Latest Entries »

16 Years!

Filed under: BW Announcements, Pagan Life — Leave a comment
June 9, 2026

And still quiet. But I’m still here. I also still get letters and other things, I appreciate still getting those. Still doing MultiMind Publishing, it takes a lot of my time. But I still see things on the BW side.

I have seen a big major difference in Black Paganism since I have started this blog and definitely since I have become Pagan over 20 years ago. It’s really nice to see that there are more people in the Pagan faiths. And that they are getting recognized more and not as “hiiisssss, evil bad thing to be the straw villain of Christianity”. That includes cultural closed practices such as hoodoo/hoodun and voodoo/voudon. Even in popular films such as Sinners. Very nice, very nice indeed.

But y’all need to not believe every air that you breathe, social media is extremely different than 16 years ago. I do see a major lean to fluffy bunny ideas getting touted as general fact or as the standard. People who are no flavor of Pagan – but sure are major flavors of bigot, both outward and of the internalized variety – hijack major parts of the faith, mess it up big time to fill in the broken pieces and sell it to you with a hefty price tag. Or to get you comfortable to hate others in a way that systemically benefits them. Wanting to learn psionics (which isn’t Paganism but gets lumped with us, which isn’t inherently bad) shouldn’t have you finishing with thinking the world is flat. Wanting to learn spellwork shouldn’t have you hating the existence of Jewish people. (Disliking a government is a different story but a group of people? Not ok. You’re absorbing Christian bs, not Pagan teaching.) It’s genuinely wild to see how much Paganism and “heathenry” gets cherry picked down to stones and mishmashed gods on social media. All for clicks and views, maybe a little heteronormative Christo-fascist brainwashing thrown in for flavor. It’s really mindblowing how it gets eaten up so much and so readily. And the fact there is an invisible algorithm in the background showing you this like a steady downpour while making it all look seamless.

Actually learn crystals if you’re genuinely interested – and not that fluffy bunny nonsense I so commonly see, actual information derived from sources way older than a 20 minute old TikTok account – but please don’t fool yourself into thinking “All Natural is All Good”, that is such amazing duncery, I’m gobsmacked. Nature is dangerous. Nature does not care about your two gender bs. Nature owes you nothing, it deserves to poison you and does. You’re a human, nature is much beyond that. And you do nothing but harm nature when you think living the crunchy, herbs-only, crystals-only life does anything fruitful than make some random wannabe-boho White person rich. It takes blatantly from nature, gives nothing back. And by humans who can’t tell the difference between a mint and hemlock without an app! I’ve seen so much applied on nature in such an outstanding selfish way it is appalling to me anyone believes this dreck. Nature is tornados that will tear up a city in the night. Nature is an ocean that will happily drown a beachfront community with a single wave. Nature is viral spread.

Nature is not being barefoot, pumping out kids and thinking you don’t need rights because you’re a woman living on a distant ranch tired of the city life and think your life is better when a man dictates it. Nature is not learning the scant ideas of the magical properties of a Costco spice rack and trying to convince people they don’t need a doctor if they just apply vanilla to the temple. Nature is not doing Wakanda cosplay when you know next to nothing about the skin you’re in nor it’s actual history but you’ll go to some remote island with a megalomaniac who somehow convinced you “women should be dominated, it’s their place”.

That’s not nature at all, that’s just a bunch of suckers and their hapless, helpless devotees. Insecure people afraid or tired of the world that just are ripe for the picking because a human told them some fantastical bs and called it “nature”. Facism isn’t nature. Misogyny isn’t nature. Anti-Blackness, internalized and externalized, isn’t nature. Capitalism definitely isn’t nature. It’s all ridiculous. Very human nature, oh, yes, indeed, but not the same nature that sends a devastating hurricane to your home. It’s all just hatred and insecurity in cherrypicked nonsense. Nature is wildly neutral, humans aren’t. Especially the hateful ones.

Is science perfect? No, it’s insanely racist, prejudiced and far too heavily centered on Whiteness, maleness (not masculinity, just being a cis guy), straightness and Christian-heavy ideals. Same with medicine. And they still act like it’s a chore to fully admit and commit to rooting out those problems, from psychology to astronomy. They’re also part to blame of why people think eating berries they can’t identify in a forest they don’t know how to navigate are believing nutballs that tell them they should eat berries they can’t identify in a forest they can’t navigate. All that broken trust not properly forged makes people believe in nonsense like this. And when people want to believe in the wild and outlandish, they come to my religion and think it’s a choose-your-own adventure sandbox game when it extremely isn’t. It’s wildly disrespectful.

It all makes it difficult for me to practice my faith at times because all the fluffy bunnies gurus and their followers gunk up the resources I and other Pagan practitioners use. They delegitimize any faith that isn’t the Abrahamic 3 with their over-manicured video reels and staged lives, complete with ring lights and product sponsors. They want covens because they think it’s all about crappy DollsKill outfits and bad makeup. They assume self-work means swiping a debit card and a limited edition tarot deck they don’t know how to read. It’s easy to spot the fake ones because they don’t genuinely care about any of this, it’s just there for the moment “because of the state of the world” – the one they helped create, none of this happened in a vacuum. It’s just a problem because while they’re easy to spot, there are just so many of them.

