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The Arts! Savage Love, Shihan, Black Superheroes

Filed under: The Arts — Leave a comment
February 18, 2011

It’s The Arts! in Feb, oh how lovely! Let’s get on with the features! – But first! Some individual picks for those who bemoan Valentine’s as Singles’ Awareness Day, I spotted these a while back and they’re great for a chuckled no matter whether you are spoken for or not.

Get Busy Committee – I Don’t Care About You

I love short films and I thought this one was incredibly cute!

The Grinch Who Stole Valentine’s 

And here’s a small love bug plug: Feeling lonely? Adopt a pet from your local shelter!

Now that those are out of the way, let’s begin:

Savage Love
Weekly in the Baltimore Citypaper would I read the bodacious sex columnist who is not one to mince words. Living in the inner city, just about any perspective on sex is either not healthy, inaccurate, more myth than fact or a combination. It’s nice to hear or read outside perspectives on sex and not by those with an agenda. Dan Savage, the writer of Savage Love, makes for appealing reading and perspective. Be forewarned, he’s pretty raw with his wording but his no-nonsense, direct approach to the variety of questions he gets was so noteworthy to me that I learned to adapt said no-nonsense approach when I would do divination for others because, hey, what’s the point of sugarcoating?

In addition to being a great columnist, Savage is also an outwardly gay columnist and big on fighting homophobia and challenging hetrosexist perspectives. Recently, in effect of the rash outbreaks in gay young adult suicides, Dan Savage created the youtube program, “It Gets Better” for those to make videos of personal testimonies to console closeted and out-of-the-closet gay young people that the problems that they are currently going through may be bad now but it will get better in the future. It may not be 100% perfect but it is getting better the more people are aware that treating someone cruelly based on their sexuality (or skin or religion) is not alright and is not tolerable.

Wanna read his column? It’s right here on The Stranger. He’s also has a podcast that you can listen to and even call in on his site. Read and listen!

Shihan
It isn’t oft – okay, isn’t at all – discussed on the column but instead of being a columnist all these years, I actually was a writer and poet. I really love poetry and spoken word so it’s really nice to see something like Def Poetry and all the performances it featured. Shihan’s was very remarkable, especially in a subject that usually makes me roll my eyes when it comes to poetry: love. Here, listen:

I thought it was very touching indeed! I really got into his stuff and he really is talented! Here’s another, titled “The Auction Network” (caution, the n-word is used but wait till the end, you’ll get why. I don’t use the word myself but this vid is one of the few that use it smartly)

If you want to see more of his work, here’s where he’s easily reachable: his website!

Shihan’s Back

Black Comic Book Convention/Black Superhero.com
*gasp* It’s so purdy.

I am very excited to discover (more like rediscover) Black Superhero.com, the online museum of every Black superhero ever made! Think they would have a tiny list? Nope! There’s a slew of Black superheroes from well known to little known ranging from Marvel, DC, online comics and more! A fun way to embrace Black history and Black nerdom alike!

And guess what I found! That for the past ten years there has been a Black Comic Book Convention and I didn’t know about it! Here’s the flyer (click for a bigger picture):

 

It shall be awesome and I shall be there in my lolita terrorizing the locals. Will you be there? Visit the website, Black Superhero.

That’s all The Arts! for today. Next week is Ask Black Witch, send in your questions! Also, next month starts the Fandom and the Fan series. What’s it about? Wait ‘til next week and you shall see!

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Love Potion No.9

Filed under: AfroPunk/The Establishment, Divination, Pagan Life, Relationships and Dating, Spells & Potions — Leave a comment
February 11, 2011

The Establishment (Afro-Punk) Version

Ah, oui, l’amour. Such a wonderful thing love is. Whether you get it from your kitty, your fish, your kids or your loved ones, love is a pretty nice thing. The world would probably be a happier place if the nasty people in it got a hug once in a while (some of them, preferably from a strait jacket). Everyone wants it and works hard to get it: go to the gyms, ask advice columnists what went wrong, wonder what that special gal or guy is like and will they ever meet The One.

Valentine’s Day is a day to show that love or it just stands out as Single Awareness Day where you want to shoot down all the heart shaped balloons, ship Cupid to a war zone and be the Grinch that hates Valentine’s. A lovely – albeit incredibly commercialized – holiday, it’s a day that everyone is a little more dreamy – or miserable.

How do Witches and Pagans celebrate Valentine’s Day? Meh, just like everyone else. Either we’re happy in love or sneering at those who are. While we cherish or suffer, we just get more people asking us if there’s any way they could get a love reading or even spell to see what their luck’s like in the world of hearts and cuddles. Ugh, walking reminders of whether you’re dating or not.

Love readings are sometimes a pain to do but mainly because they have a high chance of opening a can of worms (I learned that the hard way). Everyone, me included, wanna get the details on the who, how, when and where of the one person they are bound to spend the rest of their life with. Divination being such a fickle thing when it comes to love, it can be easy to be unsatisfied with what you get. It may not be the right time to know about who you’re going to end up with, you could wind up missing your chance by avidly looking for it, you may learn that it’s going to be a pretty long ways off before meeting anyone worthwhile. Having a particular idea of what kind of person you want (not always the kind of person that will work well with you) and then learning about your true love can prove vexing.

Before I go on, I would like to clarify that I believe true love is different from soul mate. A true love is someone who you are bound to spend your life with as a love partner for the rest of your life that you live and grow with in sync whereas a soul mate is just that, a mate for your soul to advance itself. That can be anything from a stray cat to the one co-worker that seems to always get you to the best friend you have.  Since I believe in reincarnation (a lot of Pagans believe in reincarnation but not all do), I believe that a true love is constant throughout the lives you live but it’s not a promise that you’ll meet them in every life because not every life has the goal or room for the pursuit of true love. Plus, it may not be right or the perfect time for them themselves to meet you.

Continuing on, I used to do this reading I would call the “true love” spread. In reality it was not one spread but a series and I used to do them for anyone that would ask. I didn’t really think much of it because, hey, everyone wants to know when that special someone is coming, why not? Yeah there was the chance that the person could find out that there’s no one for them this life but, hey, they asked. I have faith that my divination is pretty on point (I’m very rarely wrong) so I didn’t see much wrong with it. I would do a yes/no spread just to get it out of the way, a signification  spread to find out what kind of person the guy or girl will be and then a spread for the timing.

Y’know, it seemed not so bad at first – until people got really antsy about these readings. You see, when I first started doing divination for others, I thought that I would get a plethora of divination requests from jobs to life to love to general questions. I would set up my tarot spread request page on Mystic Wicks and wait for the diverse requests to come sliding in. What did I get? A bunch of love spread requests. Does so-and-so like me? Should I stay with this one guy who totally doesn’t make me happy but buys me lots of stuff? Will this random guy I keep seeing in the gym and I have a future together though I haven’t even said hi to him yet? All these love spread requests and they were my least favorite requests because I’m not really super lovey dovey and some, if not a lot, of the questions were a bit no-brainers. I guess I fell into creating my own love spread series because I wanted to kinda shut these people up in the first round if I needed it. I would of course do the spread they asked (I have a series of questions to ask when I do spreads just to get most of the trouble out of the way first) but if they would press on, hey! Why not do the true love spread! I would get it out the way and the end result would be a happy (or unhappy) person. I was in my late teens and impatience is a visible personality trait of mine so that didn’t bug me in the least bit. I didn’t do it super often though, plenty people were happy with the readings they got, not often did I need to go further. The True Love spread mainly came from trial and error instead of a perfectly polished product from the start.

