Archive for December, 2014


Ask Black Witch: Want to Learn Lightworking, When to Use Defensive Spellwork, How to Date While Black and Pagan?

Filed under: Ask Black Witch — 2 Comments
December 26, 2014

It’s this week’s Ask Black Witch! It’s also the last post of the year. The ending of the year wasn’t too fun for me, since I’m housed away in Virginia as of this writing and with a dead tablet because of a trigger that made me leave home (PTSD is no fun, kids). The tablet is dead because I couldn’t bring the super finicky charger. Oh wellz.

Onwards to the questions!

Hi!

I’ve read a few of your posts referring to some books/information about paganism/non abrahamic religions as “too new age-y,” and wanted your opinion about a particular book called “What is Lightbody?” So far, I have only found 3 other books that even refer to the concept of “light work,” so I would like to take it as a reliable source in my own spiritual/magickal growth.

Thanks!

– Jessica G.

I responded:

Author please? I don’t know every book out there.

🙂 Wow!  I wasn’t expecting a response this fast! The author is Tashira Tachi-ren.

From the author, things already sounded suspect. The name sounds like a crash course of something sounding like it’s trying to be ethnic (namely, Japanese) but failing. And usually in Paganism, this is usually attached to a White person. I googled the name.

Yep. White lady. The book looked just as bad, I skimmed it through Amazon.

I’m skimming while still dealing with a head cold but something seems really off about the book.

For starters, when you have an archangel as your co-author, there’s usually the start of your problems of dealing with a dink author, besides the phony name.

I have mixed feelings about it as well.  On one hand, since there aren’t a lot of other books about the topic it seemed like it would be legitimate for meditations, and I have also found two black pagans on youtube who have referred to themselves and others as “lightworkers.”  On the other hand, I have an ingrained Baptist suspicion of channeling no matter how far away I get from my Abrahamic roots.  

I came across it because I am interested in mysticism and metaphysics, and this very much falls into that area.  

Here are the two youtube videos I was referring to:

“What is a Light Worker? What is Dark Energy?”

“Random Brother Ra: I’m a Light Worker from the Hood”

(They’re non-linked because they were not really that good to vouch for)

13SignsAstrology guy talks about chemtrails and given his demeanor, his vid about the orgins of the race will be Afriboo grade, therefore this guy most likely is an unreliable source. The other one is marginally better but seemingly by a hair. It appears that they don’t have a lot of study on the subject. Channeling is real but are you just trying to do Kabbalah stuff or lightworking (which, depending on which route you take, is pretty new-agey nonsense) in general?

 

I’m attracted to the concept of lightworking for working with different colors of light in order to heal myself and others. I’m not even quite sure how I came across the term, but it seemed interesting and this one was the oldest (and one of 2) books I could find on it.  The basis of it is very “out-there,” but since I’ve been researching magickal/belief systems for years, I’m willing to at least think on it, and wanted to check with someone who may be more familiar with it. 🙂  There aren’t many (black) people where I am who openly practice anything that may draw suspicion, so I can’t ask anyone in person. And you are closer to me in age, so I felt more comfortable asking you! 

Thanks for answering!!  I’m about to go overseas this weekend, and was debating on the handful of books I would take with me.    

This is another video. 

“Citrine Crystal: My Joy, Energy, Mood Booster, Happiness Gemstone”

Apologies for the onslaught of emails, but I believe my question really is, do you have an opinion on lightworking?

Thanks

Sounds like you mainly want to do color magick sort of, since you want to work with various colors, even if it in using light. My opinion on lightworking is that it is ok but there such a deluge of Christian based nonsense with bit and pieces yanked from other cultures such as the idea of karma (that’s Hinduism) that it’s almost not worth following someone else and just researching for yourself how light and energy work (from a scientific perspective), the psychological and esoteric effects of color and how that was perceived throughout various eras and histories. 

None of the videos you shown me would I recommend. They’re just not well researched enough and too cramped down in contemporary, Western Christian and Abrahamic ideology that it couldn’t possibly support reasonable theories. If you want to work with angels, that’s fine but do real research, not follow after these people. I’ll touch more on all this during Ask Black Witch at the end of this month.

And now that time is here! Woo. Easier to talk about stuff when you don’t have a head cold.

So, for book recommendation because I want to get that out of the way. I looked in the Library of Congress stacks on witchcraft and metaphysics (it’s a little meh but got some usefulness to it) and I have found a book called Tony and Tina Color Energy: How Color can Transform Your Life by Christina Bornstein and Anthony Gill. Despite the super new-agey title (that I dislike because of that very reason), the book actually has quite some interesting nuggets of information that could probably help you. However, still do some research because these guys aren’t as bad as the vloggers you’ve mentioned, without any supplementary information, you could wind up sounding as mental and off-color as some of the vloggers. And that’s not good.

