Tag Archives: Witchcraft

Books, Paganism, Religion, Spiritual Development, Witchcraft

Let’s talk about “An Apostate’s Guide to Witchcraft” by Moss Matthey

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[Content Note: Brief references to of cults, homophobia, self-hatred, and authoritarian control.]

Happy Monday, dear readers! I thought I’d take a brief break from my polytheology series to talk about a book I recently finished reading. That book is An Apostate’s Guide to Witchcraft: Finding Freedom Through Magic by Moss Matthey. In it, Matthey describes his own experiences leaving the cult he was raised in and finding a home in witchcraft. Along the way, he shares a bit about his own witchcraft practice and offers advice and simple exercises to those readers who might be interested in exploring whether witchcraft might be something they’re drawn to.

In a lot of ways, I found a lot of Matthey’s story relatable. After all, we are both gay men1 who grew up in fairly conservative Christian church2 that essentially taught us to hate ourselves. We both eventually found freedom in our respective witchcraft practices, which bear some unsurprising similarities.

One of the things that I appreciated about Matthey’s approach to the subject was that he was quite clear that he had no interest in spending a great deal of time dissecting the beliefs of “the cult”,3 setting these goals for the book instead:

Through these pages I will introduce you to a world of magic and spirits, where queerness is celebrated and sin does not exist. I will tell you how I left a cult and the lessons I learned along the way. Culture and community will be celebrated through folklore, myth, and folk magic. We may even take a detour into theology and philosophy, though hopefully it won’t be too boring. Above all, we will celebrate the joy and freedom of Witchcraft.

I think he accomplished those goals quite well. I cannot recommend this book enough for those who are coming out of any religion that asserted any degree of authoritarian control. I think those who, like Matthey and myself, experienced abuse and/or trauma due to their sexuality or gender will find it particularly helpful. And if a handful of people read it and find a home in witchcraft, all the better.

Another reason that this book holds special meaning for me is that I think it diversifies the stories available to those deconstructing. I often get the sense that the stories available — both those published in books and those shared less formally — tend to come from who have either found a way to remain in Christianity (albeit a more progressive form) or those who have walked away from religion altogether. While I think both of those trajectories are valid for those who find comfort and healing in them, I don’t think they are the only trajectories available. Also, I feel that the fact that those two trajectories get the lion’s share of the attention means that deconstruction discourse still often focuses exclusively on Christian theologies and Christian understandings of the world. Combined with Changing Paths by Yvonne Aburrow, this book could help provide a needed correction to that.4

Post History: I wrote the first draft of this post on September 28, 2024. I proofread, revised, and finalized it on September 29, 2024.

Footnotes

  1. I want to point out that I’m using these words carefully when describing Matthey. In the book, he notes that he has started to prefer referring to himself as “queer” rather than “gay,” though he affirms the latter is an accurate description. He also notes that his understanding of his sexuality and gender continues to be more expansive. So while everything I’ve been able to find suggests his pronouns are still he/him and it’s okay to refer to him as a man, I want to draw your attention to all this just in case I missed something and am unintentionally misgendering him here. ↩︎
  2. I will note that I don’t feel that my church exerted quite the same degree of control over its members as the cult Matthey belonged to (the Jehovah’s Witnesses) tends to. For example, my family was not instructed to shun me at any time. But that’s the interesting thing you learn when you study cults: There are different degrees of cult behavior, and my church was “bad enough.” For more information on cults, I would recommend Cultish by Amanda Montell in addition to the books by Steven Hassan that Matthey recommends. I will note that I haven’t read any of Hassan’s books, but have looked over his BITE Model of Authoritarian Control (which Matthey also mentions) in the past and consider it an invaluable tool. ↩︎
  3. Matthey only mentions the Jehovah’s Witnesses by name once in the entire book. The rest of the time, he simply refers to it as “the cult.” I’m not sure if this was his reasoning personally, but there are traditions of witchcraft that hold that naming something gives it power, so it is often better to not say the name of those who are a disruptive influence. Again, I don’t know if that motivated Matthey’s choice about how he chose to refer to his former cult in the book, but I think there’s a certain amount of wisdom in that line of reasoning. ↩︎
  4. Of course, once Yvonne’s upcoming book, Pagan Roots, is released at the beginning of next year, I think all three books would make a powerful trio. ↩︎
Paganism, Religion, Witchcraft

The Wyrd-Worker rants: The harmfulness of the body/spirit dichotomy

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See the update at the bottom of the post.

