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Outside the Charmed Circle

magic

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January 2018

January 05, 2018

A Blessing for the New Year

It's traditional to start the new year off with introspection, contemplation, and a resolution or...

December 2017

December 28, 2017

Sharpening Your Knives: Three Simple Tools for Developing Discernment

With the exception of a few gifted folks, magic and spirituality are hard work. Not...

December 26, 2017

The Spaces Between: Discernment and the Power of “Yes-And”

In a culture which pushes us to believe in the binary choices of yes or...

December 22, 2017

Leviathan Grumbles: Simplicity and the Betrayal of Discourse

Anti-intellectualism is an attitude of bad faith which violates the principles of discourse. Moreover, its...

December 15, 2017

Down Comforters, Army Blankets, and the Necessary Problem of Nuance

Nuance lives in the spaces between binaries, thriving in shadings and shadows, dancing on the...

December 12, 2017

Gods Behaving Badly: Managing Outcomes When Things Get Complicated

If a god is leaning on you, they tend to have a reason for it....

November 2017

November 29, 2017

Kings, Queens, Dukes, and Lords: The Perils of Hegemony in Pagan and Polytheistic Praxis

...we are often forced either to adapt the myths and symbols the past to meet...

November 16, 2017

Book Review: “Sigil Witchery” by Laura Tempest Zakroff

Zakroff has taken the time and effort to ground her work in both legitimate art...

November 08, 2017

The Politics of (Spiral) Dancing, and Giving Away Your Power

What we call "politics" is, like any other realm of human endeavor, a way in...

November 03, 2017

Apoliticality and Other Comfortable Lies We Tell Ourselves

Politics is, in short, another word for talking about and negotiating power... and if I've...

October 2017

October 28, 2017

Agency and Agenda: Notes Towards a Consent-Based Approach to Praxis

I don't much relish being treated like Mrs. Hughes or Carson the butler, especially if...

October 25, 2017

Some Thoughts on Consent in Magical Praxis and Community

Consent's a funny thing. It has the potential to start or end relationships, to create...

October 11, 2017

Coming Out and Staying In: A Rumination on National Coming Out Day

Many of us are "out"—visible, vocal, and open—and many of us are still invisible, still...

October 07, 2017

Mixtape of Shadows: Edward Ka-Spel (The Legendary Pink Dots, The Tear Garden)

Perhaps most telling is that, whenever I try to explain to someone what it's like...

September 2017

September 29, 2017

The Intrinsic Queerness of Witchcraft, and Why It Matters

Witchcraft is inherently queer, deriving much of its power from its transgressive queerness, and any...

September 18, 2017

Clouds in My Coffee: Addressing Some Criticisms, and Offering a Few More

If, after a careful examination of both our traditions and our consciences, we come to...

September 11, 2017

Tracing the Thread: Critiquing Gender Essentialism in Paganism, Polytheism, and Magic

Gender essentialism isn't a Wiccan problem, nor even a Pagan problem. It's a human problem,...

August 2017

August 24, 2017

A Belated Introduction, with Roadmap and Coming Attractions

The TL;DR version is that I'm a geeky, queer, feminist Faery witch and sorcerer with...

August 22, 2017

Start as You Mean to Go On: A Coda and a Prayer

When confronted with the actual awfulness of life in America for anyone who isn't white,...

August 18, 2017

Start as You Mean to Go On: A Prelude for the Work to Come

This wasn't supposed to be my first post. I was going to introduce myself and...

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