255/ “Dr. Patricia Robin Woodruff, Lemko Bosorka”] - Ancestral Eyes E21 with Teresa Sliwinski and Jean-Jerome C. Baudry, 12 Sept., 2020

“Goddess Morning Show Special with Rev. Patricia Robin Woodruff” - Goddess Morning Show, 21 Nov., 2020

Slavic Deities - Coyote Network News with Caroline Casey, 31 March, 2022