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The Arts!: Dee-1, Love! Love! Fighting!, Deino

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January 26, 2014

Here are The Arts! features for this month!

Dee-1
I heard Dee 1’s music at Lupe Fiasco’s show back in December. It stood out to me because it was actually interesting to listen to because it wasn’t the same usual stuff I hear rappers say. I think part of that has to do with the fact that he was a middle school teacher before being a rapper and that clearly affected him. I liked this one song that he performed that night, “Really Feel This”:

What I also noticed that in his music, he doesn’t curse nor say derogatory things about women, which definitely appears to happen more frequently in hip hop than rock, my home genre. This isn’t to say sexism doesn’t happen in rock but it is far more frequent and directed in hip hop, and usually at Black women so I’m a very tough customer when listening since I rarely hear anything different. At least in Rock, I don’t have to hear Buckcherry and Jet all the time, I can hear Paramore & Veruca Salt. It seems Hip hop wants to be a sausage fest almost on a Brony level so I find Dee-1 music to definitely stand out, which I really like. Listen to this track below, “Zero to Kilo”:

I really think Lupe made a very good call bringing Dee-1 on the tour.

Check Dee-1’s music out here:
Twitter
Website
Facebook

Love! Love! Fighting!
This online manga is fantastic! Absolutely fantastic. I love it so much. The artistry is brilliant, the plot is both fantastic and funny and to top it off, it’s an interracial love story that is not White person/other person! I get so sick of that, it’s rare to see other parings of any type. (If you’re sick of it as well, I also recommend Ultimate Comics Spider-Man. Miles Morales is Afro-Latino). Instead, this is a Black Woman/Asian Man pairing, which is the least common pairing seen. I like how the creator made the lead overweight because that not only provides an interesting dynamic of the main character and the world she’s in in a realistic manner, but also it’s finally someone who is not wafer thin and that is a very uncommon representation I want to see more of, plain and simple. The story is not written in a Koreaboo fashion either, which is dehumanizing and very objectifying. It’s just a really good story that is very well made and I enjoy reading.

The story starts with Oriana being stressed out from work and in sore need of a break so her cousin Krisa takes her on a trip that Oriana would never forget. To Korea to see her grandfather but because Krisa unknowingly entered her into a variety show to sponsor the trip!

Here are a couple  pages:

Love!Love! Fighting ex1

Love!Love! Fighting ex2

Here is where you can check out the manga in full online and even preorder a physical copy:
Website
To Pre-Order a Physical Copy

Deino
Deino’s music videos are amazing, I love how creative they are and impacting as well. They’re based on the vocaloid software which carries the very famous vocaloid (a vocal android) Hatsune Miku, which is the focus of the majority of these videos (or at least her darker counterpart, Calne Ca, which he created). Here’s one of the first videos I’ve seen from him years ago, Machine Muzik:

I really love the creepy feel and the fast pace of the music, it’s really engaging.

Another video that I like is this one, which is very dark and creative, “Bacterial Contamination”. I really find the deformations, and corrupted imagery intriguing. It’s a major break from things that are saccharine cute, which can be annoying because that’s so one-dimensional.

Here’s his information if you want to see more of his works:
Youtube
Website
Vocaloid W[k] page
NicoNico

And that’s The Arts! for this month. Next week is Ask Black Witch. Remember good questions are appreciated, bad questions are eviscerated!

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Why Be Here?

Filed under: Pagan Life, Race — 26 Comments
January 17, 2014

So, I’m researching when is the next upcoming high rite to attend at Cedar Light Grove*, which is on February 1st. In this I am reminded of feeling a bit of being different in rituals of past. I usually attend the high rites (which is pretty much the Pagan equivalent to only going to church on Easter and Christmas if you were Christian) because I thought it would be nice to be a bit more social. Maaaaaaan, I feel like a fly in the milk there. The people at the Grove are very nice but I miss being around people who look like me. It sucks when you scan the crowd at the circles and it’s pretty much nothing but White faces and you’re clearly the only Black person there. That and continually thinking, “Good gods, can we get some Mos Def or Lupe Fiasco up in here when we do the music or rhythm parts? At least some ?uestlove,” while time checking the phone sneakily, wondering when ritual will be over.

I have brought it up, of course, to one of the higher ups of the Grove, Ms. Karen. She mentioned that there were Black members of the Grove at different times in the short history the grove has been there but they never seem to stay for the long haul. One thing I do like about Ms. Karen is that she reminds me of Ms. Donna, who I got my first bearings from in Paganism and is thus, fairly straightforward. However, even she jumped quick to mention that they’re not ousting minorities, the minority members are just leaving for their own reasons. I didn’t think the Grove would do anything major to drive people away but it would be nice if some Black Pagans stuck around longer. (Hence why I put up the place’s name and their next high rite in the first two lines of this piece, hint hint.) She suggested that I talk to one of the further higher ups on having a workshop series there for Black Pagans. Although, I didn’t really get a chance to really talk to the people I needed to because it was super late night and discussing business while super sleepy is generally a bad idea. Updates on that will be in the future if I’m successful or not.

