Category: Pagan Life


Erasure

Filed under: Pagan Life, Race — Leave a comment
November 3, 2013

Missed the Ustream on Samhain? Check it out here.

Earlier this week, I was going through my twitter and come to find out the hashtag #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, which was created by @Karnythia to take a pointed jab at how feminism in general is not really for all women but mainly framed for White women and their problems, thus thoroughly ignoring the intersection of race and gender and the issues those intersections create. Of course, when the hashtag had hit mainstream media, mainly White women were asked to talk about the hashtag and to talk for minority women, as if they had any clue. And not once was Karnythia ever asked to attend these major media events. If anything, she’s consistently silenced. The most recent (and definitely not surprising) offender is Feministing.

This is wildly problematic.

I remarked on Twitter about this but I’ll say it again: Whitewashing is a very common problem in activist communities and parades under the notion of being colorblind. Maintaining Whiteness and equality activism does not mix. At all.

Let’s start with the whole “But I’m colorblind!” bit since that’s what this form of erasure moves under most commonly.

Calling yourself colorblind is a bad idea because it is usually used to cover up or diminish the extensive and longstanding pain of historically marginalized groups (I like this term a lot better than “people of color”) because the default person in Western culture is White. To say you’re colorblind means you don’t see me nor my history and to you, it doesn’t really matter. One should not claim to be colorblind as a way to say “I don’t judge based on race” because to be honest, if you’re White, you most likely do, even without even knowing it, because that’s just how our culture is structured. To be colorblind is to fall back on the default of Whiteness because the notion of Whiteness isn’t being challenged at all and it’s a terrible attempt to run away from all the generational horrors the notion of Whiteness has caused. Besides, who said I didn’t want you to see my Blackness? My Black identity is very important to me (it’s half this blog’s name for a reason), the problem is when you think my Blackness is a reason to treat me poorly or to think that my opinions are invalid somehow.

Whitewashing is a form of colorblindness. It’s the Janelle Monae Covergirl ads that will praise Monae for being a brilliant, Black woman….but will lighten her skin, not showcase a shade for brown women and forever use White models around her to pimp their wares. Note below:

Notice where Covergirl could have casted two Black dancers behind Monae, they pulled a “colorblind classic” and got two White girls instead. Y’know, to offset the one Black girl that’s front and center. Because it isn’t diversity unless you squeeze random White people in there somewhere, huh? Some White feminist could say “This is feminism!” but it really it isn’t because you’re still marginalizing the impact Janelle Monae could have on others via tokenizing her. Namely, the others being Black girls, who are consistently forgotten or disregarded in makeup advertisement. Even Covergirl, despite saying they have a diverse pick of women to represent them, seem to really just want to continually push the image of White or White-passing girls. They may say their color blind but it’s clear they show that they’re moreso snowblind because it’s not a mistake that they keep lightening their browner models in advertisements, do not make extensive products for darker women, do not keep darker girls ads running as long as their lighter counterparts and do not continually pick darker minorities to put at the forefront. Almost as if they’re still trying to maintain the status quo of Whiteness but try to throw out a bone to everyone else now and again.

This is just one example of many. How about the meme’s that even White Feminists had tout: “I’m a strong, independent Black woman that don’t need no man!” Or how about the movie The Help, which pretty much was White Savorism just in the gender of girl. Or the fact that White feminists were okay with someone holding up a quote from wife beater singer John Lennon saying “Woman is the n****r of the world” at a Slutwalk a couple years ago. They were not only okay with it, some went as far as to defend it, completely forgetting that Black folks can be women too.

Instead of pretending a terrible history did not happen at the hands of forcing the ideal of Whiteness, try to acknowledge and offset it. That means being aware of the fact that minorities are forever running into institutionalized racism and bigotry, which is what the hashtag #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen is about. The hashtag was to highlight how minority women, even in the throes of Feminism, are constantly forgotten, erased or told to pipe down. Back when White women were trying to prove that they could handle having a job and that they weren’t dainty princesses needing to be coddled and protected, Black women were forced as day workers, mammies, to have jobs taking care of White women because being stuck at home was not an option. Especially since Black women weren’t even seen as human on the same level as White women…which still occurs today. Think this is all recent chatter? Nah, Sojourner Truth talked about this, here’s a clickable excerpt below:

“That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?”

This is from the 1851, everyone. It’s currently 2013, going onto 2014. Talk about outdated and overdue.

I just do not feel that anyone who is an activist can do so while trying to uphold Whiteness because the both can’t coexist. You can’t fight for equality between genders but then display a passive form of racism through erasure to those that are supposed to be in your own ranks. Or a more active form of racism and crash into someone else’s space to claim as your own, which is what happened to the hashtag #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen. It’s important for minority women to have their own spaces to talk about their issues, injecting White opinions won’t help anyone because nothing gets fixed and the idea of Whiteness is still left unchecked. This shows that we’re not even allowed even the smallest, most minute-appearing spaces (such as a Twitter tag) because, just like the appearance of Janelle Monae’s visage in a commercial for a brand that notoriously does not pitch to minority women fairly, it is somehow perceived as a threat to Whiteness and in an act of maintaining “colorblindedness”, is to be watered down as much as possible until it’s practically all White with a slight hint of “other”.

To say “Let’s be colorblind” can seem like saying “let’s forget alllllllllll about all the things oppression has done and let’s start fresh. Let’s keep it all White, but throw in a couple tokens. Worked for SNL.” It’s not taking a look at history, it’s not dismantling anything, it’s just saying, “Let’s move on because it makes me, the privileged party, feel uncomfortable.”