There’s a sizeable amount to flip through on Amazon via the Look Inside but here’s a good snapshot I took of the book to show some of what they talk about since that doesn’t show up on the Look Inside.

Click for full size pic

Click for full size pic

So I recommend giving it a look.

Now, the lightworker book from Tashi-ren, books like that you should always pass on. The writing in the book is very well deluded. In the foreword says:

“Tashira Tachi-ren walked into the body on July 11, 1985 and walked out the body on December 17, 1997. With an eternal essence of Divine Will and a divine function of Holographic Harmonization, her divine design was perfect suited to embody the vision of, and be the primary channel for, the Council of Ein Soph.”

This is mental as all get out. The mention of holograms is the most fishy part of this. That’s usually said in the vein of UFO and aliens believers and folks who think that they have had metal plates or something that wirelessly controls them put in their head (and the story will always involve the “evils” of homosexuality in some way, shape or form. That’s usually how you can tell something stupid is present, homophobia, racism or misogyny). Ein Soph (also spelled Ein Sof) is, as described by my go-to book, The Watkins Dictionary of Magic by Nevill Drury: “In the Kabbalah, the ‘Infinite’. See Ain Soph Aur”. In the book, Ain Soph Aur is: “A Hebrew expression meaning ‘Limitless Light’. In the Kabbalah, it represents the infinite and mysterious source from which all comes forth.” So that part is legit in name but only in use of name alone. Everything else is bunk.

Then you have this bit:

“Aliyah Merkavah Ziondra walked into the body of Tashira Tachi-Ren on December 17, 1997. As an incarnation of Rapture Elohim, her essence is Divine Rapture and her function is Divine Alignment. She views her orientation as devotional and heart-centered.”

What. The. Holy. Hell? Ok, now I’m confused. If Tachi-Ren walked out of the body on that day, how could someone else walk into her body? That sounds almost like two levels of possessions. That and Elohim, also by Watkins Dictionary means “One of the sacred names of God in Hebrew scripture and the Kabbalah, and used by magicians as a god-name in magical ceremonies. It is the plural form of ‘El’, meaning ‘God’. See following entries.” There’s Elohim Gebor/Givor and Elohim Tzevaot but there is no “rapture” version. And speaking of rapture, here comes the doom and gloom. Oh, this is going to be really…repetitive of all the other dime store books that sound just as butterball nuts.

At least the two personas are explained a little further down with “On December 17, 1997[,] Tashira Tachi-ren walked-out and Rapture Elohim walked-in.” But still, “[Ziondra] embodied the Wings of Glory program from the Council. She brought in the rest of the Phoenyx [of Yah]/[Heavenly]Merkavah teaching and all of the Bennu Initiations.” None of this stuff makes sense. And why would something so universal as a deity care about Earth where there is a whole universe to worry about? Why rely on humans? I’m pretty sure the Abrahmic god can see what damage we’re capable of, even offed his own kid. At that point, loving (despite rapturous and jealous) or not, wouldn’t it be time to scour through space and time to find another group of living beings that aren’t so derpy, they’re still hung up on the fact they come in darker shades to the point of displaying vast homicidal tendencies?

And here comes the bit where I could tell this book was not worth reading (and I can finish up so I can move on to the next questions):

“Even with the [parallel, Sept 17-19, 2001] split occurring slowly over three days, the Light level regression and the events of 9/11[,] many Lightworkers felt traumatized by the split. Most members of the last two walk-in waves failed to launch and remained confused and immersed in the karma game.”

Now we have 9/11 mentioned. Ok, why would the angels or whatever entities care about 9/11? Why so centric to the United States? There’s many, maaaaaaaaaaaaany things that were happening well before the terrorist attack (that was in reaction to really crappy stuff the US has done to other nations, including launched terrorist attacks and invasions of our own since ehhhhhhhh, Cold War? (And remember, Cold War got started from stuff that happened in WWII. Which got started from stuff in WWI, it’s all a doozy). So I don’t know why higher entities would care outside of saying, “Welp, that’s what you get for screwing other people over on a regular basis and in God’s name half the time”?). Why would any higher entity planted here on earth worry about America when the Middle East, where many Biblical events occurred, is pretty much on fire? And partly thanks to America, of course, as well as other Western nations. It doesn’t make sense. And 9/11 was bad but it wasn’t the only bad thing happening at the time. It’s just…this bit is so US centric, it doesn’t make sense.

Let’s not get started with the use of the term “karma” and the fact that is from Hinduism soooooooo, yeah. This book is just a bad pick. Nothing about it is worth looking at, at all.

Onward with other questions!

