Zsuzsanna Budapest's Biography(Photos)

Zsuzsanna Budapest an American author of Hungarian origin
who writes on feminist spirituality and Dianic Wicca under

While in Chicago, she also studied with The Second City, an

the pen name and religious name Zsuzsanna Budapest or Z.
Budapest by which most everyone knows her. Zsuzsanna

improvisational theatrical school, which was the only one in
the country at that time. Zsuzsanna began embracing her

Budapest is the High Priestess and the founding mother of
the Susan B. Anthony Coven #1, the first feminist,

heritage and openly practicing her family's spiritual
traditions, setting up altars in her home and in her

women-only, witches' coven. She is the director of the
Women's Spirituality Forum, a nonprofit organization

backyard.
When Zsuzsanna entered her astrological Saturn cycle at the

featuring lectures, retreats and other events, and was the
lead of a cable TV show called 13th Heaven She has an

age of thirty, she became involved with the women's
liberation movement in Los Angeles, California, and became

autobiography, Fly by Night, online, soon to be published in
book form in the spring of 2010. She is a playwright, her

an activist, staffing the Women's Center there for many
years.

work The Rise of the Fates having premiered in Los Angeles
in the mid-seventies. She is the composer of the song, We

In the midst of this work, Zsuzsanna recognized a need for a

All Come From the Goddess, as well as others.

spiritual dimension within the feminist movement, and
started the Women's Spirituality Movement.

Zsuzsanna Budapest, born Zsuzsanna “z” emese Moukesay
in Budapest, Hungary, entered this world on January 30,

Throughout her life, Zsuzsanna continued to lead rituals,

1940.

conduct lectures at major universities, taught classes to
thousands, given workshops around the world, written

Zsuzsanna’s mother, Masika Szilagyi, was a key inspiration
for Zsuzsanna’s life’s work. Masika, was a medium and a

hundreds of articles, been published in many women's
newspapers across the country, and written several books on

practicing witch who supported her family with her art, as a
sculptress. Masika's sculptures celebrated the Triple

the topic of Women’s Spirituality. She has lead the charge
and influenced many of the teachers and writers in the

Goddess and the Fates aspects of feminine theology.
Zsuzsanna grew up respecting and appreciating Mother Nature

Goddess Movement.

as a goddess. It is this influence which lead Zsuzsanna deep
into a world of feminist spirituality and Dianic Wicca for

Zsuzsanna’s spiritual circles are exclusive to women only,
and she prefers an equal mix of heterosexual and lesbian

which she would write several literary books of historical
significance for the Women’s Rights Movement and Women’s

women, which she believes provides balance in her rituals.
According to Z, "We have women's circles. You don't put men

Spirituality Movement.

in women's circles - they wouldn't be women's circles any
more. Our Goddess is life, and women should be free to

The poverty of postwar Europe and its political oppression
under Russian occupation, created a fierce political

worship from their ovaries."
Today Zsuzsanna Budapest lives in the San Francisco Bay

consciousness within Zsuzsanna. When the Hungarian
Revolution broke out in 1956, she became one of the

Area. She has published 10 literary books, one play, and two
CDs to her credits. She continues to teach, give workshops

sixty-five thousand political refugees who left the
country.

and offer lectures. Zsuzsanna also continues to write her
remaining books for the goddess movement. Zsuzsanna starred

Zsuzsanna finished high school in Innsbruck, Austria,

in her own cable TV show called 13th Heaven, and she
continues to act as the director of the Women's Spirituality

graduating from a bilingual gymnasium, and having won a
scholarship to the University of Vienna. At the University

Forum, a nonprofit organization sponsoring a monthly lecture
series in the Bay Area, offering spirituality retreats and

of Vienna, she would go on to study languages.
In 1959, Zsuzsanna emigrated to the United States. There she

annual spiral dances on Halloween.

studied at the University of Chicago, married, and gave
birth to two sons. However, she later divorced as she came

In 2003, the California Institute of Integral Studies
recognized Zsuzsanna Budapest’s contribution to the

to a greater self-understanding and identity as a lesbian ;
choosing to avoid the "duality" between man and woman.

women's spirituality movement by honoring her as a
Foremother of the Women's Spirituality Movement.