They appropriate and bastardize cultures of color, some of them thousands of years old. They ignore the time and dedication that comes with faith practice, they want to speed-run it. They co-opt symbols to make their bigoted beliefs seem legit, such as Nordic and Ashanti symbols. They think saying “Ashé” does something. They think pretending to be Vikings (as depicted by Hollywood) does something. Know nothing of the history but wow will they sprint to “hate queer people and gender equality” with break-neck speed. They uphold White supremacist beliefs, even the pseudo “Pro Black” ones. It’s the same bs, different packaging. One dead giveaway: they all tend to essentially despise the same people and uphold the same privileges. Jews are bad. Gays are unnatural (as long as you don’t actually look at nature). Black people are somehow animalistic. Muslims are backwards, dangerous or both. Women should be quiet, human xerox machines. All a load of bs but holy crap, slap a geode on it and some half decent phone footage with tarot cards sprinkled about and you got yourself a following. It’s mind-boggling

Just think for yourself. Paganism is about that. We have community but we also have solitary practice. We also don’t have a guidebook in a good chunk of the denominations of Paganism, unlike the Abhrahmic 3. Because you’re supposed to learn via introspection and properly educating yourself via books (not written by people that want to sell you Surfshark). You’re supposed to take your time, not speed-run into a drug habit and other self-harm or communal harm. Have an open mind but not so open your brain falls out. The world isn’t flat. Rose quartz alone isn’t going to fix your problem, try therapy. Anyone who says queerness is wrong and women should be led by men are not selling anything but misery, it’s classic advertising. People of color aren’t bad and White people, in general, are not in danger as a group, there is no race war. Anti-semiticism is a terrible political and ethical stance, Judaism isn’t evil, only governments. These aren’t “hot takes”, this is just plain reality. There are systemic wrongdoings taking place but it isn’t some secretive cabal, it’s pretty commonplace systemic prejudice like racism, colorism, classism, queerphobia, sexism and misogynoir. The usual suspects, just add greed at the various intersections. Maybe throw in some eco words because what’s greenwashing without greenbacks?

It’s wild to see how grifters and insecurity create platforms and use faiths like mine to bolster themselves. Especially since stereotypes and lack of knowledge of Paganism and other nature-based belief systems thanks to very Christian-influenced (well, Abrahamic faith influenced, mainstream Western Christianity just does the most damage of the 3) ideals made it that way. Pagans didn’t come up with the spoOOoOooky vibes on our own, they were labeled on us and shoveled through pop media a bunch. Then they got reworked with an aesthetics theme and shoveled through social media a bunch.

It’s ok to feel unsure about the world. I genuinely don’t ever know if there was a time when all felt “right with the world”, probably because that time didn’t really exist, you just didn’t see it on your phone screen or it simply didn’t phase you. You can’t buy a rock to make yourself feel better. There’s no juice detox for poor self-image and a lack of self worth. But, hey, there’s a dimwit on the internet happy to make you believe that (for a price) and a predatory algorithm just as pleased to show them to you. There are some major wrongs in the world but forgoing modern medicine or despising trans people for existing (but these transphobic, medically inadept people somehow want to embrace Pagan ideas, idk wtf) isn’t going to fix that. Add to it, oh, sure. But fix it? Not at all.

If there’s anything that remains true in these 16 years: fluffy bunnies ruin everything but it just been easier to do so. The internet isn’t a mistake, nor is social media but it’s important to note “truth” nor reality doesn’t come in a glossy, curated instagram reel or an AI designed post. Nature is not your friend, you work with it. And a lot of you have been getting fed a lot of messed up propaganda of the same old things, just with a new boho tune meant to feed off of insecurity.

Tags: ,
Comment

Black Witch is 15!

Filed under: BW Announcements — Leave a comment
June 9, 2025

Still quiet over here, I know, I know. I’ve been doing a lot on the MultiMind side and still figuring out how to balance them both – But! I am still very much around.

Comment

14 years of Black Witch!

Filed under: BW Announcements, Pagan Life — Leave a comment
June 10, 2024

It has been quiet here, hasn’t it? I just am slogging through a lot so posting can be a bit of a quibble for me. Yesterday was the 14th anniversary of Black Witch. Yes, I’m still here.

To update about the UMBC/Paula situation – Paa Langley has been gone from UMBC Library since January. The university gave her early retirement very quietly and slipped her out the back as if a ghost. I’m still banned from there, however, because the Uni decided to go back on their word of it being over in January (which now makes sense, they expected Paula to be gone by then most likely. I thought it was an odd amount of time) so that’s been requiring lawyers as usual. What I am dealing with is basically what Columbia Uni and CUNY protester students will be facing – a whole lot of double talking, bs and university lawyers pretending to be judges just to protect problems, basically. Oh, and the school will grandstand on “ensuring diversity”. It sucks. I’d like to have a single academic experience that doesn’t see me getting fired, banned, etc. I’d rather have a boring everyday life.

But yeah, I’m still here. I have noticed an upsweep of new age stuff (basically: Everyone Thinks They’re a Dark Witch Tarot Reader Now). It’s something I’ll eventually post on because wow is it different from when Black Witch – well, not the fluffy bunny dabbling, that seems to never change – first started but first, gotta get a lot of mess out of the way.

Comment

Black Witch is now 13!

Filed under: BW Announcements — Leave a comment
June 14, 2023

It slid past me that June 9th is the 13th year of Black Witch! It really has been a long time, it’s easy for the days to slide past me. Especially now as I juggle countless things, goodness. But I am indeed still around, woo.

Comment

I’m Back! – Sorta

Filed under: BW Announcements, BW Public Service Announcement, Gender, Pagan Life, Resources & Information, The Arts — 2 Comments
April 23, 2023

Woo! It’s been a while! I’ve been balancing so many different things but I still do keep an eye on this blog at all times.

I recently guest appeared on The Daily Empath podcast where I talk about my practice, how I got into Paganism and more! They were wonderful hosts

There will be some regular posts but as always in these modern times, it’s when I can. I do, one day, want to get my Ask Black Witch questions out the way because I’ve gotten quite a few while I was out.

Also! Brief update to my pronouns!

