Keith James Campbell 1968-2015

On Aug., 5, Keith James Campbell, also known as Twilight, died after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Keith was an active member of the Blue Star community and High Priest, who helped launch several different Blue Star groups and used his creative talents to offer service beyond his religious communities.

Keith was born in Kirkwood, Missouri graduating from Kirkwood High School in 1986. He went on to attend the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, where he studied graphic arts. After finishing, he began a long career as a freelance graphic designer and remained in Missouri through 2001.

During that time, he became involved with the local Pagan community and with the Blue Star tradition. He founded his first group called Heretic Clan and became a regular at Midwest Pagan festivals and events. According to close friend and member of the Blue Star Foundation Wendy McNiff, “Diana’s Grove was one of his favorite sacred spaces.”

In 2001, Keith packed up and left for Minneapolis, where he re-established himself and continued his involvement with Blue Star. Under the name OnyxTwilight, he became an active voice within the Blue Star Tradition Live Journal forum posting news, thoughts, prayers and more. He also studied Feri, Reclaiming, and TwiTrad.

McNiff remembers, “Keith was a legal pagan minister and performed many of our wedding and hand-fasting ceremonies. He was a master of ritual theater, managing to be creative, discerning, and engaging.”

During that time Keith continued his professional career in graphic design and was fortunately able to merge with his love of singing with his design skills. He was hired as the marketing director for One Voice, Minnesota’s LGBT mixed chorus. For six years, he performed with the group and was also responsible for their visual material. In addition, Keith designed logos for various Pagan businesses, individuals and events including the Blue Star Tradition and Twin Cities Pagan Pride.

In Aug. 2008, Keith moved again. This time he relocated to Pennsylvania, where he received his third degree and helped to create “Coven of the White Oak and Grove of the Acorn.” He eventually settled in Pipersville, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia.

Keith had struggled with his health for a long time. On his birthday in 1998, he was diagnosed with diabetes. During a particularly difficult bought with his health in the summer of 2008, Keith thanked his community for its support and wrote, “I am blessed. And I know it.”

But it wasn’t that condition that took his life. In July 2015, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a type of cancer that is seldom detected early and spreads very rapidly. Within three weeks of receiving the diagnosis, on Aug. 5, Keith died surrounded by his loved ones, who sang to him as he passed.

Wendy McNiff said in her memorial,

Keith was a beloved friend and mentor to many within the pagan community. He was a scholar, a singer, a lore keeper, a graphic designer, and a queen. He was a wealth of knowledge. He was also an open door. Keith helped to welcome many people to their path and helped guide them to their best self.

PNC-Minnesota’s Nels Linde, a Blue Star member, wrote:

I met Keith some twenty years ago as a Heretic singer at festival, and then again last fall at a Blue Star Family Gathering in Minnesota … He was invaluable to my tradition and clearly well-loved and highly respected.

Linde invited PNC readers to post memorials and memories on the site. Kristin of Sprial Tor Coven did just that saying:

Keith was a dear friend and Trad mate of mine. His personality filled every room he entered, and he was loved by countless people. I am deeply honored to have known him. His loss was a great shock to me personally and to our Tradition. While holding vigil during his passing, some of our coven members joked that Keith was such an over-achiever that it didn’t surprise us that he managed to complete his life’s mission in half the allotted time. It might seem trite, but to know him really was to love him. The Summerland has gained a beautiful soul. Hail the Traveler!

Demonstrating the shock felt within that community, Lapis wrote in a public post for the Well Spring Grove & Coven:

We lost a very dear member of our tradition to cancer recently and that has sent us all into a bit of a tailspin … This harvest season and Samhain will be an especially poignant one for us … My advice for everyone lately is to not take your loved ones for granted.

Keith is survived by his parents, his sister and an enormous community of people who have long held him dear. They speak of his energy, his creativity, his devotion to his beliefs, and his commitment to community. Through all of that work and that passion, Keith demonstrated an overwhelming joy in life. As Keith said himself, he was “Blessed.”

Memorial services are being planned in multiple locations across the country. Over Labor Day weekend, there will be services in the Pennsylvania area; no details have yet been released. In Sept. a memorial will be held at Harvest Homecoming in Missouri. Additionally, there will be a service Sept. 13 in Minneapolis from 3-6 pm at the Lake Hiawatha Park Recreation Center. McNiff writes, “Please bring your stories to share, your willingness to sing, and your love of Keith.”

What is remembered, lives.

To join a conversation on this post:

Visit our The Wild Hunt subreddit! Point your favorite browser to https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Wild_Hunt_News/, then click “JOIN”. Make sure to click the bell, too, to be notified of new articles posted to our subreddit.