A common idea that much of our society seems overly invested in is the separation of the body and spirit or soul. Often, the soul is viewed as something that is contained by — or worse, trapped by — our body. At death, it moves on to some sort of afterlife. In my emphatic opinion, this line of thinking devalues the body in toxic and harmful ways.

I maintain that our bodies are both integral and essential to our experience as human beings. After all, without our bodies, we would have no way to experience this life. So while I believe that something of myself will probably “move on” from this life after I take my final breath,1 that could never be fully me. Without my body, it is at best a shadow or a ghost (see what I did there?) of my full, living, and human self.

To my way of thinking, this issue isn’t just a matter of making sure we have the right theology or cosmology regarding the afterlife.2 For me, this issue is much more important because the resulting devaluation of our bodies and an over-inflation of the importance of spirit or our souls leads to negative thought patterns and behaviors. To give just one example, I’ve noticed some people in the New Age and even witchcraft movement seem to be adopting purity culture style ethics. Some have gone so far as to view maintaining their virginity and/or embracing cisheteronromative, patriarchal relationship models as the only correct ones as some sort of spiritual ideal. I don’t know whether the people thinking this way are reinventing these ideas or if they’re former Christians who just haven’t abandoned those notions as they’ve moved into a new spiritual tradition. Either way, I find it a disturbing trend. As those who have spent years talking about purity culture in Christianity have repeatedly noted, that kind of thinking is toxic and harms people, often to the point of fully traumatizing them.3

I think that being a devotee of Freyja strongly impacts my view of this topic. As I continue to grow in my relationship with her, I find that Freyja is all about embodiment. Not only when it comes to our sexuality, but in all aspects of our lives. So to devalue the blessings of our bodies and the experiences we have through them in favor of some sort of focus on the spirit and/or soul just feels like spitting on those blessings.

And Freyja does not seem unique among the Pagan deities in this matter. Many of the deities in many cultures strike me as being embodied and make the experiences of our bodies an important part of their rites and mysteries. I’d hate to see modern Pagns and witches lose that.

This post was inspired a journal prompt I found online: Do I believe I’m a spiritual being in a human body? What does this concept mean to me?

Updated 07/19/2024: After I completed and scheduled this post, David Hawyard posted a tweet talking about how this divide between the body and the soul can also lead to ableism.

I think he makes an excellent point and wanted to draw my readers’ attention to it.

Footnotes

  1. Personally, I tend to envision that something as an “enlivening essence” rather than a soul containing my full consciousness and mental faculties. I’m open to the possibility that said essence might carry a vague imprint of some of my memories or personality quirks, but once again, this isn’t fully me. Heck, I doubt it’s even my full consciousness. ↩︎
  2. Ultimately, I think such theology and cosmology is unverifiable and not that important anyway. I’m all for focusing on this life rather than what may come after it. ↩︎
  3. Okay! Time for a break for nuance, lest my aro-ace friends (and others) who are sex indifferent or even sex-repulsed think I’m invalidating them. Not being interested in sex is entirely valid for certain people. And if you’re one of those people, you should embrace that rather than trying to be someone you’re not. But I thank all of those people who don’t want sex, yet manage not to turn it into some sort of sign that they’re somehow “more spiritual” than the rest of us. And I’d ask you to continue to call in those who tend to present their lack of sexual interest as such. ↩︎
Witchcraft

My witchcraft practice and Wicca: Similarities and differences

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Back in 2020, I mentioned briefly that I do not consider the witchcraft I practice to be Wicca. At the time, I offered the following explanation:

[I]n reality, my practice doesn’t really resemble what most people see as the the most common defining characteristics of Wicca.

I thought that it would be beneficial to write how my own practice tends to differ from both non-initiatory and initiatory Wicca.1 I will also be noting a few places where my practice bears some similarity to WIcca — especially initiatory Wicca.

I want to say up front that this post is meant to be informational only. None of what I say is meant to be a criticism of any form Wicca (whether initiatory or non-initiatory). Nor is it an attempt to suggest that my witchcraft practice is somehow superior. Saying “they’re different” is not the same as saying “one is better,” and it distresses me that many people still seem to interpret the former as the latter.