But hey, I guess one can still be an activist and still maintain Whiteness. I mean, the Tea Party and the Ku Klux Klan showcase that pretty effectively. No one is going to see you as progressive but hey, you’ll be fighting for something. Just not equality.

Tags: ,
Comment

Is That So?

Filed under: Pagan Life, Race — 7 Comments
October 18, 2013

Y’know, I was going to write about Black representation in media regarding supernatural theme shows, then I thought, “Nahhhhhhh, I’ll write about Black culture and its relationship (or lack thereof) with mental illness.” Newp. Instead, I’m going to write about erasure of identity, thanks to a conversation I had online.

One of the worst things you can say to anyone who lacks privilege is “we’re all human”. Okay, not worst but it practically heads the top ten list of most annoying. Its sibling saying is, “yeah but that was in the past, it’s different now.”

No. No it isn’t.

While it is true that we all bleed red, some of us have bled far more than others. And not only have we bled, we’re told to just up and get over it, it’s only a flesh wound. It is very important to not neglect the fact that injustices happened to historically marginalized groups, ever, because it is disrespectful to our history. And when the privileged suffer some sort of injustice, regardless however small in comparison to the bigger picture, they want parades, holidays and commemorative plaques to bear the incident in memory. (See: Occupy Wall St., discussions of 9/11)

What started all this was a friend of mine (and reader of this blog) was told by an elderly White woman that she, a Black girl, would have loved living in the ‘50s. Friend said it was awkward because, well, the ‘50s may have been cute and dandy for Whites, it sure wasn’t for everyone else. Of course, pretty much everyone agreed until a random White girl appeared and tried to say that why were we giving the ‘50s a bad rap? The elderly lady was talking about fashion and such, why bring up the start-up of what we know now as the Civil Rights Movement? People tried explaining to her that the ‘50s was a much different time for Blacks than it was for Whites. It was a much less happier time that also had sharp fashion but also lynchings, bombings and other things that I and any other sensible Negro kinda personally wouldn’t want to experience just for some poodle skirts and victory rolls. She, of course, didn’t get it because she continued with saying we’re being oppressive towards an old White lady because we thought she should have said either nothing at all or a basic “you look nice”.

Oppressive.

She legit used the word “oppressive”.

Us saying (after the fact) that the lady made a White privilege-induced brain fart is on key with bombing a church, using intimidation tactics to prevent people from exercising their right to vote (or live for that matter. Y’know “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and all that jazz), stringing people from trees and using police force as well as psych campaigns when those dang colored folk started demanding rights. Y’know, like they actually were the primary reason the country they reside in is a super power nation.*

Oh really now?

Ok, I have mostly a Black Pagan readership (which I’m proud of because it means I’m attracting the right people, the target audience) but for the random White reader (which makes me wonder: why are you here? Unless one you happen to be Jane Elliot. You rawk. \m/,), lemme give you a lil’ briefer on history, minorities and crimes against humanity:

Don’t ever say we should forget or call us angry or upset as if it’s irrational. If the subject matter makes you feel bad, that’s good, it should make you feel bad because it was absolutely atrocious. Very bad. Absolutely horrible. It just means your humanity is kicking in and your natural sense of right and wrong is calibrated correctly. You have got to remember that it wasn’t all hopscotch and happy days for everyone back in the past. Don’t ignore other perspectives because they make you feel weird when brought to light. You don’t have the right to make that call. You’ve barely the right to get moody about it, let alone try to tell people that it was the past and how we’re past that now. No. No we’re not. A teen was shot in Florida because he wore something that made a random, emotionally unstable bigot go into first-person shooter mode. That was 2012. It’s 2013. And that’s just one case, there are many, many cases and incidents that don’t get the same coverage. Racism is alive and well. People still lob slurs at minorities, check out a Youtube comment section if you don’t believe me. Check out Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance (which was mere months ago) if you don’t believe me. Stop deluding yourself because you’re not directly impacted by the problem but benefit from it, no need to get upset when folks point that out.

Think of racism as the bedbug of society. You wouldn’t tell a friend who’s got bedbugs to ignore it and maybe the little critters will move on to another house. Instead you’d most likely help them figure out how to eradicate the problem. Ignoring the fact racism exists doesn’t help anyone except those who benefit from Whiteness and this is running on the assumption that ignoring is possible because it’s pretty hard to ignore when laws are passed in the name of bigotry, when you’re not picked for jobs because they’d prefer a White person instead, when people treat you differently (read: worse) because of your skin. And don’t bother trying to tell me or any minority what your perfect world is if our identities have to be erased in favor for the idea of Whiteness in that world. If that’s the case, it’s not perfect, it’s a hellhole. White-centered utopic thinking is a terrible idea. Occupy Wall St. were really big offenders of this thinking and they wondered aloud why minorities weren’t rushing to their sides, all the while pushing ideas that mainly were built on the spectrum of Whiteness, regardless of intersection.

Getting back to center, this girl wasn’t Pagan as far as I know but this isn’t a very far jump from how mainstream Paganism thinks, especially since the face and culture of modern Paganism is fairly White. I’ve heard the same in Pagan circles: “just forget about it”, “racism is dead”, “I was/am oppressed too because I’m [Irish/Woman/Pagan/Gay]”, the gambit. Firstly, because we gotta get this out of the way: ignoring intersections doesn’t help you out. You may be gay but you’re still White and gay. The intersection of Black and gay is still more tumultuous because of the twofold combination of racism and homophobia. The intersection between Black and Pagan and female is also just as tumultuous because of the threefold combination of racism, sexism and religious bigotry. As said prior, if minorities bringing up racism makes you feel bad, the fault doesn’t lie with the minority for being really honest with how their life is, the fault is with the society thinking that the minority is a liar and thus continue performing acts of racism, be it subtle or overt.