The problem with love readings (spells and pretty much anything to do with matters of the heart ) is that people are very fixed on finding The One and have pretty idealistic views about who that person is supposed to be. If it isn’t what they imagined, something must be amiss or if there isn’t one at all, someone is not happy because let’s face it, everyone wants to be loved by someone. That means if they know someone who can give them the details (or close enough details), the requester sticks to the diviner like glue. That’s no fun. Consistent contacts, asking for a new reading every few days or couple of weeks, etc etc. That’s one reason why I don’t do True Love Spreads anymore, I like my breathing room and my inbox not flooding full with people who think I’m a genie or something.

Then I got kicked in the derriere myself with these readings. I always said I would never want one or get one but I guess I got wrapped up in doing so many love readings, I thought I should do one myself. Extremely long story very short, that was a total doozy and an experience I never want to relive. Like I said, I was impatient so I made all the mistakes that folks who asked me for love readings made: did my cards over and over again, wonder way too much what kind of guy my true love would be, where would I meet him and when. It got me into a lot of trouble, embarrassment, agony and serious heartache stretched over a few years that I really could have avoided. It was a Pandora’s Box – one of the biggest reasons of all why I don’t do the readings anymore. I got to sit in the recipient’s seat and saw it really was a nasty piece of work to be thrown in.

As for spells – if readings were tricky, spells certainly are. They’re one of the few kinds of spells that get a solid “Don’t Do It” from practically everyone in the Witch and Pagan community. No one minds spells casted for self-love or to heal from a break-up, not many find issue with casting a spell just to get a nice date for Saturday night but just about every Witch, Pagan and Wiccan I have met are staunchly against the stereotypical “make him/her come back to me” love spells. Why? It plants itself firmly in the field of manipulation, a big no-no regardless who you talk to.

Any Witch with sense wouldn’t do so but the average person doesn’t always see the harm. I just had to talk to someone who wanted to cast a spell to bring their ex-boyfriend back. There’s even a search term someone used to find my blog “I want a spiritual witch doctor to bring back my ex-boyfriend.” I believe I joked on Twitter in response, “Bring back an ex-boyfriend from the dead or bring him back into a dead relationship?” because while I understand how grave it must be to the inquirer, it’s a little silly and concerning to me. The reason being is that if the relationship is dead, it’s dead. There’s always a possibly for a relationship to bounce back but not for everyone. To cast a spell to make a lover come back even if they don’t want to and much rather move on is the exact equivalent of being an controlling spouse that will physically, emotionally and/or psychologically bar someone from leaving the relationship, no matter how much that tired partner wants to. A little Witchy rule of thumb: if it’s wrong through mundane means, it’s probably (read: 98%, leaving room for potential exceptions) wrong through magickal means. The same goes for casting spells on people that you like and want to make them love you back. Love has to happen on its own, not when you pretty much zombie someone’s will. That’s not love, that’s really scary.

Love is a beautiful thing but it can just as easily drive someone up and down the wall frustrated with the idea that in a world of six billion plus people, there’s got to be their perfect match out there…right? It sometimes seems like a sporting event for the gods: how many times can you bark up the wrong tree/date the wrong person/have enough broken hearts before you say “Forget it?” and become a spinster or hold out hope as long as you can ’til you find the right one who will make your heart sing – and for how long? It isn’t fair and no one is really alone in the matter, the idea of finding true love is a timeless topic. If only there was simply one database that everyone in the world could subscribe themselves to and find eternal matches that way, maybe lots of people would be happier. Finding love is important but what I think is often lost is the idea that the perfect person should be perfect for you and your quirks and shortcomings. Someone to grow and consistently modify yourself with and vice versa. I believe many forget that relationships are supposed to be balanced somehow and not in the 60/40 or 90/10 or 100/0 or 150/-50 way because that’s not a good relationship but one doomed to fail because both sides can’t grow together and possibly not individually either. No one is perfect so it would be foolish to assume that the perfect person that comes into your life will be too. It just means they’ll be perfect for you: know just the right way to work your nerves to finally clean up after yourself or know exactly how to piss you off in less than a minute over absolutely nothing – but also know how to make you happy and feel like all the time you spent on them is totally worthwhile. Relationships aren’t perfect, just like the people in them. All anyone can do is be honest, meet people, figure out what works versus what doesn’t and hope that someday you may have someone to spend the rest of your life with.

But if you need love that bad, visit your local animal shelter and adopt. You’re not the only one who wants to be loved.

Next week: The Arts! Who will be featuring:
– Savage Love
– Shihan
– Museum of Black Superheroes/Black Comic Book Convention

Don’t forget to send in Ask Black Witch questions! You know how to get them in: email, tweet, fill out the Ask Black Witch submission form, ask on the Black Witch fan page or simply comment.

Now, in case anyone is wondering why I don’t have up any special posts for Black History month, my answer is fairly simple: There’s no need. To explain for those who are probably making a frown or a look of horror, I feel that albeit Black History Month is something indeed important to highlight the multitudes of greatness for the Black race, I don’t believe that the expression of Blackness should ever reside in one month but all year round, Black is forever. I already am Black, I mean – even the column’s name is titled Black Witch, I shouldn’t have to necessarily dig out anything incredibly Black for the month of February when it already has a high likelihood of getting posted up here anyways because of that very fact, this is a Black blog after all. For this very reason, that is why there isn’t a special Black history month column up here on Black Witch. There’s a whole year and the rest of time to dedicate to the pursuit, successes and tribulations of the worldwide Black race. However, if there is someone special that you, my readers, want me to highlight or even consider, let me know.

There will be a series dedicated to not exactly or not only Black history but also modern day Black culture and society in March 2012 called “Comin’ Straight Outta Your Monolith”. The month-long series will discuss what it is and isn’t to be Black, the narrowness of the Black monolith and mainly the outsides of the Black monolith such as Blacks who are into cybergoth or simply those who do not want to become a stereotype. In addition, there will be a series in September 2011 titled “Black Diamonds and Pearls” which highlights Black girls (and guys) in Lolita fashion. These two are very exciting for me because these series allow me and others (a main feature of my series is that there will be guest writers and other voices besides my own) to examine the different sides of Black culture, Blackness, how do we perceive it, what are the flaws in our current perceptions, how we validate or don’t validate particular ideas of Blackness and what is it truly to be Black. This is why I’m not putting up anything particular for Black history month; we have all year ‘round.

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More Than Your Sun Sign

Filed under: AfroPunk/The Establishment, Astrology, BW Announcements — 4 Comments
February 4, 2011

The Establishment (AfroPunk) Version

I’ve mentioned in my earlier column Baby, the Stars Shine Bright! that I’m a bit of an astrologer – as in, I study astrology, its functions, astronomy and the background of why things are the way they are. (Also, I would like to plug the free Android app Google Sky Map for all your astronomy needs!) Now, I love astrology, even if I can be a bit derpy sometimes in remembering the signs in perfect order after learning pretty much all else about them.

An astrologer pet peeve of mine – my deco’d soapbox, so to speak – are horoscopes and people who judge everything on sun signs (the sign you’re asked when someone goes, “What’s your sign?”), otherwise known as pop-astrology. Goodness, is it stupid to hear someone go “I’m an Aries! I’m fiery and a natural leader!” because often it means: “I’m a complete jerk and you all have to deal with it because this flimsy fact I read on Twitter gives me complete and total license!” Also, the very same people who may ask me for my sign and decide they know all about me jump at the very mention of divination and witchcraft or better yet, their eyes glaze over when I talk about actual astrology.

“Alright, astrology isn’t a cake walk, I get it,” you may say. “Seems easy to me tho.” Don’t it? Well, in learning astrology kinda seriously (or seriously enough to go beyond spitting some “I’m an Aries” nonsense) here’s what you need at least some of a grasp of: astronomy, mythology, psychology, sociology, a healthy bulls**t radar, skepticism and a little history wouldn’t kill you either. There’s a reason Cancer is considered a crab, a turtle and even a cat and why it is seen as a water sign and cardinal. Also, there’s a reason every person invested truly in astrology rolls their eyes and lament providing an explanation every time Ophiuchus gets mentioned. (Such as my last Ask Black Witch, complete with links.) In addition, it is perfectly healthy to wonder if people are acting within their signs because that’s what they’re told or if their sign actually describes, not define, them. The recent Ophichus flare-up should cue you in when you hear someone go “I’m not a Cancer anymore? Am I still sensitive and emotional?” (Yes, dimwit, you are. It’s called a “personality”; astrology is usually reflective, not determinate.) These people should help you out and I would tell you how to really mess with them but that’s probably not very nice of me.