It’s important to note that my witchcraft practice is deeply rooted in Norse mythology and cosmology, which explains a lot of the differences — especially the more superficial ones — between my practice and Wicca (especially of the non-initiatory type). A lot of the ritual and liturgical elements in Wicca come from other cultures and sources which have no personal significance to me.

For example, most Wiccans seem to focus a lot on the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. However, these four elements just don’t play a part in Norse cosmology. So I’m not inclined to attempt to assign everything an elemental correspondence or call the Quarters.2 I’d rather choose a rune3 or two (or even more) that encapsulates the central mystery or primal concept(s) behind my magical working.

As for constructing ritual space, that’s a complicated topic for me. In fact, I’m still pondering and experimenting with how I want to do this in my witchcraft practice. Obviously, calling the Quarters is something I quickly nixed in my personal practice. A lot of Heathens like to perform the hammer rite — often making the sign of the hammer at the four cardinal directions as well as upward and downward. This is certainly more in line with the myths and cosmology I tend to work with. But I’m also more a Freyjasman than a Thorsman. While the hammer rite makes sense for a rite to Thor or one which is honoring the Aesir and Vanir in general, I’m not convinced it’s quite right for a magical rite specifically focused on working with Freyja. (I’ll talk more about her and how she influences how I view my rites in a bit.)

Casting a circle is something that I often do, but I’m not entirely sold on that, either. It depends on how I look at casting a circle. Indeed, I’ve heard some Wiccans and other Pagans refer to the whole process of casting a circle, calling the Quarters, and so on as “creating sacred space,” which is a phrase I’m not entirely comfortable with. After all, I believe that everything is already sacred, so I’d be essentially “creating” something that already exists. And while this may seem like its mostly about semantics, I think the words we choose and the meanings they convey are important.

I will admit that I’m also at least a little influenced by my time with Ar nDraíocht Fein,4 whose ritual structure does not include circle casting at all. The argument made against it — at least as I recall it — was that casting a circle that encloses the participants of a public rite honoring the gods is more trouble than it’s worth. They argue that it’s better to allow attendees to come and go as needed rather than forcing them to have to find someone to cut them a door (which is generally discouraged as much as possible in magical rites anyway).5

And yet, I’m not really looking to lead public rituals or just honor the gods. I’m looking to work magic and develop a more intense relationship with my deities — and one deity in particular. So ADF’s reasons don’t necessarily apply to my practice. Also, there an aspect of circle casting I’ve found some Wiccans express that I find appealing — the idea of creating magical space, a “place that is not a place in a time that is not a time.” Or another way to put it would be “creating a liminal space for ritual.” This to me is different from creating sacred space and has a value. Setting aside a space to work magic in a given moment makes sense to me.

This also feels right for working with Freyja, though I’m not sure she likes liminal spaces, so much as wild spaces. My perception of Freyja6 is that much of her worship and magic is about stepping beyond the domain of humans and the bounds of civilization. In many ways, I imagine it as making forays from Midgard out into the wild and primal places of Utgard. So I’ve thought about exploring a way to create ritual space that is a sort of “pocket of Utgard.” Or perhaps a sort of outpost in Utgard. I haven’t made much progress with the idea, but it’s definitely one I keep toying with.

Another thing — which I mentioned in a footnote — that seems common among many Wiccans that doesn’t do much for me is the influence from and tendency to draw on the Kabbalah and other aspects of ceremonial magic and Christian occultists in general. This was before I even learned about cultural appropriation and considered the implications of how Christian occultists have historically pilfered a lot of their ideas from Jewish mysticism. So the fact that I tend to prefer stuff that comes from Norse mythology instead just feels like the best choice for me.

One particular thing that Wiccans — especially non-iniatory Wiccans — seem to pull from Christian occultists and mystics is the idea that all the deities are names for or facets of a single divine couple. This is not something that works in my theology and I see important differences between the various deities.7

So is there anything I have in common with Wicca. Well, yes. Or at least there are similarities. I remember that the Alexandrian priestess whose coven I briefly considered seeking initiation into once told me that there’s a lot of overlap between seidh or seidr (both pronounced “sayth” with a soft “th” sound like in “these”) and initiatory Wicca. But I think a lot of those similarities are in the way we see the world and think about magic and rather than details in practice.

