Never did I think that I would celebrate 5 years of blogging in January 2023. I first met Jason Mankey at Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG) in June 2017. That was my first PSG, and I wanted to take as many workshops as I could.
Jason was teaching a daily workshop on the history of Pagan Gods and Goddesses. Since I love history, and had heard he was an excellent author, it was only natural I would attend those workshops.
He was going to attend a workshop after his with Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary. I stayed there to talk with him about me possibly writing my memoir someday. Asking what I would call it, I said Between Two Worlds, My Journey as a Pagan Transwoman.
Jason thought about it and told me about Patheos.com and asked if I would like to start by blogging about my journey. I must admit I didn’t jump into the fray at first. Later that fall, Jason invited me to start blogging on The Agora as a contributor.
I had contributed a few articles for a LGBT publication before, but I was to learn a lot more about writing for a blog. My 5 years as a blogger started in January 2018. This was my very first blog article here.
Through Jason, I also met Astrea Taylor. For the first few articles I wrote they did some editing for me. But they were also busy with their own lives working and writing so I had a “baptism of fire” of sorts writing on my own. Learning as I went. Getting comments on what I was writing, some good, some not so good, really helped me.
Since Hekate was my primary Goddess I decided to blog about my relationship with Her. Not every article, but quite a few. I was taking a one year and a day class taught by Cyndi Brannen at the time, Hekate’s Modern Witchcraft. She gave me a lot of encouragement. On the first couple of articles she helped with some editing.
Here’s my first blog article about Hekate called My Journey With Hekate. Here’s the link to that article.
Blogging on The Agora has really helped me through a lot of issues in my life. Through my writing, I have shared some very personal details of my life. I never thought I would write about things like that. That vulnerability ended up being very healing to me in many ways. This was the start of many personal articles on my blog.
I believe that blogging about my experiences as a Pagan transwoman has helped others like me in my greater Pagan and LGBT communities. There are many others who question themselves and sometimes, also like me, don’t know where to turn. For me suicide was not an option, although years ago I had actively considered it. That’s why I blog. To give trans people hope.
Sometimes I blog about relationships that I’ve had in my life. In the summer of 2018 a friend asked if I would help a young woman I knew with a place to live temporarily. She was in an abusive living arrangement, and I had a spare bedroom at the time. It was an incredible learning experience for me living with a millennial.
Blogging about personal relations can be challenging to say the least. I don’t “sugar coat” a lot of my articles. Hekate has always been with me to guide me through some of the more difficult times. Here are two articles that I’ve written about the same woman. I thought, twice, that I would be in a relationship with her. Hekate taught me better.
Here’s the first from 2019.
Here’s the second, a few years later. It’s all about boundaries.
Through my blogging I have met some incredible authors. Many in person over the years at events such as PSG, PaganiCon and PantheaCon. They have all been so supportive and helpful. If I have questions they have given me answers from their own experiences.
In September 2020, I received an email from Jason Mankey and Astrea Taylor. They asked me to contribute an article about my personal practice with Hekate for their upcoming book, Modern Witchcraft with the Greek Gods. I was so honored that they would consider me to write about that. I did, and late last year, The Greek Gods book was published.
My contribution is on pages 194-5. It’s titled Personal Insights With Hekate. It’s the best book that I’ve ever read about the Greek Gods and Goddesses.
When I first started blogging I never thought I’d still be writing 5 years later. Now it’s early 2023 and I’m still at it. I’ve been so blessed to be able to blog along with so many great writers and authors. I owe so much to the writers and editors who helped me along the way. Jason Mankey, Astrea Taylor, Cyndi Brannen to name but a few.
Many thanks to you, Martha Kirby Capo, another great author and blogger. She’s been my editor at The Agora since 2019. She checks all of my articles before she publishes them. It’s been very helpful to me, especially adding photos to my articles.
Will I ever write my memoir? Maybe I already have with my stories on this blog. It’s been quite the journey. I seldom know what my next article will be. Sometime…in the future we’ll all know. Blessed Be!
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