It’s she/xem

I’m what I consider a bit non-binary, at minimum. In all honesty, I simply just straight up don’t believe in the gender binary and haven’t for a while and wanted the pronouns to reflect that. I’m a cis-woman but I lean fairly, I suppose, gender non-conforming, perhaps genderqueer? There are a lot of words but basically the run down of what to remember:

“She/xem” just means I go by she/her and xe/xem pronouns. Xe/xem is pronounced “zee/zem”. Don’t feel bad, it took me a while to learn how to pronounce it also. The gender neutral xe/xem for titles (like Mr. or Mrs) is “Mx.”, pronounced “Mix” – which I prefer written over being said simply because I feel like “Mx.” makes me sound like a dj when spoken. “Ms.” is also fine because, again, I still go by she/her pronouns, but Mx. Is also a good alternative. Here’s a little interactive of how to use “xe/xem”.

And a pronunciation video of “xe”!

Inb4 “how dare you use new words to describe yourself as if language isn’t fluid and everchanging, thus why we don’t talk like people in the 1950 or the 1920s or further back!”. Chill, using gender neutral pronouns have been around since the mid-1800s. It even stretches back to the late 18th century. We’re currently in the 21st century. Your internet is newer than these pronouns – heck, you are newer than these pronouns, relax.

I’m still demisexual af. Woo. My orientation is still the same, just wanted to reflect a change on my personal belief of gender, gender norms and ideas. I’m still the same person. I honestly never had a “tortured soul” moment about my perspective of gender, just like I never had one about being demisexual. I have a stronger memory about liking particular pizza toppings than I do about the day it dawned on me “oh, I’m ace/demi” or “wow, I really think the gender binary sounds like a scam bored people with too much time on their hands came up with”.

I also have been reading the super cute webcomic titled “Daybreak”, recommended by Pianta, a really nifty artist with really nifty art. I strongly recommend reading Daybreak and checking out Pianta (I do miss doing The Arts! because I have been coming across a lot that deserves sharing).

That’s all folks!

Comment

Black Witch interviewed by Madam Noire about witchcraft and the Black identity!

Filed under: Pagan Life, Race — Leave a comment
November 1, 2022

Been a while, hasn’t it? I’m still trying to find a balance between MultiMind Publishing and here but I’m still around! I was recently interviewed by Madam Noire along with other Black witches about practicing witchcraft and Blackness. Make sure to check it out!

I super agree with Frankie when asked about what the media gets wrong about witchcraft when they said: “It’s like ‘Let’s get this money. Let’s be beautiful.'” They make it more about the outer when it’s about the inner. I noticed on social media, especially with younger people, everybody wants to do a hex. Everybody wants to do a love spell. Everybody wants to get somebody back. That’s not what it really is about.” I get countless letters and messages that basically fit in these three categories. There are so many “spells” I see floating online about money and being pretty (to someone else, little on self-work). They are just major misconceptions that seemingly fuels themselves. It’s phony, to say the least. I totally understand the appeal but it is amazing how it has just exploded in recent years.

The article was a great experience, I liked it.

Comment

Cause, Meet Effect

Filed under: Race, Resources & Information — Leave a comment
May 23, 2022

Editor’s Note: This was written before the Buffalo mass shooting, which was an anti-Black hate crime. Also, there is a guide from Berkley on how to self-remove bias & biased thinking.

Time for a comment post-mortem, because it needs one. This was posted under the previous posted, titled “Dump Paula Langley, UMBC – the Continuation of the Problems at UMBC Library”, written by a person named “Anon Witch”:

“If someone is being offensive, I’d like to know more of the details of the offensiveness. The dyslexic is just a rediculous example and part of cancel culture. I’m personally not offended when people have mindsets other than myself and I definitely don’t believe in cancel culture if someone doesnt share my beliefs, etc. I feel these days people are just offended by “everything”. I am a free speech advocate, however if someone is working for an establishment, they should also adhere to its rules. Being rude to customers is unacceptable.”

Before I get into why this is all sorts of derp, let me show my reply to this comment:

Read the articles linked, and you’ll see some of the worse stuff. You should have done that prior, free speech also includes reading, I would imagine.

Now, two things: 1) Cancel culture has been around for *centuries*, this is just the new name. Also, that’s covered under free speech. As a “free speech advocate”, that should dawn on you. When I worked in the Library of Congress, we would say “‘Freedom of Speech’ does not mean ‘Freedom from Consequences’.” I have noticed the part that people who are squeamish about “cancel culture” is exactly the “consequence” part. Yes, being judged by your behavior sucks but that’s how the cookie crumbles.

2) Just because something doesn’t personally hurt *your* feelings, that doesn’t mean it isn’t hurtful. Yes, it sucks to learn that the world does not personally revolve around you but it’s a fact. I’m not dyslexic either but that doesn’t change the fact that “be dyslexic” is still ableist, plain and simple.

In other words, it doesn’t matter what *you* personally feel. No one should be violating the rights of others or harassing them for simply existing. And the old world you’re thinking of isn’t much better – White people literally would freak out if a Black person used a “White Only” fountain and men freaked out when women said “we have rights, just like you”, and straight & cis people still get their panties in a bunch over the existence of queer and trans people. Now *that* was “easily offended”. Now people who historically had to put up with such behavior can instead make those folks face the actual consequence of their behaviors.

People are still free to do what they want, but there are consequences. Basic “cause meets effect”. Paula was free to use her speech, and now the people she affected, me included, are using our freedoms of speech to newspapers, the internet, UMBC HR and Civil Rights investigators. And, if Paula has the brains for it, she’s free to use her freedom of speech to get herself out of this mess.

The DoJ doesn’t visit because someone has hurt fee-fees, they’re visiting because Paula’s behaviors are Civil Rights violations. Freedom of Speech doesn’t mean Freedom of Hate Speech nor Freedom to Violate Other People’s 1st Amendment Rights.

