Happy anniversary, blog

Tomorrow will mark one year since the official start date of this blog. I feel quite pleased that I’ve been able to update it semi-regularly for so long, and that there are a few people also interested enough to read what I have to say.

There’s not much else I can think to say, between massive amounts of stress, feeling fried, and too much work left to submit for my classes. Once that is all done though I am looking forward to getting more active in my practices again and developing more material to post here.

Happy Valborg and Beltane everyone, and Samhain to anyone south of the equator.

New reading material

is always a necessity in my world.

First, the Beltane issue of Rending the Veil is now live. I haven’t had a chance to really scan this issue yet, but I’ve often been impressed by the material here.

Yesterday, I got issues three and four of HEX magazine in the mail. Come May, I will be enjoying those, along with finally reading the first issue of Thorn magazine. I might also pick up the second issue of the latter then.

Continuing in the theme of things I haven’t had time to read yet, my dear friend Beth/Valgrind has posted an essay on Frigga to her blog. The Allmother does not have nearly enough time or written material devoted to Her.

Finally, a few things I have had time to read. Something about the overly technical nature of my reference class has had my brain itching for very in depth writing that said brain can chew on and consider for a while. I’ve enjoyed the last three books I’ve read: The Long Descent by John Michael Greer, Creole Religions of the Caribbean by Margarite Fernandez Olmos and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert (micro review: overview of Santeria/Lukumi, the longest chapter by far, Vodou, Palo, Rastafarianism, Obeah, and Espiritismo. Each chapter both looks at the practices as well as the general history of the faiths.), and am nearly finished with The Haitian Vodou Handbook by Kenaz Filan. I have more than a passing interest in Vodou (which is a post unto itself I’ve been stalling on writing), and was thrilled to find this, along with Creole Religions, in my local public library. Borrowed them both to make sure they stay in the collection (note: if your library carries books you like, borrow them! Good but uncirculated books will be taken out of collections after a time), and I am certainly going to pick up Filan’s to keep as a reference.

CFP: Queer Magic Anthology

Phil has been a good friend for several years and was part of the mysticism panel at Pantheacon.

Please feel free to copy and pass this along to anyone or any community that might be interested…

Call for Papers/Writers: Queer Magic Anthology…(title to be determined…)

E-mail for inquiries and submissions: aediculaantinoi (at) hotmail (dot) com; please put “Queer Magic Anthology” in your subject line.

Megalithica Books, an imprint of Immanion Press (Stafford, U.K./Portland, OR, U.S.A.) is seeking submissions for an anthology on queer magic and/or ritual.

For the purposes of this publication, “queer” is primarily defined as anything of a non-majority sexual orientation (e.g. gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, etc.), or atypical gender identity (e.g. transsexual, transgendered, intersexed, genderqueer, metagender, etc.). Other things may be part of the widest understanding of “queerness,” including relationship styles (e.g. polyamory, etc.) or sexual practices (e.g. BDSM, fetishes, kink, etc.), and indeed magic, occultism, and paganism themselves (since they are “non-normative,” which is an agreed-upon definition of “queer” within many academic circles), but the focus of this volume will be on queerness particularly as it applies to gender and sexual orientation.

This is not an anthology that is intended to be about “personal stories of the intersection of magical/occult/pagan/spiritual identity and queerness,” but instead about queer perspectives on magical, occult, and esoteric topics especially, but also possibly the impact of queerness on pagan or spiritual topics (e.g. theology). Further, where and when these topics of paganism and/or spiritual identity and affiliation might be addressed, this is not an anthology about “coming out spirituality” (e.g. the idea that it is okay to be LGBTQ and pagan/Thelemic/Santero/Hellenic/whatever/&c.; “coming out” as ritual/initiation, etc.), nor should essays primarily be about how queerness of whatever sort gives one a better perspective or understanding on energy polarity or gender wholeness within any of these magical/occult/pagan paradigms (e.g. the idea that gay men are more naturally gifted, magical, or shamanically-inclined because they are more in touch with their femininity, etc.). The latter has been done to death already; the former is an important first step in these matters, but as with all Megalithica publications, the intention with this anthology is to go beyond introductory matters whenever possible.

