I’ve always disagreed with the view that we don’t need Pagan and occult books.
Continue readingdiversity
Celtic festival names
Some time back I posted a video about cultural appropriation and Lora O’Brien pointed out that the modern Wiccan and Pagan usage of Sabbat names is appropriated from Irish culture and language.
Gerald Gardner and other early Wiccans did not use the Irish names for these festivals — that happened later. Wicca is not a Celtic religion.
It does seem wrong to lift these festivals out of context. There are other old names for these festivals in England and Wales (the Scots Gaelic has similar names to the Irish Gaelic, but pronounced differently).
Continue readingEverything you think you know about Wicca is wrong
This blogpost was inspired by this conversation on Twitter:
The snark quotient of this post may be dangerously high — you’re strongly advised to put your snark goggles on, because I have a snark hammer and I am not afraid to use it.
Continue readingNew book project: spiritual wobbles
Have you had a “wobble” in your Pagan path where you joined another religion, either temporarily or permanently? What caused it, and what other religion did you choose? Did it help you resolve the issue? Did you return to Paganism, or did you stay with the other religion? What did you gain or lose by your exploration of the other path?
Continue readingSacerdotal roles
What title do you use, or prefer? What archetypes do you associate with it? Priestex, Priestess, Priest?
Continue readingSame sex initiation
Fantastic article from Katie Gerrard. I agree 100%. Same sexual initiation should be valid in Wicca.
Continue readingBIPOC Pagan Reading List
A reading list of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) authors covering Paganism, the occult, astrology, Tarot, and Indigenous spirituality.
Note that the deities of African diaspora religions can only be contacted through those religions and not via other religions. And that Indigenous life ways and spiritual practices are specific to their cultures and should not be culturally appropriated.
I’ve put out a call on Twitter and Instagram for more books to add to this list, and I will post updates (as I do with the Queer Pagan Reading List).
Fear and Bigotry
Excellent article by Diane Morrison in response to that transphobic article by JK Rowling.
Fear does not justify bigotry. Trans rights are human rights. This article deconstructs the arguments J.K. Rowling set forth in her opinion piece.
Folklore Against Fascism
One of the highlights of my week is the Folklore Thursday hashtag on Twitter. I’ve not had time to look at it for a few weeks though, so it seems I missed the occasion when some völkisch fascists tried to hijack it, much to the horror of the regular participants.
One of them accordingly started a second hashtag, Folklore Against Fascism, and several participants tweeted about their opposition to fascism and commitment to inclusive folklore.
Follow Friday
Just been having a conversation with someone I’m following about how to find good blogs to follow on WordPress.
I don’t use the search function very often. I have found the occasional good stuff via search, but it is rare.
Instead, I follow the blogs of people who write good comments on blogs I’m already following. Or people I find on Twitter or Instagram who share an interesting article. Or people I know from other contexts.
I have also followed a lot of people whose posts are featured in The River Crow’s excellent series, Friday Foraging.
In this post, I am going to share a list of the people whose blogs I am following on WordPress. (The title is from #FollowFriday on Twitter)