Despite the progressive looking lip service, mainstream Paganism tends to fight against acknowledgements of racism in the community and like to sweep non-beneficial parts of history under the rug. Try to hijack Voudon for all its rootwork? Oh sure. Thieve from Native American culture for cleansing techniques? Go right ahead. Ransack Eastern beliefs for meditation methods and ways of thinking? O hai, y not? Bring up slavery and colonialism? Dude! Why so harsh? It’s really problematic because it’s erasure, which is part of Whitewashing. The original culture does not benefit from the promotion of these now horribly-divorced parts of their culture. If anything, they’re continually degraded and treated like they’ve never created a thing or that thing wasn’t worth anything until White culture got ahold of it.

All in all, it’s important that history is not revamped to be more White-centric, and thus erasing the experience of everyone else. It helps no one when my culture’s history is ignored because it jars White culture’s depiction of it. It’s more important to see the whole picture instead of the more privilege-friendly snapshots. Erasing identities doesn’t solve racism. Ignoring past and current crimes against humanity doesn’t solve racism. Performing micro-aggressions and micro-invalidations doesn’t solve racism. Opting for a more White-centric perspective definitely doesn’t solve racism (if anything, it continues it). Don’t like the fact that people constantly bring up marginalization when the past is brought up? Deal with it because it happens and the effects are still strongly felt today.

And that’s the first column for today. Coming up in the next few hours: The Arts!: Samhain Edition

Remember, I’m still accepting entries for Samhain Pickers Giveaway. The prize is a divination reading from me and only three winners are chosen at total random.

Here’s how you submit an entry:

Send in an email to thisblackwitch[at]Hotmail.com with “Samhain Pickers” in the subject line. In the message of the email, please write:

– Name

– Email

– Type of Divination (Cartomancy, Tarot, Natal Chart, Dream Interpretation)

Also, next week is Ask Black Witch so if you have any questions, send them in! Good questions are appreciated, bad questions are eviscerated!

* We are. Crack open a history book if you don’t believe me.

Tags: ,
Comment

Leaving Afro-Punk/”It’s October!”

Filed under: AfroPunk/The Establishment, Pagan Life — 2 Comments
October 4, 2013

So, this is the last Black Witch post on Afro-Punk. I first started there three years ago when there were regular columnist rotations such as Dorm Room Diaries and T.O.B.E. and even cartoonist Keith Knight was here. I think that Afro-Punk has indeed changed since then and rapidly at that and it feels a little out of place for me to stay here as a regular columnist. I’m sure it’s odd for some of the newcomers to see my columns pop up in the midst of the usual Afro-Punk postings because I hit a pretty particular niche (the Black and Pagan demographic).

I’ve had an awesome run there. Some notable memories:

– Helping photographer Nastassia Davis get put on BGLH (Black Girl, Long Hair) and in turn, on Afrobella. Yay, helping friends out.

– Meeting Lupe Fiasco in NYC and having him actually know who I was before I could really get two sentences out my mouth after “Black Witch” and him asking for my business card because he was happy that I gave his rock band, Japanese Cartoon, some shine. He’s a really cool person that I am really happy to meet and even chill with. He has a brilliant sense of humor.

– Got bored at an Afro-Punk holiday party, found an empty room at the [Walberg Center in NYC?] where nothing but a bunch of DJ’s were mixing and scratching one by one on stage with vinyl. It was so cool seeing seasoned musicians mix, fade and cut the old school way in the hometown of Hip Hop itself.

– Running into Solange Knowles at the 2012 AfroPunk Festival, it was a massive surprise. Pharrell Williams was too.

– Running down Reggie Watts at the 2012 Afro-Punk Festival in full gothic lolita (how I didn’t fall is beyond me) for an interview

– Hanging out with the Afro-Punk staff at Free Candy for Battle of the Bands last year, I really appreciated it

And many more memories. It was fun but I think it’s time for me to go.

Now, BW isn’t finished for good, I still have my own site here on WordPress, a Tumblr, an FB fan page and a Twitter account. It’s just ending on Afro-Punk. It’s nice to have gone on for so long though, it’s really nice. I didn’t think that BW was going to last for this long, especially not years. There’s still a lot I want to do and a lot I want done with Black Witch so, again, BW isn’t going to disappear off the face of the internet.

So, here’s the final Black Witch post for Afro-Punk:

“It’s October!”

I can usually tell when October is rolling around. How? My inbox starts to fill with some of the most idiotic questions I could possibly ever encounter.

Here’s the basic format of how these questions will be:

Poorly written: No matter what, these questions will always be written with a cross hybrid language of text speak and illiteracy. And no matter how much I ask them to repeat themselves in basic English, they still write as if they’re sliding their face across the keyboard. And it isn’t a case of “maybe English isn’t their first language”, I’ve worked enough with international folks (and speak multiple languages) to know what ESOL English looks like and it is usually better than what I’m seeing.

Subject matter is usually pretty derpy: The most letters I’ve gotten now are people thinking the Devil is paying them a visit or they want to be supernatural beings. I just…come on, someone send me some good questions, not some plain Jane subject. It seems everyone thinks Satan is personally pestering them. I know the dude gets around but jeez, I think even the devil would take some time off of trolling humans. There’s a whole world of spirits and energies, I’m sure humans can’t be that interesting.

