Respect closed practices! Either go through the proper channels to be initiated or leave them alone!
Respect indigenous and diasporic cultural traditions! Many of these cultures were nearly wiped out by colonization. Respect the boundaries of what you can and can’t practice as an outsider.
Purchase crystals from reputable sources! Some crystals are mined unethically and through minimally-paid or slave labor.
Stop supporting shops and authors who appropriate from closed cultures! It should be obvious, but don’t buy dreamcatchers from a non-Native person and avoid metaphysical authors who perpetuate racist stereotypes about marginalized religions and magical traditions.
Listen to and prioritize witches of color/practitioners of color in dialogues about racism, cultural appropriation, and exotification in the magical communities.
Examine your own craft and see if you are unintentionally appropriating any cultures
Educate yourself on practices outside of your own so you don’t unintentionally invalidate or appropriation marginalized religions and spiritual practices.
Allow me to make one thing perfectly clear to you gadjo (non-romani/Roma people)
👏STOP SAYING THE FUCKING WORD GYPSY👏
You don’t have a “gypsy soul”, there’s nothing sexy about being forced to be a nomad because of government persecution
You’re not a “gypsy witch”, divinitation (crystal balls, tarot cards, palm reading, etc) was used to razzle dazzle the gadjo because governments made it ILLEGAL to employ Romani people
50-65% of the Romani population in Europe was wiped out because of the Holocaust because Hitler hated the “dirty gypsies”. You read that right, 50-65% of the Romani population DEAD because of the Holocaust.
No, you don’t have “gypsy style” because your idea of “gypsy style” is romanticized garbage, made up by European travelers when the camera became mobile and they explored Asia (this romanticization and fetishizing was a wide spread issue with each culture and population they encountered, posing the people in positions and outfits THEY DEEMED SEXY, not what the natives found comfortable/attractive). Fashion stores, STOP USING BOTS to auto like “gypsy” tags on Instagram, this is a HUGE problem there
Some Romani/Roma have tried to reclaim the term (similar to queer with the lgbt community), but many Romani still find the term gypsy incredibly hurtful.
When most of us enter the craft, we step into a new world where suddenly so much we thought was impossible is now alive and at our fingertips. We have to keep our ingrained skepticism at bay and reshape what we believe, and for a while we resign ourselves to just believing in everything.
I think that’s a dangerous place to stay in, though. It’s a mindset that stops us from really believing firmly in anything because we opt instead for the easier “I guess so.” It provides no structure for defending what we believe in. It leaves room for wishful thinking to be accepted as fact without analysis. It also leaves the door wide open for extremism and toxic misinformation to just be accepted without question. (Example, the love-and-light woman who inspired me to write this believed that other people’s “bad vibes” were directly and very literally carcinogenic. She also couldn’t seem to register why actual cancer survivors and their loved ones were so upset with her.)
There are people who push themselves past their limits because someone told them they could easily do the impossible if they just tried a little harder. “Magic spells” that encourage repeated self-harm for the promise of physical wings. People that abandon accessible medical care for alternative methods they learned online, while the illness worsens. Self-delusion is still absolutely possible, even if the line has moved. Finding that line is important.
It actually strengthens your craft to have firm boundaries on what you believe. That doesn’t give you the right to harass someone over harmless things (because everyone agreeing isn’t the goal) but having beliefs with a foundation is important. It requires you to understand what you believe and why you believe it, what you do and don’t accept, where your values lie, you get the idea. As you gain more experience and information, those boundaries can move and adjust. Maybe X doesn’t work after all, or you didn’t give Y the chance it deserved. And if you can back up why you think that, all of the power to you.
The “three-fold-law” is bullcrap and thats not what it means.
YES the title’s inflammatory and trust me this isnt a bash against wicca as a religion. Just Bear with me PLEASE
As much as ive been loving researching wicca (despite simply being a secular witch atm) i have a huge gripe with neo-wicca as it stands in relation to their thoughts on cause and effect.
The “law” started with one comment from Gerald Gardner’s novel, High Magic’s Aid,
“Mark well, when thou receivest good, so equally art bound to return good threefold.”
