The Radical Pantheist: The Highest High (Marijuana in Religion)

September 17, 2018 By Luke Gardner

When people think of weed in a religious context, many might focus on modern Rastafarianism in Jamacia, sometimes reducing the religion to simplistic stereotypes. Consumption of cannabis is an integral part of the religion that is used to connect to the wisdom of Jah (God) and the self, according to jamacians.com. Still, Rastafarianism is much deeper than cannabis usage and is not the only religion that sanctifies the drug. Cannabis has been used in spiritual practices around the world for thousands of years.

Weed Medical Marijuana Cannabis Marijuana. CC0 Public Domain Image via MaxPixel.

Sara Dilley in an article on Leafly describes some of the ways the drug has been used in differing societies. According to the article, cannabis was first used by an elite class of Taoist Shamans in China, at least until the country became Confucist in 200 C.E.

Dilley’s piece continues to explain that the magical plant also holds a place in Hinduism, where multiple sacred stories depict cannabis as a creation of the gods and practitioners partake in and offer cannabis to the gods. The drug is sacred in Tibet too, according to Dilley, who wrote that Mahayana Buddhists partook of the herb, which is believed by some to have been used by Buddha, to aid in meditation. Even ancient Greeks used the herb in ritual and to ward off evil spirits, sometimes burning it in the rooms of their children.

A a Cannabis Digest article claims that evidence suggests that Native Americans were using cannabis over a thousand years before people in Asia. In the passionate piece, author Allister Greene describes the many ways in which some tribes used the herb including cooking and making smoke blends for ritual, meditation, medicine and prayer.

For his Viceland documentary series, WEEDIQUETTE, Krishna Andavolu explores how Cannabis is being used in mainstream Christianity, first by pointing out that many people put weed usage in a false binary- either medical or recreational. Andavolu argues that this narrative ignores the multiple ways that weed has been and is being used spiritually.

He then interviews members of a stoner Bible study group who express they enjoy the experience because of its lack of judgment and structure and the ability to have meaningful conversations while in an elevated state of mind.

Entirely knew religions have been formed around weed. Elevationism is one such religion, comprised of the belief that cannabis use can help facilitate one’s personal spiritual journey. Although some Elevationists live elsewhere, many practice their religion at the International Church of Cannabis in Denver, Colorado, the inside of which is undoubtedly one of the most colorful rooms known to humankind.

The church’s website describes its mission as one to create a sacred space for people of all religious and cultural background to join together in the presence of cannabis and without a strict authoritarian structure or a set of universal rules.

A common theme amongst varying religions’ relation to cannabis is the idea that it can be used to enter altered states, places where humanity connects with and learns from the divine.

In a piece for Conscious Lifestyle Mag, Stephen Gray discusses the spiritual effects of cannabis.

Gray believes that cannabis has a clarifying and amplifying effect when used in mindfulness meditation and ceremonies. He continues to explain that the dosage and strain make a significant difference in the experience. You don’t want a strain that will make you sleepy or make you lose focus during a meditation session, so it’s important to do the research beforehand.

Gray offers a simple cannabis meditation:

“With eyes closed, both feel and imagine the breath coming in and moving through your whole body. You feel or imagine it flowing up into the head, down into the arms, the torso, the legs, and right down to the feet and toes. The inhalation can be felt as a loosening and expansion, like a balloon or tire inflating. The exhalation can be experienced as a slow deflation, keeping your attention on it right to the end before inviting the next inhalation.”

In an article on Broadly, Sarah Lyons delves into some of the historical spiritual usages of the plant. Lyons wonders why using weed in witchcraft isn’t more commonly talked about and theorizes that it’s because cannabis and psychedelics are illegal and controversial, making it hard to talk about them in print and sometimes impossible to encourage in print.

Lyons also closes with a simple breathing meditation, using one she received from Melissa Madara, a Brooklyn witch who co-owns Catland Books.

“You should lie on your back, focus on your deep breathing, and push your mind’s eye deep, deep into your body,” she says. “Each new breath brings in fresh air, white light, and healing energy, and each exhale expels tension, old emotions, and stress from the body.”

A detailed piece on Luna Luna Magazine online describes a ritual that can be used with cannabis. Moxie McMurder explains in the piece that the first step in a weed ritual is to grind the weed with purpose. McMurder offers a mantra to help focus the intention and and explains that words related to the desired outcome should be written mindfully on the blunt or joint paper. Next, the joint is packed while using mantras and visualizations to help direct energy. The joint is then lit with a candle that color matches the intent. After that, the joint is smoked using mindfulness, visualization, mantras, intention, or other techniques, to direct energy. McMurder recommends ending the ritual by dropping the roach in a bowl of saltwater.

In regards to cannabis and its intersection with religion, I recommend you do what feels right for you. There are endless ways that weed has been used and will be used for spiritual purposes. Cannabis is a cord that bonds people from across the globe by allowing several cultures to reap its spiritual benefits in their own unique way. In that way, cannabis is undeniably divine.

The Corner Crone: Here We Have Gathered . . .

September 15, 2018 By Martha Kirby Capo

. . . 3 Things I Learned About Leading Large Group Ritual

Here I sit a few days after I and members of my Kindred led the Opening Circle for the Chicago Pagan Pride Festival—my throat still a little achy and raw, the muscles of my back and arms somewhat stiff and sore, and feeling like I am coming off of a mild case of the flu. My mind and heart continue to absorb the experience of channeling the energies of those who gathered to focus their intentions toward healing. As part of my process of making meaning from my experience, I thought I’d write about it for this month’s blog post. Certainly, I learned more than three things but in the interest of time I’ll keep the list short (You’re very welcome! ).

Opening Circle. Photo used with permission.