Attempting to sound desperate/powerful: I don’t know why but people will talk to me like I’m their last and only hope in the C-rate Marvel Comics movie that is their life. I know to the untrained eye, I look like I’m going way too hard on these kids but trust me, once you have been practicing metaphysics for a long enough time and field enough questions, you start to get the sensation that it really isn’t as big a deal as these kids are making it seem.

Conspiracy Nuts!: These guys come once in a while but they’re memorable when they do. With their “I saw so-and-so with the Devil” accusations of some musician being part of the Illuminati or how the President has a secret conspiracy to sell America to China because Obama is somehow a secret Communist Socialist Nazi that hates America (yet will somehow put up with its bullsh*t as the first Black president), these guys are clearly off their rocker. They could use a hug…from a strait jacket.

Spell Requests: Despite the fact I have said countless times that I don’t post spells on BW, I still have people asking me for magick or for me to cast spells for them. Firstly, if you want a spell casted for you, that will never come cheap if you want it done well. Secondly, I don’t cast for others. Third, I said I don’t pass out spell info, why did you think this was just as good an idea to approach me with?

Look, everyone. I love hearing from my readers. I think it’s neat that y’all care enough to actually talk to me, I really do appreciate that. However, when it comes to asking me questions, I really prefer good questions in opposed to the Treehouse of Horror variety. Good questions make me think and I can feel like a real conversation is happening. With poor questions, I just feel like I’m simply receiving crap by the payload. It’s not that I mind answering questions, I just need them worth my while.

When it comes to metaphysics and the internet there, you can research your question before popping it into my inbox. I always appreciate a well thought out question.

Now that October is here, I guess it’s time to get things into swing.

As it is October, that means that this post starts the Samhain Pickers Giveaway. All you gotta do is submit an email to thisblackwitch[at]Hotmail.com with “Samhain Pickers” in the title and in the email, put down this info:

  • Name
  • Email
  • Type of divination (cartomancy, tarot, natal chart, dream interpretation)

Three winners will be picked on Samhain (Halloween). Only one submission per person!

Also there will be an Ustream chat on Samhain/Halloween at 8 PM EST. Be there!

Comment

Ask Black Witch: Want My Dream Home, How Can a Song Be Used as a Spell

Filed under: Ask Black Witch, Spells & Potions — 2 Comments
September 27, 2013

It’s this month’s Ask Black Witch, where you ask me questions and I answer them. You can send in questions in a myriad of ways, on site, via Tumblr, tweet, email, comment or send a message on the BW Facebook Fan Page. Remember, good questions appreciated, bad questions are eviscerated!

Hello My question is about spell-casting and being specific about minute details. I have a clear idea of what I want my spell to manifest, but I’m wondering how much detail is just too much. For example I want to manifest a house. I want to it have 3 bedrooms, a large yard, a garage and it has to be blue with Queen Elizabeth rose bushes in the front. Will being so specific help or hinder my spell?

– Mint

Being specific in spells is a really good thing. However, there is such thing as being too specific because the spell may not work out exactly how you want or take waaaaaaaaaaaay longer than you would want to. It seems you have your dream house in mind, which is good that you know what you want now but it may be too specific for your spell because you may change your mind about, say, the flowers or you want to nix a bedroom It’s good to instead find a middle ground with your specifications by having the goal house in mind but casting a spell for just getting a comfortable and happy home because you could get the house you want but it’s wrapped up in red tape, predatory lending or a relationship gone bad. It’s more than just a house that makes a home. So find a middle ground because your idea of a dream home may change over the years and if it does, your spell (which won’t manifest overnight if that’s what you’re hoping for) can still keep chugging along, unabated. Which is what you want.

Okay, I’m confused. How does repeating song lyrics constitute a spell?

Black Witch, could you please educate me?

– Vicki V.

The reader is referring to a spell I reblogged on Tumblr (this is probably the closest y’all will get me to actually posting full length spells on here*, ha!) which uses a spell inspired by Yoko Kanno’s song “Call Me, Call Me”.

Music is a pretty useful way to raise energy, which is necessary for every spell you do. If a song resonates strongly with your intentions, then it can be used in a spell. Since the spell was about getting back in touch with people you haven’t heard from in a while and the song was about the same, the song would work well in the spell as a tool to send out intent. Already in music there is rhythm, rhyming (not all spells need to rhyme, in case someone was thinking that), movement and more which can aid in spellworking. Music is magic and can definitely be magickal.

And that concludes Ask Black Witch for this week! Try to spot me at the Baltimore Book Festival this weekend! I’ll be running around pretending I’m social. If you’re into Jfashion (Lolita, Gyaru, Vis Kei, Shinori, Yanki, etc etc etc), there’s going to be an Afr-Am Jfashion walk in DC on Oct 6. Get in touch for details if interested! I’ll be there. And next month is October, which means that the Samhain Pickers Giveaway is around the corner!

*I barely reblog spells on the Tumblr so don’t think you’ll get a stockpile there, either.

Comment

Talk to Me Through the TV

Filed under: Pagan Life — Leave a comment
September 7, 2013

So, I was contacted again by another TV head hunter, some casting director that, although got my name wrong (It’s not Crystal, it’s Black Witch. Crystal Blanton is a different person), didn’t write out nearly as poorly a letter as a casting person from VH1 did. As usual, I always check out the website because I prefer to run a tight ship when it comes to Black Witch and the image of it. If it doesn’t pass my pretty decent standards of:

– Actually educational
– Informative
– Lack of proliferating stereotypes/authentically progressive, not “lip service progressive”
– Non-existent to near non-existent track record of playing Spin Doctor
– Matter taken seriously/Not a baiting attempt

Then I pass almost immediately. I have worked with media a little too much to be over naive about how it works, especially when it comes to portraying someone who is Black and Pagan. Already I know for fact that media doesn’t exactly like giving an honest spotlight on anything that doesn’t really benefit White, middle-class guys and gals (pref. guys, this is media after all) so to be an intersection is just going to bring me trouble.