Compatibility, work, whatever, can’t be told by one planet which demonstrates only one thing and one thing only. It can’t tell me how you are with your family, money or future. There are whole planets and houses (fractions of the sky and pie slices on a natal chart) spelling all that out. And that’s even if you resemble your sun sign, some people don’t because of something else that’s going on in their natal chart.

This takes me to horoscopes. I personally can’t stand horoscopes because A) people eat it up like candy and then relay said nonsense to me B) It’s so broad and incorrect how could you take such a thing correctly or seriously?  Makes me wonder.

Alright, lemme try something. I’m a sun in Cancer so lemme try my horoscope from three places and we’ll sum them up, yeah? On this day of January 29, 2011, here’s my horoscope:

Astrology.com: Coworkers need your help today — even if you’re miles from the office. It’s one of those times when you can make a huge difference just by checking in. They are sure to think you’re a mind reader!

Horoscope.com: Information received through dreams and visions could trigger sudden psychic revelations of solutions to problems you may have been mulling over for weeks. What you realize is likely to clear up any difficulties and pave the way for success. The emotional release could have you feeling like a heavy weight has been lifted off your shoulders. Obey your impulses, and get to it.

MSN Astrology: (They asked me for my birthdate) Daily Planetary Overview:
The Moon in Sagittarius conjuncts Venus this evening, bringing a happy, optimistic feeling to relationships. If you’ve given up hope of ever meeting anyone or have doubts about a current relationship, now is the time to get back into the swing of things. This planetary combo is perfect for partying!

Your Horoscope – Today, Jan. 29, 2011
Fundraising activities of a group with which you’re affiliated are generally going very well, but today you’re likely to find that things seem to be stalled. Checks may not come in the mail, important people don’t return your phone calls, someone doesn’t show up to do the job at hand. This situation is frustrating, but it probably won’t last past today. By tomorrow you should all be your busy selves again. Hang in there!

Lookin for sites that have horoscopes was actually harder than I thought. I haven’t checked my horoscope since God/dess knows when so when I started, it was very much a moment of, “Alright! Find my horoscope! Easy as pie!…Uh, where do people read their horoscopes?” I thought of some pretty good basics such as MSN horoscope and astrology.com. After asking friends, thinking for a bit and then using Google, I found Horoscope.com. All the sites I went to basically were girly with big letters, vibrant layouts, filled with cute and adorableness. It’s like they’re practically hardball pitching to girls…ick. Almost made me feel bad for guys who read at those spots because it kinda insinuates that only girls concern themselves with the stars, very ditzy girls at that. It’s very hard to take these sites seriously. I know I don’t but I’m sure there are plenty out there who do.

How did these readings fair? None were the same exactly. Astrology.com looked at me from a worker’s perspective (concern only my “workplace life” not my life as a whole), Horoscope.com pitched at the “intuitive Cancer” perspective, MSN Astrology attempted to be personal but still refer to my work life and some of my social life. Were they right? Not incredibly:

Astrology.com: Did I check in? Nah, I slept in and the sky hasn’t fallen yet. Who am I? Mama Bear? Ah, no. I don’t care if folks think I am a mind reader or not, if people want my help, they know how and where to hit me up. This reading plays on the fact that Cancerians are suppose to be very familial with those that they work with, are social with, live with and interact with. Not always true for every Cancer. I do like to help people but there’s no “S” on my chest anywhere.

Horoscope.com: I am intuitive, yes, buuuuut these people make it sound like my life is an episode out of Medium. I had a few weird dreams but I think they had more to do with the fact I was watching music videos late at night while eating nearly a bucket of cookie dough ice cream (my favorite) and being completely distracted by my computer so I guess I wound up taking my busy mind to bed with me. What did it make me realize? Stop eating a near quart of cookie dough ice cream at near 6 AM in the morning and dear God does modern day music videos suck. But that wasn’t a psychic revelation, it’s a revelation I always had and usually ignore when I feel like it. Nothing groundbreaking here, just some bedhead and a tummyache.

MSN Astrology: How nice of them to take down my birthdate and use that…I think. If they’re going to talk about how the current astrological forecast is going to affect me, they should keep in mind my actual natal chart. I’m not going to simply go out and party because of a momentary positive placement between two planets. A placement between moon and any planet is not going to last long so why should I care about this one? Plus, relationships? Um, I have a Venus in Gemini but what about my Cancerian Mercury in retrograde and the fact I like quiet when I want quiet and loud when I want noise? The planets are always moving, I’m not going to concern myself with this one.

I’m not doing any fundraising stuff, either. Unless Afro-Punk is doing something I don’t know about, this is a stretch. So far, everything is its normal self, including any waiting period I am going through right now but part of that stems from my laziness.

Staying on the same track of Cancer being maternal, emotional, feminine and perhaps needing a cake to keep sane, these sites are generalizations of Cancer.  See, I am a Cancer in three planets (Sun, Mercury, Mars) but I’m not exactly motherly always – I’m quite a prickly shoulder to lean on sometimes. I am pretty emotional and intuitive but I have heard of this awesome counter balance called “Logic”. Cancer is a work zodiac (a zodiac that is affiliated with business and money) but these readings never really hit home for me or what I’m currently dealing with. The only way to connect with these horoscopes is if I were working with others, taking a closer look at my dreams (and if I were a total noob with dream interpreting, wind up making a mountain out of a mole hill) for the key to the problems that I supposedly have and reach quick success thereafter, and to look for all the current discrepancies in my life. In other words, I’d have to play along, even if I have to use some make believe.

A good horoscope reading looks at the natal chart and the current astrological weather but that’s a really hard job to do because it’s so personal and horoscopes have to satisfy crowds, not individuals. That means you need a version of astrology that’s really dumbed down and easy for mass consumption. What comes out of it? Pop astrology and people running around thinking they know the zodiac when really they know a very infinitesimal amount and barely any of it truly applicable.

For example, a good horoscope reading would make mention that my Jupiter is returning (I’m a Jupiter in Aries, 8th house) and that this is probably a good year to start things because the current Jupiter is in not only a cardinal sign but the start of the zodiac itself, which works positively with the expansiveness of Jupiter, not to mention it is a natal return for me. A good horoscope would include my houses, keep my retrogrades in mind, remember the placements of my birth chart and how it all applies to the placements, houses and retrogrades of now. The only way to get that really is with either a really good computer program, have a personal astrologer on speed dial at all times or eyeball what the astro-weather of today will hold for me – which is what I do when the feeling moves me and I decide to amble over to alabe.

What about other folks who follow horoscopes religiously? Don’t take them so seriously – or better yet, don’t read them at all. These horoscopes can’t truly help you with your life because it’s not geared specifically for you, your problems, your life or even your temporary situations. Life is going to be life, these astrologers are just throwing out ideas but there’s no promise any of these ideas are going to help you, that’s why horoscopes are regarded as entertainment only in some publications. If you feel the need to look to the stars for answers, just learn astrology for yourself and know that just because you know your Mars sign finally doesn’t mean life will be any easier to control. It’s good to have guidance but live life for itself.