Which actually means the opposite of “the three fold law” its saying when you recieve good things you’re obligated to do good onto others and the world as an act of gratitude and appreciation for what you’ve recieved.
because of this misinterpretation a poem was published in a magazine back in 1975 entitled “the wiccan rede” which isn’t the rede btw, the rede is just “an it harm non do what ye will” which is meant as a guidance to help you think about your actions, not a law. Because of that one poem we’re here with the obviously incorrect notion that absolutely everything returns 3 times as bad which im sorry but look at the world we live in with horrid people getting the best and the 1% and good people in ditches. No.
The wiccan rede isnt a law and wiccan never had a Threefold law of return until it got to the public and everyone misinterpreted simple lines of wisdom and teaching as laws because they were so used to the bible and commandments.
Furthermore, elder wiccans realised presenting the rede as law would abate the fear of curses or evil from the uninitiated public.
This is a hot topic today, it must be in the air.
Wowza ya learn smth new everyday….
Minor add on is that the 70s was also a large time where hindu and Buddhist teachings were assimilated into “new age” leading many (mostly american) covens teaching about karma as it was fascinating and assumedly made sense to them.
I don’t bash the belief of karma though i dont hold it. Its simply the claim that its an old wiccan law as old as the rede. (Or even that the rede is a law)
I never believed in it anyway, it never made sense, but good to know it was never a thing in the first place.
Also the way Wiccans/Neo-Wiccans teach karma is not accurate. Karma (essentially) relates to how actions in this life will reflect how an individual is reincarnated. It is NOT a “what you put out in the world comes back to you”. Karma has nothing to do with THIS life.
And ALSO let’s remember Gardner himself was perfectly happy to throw curses if he felt he had a good enough reason. To this day, most initiate Wiccans, especially of the more traditional sects, generally don’t believe the Rede is a law (that’s literally not even what the word means), or in threefold return of all energies. Because… that was never actually part of the religion.
So in short, dear Rede-thumping, curse-shaming sub-type of neo-Wiccans:
That’s not what threefold return means.
That’s not what karma means/stop appropriating shit.
That’s not what the Rede says.
That’s not how Wicca works.
Some of us aren’t Wiccan anyway and don’t welcome evangelizing.
Frickin’ learn your history/talk to actual educated Wiccans.
The feel when a post about how “newer spells are 95% fake bc spells only work for the creator, except when its “older spells” because they are more tested” has replies like great wisdom! Good post!
Yikes.
(In case you are wondering what the issue is:
1. If you are saying 95% of the spells available today (which includes older spells), only work for the creator, it doesnt matter how old the spell is. It just works for the creator, because the argument in the post is that spells work because it becomes highly personalized.
I personally think “highly personalized” spells are useful when it comes to being inclusive and making the spell easier for the practitioner to match to their specific environmental, mental, and physical needs (ie not having to remember a 50 word chant while standing for 20 minutes holding a lit candle in the middle of the woods, nude)
But that doesnt say anything to me about whether or not that spell is more successful beyond if a spell technique is easy to do for the spell caster the more likely that spell caster is going to choose to do it.
Simply put: people are likely to do things more frequently when it is easy and accessible for then to do those things.
Based on my experience my success rate is not on personalized spells verses other creatoes spells, its based on a myriad of other factors including whether or not the spell is actually achievable.
2. Age = quality, wrt spells argument has been made for years. Yes, newer spells have not been performed as much as older spells might have simply bc they are literally newer. In addition to that, newer spells dont have the people willing to test spells, the same way that others do. A lot of people turn up their noses and dont bother with it. So that means they are guessing that a newer spell doesnt work without actually performing it.
So how can a newer spell become rigorously tested if no one tests it but the creator?