Hello. I would first like to say I enjoyed reading your blog specific, especially that you are not in favour of love spells, your argument well iterated. And hexing, yeah instead of dealing with issues like well-developed beings, there is the attitude of ‘fix it for me’ rather than taking responsibility for our actions. I believe that is what a witch is, someone who takes responsibility for their actions, what it is; neither good nor bad. I like ‘binding a karmic spell’ as it incorporates basic witchcraft principles. I’m not interested in the Wiccan rede, where the ‘do what thy will but do no harm’. Comes across to me as not being fully responsible for what is done. 

Well I’ll put that aside now being not the time.

I am studying via my well-honed research skills to become a witch. Which witch is irrelevant to me, I won’t sit by a colour and limit whatever I am supposed to accomplish. I’ve survived a hellasious series of life learning experiences and now I am again free in spirit and body to be and what I damned well like.;-) So I believe that I was born to become a witch. My information hunt led me to your site.

Sometimes I can let things go and have learned to forgive some people some things. However when a memory of a particular event is triggered and get low, then I think how come there is no justice no recourse for what they did, et cetera. So I want to punish them spiritually and I guarantee that is justified and will elucidate at the end.

Yet I’m appreciative that millions of people have suffered and are not seeking revenge. I could go in circles.

So reading your blog regarding the use of karmic spell leads me to this question.

How far or bad does it have to be before taking defensive or punitive action?

So this is my background I don’t like to talk but this is an exception.
I was brought up in a good old abusive Christian environment, yes they did it all. I put myself through university & met the father of my 3 (lovely/rotten) kids. The oldest turned 16 this year. I’m leaving out a lot I was diagnosed 10 years ago my youngest is 11 in two months. With major depression and anxiety with border line personality disorder. I am in remission the bpd is like having a 1000 mood swings all day. That is no longer in control of me but me. Although there have been many incidents where as an adult I was in very bad situation so. And obviously I don’t like talking about any of these. This incident was 15years ago. We were planning to get engaged. So to celebrate I was to have dinner with the ex-girlfriend of one of his mates. Thing is I look at this now & can’t believe how gullible…anyway after the meal I stood she did too came towards me smiling as I passed out. I woke up when it was dark in a shallow bath, screaming and heard the ambulance officers say she’s on drugs. Then my partner (ex), turned up. Apparently they took picture shows & showed him. He said he never wants to talk about this again. And for two day had vomiting diarrhea. I then had a reputation as being easy. I live in WA. He & the other two are still in Darwin, NT. We were planning to come back home so the kids could spend time together. But ah school fees etc so the holiday is delayed. And triggered the fear of being seen by ‘anyone’ at home.

That is what I was pondering what I could possibly do, initially I was looking for an effective punishment but that’s not likely. That is what I call justified anger. 

With your experience may I inquire your opinion of when or how bad must it be.
And yes I’ve had worse experiences as I got older.
So please I would like your views.

Please respond, thank you for your time.

– Fiona D.

For the skimmers, the question in this letter is this: How far or bad does it have to be before taking defensive or punitive action? 

A good rule of thumb is “After all mundane options have been used.” Protective magick can be done – as long as it is general to cover all bases – at the start of a problem but defensive magick with a punitive edge, should be done after all reasonable mundane options have been done. For example, stalking from an abusive ex: There’s the mundane options of going to the police, having a police report done, getting a restraining order (if possible because a piece of paper with the resting threat of legal repercussions don’t stop bullets or the person simply running into your house or any other physical, real-world action), informing others that this is happening. After exercising all these options, nothing is wrong with doing karmic or binding spells for further protection. Basically, don’t run to magick first thing to solve a problem, it should be the back-up procedure to ensure your safety.

I’m Abigail

I wanted to thank you very much for your post.  If my writing wasn’t so bad I could say I wrote it myself.  I’m of the left hand path something that has been inside me from the age of 8 and I begged for that 8 Ball for Xmas  I live in the Sacramento California area and dream of the day I could find or meet people who are not afraid do to Christian brainwashing.  I do believe in live and let live why can’t others do the same.  How dare they tell me how to live as though we were Siamese twins in the womb..  I have been studying the all things Occult side of things like it was a food menu, because I’m drawn to it,  I have to I want to.  I won’t go into the history of Mother and Grand Mother , I’ll repeat glad I found your information..  

I’ve been searching lately through dating sites and of course it’s been very difficult because I know I don’t belong there not out of shame their just not into the or accepting of the same beliefs.   I’m strong enough not to care about their wanting to go to heaven while excluding and condemning, for I am hell bound where I can be happy.

Although I’m  now a free to be lesbian along with being a lefty I have always worked alone  in my craft. Because I have not met anyone here., noting for instance our craft would not have to be the same.. 

How wonderful it would be to have a partner who see’s me light some black candles and say “  ooo  somebody gonna get”  and we laugh , I say yep and I ask do you need  more of my , red , blue any color candle,  herb or voodoo poppet and she say yes and I need your help tonight with a spell or ritual.