1. Seek (and Accept!) Help

Twila York, the Event Coordinator for Greater Chicago Pagan Pride, announced a call for volunteers to lead the Opening and Closing Circles several months before the Festival. Her goal is to create opportunities for Chicago-area groups to make their presence known in the wider community, and so the Opening and Closing Circles are usually led by different collectives each year. It’s a great way to keep the Rituals fresh and a chance to see how other folks do things. I asked members of our Kindred if anyone was willing to work with me on creating and conducting the Opening Circle; seven people responded and we got to work.

Writing is an intimate process (sportswriter Red Smith wrote “you simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed” [n.b. this quote is often attributed to Ernest Hemmingway, who was a fan of Smith’s work]), and writing in a cauldron of eight people of differing Pagan persuasions required that we all be mindful about keeping the creative differences at an energy-filled simmer without boiling over into chaos. I strongly believe our diversity was key to crafting an inclusive Ritual. We were cis, queer, trans, straight, bi, male, female, non-binary; a few of us were witches, a couple were Pagan, one was a Hellenist, a couple of us didn’t particularly identify with any specific Path, and one person was an absolute newbie just beginning to explore Earth-centered spirituality. Four of us had experience writing and leading Ritual.

We started meeting six months before the Festival, brainstorming over how to deal with the logistics of holding a large group Ritual outdoors as well as deciding who was writing which part of the Ceremony. As it happened, two of us were able to attend a workshop on Large Group Ritual led by Ambiaka Maupin and Sean-Thomas Gunnell at PSG a few months before the Festival. They generously shared their workshop notes with those who attended, and we in turn shared those notes with our Ritual writing team. The insights Ambiaka and Sean-Thomas shared from their 25 years of leading large-scale Ritual were invaluable as we continued to fine-tune our Ceremony.

“Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing” by William Blake. From WikiMedia.

2. Practice Makes . . . well, Not Perfect!

Some things that look great on paper don’t translate all that well when put into practice. One issue that quickly became apparent in rehearsals was that I needed at least four hands and a rolling script. Working in the center of a Circle meant I needed to keep moving so that my back wasn’t turned to half of the participants most of the time. As well, working in a large outdoor space meant that no matter how loudly I projected (and I am LOUD) I still needed to be facing the participants in order to be heard. Our group had talked about the possibility of using a sound system but none of us had the funds to purchase what was needed and truthfully the idea of using a mic just didn’t feel right to me. We addressed this issue by assigning a person to hold the binder containing the script, and she and I practiced moving together as I read and she turned pages (and held them down in the wind!).

Speaking of wind, during one of our indoor rehearsals it became apparent that we would need to anchor the silks we were using to cover bowls of water when the breeze from the oscillating fan flipped the fabrics into the water. We had been told the Ritual would be held rain or shine, but wind had not been something we had even considered until that moment. As well, holding more than one rehearsal allowed us to see how the choreographed pieces actually worked, particularly the way we planned to cast the Circle and the way we planned to handle the negative energies we were calling people to release.

A critical part of creating successful Ritual was placing people in roles for which they were particularly suited. Because the way we planned to cast the Circle was fairly dynamic and highly participatory, I asked one of the team members who had a clear understanding of the choreography to lead us off in East and asked her daughter to lead us in South. By the time West was being called the pattern had been established and was easily followed.

Ritual Altar, photo used with permission.

3. “The Code is More What You’d Call Guidelines”

When I’m leading Ritual I always keep this quote from Captain Barbossa (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) in mind. If I don’t leave room for the ineffable—if I have tightly choreographed every movement and strictly adhere to the script precisely as it has been written with no deviation—then there is no room for magic to happen (or, at least, that’s how it works for me). Magic is wild and free, unconstrained by script.

Magic also expects you to be willing to work with it, and that sometimes means a compromise between what you think ought to happen and what is actually happening in the moment. Just as I began drumming to gather people for the Ritual, I saw one of our team members striding purposefully away from the area. As the minutes ticked by and people continued to gather, I started thinking about how we were going to conduct the Ritual without her. She had a highly visible, structurally necessary role to play and we could not simply omit her piece—it was a cornerstone of the whole Ceremony. As I continued to drum, the person holding my binder offered to step into the role should it become necessary. Within a few words we had worked it out. As we started the opening chant our missing team member made it into the Circle and we were able to proceed as originally planned. It turned out she had parked her car in the wrong place and had been asked to move it immediately.

My point in this story is that nobody panicked when we had to start without one of our group being present. We had established a deep trust with each other, and an unwavering confidence both in each other and in Spirit. If, in spite of our months of preparation and rehearsal, the Ritual deviated from the script, we knew that we’d be able to roll with whatever came our way and make it work.

We had planned for an inner circle to surround our altar space; we envisioned that those with mobility concerns would populate this circle and had scripted an invocation for them. It turned out that there were only four or five people who joined the inner group—certainly not the number of folks we thought would for certain-sure create a complete inner circle. This transformed the dynamic of the Ritual in ways we could not have foreseen. It was as if the handful of people sitting at the edge of our working area became living extensions of our altar, fully immersed in and woven into our workings. And one of our inner circle sitters turned out to be Selena Fox!

I had not envisioned myself participating overtly in the Calling of the Quarters and the Center, yet when the Invocations started I found myself standing with each of the Lead Callers and shaking the bells on my staff as each section chanted in the responsorial Calls. I had not envisioned myself using my entire body as I charged the Circle to “[S]tomp your feet upon the ground! Clap your hands together or against your thighs! Drum your sacred drums and shake your sacred rattles! Howl and growl and groan and moan and release all that is negative within you! Release it upon the stone! Release it NOW!” I certainly had not envisioned the tide of energy that came boiling forth when the People howled their release into the Circle as I whirled to thrust my hand out toward the lava stone held by one of my Kindred. It was Magic, wild and free, unconstrained by script.

