Sonneillon V.

Magical Housekeeping by Tess Whitehurst (A Real Review)

khalheyokha:

This book has been recommended by authors like Denise Linn (Sacred Space) and called delightful and whimsical by reviewers. Well, ‘whimsical’ is right. In the same way some of the more two-dimensional Disney princesses for whimsical. You know, entirely lacking substance.

From the very beginning, Tess Whitehurst’s book of ‘practical tips for creating a harmonious home’ is full of cultural appropriation; disrespectful treatment of spirits, deity, and fae alike; incorrect information; and potential disastrous advice. She repeatedly steals from multiple cultures (which she never cites or credits for the information), lifts practices from Hinduism, and even recommends calling on Trickster spirits/gods to fill your house with whimsy—which is a horrible idea. She list both angels and fae and all good, all helpful creatures and includes a devastatingly poorly worded ritual to invite them (any of them) into your home. 

The supplies needed for her spells are all extremely expensive—which should come as no surprise, since she began complaining about her first Hollywood apartment in the first chapter—and her reasons for including them are never explained (so it’s more difficult for newcomers to find suitable substitutes). Furthermore, she includes only one method for cleansing crystals and stones and fails to mention at water and sunlight (her method) can ruin certain stones, and advises the use of abrasive and poisonous oils for household cleaning. 

The only redeeming fact about this book as that she used to word animal allies in place of ‘totems’—a known problem in terms of appropriation. I can only hope this shows that Tess Whitehurst is in the process of unlearning her appropriated practices, but I won’t hold my breath. 

In a perfect world, a witch’s peers would edit and review books about witchcraft before they hit the shelves. Tess Whitehurst’s mess of a book is unfortunate proof that this isn’t the case. 

This pathetic book gets half a star and a good toss across the room. 

(Source: khal-winchester)

Two Rivers Diverged….

daoineile:

wyrdwulf:

Silly name, I know, but it is related to the Tess Dawson article I just put up; Two Rivers: The Changing Face of The Pagan Movement. It really is a thorough takedown of why recons and the majority of neopagans seem to disagree so strongly on so many elements. Moreover, it touches on a subject that many neopagans, and indeed many recons fail to look into. History. The history of who we are and how we got here, and I’m not talking about our ancestors or any “big name pagan elders” you may have heard about. I’m talking about the Romanticist movement, hermeticism, the new-age movement, how it coincided with a grand change in the philosophy of social sciences and humanities, the civil rights movement. For some reason 101 books never bother to cover this simple fact; that we have a history, and a reason our one big river became two diverging rivers. 

I don’t know how many times I have explained to an eclectic why they simply do not gel with me, and it’s not that I’m just “crampin their style” but that we are inherently different folk approaching religion from an inherently different history and social position. In some ways it reminds me of the subjective vs objective debate that goes on between social sciences(this is not a proper analogy, don’t take it as such, just a comparison) because they have similar historical roots. Reconstructionists aren’t simply neopagans who are coughing up the old bonedust of their ancestors, they’re an entirely distinct movement that is much more complex than the typical neopagan will ever consider. In the seventies, when Paganism began to really take flight as a fledgling religious movement, surrounded by a whole change in paradigm, Reconstructionists originally did have more in common, drawing on romanticist notions and hermetic ritual to fill in the blanks for information they simply did not have, but as the movement grew, so did the information and Reconstructionism began to grow organically and distinct from mainstream Neopaganism. Sometime in the nineties there was a Recon Renaissance, so to speak, wherein people began taking a more proactive role in producing something authentic, rather than heavily borrowed. From that point on, we truly diverged.

I do  not think we are two veins of a single river anymore. I think we are two distinct rivers now. If not, we are very close to becoming two distinct movements. We still see Reconstructionists clinging to romanticist notions, when we see a single Recon practicing together seemingly disaparate religions. We still see vestiges of hermetic ritual but it may very well be that it is fading and losing popularity. Tess Dawson mentions that historic-based revivals do not accept romanticist notions as truisms, and that may  be the most important piece of information…as it seems many a mainstream neopagan often feels we should, and is perplexed when we don’t, by and large. This isn’t a debate of eclectic vs not, but of two different movements, it is an interfaith dialogue, an intermovement dialogue. It is a dialogue of many things beyond who is more romanticist(ie. eclectic); a dialogue of all of the things that lead us to this point(listed in my first paragraph) and these are so often overlooked it becomes more about squabbling over whether runes were used like tarot cards or more like sigils, or whether we are all “nature worshippers”. Behind the petty squabbles, there is something deeper happening-an intermovement dialogue of extremely different paradigms, social issues and epistemologies. We are as at odds as Wiccans and Christians.