I do not believe at all in the saying “Good press, bad press, any press is good press” because if people are going to pay attention to me, I rather it be for what I say and not how otherized I can be displayed. Bad press is bad press, period. Think about it: have you ever been the butt of a rumor? Even people who didn’t know you existed learned about you but it probably was more trouble than it was worth and if you had the choice, you possibly would have preferred if people didn’t focus on the bad (regardless of whether it is true or not). While I would like for BW to do bigger and better things, I’m not that desperate for attention to work with people who will just try to drag my name through the dirt.

A reason I’m not teaming up with these tv people is because I already know how they would portray me, which, given what they’ve shown me they have made in the past, would most certainly be negative for me. I am not even going to think about “Well, maybe I could use this as an opportunity to educate.” A person can be bright but people, in general, are pretty stupid and take things at face value. If the face value of BW is going to be displayed as some “crazy Black girl who think she has magical powers”, then I don’t care for that because I already know how much damage that would cause and no one would listen to me. Not down for that. Already seeing how these show creators and the channels usually depict Pagans and usually depict Black people and particularly depict Black women, I really don’t want to work with them because I won’t be treated any different. If anything, I’ll be treated worse because I’m a combination.

Would I never want to work with media? Of course I would! I don’t mind doing radio and visual appearances but they have to be worth my while. I already said on Twitter that as far as TV is concerned, the lowest I’ll consider is PBS. I mean, Al Jazeera is pretty good and at least I view media from PBS and Al Jazeera – so far, of all the networks that have contacted me, I don’t watch their channels or their shows. I don’t mind doing talks about being Pagan but also talks about mental health, talks about gender, talks about race, talks about the intersection and deconstruction of those concepts/realities. That’s perfectly fine. But whatever these current people are writing to me about, I already know the last thing on their mind is anything that is thought provoking.

This stuff reminds me of the prowling show producers would do on message boards for alternative culture, psionics and cosplay years ago and even now. Always on the look out to grab some random kid who is doing something “weird”, tell them something earnest and honest sounding just to bait them to get on the show, only so the show can rag on them in the final product. I’m incredibly familiar with this because always some senior member would try to tell the star struck noobs what really was gonna happen and to not fall for it and off the show producers and casting directors would go in hopes to find that very special dingbat floating about somewhere else online. Totally not worth all the trouble one will get put through and it is usually a bait and switch.

I rather if someone contacts me, it’s worth it. I like talking to small media start-ups, especially if they are minority-ran and focused with a track record of being dynamic. I especially like talking to them if that minority-ran media is women-ran or led and have that dynamic track record. I rather have people who can show they can handle touchy topics with sensitivity and sincerity and without framing the topic as “Hey, look at these whiners/weirdos here.” I of course, wouldn’t mind Pagan media contacting me either but I strongly feel they probably wouldn’t want to, given my criticisms on the intersection of race and Paganism. Black Witch has been around for three years and I still hear the “but I can’t find any Black Pagan blogs, they’re just not out there or defunct!” excuse. And Black media is still pretty terrified to talk to me because of the whole “witch” and “Pagan” thing.

It’s Just… I rather someone besides the dimwits who make terrible and stereotypical shows that exemplify how stupid Americans are getting contact me because rejecting offers is getting boring. Fast.

Tags:
Comment

Don’t Watch the Throne

Filed under: Pagan Life — 2 Comments
August 16, 2013

So, I was perusing the Black Witch Tumblr (as I frequently do) and up came a couple discussions that provoked a memory from when I was 17.

When I was a wee young lass (ok, this was, like, 9 years ago) I wound up unknowingly summoning a Throne when I was in my room practicing a song for choir. It was blue (as all ethereal beings look like to me because it’s already hard enough to see them, ha) and a fairly big thing that looked like a wheel with an eye in the middle…and coming towards me. I was pretty scared since I sensed a lot of energy coming off it and had no clue what it was and it was coming towards me in a quick fashion in my bedroom. It disappeared (or I got rid of it, I don’t remember but I do remember a forceful energy) before it got to me but not before I nearly fell over my scattered clothes in my junky room. It was there for roughly half a minute but the memory stuck with me for far longer.

I was singing “When Ezekiel Saw The Wheel” and when I was visited by the faint blue entity but had no clue what the relation was for the longest time until I had gotten deeper into my metaphysical studies.  I had learned that it wasn’t a random visit nor anything my imagination could cook up but I mistakenly attracted it. It turns out the song was about seeing a Throne:

“Ezekiel saw the wheel
Way up in the middle of the air
Ezekiel saw the wheel
Way up in the middle of the air
And the little wheel run by faith
And the big wheel run by the grace of God
A wheel in a wheel
Way up in the middle of the air”

Yah, I thought it was about the sun and its rays.

I had never heard of a Throne when I was that age but I really did like the song and thus sang it often and with heart. Putting all that energy in the song and singing it so frequently probably is what mistakenly brought the Throne I saw. Oh, and I’m sure it didn’t help that I’m in an area that’s surrounded by old churches, an old synagogue (that was bought by the Freemasons) and the Freemasons main building is roughly a street away.