——-

Just one more note to add—not really a Thing I Learned so much as an observation. This was the first Large Group Ritual I have led and I knew when I said “yes” to the opportunity I would also be saying “yes” to a much higher level of visibility than I generally feel comfortable with. Three people mistook me for a MUCH more well-known Priestess; a couple of people a propos of nothing in particular other than I was just standing nearby asked for personal guidance, and a couple of folks told me they recognized me from somewhere else and asked for hugs (I have no idea who they were). It was very odd. Affirming, but odd.

I end with publicly expressing my heartfelt thanks to the members of my Kindred who participated in crafting and hosting the Opening Ritual for the Greater Chicago Pagan Pride Festival: Andrea, Juni, Kelley, Becky, Jon, Elaine, and Jan. It was an absolute honor to work with you!

Between Two Worlds: My Favorite Sabbat – Mabon

September 13, 2018 By Brianne Raven Wolf

Some of you may ask, why is Mabon my favorite Sabbat? Since I was a very young child, I just loved the autumnal equinox, even before I understood what Mabon was all about.

I grew up on a farm in far western New York State. Some of you may recall my childhood as a trans-child from my first article.

*Bronte Creek Provincial Park Farmhouses, image by Redtc via WikiMedia. CC 4.0 License*

Being the oldest child of four, almost all of my chores were doing outside work. Feeding and watering the chickens, calves, rabbits, and geese at first. Pulling weeds in the garden. Then later adding the beef cattle and pigs to the chore list. As I got older I had to help with bringing in the crops which were mostly hay and small grains for the animals we had. Our farm was pretty self-sufficient. With all the animals, a large garden and some fruit trees and berry bushes, we didn’t lack for food. As long as the weather cooperated. So with what I had to do, I learned responsibility at a very early age.

For me it was wonderful, as I could essentially escape into my own world, working by myself in nature. As long as I finished what I was supposed to do, and refrained from acting like a girl, I didn’t get physically abused. It also helped that my father worked a full-time job in a city 30 miles away.

By the autumnal equinox, all of our outside crops were safely stored in the barn for the winter. Except for the root crops, the garden was mostly finished. My mother was a stay-at-home mom. She along with my next oldest sibling, a sister, took care of processing, canning, and drying some of the root crops in our root cellar. My only responsibility then was to do the majority of that harvest and bring them into the house. That was where the girls’ work was. And I wasn’t able to help there, as I was supposed to be a boy back then.

Except for going to school, I was able to be outside a lot. Our cows and calves were still in the pasture. I would go there every afternoon to check on them. Make sure they were all there and doing well. We had a small creek running through our 50 acre farm so water, and plenty of grass was available to conserve our hay for winter. It was a most beautiful time of year. Leaves were turning. The colors were spectacular. Yellows, reds, browns, and the greens of the pine trees. I would sit under the trees at the end of our farm, and the adjoining forest of our neighbors. Out of sight from everyone. Solitary. Never alone when I was out there. Birds and animals all around. The days were cooler, and I had a lot more time to be grateful for what Gaia had blessed me with.

*Photo by Umberto Cancedda via Pexels. CC0 License.*

It was to be many years later that I found out what this time of year was all about. I always knew I loved nature and being outside. Especially in the spring and fall. But it wasn’t until I took a road trip with my friend Dave, who had been stationed overseas with me, that it all clicked into place. We were driving from where I was stationed in Montana to my parents’ home in New York State, and from there to his parents’ home in Quincy, Massachusetts.

I knew I was different from all my relatives as I didn’t believe what they did in their religions. I just worshipped nature. Pure and simple. I didn’t even consider in my early twenties that the word “pagan” was really what I was and had been. On a side trip, Dave and I ended up in Salem, Massachusetts. It was a watershed moment for me. It felt that I was where I needed to be at the time. A point in time when I would try to learn as much as I could about what I really was in this life.

Now you also have to realize, if you’ve read my articles, that I wasn’t out as a transwoman. Back then there really wasn’t an accurate word for what I was. Now, add in the fact that I now knew I was pagan. Actually, a witch. I had felt a presence there of witches who had been hanged there many hundreds of years before. But until I started reading history books that were available back then, I wouldn’t be out as a pagan, or a witch until fairly recently. In 2014 I ended up re-connecting with Selena Fox, and by 2016 I was very active at Circle Sanctuary. Took awhile to come full circle you might say!

So until next time, somewhere in the future…

Omens & Oracles: Black Obsidian and Death

September 11, 2018 By Kate Freuler

Have you ever noticed how crystals, herbs and other magickal objects have a tendency to mysteriously pop up exactly how and when we need them? For me, that is especially true for Black Obsidian, a powerful “stone” that has commanded my attention on several occasions.

Black obsidian is a hard, beautiful mineraloid that has been used for magical and practical purposes since ancient times. Formed when molten magma or lava from a live volcano comes in contact with air or water and cools quickly, Obsidian is actually not a stone at all, but reflective black glass that is said to have fashioned the first mirrors used by humans. It’s found all over the planet wherever volcanic activity occurs. In its natural state, Obsidian has extremely sharp, razor like edges and throughout history has been used to fashion knives, arrows and deadly weapons. Nowadays obsidian is used to make some surgical scalpels, and for us spiritual folks, makes beautiful scrying mirrors, jewelry and ritual knives.

Rocks at Panum Crater, by Daniel Mayer via WikiMedia. GNU License.

Magically, black obsidian is believed to bring our shadow self to the surface to be faced. It can drag up the harsh, cutting truth of a matter, forcing it out into the open. Considering these qualities, obsidian is clearly not a fluffy kind of stone; it cuts, it can be harsh, and it can reflect reality back to us in shadow form. For this reason, some people prefer to work with its gentler relatives, like apache tears or snowflake obsidian. Black obsidian has an energy that is no-nonsense, transformative and final. If black obsidian turns up in your life, things are about to get real.