Please feel free to contact me any time I have subscribed to your web site as well may the Christians and other trouble makers  keep the F—K out.  The have enough websites of their own.  I’m not trying to come off like a racist per say however as black people we need to have our own just like the rest of the world who now have set their eyes on mars and the other planets.  We need to build that being said may your website do very well  like Egypt.

If there is a dating site that you know of for serious black pagans,  please let me know,

Truthfully

Abigail

I quickly and briefly reminded her this in a response but so to avoid getting more of these: I don’t practice the Left-Hand Path. I never said ever that I have. There’s nothing on this blog to even back up that claim. I’m “Black Witch” because I’m a Black person – I am from the Pan-African Diaspora, I’m of Negro heritage, I’ve been harassed by cops, passed over for jobs, followed in stores, bothered by White folks who make excuses for their more racist counterparts while saying they’re an “ally” and been told to straighten my hair, – simply, I’m a Black person. A fact that, when people miss it, it’s a major pet peeve of mine because how do you miss the fact this is a race-based Pagan blog? I tend to see it as an act of grand dunce, plain and simple. Even if the mistake was made from another Black person, it still is a pet peeve. Just because I practice witchcraft doesn’t automatically mean I’m a practitioner of the Left-Hand Path, that’s irrational. It’s like me assuming every Christian I meet is Catholic just because they said they’re Christian.

Now, dating while Black and Pagan is certainly not easy. The Pagan dating sites are pretty White centered, Black folks in general may have an issue with Paganism due to lack of general information (and the fact that the face of Paganism is constantly a White, middle class person does not help). I know. It would be best to try a general online dating site such as OkCupid since you can match up with others of various faiths, including other Black folks and to be really up front about being Pagan on your profile. It’s always good to be upfront about the fact that you’re Pagan and are serious about your practices. In the questions, you can go in-depth about spellwork and more but make sure it’s in a neutral sense so folks don’t think it’s automatically hexes and jinxes with you.

Also, at least on a site like OkCupid, you can sort what kind of girl you want to make contact with, so you can click on everything but “Christian” for “Religion” and just click on “Black” for “Ethnicity” and see what you get.

In addition, I can understand not wanting to deal with Christian folks  in the dating circle (I’m straight but dealing with a Christian nutter crosses all orientations so I still get you) in general but it’s best to work on your perception of Christianity so folks, even from other religions, don’t go “Geez, what’s her problem?” It’s one thing to say, “Man, this culture is too Christian centric. The laws are based in Christian rhetoric, everyone assumes you’re either Christian or you’re evil and despite the glaring fact that many really terrible people are and have been Christian,” so on and so forth but another to just take on an “All Christians suck” stance. You don’t have to be all “Jesus is my best friend” because that’s stupid since you practice a different religion but just try to be neutral about the religion itself. Neutral doesn’t mean you can’t rip on the bad acting Christians, just know the difference. Neutral also doesn’t mean you have to think Christianity is fantastic, just acknowledge that it exists and people practice it.

Regardless of whatever, it’s important to just be upfront with who you are and to nip in the bud any girl that comes through that seems obviously uncomfortable with your religious practices. Hey, you might also avoid a few walking “let us pray”, gay-panic type lesbians who are hyper-Christian since they internalized some Christian based homophobia because no one needs that in their life.

And part of me wants to say, “Get a Tumblr.” There’s gotta be a lgbt Black Pagan community on there. There’s gotta be a Black gay, bi or pansexual girl on there that you could click with or have introduce you to someone she knows.

Dating is tough.

And that’s all the questions for Ask Black Witch for this month! (And the last of the year!)

Comment

White Gaze and Race Problems

Filed under: Race — 3 Comments
December 12, 2014

I had a chance to read the Cracked article “Ferguson, Eric Garner and Why Death Should Outrage Us”. I was hesitant because usually Cracked, albeit a fairly funny publication, tends to show in more ways than it thinks that its target audience is White and middle class (and usually male. Only recently have they started featuring pieces that acknowledge women exist as people and not walking trophies). Then I thought, “Eh, I might as well read this article so I can figure out if I need to delete the app and reject the site rather than play yet another game of Schrodinger’s Racist.”