Also, libraries don’t have “customers” they have “patrons”, libraries are free to the public.

Now, to get into the daft nonsense that was Anon Witch’s comment.

Since I’ve already covered a lot in my original comment, let’s start with this fun comic from xkcd:

Click through to see the comic on xkcd’s site

Remember everyone, “freedom of speech” is not “freedom of consequences”. If you put your foot in your mouth, people have the right to say you put your foot in your mouth. Even at the consequence of losing a job, social respect, etc. If you don’t want people to get on your case for the screwed up things you say, then put all the screwed up things you want to say in a physical diary, not on the internet. Orrrrr just take accountability for the things you say, good or bad. Can’t please everyone, fact of life.

Let’s crack out the bingo board! Because it’s been a while before we have seen a bingo board.

Here’s what this comment hit and why:

You’re overly sensitive – It’s basically the entire comment, from the first word to the last. They don’t even personally know the people involved in the case but wants to cape for the bad guy because “I don’t like Cancel Culture … and I’m somehow a free speech advocate at the same time”. Ok, so Anon Witch wants to back a person that literally badgered a transwoman to suicide, has an establish record of being ableist – to the point of firing people – and has never gone a single year at UMBC without a civil rights investigation, be it university, state or federal. That’s fine for them to say and do, just like it’s fine for me to point this nonsense out as clearly as possible. It doesn’t bother them, a random person on the internet that literally went anon, therefore the DoJ and everyone else should totally back off. The case only has one dead person involved, Anon Witch’s personal number of deaths or level of harassment hasn’t been hit whatsoever (which they failed to say what that level or number of deaths is). As for “they should adhere to the rules”, maybe Anon Witch should route themself to read up on civil rights, free speech and discrimination. You can’t harass people or discriminate people at work, especially based on any historical marginalization they have. Nice half-baked save with the “however[,] if someone is working for an establishment, they should also adhere to its rules” but too bad it’s super flimsy due to the “if”. Apply the “if” part, then it begs the question of “why say all the nonsense above the ‘if’ statement?” The establishment is a university and the rules are broken severely, the end.

Your experience is not representative of everyone – “I’d like to know more of the details of the offensiveness.” “I’m personally not offended when people have mindsets other than myself” Ok, so Anon Witch is a mega fan of mirrors, it appears. Again, while it does suck to know this, I’ll say it again: The world doesn’t revolve around Anon Witch. Or anyone, for that matter. Me included. Something can be a very prejudicial act, even if the affected group is not there. It’s not a case of “if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” Yes, if someone told me something anti-Semitic, and there were zero Jewish people around – it’s still anti-Semitic. Even though I’m Pagan, not Jewish. Even though speaker is not. Still prejudiced. Now, if the speaker is Jewish, there’s always a case of internalized anti-Semitism … meaning what they say can still be anti-Semitic. If it can harm the group as a whole, not simply an individual, then yep, it can still be considered prejudiced.

Oh, and maybe if Anon Witch read the actual articles, they would have more details. The reason I’m not doing my usual treasure trove level exposure is because all those files are before the Dept of Justice investigators and reporters, who are the people who need to see it most. Not a random self-absorbed person on the internet.

 Can you prove your experience is widespread – “If someone is being offensive, I’d like to know more of the details of the offensiveness. The dyslexic is just a [ridiculous] example and part of cancel culture.” Read above for details.

You’re just looking for something to be offended by – “I’m personally not offended when people have mindsets other than myself and I definitely don’t believe in cancel culture if someone [doesn’t] share my beliefs, etc. I feel these days people are just offended by “everything”. I am a free speech advocate…” Too bad harassing and discriminating people in the workplace is not only offensive but also super illegal (and rights violating: Human rights, Civil rights and Constitutional Rights).

You’re seeing problems where none exist – “I’m personally not offended when people have mindsets other than myself and I definitely don’t believe in cancel culture if someone [doesn’t] share my beliefs, etc. I feel these days people are just offended by “everything”. I am a free speech advocate…” Yep, that statement hit multiple bingo blocks

I don’t find this offensive – “I’d like to know more of the details of the offensiveness. The dyslexic is just a [ridiculous] example and part of cancel culture. I’m personally not offended when people have mindsets other than myself and I definitely don’t believe in cancel culture if someone [doesn’t] share my beliefs, etc. I feel these days people are just offended by “everything”. I am a free speech advocate…” Like I said, multiple blocks.

I already talked about this above but in case anyone needs a revisit: While “Cancel Culture” is not fun to be on the business end of, it is part of free speech. Not the erosion of it. You’re free to say what’s on your mind and others are free to react to it. That includes screen-capping it and slapping it everywhere that there will be eyes and ears. To say, “I should be allowed to be a jerk but you can’t punish me for it [you’re free to praise and agree with me, though]” is a violation of free speech because why should one side get to say whatever they want, regardless who it hurts, and no one else can react to it? Especially if that reaction is negative.

Personally, I’m not really into obsessing about “Cancel Culture”. It’s simply a thing that exists. If someone says or does something prejudiced and it’s out for the world to see, then whatever happens happens. I only have concern if there are ulterior motives (such as railing on a Muslim person saying something homophobic … but the crowd is awful silent when a Christian person also says something homophobic – that shows Islamophobia at play) or something was genuinely fabricated – as in the person never said or did the act at all, not “I said I didn’t like Black people but that was taken out of context!” (Still an anti-Black statement, that’s why.)

I certainly don’t get how non-famous people, like Anon Witch, can get so hepped up on what’s known as “cancel culture”. If you’re not on the cover of any major publications and you have less than 1500 followers collectively across your social media (definitely if you can’t hit above 1000 on any of your social media accounts), the less you have to worry about. The less known you are, the less concerned you should be about “getting canceled” for yourself and definitely for others.