The harsh truth-telling aspect of the stone was especially clear for me when it showed up to guide me during one of life’s big lessons: the illness and death of my Mother. The death of a loved one, be it parent, partner, spouse, family, friend, or pet, is a difficult, transformative rite of passage that most of us will have to work through at some point. It’s one of those cataclysmic milestone experiences that mark us for life. When viewed this way, losing someone is a form of initiation: you will never be the same. Death tests us to our very core, requiring every bit of strength we have to endure it.

Leading up to my mother’s death, my family and I kept vigil at her bedside for several months as cancer slowly claimed her life and took her from this world to the next. During this time I went home to get a change of clothes and was reaching into my sock drawer when I noticed a white envelope stuffed in the back. I curiously opened it. Inside were 3 chunks of black obsidian. I hardly remembered purchasing them, but here they were. I paused in what I was doing to examine them and was struck by their deep smoky blackness, their razor-sharp edges.

The knowledge that these smooth black shards resting so easily in my hand were once deadly blazing hot lava was a powerful realization. These rocks were once liquid fire inside of a volcano! They began as molten destructive fire energy, a disaster, an inexorable unstoppable force of nature… much like death. While in liquid form, they swarmed and devoured a mountainside, burning up and obliterating plants, animals and habitats. And after this destruction, they hardened into a beautiful but incredibly strong, sharp glass. A glass that beguiles us with its dark beauty yet can cut like a knife.

I decided that since these chunks of obsidian showed themselves to me so assertively, I should meditate with them to see what exactly they were trying to tell me. Here’s what I learned.

When death comes for one we love, we too experience an unstoppable, life shaking phenomena much like a volcano. We boil over with fiery emotions like rage, sorrow and grief, sometimes burning those around us with our pain. During these hard times, our deepest personal feelings explode to the surface like lava, feelings we’ve buried from our pasts from so deep inside we maybe didn’t even know they were there. As the reality of loss crashes our perspectives and demolishes our illusions all we know seems to be burned down and destroyed. Yet afterwards we discover, much to our own astonishment, that we’re still standing. Grieving from loss, but still here.

More experienced, wiser and having seen more than ever before, we are fundamentally changed. Enduring hardship and loss brings wisdom, along with a broadened perspective, strength and inner beauty as we are forced to bear up and go on. Once time has started to heal the pain, we can apply this wisdom and experience to all areas of our lives and especially in understanding and assisting others. Once we’ve survived a huge disaster or loss, we are gifted with a more stable, realistic perspective. It gives us strength to handle the small stuff. Hardship refines us in a way that nothing else can.

Volcanic glass has been through a lot to become the enchanting and strong material it is. It can be beautiful as a jewel or deadly as a weapon. Because of what it has survived, it has unique and contrasting qualities as fascinating as its mystical black surface. As a survivor of grief, disaster and loss, we too can take the same path. The experience can give us strength and the inner beauty that comes with wisdom. Once the dust has settled in our lives, our spirit becomes tough as an arrow head and beautiful as gems. Knowledge and experience give a person the depth of a scrying mirror or a night sky. We can be of value and support to others going through similar hardships as our own, acting as protectors and guides.

Image by Chan Walrus via Pexels. Public Domain Image.

After my mother’s passing, I gave each of my sisters a piece of the obsidian and kept one for myself. My obsidian shows itself to me at moments that I need a prompt to be strong, or to remind me that I should trust myself. I also find that wearing my obsidian around my neck is useful at times which require a solid, nonviolent resolve. When entering a situation where I know I will have to stand up for myself in some way, or earn the respect of others, my black obsidian reminds me that I’m strengthened by life experience and have something positive to offer, but also that I can defend myself if need be. The power of black obsidian is steady, uncompromising and dominant, and serves to remind us that we’re able to survive some of life’s harshest realities, and let those experiences make us better, with a better understanding of our own spirit and life on earth.

Black obsidian is a symbol of transformation, wisdom, experience and survival. It’s been through the worst and come out strong and amazing. If you stumble across some, perhaps it’s telling you that you can too.

Irish-American Witchcraft: Fairy Queens, Folklore, and Popculture

September 5, 2018 By Morgan Daimler

I’ve had the Fairy Queens on my mind a lot recently – probably not surprising since I just finished writing a book about them. But usually I write a book and life goes on, I move on the next; this time I find my mind lingering on the Queens of the Otherworld and the way they embody the struggle between folklore and popculture, even more than the Gods perhaps.

The difference I think between the Fairy Queens and the Gods is that when the Gods are depicted in popculture people are usually not expecting accuracy and those who move on to seek them in a genuine spiritual context know, more often than not, to look to their root cultures and the older mythology. Not so for the Fairy Queens who people for whatever reason often treat as if they have no older stories than the Dresden Files novels or the last episode of The Magicians. It creates an interesting situation for pagans incorporating these Beings into their faith and practice.

From the National Library of Wales, Public Domain Image.

Fairy Queens Before and After

The Fairy Queens are a fascinating topic and a complex one: often rooted in goddesses but surviving in modern folklore as fairies, sometimes named sometimes known only by their title, they are kind and cruel in equal measure. You can find them in some corners of paganism of course, and more so now that they are seeing a revival in pop-culture, both in urban fantasy and appearing on some television shows. How they appear in paganism is something that is both frustrating and inspiring to me because so often the folklore and traditional beliefs get thrown out entirely in favor of the poplore* – and yet they still persevere in belief and that is heartening to see.

I think the world would be poorer by a great measure without the Fairy Queens in it, and yet…and yet I struggle to control my face when I hear someone talking about Mab as Queen of the Unseelie or Aine as a sort of gentle, kind fairy godmother Queen. Shakespeare’s Mab, midwife to the fairies who brings mortals dreams at night, is hard for me to take seriously as the Queen of the malicious fairy court. And Aine, Fairy Queen that she certainly is, turned her own son into a goose and bit off the ear of a king who raped her so I’d hesitate to underestimate her by pigeonholing her into the role of cuddly wish granting sprite. And it’s probably best not to even get me started on the Morrigan’s popculture Fairy Queen depictions. We definitely lose a valuable piece of who these Queens are by ignoring their history and older stories.

