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Queering Witchcraft: Celebrating Pride Month throu...

Queering Witchcraft: Celebrating Pride Month through Non-Binary, Mixed Culture, and All Things on the Rainbow Spectrum

pride month as magic

Practicing magick can be something fluid like the Kinsey Scale from 1948. This is the older form of looking at sexuality, while there is a new interpretation by a Reditter (Nicolas DiDomizio) is based on his interpretation known as the Purple-Red Scale. If we ourselves do not relate, we can look toward our friends, family, and appreciation of things that inspire us to help fuel our path.

 

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lgbtq scale of attraction queer tarot witchraft the house of twigs thot

Let me give a bit of background on myself so you can understand my perspective a bit.

As far back as I can remember I thought I was supposed to be born a boy. I preferred all of the social concepts of being a “boy” in the 80’s and quickly tired of the conversations about what girls were supposed to be doing and wearing. At the time, I wasn’t aware of the concept of trans or non-binary, so it wasn’t something I was able to consider or explore. In fact, I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter much to me; my gender vs. my view of myself. They are non synonymous with me or my life choices, so it just exists. But, I do my best to support my bi, trans and non-binary friends and community because I feel like on a deeper spiritual level, I relate to that struggle the closest.

Moving to Portland has been an interesting experience for me. It really contrasts the cities I have lived in before, including Los Angeles, New York City, Berlin, Venice, Eugene and then Portland, Some things they get right, some things, I don’t understand. Like the astrology sign Portland aligns with is (Scorpio), it constantly fights within itself to transforms it’s shadow. There is a pretty good-sized population of queer identifying people living here, but also it is a city that goes out of its way to celebrate or at least support Pride much more than a single weekend. This weekend, Pride happens on the 15th and 16th in downtown Portland. All of the other places I have lived, have had a history with queerness and most of them were a cultural melting pot. Berlin was my favorite, and today I woke up missing it.

Oregon in general has a very racist past, that to an extent still exists in this state and city.

Some people have terrible boundaries and a passive aggressiveness that is incomparable.

Contrary to some beliefs, I run an openly female and queer-owned witch-shop, although I have a male business life partner and a daughter. I don’t need to discuss my heritage here, but for the most part we appear white, straight, and what used to be the middle class. I have had a sense of an under-breath conversation, that we are not queer enough, too white, or have too much. These are all perceptions having to do with how things appear on the outside.

As a small business, my hands are tied on what I can do, but I can speak up and support makers in my shop. Despite sometimes feeling judged, we host queer and trans events, buy handmade magickal goods from queer, trans, and POC makers when we can, and do our best to provide tools that can support someone’s magical practice without bias.

Today misunderstood concepts about queer culture continue to come up in the contemporary witch-world, but with a different flavor. As a new witch, one can be quickly turned off reading a book on “women’s magic”, the “Great Rite”, or something specifically dealing with gender.

As a magical community I think it’s important to look at the way we talk about these concepts. Witches are known to be some of the most inclusive and open minded sub-group in the spiritual spectrum. Some of this has to do with the fact that witches are always outcasts. Each magickal path can be individualistic, making it really about what each person chooses and identifies with. In relationship to the Kinsey Scale and energetic perspectives, one can gender identify as a cis female, but still work with a deity such as Pan (A nymph chasing, penis out, obviously masculine representative nature god).  One can identify as a trans woman, and still identify with Pan. I’m not trying to overtly target Pan here, but he is known to be a very male, phallic-centric deity, so you get my point of ____ diety and ____ person. What is important to understand is anything can go!

 

So, what is masculine energy and what is feminine energy?

As a 25+ year, practicing tarot reader I always go back to the symbolism of tarot. There are quite a few instances of duality happening in the deck including the gender-less Fool, the Lovers which actually is a representation of a balance of the masculine and feminine energies (not necessarily a relationship) within the self, and Temperance who is a hermaphrodite angel whom was said to come from Aphrodite and Hermes hooking up.

To be honest, I see tarot as a representation of different energetic roles and personality responses, so just because there is a queen, doesn’t mean female. In fact, when I read with my Lenormand deck, I come up as the Male (Animus) card and my partner appears as the Female (Anima).

Masculine energy is direct. It can be aggressive, assertive, self-centered, phallic, functional, logical, scientific, thinking outside the box, social status, money, power-dynamics, sexual, or war-like.  Masculine energy can be stopped in its tracks, but will put up a good fight.

Feminine energy is like water. Unlike masculine energy, I find it cannot be stopped. and is better at transforming or re-directing.  It can be of course nurturing, but not always synonymous with passive. It can be creative, sub-conscious, all the feels, sensual, brings fertility, supportive, or like a damn feeling like it will burst at any moment.

 

 

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A Tarot Spread for interpreting your queerness and manifestations of that energy:

Grab your tarot deck and use this spread to see how you land with your balance of masculine and feminine energies.

Shuffle your cards and focus your mind on your deepest subconscious. This can be a very private and personal reading, meaning it is the perfect time to use this Scorpio moon energy to delve deep into your shadow and unconscious.

When you are ready, pull a single card for each question and location. Take the time you need to find the right one, but your first inclination is the best.