3. In addition to that, how the heck do you know that a spell was rigorously tested by anyone else besides the creator? Just because it is old doesnt mean it was wide spread and in common practice. The argument that age equates to commonality makes me question exactly… how the op thinks spells were shared without the internet? And if the op is discussing say the New Age section? Then thats a very specific influence of magic out of the Wicca brand to Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, rather than the folk magic spells or culturally significant spells in other places. I MIGHT have missed this argument that they made because I noped out of the discussion too early. But the point I am making is valid, the equation of commonality with age is not true. Spell techniques across decades change. Regionally spell ingredients change.
So making it a “exception” to the rule seems strange and like they are trying desperately to cover their ass in a particular corner case that doesnt apply. Because if spells ONLY work for the creator, then what about all the experiences people have with a particular common spell such as some that come from buckland or cunningham. As well as the case that dont go looking into historic magic because the creator is dead and therefore the access to the creator’s ability to cast that spell is dead. It died with them.
Seems like we are trying to fit two beliefs that dont agree with each in a perfect bundle instead of spending time accessing and addressing why a particular subset of spells (ie: newer spells) arent working for you if you are actually performing them (bc if you arent, there is nothing I can help with there. I cant help the spell caster who refuses to cast) . Is it a mindset or a paradigm shift you need to get into? Is it a problem of ingredients? Is it an access issue? Adaption issue? Are the goals of the spells not something that applies to you?
But these questions aren’t limited to newer spells, but in fact all spells can be asked these questions.
For starters, if you don’t know who Crowley was (no, not the Supernatural dude), he was a 1900s occultist who coined a portion of what modern witchcraft uses today, such as the word “magick” which he, although did not ‘invent’, popularised. (you’ll learn why I denounce that term and try to educate people who use it in a second). He was, in a nutshell, everything modern society hates. Racist, antisemitic, sexist, you name it and Crowley was it.
Crowley wrote several books about the occult, some of them having slightly useful information and still are referenced today, but his occult books are not what I intend to talk about. Little known to most, Crowley wrote an essay entitled “The Jewish Problem”, that title is enough of a disgrace, but what is actually IN the writing is atrocious, which I will be going over in a second. In other writing, he refers to Jewish people as “parasites”, “a barbarous race”, talks about how Jewish people are their bad stereotypes, among other things. This article does a wonderful job of compiling some of his worst quotes and explaining how racist he really is, as well as explaining some of the undertones of the quotes.
“Christians and other troglodytes — but most especially the parasites of man, the Jews (The New Comment on Liber AL, III:11)“
“the Jews were an entirely barbarous race, incapable of any spiritual pursuit. (preface to 777, printed in The Equinox, Vol. 1, No. 8)”
“A similar case is presented by the Jew, who really does only too often possess the bad qualities for which he is disliked (Confessions, chapter 54)“
“But in America, the Christian elements have been removed so that wealthy Jews may reach the summit of masonry. (Confessions, chapter 72)“
“It has been said that every nation has the government which it deserves. I would add, the type of Jew which it deserves. (Confessions, chapter 61)“
“the Jews are a critically important factor in the social and economic problems of the day (Confessions, chapter 75)“
Anyway, he also used to throw slurs at his Jewish friend Victor Neuburg andadmitted to being interested in fascism multiple times.
As for quotes from The Jewish Problem:
“Israel has corrupted the world, whether by conquest, by conversion, or by conspiracy. The Jew has eaten his way into everything.”
“The Jew, living so long on sufferance, by subterfuge, servility, and self-effacement, has taught his tricks to the whole world.“
And many, many, many more.
Some of his comments on other groups of people:
About Chinese people: “One cannot fraternize with the Chinese of the lower classes; one must treat them with absolute contempt and callousness“ / “The Chinese does not respect the white man as the Indian does — for his possession of high moral qualities.“
About Mexican people: “Neither the coyotes nor the turkey-buzzards will touch a dead Mexican. His flesh has been too thoroughly impregnated with chillies and other pungent condiments.”
About black people: “Where Islam and Christianity meet in open competition, as in some parts of Africa, it is found that only the lowest type of Negro, such as is accustomed to arrange matters with conscience by hanging a rag on a piece of stick, accepts Christianity”
About Indian people: “I am not fond of Benaglis at the best and he as the worst specimen of his race I have ever seen. He was fat and oily, with small piglike treacherous eyes.”