Solitary Leprechauns and Fairy Wings: Yesterday’s Poplore, Today’s Folklore

The problem of fiction influencing belief isn’t new of course, and even if we look back at what is now folklore we can see the clear footprint of literature on folk belief, where popular culture and fiction left their mark. For example much modern Leprechaun lore comes from the late-19th century book ‘Irish Wonders‘ by the Irish American author McNally; despite the material he describes contradicting older folklore and mythology his stories were repeated by other folklorists of his time and spread into common belief.

“Titania Welcoming Her Brethren” by Henry Meynell Rheam. From WikiMedia.

In the same way the idea of fairies having wings seems to be rooted in the theater of the 18th century and the need to make clear when an actor was playing a fairy, yet today people more commonly envision fairies with wings than without and in the recent fairy census many people said they saw winged fairies despite no such sightings of winged fairies in anecdotes prior to the modern era. What began in popular culture over time was accepted into wider belief and became folklore.

Popculture and Fairies

Whether we like it or not – and some of us like it more or less than others – the newer generation is shifting away from sources for folklore like books and storytellers and looking for accessible multimedia. Youtube is the new shenachie for some people and television and movies are the new folklore. Young adult urban fantasy novels featuring fairies are becoming a more often cited source for beliefs among some than the actual living cultures of places like Ireland or Scotland that those novels are usually pulling from. This is a double edged blade for fairylore because while the fairies of Labyrinth were fairly consistent with older lore, if slightly twee at times, the fairies of most youtubers and young adult novels are new creations entirely.

Belief is shaped not from someone else’s lived experience or generations old traditions but from imagination and plot points. For the Fairy Queens this means a radical new re-envisioning in some cases and that should at least give us pause. I mean I like the Fairy Queen in the movie Epic as much as my kids do, but she’s about as far from the folkloric Queens as you can get and anyone who decided to actually base their worship off of her character should at least keep that in mind.

Folklore, Poplore, and Personal Gnosis

This is where it may start to get sticky for pagans. In a perfect world folklore, poplore, and personal gnosis would come together in ways that inform and balance each other; in reality usually two of the three meet and one gets left out. There’s a lot of popular culture lore going around, and there’s a lot of personal gnosis, often based on that poplore, getting tossed into the mix. But the older folklore and the modern living traditions get left out and that is a problem for several reasons but most importantly because the older material can and should ground the newer material and give us a good filter to discern the new with.

On the same hand focusing only on the older material and personal experiences creates a dangerous disconnect from the wider stream of modern belief, which at the very least means a person isn’t aware of what is out there that’s new and also good quality and close to traditional beliefs. Its true that what isn’t firmly rooted has no basis to grow from but its also true that that which isn’t growing and adapting is stagnating and dying.

Moving forward

I might argue that for us to move forward successfully as a spiritual movement we must find a happy balance between the various influences that impact us and that balance must be moderated with discernment. It’s just as problematic to throw out all the folklore as it is to ignore all the poplore, but both folklore and poplore have to be considered carefully rather than just accepted whole cloth. Personal gnosis is the same way; it’s invaluable in fleshing out a spiritual practice but it has to be filtered and curated rather than taken 100% of the time as 100% valuable.

As those of us who still believe in and honor the Good People move further into forming connections between ourselves in the American pagan community its important to share our personal gnosis, when it is shareable, because it allows us to be aware of wider trends like the increased level of Otherworldly activity many of us have noticed in the last several years. But we must also be aware of the threads of source material that are being woven together to form the wider beliefs in our community. We don’t all have to believe the same things of course, nor draw from the same sources, but we should all appreciate and be cognizant of what our own sources are and how those sources impact and blend with our beliefs.

Mothman Statue by Bob Roach, via WikiMedia. CC 2.0 License

It may be inevitable that some of today’s poplore will become another generation’s folklore, although certainly not all of it. That isn’t a wholly bad thing; a lot of current American cryptid lore and urban myth might fall into popculture lore right now but if it survives a few generations deserves its place alongside the folklore of the Jersey Devil or Mothman.

There is a need for urban fairylore and for a new understanding of where fairies fit into modern paganism and the wider world that moves away from the twee but also sheds the baggage of the last century and a half of Victorian and spiritualist/theosophy/new age influence. There’s a need to seek and find the Fairy Queens beneath the layers of poplore to discover who they really are in this new century. We can’t be afraid to see these beings as current and modern and vital. But we also can’t stop appreciating where they come from and the living cultures that still see them in the traditional ways.

*poplore i.e. popular culture lore, that is new or personal beliefs and stories usually rooted directly or indirectly in modern fiction and media.

Spooky in the South: The ‘Dark’ Side of Paganism and Witchcraft: Death, Curses, and the Otherworld

August 30, 2018 By Sarah Franklin

A witch dressed in all black sits in front of her altar, lit candles, bones, and a cauldron adorn it. She takes an athame and cuts open her hand to provide blood for her magic. Speaking an ancient language, she casts curses and hexes upon her enemies. – Now be honest, this is what you probably think of when you hear the word “witch”, most people and even Pagans are guilty of thinking this.

CC0 Public Domain from Pxhere. Public Domain Image

With the stereotypes associated with Paganism and witchcraft, the majority of us in these communities have strived to distance ourselves from the “Hollywood” images that have demonized our faith and caused many people to view us as evil. While we are not evil, a part of Paganism, especially within the European pantheons, is honoring and acknowledging deities of death, destruction, the afterlife, and other aspects that can be seen as negative or scary. Our deities are not always all-loving or kind, they can be both good and bad, loving and spiteful. Recognizing death, respecting it, and even honoring its deities are normal aspects of worship to Pagans and witches. We cannot fully embrace our faith or our craft without embracing both sides of the universe, duality is key; where there is light, there is also dark, where there is life, there is also death.