Also, I have read books by Wiccans and had many conversations with many Wiccans. Some of those experiences have at least shaped my thinking. And there are just some parts of Wiccan lore that resonate with me. Two such examples are the myth of the goddess as described by Gerald Gardner and the Wiccan virtues found in the Charge of the Goddess.8

I think those are some of the more major differences between Wicca and my witchcraft practice. I doubt it’s an exhaustive list and I’m sure there are more similarities that I’m forgetting as well. But hopefully my readers will find this analysis helpful in understanding my particular quirks as a witch a bit better.

Footnotes

  1. I think it’s also important to note that I’ve actually changed how I use the word “Wicca” on this blog since 2004 when I wrote this post defining the term for the blog. Back then, I was spending a great deal of time on a Yahoo Group dedicated to discussing British Traditional Wicca (which includes the Gardnerian, Alexandrian, and closely related traditions) and I wanted to reflect the definition used in that group. This was also motivated by the fact that I was deeply interested in BTW at the time and was considering seeking initiation into one of those traditions. However, that group has since gone away with the rest of Yahoo Groups and I’m no longer looking to become an initiate. So it’s time to broaden my definition for this blog. However, I do still try to make a distinction between initiatory and non-initiatory Wicca, as from my perspective at least, there are some remarkable differences. ↩︎
  2. When a group of friends and I formed a coven over a decade ago, I was pleased that we did not include calling the Quarters as part of our ritual. Sadly, the rest of the group decided to revisit that decision about a year after we formed the coven and I was outvoted. So we ended up calling the Quarters after that. i was bummed, but chose not to let it get in the way of me enjoying working magic and honoring the gods with my friends. Sometimes, being a witch is about being practical, including about which hills we choose to die on. ↩︎
  3. Speaking of elemental (and other) correspondences, I frequently find myself suppressing an urge to roll my eyes when someone asks me what element or sphere of the Kabbalah I’d associate a given rune with. In my opinion, the runes are their own system and trying to mash them into one of those systems does them a disservice. (YMMV) ↩︎
  4. What can I say? I explored a lot of different options before I came to my current witchcraft practice and I probably took a little bit from all of them. I said I’m “mostly Norse,” not completely free from syncretism. ↩︎
  5. I will also note that such public rites often welcome inexperienced people who might not even be aware that they should have someone cut a doorway if a magic circle was cast. So that’s another reason why casting circles in such a scenario may be best avoided. ↩︎
  6. I’ll note that I’m clearly getting into “unverified personal gnosis” territory here. ↩︎
  7. I will note that I believe in what my old coven refer to as “the one eternal reality in whom we live and move and have our being.” (Imagine my surprise when I learned years later that the co-founder of the coven who wrote our ritual took that description straight out of the Bible.) In a sense, I see the One as the ultimate Divine. But for me, when you reach the level of the One, you’re talking about a Divinity that no longer has personality. Nor does it relate directly to humans or anyone else. In fact, we too are a part of the One, same as the deities I honor. ↩︎
  8. I just want to give a shout-out to Yvonne Aburrow who — as near as either of us can tell — coined the term “Wiccan virtues” for the eight virtues mentioned in the Charge and is the only other person I have met who has ever brought much attention to them. ↩︎
Magic/Magick, Witchcraft

Being a Curmudgeonly Witch: Asking for “First Spells”

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Hello readers! For today’s blog post, i want to put on my old curmudgeon hat and grump a little about a trend I’ve seen lately that I just don’t understand. It’s about a request I’ve seen multiple times on social media. Here’s a pretty good example (the link is to my answer) of the kind of question I’m talking about:

What are some recommended spells for beginners in Wicca and witchcraft that are safe and effective?1

Understand that this post is not a rant about requests for spells in general. While I don’t personally believe in handing out “spells” to random strangers 99% of the time (I recently made an exception), i don’t blame people who make the request. Many witches — especially those who are just starting out — may need or even want help figuring out how to construct a spell. Seeing examples of spells other witches and magicians have developed can be instructive.2

Nor am I opposed to relatively new witches looking to get into magic right away. I think most of us would be kidding ourselves if we didn’t admit that working magic was a major motivator to get into witchcraft. And while I tend to practice a theistic form of witchcraft and would never consider my witchcraft solely in terms of “casting spells,” I do consider magic an important part of my practice. And everyone has to start sometime. So while I might encourage newer witches to spend some time working on basic disciplines like meditation and energy work, I would consider it reasonable for them to try their hand at actually working a little magic shortly after, if not concurrently. After all, what better way to practice those disciplines?

No, what bothers me about these questions is the failure to answer a simple question:

What do you want a spell to do?