Crowley also heavily used the term “black magic” in reference to the “dark art” types of witchcraft, this term is now considered racist by a good portion of the community. Not to mention he was also a regular user of the N slur! I’m talking hard-R.
I never much liked the usage of magic with a K to start with, but I’ve been learning more and more about AC as time has passed, I’ve started denouncing it entirely and educating people about it’s connections to him as best as I can, most people have no idea how awful he is. It’s scary to think that someone so despicable is still heavily referenced and worshiped in the Occult community, so I wanted to finally make this post. I am asked a lot about it and why I hate the term “magick” so much, now you all know. I hope you will consider using the terms witchcraft, or even just magic rather than adding the K at the end, because we all know what the K stands for now, and who it represents. This is not even the beginning of how awful he was, there is so much more that can be dug up. I encourage you to do it, research him and understand how absolutely terrible he was. Please.
He was a super creep like whenever someone mentions him all I can think is how he would cum in food, ect (for ritual purposes) and he wouldn’t tell anyone.
Ew. O.o to be honest this is why I find ritual magic and magicians to be so off-putting. I do know genuinely lovely people who are into such things but so many of them model themselves after Crowley etc and think what they’re doing is cool and edgy. Firstly magic isn’t meant to be cool, it’s not a game. But also there’s nothing edgy about racism etc. O.o I don’t know, I always liked the look of ‘magick’ but now I understand that the insinuations are related to a racist edgelord who wanted to make himself seem elitist, no thanks. This would also explain why I’ve been having creepy dreams with him involved. O.o
Yeah… I was reading up on Crowley for writing research, as I’ve been wanting to get some details right for a project. Anyway, just the historical foreword to his Book IV sent up about a dozen red flags, which it seemed as if the guest writer was attempting to gloss over—I just got a huge sense that there was much “in between the lines” that actually might make people less excited to read a Crowley book, so it couldn’t get published in one.
Lo and behold, a few minutes of independent research later, I found out that he tended to go through women like tissue paper, but at one point was married to one Rose Edith Kelly. She was who from which he received much of his guidance for The Book of the Law—she would go into a trance via ritual and would dictate knowledge for him. This was a role he often had women in his life fulfill—he would typically draw them into his circle, ply them with substances and with his noteworthy charisma, and before long, they would start spouting secret knowledge on his behalf, often enduring some very questionable conditions. Anyway, Rose and him had two children, and it is said she developed a drinking problem, but it is also fact he committed her to an asylum for “alcohol dementia” in her thirties a couple years after their divorce. Further research uncovered another noteworthy name: Mary Desti, who it seems Crowley met the same year he had Rose committed. She was the “seer” who revealed much of his seminal Book IV. Her son, the playwright Preston Sturges, was none-too-happy to recount that in her induced trances, if she stepped out of line in any way, including if she would start a sentence with “I”, Crowley would slice open her arm with a penknife. Some may start to wonder less why Rose started to drink. Mary would later leave Crowley as well, and Crowley would head over to another mistress, and the train of the world’s fascination with him would keep rolling.
I could go on for ages; this is an exceedingly small sample of how he treated those nearest and “dearest” to him. It honestly put me off using the term “magick” in my project and deeply put me off using many other elements of his work. The sanitized elements that trickled down and insinuated themselves into later traditions… I suspect there is good reason those survived, but lionizing Crowley himself is not an act I think I could look at without some suspicion.
Ew… O.o and I’m guessing he simply said that these things were revealed to him with no credit to the women involved. When you say ‘seer’ do you think it’s more likely that she was simply being put into an altered state of consciousness and suggested to rather than actually being given wisdom by spirits?
MY BLESSINGS UPON THIS ENTIRE POST
Yeah Crowley was an arsehole and half the reason I side-eye “ceremonial” magicians.
I don’t usually soap-box, but I’m going to for a hot sec since this has been on my mind:
Cults are getting better branding, prettier leaders, hipper-sounding cosmologies, and wider reaches due to social media. They’re not all deity-focused. Thoughtful, intelligent people can get sucked into them. Just…stay safe out there, guys. Do your research, look at all your options, and trust your gut, not your guru.