I think when I’m there, it reminds me usually of the feeling I get when I’m in massively White spaces…because it’s a massively White space. Sometimes I’m hesitant, just waiting for someone to say something or do something racist and or classist, usually in the form of a micro-aggression. And usually, it happens. When I was at now-defunct Mystickal Voyage, it was someone trying to tell me that slavery ended in 1865 but women are still oppressed today so somehow, I don’t experience racism (nor sexism since apparently by her logic, Black women don’t exist) and that I’m being a wet blanket about a throwback topic from the 1950s. Riiiiight. And I couldn’t really freely interact because being a Black person (or really, any minority) in a majority White space, you have to watch what you say and do because the last you need is someone thinking you gave them the pass to be as openly bigoted as possible and as strongly as possible. I can’t really joke about the fact I was raised in the inner city because someone is going to make a “ghetto” joke or even say the n-word because “Oh hai, a Black person is here and they’re talking about the hood! Let me show how street I can be, freshly learned from Macklemore, Gwyneth Paltrow and Miley Cyrus!” Dude, no.

Let’s pause for a second. I don’t care what anyone else feels, Black, White or otherwise. But I don’t like nor can really stand the n-word. I don’t say it. I don’t like it when others say it either. Not “I don’t mind when Black folks say it but White people can’t.” It’s “I don’t like anyone saying it, Black or White. It’s a crappy word. The end.” Just don’t say it. Seriously. Especially if you’re White. Reaffirm your Whiteness in other ways. Like, join the Tea Party or Westboro Baptist Church or something.

Moving on – I don’t like the feeling I get because I can’t really be me if I have to be on guard regularly. I don’t have to worry about rape jokes, that’s nice. I don’t have to worry about homophobic jokes, huzzah because I don’t like hearing them. The atmosphere is pretty progressive but the thing is, it always seems like race is the last frontier for people to be actually progressive on. Since folks are so afraid to talk about racism (and racism intersectioned classism) because it involves deconstruction of Whiteness and bringing a lot of fetid cesspool thinking to light and people not always feeling happy about themselves or the cultures they were raised in, they just power straight through blindly with all the hidden bigotry they can muster. You know, having the Isis statue with the ski slope nose but freaking out at the person who mentions that Isis shouldn’t have a ski slope nose…nor be lighter than Beyonce or Nicki Minaj. Being ok with having a Yemeya statue that looks like Brighid but nearly going into convulsions when someone brings up that Yemeya should be waaaaaay darker than that. Like, making her darker than 12:01 AM would be more accurate than having her lighter than 12:01 PM. Basically, it’s hard being comfortable somewhere where you should be comfy because you have to worry about been seen as an object to interact with than a individual person.

Thing is, being in White dominated spaces, it’s hard to have a list of topics to talk about. When I’m around other minorities or simply other Black folks in the same backgrounds I’m in, I can talk more freely about things because in case I make a fleeting reference to race or culture, I’m not going to be most likely greeted with micro-aggressive racism/classism right out the gate because the other folks understand where I’m coming from. There’s no risk of hearing, “Not all White people are like that”, or “Well, that’s just your opinion”, or “Isn’t that racist against White people? If the roles were switched, people would be crying racism,” because if I just want to talk about Whitewashing of deities, how Pagan media is so snowpiled to the point it’s almost phony when people say that the face of Paganism is diverse…but somehow keep showing White person after White person after White person, then I want to talk about it without having to hear people trying to reinforce the status quo. I want to be able to talk seamlessly about things, not pit stop every five minutes to explain cultural differences because the person I’m talking to didn’t understand my reference, or worse, learned about the reference from whatever Seth MacFarlane has made and The Wire.

Hey, I still remember the one time one of the other folks at the Grove touched my hair without my permission. I have OCD. Not “Oh, I’m so ocd about how my pens are lined up”, I mean, I have been officially diagnosed with it at least three times. I have had very poor experiences in regards to the fact folks just seem to think I have zero need for personal space (actually, I need a lot, usually). I also have several years (around a decade or so) in martial arts training. I don’t like it when people grab my hair, plain and simple. I’m not a petting zoo. Though the person apologized fairly profusely, it still bugs me because I’m natural haired and it’s really common in White spaces for some random person to up and go yink! if you happen to have an afro or dreads. While I surprised myself for not hitting anyone (remember, I’m a martial artist and this happened behind my back), I still don’t appreciate anyone just randomly touching my hair/head in any way, shape or form. Plus, it makes me concerned that it could happen again in the future because just like any Black person who has been in mixed crowds, just because you explain you don’t like something done to you doesn’t mean folks are going to respect that and stop doing it. If that were the case, racism probably would have been solved a long time ago, ditto with other forms of oppression and bigotry.

I’m Black, I can’t separate that from my identity. I don’t want to either. It’s nice that some Pagan groups want to put in more effort than others but something is not attracting and keeping Black Pagans to stay with these groups. This doesn’t mean that the groups are pretty much Stormfront in eco-safe clothing, there’s just something in the culture that doesn’t allow minorities to really be themselves or to still feel very alone. That can make many Black Pagans feel like it’s time to move on or, like me, just come only during the high rites instead of being a more dedicated member and part of the group.

So, if you’re in the DMV area and you want to spend Imbolc somewhere new, go to Cedar Light Grove. I am not sure if they have overnight rituals every high rite (they did for Winter Solstice and Samhain), but pack a sleeping bag if they do and you want to stay the night. It would be nice to see more diverse faces.

Next week is The Arts!, here is what is being featured:

– Dee1
– Love! Love!
– Deino3330

*This post is not for the intended purposes of shading, reading, criticizing, slighting or dissing Cedar Light Grove. For the most part, they’re pretty ok.