I have ran Black Witch for almost 12 years now and I haven’t had to worry about this. Cancel Culture is an unnecessary thing to fret over to me. Then again, I actually do try to not say or do screwed up things that harms other historically marginalized people, right down to who I feature for The Arts! on this blog. The easiest way to stay out of hot water is to never put yourself in it. And if you screw up, own up, and accept what happens. Freedom of Speech doesn’t mean “people have to like or be quiet about what you say”. Learning takes time, as does unlearning, but you have to do the work. Good thing there are countless resources online that allows people to learn.

I’ve gotten hate websites shut down before, mind you. Hate speech is technically protected by the 1st amendment under “freedom of speech” (assuming it doesn’t turn into a hate crime (which includes hate speech, trolololo)) buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut! a lot of websites, if not nearly every website, has a Terms of Service (ToS) which says you’re not allowed to say discriminatory things nor provoke discriminatory things. That’s not the government shutting down the hate sites, it’s the website & online hosts (Twitch, Lycos, WordPress, Discord, GoDaddy, etc) because the people who created these sites are in no mood to being interviewed by the New York Times or answer questions from a congressional committee should a person go from just being all talk behind the keyboard to making those feelings very known in the physical world. (UPDATE: Twitch and Discord are now feeling this because of the Buffalo mass shooting, both are getting investigated and countless news articles bear their names. They’re not happy.)

Heck, I can personally choose what comments I allow on my blog. I don’t mind differing comments because I wouldn’t want to run a blog where it’s just a big echo chamber – but that doesn’t mean I have to let the folks run riot with their opinions, completely unopposed. I’m not always right, true facts, but neither are they. Plus, having an opinion, even an opposite opinion, doesn’t give anyone license to be a jerk or douche, either. I make it a point to respond to everyone the best I can – sometimes in a way they would wish I never saw what they wrote at all. Why? Because it’s my blog. Engaging with comments made on my blog is not the same as me trawling the internet to bother other people on their spaces.

As for the “people are too easily offended nowadays” – uhhhhhhhh, no. Historically marginalized people are tired of getting insulted/harassed/harmed (UPDATE: Or brutally murdered on livestream) for literally existing as the historically marginalized. Now, the tables can be turned on folks who act like trash. “Oh noes! People want their human rights respected! Life was so much better when we could just treat the historically marginalized horribly and they could hardly do anything about it! It sucks that I now can face real consequences for my behavior!” Life’s like that. Get over it.

It’s fine that Anon Witch can excuse ableism, and cape for a transphobic, prejudiced person. Anon Witch is all the way in California just typing away on their phone (I do ip location checks on comments like these since the Aussie Who Should’ve Kept Her Mouth Shut), so I guess they felt distant enough to pretend to be a “Free Speech Advocate” while musing that talking about someone’s bad behavior is, well, bad.

Maybe they should build a bridge and get over it. If someone doesn’t want to be in hot water, they should probably work to stay out of hot water. Land in it anyways? If you screw up, own up and then clean up. (UPDATE: And don’t murder people for simply existing.)

Comment

Dump Paula Langley, UMBC – the Continuation of Problems at UMBC Library

Filed under: Gender, Pagan Life — 4 Comments
May 11, 2022

I mentioned in the last post that I was in a newspaper article about the abhorrent behaviors of Paula Langley, the deeply bigoted Circulation Manager at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Here is the new article. The article is titled “Past and current AOK Library employees reveal negative experiences with supervisor”. I wanted to point out a quote of mine for clarification.

In the article I said, “I think she hits on almost every single pin of bigotry except for race and gender”. I believe I said at the time of talking to the reporter (who did a great job with the article!) “race and sexism”, not “race and gender”. However, I asked them to check the record (I allowed to be recorded) so I could also see which version I said, but while we find that out, I usually say “Paula has hit on almost every pin but racism and sexism.”

Actually, after saying this to the reporter, I had then sat down a few days later with the Department of Justice Title IX investigators during their campus visit. (Title IX covers gender discrimination, for those who are not in the know.) The investigators were there because of Paula’s behavior (she’s really good at wracking up investigations, I don’t think there has been a single year where Paula didn’t get investigated for something she has done or said). I learned from the sit-down I had with the investigators that transphobia falls under sexism in the eyes of the DoJ (especially now since Trump is gone). Usually when I say “sexism”, I mean the more “classical” version of sexism, such as general misogyny (like making derogatory comments about women in general, sexual assault, etc). Basically, I meant, “I never heard Paula say or do anything negative about women in general, just transwomen.” Just like I have never heard Paula say or do anything negative about anyone as it pertained to race. That’s why I went “I have no idea how come she hasn’t hit Yahtzee”. Since Paula Langley sure despises people based on age (ageism), trans identity (transphobia), religion (religious bigotry), disability (ableism), orientation (queerphobia), it’s a surprise she doesn’t bother with the two more “popular” types of bigotry.

Oh, and this is the document that the article references, where Paula uses the term “Dyslexic” in a pejorative manner:

The little handwriting in the upper right corner is mine. The date says 2/5/18, in case someone has a hard time seeing it.

I have the problematic bit highlighted in pink. (For the investigators, I had the computer pathway mapped out for their convenience, hence why part of it is whited out for the internet.)

And yup, one of Paula’s reasons for not liking me is because I have disorders. And that I’m … chatty? And I admit that while I am talkative (this blog is 12 years old, should be obvious by now), if Paula kept her mouth shut from the start, she wouldn’t be staring at investigation after investigation on nearly every government & university level. I may be a chatty cathy but at least I don’t get endlessly investigated for spouting hate.

Also, I have heard some people say, “Oh, this is because Paula is Black and Vivien is White. You’re ganging up on a Black woman.”