Personal stories that are primarily about alienation from mainstream magical/occult/pagan circles because of one’s queerness are not the focus of this volume; if discussion of such is relevant to the wider aims of one’s essay, that’s fine, but having those wider aims is a necessity. If you want to do a piece on “queer love spells,” it would be better to address theoretical issues of how they’re different or in what ways their methodology is unique and presents challenges or enrichments, rather than giving templates or sample ritual/magical texts. Essays on how to adapt “non-queer” spells/rituals/practices to a queer context, or lists of correspondences and deities for particular queer issues, are not very desirable…unless they’re extremely innovative and unique!

Some particular issues of interest might include:

How does one’s queerness suggest different viewpoints on particular aspects, methodologies, or theories of magical practice?

Just as one’s queerness may give one more useful insights on some magical or spiritual matters, are there likewise blind spots that one’s queerness may cause, and how can one address those usefully from a queer perspective?

Are there historical precedents or particularly interesting figures in relation to queerness within one’s magical or spiritual tradition?

Are there any useful practices or texts from the past (e.g. the Greek Magical Papyri; mythological tales featuring queer figures; established traditions with queer themes; historical figures who were known to be what we understand as queer; etc.) which can be used today, usefully adapted, or mined for insights for use in the very different contexts of the modern world?

What are some magical methods or procedures that one might use to creatively deal with what are viewed as queer-specific issues, like homophobia/transphobia/etc., safer sex practices and education, forming and interacting with the LGBTQ communities, legal and political activism, LGBTQ rights and equality struggles, etc.?

Are there “pop cultural” and “multi-media” magical techniques (see Taylor Ellwood’s various publications for further ideas/information!) or practices that can be employed in interesting ways for queer folks? Ideas may include: use of personals websites/Craigslist for spell casting or divination; drag performances as aspecting/invocation; uses of cruising and the entire bar/club scene for ritual work (which can be rather edgy, and not always in a good way, but nonetheless it’s a possibility); using queer-themed literature and films as bibliomancy or interactive ritual texts/sacred drama (on the latter, think The Rocky Horror Picture Show as ritual/liturgy, but with other possibilities for the film that is the subject of the interaction); use of historical figures (e.g. Harvey Milk, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein), living personalities (e.g. RuPaul, Ellen DeGeneres, Elton John), or characters (e.g. Valerie from V for Vendetta, Sterling [Patrick Stewart] from Jeffrey, Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist from Brokeback Mountain, etc.) as archetypes or spirit/deity-forms/egregores/etc. for queer magical/spiritual work; and so forth.

What are the challenges that can be encountered with the interactions of LGBTQ people and non-queer folks in magical/spiritual communities, and (most importantly) how can they be overcome creatively? What are the challenges that can be encountered with having interaction with a non-magical/non-spiritual person in one’s personal life as a lover/partner/relationship, and (most importantly) how can they be overcome creatively? (By “overcome creatively,” what is meant is anything non-manipulative, non-triumphalistic, and non-resentful that can be done to address and/or alleviate the issues in a situation—which is to say, specific actions, not adoption of attitudes or viewpoints that run the gamut of “try to be open-minded, understanding, and compassionate; deal with people on an individual and context-specific basis,” etc., as the main resolution offered. These should be things that are tried and tested, not theoretical matters. In this type of essay, of course personal experience and sharing of stories are necessary, but if the one you’re considering does not meet all of the above criteria, it will most likely not be considered for inclusion in this anthology.)

…And anything else you might think of which is innovative, interesting, different, new, unique, fascinating, scintillating, wonderful, and fabulous that involves queerness of whatever type, and its relation to and intersection with the practice and theory of magic, occultism, and paganism/spirituality!

Requirements for submission:
Citations for all quoted, paraphrased, or otherwise unoriginal material
Bibliography for works cited
Format should be “Vancouver Style” footnotes—look it up if you are not familiar with it!