The article wasn’t thaaaaaaaat bad (it was penned by a White author, I’m not expecting greatness when they write on race. I’m relatively placated if they just avoid using the n-word and don’t try to validate stereotypes since that seems such so herculean a task, humanizing people as people) but the part that struck me was “Until this month, I had no idea that black moms teach their sons how to survive police encounters. It’s called ‘The Talk,’ and black boys get it as soon as they start hitting puberty….” It only struck me because A) Black kids of both genders start getting the Race talk when they’re usually in elementary school, no need to play it off like Black women and girls are so safe in the hands of cops and society. At least Black boys don’t have to worry about rape and murder at the hands of law enforcement. Or from White individuals in general. B) Boys do get more of the “how to act around cops” talk because they are targeted by officers more but both genders are reminded heavily that people are going to treat them differently, and for the worse, just because of their skintone and absolutely nothing else. You’re explained to that you’ll be followed in stores, passed up for jobs, pulled over a lot more, treated unnecessarily meaner and instantly distrusted the second you’re seen all because of your skin color. And that even if the person says, “I don’t see color”, it really means, “I don’t see you  as a person, acknowledging your different heritage makes me uncomfortable so I’ll blatantly ignore it.”  And that despite all this special behavior just to avoid death, White folks are supposed to tell us whenever it suits them that “racism is over” and then act surprised when they find it isn’t and start squawking to everyone else… who already knew and forever said so. Come to think of it, it shouldn’t be too surprising that now Cracked saw race and current events as relevant and therefore want to hyper focus on it.

In the race talk, you’re also taught how to navigate those experiences so you can at least reduce your chances of turning up missing and/or dead: What neighborhoods you can be in and which are sundown towns, who to trust, how to dress, what and how to eat, what speed to run at, how to never wear a hoodie (I have walked through rain with my head uncovered despite having a hood on both my shirt and coat since I was younger, kinda don’t want to end up dead. My umbrella collection is bananas, though), how to talk (and be reminded that you could talk better than the person judging you, you’re still subjected to JAN* syndrome), how to tell when the White folks are going from “Normal, level-headed” to “you scare me, you’re going to die” or “We’re not letting you leave. Not effortlessly breathing, anyway”.

When I was a kid, my mom showed me this picture from the Civil Rights movement from a dark blue textbook to help illustrate her point:

image

White feminists, you’re probably staring at your auntie, grandmother and/or mom. So nice most of y’all kept up the tradition and with persistence! #AllWomenMatter, amiright? Or nah?

I remember being confused by the picture because I didn’t know why the lady in the back was so upset at the lady holding the schoolbooks and looking like a fellow student. This was the during the “Little Rock Nine” integration and the White woman was screaming “B*TCH!” at the Elizabeth Eckford. Kinda like what happens now, but on Twitter and Tumblr. And the foul screaming chick would probably have on a “This is what a Feminist looks like” shirt on in her selfies and avi. Mom took this moment to explain how racism works and that the woman in the back was yelling because she didn’t want Eckford going to her school purely because she was Black and nothing else. This was her springboard into explaining how we don’t live in a society that is very fair and that I could be treated really badly – even though I was an elementary school child – because I’m Black. She explained that nothing was wrong with me, this is just how White people are and always have been, seemingly. She framed it as, “They’re just mean because they think they’re better than us.” Of course, she also mentioned how sometimes other minorities who aren’t Black may treat us bad but that’s learned behavior from Whiteness being seen as value and we’re the opposite of Whiteness. She continued that while not all of them are bad, you have to be cautious of the majority of them because they could hurt you and even the ones who say they’re the “good guys” will just let it happen.

Just to pause for a moment: For White allies that are probably whinging right now and sobbing into their Stephen Colbert books, this is why White allies are – and should always be until vastly proven otherwise – under intense scrutiny. You may not have thrown a slur at a Black person for just existing but making excuses for the person who did or keeping quiet while it happens is no better. Also, you don’t have to be a card carrying member of the Klan to crack an Ebola, “That’s so ghetto” or welfare queen joke. Notice you don’t have one. Alright, moving on.

Mom continued teaching about slavery and how our family traveled up the South and rested in Maryland as well as what job folks in my family had, such as dayworkers**. Also, she talked about the many successes of Black individuals such as Benjamin Banneker and Rosa Parks as well as what it was like growing up in during the Civil Rights movement (My mom was 10 when Dr. King was shot). She explained to me how the riots and protests happened and how, pretty much, everything repeats itself.

So, yeah, it must be nice to be so oblivious to the “A whole group of people wanna ruin or kill you so bad for something so superficial, you feel like you live in a disturbing version of The Twilight Zone,” up until a month ago.  I wish I could say that. And remember, I’m not a boy. Nor was I close to even being a tween, I think I was around the second grade or so. I had to have this talk because if you didn’t have the talk, you could act wrong in a future encounter and wind up dead because you didn’t know that being Black meant “walking threat”. None of my White friends know what having the Race Talk was, I discovered that in college from talking to a group of my friends. All the minority kids – the Indian kids, the Black kids, the Mid-East kids, we were all talking about when we got the Race talk and all my White friends were looking around, completely lost but wanting to participate. They had no clue that we gotta get the “So, this is what it means when a White person follows you in a store or on the street and/or start saying crazy things out of the clear blue and how to navigate” chat. They were surprised because they thought, “But, Dr. King,” and how his actions (which resulted in him getting shot in the throat on a second story balcony in a murder supported by the US government) should have magically solved everything. Newp. Or else I wouldn’t have been stopped by that cop who defensively stood behind his open car door with a hand on his pistol when he stopped me while I was waiting for the bus on college campus, heavy bookbag in tow because “I might try to case that warehouse over there.” All this, despite being dressed in casual cybergoth, complete with the red and white hairfalls.

