She was wonderful. Not always nice, but that's not at all the same thing.

I too often thought of Wiccans as ignoring theology and archaology for some rose painted fluffy universe.

Many do :-( Also, it often seems that the most vocal wiccans are the fluffbunnies.

Now the best thing you can do, as you mourn, is to use what she gave you and continue with your community and help each other. But you probably already knew this.

Yes, I did. The entire coven has been very, very nice through all of this, and I'm sure that we'll do well in the future. We know what Laila wanted to achieve in the long run, and at least some of us will try to fulfill that.