For those who are probably going, “What…is a Throne? You’re not talking highly bedazzled chairs, are you?” don’t feel bad, it’s not common knowledge. A Throne is an angel. A high ranking angel as that. Google search the image of “Throne – angel” and you’ll see that angels are not exactly “people with wings”. The “people with wings” concept is from European artists for people to better connect with the imagery… and not frighten them. The Throne I saw is an Ophanim, which is a high ranking Merkabah angel that guards the throne of Glory. They’re mentioned a lot in The Encyclopedia of Angels (Rosemary Guiley). I highly recommend reading the book.

So, that was a “Wow” experience I kinda never wanna have again. Only thing that surprises me is that I could summon such an entity at a young and magickally inexperienced age.

See you next week for The Arts!

Tags: , ,
Comment

Getting Under My Skin

Filed under: Pagan Life, Race — Leave a comment

Now, I always like reading and responding to readers. Makes me feel like there is dialogue and that I’m accessible. However, do not come here like this:

Dislike

Wanna get me viper fast? Come in here promoting something so offensive to my race and skin color. I don’t stand for racism so I definitely don’t care for its little brat sibling, colorism/shadism, and can’t stand those who promote it. I don’t care if this is spam or not, I don’t like it.

I’m Black, been Black, gonna be Black and forever gonna stay Black. I’m not gonna act like my skin tone and my racial make-up is the worst part of me because it is not. But my reciprocal vindictiveness is and this stuff definitely brings those traits out in full effect. Don’t like it? Drink skin lightener.

Skin lightener is disgusting and the mindset that greenlights it is highly disturbed. It’s internalized racism because you are actively believing the bullsh*t our Eurocentric culture pushes to the point you’re willing to put caustic chemicals on your skin to achieve it as if it’s gonna buy you a ticket out of the woes of the Negro. It won’t and never will.

Lemm’ tell you a story ’bout a Black girl I met who was ashamed to be Black. She wasn’t light enough to pass but definitely enough to get confused for another ethnicity like Greek by folks who are too dumb to tell the difference. She just didn’t like who she was because she didn’t see positive Black representations and already felt to be a fish out of water because she didn’t like activities and behaviors that are constantly aligned with “Blackness”. If anything, she liked Eastern alternative culture and was a J-Fashion enthusiast. She just wanted to be someone else and preferably not Black because she felt her Blackness, from her features to what she saw in her community, was holding her back. If anything, she wanted to be White because she believed the ads on tv, in the magazines, in the movies, on the internet, that if she was White, she would be easier loved, easier desired, clothes would fit her better, her whole life would be better. She internalized the subtle “White is Right” thinking that so pervades our culture from literature to moving media to the digital world.

I never was angry at her for thinking the way she did, she was a nice person. She wouldn’t hate on others for being Black or being darker, she just wanted to be White because she felt she couldn’t be pretty otherwise. If anything, I tried to help her figure out that being Black doesn’t mean you are ugly or stupid or have to like crappy hip hop (or hip hop at all, for that matter). She told me about how people in alternative fashions would pass over her because of her skin, she wouldn’t be respected as much as her White counterparts and that she would be so much better off if she was lighter, not Black, skinner, all these things that she just internalized. She told me a White lolita had thrown coffee on her dress because of her weight and race. She told me about how she just wanted life to be easier because being Black was weighing heavy on her self-esteem.

See, even though the girl didn’t irritate me, the thinking sure did because it is really common for Black kids in alternative culture. I never felt like being White was going to make my life better (Glad too, I like the fact I don’t peel like an onion when exposed to sunlight for longer than an hour), but I do understand the aching feeling of displacement from Black culture and the idea of Blackness. Commonly, Black kids who break the mold start to feel like they’re the broken rejects of their culture because they didn’t follow along the usual narrative somehow. They don’t fit in with the alternative kids always because they’re Black and they don’t fit in with the other Black kids because they’re alternative. This is how the girl I knew felt, but with the added idea that if she were White, people would like her more and respect her more. That’s not good. At all.

That’s why I don’t like people like the commenter up there because they capitalize on such a painful and unhealthy thinking. And then on top of that, they come to a site that is painfully pro-Blackness trying to peddle that crap. What? Did they expect I would just think, “Eh, that’s just who they are. They simply asked a harmless name even though their website is problematic”? Yah, no. That earns nothing but disrespect from me and rightfully so. If their site was about the physical and psychological dangers of skin lightening, I’d be fine because we could definitely use sites like that around. It’s absolutely disrespectful to me that someone would think I would be okay with it. I’m not going to see it as someone’s different life choice. I’m not going to respect it as a “different folks, different strokes” kind of thing. It is just trying to aspire to Whiteness, regardless of whether that is done for intrinsic or extrinsic reasons.

It took me a long time, as well as with the help of other Black lolitas, for this girl to actually be okay with being Black and learn that there’s nothing wrong with being Black and different from the crowd, it doesn’t affect your Blackness. She’s actually starting to like herself. She not walking about letting out her inner Janelle Monae but she’s getting there. Getting a little more confident everyday. Feeling more comfortable with who she is everyday. She is getting better and her life seems to be positively improving slowly but surely. That’s what being comfortable with who you are gets. She wasn’t going to find that kind of happiness nor get better at taking care of herself by trying to be something that she’ll never be nor should strive to be. I made sure she tried to understand that being Black is not the worst part of who she was and that anyone who tried to make her think that way was not a friend of hers nor worthy of respecting. I also explained to her the history, psychology and sociology of what she was feeling so she didn’t feel terrible but just understood how she and others got that way because it’s important for her to understand the mechanics of the society she was participating in and how those bad feelings occurred.