I find myself looking at this question and wondering if there’s really a new batch of witchlings out there looking to cast any old spell just for the sake of casting a spell. If so, that’s just not a mentality I grok. When I got into witchcraft, it seemed pretty clear and obvious to me that the point of doing magic to accomplish something — usually something you needed or wanted to occur. It was this spirit in which I wrote my free magic lesson post back in 2019.

And surely there are things these witchlings want, yes? Besides just casting a spell for the sake of casting a spell? Surely they want to find love? Or maybe they need help paying a bill? Heck, this new trend to ask for spells without a desired goal in mind almost makes me long for the days when people would pop into witchcraft discussion boards to ask for a spell to change their hair or eye color.3

The only thing I can figure is that some people are drawn to witchcraft for the sense of self-empowerment. Looking to cast any old spell might feed into that desire for power and give them a sense that yes, they can work magic. And I can respect that. But imagine how much more empowering it is when that spell actually addresses a need or want you actually have. Plus, intent is an important aspect of effective magic, and actually focusing on an intent you actually want is helpful.

But what I’m really hoping is that these are just poorly worded questions. I’m hoping most newer witches still come to the craft seeking to use magic to fulfill needs and wants just beyond casting spells for their own sake. But some days, I worry.

Footnotes

  1. I will note that this particular question was not submitted by a person, but generated by the Quora Prompt Generator. However, I’ve seen this or similar questions asked by actual people as well. ↩︎
  2. I will note, though, that I encourage people to use the spells they get from other sources as templates for developing their own. At the very least, I think it’s wise to modify such spells to “make it their own.” Magic that we put our own effort into designing tend to be more effective, in my experience. Plus, how will you ever learn to craft your own spells/magical workings if you don’t try? ↩︎
  3. Yes, I did come to witchcraft right around the time The Craft was released/at the height of its popularity. Why do you ask? ↩︎
Religion, Religious Discrimination, Witchcraft

Tilting at Windmills: A Christian raises the alarm about Paganism and the New Age Movement

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Every now and then — and especially around this time of year — someone decides to write a news article about Paganism and witchcraft. On occasion, it’s just an informational peace, noting our existence as if we’re some sort of curiosity. On rare occasion, we even see an article by one of own that is pretty positive.

Sadly, there are also a considerable number of articles — typically written by Christians — that are critical and and even downright defamatory toward us. In this blog post, I will be taking a closer look at one such article. I should note that this particular article focuses primarily on the New Age movement and Paganism — also called Neopaganism in the article. It mentions witchcraft a few times, but does not substantially focus on it as a potentially separate identity. (After all, some Pagans are witches, but not all Pagans are witches nor are all witches Pagan.)

The article starts off by talking about how children often grew up seeing the image of witches as evil characters in folk tales and other literature, then moves on to the author learning later in life that some people identify as witches, “but they weren’t all that bad.” The italicization of “that” makes me smirk. Thank you, Emmy Griffin. You are too kind.

Griffin closes here first paragraph with the claim that “Neopaganism and New Age are trying to supplant Christianity in America.” What’s interesting me me is that this is the sudden switch from talking specifically talking about witches to talking about Neopaganism and the New Age. She uses the terms interchangeably as if they all mean the same thing. They do not, and this choice immediately leaves me wondering just how reliable her sources are.

What may be more interesting, however, is Griffin’s assertion that we are trying to supplant Christianity. I do not think that this is an accurate statement. In fact, I would argue that it is a matter of projection. The vast majority of Pagan religions — and the New Age movement as well — are non-proselytizing. We do not seek converts. This is not to say that we don’t welcome newcomers or those interested in joining us. But we are also perfectly happy to let people stick with whatever religion they wish to, or no religion at all. Instead, it is Christians who often seek to convert others and even hold the belief that everyone must convert or face the wrath of the Christian god as a central tenet of their religion. So what Griffin is expressing here is a fear that others will treat her the way she and her fellow Christians treat others.

There may be a second fear here, however. And that is the fear that Christianity — or at least her brand of that religion — cannot compete with Paganism and New Age religions and people will find the latter more preferable to her own faith. But surely the Pagans and the New Agers cannot be held responsible for her own religions failure to remain competetive in today’s spiritual marketplace.

Griffin spends the next paragraph giving statistics on what various people believe in various religions or are atheists, presumably to back up her claim that we’re all seeking to supplant Christianity rather than treating it as evidence that other religions and even nonreligious belief is more appealing than Christianity.