These exact same falls. Yep. I totes look like a criminal, blending in effortlessly.

These exact same falls. Yep. I totes look like a criminal, blending in effortlessly.

They don’t get told “Here’s how you act so a group of people don’t see you as a threat, regardless of how much you accomplish, your clothes, mannerism or your cultural status.” The kicker: they don’t even mind mouthing off to cops or reciting various amendments because no one had to tell them that their skintone made all that Constitutional stuff null and void.  Some still couldn’t buy into the fact that the government would actively hurt American people. Talk about living in a fantasy world.

I get the Cracked post is supposed to be a “For White People, By White People” type post, which is nice in some respects because White folks are supposed to some heavy lifting in dismantling their own prejudices and the institutions they framed around them but it still is irritating. Part of me wants to go, “Oh, c’mon, no1currs. Can you go back to your other funny stuffs?” It’s like this stuff is inescapable. Again, on one hand, this is good because everyone needs to know that racism has never left, they just stopped being willfully and actively oblivious. On the other hand, I just want a break. White folks may love to discuss this stuff like it’s NFL fantasy football but that’s because they’re not at all affected. They don’t get reports of White people being murdered after being harassed by cops, complete with HD pictures and video, and people telling them that they’re delusional for thinking there may be a trend. There’s no loss in hyper examining things, even if they get it super wrong. Nothing in these string of deaths is scary to them, just fascinating and something else they can go Kony 2012 about. It’s like watching a new soldier dumped in a warzone, completely enthused and alert because he’s played so much Call of Duty and Modern Warfare, he still thinks he’s still inside a video game.

Basically, it is not to questionable to wonder if White people are talking about these grievances mainly because of either White saviorism (which is what fueled Kony 2012 and currently many universities’ Alternative Spring Break and trips to Africa and Asia) or because right now it’s the hip thing to walk around with a #BlackLivesMatter placard, possibly because nothing better is on TV. It’s reasonable to wonder if it will be a “Won’t someone please think of the White people,” moment because for actual change to occur, everyone has to be on board and that includes White folks actually taking a critical eye to the systems they uphold, the privileges, how it all functions in overt and subvert ways (usually subvert, such as micro-aggressions and “playful” jokes)  annnnnnd that is probably never going to happen. At least not for the longest of times. It’s like telling a rich person to give up their Bugatti for a Ford, simply out of the goodness of their own heart. Not happening. It’s hard to want to give up a system that actively benefits and rewards  you…but being really kumbayah and whingy about that system is good enough because feel-good lip service. That doesn’t require any mental heavy lifting or even a real sense of caring. It’s like that aforementioned rich man,  he won’t want to give up his Bugatti but he’ll fuss about how it’s so terrible that economic inequality is awful and how everyone should be able to own a Bugatti and how brands like Ford and Chevy are so humble and the icons of the hard working American…while getting into his Bugatti and driving away. After all is said and done, White folks tend to resume business as usual because, again, this is probably horseplay for them until the weather finally warms up and then the conversation can move to beach-related subjects.

At least the writer for the Cracked article, Kristi Harrison, didn’t act like the Covenant of the Goddess  because they made a pretty bad statement that is much more predictable of what White folks say in racial issues.

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I don’t care of doing a close reading since what they wrote is totally expected. I had a feeling they would pull this, so glad I never joined. However, you guys can and here’s the Culture Bingo Board so you can play at home. Great for outings, parties and single players, ages 5 and up:

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CoG most likely will backpedal like crazy so just keep this handy when they start with the fake apologies and the flame wars that will most assuredly be in their Facebook fan page’s comments.

Next week is The Arts!: Language!
– Hello Talk
– Live Mocha
– Talking translator
– and more! (that will be language specific)

After that is Ask Black Witch, send in your questions. Good questions are appreciated, bad questions are eviscerated.

*JAN syndrome: “Just Another N***er” syndrome is when you could be greatly accomplished and even be as non-stereotypical as possible but you’re still seen as just another porch-monkey, you just know how to talk better than the rest, therefore, must be ultimately distrusted and taken down a few pegs at all cost.

** Day workers are Black (or just any minority woman) who work as mammies/nannies/maids in White women homes to help them take care of their kids…y’know, while White women were clamoring about how they are treated so poorly because they have to stay at home and raise kids because women don’t have the right to work. They were half right. White women had to stay home, but Black women always had to work…usually in their homes.