Dawson’s last paragraph speaks to the optimist and the idealist. “Maybe one day, the two can meet on equal terms”. This, I highly doubt. We will not meet on equal terms until the heart of the matter is addressed, until the social issues that are at constant interplay are addressed and until someone actually takes the initiative to start teaching all respective groups the history of the flow of their rivers. Dawson neglects to note that it is not just a case of differing philosophical approaches but that there are deeper issues at hand such as the Eurocentric POV of mainstream Pagans vs. the decidedly not Eurocentric POV of the Recon movement(as it invokes a questioning of Eurocentrism and a reclaiming of ancestral cultures and religions of many non-European people and descendents). We are a mere microcosm of dialogue of the big social issues that plague the world. We will not meet on equal grounds until the greater macrocosm does.


Personal note:

Personally, I think we will only further diverge. Our psychological approaches are inherently different to the point of nearing an inability to speak to each other on any cohesive terms. This is also what I was talking about when calling into question the concept of materialism and pomp within Reconstructionist polytheism a few days ago.
 

While I will never be a Recon (I am not at my core scholarly…at all), I am much, much more aligned with polytheism and recons than modern Pagans.

Anywho - I think it is incredibly important to note that good interfaith dialog cannot and will not happen until the larger, dominant force is able to accept that it is large and dominant and erasing and silencing problems; until then, I really see no reason for people who have separated from the label or movement to interact with it aside from absolute necessity.

Please be safe tonight! Some helpful resources

gaywrites:

Happy New Year’s Eve! I hope you all have a wonderful night with your loved ones, but please, please be safe and take care of yourselves and each other. 

• Be careful on the road. People will be driving drunk; please don’t be one of them. If you’re planning on drinking, you can call a AAA Tipsy Tow for a ride or check your local public transit ahead of time for information about free rides tonight. Also consider programming the number for a cab company into your cell phone now, so you have it if you need it. 
• Know the signs of alcohol poisoning. Monitor your own alcohol intake. Please don’t be afraid to call 911 if you or someone you know is in danger. Paramedics and hospitals are expecting a lot of calls tonight and they are prepared. You aren’t inconveniencing anybody by calling 911; you’re saving a life. 
• If you’re planning on lighting fireworks, just be careful, okay? 
• If for any reason you’re feeling down and you need a friend, please call the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. The holidays suck for a lot of people, but I promise you’re not alone. There is help out there. I promise. 

I love every single one of you, and that is not an exaggeration. Thank you for an amazing year, and have an amazing 2013! 

thiscrookedcrown:

asksecularwitch:

khalheyokha:

I’m a Wiccan, a witch-practitioner. Real witches don’t contact demons, we don’t foretell the future, and we don’t look like the “witches” on Ouija boards, either.

I beg to differ on all three counts. *covers up hump-nose*

*laughs*

*looks up from research*

Wat?

*goes back to talking to demons while researching spreads for my job as a professional witch, seer, and fortune teller*

HAHAHAHAHAno.  OP, what are you even?  You don’t get to decide who’s a real witch and who’s not, fuck off with your policing.

(Source: khal-winchester)

daoineile:

agender-unicorn:

mistressofherchoice:

keepinitconceptual:

Nobody complains about “you” being plural and singular but the second you want “they” to be used the same way all hell breaks loose 

That’s a stupid analogy. You is, in English grammar, the second person singular pronoun and the second person plural pronoun. They is explicity ONLY PLURAL. I respect how any person identifies, but if you want to be referred to as “they,” I will refuse to do so because it is grossly improper English.

“I respect how you identify but I don’t respect how you identify”

basically

If you are more concerned about being grammatically correct than you are about misgendering someone, you’re an asshole, I don’t give a shit what your reasons are.  You.  Are.  An.  Asshole.  mistressofherchoice is an asshole.

PSA: mistletoe is poisonous, kids

paganpeeps:

Maybe don’t throw it in teas or slather yourself in oil infused with it because it’s Yule and you saw it on one of those lists of herbs and their associations. It’s a powerful plant, and it may be actually be wonderful for imparting the super secret knowledge of the witchverse. Don’t you think it’s better if you don’t gain that knowledge from the hallucinations you get as you try to simultaneously shit and vomit yourself inside out en route to the ER?

Seriously… why don’t people fucking Google stuff before they use it? Why do people knowthings are poisonous and mess with them without much foreknowledge, just because the poisonous plants must be extra super witchtastic?

Oh dear lord.

(Source: peepswitch)