 As some of have attended or are aware of, I had an impromptu Black Witch Ustream chat last Friday. It was really fun but it also was not recorded so I am very sorry for those who missed out. I still plan to have two official yearly Ustream chats for the column, one for Halloween and the Black Witch anniversary, but I think these random Ustream chats are certainly fun! I can’t promise I’ll be recording each and every one, only when the mood strikes me, but I can promise you that they will be random and unpredictable in timing. I’ll advertise on Twitter, the Black Witch Fan Page and on the Black Pagans group at Afro-Punk at least twenty minutes to a half hour before broadcast time. Be there or be square.

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Ask Black Witch

Filed under: Ask Black Witch, Astrology, Dreams, Resources & Information — 2 Comments
January 28, 2011

Hello there, Black Witch, I have 2 questions to ask of you. 1. Do I have to believe in Gods & Goddesses in order to become a Wiccan/Witch?  Not too long ago, I dreamt about a letter K and a yellow pentacle and I’ve been trying to figure out what it means. 2. Do you have any suggestions where I can find this out?
 
~Pearl

For question 1: Do you have to believe in God & Goddesses to be a Wiccan or Witch? Yes and no. To be Wiccan (because Wiccan and Witch are two different things), a religion, you do have to honor a God and Goddess. You can called them Lord and Lady if you like but while it’s the norm to work with the Gods and Goddesses, you don’t have to set them as number one exactly for you can work strictly with elementals, stones and nature itself. You may hit some rough spots as a Wiccan – for example the monthly esbats (full moon salutations) which honours the goddess. You can still honour the moon as it is indeed part of nature but just know you might have to get a pantheon if you plan to be Wiccan. Since Witchcraft is a craft and not a religion, you’re freer to choose whether you want to work with Gods and Goddesses or not but still, know you may run into spells or rituals that require you to use a deity of some shape or form. Even if you don’t want to believe in Gods and Goddesses, you still have to believe in something for Witchcraft and Wicca, regardless which path you choose.

For question 2: You dreamt of the letter K and a yellow pentacle and want to know what it means. That’s easy. I always use books for my dream interpreting needs. The best books I can refer to you are:

1,001 Dreams by Jack Altman
The Element Encyclopedia of 20,000 Dreams by Theresa Chang

Also on this one website I stumbled across, there was this awesome supplemental dictionary online that’s now gone – but I copied and pasted everything! Here it is, provided by Rapidshare!  I hope you figure out that dream!

General Question: What is Ophiuchus and am I still my original sign?

This isn’t entirely a specific question but about three weeks back, there was all this chatter on Twitter about the so-called “13th zodiac” and how it’s totally changed the face of astrology forever because apparently we’re using points in the sky that hasn’t been accurate since pretty much Christ was alive. Cue twitter-dom schizz outs and the mysterious Ophiuchus becoming a worldwide trending topic. My timeline and mentions remained pretty calm but apparently it was War of the Worlds for others. I didn’t know about any of this really until a reader on my timeline mentioned it and linked to this, detailing what was going on and she was about to ask me.

Ophiuchus is pretty familiar to me because I remember hearing about it on MysticWicks, a pagan forum I was part of, back in…uhhhh…2006. Getting into astrology and its many forms, I have heard of this zodiac and the star shift itself but because I was younger and totally not into Vedic (Sidereal) astrology, I stuffed Ophiuchus into the back of my mind. So imagine my surprise when I see that little guy trending in 2011 and people screeching over it.

Since I didn’t remember much of Ophiuchus (and didn’t study basically any of it when I was aware of it), I did what a person in my position could do: seek out folks and info that did know what they were talking about and that meant marching back to MysticWicks (why’d I left it? Dunno) where I reliably found those old conversations and I think a couple new ones. Read up on them:

“Born in April, But I’m Actually a Pisces”
“Precision in Astrology”
“Sidereal Astrologers – None Here?”
“Glossary for the Astrologically Impaired” (I think this is awesome.)

Informative, no? Here’s more recent ones about the whole situation from wordpress blog Practicing Astrologer:

“Oh No, It’s Ophiuchus Again!”
“What Astronomers Don’t Get About Astrology”

I usually love hearing or seeing people get into astrology or any other form of esotericism because that’s basically how everyone starts but I get concerned when it draws into a fever pitch because I get the strong feeling a lot of people are probably missing the point somewhere. I still identify as Cancer because I’m a tropical astrologer, I use the Western astrology system, not sidereal so I can still blissfully ignore Ophiuchus happily and the world not turn to flames.

Because I am a curious lolita (check the links of interest if you don’t know what a lolita is), I decided to get my Vedic (sidereal) chart casted. This is what came out:

My Vedic Natal Chart

Now, this is what I’m accustomed to seeing (click to view a clearer picture):

My Tropical Natal Chart

Don’t look the same, do they? They shouldn’t either because they’re not the same system, just like Chinese and Western astrology are different systems but they still can be applied to the same person. In Vedic astrology, I’m a sun in Gemini, moon in Leo, ascendant in Virgo. In tropical (Western) astrology, I’m sun in Cancer, moon in Virgo, ascendant in Virgo. In Chinese astrology, I’m a Fire Hare. I’m still me, just with different perspectives applied and each of those perspectives have their own rules of interpretation as well as their own faults, no one is more “right” than the other. And there’s plenty of other astrology systems that I didn’t even mention (but will once people start freaking out at them).

In other words: If you thought your whole life you were an Aries, you still are, no need to panic. Western astrology – as far as I know – still hasn’t changed.

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The Arts! Fried Chicken and Sushi, Sweatshop Union, Angry Asian Man

Filed under: The Arts — Leave a comment
January 21, 2011

The first The Arts of 2011 – how fantastic! Off to a great start, which would be a better start if I just cut the chit chat (and some not-so-subliminal advertising: send in Ask Black Witch questions) and just start with the features.

Fried Chicken and Sushi
I was suggested to this webcomic by my friend Kalen as she knew I wanted to teach in Japan and really want to see webcomics that are by and showcase Blacks that aren’t monolithic but not detached from their Blackness either. So when she brought up Fried Chicken and Sushi, I thought it was a wonderful webcomic!

Fried Chicken and Sushi is a webcomic loosely based on the creator Khalid Birdsong experiences teaching overseas in Japan. It runs very much like a story so the best place to actually start is the beginning (or read the latest and work your way back like I sometimes do) but here are some strips:

The very first strip

Karl's inital Japanese experience in full color!

Karl often chats with his friend, J, back in hometown Atlanta

Karl even wound up getting spirit statue haunting him!

Interested? Fried Chicken and Sushi updates every Tuesday and Thursday.

Sweatshop Union
Oh my, I really don’t keep track of how much music I feature on this column but this hip hop group from Canada is completely outstanding! I tripped over their music on Pandora (which I haven’t listened to as of lately) and really liked it. Now I’m usually one for socially conscious music and I personally believe that’s what hip hop is at its core, the poor man’s newspaper and a venue to sound off on contemporary happenings – not the minstrel show charades that dominates the airwaves today. Sweatshop Union resembles that. Also, Sweatshop Union exemplifies the diversity that hip hop truly has, it’s not all Black, it’s a myriad of voices cobbled together to make one unit.

Here’s Kyprios of Sweatshop Union giving a very good analogy of the music industry and how hard it is to actually make it:

“Hit the Wall”

A very favorite video of mine! Why? Watch.

“High Grade”

Ok, this is also another favorite of mine.

“Try”

Remember, I like Sweatshop Union for its wonderful political insight:

“Human Race”

And living life and dealing with it just like everyone else

“Oh My”

I recommend Sweatshop Union, they’re really ace! Here’s their websites:
Myspace (great place to check out their music)
Sweatshop Union’s Blog (I think something is up with their site)
Twitter

Angry Asian Man
Race is always a popular topic of mine. I feel that A) we are not living in a post-racial society and B) if we’re going to figure out anything about race, we have to talk about it and explore it, not view it “safely” from the watered-down, it-wasn’t-that-bad White perspective. I love seeing how races develop their own culture, sustain (or lose) them as well as interact with other races. The Asian-American perspective is one that isn’t often expressed and pretty misunderstood. Blacks have gone quite a ways (and slipped back quite a ways too) but often deemed “the model minority” and other nonsense labels. That’s why I’m glad I have Angry Asian Man to read and serve as a great gateway portal to many other happenings  in the Asian American community.