I’m glad this is resonating with people.
I do want to emphasize, again, that cults (and toxic groups with cult-like attributes, I’m using this term pretty loosely) don’t usually look like what you’d expect. A lot of toxic and dangerous religious movements are tiny and you won’t find much about them via Google. Cultish non-religious movements are the same way.
Start-ups, multi-level marketing companies, activist groups, fan groups, political groups, and internet gurus who run retreats can all be cult-like and dangerous. Tune your BS detector, ask family, friends, and experts for advice.
Here are some warning signs:
Pressure – pressure to make quick decisions, to give (or pledge) considerable amounts of money, to move in with a group, to abandon family or cut off friends. Elevated Leaders – anyone claiming special insight, special powers, or that they aren’t human. Demanding special treatment (compared to other followers). Misuse of funds or money collecting at the top. physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse. Lack of accountability or oversight. Isolation – encouraging (or requiring) members to cut off family relationships, friendships with those outside of the group, leaving jobs, moving to isolated areas, taking away communication methods. Strong “us-vs-them” mentality. Vilification of ex-members. Love-bombing. Altered states of consciousness – long work hours, sleep deprivation, lack of access to adequate food or water. Otherwise unproblematic activities like meditation/prayer/chanting, but done for hours. Discouraging doubt – discouraging or punishing doubt and critical thinking.
We’ve all seen these before, and I’m sure I’m missing quite a few that are out there. The photos above describe exactly what I will be talking about. The images that
state paganism has nothing to do with Christianity or the devil
state christians stole from pagans
state pagans are only connected to nature
state pagans are always peaceful and loving
state pagans never harm
and so on
I will be giving reasons why I (and you should too) hate these things with a passion of a thousand suns.
Reason 1: They are straight up wrong
They ignore the facts behind what they’re talking about. The images are pent up ignorance spreading across the internet. For example, the pentacle is used in so many different religions. This includes Christianity. Heck, its even used in non-religious ways too. A star in a circle is not contained to one belief system or practice. There is no universal pagan symbol.
Reason 2: they spread wrong information about what Paganism is
Paganism is an umbrella term. It covers a huge amount of different religions and spiritual beliefs. They’re all different, but should be treated with the respect they deserve.
Reason 3: they erase and ignore certain pagan beliefs and pagan religions
There is no one pagan belief. There is no one pagan religion. There is no one pagan way of life. These images ignore the existence of different pagans, and they help destroy what paganism really is. It is an umbrella term. When you erase and ignore (even demonize) other people’s beliefs only bad things will come from it.
Various beliefs (not all listed) that are erased because of these images
Satanism (if identifying as pagan)
Luciferism (if identifying as pagan)
Christopaganism
various Hellenic based paganism
various Norse based paganism
paganism that includes sacred hunts
and so on
Reason 4: They help promote hate, ignorance, and religious intolerance
These images help spread hate towards various other pagan beliefs like Christo-Paganism, pagan beliefs that have abrahamic influences, and a whole bunch of pagan beliefs that can include (but not limited to)
worshipping war deities
worshipping entities that aren’t all good or nature based
worshipping/honoring various non-deity entities like cities, faeries, landmarks, demons, angels, and so on
You’ve heard it before the “true pagan” or “true paganism”. These phrases are often used to put down other pagans with different beliefs from the “norm” dictated by the creators of these photos or those with similar thinking.
It doesn’t matter how you shape or phrase it. Religious intolerance is never ok (does not include appropriation). These images are religious intolerance bundled up in a horribly done internet pic.
Reason 5: The promote outright hatred and intolerance towards Christianity and various abrahamic beliefs.
These photos promote the image of “Bad Guy Christian” or “Intolerant Christian”. It paints Christianity as a murdering thief. Truthfully? These were born from the anger caused from the extreme minority.
We all probably think that its wrong to judge a majority based on its extreme minority. I bet some of you are thinking “Its bad to think all pagans are devil worshippers"
Well it goes the other way. Its bad to think all Christians are intolerant monsters.