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Okay, Mr. Illuminati: Part 3

Filed under: Pagan Life — 2 Comments
January 5, 2014

As of recent, out of complete curiosity, I decided to follow the music industry tag on Tumblr. Some of it is good but wow, there’s been an uptick in “I saw so-and-so with the devil” type accusations of Illuminati connections as of recent. Stuff like this:

Ok, Mr Illum Ex-1

Ok, Mr Illum Ex-2

I swear, people have such a limited concept of how fame and the music industry works. The entertainment industry too but we’re focusing on how folks are confused on the on-goings of the music industry. I think the twinge for me is that, as aforementioned in the original “Okay, Mr. Illuminati” and “Okay, Mr. Illuminati: Redux“, I have friends in professional music and in the occult and let me tell you, the two never overlap.

Alright, let’s start from the top of why worldwide success does not mean you joined some secret society that dispersed back in the 1800s. The music industry, as some of you could believe, is remarkably hard to get into and very, very easy to never get as so much as a nick of notoriety, regardless how much time, effort and money you put into it. Given the industry (and its outdated ways) like to hype up to about 10 different people and leave the rest to float for themselves practically, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that some artists have much more stage and media time than others. However, this is due to a lot of people that you don’t see, the managers, the board members discussing who’s numbers are doing well and who’s numbers are slipping, the execs who decide which albums go on the shelf if certain changes won’t be made and who will get the okay no matter what. There are no evil sorcerers or warlocks or whatever have you killing goats and chatting it up with the devil just so Beyonce’s album can sell well. That’s really ridiculous.

I’ve already defined the Illuminati in previous posts as defined by Watkins’ Dictionary of Magic. So you can read up there but you can also read the book International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders which, if not available in your local library, you can order online because holy gods, the stuff people come up with shows that there’s a lot of misinformed (and scared yet dimwitted) people. Usually, I’m glad to hear some creativity but assuming who is part of some secret handshake club is one place where it is brutally misapplied! The book International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders really goes in further depth about Illuminati and other secret societies to put all your conspiracy fears to rest. Seriously, go read!

Alright, moving right along!

As I said prior, I have friends in the music industry and I have friends in occult fields, including secret societies. The two NEVER overlap. Ever. At all. Not under any circumstances. Never. Ever. Evvvvvvvvvvvvvvvver. Not ever.

If that happened, there would be folks having heart attacks all around because my music friends would freak the hell out since this stuff spooks them too. Legit terrifies them. The music friends I already have are already squicked out by the magick stuff considerably. It’s a non-topic when I’m around them. The most I mention is “My Yule/Winter Solstice was nice, how was your Christmas?” and even that is pushing it! Good Gods, I get texted heavy duty bible quotes and Christian prayers that are familiar to what my Grandma would probably memorize from multiple music friends, no metaphysical chicanery happening here. One music person I know is currently on Henny Penny mode after asking his Siri about July 27 and it responding that it is when the Gates of Hades will open and he took “Hades” for “Hell”. Here’s hoping he won’t shovel out a bunker and start shouting about how the end of times is nigh while stockpiling on survivalist guides and canned foods. There’s little room for any magick and occult among my music friends. Some still believe the Boondocks’ wildly inaccurate version of the history of Christmas. With the rest of my music friends that don’t go on high alert around Halloween, they really don’t care. If it has nothing to do with them personally or requires waaaaaay more work than what already being in the music business entails (which is recording, writing and performing), they mainly give nary a whit about it. That includes secret societies.

And this is my music friends. Oh man, my occultist friends would freeeeeeaaaaaak out if someone remotely famous came to their meetings. I’d prolly be the first to hear because while my friends in that group are great at keeping rituals secret, let Jay-Z or Lady Gaga show up, all they would do is squawk. Still keep it silent about rituals and stuff, of course, but squawk like a parrot on a loudspeaker about their brush with fame. They’re not used to interacting with high-visibility music folks like me and trust, it would show. I know this. People in secret societies are pretty normal and thus are also prone to being star struck. My friends wouldn’t communicate secrets, they would be too horrifically bashful and incoherent to make it happen. Or ask a million and three questions about the music and become that annoying, over-doting fan. Even if the musician asked for the secrets of that order, it still wouldn’t happen because of the fangirling/fanboying.

Dude, I could totally see this happening:

Version 1
Me: Dude, we’re gonna meet [random hi-vis musician], try to be cool about it.
Secret Society Friend: Ey, they’re people. I get it. They’re just like you and me.
[Random hi-vis musician]: Hi, I –
SSF: OH GAWD. I JUST- YOU’RE – FDAGOFUDA
Me: You said you were gonna be cool about this!
SSF: YOU’RE [RH-VM]! YOU’RE [RH-VM]! DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE [RH-VM]?!
SSF: [hides behind me]
SSF: [whispers] I think you’re awesome.

