inclusive Wicca

The 2019 inclusive Wicca calendar is now available from the Zazzle store. All profits will be donated to the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society . Be sure to use your local version of Zazzle to get the best deal on postage. www.zazzle.ca   www.zazzle.com www.zazzle.co.uk www.zazzle.de

One of the rituals of inclusive Wicca is the two chalices ritual . This has evolved over a couple of decades to become something more than I originally envisaged, as is often the way with traditions , which are evolving and fluid . It started life as a ritual for women-loving-women, and evolved into a ritual for everyone, but retaining its original symbolism.

The season of Halloween is fast approaching, and with it, the opening of several different silly seasons. It's the season for racists to dress as caricatures of other ethnic groups. It's the season for journalists to find the gothiest witches they can, and write dramatic articles about them. And it's the season for spooky films on TV, and (gods help us all) pumpkin spice latte.

There's an excellent article about inclusive Heathenry  by  Karl E. H. Seigfried on The Wild Hunt Pagan news blog. He points out that it's all very well saying you're inclusive, but do your deeds mirror your words? He offers a number of really great practical suggestions for doing the work of building an inclusive community. There is great value in crafting well-written and thoughtful statements to share with the wider public in print and online, but the words should be backed up with deliberate action. ... Let’s show the world that we not only oppose exclusion in principle, but that we actively promote inclusion through our actions. Even if Heathenry isn't your thing, I would strongly urge you to read his article, and when someone you meet trots out the idea that "all Heathens are racist", point out that the vast majority are not. Incidentally, to the best of my knowledge, the first person to use the term "inclusive Heathenry" was Jenny Bl

This post was originally a tweet thread, but quite a few people wanted me to turn it into a blog-post, so here it is. I haven't changed the order I wrote this in, just added relevant links. Anti-racism 101. A thread. — Yvonne Aburrow (@vogelbeere) 21 August 2018 Harmony Day , CC BY 2.0 , photo by DIAC Images .

Rachel, the Trans Philosopher, has developed a great resource for allies of trans people, entitled The Ultimate Transgender FAQ . Check out her website for more articles on the philosophy and embodied experience of being trans. The FAQ is highly recommended whatever your gender identity and attitude to trans people - I guarantee you will learn something.

The night journey: witchcraft as transformation by  Yvonne Aburrow Paperback, 364 Pages Preview Price: £15.99 This book is aimed at witches who want to deepen their engagement with their Craft. It explores modes and types of ritual; how rituals work; the uses of sound and silence in ritual; the witch’s journey through life; the stages and pitfalls of the inner work. It shows how Queer Witchcraft is an inherent aspect of the archetype of the witch; how witchcraft relates to the land; witchcraft as resistance to oppression; working with ancestors; the witch’s pact with spiritual powers; the relationship between madness, shamanism, and witchcraft; and the concept of the night journey, another very old image from the history of witchcraft; how to use insights gained from the practice of witchcraft in everyday life; group dynamics; being a coven leader; teaching and learning in a coven; egregore, lineage, upline, and downline; power and authority; the process of challenging oppress

Dark Mirror: the inner work of witchcraft By  Yvonne Aburrow Available now from Lulu Inner work is a name commonly given to the inner processes that happen in ritual. It can also mean the transformation of the psyche that comes about through engaging in religious ritual. However, the best kind of inner work also has an effect outside the individual and outside the circle. When rituals are focused only on self-development, they tend to be a bit too introspective. Ritual is about creating and maintaining relationships and connections - between body, mind, and spirit; with the Earth, Nature, the land, the spirit world, the community, and friends. It is about making meaning, weaving a web of symbolism, story, mythology, meaning, community, and love. Creating a community that welcomes and celebrates diversity. Creating strong and authentic identity to resist the pressures of consumerism and commercialism and capitalism. Weaving relationship with other beings: humans, animals, birds

Some versions of the Wheel of the Year (the eight festivals of Wicca and Druidry) can feel excluding, particularly those that focus on the God and the Goddess interacting through the cycle of the seasons. This mythological construct excludes both polytheists and LGBTQIA people. Some versions of the story are uncomfortable for feminists, as they don't exactly promote consent culture. For all sorts of reasons, then, I prefer to go back to the original mythology and symbolism associated with the festivals. ☽ ♡ ☾

The best way to keep our community safe from sexual abuse is to make sure all our events and organisations have a code of conduct and a safeguarding policy. We the undersigned pledge: not to attend, or give talks or workshops at, events for adults unless they have a publicly available code of conduct with a means of enforcing it; not to attend or give talks or workshops at events where children may be present unless they have a safeguarding policy and a means of enforcing it; to resign from membership in, or not to join, Pagan organisations that don't have a safeguarding policy or a code of conduct. And we call upon all Pagan organisations, groups, and event organisers: to develop a code of conduct and a safeguarding policy; to publish these on their websites; and to enforce them at all events. Petition / pledge: A code of conduct for all Pagan events and organisations Please sign and share.

It is a useful magical and intellectual exercise to examine each segment of your ritual structure, and ask yourself why you do it in the particular way that you do. Why do we sweep the circle, consecrate it with water, salt, and incense, cast it with a sword, and so on? What is the function and symbolism of each of these actions? Can they be improved - either in the sense of making them more magically effective, more reflective of reality, or more inclusive?

Since I have started a new series of blogposts on inclusive Wicca , I issued a challenge to the inclusive Wicca discussion group on Facebook: Inclusive Wicca blogging challenge!  If you have a blog, how about writing a post on how you make your rituals more inclusive, or why you think being inclusive is important, what being inclusive means to you?  If you don't have a blog, send your post to me and I'll put it on the inclusive Wicca website. So far this has resulted in one excellent blogpost by Khristóphoros Hairetikós , Open your hearts and circles . He writes: A big part of being inclusive is knowing who you are dealing with. We are the officiating priesthood within our circles. Let us adjust them to be accepting of all those that are being welcomed into them. Know your participants, know their needs. Find working alternatives and be ready to adjust. Nobody should ever have to say “I am sorry, I can't do that” in the middle of your rites. And in answer to

Wiccan ritual often uses the concepts of polarity and fertility to make magic and symbolism. These can be viewed in an exclusively heterocentric way, or in a more inclusive and diverse way. The reality of gender, sexuality, and magic suggests that the inclusive way is more reflective of the true complexity of human nature.