I won’t deny that there are cruel Christians, and I won’t deny the bloody past of Christianity (but then again anything lasting that long is going to have a bloody past), but its foolish to think that there aren’t cruel Pagans. Its ignorant to think any one group is the exception of problems. Here is a secret, there are assholes everywhere. And its horrible to demonize a certain group because of the minority of extremists.
Reason 6: The misinformation about “Pagan Holidays” vs Christian Holidays
I could go on an entire rant about how wrong this is, but others have already talked about the subject (and honestly they are better writers than me)
Reason 7: Wrongful grouping of pagan beliefs (aka the one Pagan religion)
This probably connects with previously stated things about erasure and ignoring, but I feel it should also be talked about separately.
These images spread the misconception of the “One Pagan Religion/Belief"
People come into here to learn about paganism, and these images help spread the myth of there being one universal pagan religion/belief.
It paints paganism as a peaceful, magical, nature based religion, which can be true for some pagan beliefs and religions; however, its not true of paganism as a whole.
Paganism is all colors of the rainbow not just green.
—–
Welp, I think I covered the majority of what’s wrong with these images. If I missed something, reblog and add it in~
This Is Not A Drill, I’m giving you a month notice!
Prepare yourselves witches and bitches because good news is incoming.
July 13, 2018
Is a Friday
Is a New moon
Has a partial solar eclipse
Is 12 days before Mercury in Retrograde in Leo begins.
It is such a freak of nature event it won’t happen again until June 13, 2132.
IT IS A PERFECT DAY FOR MAGIC. Here are some ideas or jumping off points regarding this day and night!
New moons are good for banishings, ending of cycles, new beginnings, baneful magic, spell negation/undoing, secrets. I also view new moons as a time of truths as the dark moon is the moon’s natural state (it does not have its own luminescence.)
Fridays are related to the planet Venus, relate to love, relationships, passion, potential.
Eclipses are connected to potential, completion, rarity, perfect timing. Some believe that it encapsulates an entire season or month as you see moon, sun, and lack of moon at the same time. Death, rebirth, and possibility (a night within a day)
The Rabbit’s Foot
The tradition in America of carrying a lucky rabbit’s foot is one of many cultures that have thought the rabbit has brought luck, and prosperity, but using it for protection and safety as well as luck has come from African Hoodoo tradition. According to certain hoodoo lore, the lucky rabbits foot could only be made on a new moon and a Friday (other lore says full moon on Friday). The rabbit had to be caught (some cases caught by hand, others, shot with a silver bullet) in a graveyard (any graveyard, but the original states it had to be a black or slave graveyard) at midnight.
This combination of acts, being so hard to fulfill was offered to the spirits as a sort of penance or trial by fire to prove worth and offering to protect the owner of the foot from supernatural forces and act as a road opener. As part of hoodoo tradition this isn’t something that I suggest you do. I share it as an example of how an auspicious day like this was used in the not so distant past. And how folklore, magic and amulets of cultures can be white washed and trickle down into everyday life.
The Alraun
Also known as alraune or plant familiar was a process of creating a vessel for a spirit familiar out of a root. The creator would go out and harvest a cthonic or poisonous herb (traditionally mandrake, bryony, or dandelion) on a new moon and Friday. A circle around the plant would be drawn, the root dug up after conferring with the spirits and choosing which one would inhabit the vessel. The roots are washed in wine, fed milk, honey and a drop of blood and carved with features resembling a human. The top removed and the root trimmed, it would then be brought home. Cleansed and covered in a clean cloth (a funeral shroud) it would be stored in a handmade box (the coffin of the alraun). The spirit would be fed and cleansed monthly (or weekly) in return for doing the bidding of the owner. The lore for the alraune is so varied it can make your head spin, for more examples and information, here’s an article that covers history, culture, historical reference and some examples of “requirements”.