Version 2
[RH-VM]: I heard you were in a secret order or something. So how would I join? What are the secrets to fame, money and adoration?
SSF: [thoroughly riveted to the spot]*Mumbles incoherently*
[RH-VM]: Did you hear me?
SSF: I HAVE FEELZ, OKAY?! YOUR RECORD. GAVE. ME. FEELINGS. FEELZ. I HAVE TO EXPRESS MY FEELZ.
[RH-VM]: What?
SSF: YOUR ALBUM…I HAD NO FEELZ. THEN I HEARD YOUR ALBUM…NOW I HAVE FEELZ. YOU HAVE GIVEN ME FEELZ. Y U DO DIS? I HAVE TOO MANY FEELZ, NAO. MY FEELZ, THE FIRST: WHEN YOU MADE –
Me: And now it’s time for my friend to go, I told them they had to be on their best behavior when backstage and now they’re foaming at the mouth. Did you really think they were gonna be calm? Just sell cds, do well on Soundscan and read your contract, there ya go. Secrets. Should have already known this by now.

Seriously, that’s how it would go down. No secret handshakes or incredible information. Just one person having a psychobilly freakout moment meeting someone they’ve only seen on their tv or on the cover of a magazine. It would be ridiculous to assume otherwise. Nothing outrageous or ominous would occur. No matter what, people are very much not the cardboard cutout stereotypes that movies and media would like to paint them as and that includes occultists. Besides, I would be major surprised if any of my music friends were doing occultist stuff just to generate fame and fortune on the sneak tip.

Actually, I can imagine that, too:

Me: [Enter dressing room] Ey, dude, I got my pictures from earlier today. You want me to send them to your phone or email…them….what are you doing?
Music buddy: [sitting on floor in full ritual regalia, complete with wand, drawn circle, everything] Shut the door! You can’t knock?!
Me: Fine, sure! What are you trying to do? Did you see The Craft or something?
MB: I’m trying to make sure I have a good show tonight and keep my album sales up so I’m studying occultism. I’m joining the Illuminati. I gotta get up there somehow. Beyonce’s doin’ real well, I – stop laughing!
Me: I’m dyin’! Ha! Seriously? You not prankin’ me about my religion? Some of this stuff looks expensive to prank people with.
MB: No! I’m really tryin’ to summon a spirit to give me a good show and keep my sales up. Why you think this is funny? You’re ruining the ritual! I thought you were a witch!
Me: Are your sales that bad? Geez. Is the tour underwater like that? Why aren’t you talking to your lawyers about that instead of summoning – is that a cat?
MB: …Yes.
Me: … Why do you have a caged cat? Are you about to kill that cat? You know how I feel about animal abuse, right?
MB: I’m tryin’ to summon somethi-
Me: Oh my gods, you tryin’ to kill that cat ‘cuz you can’t sell a record or some tickets? No. You not. I’m takin’ the kitty. Fluffy don’t need to pay just ‘cuz you selling wood in record sales, apparently. What Illuminati gonna let you just kill animals, you dingbat!
MB: You’re ruining my ritual! I read on the internet that you gotta have a sacrifice –
Me: Who are you sacrificing a cat to? And why a full blown ritual now? You know these things take about 45 minutes at least. You have soundcheck! Wait, have you had soundcheck yet?
MB: Gimme the cat, I thought you’d be understanding! I gotta sacrifice it to Beezlebub so I can –
Me: WHAT? Oh my gods, you ain’t makin’ any sense and now you’re trying to murder animals. Illuminati was about illumination of the mind as based on the Christian bible. It was about enlightenment, fool! They believed it could be achieved through the arts and sciences in addition to devout Christian practice. Why would they focus on devils and demons if that’s what they’re trying to not focus on? It was started by a Bavarian law professor centuries ago, they’re not even around! I’m takin’ the cat, dude.
MB: What about my show?!
Me: Have a prayer circle for a good show like everyone else does! And do your soundcheck instead of havin’ ritual! Wait… Have you been killing animals regularly? Dude, are you turning into Tony Jaa?
MB: I just –
Me: Dude, no. I’m about to go CNN about this. Get a therapist, talk to your label about why you not sellin’ well, talk to your tour guy about why your shows make you so insecure that you’re murdering defenseless animals in your dressing room and get a press packet done up for all the animal rights people that are about to get on your case!

Yep. That’s most likely would happen. That’s why I’m glad that the two are deftly separated.

So, in case you’re still mentally lagging: fame ≠ Illuminati or any other secret society. The music industry and the occult are two very different things. You don’t need one to have the other. There are a lot of reasons why some rocket to fame and some don’t. Look at documentaries or interviews about how A&R and Artist Management works and how the music business is doing. There are some really good ones out there, I even found a few on Tumblr under the music industry tag. And I assure you, they won’t talk about secret societies or anything of the sort. Because they aren’t a part of any. If any musician was trying to be like Y. B. Yates or William Blake, that’s more so for their own personal reason, not for their professional career. Even professional musicians have personal lives. Watch this awesome video of Jeff Fester, A&R of Jive Records, he details a pretty good bit of how the industry realistically works.

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Ask Black Witch: Working with the Spirit World, Finding Other Black Pagans

Filed under: Ask Black Witch, Pagan Life, Resources & Information — 3 Comments
December 27, 2013

Blessings to you, Black Witch. I am always searching for information as I have only been a seeker and practicing as as solitary for a little over a year. I want to ask you what the best way is to deal with my fear of the spirit world. When I was in high school and several years after, I had some very frightening experiences after playing with a Ouija board with some friends. Bad decision. Every since then my perspective of the spirit realm scares the hell out of me and I don’t know how to get past it especially because there is no way I can walk the path of a witch, yet be afraid of the spirit world. It is because of my bad experiences that I consider any spirits bad and out to get to me. It’s really becoming a serious problem that I need some advice on how to cope and release the fear. My fear is hindering my practice.

