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February 2018

February 04, 2018

Safer Sex Magic: Let’s Talk About (How We Talk About) Sex, Baby

Coming up with a universally-accepted definition for sex is a fool's game, but I've never...

February 02, 2018

After the Mirror: An Ending, with Neither Closure nor Resolution

Sexual abuse and sexualized violence are very real problems in our communities, as in our...

January 2018

January 27, 2018

After the Mirror: A Brief Interlude on Words and Power

Words are magic, and yours no less than mine. Our words and actions together change...

January 25, 2018

After the Mirror: Now Here, Nowhere—Where Now?

If we want to our communities to be the safe, welcoming spaces we tell ourselves...

January 20, 2018

After the Mirror: A Personal Recollection of Complicity

I ended my last post by saying I know about missing stairs from personal experience....

January 19, 2018

After the Mirror: The Missing Stair and the Enabling of Abuse

The missing stair is that problematic person we all know is a problem, but who...

January 13, 2018

A Long, Cold Look in the Mirror

The responsibility for preventing abuse in our communities doesn't lie with the victims or the...

January 10, 2018

Memories of the First Books: Deities & Demigods

D&D encouraged me to explore the vast array of spiritual traditions throughout history, beyond the...

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....

December 10, 2017

#NotAllGods, and Some Rules of Thumb for Working with Gods

While some folks disagree on this point, I maintain quite firmly that human beings are...

December 06, 2017

Saying No to Gods, and Other Challenges of the Path

...the gods relate to us for their own reasons, just as we relate to them...

December 03, 2017

The Toxic Narrative of “Being Chosen” by Gods and Bad Boys

Once we've cast ourselves as powerless protagonists at the mercy of domineering, socially inept aggressors,...

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 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...

October 2017

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...

September 2017

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,...

September 07, 2017

“How It Ought to Be”: The Problem of Gender Essentialism

Pagans and polytheists like to think we're free from gender-based bigotry, but are we really?...

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 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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