I’m Black (it’s even part of this blog’s name, Black Witch). Many of the people Paula treated like trash actually are Black. Perry is Black. Dakota is Black. Joe is Asian. So, no it’s not a race issue. Paula doesn’t see race – because she’s too busy staring at everything else.

Actually, Paula is of Jamaican heritage. Fun fact: So am I. Paula isn’t just the same race as me, she even shares the same island heritage! So, nope, it’s not “ganging up on a defenseless Black woman”, she really is as bad as the article paints her to be. And she’s not that defenseless … the university seems to defend her quite a lot – to the point that the Department of Justice paid a physical visit. In other words, Paula is super okay with treating other Black people like literal trash so, nope it’s not a race thing or else I and a lot of other people would have been spared. Even if we were, her other behavior is still not okay.

Paula Langley has got to go.

Comment

Life of Black Witch – Things are Busy

Filed under: Mental Health/Mental Illness, Race, Relationships and Dating, Resources & Information — Leave a comment
May 8, 2022

I’m back. For how long, I’ve no clue because I really have had my fingers in a lot of pies. Yes, I’m still doing my June 9th, 12th anniversary livestream on my FB fan page and perhaps on my Insta, 12 PM EST. Now, on to the life updates:

– We’re still in a pandemic and I’m still considered a front-line worker because woo, being a librarian for national health library (I’ve talked about this in posts pasts)

– My cat, Madison, passed after 19/20 years of being with me. She was a stray kitten picked up off the street and lived through four presidencies. She passed of old age. She passed in late March at home, I’m glad I was there and was able to provide end-of-life care but I’m still intensely saddened about the passing of my cat.

– One of the pies I have had my finger in is my creative writing. As MultiMind (I explain there why I have different monikers (Spoiler alert: it’s to keep things organized on the back end. There’s Black Witch, MultiMind and Everything Else (i.e. regular life)). I recently came out with a dark fantasy/horror novella called Dreamer.

– Have you read the article in UMBC’s newspaper, The Retriever, about the super transphobic, queerphobic, ableist, ageist UMBC Library Circulation Manager Paula Langley? I don’t know why I somehow keep getting super prejudiced people who work in libraries that I have to air the dirty laundry of (check the Wayback Machine, 2016 for the first go around) but welp – people should know better. It’s 2022, educate yourselves. I talked about her here as well. By the way, there will be a suicide mention in the article and my post. Langley did bully a trans-person, my former supervisor, to literal death, after all. And the university knew the entire time, from when Paula started her behavior, to the death itself. They just decided to cover it up. Oh, and I was banned from the UMBC campus a day after. The Retriever came out on the Apr 27 and I also talked to the Dept of Justice, who was doing an on campus visit largely because of Paula Langley, on that same day. It was a permaban but it’s now down to only the end of the year after I appealed it. Reason? I slid a copy of the Retriever under Paula’s office door. It’s about her, I figured she’d want to see it. This is what the paper looked like, by the way

Hey, reading is fundamental, after all.

Nice to know the university really prefers to stand by Paula, even to the point of a DoJ revisit. Oh, and for UMBC, in case I’m told to “make the post go away”, it’s the internet. This post & blog will be long archived before you know it. Should’ve handled the problem better.

– There’s also the pressure I have been starting to put on Temple University library (yep, another university. For institutions that pride themselves on smarts – they pump out & protect a lot of dumb people) because of their treatment of another friend of mine who also was a librarian, Latanya Jenkins. She was battling cancer and the university didn’t really care too much about that, especially her manager. Wherever Latanya went, university-wise, to get care and accommodations for her job as a Reference librarian for Temple University, they made sure she wouldn’t want to use it – basically forcing her to choose between her cancer treatment or her job. Her manager tried to make Latanya look inept because of the illness, among other prejudiced reasons. HR only intervened lackadaisically and mainly on the side of the manager. I even talked with a library higher up and they told me that there’s some inaccuracies in Latanya’s tale … that they somehow do not want to share or correct (which means, as far as I’m concerned, there aren’t any inaccuracies at all). I’m still pressing the best I can on them but so are other librarians and publications.

– Mr. Black Witch, CTL17, is out. I want to talk about that a bit because I’ve had relationships go south (almost everyone has a relationship that simply fails) but this really took the cake. From fatphobia to anti-Blackness (A. News Flash: do not be surprised if you date a Black person and you find out that … they’re a Black person. B. I am literally one of the worst person on this planet if you have hang-ups in that department and I do personally see to it that I stay that way). He thought I was “too attached to my culture”. Though he apologized, after I basically ripped on him for saying that but still, that should have never been said in the first place, he’s a grown adult with a functional brain. There’s other doozies also. Yes, pobody’s nerfect but then there’s saying trash like that. I know he’s got an odd phobia about “Cancel Culture” (I personally don’t care much about Cancel Culture) but he sure would say a lot that could easily get him caught up in that.

I should have kinda guessed something was off when he thought Asian Americans were doing amazing in 2020/2021 simply because “they’re not being treated as bad as how it was in the 1800s”. (By the way, everyone, #StopAsianHate kicked off in 2021 because of the ramping up of anti-Asian sentiment from 2019 to … now. No, it’s not like the 1800s but there are a lot of things that still need to be done.) When it came to cultural issues (that didn’t support Whiteness), it just seemed like he adopted the Whitest approach he could think of, and if that failed (which it did, a lot) there went the “oh, it’s Asian culture stuff” route, which I guess he thought he could throw on and off like a coat when really convenient. Though I do try to be well read, I know I’m not a scholar on the Asian diasporic consciousness … but I do know accountability-ducking bullsh*t when I hear it. Going “oh, I was basically raised White – wait, now I’m Asian – wait, now I’m ‘raised White’…” when you’re told about your problematic behavior is not a great idea. Borrowed White Fragility is a bad idea, to say the least. When you screw up, own up and then clean up. Plain and simple.