-Maria J.

Oooooh, I know this feeling, it can be really scary working with the spirit world! I understand wholeheartedly about wanting to get past the spooks of interacting with the spirit

world to feel like you’re a well-rounded witch, it really does feel like there’s no way around it. I also understand from personal experience how interacting with spirits and it goes awry can really leave you completely halted.

Best thing I can suggest is research. Research on magickal self-defense (things like amulets, herbal mixes, wards, etc etc) and research on spirits. Now I’m sure with the latter, you’re going “Wat? Lol, no,” but researching various entities and what they’re really like may help you. Most likely, what you summoned was some random spirit that felt like trolling humans (and this letter is why I usually tell people don’t diddle around with Ouija boards) and since it was your initial experiences with spirits, it left you scarred. First impressions really are everything, especially in magick. Knowledge is probably going to be your best bet here since there’s no other way around it unless you want to buy all the shrine bells, iron, holy water and blessing powders in the world to make you feel a teensy bit safe, which will fade over time. It’s best to research to allay your fears. And don’t research the scary spirits first, just get some basic knowledge on spirits and the spirit world (preferably in books and most preferably written by people who aren’t loopy new-age type folks). I think the book The Encyclopedia of Spirits by Judika Stiles is a good suggestion. Try not to be freaked out by it and know that just because you have a book on spirits in your home or you reading an entry on spirits ever does not mean the spirits you’re reading about will come crashing in. It will not automatically summon anything, trust me on that. I had the same fear with spirits due to bad experiences and being really knowledgeable on the subject really helped. I think it’s that not-knowing that ramps a person up because it leaves you feeling helpless and helplessness is a terrible feeling.

Also, you don’t have to be a pro with spirits to be good at magick. You can work strictly with energy until you get past the jitters about spirits. You can study alchemy, improve your herbal knowledge (which I would recommend because it would make you feel better and less defenseless), there’s plenty to do until you fully work out your phobia so you can continually progress while working on yourself, which is very important.

Do you ever have trouble finding others like yourself? I’m a black woman inclined towards esoteric teaching and occultism. Sigil magic is a part of my focus, though I’m new to the path. I’d love some advice. 🙂 Peace

– Venicia

Even with Tumblr and being on African American Wiccan Society’s group, I still have trouble finding other Black Pagans. A lot really don’t want to be out with their work and some are not really Pagans, just completely nuts and somehow floated over to Paganism. Or are just Afriboos that just so desperately want to remove any iota of Western influence (besides internalized racism, homophobia annnnnnnd Western-stemmed misogyny). It’s pretty difficult, especially if you want to interact with them physically, in the real world because they’re either scared someone is going to find out they’re Pagan/practice witchcraft/occultism or they don’t feel like dealing with White Pagans who think now that a Black person has arrived, it’s time to try out all their best racist jokes and passive-aggressive complaints about Black people in general. Or a combo. Even I have sat out of plenty of Pagan events because I get tired very frequently of being the only Black person there and for White Pagans to assume I’m somehow the Ambassador of Negroes. Yeah, for folks who claim to be colorblind (which is a big and harmful myth that actually upholds Whiteness, not dispel it), they seem to notice it pretty well.

Your best chance would just to be on Tumblr and wrack up Black Pagan friends that way. I would recommend following idanceitarotiart, who is pretty nice, and go from there. Also, check out the sigil tag on Tumblr, it’s really nice and you’ll learn lots of new stuff.

And that’s all the Ask Black Witch for not only this month but this year! W00t!

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The Arts!: It’s the Holidays!

Filed under: The Arts — 3 Comments
December 20, 2013

It’s the holidays and as per tradition, I always post these holiday favorites here on Black Witch. This year, we’re going to have some new ones with the traditional ones. But before we get started, did you know you can play with shelter kitties over a live feed? Yep! Thanks to Oregon Animal Shelter, you can play with shelter kitties using robotic toys and see over a real-time live feed. Check it out here! You can even snap a picture of the kitties you play with.

Using the internet to do some good in the world, awesomesauce.

Now on with the holiday vids!

We all know that I love Janelle Monae, she’s adorable! Check out this wonderful holiday ditty of “Walking in a Winter Wonderland”

Following up with DMX’s really awesome rendition of “Rudolph, the Red Nose Reindeer”

Now on to the Black Witch holiday classics!

Of course, the best holiday based rap battle I have ever heard. Santa and Blitzen are sounding off, as played by KRS-One (Santa) and Lupe Fiasco (Blitzen). The vids are out of order sadly this time. the order is this: 1,3,2. It’s still good tho.

And here’s this fantastic rendition of Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby” by Princess Neptune. It’s really catching with her hauntingly beautiful voice

And this is a late add but I really liked this humorous holiday hip hop/pop parody created by 2-Cent:

And that’s The Arts! this month, yup yup.

Next week is Ask Black Witch, so if you haven’t sent in your questions, do so. Remember, good questions are appreciated, bad questions are eviscerated!

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Being Pagan at Home for the Holidays

Filed under: Coming out of the Broom Closet, Pagan Life — Leave a comment
December 14, 2013

Here comes the holidays! I guess this is more of a “what to do if you know someone who is Pagan but isn’t out the broom closet yet” post with some bits of “what to do if you’re recently out of the broom closet” in it. Eh, we’ll find out as we go along.