Weirdly, Griffin then takes a jab at Pagans and New Agers by invoking an old quote by G.K. Chesterton:

As Christian apologist G.K. Chesterton once said, “When men stop believing in God they don’t believe in nothing; they believe in anything.”

This quote reeks of Christian supremacy, suggesting that other belief systems in general and Paganism and New Age spirituality in particular are somehow inferior and for gullible people. It seems like a rather harsh and unfounded assessment on both Chesterton and Griffin. It demonstrates a sort of aggressive dismissiveness and condescension that likely does nothing to help attract people to her own religion.

Griffin then goes on to give her explanation of what Paganism and the New Age movement is, citing an LA Progressive article as her source. This is an interesting choice because Bruce Larro, the author of that article, does not himself seem to be part of either movement. To Larro’s credit, his own research on both movements included looking into the actual words of members of those movements. So in this sense, Griffin’s choice of Larro as a source is far to superior to someone like Mike Warnke or Bill Schnoebelen. However, the fact that she used a non-primary source rather than seeking out actual Pagans (to whom she refers as “Newpaganists” later in the article, again calling her knowledge and credibility into question) and New Agers directly is questionable.

This is especially questionable when one reads Larro’s article. While considerate and even mostly positive, Larro’s article has a clear agenda: To consider the two movements through the lens of socialism and to consider whether either movement could serve as a spiritual or religious vehicle to support the socialist movement. I suspect that this is exactly the reason Griffin chose this article as her source. Socialism is another bogeyman of conservative Christians and they often like to link all of their bogeyman into a single (often Satanic) conspiracy. This hypothesis finds support in the following paragraph found a little later in the article:

Climate change, transgenderism, abortion, cancel culture, and even critical race theory (CRT) have their poisonous roots in New Age and neopagan religious ideas. Under the auspices of New Age fall CRT and cancel culture. The tenets of CRT and cancel culture emphasize the importance of “lived experience,” “special knowledge,” and manifestation of your best life. Anyone who dares to contradict these deserves to be canceled because they are evil according to New Age. Ironically, New Age preaches that it can help its adherents self-help their way out of their problems while also creating a victim class.

Had Griffin geared her research toward exploring the truth rather than mining for quotes and sources that fit her narrative, she might have discovered that opinions on many of those topics vary greatly among Pagans (and presumably New Agers as well). The accusation that either movement acts with a hive mind with no disagreements is woefully ignorant. And again, I posit that this is more likely a matter of projection on Griffin’s part: She assumes that Pagans demand conformity of opinion because her own brand of Christianity demands it.

Griffin then mentions the former astrologist Angela Ucci. I had never heard of Angela Ucci before reading this article and a Google search of her brought up little more than YouTube videos of interviews she’s given and her own social media pages. Beyond that, she seems like a total unknown, which raises the question of why Griffin chose such a relatively unknown person to hold up her experience and try to paint it as universal among New Agers. Again, this feels more like Griffin cherry-picking a testimony that fits her desired narrative rather than an honest attempt at research or presenting factual information.

Griffin hen goes on to give examples that she considers evidence of the two movements’ growing influence, citing media portrayals of witches and the portrayal of witches and Pagans in a positive light, something which seems to bother Griffin greatly despite the fact that she doesn’t articulate why that is as well. Instead, she offers barbs like “it’s the embodiment of chaos.” Which is a particularly ironic in light of her previous claims that Paganism and the New Age movement are a monolith which demands adherence to the group think. The idea that everyone must think alike and chaos (or total individualism, as Griffin mentions later) are fairly incompatible concepts. Griffins accusations are rather inconsistent and incoherent if one merely scratches the surface a bit.

Griffin then invokes the specter of the Satanists, mentioning a specific incident in Texas:

This rise in New Age/mysticism and paganism is getting ever more prevalent in the mainstream culture. In Tyler, Texas, over the weekend, satanists (who would go into the neopaganism column) had a booth at a Pagan Pride event. The Morning Telegraph, a local paper covering the event, quoted the event organizer, Raynie Castañeda, as saying the event was not satanic, just an alternative celebration of non-Abrahamic religions. She said: “There’s kids trick-or-treating, people getting their faces painted. … We’re not doing anything satanic or any crazy rituals. We’re just existing.” She must have missed the part where the Satanic temple booth was preforming “unbaptisms” for $10 and handing out certificates that literally said: “All bonds of servitude have been broken. Power and agency have been restored. Thyself is thy master. Hail Satan!” Maybe Castañeda doesn’t understand what “satanic” is?

