Pagan Community Notes: Week of April 16, 2026

Rev. Selena Fox shared a remembrance of Margot Susanna Adler (1946–2014).  Today is Margot’s birthday.  She would have turned 80.

For those unfamiliar with Adler and her work, she was a pioneering Pagan elder, Wiccan priestess, and National Public Radio journalist, as well as a compelling feminist voice, environmental advocate, and social justice activist. A singer, author, and visionary, she was beloved by thousands across the United States and beyond. Margot informed and inspired people across cultures, traditions, and ways of life.

Adler was born on April 16, 1946, in Little Rock and raised in New York City. She was the daughter of psychiatrist Kurt Alfred Adler and Freya (Nacque) Adler, who identified as a Jewish agnostic. Her grandfather, Alfred Adler, was a prominent Viennese psychiatrist, founder of Individual Psychology, and a co-founder of Depth Psychology.

Margot’s husband and longtime companion was John Lowell Gliedman (1943–2010), a science writer, psychologist, and computer consultant with a Ph.D. in experimental psychology and linguistics. They are survived by their son, Alex Dylan Gliedman-Adler, born in 1990.

Margot spent most of her life in her family home on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in New York City. She cherished time in nature—walking, birdwatching, and finding moments of connection in Central Park. She was especially drawn to water and returned each year to the sea on Martha’s Vineyard.

“For me, Margot also was a longtime spiritual sister and dear friend.  Over the past thirty-six years, we spent time together in each others homes and in other places, including speaking travels to outdoor Pagan festivals, indoor esoteric conferences, Unitarian Universalist services, interfaith gatherings, radio stations, and even a New York City disco, ” shared Fox, “We connected with each other in a variety of ways — face-to-face, by phone, by correspondence, and in dreams.  She was a wonderful, brilliant, and dynamic person who loved life and enriched the world.”

Margot’s path into Pagan spirituality began in childhood through a deep love of Greek mythology. In the 1970s, she formally began studying Witchcraft with the New York Coven of Welsh Traditional Witches, and in 1976 she was initiated as a Wiccan priestess within a Gardnerian coven. By 1982, she had transitioned primarily to a solitary practice, while continuing to serve the broader Pagan community through writing, music, teaching, and ritual leadership.

Her spiritual perspective continued to evolve alongside her work on her most influential book, Drawing Down the Moon. First published in 1979 and later revised in 1986 and 2007, the book remains one of the most comprehensive and widely read studies of contemporary Paganism. It has become a foundational text not only for Pagans across traditions but also for scholars and students, helping to broaden public understanding of Pagan religious life.

Margot’s contributions, however, extended far beyond her writing. She was among the key voices shaping the modern Pagan movement, particularly as multi-tradition festivals began to emerge in the 1980s. She was a frequent speaker at gatherings such as Pagan Spirit Gathering, where her talks, workshops, and panels fostered dialogue, reflection, and community across diverse traditions.

She also played an important role in the development of Earth-centered spirituality within Unitarian Universalism. A member of the Church of All Souls, she served as an advisor to the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, helping to expand recognition and support for Pagan practitioners within that religious framework.

Margot was equally active in advocacy, working toward greater religious freedom and equal rights for Pagans. She served as an advisor to the Lady Liberty League and collaborated with leaders such as Barry W. Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State in the 2007 dedication of the first Wiccan-Christian memorial marker at Arlington National Cemetery.

Her work also intersected with Goddess spirituality and women’s interfaith movements. In 1988, she participated in the first international interfaith women’s conference sponsored by the World Council of Churches, held at Victoria University, where she spoke on Paganism and Goddess traditions. Later, in 2011, she was among those who honored the legacy of Merlin Stone at a national memorial service in Clearwater, reflecting her enduring role as both a scholar and a community elder.

Margot Adler crossed into the arms of the Goddess in 2014  after battling endometrial cancer.   A full remembrance of Adler is available at Circle Sanctuary.

What is remembered lives.