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How New

Filed under: Pagan Life — 4 Comments
December 6, 2014

Such a spike in followers and readers! I know partly this is from the PACO event I did, which you can view the video below, it’s an hour and a half long (for younger readers, I swear twice by mistake, that is a no-no):

[vimeo 112712634]

However, I think this is a good time to remind everyone the basics of Black Witch. Believe it or not, I get skeptical when I get spikes in followers and readers (except on Tumblr, I’m on there pretty regularly so it doesn’t surprise me). Especially when I get too many new White readers – history shows that usually for minority/people o’ pigment* (PoP), this is a bad sign of the calm before a sh*tstorm. So, let’s review:

Black Pagan blog, strictly
This blog is open to be viewed by all but that is the exact target audience. PoP but Pagan (or not Pagan)? Feel free to stick around and interact, but remember, this is mainly going to reflect upon the Black/Pagan intersection of identity. Black and Christian? You can stick around but this is not your blog to throw your weight around. White and Pagan? Really not your blog to throw your weight around, go bug Pagan Soccer Mom. None of those? Then it’s best to keep quiet unless you have a really good question that serves the blog and primary readership than it does yourself. Otherwise, use google.

Black blog
This blog is primarily for Black readers. Not a slice-of-life blog for clueless White folks who want to know the mind of the Negro…besides, it’s not like the extreme vast majority** of you guys are that interested in the more humanizing aspects of Blackness or Black people anywhere, ever. That means I’ll use lingo and references that are deep in Black culture. Feel like an outsider? Go to practically any other media form ever and you’ll be fine. This is not your space and you will be reminded of that at every twist and turn. So you can hang about but don’t get upset if you feel hanged. So that means no: “But I’m a White ally! Why won’t you be nice to White people? Not all of us are bad.” You’re partially right but you might want to raise the question to your fellow White person why they act in a way that makes everyone else see them as a walking problem, not to me.

For Black readers, I’m going to deconstruct the not-so-fun parts of our culture. Blackness shouldn’t equate: “poor, happily stupid, forever struggling, accomplishes nothing”. I participate in alternative culture so if that isn’t your vibe, get lost. I’m sure Steve Harvey and Michael Baisden don’t mind new readers. I’m not bending over backwards for a mainstream Black culture that made sure to express it didn’t like me or anyone else “too” different. Nor am I going to lowkey uphold the very false value of Whiteness as if that’s a ticket card I can redeem later to avoid greater acts of life-threatening racism. I’d like for y’all to know that don’t work. Ever. Doesn’t exist. You could play all the respectability politics and push all the internalized racism all you want, it won’t buy you out of racism’s wrath. Go ask President Obama and Wayne Brady if you don’t believe me. Blackness is dynamic and non-monolithic, go pick up a book and get over it. I’m no nicer to Black folks that seriously don’t know their own history but wanna race police.

Pagan blog
Don’t like that I’m not super pro-Abrahamic and focus a lot on “heathen” stuff? I really don’t care. This Black faith blog has no desire to project Christian ideals since, y’know, I’m not Christian. At all. Go find one if that’s what you want. They’re eeeeeeeeverywhere. Like, everywhere. I don’t mind discussing how Christian privilege works in the West or things of that nature, but there’s not going to be reams of scripture here or lack of deconstruction here. This is a Pagan blog so it is centered on the Pagan experience in and of itself, not simply how it relates to Abrahamic beliefs.

Black Feminist/womanist blog
Yeah, not interested in Afriboo nonsense or supporting sexist ideas, especially internalized racist versions of sexist ideals. So no, “All Black men are kings, all Black women are queen” crap here. It’s nice to have high self esteem but frankly, we’re not all kings and queens, just people with a dynamic history that is forever downplayed and copied. And usually folks who think within the slave/Nubian royalty dichotomy are also misogynistic (particularly misogynoir), homophobic and transphobic so I really don’t care for any of that. We’re people, even kingdoms needed more than just kings and queens to be a kingdom. Think you’ve been laid low by the matriarchy or that only certain types of women deserve protection and validation of existence while others don’t? Go onto another blog, it is possible you can find friendship in the comment section of Until I Get Married. I prefer to deconstruct male privilege and gender roles with the delicate sensitivity of a White kid on Halloween. Basically, if you think Steve Harvey is a great relationship expert and/or that cat calling is just women taking undue offensive to “complements”***, this is not the site for you.

White feminists, this ain’t much your site either. It just wouldn’t be anti-Black enough. I like Ida B. Wells, not Susan B. Anthony. And if you don’t know who Wells is but you know about Anthony, just drop out of Feminism altogether. Being racist is divisive, not being inclusive. You can’t say you fight for all of a group when you demonize the majority of it to make yourself look better.