Do write in your voice! If you’re academically inclined or trained, feel free to be as intelligent and technical as you like. If your work entirely speaks in the first person about your own experience, that is also permissible, but please use a more formal writing style for as much as possible in one’s piece that is not quoted speech. Unless you do so sparingly, or define your terms (either in the main text or footnotes), DO NOT use lolcat-speak, text message speak, or anything else that could be considered para-English.

Rough drafts are due August 15, 2009. These drafts will be edited in a back-and-forth process with the editor. Essays should be 1500-4000 words, although if your work falls outside those limits, do submit it – we can discuss this during the editing process. Do drop us an email if you are unsure whether your idea fits into the content. The sooner you start the communication process the better, as after the deadline we won’t be considering additional ideas.

Compensation will be ($25) (paid via twice-yearly royalties from book sales) plus a free copy of the anthology when it is published and additional copies sold at 40% off the cover price to contributors. All contributors will be provided with a contract upon final acceptance of their essays, not when they are accepted for editing. If your essay is not accepted for the anthology, we will tell you after the first round of edits.

The anthology will be edited by Phillip A. Bernhardt-House. Phillip is the author of several articles (academic and non-academic) on religion, spirituality, mythology, theology, Celtic Studies, paganism, queerness, werewolves, and a variety of other topics, as well as a published poet, and is a Celtic Reconstructionist pagan and a founding member of the Ekklesía Antínoou (queer Graeco-Roman-Egyptian syncretist reconstructionist polytheism dedicated to Antinous, the deified lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian). Phillip’s e-mail address for this anthology is aediculaantinoi (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Immanion Press is a small independent press based in the United Kingdom. Founded by author Storm Constantine in 2003, it expanded into occult nonfiction in 2004 with the publication of Taylor Ellwood’s Pop Culture Magick. Today, Immanion’s nonfiction line, under the Megalithica Books imprint, has a growing reputation for edgy, experimental texts on primarily intermediate and advanced pagan and occult topics. Find out more at http://www.immanion-press.com.

CFS: Triumph of the Moon 10th Anniversary

Dear All

Please repost this call anywhere that you feel is relevant

It gives me great pleasure to make this Call for Papers:

In 2009 it will be ten years since Ronald Hutton’s “Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft” was published. To mark the tenth birthday of this extremely influential, provocative and seminal book, a volume of collected essays is planned.

This is a call for papers for a print book that will reflect upon how scholarship about witchcraft, magic and occultism in the modern age has ‘come out of the closet’ and grown since Triumph.

It is specifically not intended as a pure celebration of Ronald’s work or a festival of content-light laudatory prose, rather more a highlighting the work as a springboard for the work which followed, and exploring the various academic directions that were catalysed by Triumph.

We welcome previously unpublished scholarly contributions submitted by tenured academics, postgraduates and freelance researchers, of up to 8000 words (using Harvard citation format) as Word RTF (rich text format) files in the first instance, with bibliography and footnotes. Due to the expected large volume of submissions, anything sent which is not to that format will not be read.

We welcome submissions from any academic discipline, and are particularly keen to see cross-disciplinary works.

While we expect most of the subject matter to be about (and relevant to) Britain this does not preclude writers from anywhere in the world from submitting material, and all submissions will be judged on merit, not geographical origin.

The working title is “Ten Years of Triumph? The development of Academia of the Esoteric in the 21st Century”.

Inquiries and submission to triumphbook@rocketmail.com by no later than June 8th 2009 please.

No poetry! No artworks! Thank you

Dr Dave Evans

Independent Scholar

——————–
I confess I have never actually read Triumph. Maybe this summer it will finally happen.

Fear, the practice killer

Recently I was commenting with a friend on Livejournal about some aspects of shamanic work, and it came up for us both about keeping quiet with some of the things we See/experience in our Work. Sometimes those things can contradict what is generally accepted or acceptable among modern shamanic workers, and we keep quiet lest someone declare that it’s wrong. I also realized that for me, this attitude is somewhat internalized and keeps me from actually doing or trying different things, not just in trance work but in any sort of esoteric practice I might undertake.