So, please, do not come to my website pushing that carcinogenic crap and asking me for tips on how to improve your site. There’s no reason for me to treat you with an iota of respect nor civility. If you were just about any other subject on the ‘net, you would have fared so much better than right now. Just keep your wonders of unnecessary skin scorching treatment to yourself, that’s what you should do.

Alright. Next week is The Arts!

– The Roper
– Electronic Purgatory
– Children

Tags: ,
Comment

How Not to Hex Your Coworkers

Filed under: Pagan Life, Spells & Potions — 2 Comments
August 2, 2013

I was reading Ask a Manager and there’s a post I never thought I would see in the longest time: someone actually asked about a co-worker threatening curses on others, the post was titled “An Employee is Putting Magic Curses on Her Coworkers”:

I’ve recently been contacted by a supervisor in our company who has heard that one of his subordinates has been regularly “cursing” both him and his daughter (who also works for our company). By “cursing,” I don’t mean using foul language. I mean she considers herself something of a witch and has been literally putting curses on these people.

It was quite surreal, I tell you. Alison of Ask a Manager gave fairly good advice about the situation, I figured I may as well put my 2p in it since, well, I’m an actual Witch and I have had an office-setting job before. (Metaphysics training or not, everyone has to have a job. Bills don’t magically pay themselves.)

My take:

Oh. My. Gods. Anyone who regularly curses is totally batty. It’s one thing to curse once in a while (and note, as rarely as possible) but to be regularly cursing people because you never learned other, more useful coping mechanisms? Batty and rightfully insane. Seriously, just learn some better coping mechanisms when it comes to dealing with crappy people, the world is full of them so why waste the time and energy to choke up an effective jinx?

So Ms. Alison asked for more info and it turns out the person writing in works HR in a school division and the basic story is there are four janitors, named here as Jeff (head janitor), Mandy (assistant head janitor), Whitney (cleaner) and Roberta (cleaner).* Mandy doesn’t like Jeff and Whitney and expresses so. Roberta tells the OP that Mandy has said something along the lines of “When people make me angry, or cross me, I don’t worry because I have ways to get rid of them. And I’ve cursed them. I have a place in my house with candles and other items and I know how to do that.” Whitney is scared silly of being cursed and is looking up ways to ward them off online (bad idea because the internet is full of crazies), Jeff doesn’t care. The OP just wants to know if this can be taken as a bona fide threat between employees.

Before I continue: this, people, is why I am so glad I don’t post spells here on BW. Alright, moving on.

Ms. Alison said yes and I agree. If I were fielding the question, I would also inform the OP to treat it as a threat and respond to it accordingly, which should include possible termination from position for Mandy.

Look, I know I’ve dealt with not-cool people at work – everyone has, and will – but threatening to jinx? No way. There are much more mundane ways to handle annoying or bad co-workers and that includes going to HR. No one at your job (hopefully) is worth the energies that casting a spell, especially a revenge spell, will cost. Instead, just know your rights as an employee and speak up when things go awry. Like a normal worker. And if it is that bad, feel free to use this handy guide of employment I wrote and find a new job. Otherwise, you look completely mental if you go the “I’ma hex you!” route. Either deal with it like a normal person or start looking about on Indeed.com.

I really feel bad for everyone involved – except for Mandy – because they have to put up with such foolishness. Mandy is an assistant head janitor so it is clear that she has some power of authority and should have used that to solve whatever problem she was having with her co-workers instead of going the vindictive route. Instead, she hexes when someone makes her angry or crosses her? Oh, come on. Welcome to real life, where not everyone is going to be sugary sweet to you and crap happens. Occasionally, people are going to make you mad because the human experience is complex. Does it make it right? Not always, but you have to learn how to deal with the fact that people can be jerks in a better way than looking for your jinx kit. That’s just a sign of a really vitriolic, hot headed person who won’t deal with the problem directly for whatever reason. And that is not someone that the OP should want to continue working for them because it’s going to be a slippery slope.

Yep, I said “slippery slope”, here’s the thing: if Mandy is already easy to get hot under the collar for some non-descript reason, she probably will also get pissy at the OP/HR Person and use her usual “I’ma curse you!” because she will feel angered by the fact s/he is siding with Whitney and Jeff, and try it on Roberta because she spoke up (and good on her for doing so). Mandy doesn’t seem to have the wherewithal to handle the fact that not everyone likes her and how to respond to that in a professional manner, which she really needs to learn if she wants to be an effective member of the American workforce.

So, moral of the story for my more witchy readers: Don’t jinx your coworkers if you have a problem with them. Instead, handle the problem like a rational person and use the methods that should already be provided for you within the company/school/business/whatever is provided to you. If those methods are not provided or ragged with corruption, then look for a new job. I know the economy is hard but it is possible with the correct tools. And if you’re hot-headed like Mandy was, learn some cooperation and mediation (not “meditation”) skills.

*Of course they’re not real names.

Comment

BW Sick Day: Pretty Down With The Sickness

Filed under: Pagan Life — Leave a comment
July 12, 2013

So I had a brand new experience earlier this week: I got food poisoning. Yep. It was my fault for ignoring a very dark and runny mustard for my hamburger and now, I have learned to truly respect the expiration date. That was the start of the week and I’m fairly better from that and then ye olde period comes right after that so I’m pretty wiped for the week and thus, no new post. Instead, enjoy this cute vid of a kitty playing tug-o-war:

Comment

White Opinions Need Not Apply

Filed under: Pagan Life, Race — Leave a comment
July 7, 2013

A while ago, I was on the Black Witch Tumblr and saw a reblog from another Black blog about how the term “PoC” (Person of Color) can be really annoying sometimes and I jumped in and added that I agree because PoC can erase individual racial identification whereas “White” is still a standalone. Normal day on the BW Tumblr, right? That’s until the White Opinions started rolling in.

hey man i saw your post about how being called a “POC” is offensive. i’m white, so i don’t know shit about racism and can’t decide what’s offensive to you and what isn’t. to compare, as a gay woman, i find this new term “queer” (used to describe everyone on the LGBT spectrum) offensive, as do many others. do many people share the same thoughts on the term “POC”?

