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 reason I had this riposte ready was because a colleague had asked me the same question two weeks earlier.
Continue readingJust 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 of orange energy around an evangelical campground.
Continue readingA 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:
Continue readingThis 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 curious about witchcraft and alternative spirituality. It is also great for those seeking a way in to witchcraft, especially so if they are coming to this path from another faith. It focuses on joy, enchantment and freedom, to leave any reader feeling uplifted and inspired.
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” people can get away with all sorts of unpleasant behaviour merely by being plausible sounding and having academic credentials.
Continue readingOther 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 poetry in response to the prompts.
Continue readingThe 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 from Nowhere by William Morris. In this future, Indigenous Peoples would be respected and valued and have their land back. LGBTQ2SIA people would be respected and valued too.
Continue readingInspirations
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.
Continue readingPeople 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.)
Continue readingMovies and TV
Changing Paths challenge day 27: movies and TV.
Movies and TV that changed my mind / blew my mind.
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Changing Paths 