I found him a therapist (he refused to do even that much himself even though he noted that he could use one himself. I noticed he really didn’t like doing any leg work, kind of like an adult child, if not an over-grown teenager). He and I both agreed therapy was beneficial to him, and it really was for the relationship for a little while, but he basically sawed things off when he learned that he had to respect my cultural identity and that my cultural identity is part of me. That somewhat started a while back when he didn’t understand why a game he’s a fan of, Genshin Impact, was accused of colorism. There were several things Genshin was thundered against but the colorism claim was dead-on correct … but he said he preferred not to see “colored characters” (yep, he said “colored”, as if it were the 1950s) because he would feel “pent up and worried”. Apparently, he kind of liked living in a dreamland where he didn’t know that colorism was real and no one would ever point it out to him – and Whiteness is the focus, I suppose? I mean, he already thought Asian Americans being set on fire and mass murdered (two things that happened in 2020/2021) is eons better than facing the Chinese Exclusion Act so I really should not have been surprised that he was that much ejected from living in the real world. I don’t expect everyone to be a scholar in these topics because they can get dense … but he could make Nella Larsen’s Passing sound like The Autobiography of Malcom X.

But what put the nail in the coffin for him was that he got upset that I wanted him to refrain from speaking AAVE. My reasons were because a) he spoke it poorly, it was basically Imagined Black English b) he’s not Black, nor was raised around Black people. To be honest, I dislike non-Black anyone speaking AAVE, especially if they’re middle class on up (where AAVE is spoken way less due to racial/class intersection reasons) because it usually is Imagined Black English (IBE), not actual African American Vernacular English (AAVE).

For example, my spoken Chinese isn’t the greatest but I didn’t have a meltdown when he told me to not speak it because he thought I was making fun of the culture – I started to bone up on my Chinese pronunciation on my own time instead … because I never wanted to come off as “making fun of your identity”. So, if my speaking is that level bad (knowing 5+ languages isn’t easy, especially when not immersed in those languages – my reading is usually best, then listening, then speaking) but I acquiesced instead of double down on my wrongness, I thought he would do the same. He didn’t. He instead melted down in a form of Borrow White Fragility and wanted to be personally slow walked about why being disrespectful of the Black identity is bad. Readers of this blog know that I’m not the slow walking type when it comes to racial issues. I guess he was also upset that I wasn’t a self-hating oreo, I suppose, to match his internalized racism. He seemed a little too happy to crack “grape flavor” jokes – which I immediately would shut him down about, because it’s not funny, it’s harmful. He would apologize and not do it again … but he should have known by now how those jokes are harmful, especially with his degree & age. And remember, everyone, I showed him this blog before we were official – I do that with every guy. Some people should come with a warning label, this blog is probably a warning booklet. Complete with a search engine and categories listed.

It wasn’t that “he didn’t have the knowledgeable resources” – he has a Ph.D in Philosophy … he knows how to think and research, in other words. Plus, he had access to my site, which he could have literally looked at and read in earnest. I’m not bell hooks … but I’m still cited by academic texts on race, gender, and connected social issues. When he didn’t have his head up his derriere about things he should have known before dating me, he was nice. He did say he was raised sheltered when we first met, he just should have added “I really wanted to stay that way”.  He even wanted me to make him a playlist – with perimeters! (Ex: “Can’t be visual, I should be able to only listen to it as I game”) – instead of just, I don’t know … look it up himself. Heck, he could have started with an audiobook of The Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Noble and went from there. I named the playlist “Spoon-food Express“. He did listen to it, which is nice … and would have been better if he did the procuring himself.

If anyone is going “but it seems he learns after you point out these problems”, here’s the thing: He’s 30+ with a Ph.D. I don’t have a Ph.D in anything and I knew this stuff far better. And when I don’t know? I look it up myself. He’s old enough and educated enough to learn this by himself years ago. At least to know that saying “colored” is super outdated, among a bunch of other things.

If he was better about the cultural issues (bare minimum: not have a White-adjacent meltdown, take it upon himself to learn things as well as unlearn harmful ideas) and was more mature (at least learn how to do for himself, not have others do it as if still a kid), he would have been a brilliant bf because he had redeeming traits … but he decided that he didn’t want to do that. Yeah, there’s the therapy he’s doing, and the therapist has been very helpful, but, to be frank, I don’t date anyone to fix them. I try to fix the relationship, even if that includes getting the partner help, sure, but I dislike the whole “women are men’s emotional rehab” thinking that’s really common, which is why I found him a therapist. He had other issues that were outside these antics, which will not be talked about here because it’s 1000% not appropriate and those issues are not what has me burnt. For me, those issues were really manageable but the prejudice stuff is not. It would have been better if he found the therapist himself but nope, that’s not what happened. And he should have known how to better navigate social issues like this instead of falling back on his deeply rooted internalized racism. That’s something anyone and everyone (including PoC) can do without the help of a therapist. If someone is above the age of 5, they can learn how to unlearn this stuff. I mean, I had to learn what prejudice was when I was far younger and through experience, not soft-hearted explanation, so anyone of practically any age can learn how to not do it. Especially a 30+ adult with a Ph.D.

Like I said, I have had relationships fail – because every relationship fails until one doesn’t – but this was a doozy of an experience. Any Asian diaspora readers here, please come collect your kin. And Happy Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month! Everyone, please go read the longstanding blog Angry Asian Man. I came across it in college, been reading it since.

That’s basically it in the world of Black Witch. I have gotten questions and such so there will be an Ask Black Witch: While I Was Gone edition. I also will have stuff for The Arts because I came across neat art and such while I was gone.