– chihiroschurros

Hi, I happened across your blog on accident and I have to say that your analysis of the term POC is pretty damn interesting. Honestly, I’ve always had an issue with that term. Hell, I’m a white male and every time I or someone else used it it always made my skin crawl and I had no idea why. Now I do. I know for certain that if I wasn’t white, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be referred to as that, and I’m sorry that people have used that to refer to you. It’s actually slightly dehumanizing.

– elegyforafez

See what I have to deal with?

I responded to them both in a super snarky way because, eh, it’s usually tough to explain to Whites how racism effects minorities because they go (conveniently) temporarily stupid and unknowing about the existence of Google so might as well express my opinion fully, even if they don’t get it. That and I wanted to nip any future White opinions before they could come in because it isn’t uncommon for White folks to latch on like a bedbug to the one minority that will put up with their bullsh*t. Especially in minorities-only discussions such as the term of PoC.

I responded to chihiroschurros with this response (wouldn’t be surprised if she thought you couldn’t be gay and not White at the same time) and to elegyforafez with this really scathing response because hey, White folks have a difficult time understanding the comment “Not your discussion, be quiet. And you’re dead wrong anyways, thus why you should be quiet,” I figure that tone and snark would help them understand that hey, maybe they should have been quiet in the first place and kept their White Opinions to themselves.

Oh and one responded to me with this

Oh. Well. Sorry to offend you.

– elegyforafez

What a dingbat. Here was my response. He thought I was offended? Nah. I wasn’t offended, he’s just really annoying with throwing in his opinion – actually assumed he had a place to present one – and if I wasn’t viper, he was probably going to go “hurrrrrr durrrrrrr, I didn’t get any of that. Duuurrrr” like White folks generally do when faced with explanations of why what they said/thought/did was incorrect.

Now for folks who are going, “but they’re just opinions, how is it White opinions? You’re categorizing by race too!” Yeah, the categorizing is on purpose, think of it like the term “mansplaining”, where a guy tries to explain a simple concept but heavily injected with sexism. “White Opinions” are intruding opinions in a subject that generally concerns and primarily affects minorities and White people who express their opinion automatically assume it is the highest opinion or the most authoritative because, well, they’re White. They’re a little too used to their privilege and think that since they’re speaking to minorities, they have the highest word.

It is very important for everyone to understand that in group conversations about race, religion or whatever, if you’re the one with the privilege, it is important not to invade that space and try to dominate the conversation or even inject an opinion that’s not necessary. A White person didn’t have to express how they felt about the term PoC because 1) it’s not their place to determine what we should be called and 2) we minorities already know how Whites feel about using terminology to describe someone’s race and/or ethnicity and given their track record, we really don’t want to hear any more of their thoughts and ideas. Notice in both Asks, the person pretty much implied “Oh my god, I think PoC is degrading, too!” which is really insulting because it tells me that they think PoC is insulting but I bet if the word us Black tumblrs was talking about was the N-word, they would either be silent or go “Hey, a word is a word! People should be able to use that word [especially us White folks because we really want to call you that, oh man, ur so mean. Weeeeeeeh, you’re infringing on my first amendment rights by not allowing me to freely use hate speech, this isn’t what our forefathers died for].” Let’s you know right there that they have a problem with a term that actually has “person/people” built into the name but if it is a dehumanizing term, oh go nuts.

It’s like if there was a Christian in a Pagan safe space, just trying to “correct” people left and right. Telling us, “Oh no, that’s a sin in the eyes of the Lord” or “Your god doesn’t exist so you don’t have to worry about that” or “I don’t think I have privilege at all, I’m just saying, I don’t think that you should take Creationism out of schools because that would lead to more school shootings! Prayer works – just to Jesus though, none of that devil worshipping you do. That causes them.” Notice the Christian is being remarkably rude because they’re completely disregarding a space that isn’t for them and instead of bowing out, they’re just establishing their religious privilege and down talking everyone else. Think this doesn’t happen? It happens all the time, even on national stages, just let a Black group try to talk about racism and prejudice in America and watch the White privilege start flying in through stereotyping, down-talking or trying to have the domineering opinion in an arena they have no business being in.

Now, how does one deal with encroaching White Opinions?

Here are your options:

A) Ignore them

B) Remind them that this is not their convo and you are not their cultural ambassador

C) Remind and ignore

This is really good because let’s face it, you really don’t want to keep arguing with these people forever because they’re going to use every tactic in the book to make you say that they are right or somehow twist your answer into making it appear that you’re proving them right. Nothing is wrong with saying, “This is my position on the situation and after that, we’re done.” No minority has to be a cultural ambassador to White folks. Ever. Google exists for a reason.

Or you can play racism bingo

racism bingo

Let’s see what I hit:

– “Just a coincidence that it looks like racism”

– “Didn’t Mean It That Way”

– Free Space for “White Opinions SMASH!” (I like using my free spaces early)

– “Only saying what people really think”

Remember folks, if you have privilege in that area (racial, gender, religious, cultural, etc), it’s best to just shut up and listen or strongly risk getting snipped at.

Comment