A common misconception by non-Pagans is the comparison of the Pagan concept of the Otherworld and/or Underworld with the Abrahamic concept of Hell, yet these concepts are rather opposite. Some ancient Pagan cultures held beliefs of reincarnation and the Otherworld was seen as a place of residence for souls who had passed until they were reborn into another form. Death was not seen as an end to existence, but a rather a continuation or change in form. Because of the comparison of the Abrahamic concept of Hell to the Pagan concept of the Otherworld, a lot of non-Pagans tend to associate Pagan deities of death/destruction/afterlife with the Abrahamic “Devil” or “Satan”. It is important to not to let these ideas about our religion by outsiders affect how we worship. These deities are important and create a balance; you cannot worship life without acknowledging death and vice versa.

A particular hot-button issue in Pagan or witch groups is the topic of cursing and hexing others through our craft. Some Pagans and witches hold beliefs which condemn using curses and hexes against others, no matter the situation; however, this can be a rather ignorant point of view, especially from the perspective of victims who have experienced difficult or even traumatizing situations. A Pagan and/or witch might be an abuse victim or the victim of another harmful act, and they should not be condemned for seeking retribution against their abusers/attackers through their craft. Forgiveness is not for every situation, and victims do not owe an explanation or deserve to be condemned for why they choose to cast curses or hexes against those that harmed them. I understand that many of us may not agree with casting curses, but that does not give us the authority to dictate what is moral for others. Casting curses could be a victim’s only form of self-defense if they do not have other options.

It is important for us to honor both the light and dark aspects of the universe and to not let fear of becoming a stereotype affect how we worship. Do not be afraid of what others might think or say or let it keep you from worshipping deities that you feel drawn to, because when all is said and done the only person to whom you owe an explanation is yourself. Also, within our spiritual communities, do not judge or condemn the manner in which another practices the craft, it is their path and not yours. We need to build each other up, not tear each other down. As we get closer to October and Samhain (my favorite time of year), it is a great time to reflect on the ones who have gone before us and pray to deities of death. Do not be afraid of working with these deities because they are some of the most powerful and incredible. So perform blood magic if you want, take a stroll in the cemetery, leave some offerings for the dead, and most important of all….STAY SPOOKY!

Omens & Oracles: Ouroboros-Mysteries of the Snake

August 26, 2018 By Kate Freuler

Recently I was taking a walk along the train tracks, when a slithery movement caught the corner of my eye. I looked just in time to see a tiny cute garter snake disappear into a crack in the rocks. As a believer in synchronicity, I always feel that every animal that crosses my path can be interpreted as a message. This got me thinking about the symbolism of the serpent and what it means when one presents itself as an omen.

Image by pixtomental1, via Pixabay, CC License.

Few animals are so steeped in mystic lore as the snake or serpent. Simultaneously feared, revered, worshipped and shunned, the snake has an archetypal power over the human psyche that bridges cultures and tunnels back through time. The repulsive yet mesmerizing power of the snake exists in full force today, in people’s phobias of, and fascination with, these ancient reptiles. In the Garden of Eden, the snake was a symbol of evil and temptation, a mouthpiece for the devil himself, hissing encouragement of sin and carnal knowledge to Eve and Adam.

In ancient societies, long before the bible, the snake was considered a lunar animal, because like the moon, the snake is continuously reborn every time it sheds its skin. Mirroring the cycles of the moon, the snake performs an ongoing self generated dance of death and rebirth. In this way, the snake embodies one of life’s great mysteries, and holds within itself that which western civilization fears most: death. More specifically, what occurs in the darkness between death and rebirth.

Many snakes travel in underground tunnels and cracks, signifying their connection to the underworld. In shedding its skin, the snake symbolizes the ability to die and be reborn, to discard the old and become the new, whether that is in the death of the physical body or in other areas of life. The snake is a shape shifter who holds the answer of what lies between the worlds. Maybe that’s why people are so deeply and instinctively afraid of them (well, okay, and some of them are poisonous but that’s another topic).

A popular depiction of the mystic serpent is known as Ouroboros, a symbol in which the snake is shown in a circle eating its own tail. This symbol can be traced back to ancient Egypt, and from there to the Phoenicians and then the ancient Greeks, surviving all the way into pop culture today. Shown as Ouroboros, the snake devours its own tail to sustain itself, reminding us that new, continuous life is in fact created by destruction. Ouroboros represents life coming from death, and the never ending, constantly renewing cycle of nature and the cosmos. This cycle is present not only in large life events, but every single day of our existence as we’re called upon to grow and change, and thus renew our ideas and views.

Image by Johann Jaritz via WikiMedia. CC 3.0 License.

The serpent signifies profound change, usually self generated. Snake energy can be invoked for meditation or magical workings for renewal, for letting go of the past, for banishing unwanted habits and traits, and for blessing a new beginning.

If you live in a rural area, finding husks of shed snake skin is commonplace if you keep your eyes open. There is of course no need to ever hurt or maim a snake to get it’s skin, you simply have to find it at the right time (I’ve noticed my whole entire life that animal charms do seem to pop up and present themselves exactly when I need them). If not, like everything, snake skin is available online. Just make sure you check that it’s collected naturally and ethically.

If you’re out for a walk and happen to see a snake slithering away through the grass, pay attention. Likewise if you keep seeing imagery of the serpent in your daily life, news feed, or on T.V. This snake, like most animal sightings, is a symbol sent by spirit (or nature, or the universe, or higher power etc.), to alert you that you are on the cusp of change. You are soon going to experience deep and profound transformation in your life or spiritual path. This can seem scary and dark, as change often is, but remember that the precursor to a new beginning is death and the shedding of something that no longer fits your life.