For those who know that someone is Pagan but that Pagan has not opened up to family yet:
DON’T. OUT. THEM.

It is not your place to determine whether the Pagan you know should let everyone know that’s their faith now. It’s never your place to out them. It never will be your place to out them. It’s up to the Pagan person to out themselves. If the Pagan person that you know don’t want to open up to family yet, don’t spill the beans for them. They won’t appreciate it (I can definitely say that from experience and so can others, don’t do it) and, as I always remind, you could be shredding your own personal relationship with them because you pretty much disregarded their trust. Don’t risk it. Even if you think that things would be so much better if they just told everyone that they’re Pagan and got it over with, remember that life does not work out that way. If the Pagan person is still living with family, you could be risking them getting thrown out or treated extremely poorly. Also, no one likes to be surprised with having to deal with whatever fallout could occur – and yes, they’ll mainly be dealing with the fallout because it’s their problem, not yours – and trying to navigate temporarily rocked familial relationships on the fly. You can be for the Pagan person that you know as much as you like but it’s their move on the when and where when it comes to revealing to the family about being Pagan. And if the Pagan person explicitly asks you to tell the family for them, review it with them to make sure they’re actually okay with it and that you fully understand. Or better yet, tell them to say it themselves.

For those who have recently came out the broom closet to family:
You’re probably going to deal with some douchebaggery. Y’know, family members that think that your religion is a phase or a hobby you’ll grow out of. People who think that while their faith is valid, yours isn’t, which means it’s probably going to be derided or outright disrespected. Usually here I would say that you have to tell them that they’re going to have to choose between their bigotry and you but I understand that some Pagans live with their families. With that, I’m going to have to say you’re going to have to pick your battles but try not to let anyone walk all over you. The best you can do is keep religion a non-issue and don’t mention faith at all or try to inform people about being Pagan, including correcting their inaccurate assumptions.

Even though the holidays are supposed to be bright, merry and gay, it’s become a really stressful time if you’re new to opening up to family about being Pagan. No happiness at all. The best that you can do is to try to navigate it the best that you can.

If you’re not Pagan but know a family member that is, be nice and make them feel welcomed but don’t be annoying with a series of prying questions. No one likes spending the holidays feeling like they’re being interrogated, especially about their faith. If you’re that interested in it, that’s why libraries exist. And you don’t have to interject their faith into everything. If they want to get a glass of water, it’s probably so they can drink it, not summon some random ocean deity. Just treat them normal and if the person wants to talk about it, they will. It’s cool to ask a couple (non-prying) questions but keep it light and few unless they really wanna talk about it. Basically: try not to be a douche about it.

Next Week is The Arts!
– Holiday funsies!
– Play with Shelter Kitties

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BW Sick Day: Let’s Game!

Filed under: Pagan Life — Leave a comment
December 6, 2013

Ugh, sick again. Total dislike. I’ve been sick all this week so that means no column. Instead you can play Fear Less a flash game centered around a girl who always dreamed she was running from Death, but now it’s time for her to take up her sword and conquer the darkness in this fun game.

fearless

Click to play!

See you next week!

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Ask Black Witch: Speakin Out!

Filed under: Ask Black Witch — Leave a comment
November 29, 2013

Click to hear.

How did you find out you were a witch or pagan (sorry if i got it wrong)?
– NeNe

Hello!

My name is Yanna. I would love to get on with more things about myself, but before anything else, can I start with a story?

I have had three dreams, one of these dreams escapes me now, but I remember the other two.

The first dream I had was of my mother. In this dream, she was pulling out snacks from a huge bin and passing them out to the neighborhood kids. This bin was so full of snacks of all kinds. I’m talking Rice Crispy Treats, chocolate granola bars, Welch Gummies, name it and it was all in there. I can still remember that dream so clearly today, would you like to know why? Well, a year or two later (after having that dream) my mother went out to Sams Club and bought boxes, upon boxes, upon boxes of snacks and she placed them in a bin. A large bin. And she kept this ‘snack’ bin in the kitchen always. You see my mother is very friendly (on the outside), and I’m saying this because maybe that had something to do with her always giving these snacks that she bought to the neighborhood kids. But anyways, yeah, my mom gave these snack to the neighborhood kids allllll the time. And it finally hit me one day, “YOOOOO I HAD A DREAM ABOUT THIS LIKE A YEAR AGO OMG.” and that’s when I started paying a little bit more attention to things like this.

The second dream was of a classmate. This was about 2 summers ago. In this dream, my class and I were in Language Arts. And everything was fine. and eerily silent since my class is never silent. My teachers is teaching and my classmates are listening until my classmate is pulled out of class. I watched her get up from her desk and walk outside into the hallway. I couldn’t hear and single thing that was being said, but I knew someone had died. I watched my classmate put her hands over her mouth before I woke up. Later on that day, I gave my classmates a call.

I said: “Hey, Nada, did anyone in your family die recently?”.

She responds: “Uhhhh, yeah, why you askin’?”.

I respond: “Oh no particular reason, I just had a dream last night that someone died in your family. I have a question.”

“What’s up?” she says.

“Was that person female?”

“Yes…”

“Was she middle aged or older…?”

“Yeah…omg girl are you physic?”

“I just had a dream…” I respond.

