Summoned contains the stories of six famous women from history, each on a spiritual path. I have selected specific women who, through their positive vision, significantly altered their society. Each woman tells her story from first person point of view as I imagined it. For each of these women there was a turning point, a fork in the road, when they were summoned by a power greater than themselves to take steps that changed the conventional course of their lives and altered society. Once summoned, each woman felt there was no turning back, no matter how difficult the path. Once on the path, each woman was guided step by step. In retrospect, it all fit into place although when the women were taking each individual step, they did not perceive the ultimate goal or the far-reaching beneficial effects their actions would have upon society. Telling their stories, they reflect back to encourage and empower the women of today to have the courage to trust their instincts and intuition, the vehicle through which a higher power speaks. I, likewise, in the writing of this book, felt summoned and guided in the steps I took although I had no idea of the ultimate outcome. Whenever I attempted to do it my way, I met with resistance, conflict, and confusion. However, when I opened myself and allowed the words of these women to come through, I moved forward easily. Traditional biographies are written in third person, present the facts of their subjects' lives, and provide a critical analysis. This book is different. While I researched traditional resources, my intuition told me to use the first person point of view. Each woman in this book speaks in her own voice and tells "her story." They come from different walks of life and are examples of what is possible. The power of these women is the power of every woman if she has the courage to follow her inner voice, instead of blindly following the dictates of society. The voices are stories of hope and possibility for the women of today. Each of these woman was an ordinary person who accomplished extraordinary things by trusting and following her inner voice. You can do the same by following your inner voice. For the last one hundred years, American society has focused on the production of goods and on appearance rather than the quality of life and family relationships. Science and technology have been the twin gods of the modern world and the focus has been on validating evidence produced by the experimental method. The natural feminine energies of intuition, vision, empathy, and creation have been regarded as unnecessary, sentimental, and extraneous to the progress of the human race. As we enter the new millennium, these are the very energies needed to heal our society. The book contains a bibliography of the books I read so that any woman reading the book may find information she needs to further investigate, study, and strengthen her personal awareness of these six women. Women must break free of the limiting stereotypes that have fettered them and get into action. Spiritual growth is a process, so let us begin. I wish to thank Karen Marie Riggio for her participation in creating the first version of this book that was titled The Woman's Way but was never published. May the readers of Summoned be instilled with courage, strength, faith, and fortitude.

The poems in "The Ides of March" were published in literary journals during the l970's during the Women's Movement, a time of consciousness raising groups. At that time Toni Ortner who lived in New York edited and published "Connections" which was supported by grants from CCLM.. Connections was one of the seminal journals to publish work just by women. Copies of "Connections" have been donated to Poet's House for researchers and readers. "The Ides of March" represents that time of change when women gathered in small groups to understand that the personal is political. The power of women working together is extraordinary and necessary to effect positive change in the world. The Sybil of Delphi was not the only visionary. It is interesting to note that the majority of poems in the book were written during that time of year known as the Ides of March.

Dream in Pienza was originally published by the Timberline Press in a hand-set and hand-printed limited edition. The title poem, written in Rome, sings of the passion of unrequited love in another century. From birth through resurrection, we sweep our separate shores for sight of stars. Although the angels may have left us to our devices, we become the measure of what we believe. This is God’s gift to each of us.

“The chapbook is about the experience of being in a mental hospital although it could have been about being in any kind of prison. The specifics are here, and it is well written.� —Judy Hogan, Motheroot Journal

“The title poem, “Entering Another Country,� is dedicated to a male friend who has died. There are exuberant, rich landscapes of imagined travel, journeys into the visual worlds of Grandma Moses and Rousseau, and the painful realization that what the poet means by travel is change and growth, the raw experience of self-birthing, a process into a place as unknown as the death place of her friend. Here Ortner connects with her female heritage. It is a courageous poem of breaking out, and the unfamiliar terrain into which this takes her almost robs the poet of speech.� —Helen Cooper, Motheroot Journal