There’s a lot to unpack in this quote and I’m not sure I’ll be able to get to it all, but I at least want to start that process. The first thing to note is that she uses the activities of a single group and their booth to paint a picture of all the other Pagans attending the event. Again, this is a case of Griffin cherry picking examples that fit her narrative and ignoring anything that might run counter to it.

I will also note that Griffin seems to either be ignorant of the fact that The Satanic Temple is primarily an atheistic form of Satanism or is intentionally ignoring or even erasing that fact. When most members of the Satanic Temple say “Hail Satan,” they are not literally talking about the Christian devil, but a concept or a principle. So yes, even the Satanists in this story most likely do not consider themselves “satanic” in the sense that Griffin is attempting to imply. Then again, Griffin seems to think that anything that doesn’t fall into step with her own brand of Christianity is satanic, so maybe they do. But I don’t find that a particularly useful or honest use of the word on her part.

The concept of “unbaptisms” — which Griffin seems to find troubling and possibly offensive — is an interesting concept. As someone who had a bad (though not as bad as others) experience in evangelical Christianity, I can certainly see what value some people might find value in a ritual act of breaking ties with their former, toxic religious experiences. So Griffin cries fowl and animosity toward Christianity without exploring why some might justifiably feel such animosity.

Griffin closes her article with the unfounded and unsubstantiated claims that Pagans and New Agers are seeking to destroy American soceity and that neither movement offers true happiness. This later is a claim that I hear often, but ignores the many Pagans (and presumably New Agers) that are quite happy and lived fulfilled lives. But again, our experiences and our truths do not fit Griffin’s narrative so we must either be ignored or presumed to be lying.

In closing, I will just note that I am again disappointed in just how uninterested many Christians are in pursuing and presenting the truth despite their many claims to the contrary. There is so much dishonesty in Griffin’s article and the way that she presents her case that I struggle to believe that it is not intentional.

Magic/Magick, Religion, Videos, Witchcraft

New Video: Power in the Craft

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Updated 5 May 2024: Replaced the shortcode with the URL for the YouTube video to properly embed it.

In this week’s video over on YouTube, I talk about the concept of power in the Craft.

As a former evangelical, I think it’s important to have an understanding of power that prohibits control and abuse of others. One of the things I did not mention in the video is the role of systemic power. Also, institutional power.

I think that systemic/institutional power should be avoided. All individuals should have access to power. This leads to equity and justice. I keep coming back to the idea of self-empowerment in witchcraft. That’s because I think it’s an important topic.

Institutional power and self-empowerment often come to odds with one another. For evidence, consider how institutions expect individuals to give up freedoms and make sacrifices for “the greater good.” But whose greater good? Most often, the institutions’ greater good.

As an aside, I’m amused by the fact that this topic came up during Pride Month. LGBTQIA people (though clearly not the only group) have been hit hard and abused by institutional power. Especially the institutions of various Christian churches. We desperately need a vision of power that breaks down that harm.

Magic/Magick, Videos, Witchcraft

New Video: Magic as Self-Empowerment

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I created and posted a new video yesterday about practicing magic for self-empowerment

[youtube https://youtu.be/8sxiYSOC8zQ]

Listening to some witches and other magical practitioners talk lately, I feel like we forget that we work magic to empower ourselves and improve our lives. At least, I hope that’s why we do it.

It’s too easy to get bogged down in the rules. “Only do this kind of spell when the moon is in this phase.” “You can’t do that spell right now! Mercury/Venus/Pluto/the moon is retrograde!” (I know the moon can’t go retrograde. It was a joke.) Or magic and our rituals start feeling like heavy obligations. (“Ugh! It’s the full moon! What am I going to do for magic?” “I don’t know what spell to do.”)

As I say in the video, I feel like these kinds of statements and questions often indicate that someone has forgotten that we do magic for self-empowerment. Our magic must be tailored to serve us rather than the other way around.

Magic/Magick, Videos, Witchcraft

New Video: Living a Magical Life

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After an extended break, I decided to get back into making some YouTube videos about witchcraft. In this latest video, I talk about what it means to lie a magical life.