I had happened upon Angry Asian Man back in late ’09 when I was doing research for a university course about Chinese literature and my subject was on the classic book, Journey to the West (I highly recommend it! It’s amazing) and they had a short film of the same name a modified theme.

I still visit the site to this very day and always find good stuff from important to funny, such as this Chinese 7-Up commercial

Since I like great writing and upbeat and figured I could learn a thing or two, I stuck on the site and learned about what’s going on in the Asian American community as well as learned about other sites in regards to the Asian American community such as Disgrasian and Secret Asian Man

Because his insights are very prevalent about race issues and I never believed that the race issue was ever White and Black, he’s in the Links of Interest because I think it’s interesting to learn about a different variation of the same American existence than the ones often heard.

Angry Asian Man
AAM Twitter

That’s all The Arts for now! – Wait, no, no it’s not. I found this adorable video on my friend’s Angelica tumblr (I featured her on The Arts! in November). It’s cuteness sliding about!

Now we’re done! Next week is Ask Black Witch! Send in your questions, send ‘em in! Ask Black Witch is when you get to talk back and I respond! Email, tweet, use the submission form or comment (here or on the fan page), and it’ll be up here!

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Book of Shadows

Filed under: AfroPunk/The Establishment, Pagan Life — Leave a comment
January 14, 2011

The Establishment (AfroPunk) Version

Just about every Witch and Wiccan I know has a Book of Shadows (BOS) – or grimoire as they’re sometimes called. It’s a collection of spells, personal experiences and metaphysical learnings every practitioner is supposed to have and refer to. Since Paganism celebrates life and personal growth, the BOS is considered very important as it is meant for recording and reflecting experiences.  There’s also an electronic version called the Disk of Shadows (DOS) where it is a folder on your computer or actual disk (or floppy if you’re that old school).

How did the Book of Shadows get its name? Good question. Been a long time since I was a noob* in the craft so I dug through my old books and looked for whatever I could find. Always good to refresh the basics, it’s very easy to get stuck into the motion of things when you’ve been doing them for so long. The book that had the most information (available to me at 2 AM when I was writing this column) was Solitary Witch by Silver Ravenwolf (yes, she can drive shivers down a practiced Witch’s spine but she’s not the worst of Pagan writers). The history of the BOS goes back pretty far, touching the Egyptians, Middle East and Europe.  The existence books of magick can stretch back to as far as five thousand years ago and they were used and created for roughly the same purposes as now, to retain wisdom of rituals, hymns, information of magickal studies, notes. Often held in secrecy due to religious persecution, the Book of Shadows kind of earned its name as well as the reputation/tradition that a BOS should always be black. The term grimoire is French, meaning “a magician’s manual.” The BOS as modern Wiccans and Pagans see it as can be traced back to Gerald Gardner, the creator of the Wiccan religion: “Doreen Valiente, a member of his group…believed that the idea of the Book of Shadows first came into being in 1949, when Gardner thought of calling a Witch’s book of rituals and magickal information a Book of Shadows….” The term came from an article published in The Occult Observer in 1949 discussing an old Sanskrit manual called the Book of Shadows that could teach how to tell a person’s destiny from the length of their shadow. (Ravenwolf, pg. 129-132) The history of the BOS is rather mixed but the purpose has remained fairly the same, to record knowledge.

A BOS doesn’t really look anything like the big, chunky and dusty book on Charmed which always self-updates itself (how lovely would that be?) but a…fairly normal book. I have two BOS, a travel BOS that I take with me just about everywhere I go and an ultimate BOS which stores all the entries I have ever made in my travel BOS and transferred over enable to add more pages. As you could possibly guess, both are binders, the travel BOS is about an inch wide and the ultimate BOS has one of the widest binder spines I could purchase when I was a teen. I have been writing in it solidly since 2004 (I had a first attempt in 2003 but lost the book) and in this book are dreams, scrying and dowsing information, card spreads, spells, musings, poetry, rants and journal entries.

 My BOS is color coded where the non-spell entries are on white pages and spell entries are on blue pages in the back (honestly those blue pages are starting to get old and rickety, I should change them soon). I color coded my BOS as an idea taken from Gwinevere Rain, a popular Witch author, in her book Confessions of a Teenage Witch because I had the same problem she did – it would take me eons to find a simple spell I wrote down amongst all my entries! Oh, that was so frustrating! Most of the BOS is filled with white normal notebook paper and the blue entries are some funky paper I got years ago at Hot Topic but never used. The blue paper forever remains in my travel BOS because there’s always space to write down more spells or refine the ones that I scribbled down on the white pages. I don’t often type my spells because I don’t often get struck with ideas for them while at my computer. Even if so, it would be the result of an IM conversation or email where I had to think of a spell for a witchy friend right then and there, as few and far those experiences are.

My ultimate BOS is one big, black binder of a book but my travel BOS looks incredibly harmless. I run through travel binders yearly or bi-annually because of heavy wear and tear but my current binder is white with greenish-yellow flowers decorated all over it and a Fort Minor logo sticker on the front. Not very … ominous looking, don’t you think?

Ooh, teh spookeh

Plenty have seen my travel BOS and me using it but no one jumps at the sight of it because it doesn’t look like some scary book that’s written in only with the blood of some defenseless creature. It just looks like a regular girly binder with a sticker on the front (probably because that’s exactly what it is). Where did I get the binders? From Office Depot, an office supply store. The paper is normal notebook paper, college ruled. I write in it with normal pens, I put it in a normal asymmetrical bag and it acts like a normal book. Ghouls and freakish spirits do not jump out my BOS when I open it, there’s no sound of the devil’s laughter anywhere (or I wouldn’t have purchased it), the sky does not rain blood or anything like that. It’s a regular book with a special purpose. Think of it as a diary for Pagans and Witches because that’s pretty much what it is.

I believe that a BOS (or DOS, whichever you prefer) is a very important book for any Pagan, it is priceless in use. As you learn about life, it’s always good to record experiences, especially when walking down the metaphysical and esoteric path, who knows what you may come across. To have a physical copy of the past, so to speak, is always useful. It enables you to see what you were like in the past, why you might have been like that and where are you currently going. A Book of Shadows provides direction, especially if you’re new to the path, are young or both. If you don’t learn from history, you’re bound to repeat it – best have it written down for future reference.

Besides writing down reflections, experiences and spells, there’s no particular right or wrong way to create a BOS – wait, there’s a wrong way: when your book is written completely in blood and has started to take on a personality of its own. That’s when it’s going very wrong and while I don’t usually recommend violence, perhaps asphyxiating it with a sage/dragon’s blood mix and shooting it or at least lighting it on fire in a middle of a salt circle casted counter clockwise (widdershins) may at least alleviate your circumstances long enough to promptly call up wherever you got this devilish book and demand your money back or threaten to ship the snippy book to them. If this does happen, welllllll…chalk it up to bad business practices and really bad luck because I was joking about the living book bit. (Still, writing in blood means you’re doing it wrong.)