This isn’t a healthy approach to spiritual work, in my opinion. When worry over other people’s opinions or failure come into the picture, it can quickly overshadow anything else happening in your practice. For me, it too often translates into my not continuing my practice, which is probably the worst possible response.

I know us hominid types are hard-wired for seeking both approval and success. Positive reinforcement is a powerful motivator and success also can mean surviving to see another day. But what do you do when you do not get this positive reinforcement? What do you do when you either fall on you face or have to handle people telling you just how you messed up?

First, on failure. I can easily sit here and say that if you tried and failed, at least you tried, and that is better than not trying at all. I could also tell you that people doing W/work for years or even decades, whether mundane or not, will still sometimes fail. The point is how you handle the failure, whether you get up and try again or stay in that space of feeling the failure. I also know far too well how it feels to be in that point of failure, wondering why you’re even making an effort to try and if there’s any point in continuing. All I can suggest is to learn from it. Does the technique work normally? Does it not? Is it time to try a new experiment, or maybe move on to a different practice entirely?
If you are in this position, my only suggestions (and I am certainly not exempt from my own advise) are to not make any rash decisions in the heat of the moment, gain some distance so as to get some more impartial perspective, and work from there. If you let missteps keep you from walking, your only option is to stay in the exact same place.

When the fear comes from a fear of being shunned, that is more difficult. Are these people whose opinions matter to you? Do you need to even share what you’re doing? Community can be a wonderful resource for support and knowing at least one other person has possibly tread this path before you. Is their reaction a knee-jerk? Is it coming from a place of concern for your well-being? This is one that is not as easily answered. I would hate to sound like a relativist and somehow have my words imply that if you’re doing something, it’s automatically OK. On the other hand, in my own Work I often find myself at the boundaries, which is not a regular space for people nor a comfortable one. Some of what I learn, I share, and is meant to be shared. A great deal of my work is private and at this point meant for me first and foremost. I find that it’s a balancing act (yes, another boundary image).

There are some things I do and believe that I hope to share, as I come to the first anniversary of this blog. (A year already? is it possible?) My hope is that I am able to share these things without either falling on my face or being shunned. Only time will tell.

Hopefully once this semester is over I can again resume regular practice and work past any fear that has been building up in my psyche. I hope the same for all of you reading as w

Spiritual maintenance

I’ve been doing a very poor job on keeping up with my spiritual work. While I could give excuses why this has happened, sometimes it just happens. Call it one of the drawbacks of being engaged with the mundane/secular world. We still have to pay the bills, interact with people, eat, and other such things, but doing such means you can continue with your Work and remember why you’re doing it. Or at least that is how it is for me.

In any case, I’ve been feeling like my life is settling enough again to where I can think about my esoteric work again. So it’s back to some of the basics, and for me this means meditation. I stopped for several months because I felt like it was not doing much of anything to benefit me. No, I am not someone to continue a practice simply because it’s “supposed” to be good for me. That becomes a waste of energy and a source of stress. Tonight, though, I wanted it.

I sat down and did what I have done since I was about 21, a zazen style counting of breaths with my eyes closed. All I wanted to get from this was some clearing of my head and relaxation before I went back into more academic work. While I was breathing and feeling some of the stress and psychic junk leave, I got the idea in my head that maybe my spirit body (bodies?) could use a cleaning.

What I use for this are two exercises I got from the book Your Aura & Your Chakras: the owner’s manual by Karla McLaren. The first is an aura cleaning and the second is a chakra healing. The first got rid of a lot more psychic junk than I realized was hanging around and was glad to be rid of it. Chakra healing gave me a perk up that is much needed, as well as a brief vision of a scarab and I thanked Khephra for helping me out with that. (Never had Khephra drop in before, so that was interesting.) So while I am still feeling a bit run down, which I blame on yesterday’s snowstorm, at least my body doesn’t feel like this will be a never-ending sensation.