Comment

Small Magick

Filed under: Spells & Potions — Leave a comment
November 12, 2021

As we still are in a pandemic, that means some are still stuck at home (many more should have been or the pandemic would be over sooner) so that means there are those who can’t go out and about and fellowship with their covens or other Pagan spaces of worship. Also, there are those who are still in the broom closet (not out as Pagan or a witch to close ones) and still live with the people they are not out to. 

Then there’s the fact that there shouldn’t be any sharing of the utensils, which can be difficult – but not impossible! – to prevent the spread of Covid. Small magick can be helpful in both cases because it is, well, small. Now, for those who are out and out, they live and practice at home as a comfortable solitary, they don’t have to really change much. If at all. But not everyone has that luxury.

Some people have homes that are basically no bigger than a three dimensional postage stamp so doing a big, flourishing ritual or spell simply is out of the question. Shouldn’t limit the practitioner. Even deities who are used to big and fancy (*cough*sun deities*cough*) can be understanding that you won’t have a field of candles or a raging bonfire to celebrate them. 

The name of the game here is intent. That is what drives spellwork. Energy is the vehicle, intent is the driver. Keep up with learning energy movement and manipulation, also. You can get a lot further in a car than you can on a broken down trike. Intent means more than flashy spellwork or fancy movements. Those things mean something but intent is the crux of it all. Even with a little, you can get by as long as there is big intent.

One practice that comes to mind are “Altoid Tin Altars” which are basically small kits that fit inside a Altoid Tin container. This means everything is stripped down and shrunk down – the salt, the matches, the element representatives, etc. Easy to hide and great for keeping everything compact, and to the absolute necessities. Everything is so small and bitsy that magick could be done on the bed (don’t use candles if so – fire hazard), at the table or in the bathroom. I definitely like the bathroom because I can fill the sink full of water and do candle work on the ledge – or in the water since floating candles are real – and if the flames get massive, even on a teeny candle, because I decided to bug a fire deity, I can shove everything into the waiting water as I freak out over why the birthday candle or menorah candle (they’re colorful, handy and my Jewish friends horked them onto me when they had extras) has a flame that grew five times bigger than what should be capable of a candle. 

With magick so small on the physical plane, that means the mental plane is going to need a boost. I strongly recommend meditation for this, it is the best way to strengthen your mind and keep it decent for the long run. Yes, meditation can appear very hard on the first try but that’s Skill Procurement 101 – it is going to be tough at the start. Try not to buy into falsehoods such as “you should be able to get meditation down quick and if you can’t, you’re worthless” or “try drugs!” – those two are big headaches in the Pagan community whenever someone new or very unpracticed comes along. Witchcraft involves building skill. Just put in the work. There are no shortcuts, sorry. If anyone tells you there are, they’re probably selling something. Plus an unfocused mind makes for pretty crappy magick because an unfocused mind means unfocused energy. The mental should be some degree of stronger before going to anything physical so always keep the mental primary. 

Meditation doesn’t have to replicate a zen garden or the woo-woo bs kits that are probably found at Five Below or wherever New Agey bunk is sold. It can be a simple as just learning how to focus deeply on simply counting to five, first forwards (breathing in) and backwards (breathing out). There is also this handy gif below!

 

Stilling your mind can be tough, we don’t live in a world where it’s easy by any stretch of the imagination. There are smartphones, invasive ads, social media. Everything is all about being busy and worrying. One, because anxiety makes it easier for pointless people to sell pointless things to you. Two, being busy is an easy way to be stressed and have pointless people sell pointless things to you. Living in a capitalist society sucks, frankly. 

It is ok to spend 2 to 5 minutes a day. Sometimes that can be frustrating for someone to hear because “those two to five minutes can be used elsewhere!” But in reality, it is 2 to 5 minutes. Go for 60 seconds if 2 to 5 minutes can be tough. Surely you have 60 seconds? 30 seconds? No, you’re not going to quiet your mind in 30 seconds, unless you’re very practiced, but it is still a start for trying to still your mind and focus it. Eventually, you can upgrade to energy manipulation after you learn to keep your mind quiet for long enough. 

This is where the bread and butter of magick work is. Yes, it takes time. Yes, it isn’t super duper easy. That’s what “work” is. 

While getting better at doing mental plane work, there is still small magick that can be done. More like “passive magick” but that’s that. It isn’t as strong or punchy as active magick but it’s something. That could be doing sympathetic magick, which is a form of passive magick, and working with the basic phases of the moon. Doing kitchen magick can be a form of somewhat passive magick, as long as things are kept light and simple. It can be simple as writing notes of intention and throwing them into a candle or plain burning them – be safe with that, by the way. Write on flash paper, which is paper meant to burn away in a flash, so you don’t have to worry about ashes and embers floating about. Do not burn bundles at the same time. One at a time, small at a time. 

Using birthday candles and sand is a popular combo for me. Small, simple, easy clean up. Mark whatever you want on the candles, light them, stick them in the sand and you’re done! You can also pair them with half size incense sticks if you want, I would use the sticks as wands. This way, it keeps everything small and capable. Just keep your pets away from them. Fire hazard. 

No fire? No problem, There is drawing, writing, sigils (with some real research, not just “things found on Instagram”), the list goes on and on. If there is literally no time and no room? Read and research whenever you can, it still propels you forward on your magick practicing journey. Just don’t read and research bunk, try going for accurate historical sources. 

The point of small magick is to keep practicing, even when you don’t always have the space for it. Not everyone has big, lush backyards. Not everyone has a ton of space to make a complete circle, filled to the brim with knicknacks. Not everyone has the finances to have a circle filled to the brim with big knicknacks. But that should not dissolve the practice. Sometimes things have to get a little smaller. 

Comment