Divination
With so much happening, divination is an excellent thing to do on this day. As an eclipse (visible or not) is a rarity that encompasses an entire year in a moment in some traditions. You could do a year ahead spread with tarot or oracle cares to gain some insight on what’s to come. Try your hand at a new type of divination as new beginnings and skills are represented by this day: scrying, candle reading, runes, casting lots etc.
Prosperity
Bayberry is very connected to prosperity and money drawing spells. As it is so costly to produce, it is usually saved for special occasions or to mark a prosperous future at the beginning of the new year.
Cleansings/Grounding
As stated, new moons and eclipses are connected to new beginnings, breaking cycles and habits and one of the easier ways to get started on that path is to cleanse or ground yourself, your tools, and your space. Take a ritual bath using seasonal herbs and flowers! Save yourself some clean up and place in a sachet and toss in your bath.
Spirit Work
As this is a day that is so unique, connected to witches through lore of Friday the 13th and the moon crossing over the sun, it makes sense that the veil would be thin on this date. Already the Friday and new moon have be referenced as a creation date for a spirit familiar, but contacting spirits, working with house spirits, fae and deities would be something to consider. A rare occasion, as if Samhain or Walpurgisnacht suddenly appeared is what this can mean for you and your workings. Pay homage to your ancestors and guides, they deserve it.
Make some powders, portable spells, or even hex powder!
Create a tool of your own, by hand. Make a wand, a spirit board, your own black scrying mirror.
Prepare for the mercury in retrograde if you’re susceptible by making a charm, carrying a blessed nail or spike, supercharging wards, protections or shields, whatever floats your boat!
These are just a few things to consider! As the Summer solstice is in a little over a week, you could consider utilizing the solstice to gather, collect and prepare for another working the following month. Whether that’s infusing an oil, making moon water for a full cycle or creating bundles of herbs to burn, have at it! I’d love to see what y’all come up with 🙂
One last thing, tonight is a new moon as well, so beginning something to prepare would be a wonderful idea. Make some black salt that you charge on your altar from new moon to new moon. Make a poppit and complete a bit each day until next month. Try some sympathetic magic and see how much can be accomplished in a month, that ends in a year.
I hope you are excited, I know I am. And my group of witches are planning a ritual ourselves for next month.
The gendering of everything, including inanimate objects like rocks, in two binary genders which some will insist don’t correspond with human genders yet conveniently match up with all the Western gender stereotypes
An entire cosmology built around said binary
Getting angry when, e.g., a trans woman says, “Sorry, I would rather not be labeled as having any male energy” or if a nonbinary person tries to explain, “No,
my agender ass is not a mix of male and female energies, thanks.”
The emphasis on using heterosexual (and only heterosexual) sex as a metaphor for creation and fertility
The emphasis on sex in general over other forms of fertility
The pressure to engage in sex (particularly heterosexual sex) and the shaming of those who aren’t into it as being oppressive and blinded by Christian baggage or w/e
Breaking down the three major archetypes of womanhood based on the ability to reproduce. (And not doing the same for manhood. And not including nonbinary people at all.)
TE/RF/s. So many T/ER/Fs. The label may be relatively new, but neopagan spheres have been full of rad/ic/al fem/ini/sts who exclude trans people for decades.This is what initially drove me away during my first stab at the religion back in the 90′s. To this day I feel a jolt of fear when I meet someone who worships exclusively female deities.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t any Wiccan and Wicca-adjacent groups that don’t have these problems, or that groups of a more recon bent are entirely free of these problems. But I personally wasn’t able to find any acceptance at all until I discovered recon communities.
Man, I talk about this a lot. It’s always disheartening when I buy a new book on Witchcraft to read and come to find out it’s riddled with ~feminine and masculine energies~ crap. Now I research books beforeI buy them, but the $3-7 ones from the thrift store I pick up on occasion are a toss up.
This is especially true for my younger years. It was extremely disheartening and turned me off to witchcraft when I was younger.
Didn’t help that most Wiccan groups (FB and IRL) were just made up of racist, homophobic white soccer moms “embracing feminine energies/womanhood of witchcraft”. Not a good environment for my agender self.
I don’t see my broom as a masculine object, sorry.
fair--y backup 