[youtube https://youtu.be/N-3j-5DfCOM]

As I mentioned in the video, I think this meshes well with my old podcast episode about the everyday sacred. When everything is sacred and every act is magical, the world becomes a thing of amazing beauty and we are left in awe of it.

I also think this understanding of what it means to live a magical life creates a more holistic mentality than an understanding of magic that focuses on mere spellwork and ritual. It encourages one to see oneself as a witch when getting up in the morning, when doing the dishes, and when showering.

This mentality is also helpful, I think, for those who feel pressure to be magical all the time. I’ve noticed a few times on Twitter people talking about how it’s okay to not work magic if you’re not feeling up to it, even if it’s a full moon or a sabbat. I completely agree, but I’d take it a step further by noting that an intentional decision to take not do something for the sake of your own health is actively living a magical life as well.

Paganism, Witchcraft

The Human-Deity Divide: A ResponsE

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Image of Freyja standing with spear and shield in front of her cart.
Freya by Johannes Gehrts. Public domain image.

Earlier this week, I ran across Patheos blogger Astrea’s critique of the “Inner Goddess” movement. I agreed with a great deal of her criticisms, though I found myself disagreeing with some of her theological statements. As a fellow polytheist with different views on the human-deity divide, I would like to explore those statements and why I disagree with them.

I believe we have Divine essence within us.

While I may not believe I have a literal deity inside of me, I do believe that there is Divine essence within me. This is because like everyone and everything else, I am part of the One Eternal Reality. Furthermore, it is this Divine essence within me that allows me to reach out to Divinity and connect with it. I cover this in more detail in my first podcast episode.

Also, in my craft practice, that Divine essence within me is what allows me to shape wyrd and become a co-creator with the deities. My whole ability to work magic is predicated on this.

My deities aren’t perfect.

Astrea’s theology seems to elevate gods to a sort of superhuman perfection, which is not how I view my deities at all. She is right that my deities don’t need to use the bathroom. But they are sexual beings. And they can age. There’s a whole myth about it happening, even.

Also, my deities often seem subject to many of the same failings as humans. They can allow their anger to get the better of them. They can be outsmarted and even tricked.

This doesn’t lessen them or make them any less worthy of my respect. It just means that I approach them more soberly and with a little less than total awe. That brings me to my next point.

My deities are close and approachable.

I read Astrea’s descriptions of deities and they seem lofty, abstract, and difficult to approach. My deities are much more earthy than that. They don’t glow. I think Freyja would find the idea of glowing a bit silly, to be honest.

The myths of my deities are rife with them coming to the human world and interacting with humans regularly. They seem to relish that contact. And none of those myths mention the deities glowing or being aloof around their human hosts and companions.

The myths themselves stomp all over the human-deity divide.

In one myth, the god Heimdall gives birth to humans. In other myths and legends, humans seem to ascend to the status of being a deity. This suggests to me that the human-deity divide is not that great. It certainly isn’t insurmountable.

Conclusion

I think that Astrea’s criticisms of the “Inner Godddess movement” are valid and spot on. However, her theology on the nature of the deities and humans differs greatly from my own. Which is fair, and I appreciate her post, as it allows me to explore those differences. Doing so gives me a greater understanding of my own views.

Videos, Witchcraft

Witchcraft Video: Getting Started

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Banner for "A Wyrd-Worker's Wisdom" YouTube Channel

This weekend, I uploaded my second witchcraft video on YouTube. This one is about getting started.

[youtube https://youtu.be/6yg8cwpjnyc]

I appreciate Sarah Anne suggesting this topic to me. It pushed me to think about my recommendations for beginner witches. When people ask how to get started or what to study first, I often reply with, “It depends on what you want to learn.” That’s a true statement. However, it’s not helpful to those just starting out. Going through my personal story while writing this video’s script helped me come up with solid bits of advice. For example, I remembered the basic practices I consider fundamental.

By remembering my own “wrong turns” or “detours,” I remembered to encourage beginners to risk making a few false starts. I found the important message that figuring out what doesn’t work for you — even through trial and error — is an important part of the learning process.

I’m also convinced of the wisdom of my “stick with one book at first” stance. Many will question that position. However, I think that critical engagement with a single text really is important for beginners. With luck, they will seek out further sources as a result of that engagement.

Of course, there is one bit of advice that I did not cover in this witchcraft video. I still think it’s vital to define what one hopes to get out of witchcraft.