Okies, despite the gloomy past, a modern BOS is should reflect the writer. It’s not a book that’s going to be published (or if you plan to publish your BOS, please clean it up some so it won’t look ghastly in the eyes of others instead of a responsible tome of information) so the writer should feel free how to do up their book. Jot down impressions, write poetry expressing your utmost feelings, store pictures and information about plants or stones, collect weblinks to useful websites, it’s your book as well as your choice whether or not to pass the book down the family line. My BOS I keep simple because I like simple. Simple is practical and I like practical – except in fashion choice where I find it perfectly acceptable to wear three petticoats, a corset, wooden platform shoes with the heel significantly cut out (rocking horse shoes) and possibly hairfalls that make me look like I’ve been attacked by a craft bin and enough charms on my cell phone to look like I robbed Toys R Us – but others may want to dress their BOS up a bit. I’ve seen a lot of binder BOS’s but I’ve also heard of multi-book BOS’s that consisted entirely of compass or spiral notebooks. Some BOS’s are made out of sketchbooks since some Pagans are artists and feel paint pens and a blank book is the best way to express and explain their experiences. It can also be a private blog. I wouldn’t be surprised with the help of technology that some Witch out there has made a multi-media BOS/DOS (if an e-book or tablet is used, does that make it a EBOS or a TOS? Hm, names), it’s completely up to whoever is going to have the input how the BOS shall result.

Now, this whole time I was talking about the uses of a Book of Shadows for one person, not a group. A group BOS is a little different from a solitary practitioner’s BOS in that it’s going to serve group purpose and that means there might be some rules in regards to what does and does not get written in it. In covens (group of Witches), the BOS is shared and updated with group rituals, membership, rules and information useful towards the whole group.

The care of a BOS can be as simple or extensive as the practitioner would like it to be. I’ve never blessed my BOS, simply loaded new notebook paper in it and start writing. Some Pagans want to integrate and fully dedicate their new book into their Pagan world via blessing the empty book with a prayer or sage stick. It all depends on the practitioner and what they feel is comfortable enough to feel the journal is part of their practices. Some Pagans may want to categorize their BOS with dividers and folders, some may just turn it into a collage of ideas and some may just want something incredibly simple as something to just record stuff in.

A Book of Shadows is not nearly as creepy as people would like to make it seem. It’s just a book of experience, much akin to a diary or journal. They can be made out of anything, consist of anything, look like anything. All they are to be used for is to jot down whatever can help and inform the Pagan that’s writing in it. No two BOS’s are the same I’m sure and the BOS for a Pagan that works with stones and nature would look different from the Pagan that specializes in divination and elements. What happens to it after the Pagan passes is up to that particular Pagan. It might get passed down, it may be destroyed via fire, who knows but it most certainly isn’t some creepy book of evil. It’s just a book to record Pagan experiences

Alright, next week are the installment posts!  Featuring for The Arts:

– Fried Chicken and Sushi webcomic
– Sweatshop Union
– Angry Asian Man

And don’t forget to send in questions for Ask Black Witch! Email, Tweet, Submission Form, or comment, just get ’em in!

* – Noob = newbie = newcomer (internet speak broken down)

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NALT

Filed under: AfroPunk/The Establishment, Pagan Life — 4 Comments
January 7, 2011

The Establishment (AfroPunk) Version

When I tell my Christian friends some of the social problems of being Pagan or show them my column, I am met with various reactions but the reactions that stand out to me the most sometimes are that of NALT Christians. Term borrowed from sex columnist Dan Savage, NALT Christians are the ones that says, “Oh, we’re not all like that” and suggest I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill. Of course a Christian wouldn’t act foul towards me, that’s against the tenets of the religion and my Christian friends themselves have never seen this kind of treatment.

Of course not, they’re Christian. They’re part of the accepted norm; no one is going to tell them they’re going to burn in Hell for not accepting Jesus Christ and run from them just because they have a Bible. What Christian is going to threaten their life for being Christian? Who is going to tell them flat out to their face, “Your God does not exist” or “He can’t hear your prayers”? Just about no one. The perspective is different when you’re in the majority versus the minority.

NALT Christians are right though, not all Christians are like that. But a good amount of them are or else whole posts in this column would not exist (Coming out of the Broom Closet, Mental Mentality, etc) and I wouldn’t receive so much mail and comments from readers talking about their grievances with Black Christianity (and Christianity as a whole). We know not all Christians are wicked little things or else we would all have a naturally nasty disposition to every Christians we meet instead of incredibly cautious. Some Christians actually do honor the Bible and are wonderful practitioners but on average, often Christians, Black or otherwise, can be pretty hypocritical and vicious in the name of their peaceful Lord. They give Christianity a bad name because they forget the prime scripture “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31, KJV) Hmmmm, stop. Think about it. Bad Christians (or at least the average Christian), let that marinate for a second…

Unless Christians have some major religion-wide self-hate issue going on, in theory all Christians should be good, rational, loving people. Good, rational, loving Christians should not be in the minority, that is a problem. Big problem. A problem like that makes Pagans (and other non-Christians) like me completely jaded about Christians. I also read the rest of the scripture as well: “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.” (Mark 12: 28-29, KJV) I think it’s a lovely scripture that remarks upon a good foundation of the religion, that Christians are to believe that there is only one God and one Lord, which is totally fair. See, that’s where we differ: Christians believe in one god and Pagans believe in a multitude of gods, goddesses and spirits. In short, Christianity stays over there, Paganism stays over here and there isn’t much fuss. When Christianity wants to spread over to Paganism and other religions because it is “the wrong religion” (I guess Christianity isn’t very aware that many religions say the same thing, that they’re the one true way) and becomes violently persistent about it, emphasis on the violent, that’s where the problems begin. Tell me about your religion, it’s really pretty. Christianity has done some really nice things such as influencing leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks to do what is right and has been such a cornerstone in Black leadership, that is irrefutable. Gospel music is amazing down to its core and the strength and love the religion lends to its followers is simply a sight to behold. But then you have the jerk Christians that stumble throughout the Bible and metaphorically puke all over what makes Christianity such a lovely religion for Christians and non-Christians alike until it is a sickly mess of hatred, war, troubled and tortured sexuality, blatant hypocrisy and wicked ulterior motives. That’s when I don’t want you to tell me about your religion, it’s getting ugly and very untrue.

Note when I said “tell me about your religion,” I never said “please force it down my throat.” There’s a difference between sharing your loving experiences with the Lord and forcing me to listen to your loving experiences with the Lord. I always love hearing people share their religious experiences because it shows me what they really find true in their beliefs. I like hearing Bible stories, they’re really interesting. I also like listening about the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold path of Buddhism as well as the stories of various pantheons. I just really dig mythology, it’s totally awesome. I don’t want any of it forced down my throat, however. I like listening to these stories because they’re interesting, not because I’m interested in changing religions. I’m happy with my religion, I just want to hear the stories and experiences of other people. That means, while evangelism is nice (and thoroughly irritating), it’s not entirely necessary. Non-Christians generally know who Christ is, are aware of his background story (okay, mostly the beginning and the end), and that he is the Christian saviour, it’s real spiffy. We’re aware of his existence but do not follow it for a variety of reasons or simply do not feel a sincere and impacting love for Jesus Christ and his sacrifice of life on the Cross that would be a completely useful feeling to have when practicing Christianity – to truly believe, mind and soul, that Christ loves you and you love him. I like Christ, he seems like a nice guy but I don’t gel with the religion enough to want to become a devoted follower to Him. I imagine that if I didn’t feel that devotion deep within me, big troubles could be abound because there would be inner conflict that could lead me successfully down the path of temptation and away from my precious Lord. Yep, don’t want that. It could pervert my mind and in turn my interpretation and practice of Christianity. Nobody needs a screw up like that, especially evangelizing to others and potentially give them a super slanted view of Christianity without warning. The newbies may come into the religion in a lopsided manner themselves, only to conflict within themselves and towards others and even possibly start a nasty trend further and further away from the truth and teachings of Jesus Christ. Soooooo, I’ll stay snug as a bug in a rug inside the religion I am happiest and gel the best with, m’kay?

As I have said before, this is not to say the NALT Christians perspective isn’t valid, of course it is because they’re right, not all Christians are harsh people. Although their perspective is sound and true, so is mine. While not all Christians are terrible people that misuse their own holy book, there are quite a few who are and some of them in pretty high places such as government and mainstream media. To ignore these people would be to ignore the fact they don’t want me around and have the power to convince others that they don’t want me around either. Pretty hard to ignore.