So, that’s the basics. My website is faaaar from perfect, that is for sure, but it is important to know where this site stands. Yeah, as this site (and I) get older, some parts may change but this is pretty much the core of the website that is Black Witch. I don’t run this site so that White people, Pagan or not, can wreak havoc in the comments. I don’t run this site so that Christians – particularly homophobic and bigoted ones – can roll into the comments about how this is all devilish by their standards and why don’t I adhere to their religion’s ideas of faith…despite the fact I follow a perfectly different one. I don’t run this site so that Afriboos and “conscious” Black folks can pop up in the comments about how Black women this and Black women that or Black people this and Black people that but know extremely little about their own heritage’s history outside of Boondocks episodes, Egypt and Christianity/Islam. This site is much like other sites but still unique in its own way and I would like to retain what makes the site effective.

Ohh! I should add, albeit post-script, what to do and what not to do when writing to me. I reaaaaaaally don’t like bad questions so don’t ask for:

Spells – I don’t do pay-for-pray/paid spellwork. I don’t do spellwork for free. I actually don’t do spellwork for others. At all. Ever. This site is a witchcraft service. If you want to turn into another person, get revenge on someone or simply are too crappy a person to get a relationship on your own (not at all there) merits, use the mundane ways for those. Bothering me just mean you’ll get insulted and possibly made fun of because you should have read first or you would have known I don’t do spellwork for others.

Divination (outside of Samhain Pickers) – I don’t have a divination service either. I like to stem the flow of “can you read my palm/cards/chart/etc” so that is why I have Samhain Pickers, which is only on Halloween. That, I do for free. Any other time I announce it (keyword: announce, meaning “I tell you when”, not “You tell me when”), it will be a paid service and only because I spotted a new art toy or Storm statue and I’m not patient. Those are rare. Very rare.

And while I like to talk about race here, I don’t feel like being asked “Hey, some Black kid in a Southern state was found hanging from a tree recently, can you do divination to determine if it is a hate crime?” That’s really insulting because a) you must obviously be a White person, and one that decided to pretty much go “So, here’s a new dead Black kid, I just wondered if you would like to be super involved in it because I can’t tell if an obvious hate crime is a hate crime.” b) can’t tell that it’s an OBVIOUS HATE CRIME TO HANG BLACK FOLKS FROM TREES, especially in racially charged areas, you don’t have to be a Klansman/Klanswoman to hate minorities or most White folks would be card carrying members. Believe it or not, I actually don’t like to engage myself with this stuff when I don’t have to and it’s insulting to ask for divination when something is so clear, it’s an overwhelmingly redundant question. That’s like saying “I dunno, he has bullet holes and there’s a gun nearby and everyone heard pops and dude’s not breathing but can you do a tarot reading to see if he was shot? I mean, there’s footage the crime scene and all but I’m too lazy to do the work.” That’s being a sh*tty and super careless ally.

Poorly written letters – So here’s a fun fact: I have a degree in English, can communicate in several languages and work in libraries for a living. So you can probably guess from all that, that I don’t like getting messages or letters that look like you smeared your face across a keyboard and then pressed “send”. I can tell when poor writing deviates from having English as a second language and when poor writing deviates from poor literary skills, period. I really don’t like badly written letters because why would you want to present yourself like that to anyone in that fashion? It connotes stupidity and worthlessness. I don’t expect the king’s English but write like you understand how a keyboard works and how basic English sentence structures function. Plus, I can’t help if I don’t understand and I really don’t like to decipher what should be written so plainly. If it is a really poorly penned question, I’m going to be super snarky about it.

Bigoted (sexist, homophobic, racist, etc) questions: Dude, my site is not the training grounds for you to get life lessons of “don’t be a bigot”. Don’t like gay folks or are scared of them (never) attacking you? Take two cyanide pills, it’ll clear that fear right up. Don’t like to think of women as people but still somehow want to date them? A half cup of bleach, mixed with 1/4 cup of water and 2/3 cup vinegar should fix whatever loneliness woes you have. Ditto with racist folks, just dip your nose underwater until fully submerged and breath through said nose to help flush out brain of subvert and overt tendencies such as supporting gentrification and White washing or complaining that there is too much diversity. Same for wannabe allies. Go flex on Tumblr. If you have to wonder, “is my question bigoted?”, it probably is and you probably should keep it to yourself. Again, Black Witch is NOT a service to help the clueless in social matters. I’ll just make fun of you instead.

* Still not very partial to term “Person of Color” but “Person of Pigment” is a good working term until something better comes along
** To the major minority: Hi, Mark. How you is? I expect an e-card of a cactus done up like a Christmas tree. :3
*** “Complements” that if a gay guy gave you, you’d be ready to put holmes in a hospital.

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