I wonder what that little snake was trying to tell me?

Between Two Worlds: TERF’s, Transphobia and Transgender Violence

August 25, 2018 By Brianne Raven Wolf

I recently read The Wild Hunt article about the “Pussy Church” and was appalled. When are TERF’s and others who spout hatred for the transgender community going to realize that articles like that can encourage transgender violence. (In July, I wrote about TERF’s and Transphobia in the Pagan Community.)

Now it seems like the hatred for trans people is just continuing on and on. It would be wonderful if we could come together as a community with loving kindness and respect for all of us. On all sides of this issue. Especially in our pagan community!

Image by James Cridland via Flickr. CC 2.0 License. (Some trimming of the photo by the editor.)

Where does all of this lead? First we start with transphobia. Here’s how Wikipedia defines the term:

“Transphobia is a range of negative attitudes, feelings or actions toward transgender people. It can be emotional disgust, fear, violence, anger, or discomfort felt or expressed towards people who don’t conform to society’s gender expectation. It is often expressed alongside homophobic views and is often considered an aspect of homophobia. Transphobia is a type of prejudice and discrimination similar of racism and sexism.”

Transphobia has been around for a very long time. In the 1950’s and 60’s, a lot of the gay and trans community was harassed, vilified, and attacked, by a lot of our society. They used their religious values, quoting the Bible, as ways to marginalize our community. In a lot of cities, especially around the civil rights and Vietnam era, hatred spilled over to violence. In New York City, the police used violence as a way to try and get rid of people like us. Then June 28, 1969, the gay and trans community started fighting back. It was called the Stonewall Riots. Unfortunately, it was to lead to more violence, especially to trans people. The media a lot of times sided with the authorities.

“Standard License” copyright Juan Jesús Garrido Sánchez-Lafuente

Being a closeted trans person in the military at that time really scared me. Don’t ask, don’t tell was to come much later, after I left the military with eight years service. Enough was enough. It had been time to go. After I got out, the civil rights movement and Vietnam escalated, and trans violence was swept under the table. But it didn’t disappear. A lot of the trans violence then wasn’t reported on the news anymore.

Transgender violence started to be identified and recorded as early as March of 1970. But a lot of the early data was incomplete. Then in 1998, the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was born. It was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held on November 20th each year. It was started to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and started with a candlelight vigil in San Francisco in 1999. Her murder – like most anti-transgender cases – has yet to be solved. We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred based violence, especially since September 11th. The data is collected from November 20th the previous year to November 19, of the current year.

In our Pagan community, Circle Sanctuary has been a leader for many years in observing the Transgender Day of Remembrance. I have been very blessed to participate in several of them. Last year, for the first time, Circle Sanctuary produced a Facebook live video of it.

Photo by Ross Burgess, Wikimedia Commons by the UK LGBT Archive as part of the LGBT Free Media Collective coordinated by Wikimedia LGBT and WikiQueer. (Photo slightly edited by editor.) CC 4.0 License.

There are many sources of data that are collected each year on transgender violence. Among some of the best are the Human Rights Campaign, The Pink News (UK), and some Facebook groups, such as Trans Violence News of which I’ve been blessed to be an administrator and moderator of since July 2016. All of us see, every day, the violence perpetrated on us worldwide. And it’s not pleasant to see and read about. But we use social media to pay respect to those who have lost their lives to these senseless acts.

Before 2015 we had numerous transgender deaths in the United States that were reported. But in 2015, by the time the presidential election was over, our sources with the TDOR indicated that we lost 21 lives to murder. Keep in mind, there are a lot more deaths that are never reported by the media. In 2015, the deaths were the most ever reported in one year. In 2016, 23 deaths were reported. In 2017 we lost 28 lives to murder. Worldwide, it was many hundreds, especially in Brazil. From data I collected from January 1st to July 31st, 2017 we lost 11 lives. The same period this year, 2018 we are at 16 lives lost. Where does it end!

While the details of these cases differ, it is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, and that the intersections of racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia conspire to deprive them of employment, housing, healthcare and other necessities, barriers that make them vulnerable. But it happens to all of us.

Then we have to consider the bullying, especially against our transgender youth. Teen suicides are on the rise, even with all the information available to us today. A lot of teens who come out to their parents are marginalized and even kicked out of their homes, sometimes at an early age. Some of them end up on the streets homeless if nobody wants to help them.

Overall, transgender suicides, or those that attempt suicides, are more than the war veterans we have coming home lately. One of the latest statistics is that over 40% of all transgender people have at least thought about suicide. Including me when I was younger. If you know any transgender person who is thinking about suicide, have them, or you, call the National Trans Life Line at (877) 565-8860.

Where will this transphobia and transgender violence end? When transgender people are granted complete and affirming access to society at large. Through love towards us fellow human beings. Though education and respect for all.

We need to educate, help, respect, and listen to each other’s opinions. Constructively. Transphobia really needs to be totally out of our pagan community so we can be stronger together!

So until next time, in the future. Blessed Be!!!

21st Century Viking: Get Thee to a Nunnery

August 20, 2018 By Kate Andary

Get thee to a nunnery . . . . The difference between myself and a Catholic Nun

This is a topic that is often talked about in the Heathen community but rarely spoken of outside of those that are directly heathen. The term is called God-Spousing. This is a term that is heavily mocked outside of the pagan community and heavily misused among those that think they know what it means. To men and women that are truly devoted on such a level to their god as to pledge their bodies, hearts, and souls to them. My humblest respect, I can empathize with you. To those that don’t understand what it is like or believe the hype that we are all married to Loki and doing this for our own pleasure please let me educate from my personal experience.

