Tara Allen Silverfox In Memorium
Flash Silvermoon 

Tara, Emily,Tuck, Aimelee, Allen Silverfox was as diverse as her many names. I first met Tara on Feb 2 1992 at an Imbolc [Candlemas] ritual at my home. I had lit a pair of red candles on my bedroom altar and asked the Goddess of love for new love in my life. When I turned around, much to my amazement,Tara, who I had never laid eyes upon, was sprawled across my bed and we were off and running almost from then on.

Tara came to Gainesville to study at the Florida School of Massage where she graduated in June of '92, a week before our wedding which was absolutely the event of the summer that year. We didn't care about Gay marriage being legal/illegal; we were committed to each other and wanted to stand up as lesbians to show the world our pride and love and to be witnessed by our friends. This aspect of our relationship lasted 8 years raising our 4 legged furries in Moonhaven under the welcoming arms of the 500 + yr. old lightening-struck Grandmother Tree. Many changes and 6 years later, we were family and best friends.

Stepping back in time a bit, Tara was born June 11,1943 in Boston Mass. to Emily and Henry Allen. She was the first of three children:Roz,Towne, and of course Tuck,her family name.She went to high school out west in the experimental Colorado Rocky Mountain School.

Tara was a globetrotter of the first order, living and working in Mexico where she raised 10 orphan children; Afghanistan, where she faced down the Taliban; China and Mongolia, where she talked her way across the continent; and into jobs at any University that would offer her water and a bed.
In the Amazon, she did eye surgery on natives in the jungle with her dad who was an esteemed eye surgeon.

She rode her Beamer in Yonkers as part of an all black and male [except for her of course] motorcycle club, and worked her way through Sarah Lawrence College as a stripper. It turned out that 5 years into our relationship, I remembered having met her in NYC at a lesbian bar in the West Village in 1973! She also got her Masters degree in Creative Arts Therapy from Leslie College.

She even taught English as a second language in the Dalai Lama's Summer Palace in Dharamsala,Tibet. Tibet was truly a place that held Tara's heart and she longed for those purple mountains in the clouds and cholesterol laden yak butter tea but no doubt did not miss the thousand prostration's that were expected before dawn.
In Tibet she inadvertently helped to ease the food shortage by introducing the grain Quinoa, to the farmers and researchers where it now thrives as their most fertile crop.
She jokingly said that after all that, moving in with me seemed like the next logical thing. Ya know, from all over the world to out of this world I guess.

Tara never met a stranger. Where I was sort of "let's just be ourselves here and hope the neighbors leave us alone," she was all about,"Come on over I'm Tara and I live at the first house after the bridge," when we had a place on the Itchetucknee River. I cringed at first but she really modeled being a good neighbor. To this day, I reach out more and always think of her shouting out her address to one and all.
If this sounds like a life almost too fantastic to be real, this is no exaggeration and I am sure that I am forgetting a thing or two.

Brilliant intellect, human whirlwind,inter-dimensional healer,philanthropist,closet engineer, crazy Gemini;[which is redundant],lover of animals, protector of the underdog,sapphic poet priestess,artist,exotic dancer,sailor,human dynamo,birdwoman,Boston blue-blood,teacher,perpetual student, Amazon warrior, preserver of wild places, mother to many people and projects, and underneath,a most gentle spirit.

Not long after her graduation from Massage School,Tara became involved with the Arts and Medicine Program at Shands Hospital where she spent several years facilitating "Charlie's Corner," a space for utilizing the performing and creative arts to heal and entertain the patients there. She was constantly going to workshops far and wide to educate herself in many of the healing arts and especially in methods that aligned body, mind,and spirit.

She was a practitioner of POP [Process oriented Psychology made famous by mentor Arnie Mindell],Orthobionomy, Diamond Heart Meditation as well as Wicca, and Bahn,a most ancient form of Tibetan Buddhism. We both shared a love of the Yoruba [Nigerian] culture and count our African Family as a major spiritual support system.
Tara's global and inclusive spirituality and my own, dovetailed into the long awaited manifestation of The Wise Woman's Tarot Deck and Book. I had worked easily 20 plus years to bring it to the birthing room, and Tara poured her soul resources and countless hours into being the midwife needed to complete and perfect the project, to which the world and myself owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude.

Her seeming infinite energies were legendary and she donated and worked on projects to save the Itchetuknee, her beloved river,wetlands, rainforests, bird sanctuaries, Big Cats, Horse Rescues,Junglefriends primates, S.A.F.E.studios, Katrina Hounds, the Ecuadorian Village where she ultimately met her demise, and so much more that. In short, if it needed saving and people were doing sincere earthsaving work,Tara was there. She was in part fulfilling the work of her mother, Emily Allen Senior, and her Boston Foundation.

In part, the animal rescue work was something that we shared and this year, her resources gave me a stipend to treat these animals in sanctuaries and rescue facilities with holistic means.

She also became a Reverend this past year through the Seraphim Center and was looking forward to utilizing this aegis to continue her spiritual and philanthropic work.
Tara was also a visual as well as a performance artist of sorts and probably would have provided us with many more of her own creative offerings had she slowed down her warp-speed pace, or simply lived longer.

Her form of healing truly knew no bounds. Sometimes she healed with words, touch, sound, beautiful objects from the many exotic places that she journeyed and sometimes, simply by being there, taking out the trash, holding a fevered hand, providing a healthy meal, a little money at just the right time,you name it. She helped in so many ways and easily helping/healing more people, places, and things than I can know or represent here.

Reading the comments made by her numerous mourners on her memorial website <>www.taracaree.com/memorial/ will give you an idea of the scope of her vision and the huge hole she will leave in the lives of so many here on earth.
In the 14 years that I have known and loved Tara, I can honestly say that there is no one in my life that was a more consistent, supportive and loving friend and soul sister and I will always love and remember her for the irrepressible wild/wise woman that she is and was.

In addition to her many projects and interests, she spent this last year partnered with Michael Heaston at her lake place on Lake Santa Fe, around the corner from Moonhaven enjoying the life and water activities there.

Tara Emily Tuck Allen is survived by her brother Towne Allen, sister Roz Allen,Michael Heaston,Pintura, her cat, and me Flash Silvermoon

Her life will leave many beautiful ripples across the Universe and warm a multitude of hearts that are more full for having known her.

Blessed be Tara, daughter of Gaia and Goddess-Speed
With Love,

Flash Silvermoon

For information re THE CELEBRATION OF TARA'S LIFE AND MEMORIAL HERE @MOONHAVEN FEB 5 3PM. See A MULTICULTURAL CEREMONY FOR DETAILS*

* The Wise Woman's Tarot