I don’t need to be told that not all Christians are like that but I feel the Christians that are very much out of line do. They should be informed that hate is not a Christian value. Prejudice is not acceptance. Preaching God’s word and Christ’s teaching doesn’t mean harming someone else’s way of life. There’s a lot more to being Christian than going to church and attending Bible study after partying hard Saturday night. There are ethics and values and picking and choosing convenient morals isn’t one of them. If you like to party hard the night before church, party hard the night before church, just don’t say a word to me about how my soul is in danger of condemnation simply because I switched religions. These people, “fake Christians”* they are often called, should be spoken to about the uniformity or lack thereof of Christendom. Tell the wayward lambs that until they learn better, they ought to keep their mouths in the same style as their minds: closed.

I understand why my NALT Christian friends feel the way they do. With modern Christianity, it is an uphill battle between the good and wicked for them. Every religion, Paganism included, has a small pie slice of spiritual practitioners, and the majority are literalists. I believe the problem simply expands the more widespread the religion so Christianity is going to have a bigger problem with staunch literalists than Pagans. Spiritualists embrace the word of their religion, literalists just take it at face value and can have a tendency to push it into everyone else’s faces. The result of that, among many, is the NALT Christian picking up the slack and doing whatever damage control possible for something that is truly not their fault but the fault of the “fake Christians” for not fully understanding their own belief system and lacking stability in their own faith.

Are all NALT Christians definitively “true Christians” as opposed to the “fake Christians” that I so often run into? Maybe, maybe not, it depends on the Christian. What makes a Christian true in my eyes is how they embrace others and are so comfortable in their own skin. They don’t mention Christ every five minutes and pray over everything like they’re really sucking up to God. NALT Christians merely are Christians who debate that not all Christians are mean, not all Christians are like that. They are just defending their religion and the rightful those in it they feel I’m taking relentless potshots at as if I didn’t know the difference myself.

NALT Christians, we’re aware that not all Christians are like that. Don’t tell us, tell them.

Happy 2011! I hope everyone had a nice new year’s!  I was interviewed by the African American Wiccan Society for New Year’s, listen to the podcast now!

Alrighty folks, it is the first column post of the year, I am very stoked. Black Witch has had a very successful 2010 (okay, 7 months of 2010) and I hope to have a very successful 2011 full of spiffy stuff! This year I will be introducing series, something I have been meaning to get to earlier but Black Witch is still in its first year so all is good. I want to do a series a year every March but because I have been meaning to get these first three series out, it will be between two Marches that I will roll out these series. After that, it’ll be more steady. Plus I will be getting a P.O. Box so for those that would like to write letters or simply are scared to email Ask Black Witch questions (everyone has their reasons), you can use that option there. Please, no creepy stuff. These are some of the things I have planned for BW this year as the first year of BW draws to a close and I have a set motion for the next oncoming years.

* – I use quotes because it is how they are often described and it isn’t fair to disown someone simply because they won’t play by the rules or throw said rules haplessly out of a window. If Pagans can’t catch a break, neither can Christians.

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Call for Black Pagans, want to be in an anthology?

Filed under: BW Public Service Announcement, Coming out of the Broom Closet, Pagan Life, Race — Leave a comment
January 6, 2011

One of my readers Crystal B. has been calling for submissions of the minority Pagan experience to create an anthology! Here are the details!

Call for Writers – Shades of Faith; minority voices within Paganism. Email for inquiries and submissions:

Megalithica Books, an imprint of Immanion Press (Stafford, U.K./Portland, OR, U.S.A) is seeking submissions for an anthology on people of color working in magical communities.  This anthology will be an opportunity to get the voices and experiences of minorities within the Pagan community out to the world and address some of the challenges, stereotyping, frustrations and the beauty of being different within the racial construct of typical Pagan or Wiccan groups. These communities include (but are not limited to) groups and individuals working in Wicca, Voodoo, Umbanda, Shaman, and other Pagan paths.

Many of the roots of Paganism have come from the lands of people of color yet the mainstreaming of Wicca has elevated images of worship and deity that connect with Celtic, Greek or Roman cultures.  This can have an exclusive effect on those who’s culture or ancestry fall outside of those categories.  Interestingly enough people of color within Paganism are often walking between the worlds of their birth ancestry and culture and that of their spiritual culture.  This anthology is an opportunity to share your stories and experiences with others around being a minority in our spiritual community.

Here are some suggested topics to give you an idea of the focus of this anthology.

  • Your experience of integration into the Pagan community
  • Magical work
  • Ancestor work
  • Integrating your birth culture with your spiritual workings
  • Personal experiences and thoughts around how being of color within the Pagan community was significant.
    What magical work are you doing now? How do you describe it? Do you work alone, in a group, or in several settings?
  • Your birth culture and spiritual workings
  • Stereotypes and prejudice
    Being the only person of color in a coven, group or community
  • Sharing your culture and history with other Pagans
  • Cultural history
  • Sub-culture of African Americans, Hispanics or other minority groups within Wicca or Paganism.
  • Is there a sense of acceptance within the magical community you work in? Do you encounter resistance in your magical community or acceptance?
  • What do you feel is needed to be more inclusive of racial diversity in Pagan communities

These drafts will be edited in a back-and-forth process with the editor. Essays should be 1500-4000 words, although if your work falls outside those limits, do submit it – we can discuss this during the editing process. Drop us an email if you are unsure whether your idea fits into the content. The sooner you start the communication process the better, as after the deadline we won’t be considering additional ideas.

Essay requirements:
• Citations for all quoted, paraphrased, or otherwise unoriginal material
• Bibliography of works cited
• Prefer APA format

Do write in your voice! If you’re academically inclined or trained, feel free to be as intelligent and technical as you like. If your work entirely talks in the first person about your own experience, please include this also. There is a wide range of voices, and we are interested in being as inclusive of style as possible.

Accepted contributors will receive a free copy of the anthology when it is published and additional copies sold at 40% off the cover price to contributors. All contributors will be provided with a contract upon final acceptance of their essays, not when they are accepted for editing. If your essay is not accepted for the anthology, we will tell you after the first round of edits.

The anthology will be edited by Crystal Blanton. She is the author of an upcoming pagan/occult nonfiction book called Bridging the Gap; Working Within the Dynamics of Pagan Groups and Society. She may be found online at http://crystalblanton.com/ and her email address for this anthology is crystal@crystalblanton.com .

Immanion Press is a small independent press based in the United Kingdom. Founded by author Storm Constantine, it expanded into occult nonfiction in 2004 with the publication of Taylor Ellwood’s Pop Culture Magick. Today, Immanion’s nonfiction line, under the Megalithica Books imprint, has a growing reputation for edgy, experimental texts on primarily intermediate and advanced pagan and occult topics. Find out more at http://www.immanion-press.com.

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Black Witch Interview by the African American Wiccan Society

Filed under: BW Announcements — Leave a comment

I was interviewed by the African American Wiccan Society! Listen to it here! (If you can’t find me, scroll down, I’m New Year’s). See you Friday!

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Ask Black Witch

Filed under: Ask Black Witch, Divination, Pagan Life — 2 Comments
December 31, 2010

Can you recommend a tarot deck for a black pagan newbie? I cannot relate to the ones I see in the metaphysical bookstores where I live, as they are full of white images.