“Njörd’s desire of the Sea” (1908) by W. G. Collingwood. Public Domain, From WikiMedia.

My world and life revolve around my deity. At the age of 18 after studying Wicca for two years I did my self-dedication, but instead of dedicating to a Goddess like it told me to in the book I dedicated to a God. I wanted to be controversial even in being a rebel. At first, I thought it was a horned god with glowing red hair. Then I realized the horns were just antlers in the shape of a crown. I always woke up every morning and greeted him, before I fall asleep every night I say goodnight. I speak with him constantly throughout every single day. For 17 years now, I have not spent a moment away from him.

There is never a single moment where I am not connected with him in some way. The relationship has great benefits and terrible downfalls. Here are the perks of being a God-Spouse. Lots of protection, when I’m out at an event I don’t have to worry about things, he has my back. When I work ritual either publicly or privately he knows if I slip or say the wrong thing how to correct and make sure my intention stays true. He will guide and steady my hand when I need it. Backlash, while it can be fearsome can also be gentled if he thinks that I have learned my lesson.

As for the downfalls, when I stray from my path, the consequences are fast and treacherous. They can sometimes be impossible to handle. I have been ripped up inside, destroyed with pain, hit rock bottom multiple times. There are many things that need to be said when your Spouse is a God. You are expected to behave and act a certain way. You are expected to reach a certain level, and you cannot stray or stop your course and choose an easier path. You can ask for a short reprieve if things are not going well and you need a chance to just clear your head, but if you don’t get it you cannot whine about it. With my particular God I am also not allowed to own an umbrella.

Originally from Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods.” Painting by Arthur Rackham via WikiMedia.

For me personally, every single day is a struggle between my worship, my devotion, my love, my wife, my God, my Husband, my family, and my temple. Every moment needs to be planned and used. Just as a Catholic Nun who is a bride to Christ needs to do, especially on that is living in a convent. She has every moment planned from sun up to sun down. Adding new things into her schedule will be difficult for her. It makes my life difficult.

There are people out there that say that they are God-Spoused and say things like “oh I really should spend more time.” I really think they need to evaluate if they are God-Spoused or if they are just devoted or being courted by the God. There are differences in all levels. You can be many things to a God, but God-Spouse is hard to obtain, and if you don’t maintain it your life falls apart very quickly. However, it is not my place to judge them it is my place to help them get on the correct path again with their practices. That is what is good for the community, therefor that is what is good for my God and that is what is good for my spirit.

There are different levels to everything that everyone does. You can be a devotee, a dedicant, a god-spouse, or an affiliate. You can have the revolving door of Gods and Goddess or you can work with a pantheon. When you are Viking, what matters is that you work with them to build your community, and don’t disable others that do what they do, you help them along their path. We are judged so harshly by everyone else around us, why do we make it so hard for us to stand united?

Between Two Worlds: Hekate, Mariah and Me

August 18, 2018 By Brianne Raven Wolf

Several weeks ago I had a feeling that Hekate was going to ask me to do something. One day later I found out what it was when I was asked to help out a young friend.

That was when Mariah needed my help. I had met her at a handfasting/wedding last fall when my friend Mary brought her to the reception as her guest. I really hadn’t paid much attention to Mariah there. She was nice, friendly, and outgoing, but I was drinking too much mead. After a while she was dancing and I pretty much had forgotten she was there. She’s been reminding me of that lately. That was to change, and it was to forever change my perception about millennials in our community.

Image by Henning Schlottmann, via WIkiMedia. CC License 4.0

I was told that that the rural farm where Mariah was living had a very toxic environment. She didn’t have a lot of extra money, and was helping with manual labor in exchange for renting a room there. But it wasn’t a safe living arrangement for her. The people who lived there took advantage of her, and didn’t respect her privacy when she was wasn’t working outside.

A phone call later, I just knew that Hekate wanted me to help out. My sister will be moving here when she sells her house in New York state. When she was here helping with my recovery after my surgery in May, we had rented a two bedroom apartment in the same complex where I was living in a studio apartment. I moved into the new apartment July 1st. I had an extra bedroom, and Mariah needed help. It was as simple as that.

If anybody would have asked me before this happened if I would have been sharing an apartment with a young millennial, I would have said they were crazy. The thought had never crossed my mind. I was in for an education, a very positive education. Any pre-conceived ideas I may have had about younger people vaporized. If this generation is anything like Mariah, we’re in for positive change.

Yes, they are on their smartphones a lot. And yes they seem to text a lot. But they use the phones for the same things we used to. When we had yellow pages and a phone directory. And when we used real paper maps. I don’t see many of them anymore. Is this generation tech savvy? Oh yes! I think for the better. And I totally agree with them. I am learning to do the same thing.

Am I saying that all of these young people are like Mariah? No, not in the least. She is the only one that I’ve been able to share experiences with for longer than a couple days. And outside of Pagan events like Pagan Spirit Gathering. What I found out with her was that I had to listen to what she said. Her opinions were a lot more important than mine if I was to learn about her generation.

We were able to successfully share the apartment. When I cooked, she did the dishes. And vice versa. And I learned a lot about cooking with herbs that I hadn’t even thought of. Helps when your young friend is studying herbalism. She cooked some meals that I had never tasted before. I found out that I was really set in my ways when it came to cooking and eating healthy. And, I wasn’t eating as healthy as I should or could have. Another life lesson. Taught by the younger generation.

If you ever have the opportunity to help one of our young community members, take it. I was extremely blessed when Hekate suggested I take Mariah in. Into a safe place. And being a transwoman, I really do understand why all of us need safe places.

I know that we will stay in touch. It was really incredible to have had these past weeks with her. Mariah is definitely her own person. If I had to sum up what she is in one word, it would be wholesome. She’s a good, ethical, moral, clean and very responsible, spiritual young woman. We need a lot more Mariah’s in our mundane world!