I have many names.

My first name, Cynthia, was given to me by my mother in tribute to her own mother, the folksinger Cynthia Gooding. Early on in my childhood I learned that this was also one of the epithets given to the Greek goddess Artemis, who cares for the wild things of the forest and rules over the hunt, rites of passage, the birth of children and the cycles of the Moon and tides.

As a virgin goddess, Artemis treasures and protects those of us who defy institutionalized gender and sexual roles and relationship styles. When I began exploring and expanding my own experience of gender, I adopted the name Silence Merry Roads, which I then shorted to Si or Cy.

My first initiation took place amidst the fires and uprisings of summer 2020, and I was given another name which refers to the god as singer, wild improvisor, who spreads their voice across the many to comprise the whole symphony of time. I believe the stars reflect this symphony, not as notation or instruction but as one fractal chorus within the whole. Most of my close friends still call me Dithy, an affectionately shortened form of this name.