Fast foreword to a month ago, I began doing research on…..you guessed it! Witchcraft! And in my studies I was led to two people, a Spiritual Nymph and you! A witch! With two things in common, both of you are in Baltimore (To be honest I’m not exactly sure where you live I’m just going based on your P.O. box) and black. Which is a win, win for me since I’m black and I live in Baltimore too. But I think we should get on to the actual reasoning of this email.

I kind of feel a bit guilty, because I am currently studying Spiritwork. And in order to study Spiritwork, I must trust my Spirits. But I have only known my Spirits for a month or so. Thus, leads me to your inbox!

Could my dreams have been something coincidental or something else…?

Do you have any good starting Wicca sources?

But anyway, uh, thanks for listening!
– Yanna S.

Seeking a black magic mentor
-Joelle

Dear Black Witch, Thank you for the cartomancy reading! I really appreciate it.

Before now I didn’t know that people could do cartomancy or tarot without being physically close to the person being read. Would you explain how you connect to people from so far away on your blog or in email? This divination was more detailed than I thought possible from accross the country!
– Kara

Alright, that’s Ask Black Witch for this month! I really enjoyed changing it up a bit, very cool indeed. Good Gods, though! I sound seriously Southern! I mean, I am from Maryland and that is a Southern state after all but geez.

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The Arts!: Jimi Hendrix, Paris Is Burning, Century of the Self

Filed under: The Arts — Leave a comment
November 22, 2013

Here’s The Arts for this month! W00t! And, readers, I’m going to be doing something special for this month’s Ask Black Witch: I’m going to answer the questions via voice! More details below. Let’s get to it!

“Jimmy Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin’”
This documentary was on PBS American Masters. I was really surprised how well they did a good job on the documentary because PBS has been slipping over the past few years, race and culture wise. This was a remarkable documentary about a notable guitarist, his life and his career. Here’s more info from the site (also has the documentary in case the embed code doesn’t work)

“Paris Is Burning”
This outstanding documentary lets you peer into the world of ball culture, which is mostly dominated by Black and Latin gay cultures. It is extravagant, intellectual and simply fantastic. It features greats such as Willi Ninja and discusses the dances, the culture and the lives from the mouths of those who live and breathe this culture as well as how it helps them define their LGBTQ identities.

This is the trailer for the vid but the full documentary is here. (Couldn’t embed it)

“Century of the Self”
This is a great (and long – 4+hours) documentary about advertising and psychology. It’s really useful albeit it has its short comings with being overly White-centered and hetero-centered. It doesn’t really go into the lives of anyone who isn’t White and how it affects them and the section they did on racism was really scant and poorly done (it makes it seem like Black anger and frustration with racism is a delusion they have, not an actual experience (which it is)). It has some good information but bear those shortcomings in mind.

Alright. Movie day is over! Next week is Ask Black Witch. Submit questions via twitter, tumblr, email or even using the submission box on the side. I’ll be answering questions by voice and it will be fun! Remember, good questions are appreciated, bad questions are eviscerated.

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I Know You Love Me, But I’m Still Gone

Filed under: Relationships and Dating, Spells & Potions — Leave a comment
November 16, 2013

Let’s talk relationships. Well, first, let’s briefly mention how I won’t be at Pantheacon after all and the details are at the bottom of the post. Now, let’s talk relationships. Mainly ones that have flat lined and there’s no chance of revival. At all. Ever. Not even if the survival of humanity depended on it.

See, being a Witch, this means I get all sorts of people in my inbox. This also includes the “I Want Cha Back” crowd. These folks, you might as well play the iconic Jackson 5 song, they nearly recite the lyrics word for word without knowing it. These folks tend to contact me in hopes that somehow, despite the fact I have said several times on my site I disagree with manipulative love spells and don’t do Pay for Pray, that I’ll do it for them to bring back that just-recently-reconsidered-special someone in their life. And usually it’s supposed to be done without the recently departed significant other’s knowledge. And usually it involves the fact that the ex is the one who broke things off (and with good reason).

Yeah, no.

When it comes to magick, I always tell people to imagine the mundane version of the magick to get an idea of what they’re doing. For this, it’s no different than stalking and harassing your ex and yelling “I’M STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU!” at them as they walk down the street. Very rapidly. Away from you. Far. Away.

Here’s the deal, people: you can’t make people fall in love with you. (Well, you can but they’re not really going to be in love with you. I’ll get to that in a sec.) Love is a natural – and sometimes, a pretty frustrating – process, you can’t really force it. If it were that easy, Ok Cupid and other craptacular sites would never exist … or, at least, not to the extent it does today. If you screw up in a relationship and the other person breaks it off because of that reason or if that other person thinks it would be better to be single for a while, that’s up to them. Not you. It hurts to go through a break up but you can’t force someone’s hand. That’s not natural. And it’s controlling, which is not love. That’s abuse.

Now, note I said that you can make someone fall in love with you but they’re not going to be in love with you. It’s kinda like the mundane world version of blackmailing, harassing and guilt tripping a guy or girl to love you. They may be showing the displays of what is outwardly considered affection but it’s not coming from a place of affection but more of a place of “Will this person stop bothering me?/I don’t feel like I have a choice.” They don’t really love you, they’re just faking it until they see the first opening to dash out into the wilderness like a spooked rabbit.  It’s not right to just control someone’s heart and go, “Newp. You love me now. I may be a screw up and will mess up to the point you’re fully justified to break things off or maybe you need some time to yourself but newp, not letting you go because it hurts me too much.” That’s pretty selfish. Which also isn’t love. Affectionate love isn’t that self-serving and never should be.

