James L. Bianchi, Esq.
Ovate of Taliesin,
House of Danu

James L. Bianchi, Esq. is the Gorsedd Master.  He is on the Council of 7 representing the Taliesin in the San Francisco Bay Area where he serves as the leading Ovate. James incorporated and was the first president of the Pagan Alliance in the Bay Area, thepaganalliance.org, in the core group operating the Spark Collective in Oakland, www.sparkcollective.org , and on the Council of Phoenix Fire, www.firefamilygathering.org .  He is also a professor at the Cherry Hill Seminary for the professional pagan ministry where he teaches a course on Religion and the Law. www.cherryhillseminary.org

James practices law in the town of Benicia, California. He is among the first graduating students from the oldest public interest law school in the country, New College of California, School of Law and is best described as a community activist. Over the years he has been on Boards and Commissions, or founded non-profit corporations, that operate homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, sexual assault programs, drug treatment programs, legal aid offices, and after school programs for elementary school children.

Nathrach-athar (Nathrah-a-ur): Insight and Clarity

He is a musician who has performed with Babatunde Olatunji at Big Sir, the famous Puerto Rican Drummer, Modesto Capeda, at La Pena in Berkeley, and Gideon and his Zulu Dancers at the Harmony festival in Santa Rosa.  James was music director for the staging of Equus at the Ashby Theater in Berkeley for the Magic Acts Theatre, and has opened for Axis Mundi at the Ashkenaz in Berkeley. Jim also served as art director for the Carnival of Venice in San Francisco.  He is a member of the Spiral Dance Chorus, and been a band member of World Fusion groups, such as, Tenuka and Mahal.  He has performed Samba with the Lloyds of Oakland (who lead the procession at Burning Man), at the Mission Creek Music Festival, and the Amnesia Club in San Francisco.  Over the past 5 years, James has performed with Danse Macabre and numerous Renaissance Faires and Dia de Los Muertos in San Francisco. He is trained in 23 instruments and has been the back-up drummer for Belly Dancers and Fire Spinners in performance at Burning Man and the annual Pagan Festival in Berkeley.

James is a video artist and was producer of Benicia Video Theatre where he taught video to high school students and showed them in the local cable access channel.  His short film, La Masquera, has been screened at Film Arts in San Francisco to great reviews.  He has 4 years of training in TV and Video production from Solano College in Fairfield, California.