– Lynn

I personally use the Revelations Tarot made by Zack Wong and it’s perfect for me because it reflects the reversals, has amazing art and it’s fairly diverse (kinda) but it isn’t a Black deck. The best deck I can recommend to you is the African-American Tarot but it seems more of an African deck than African-American to me because the symbolism is greatly African. I’ve never used the deck but it’s worth a shot, the imagery seems very strong and well done. If this doesn’t suit you well, I would have to suggest you might have to learn cartomancy (playing card divination) which is a wonderful alternative to tarot cards. If you choose to try cartomancy, get Playing Card Divination for Beginners by Richard Webster. You may have to look high and low for that book at a reasonable price because I think it may be out of print, judging by the price hike for even a used book. As of this moment, I have not found another deck that reflects our race but if someone knows one, shout it out.

Okay, on the Black Witch Fan Page, I have received alternative tarot card suggestions from Renee D.: “I have the African American deck , and thought the art is nice , it doesn’t do anything for me as far as reading it. I agree with you BW, the images are more African , but then the images of famous AA’s in the background of some of the card…s don’t have any relation that I could figure out to the meaning of the card or the main image on it. I read with the New Orleans Voodoo tarot, but I’d like to recommend the “Tarot of the Ages ” as a nicely done deck that has a people of many different races in it. Aztec Indians are on the suit of cups, Northern Europeans are swords, Africans are wands, and East Indians are coins, while the major arcana has a mixture of ethnicities.” Good mention.
 

1. How do Black Pagans who aren’t doing vodun/candomble/ife, etc… dealing with the fact that lots of modern Paganism comes out of European beliefs and cosmologies, i.e. Norse/Greek/etc… or dallies with ideas constructed by Euro-Americans (Summerland?). Apologies in advance if this question has a lot of ignorance in it.
 
2. Do you ever feel that modern events and phenomenon (massive, i.e. 1M+ massacres, electromagnetic radiation, destruction of entire forests, poisoning/extermination of living areas, sheer population density, etc…) changes or mediates the way humans can engage the forces and bodies in the natural world? Thank you.

– Wesley

Well, I’m not vodun (Voodoo), Candomble or Ife but because I never really felt I clicked with the European pantheons for kinda obvious reasons (I’m Black) so instead I don’t believe in the Summerland (the Wiccan version of Heaven with a reincarnation twist) and even take a step back from the pantheons that honor Yule, Beltane or any Pagan/Wiccan holiday that’s actually Euro-Pagan rather than all-inclusive. Being Black and in Paganism, you don’t see much of yourself and your culture so you have to take a step back often and wonder what is in it for you. I like Yule not for the pantheon but because of what it represents, the winter solstice. I don’t really get into European deities much because they’re not my deities personally. Instead I would be more nature-focused rather than theist-focused with my beliefs because Paganism is way more than about Gods and Goddesses. Yeah I cringe (and rage a little) every time I see a White Isis with a ski-slope nose but Paganism is pretty Euro-centric without saying and because people perceive that to be “normal” Black Pagans often have to sit back and think a little more about their faiths and what is that really than their White counterparts. There’s no ignorance in the question, trust me. All you can do is make what you can from Paganism, it’s a very diverse belief system.

Do I ever feel that modern events & phenomenon change or mediates how humans can engage the forces and bodies of the natural world? Yeeeeeeees. We’re part of nature, very hard to say we play a separate and detached role when we humans are right in the thick of it. However, I think part of the issue is people (including Pagans) believing that our interaction with nature should stay on the surface, with happy feelings and “Green is the new black” bumper stickers, stuff that makes humans feel we’re affecting nature but to be honest, saying “Ohm” over and over doesn’t magically remove the oil from the BP spill and bring back the wildlife it has (and still is and will for a very long time) destroyed.

There’s this awesome word I learned back in an  Environmental Science class in college – Anthropocentric, bringing the human element into the environmental discussion because we are indeed part of the world, may as well act like it. It now is mentioned more and more with every natural disaster, natural benefit and little in-betweens that happen because just like nature moves with its own force, we’re also part of nature and affect or are affected by that force. I think people were originally pretty in tuned with nature (that’s kinda how Paganism came about, the personification of nature by man as he tried to understand this big ol’ scary world (in a very small nutshell)) but as technology got better and industry became stronger, that connection was kinda lost. Work with the earth? Hippie talk – let’s strip mine this globe till there’s nothing left behind! People do want what they want, after all. Even now you can’t really talk about environmentalism without people thinking you’re some barefoot airhead still thinking it’s Woodstock or some stuck up yuppie with an iphone and an app on it that measures their (and somehow your and the city behind you) global footprint. Personally, I believe that there needs to be some serious changes in governments around the world and global perception towards environmental problems and to be active in that is going to affect nature a lot more than doing a yoga pose on a 100% organic mat. Since nature has a way of balancing itself out (humans included), we should be fine but not by sitting about and waiting for the world to shake itself back in place (for us humans, of course, because what might be right for man may not be right for nature and vice versa). We can’t sit, wait and be fairly passive when nature can’t change itself or won’t be able to change itself well if we people simply resort to tactics that make us feel like we’re doing something but in reality, doing nothing.

To best work with the forces and bodies in the natural world in these changing times, work with the natural world. Learn about how the natural world works (that means staying awake in biology, chemistry, physics and environmental science classes or taking some of these classes) and the problems that impact it (ocean acidification, global warming, changes in biomes, etc etc) as well the political issues that are wrapped up in it (Monsanto, BP, Live Earth, Genetically Modified Organisms and Food (GMO & GMF) and how it affects nations). Actual awareness and knowledge is a lot more worth than just lighting incense and thinking happy thoughts – though incense and happy thoughts are nice for the stressful times, as well as the yoga and the “ohms”. Modern events and phenomenon are going to happen one way or another and how people will interact with nature is going to consistently change no matter what but there’s an option to either attempt to still maintain some sort of relationship with nature or treat it continually like a force to fight against. I would opt for the former, personally.

That’s all the Ask Black Witch for this month. Please do submit questions either through twitter, the Facebook fan page, Ask Black Witch submission form, email or even just in the comments.

This is the very last day of 2010 and I would like to say that I am very astonished at the success of this column (although I would like more Ask Black Witch submissions). This column has been seen over 2,000 times within nearly 8 months (on the WordPress side alone, more on AfroPunk), the Facebook fan page for Black Witch has grown incredibly in its very short existence and I have met a lot of different people and perspectives I would have not otherwise seen. I honestly didn’t expect this much success on the WordPress or AfroPunk side, I’m very pleased. I am very happy that I have Black teen readers most of all because I remember when I was roughly 15 or 16 (It wasn’t that long ago, I’m only 23) and figuring out what I believed with very limited but potentially bountiful resources. It’s already not easy being Black and a kid, being Pagan simply complicates things; I aim for Black Witch to simplify some of those complicated things and to give a hub of resources that they (and everyone else) can use to not feel so alone and to be more informed. So far it has worked, my site has added new links to the “Links of Interest” such as Greater Than AIDS, African-American Wiccan Society and God Checker but also there is the The Arts!: Samhain Edition post that is chock full of valuable information. I want for Black Witch to be a staple in the Black Pagan community and useful for any and everyone, even if they aren’t Black or Pagan.

What I would like to see for Black Witch in 2011, besides more Ask Black Witch submissions, is to expand it just a liiiiiittle more. BW is still in its first year so I still have a little more time to move and modify things about. I’ve been meaning to get to it sooner but I will be introducing occasional month-long series that may or may not be involved with the Black Pagan experience but relevant nonetheless. The will have guest writers, features and interviews. The first series will regard music culture, titled “Fandom and the Fan”, and showcase in March. Besides series, I will be having more contests and giveaways and Ustream chats throughout 2011. Not every month will be contests, giveaways and Ustream chats though, don’t confuse the two (you’d be surprised how often that confusion has happened) but I’m making sure these will be set as tradition. There’s already Samhain Pickers, the Halloween divination giveaway, but I would like to add a few more, just enough to give Black Witch a set motion for the years to come. Black Witch is currently in very good shape so the most that I hope for is Black Witch remaining useful as it goes through its first anniversary and beyond.

Happy New Year!

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