Break ups happen for a multitude of reasons. It seems as of recent I’ve been getting the “I messed up/the former bf/gf thinks I messed up but I totally don’t get it” letters. They’re not what I like to see because, welp, I’m gonna probably side with the person who left you because you didn’t get it together as appropriate for the relationship. And I mean when there’s an actual problem in the relationship, such as you being a poor communicator, relying on tired gender tropes and trying to shove your now-ex into said trope boxes, and/or just having too many issues and not dedicating enough time to unpack them in a healthy way. It’s important for people to know that when they’re in a relationship, they’re taking on the role of the significant other, not the replacement-parent/authority figure.

For the former, the “I messed up”, these folks are aware they screwed up – too bad they figured it out faaaaaaar too late. These folks have got to know that there is such thing as the Point of No Return and said point has such a name for a reason. If the now-ex person was a good or even average communicator, chances are they already said their piece and made it known that there was some problematic behavior they weren’t gelling with. Life isn’t like tv, it’s not always that the now-former significant other just up and leave without letting you know beforehand. It’s nice that the person coming to me finally came to their senses about their behavior but guess what? If you have to come to a witch to repair things, it means you still blew it big time, and I mean nuclear. It implies that the ex doesn’t want anything to do with you, doesn’t care whether or not you learned your lesson, and doesn’t want to come back to you. And who am I to force them? I wouldn’t want it done to me, why would I want to do it to others so they can be dragged back into a relationship that made them so unhappy? And this is running on the assumption that the person coming to me not only knows about how bad their flaws were but actually changed them and plan to keep it that way. Usually folks slide far too easily back into their old ways when they feel like there’s nothing to lose from doing it if that desire to change isn’t intrinsic (meaning: coming from the inside). If you messed up, learn how to remedy that and move on.

For the latter “I have no idea how I screwed up but the bf/gf still left me because they think I’m [insert what could actually be the problem], I want them back”, that person is just myopic. Sometimes erratic breakups happen but these folks tend to have a very evident problematic trait that they have no plan on working on any time soon nor want to work on because they themselves don’t see it as problematic. Those folks are unbelievable because wow, talk about dragging someone back to hell. This means they’re not going to work on their problems (because remember, it’s not a problem in their eyes) and they don’t understand that people don’t have to put up with their nonsense if it’s not reaping any super justifiable benefit. People are allowed to be flawed because everyone is but no one should be expecting anyone to deal with their issues as if that’s all that should matter in the relationship. Relationships can’t survive in a one-sided fashion.

It’s important to note that both folks are pretty self-preserving. Instead of letting the ex go (which is a painful and extensive process, let’s not negate that), they’re trying to force someone who’s already made up their mind to leave back into a place they, the ex, already expressed they didn’t want to remain. There’s no thinking about why the ex did it and what good did it do for that ex to leave a problematic person behind or what traits need to be worked on as a whole to prevent this all from happening again. Instead it’s about what unhappiness comes from a break-up and how to somehow turn back the hands of time to revive a dead relationship. Which then becomes a zombie relationship because there’s no love, there’s no feeling. It’s just an undead lingering feeling that will just wrack up more problems and less love because again, you can’t force anyone to love you just like you can’t force a dead person to be alive like they were previously. This is controlling behavior, which is not based in love. At all.

Controlling anyone, removing anyone of their freedom to choose, that isn’t love. Not at all. It hurts having someone leave you but forcing them to come back won’t make anything better. The love is gone, dude. Casting a spell on a person (which is a long and grueling work because chances are it’s going to have to be refreshed again and again and again depending on how long the client wants the spell going) is a terrible way of showing someone that you “care”. It’s no different than sticking a gun in their face and saying “So, we’re gonna be exactly like we were before. You never left me. We never had problems. I’m the guy/girl for you and we’re going to be happy, happy, happy. You just don’t understand it yet but you’ll see. We’re meant for each other.” That’s crazy talk. You need a visit from a therapist, not your ex if you truly feel that way.

Oh. And then there’s the obvious, “No one really likes it when you cast a spell on them to like you” part. I think it needed its own paragraph. Seriously, think about it: “I had a spell casted on you so we could be together, I just really didn’t want you to leave me,” is not going to get you greeted with admiration.

So, if you’re dealing with break-up pangs, don’t contact me about Pay for Pray. I don’t do it and I definitely don’t do it for something as unethical as that. Just let that person go. If they wanna get back with you, you better have your ears open and get ready to do some longstanding work. If they never want to get back with you again, respect that decision. I didn’t say “don’t cry about it”, “don’t get emo about it”, “don’t post ranty blog posts about it”, “don’t express unhappiness about it”. I never said, “Just accept it with a smile and move on as if nothing happened”, I said “if they never want to get back with you again, respect that decision.” You’re free to be as upset as you like. You just aren’t free to take someone else’s freedom of choice just because it doesn’t work with yours.

Now, about Pantheacon. I won’t be able to go due to travel issues (*cough*TSAandPTSDdon’tmix*cough*) and I am going to instead try to do a livestream of my feature instead on the day and time I was supposed to be doing it in Cali, which is Feb 16, 11 AM PST. More updates on that later.

Next week on The Arts!….DOCUMENTARIES (fun/interesting ones, I swear)

– Jimi Hendrix
– Paris is Burning
– Century of the Self

Woo!

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