Periodically I find myself in periods like this, where I’ve forgotten to tend to my spiritual needs, pay a price, and start back at the basics. I wish it were not so for me, but it is, and I have to remember that and work around it.

I can make it through tomorrow, that much I know. It feels good.

After the con

First, if you were at my Pantheacon panel on Monday, thank you for coming. It went better than I could have ever imagined, and it was also recorded! If this is your first time visiting the blog as well, welcome. I hope you enjoy what you find here.
As I am still on vacation and for some reason not able to sleep very much, posting will resume when I am home again next week. The discussion during the panel gave me some great food for thought.

The rest of life

I’ve been hit by that disease that seems to hit a lot of people in their late 20s/early 30s when they start to really figure out life; I’ve finished my second week of grad school. Granted, I love it… mostly. Which means that my more active spiritual work is somewhat on hold until I get used to being a student again.
In the interim I’ve started my year-long rune study. Already fehu and uruz have sunk into my psyche in ways they never have before. I’m also planning for my first Pantheacon panel and praying it goes well. If you’re going to be there, please say hi. I even have calling cards.

Got Hex?

Normally I do not read much in the way of Pagan magazines. All too often I find that the content is either too superficial for my liking or simply doesn’t apply to any of my experiences. I also confess I feel skeptical whenever any new magazine is announced. It takes a lot of work to gather the material for one, and doing it several times a year can quickly lead to burnout. When I first heard the announcements for Hex magazine on Myspace I merely noted it, made a connection there, and forgot about it. Then it seemed to grow, and I saw some more mentions. The first issue came out. Then a second, third, and fourth. The first issue sold out. Last fall I checked out their web site again to discover that the first issue was available online as a pdf and started to read. I was impressed enough by the variety of material, such as the interviews with my friend Starwalker (who was trained by her grandmother in making Hex signs and also works as a volva) and traditional foods advocate Sally Fallon, that I decided to order a copy from the rapidly shrinking pile left of issue 2.

I read this issue from cover to cover, which is a rarity for me with any sort of magazine. I feel extremely pleased to have done so, because even the articles which didn’t captivate my attention proved to have at least a few pieces of information I had not come across before. No small feat, and my hats off to all the contributors for doing such excellent work with all their submissions. My favorites are as follows: the “Revolution of Thrift” editorial which argues in favor of voluntary simplicity (a lifestyle I am embracing more with each passing day), Teresa Luedke’s article on roots (and a name I recognize from a certain Heathen mailing list), Juleigh Howard Hobson’s article on warding magic, and the interview with Diana Paxson. I’m also very pleased that Hex is able to bring together people from a wide range of the Heathen spectrum; I saw references from Asatru Folk Assembly through the Troth and likely many contributors span at least that range in beliefs. There was also a noted lack of any overtly political stances, or even a pro-universal or pro-folkish stand, and I commend the editors for pulling together such a wide range of contributors. I sincerely hope this is continuing with future issues.

I will admit that I was originally feeling reluctant to lay out $15 for one magazine. Having held it in my hands, with full color printing and high quality paper, I feel that my money was well spent. I look forward to not only ordering issues 3 and 4 but also obtaining a subscription. Good pagan/polytheist publications are far too rare and the good ones deserve all the support they can get.

Five shiny valknuts out of five.

In other news, my self-imposed recovery period has ended. I’ve been fully accepted into grad school part time (in library science, for those wondering), my spiritual practices are happening again, I’ve started in a year-long rune study, and I will be presenting at Pantheacon next month! My topic is the “The Role of Mysticism in Reconstructionist Religions” and is currently slated to happen on the last day of the con, and I will be presenting with my friends Erynn and Phil. Hopefully I will see some of you there.

My first web media!

A few weeks ago I made my way out one evening to be part of a conversation about Yule for the Troth’s podcast. We had good food, drink, and discussion, and today I can revisit that discussion and share it with you all.