1. What card represents your masculine energy and how it appears in your life?

2. What card represents your feminine energy and how it appears in your life?

 

**The top row will represent the masculine, right side of the brain and left side of your body. (1-6)

3.  What are the positive masculine energies that I am aware of, influencing my relationships and choices in life?

4. What is something unbalanced, or an aspect of the shadow of myself appearing with this masculine energy?

5. This is a secondary card, that either builds on #4, or is a second shadow aspect.

6. What is the best way to find balance to the masculine side of myself?

 

**The bottom row will represent the feminine, left side of the brain, and right side of your body. (2, 7-10)

7. What are the positive feminine energies that I am aware of, influencing my relationships and choices in life?

8. What is something unbalanced, or an aspect of the shadow of myself appearing with this feminine energy?

9. This is a secondary card, that either builds on #8, or is a second shadow aspect.

10. What is the best way to find my balance to the feminine side of myself?

 

Now that you have pulled your cards, think about how this manifests in your day-to-day life, your goals for yourself, and your magickal practice.

 

How else can you include forms of queer magic in your practice?

I have a Protection Magic class coming up in Portland this weekend, which we will have a special section dedicated to the LGBTQ aspects of this, but if you are not local to the PNW, I also have a variation of this available on The House of Twigs : School of Ritual.

I am a proponent of accessible magic, which can be socially, energetically, and dare I say, fluid. That said, here are some ideas of how to include queer friendly magick during Pride Month, to help celebrate inclusivity of queer, trans, non-binary, asexual, mixed, POC, and more…

  1. Take a look at the deities you work with and see how they relate to the Kinsey/ Purple-red Scales. Do you identify magically with more feminine or masculine energies? Remember, this is not gender based. Odin practiced what was known as “women’s magic” and the Morrighan was what I consider a quite masculine goddess of war. Check out this compiled list of deities in mythology that dabbled, across the globe with LGBTQ concepts and mythologies.
  2. Make space to include magickal practitioners in your circles who work with deities from other pantheons outside of your culture, who walk the gender line, or are openly queer. Perspective shifts are powerful and by being inclusive in our intellectual mind and magickal mind, it can allow for new perspectives to help empower your own personal practice.
  3. Push your own boundaries of what you socially present as yourself. Allow yourself to see yourself more as energy and less about gender and what that looks like. Try something new that feels good to you that maybe you haven’t had the courage to try.
  4. Meditate on the right (masculine side/left brain) and left (feminine side/right brain). Have you noticed any issues coming up with your physical body that may bring into question your balance of the energetic masculine and feminine? Is your foot always hurting on one side? Do you have really tight hips on one side, headaches, etc?
  5. If any of the dualistic tarot cards (mentioned above) come up in your readings, take that moment to see how these dynamics are manifesting. Try seeing how your readings can change by adding energy and not gender into the definitions. Consider using a deck that doesn’t specifically conform to traditional roles, looks, body-types, cultures, or genders. With gender aside, what energies do you associate with? Try and pick things from both sides, not limited to this small list.
  6. Last but not least, shop at some (not a complete list) of my favorite queer owned, inclusive businesses, OR even better, a POC queer owned businesses for your magickal supplies!

 

    1. The Nephilim Rising and Wearable Magick by The Nephilim Rising
    2. Cristina Farella – Astrologer / Writer
    3. Emma Kathryn – Writer
    4. Winter Clark – Writer / Tarot Reader / Spiritual Guidance
    5. Poisoner’s Apothecary – Writer / Maker
    6. Laura Tempest Zakroff – Writer / Artist
    7. Misha Magdalene – Writer
    8. Mat Aryun – Writer / Psychic Witch
    9. Najah Lightfoot – Writer
    10. Shine Blackhawk- Musician / Lightworker
    11. Nyxturna – Maker
    12. Cat Coven – Maker
    13. Grrl Spells – Maker
    14. Olde Ways – Maker / Practioner
    15. Slutist – Witches Sluts and Feminists Book and Slutist Tarot
    16. Ashawnee the Tarot Witch – Tarot Reader
    17. Dark Days Tarot
    18. Threads of Fate – Oracle Deck
    19.  Skullgarden – Wooden Tarot, Earthbound Oracle, and The Seeker’s Lenormand
    20. Cunning Crow Apothecary
    21. November Sage – Shop/ Writer
    22. Haus of Hoodoo – Shop
    23. The Hood Witch – Writers / Shop
    24. Hauswitch – Shop

 

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Owner, Product Fabricator, Tarot Reader , The House of Twigs, Keven Craft Rituals, Queen Meb
Head Mistress of THoT, and THoT: the School of Ritual, Owner of Keven Craft Rituals, and q. Meb ~ Queen Meb the Portland witch shop with handmade skincare products, organic goods, tarot, metaphysical items, home & hearth decor, A practicing eclectic-solitary witch, she works with energy healing / reiki master, psychopomp and psychic work, witch attunements; specializing in tarot and channeling since 1995. Erika rides the cusp of the Alpha / Omega and favors the Morrighan, Isis, Hecate, Freya, and Cernunnos.
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Owner, Product Fabricator, Tarot Reader , The House of Twigs, Keven Craft Rituals, Queen Meb
Head Mistress of THoT, and THoT: the School of Ritual, Owner of Keven Craft Rituals, and q. Meb ~ Queen Meb the Portland witch shop with handmade skincare products, organic goods, tarot, metaphysical items, home & hearth decor, A practicing eclectic-solitary witch, she works with energy healing / reiki master, psychopomp and psychic work, witch attunements; specializing in tarot and channeling since 1995. