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High control covens
There’s a new article from Storm Faerywolf on The Wild Hunt today talking about the warning signs of high control groups and covens. Members of these damaged covens are often instructed not to socialize with others outside the group, or lineage, or are otherwise told certain individuals to avoid. Information is often restricted; leadership oftentimes…
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Toxic positivity
There’s a phenomenon in spirituality circles where negativity is strongly discouraged by practitioners. I believe it is known as toxic positivity. Speaking about negative things or criticising yourself and others was frowned upon. “It was a good-vibes-only kind of mentality,” Miranda explains. “Some of that comes from yogic philosophy, but it’s been exaggerated. You see…
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Be like Cathy
When I was 14 or 15 years old and still a Christian, a boy who was older than me (17, I think) told me that God wanted me to be his girlfriend. I didn’t reciprocate but I was worried enough about it that I asked an older female friend, Cathy, what she thought. Luckily for…
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Afterlife jokes
When I was a kid, there was this joke. A man goes to heaven. As he’s walking along the entrance hall with St Peter, he sees a closed door. He asks who’s in there. St Peter says, “Sssshhh, that’s the Plymouth Brethren* in there — they think they’re the only ones here.” (* Insert obnoxious…
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Review: An Apostate’s Guide to Witchcraft
Once upon a time, Christendom labelled the Emperor Julian “the Apostate” because he reverted to Paganism. Nowadays, the title is applied to people who leave the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Moss Matthey left the JWs in order to live his truth as a gay man—as many others have left high control religious groups for the same reason.…
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Conversion therapy survivors flag
I’ve just seen this announcement from the Conversion Therapy Survivors Network on Facebook: The votes are in! Hunter Moore‘s design will now become the FIRST-ever Conversion Therapy Survivor Flag! Grey: Represents PTSD and memory loss.Pink: Symbolizes sexual abuse and marginalization.Blue: Stands for domestic violence.Triangle: Inspired by the progress pride flag, it represents survivors overcoming these…
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The sunk cost fallacy
One of the reasons that people tend to stay in toxic relationships and religions, persist with failing projects, and even watch terrible movies all the way to the end, is the sunk cost fallacy.
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Deconstruction story: Richard Swan
A friend shared a Facebook post by Richard Swan (in the fun group Dull Men’s Club) today, talking about how vanishingly few people are tone deaf, and most people can sing. I take the view that singing is an outpouring of the soul and one of the cruellest things a person can do is to…
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Repost: Approaching groups
When approaching groups to work with, check that they are an ethical group. This is a list created by Phil Hine.
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Dealing with door knockers
My best ever riposte to some doorstep evangelists was when they asked me “who do you believe is the ruler of this Earth?” And I replied “I don’t believe the Earth can be ruled, I believe that she’s a goddess in her own right”. The doorstep evangelists practically ran away down the front path. The…
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Just visiting
I’ve often referenced these posts by Annika Mongan, which present a fascinating account of what’s happening energetically at evangelical churches, and at Pagan gatherings. I also got independent confirmation of this by speaking to another Wiccan who sees energy as colours (I experience it as changes in temperature) who confirmed that she saw a lot…
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A healing journey
A new book from Moss Matthey, An apostate’s guide to witchcraft: finding freedom through magic, explores his personal journey from fundamentalist Christianity to witchcraft. Moss writes: This book is about my journey from a fundamentalist Christian cult to the joyous and freeing world of Witchcraft. Blending my personal experience with gentle exercises, this book is for anyone who is…
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A disturbing history
This is a very disturbing read about institutional abuse by crypto Nazis and very conservative Catholics in Austria in the late 1940s to the late 1980s. Very similar to the treatment of Indigenous children in residential schools, and of Irish single mothers in Magdalen Laundries. What does this kind of history tell us? That “respectable”…
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Other blogging challenge posts
Two other people participated in the Changing Paths blogging challenge 2024: Jarred the Wyrd-worker and The River Crow. Kudos to Jarred for keeping it up for the whole month and continuing to write blogposts in response to the prompts at the end of the chapters in Changing Paths. And The River Crow wrote some beautiful…
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The future
Changing Paths challenge day 30: the future The future that I want to live in is one in which everyone is equal and we are in partnership with Nature and the land, like the utopian visions in these books: Always Coming Home by Ursula K Le Guin, The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk, and News…
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Inspirations
Changing Paths challenge day 29: inspirations Many writers worry about being inspired by other writers, in case inspiration comes off as plagiarism. But true inspiration is not plagiarism, it just references its source and then does something completely different.
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People I admire
Changing Paths challenge day 28. People I admire. (This is by no means a complete list of people I admire. Some of the people I admire are not famous but have spent a lifetime doing a thing in an admirable way.)
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Movies and TV
Changing Paths challenge day 27: movies and TV. Movies and TV that changed my mind / blew my mind.
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Blog archive
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Review: The Devil May Care
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Escape to freedom
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Healing through reclaiming
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Made up Christian doctrines
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Double standards
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Ways of talking about faith
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Tenth anniversary edition of All acts
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Meditation is powerful
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DARVO
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Do you fear death?
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Discerning good theology
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Red flags
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