Reclaiming The Pagan Cultural Narrative
The main thrust of my argument is that, as Christian Nationalism and it’s call for authoritarianism rise in the United States, the Pagan community will come under increasing attack and condemnation rooted in a lack of understanding about who and what we are. This lack of understanding is a result of us ceding the cultural narrative of what it means to be pagan, what we actually believe, and how our beliefs manifest in our community to capitalist media and assimilationist politics as a result of our inherently insular communities. To combat this we must each become more engaged and public in our communities by putting our faith into action.
Call To Action: Tending To The Dead
I want to start this by saying I am in no way the first person to discuss the otherworldly impacts of things like war, the pandemic, or climate change when it comes to the dead. If anything, I’m just adding to a list of voices that are calling for the same thing - the need to tend to our dead. The beginning of Spring (in the northern hemisphere) might seem like a weird time to draw attention to death and the dead, after all this is the time of rebirth and new beginnings and life coming back into the world, but strangely I think that is exactly why it’s important to remember our dead right now.
Personal: Magical Thinking Won’t Stop Fascism
I’m writing this blog post after driving to work listening to a podcast that just made me more and more frustrated. I’m not going to say which podcast it was because I’ve spent my entire adult life on the internet and the current social media culture doesn’t exactly allow for nuanced critique. The episode was about taking care of yourself in this larger socio-political global moment and navigating the feelings of shame, guilt, obligation that come up when feeling like you need to prioritize your own safety and sanity. This is something that deeply resonates with me right now and I was hoping for a few “A-ha!” moments, and instead I got a greatest hits of what I can only call privileged magical thinking.
Personal: Writing A Personal Code Of Ethics
A recent assignment, almost a sort of final for the module, was to synthesize all the readings we’d done around morality, values, and ethics and to write my own personal Code of Ethics. I was surprised by how challenging this assignment was for me! The purpose wasn’t to write a sprawling thesis on our own ethical code but to boil it down to the real heart of what we believe.
Personal: Reflections from the Red Dragon Feast
Over the weekend I was able to attend my first DC Red Dragon Feast and it was such an incredible experience. This is a queer magical ritual which began on the West Coast in the 1980s. This ongoing spell was first brought into being as a way to bring hope during the early days of the HIV/AIDS pandemic with the goal of focusing this energy towards finding a cure. It has since been expanded to include all blood-borne diseases.
Personal: Queer Druidry
I’m a native Floridian. I will always consider myself a Florida Boy and will always love my swamps. I also grew up in the time before same-sex marriage equality, under the shadow of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, when the only thing a closeted teen like myself knew about being gay was violence and disease and isolation - because those were the only stories being told. That’s why what is currently happening in Florida is so deeply personal and deeply troubling for me.
Personal: Fragmented Identities
For a few years now a core part of my personal practice has been working with Queer Ancestors. This takes many forms: queer history research and lectures, maintaining a private shrine, and personal rituals throughout the year. The synthesis of my queerness with my magical practice, however, is a relatively recent development and is just part of a larger pattern of coming into the “wholeness” of who I am.
“This Isn’t Who We Are”: Actually, It Is…
I’m sitting in my kitchen in a DC suburb a few days after the attempted coup at the US Capitol Building. Like many folks I’m still processing what happened - and what is continuing to happen - and have a hard time putting my phone down. Among the breaking news reports of arrests, the grandstanding of GOP elected officials doubling-down on conspiracy theories and rhetoric that stoked these violent flames, and chatter over what is and is not protected by the First Amendment I keep seeing a common refrain: This isn’t who we are.
The Importance Of Grieving Our Queer Dead
On October 26, 2018 Matthew Shepard was laid to rest in the Washington National Cathedral. I was fortunate enough to attend this ceremony with some friends. We were able to find seating in the north transept which allowed us to be remarkably close to the pulpit where the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, Gene Robinson, helped preside over the ceremony. What we did not know, however, was that we were also seated by the entrance to the crypt where Matthew would be interred.
Why ‘White Rose’? The Story Behind The Name
I want to explain the story behind the name ‘White Rose Witching’. For a long time I’ve wanted to be more open about my spirituality and at the beginning of 2020 I decided to create a website where I could work out some of my thoughts on witchcraft and spiritual practice, share some of the things that I do, and hopefully find a way to connect with my local community and give back. At worst, this is a creative outlet and at best, some folks out there might connect with some of the things I do or ways I think about witchcraft.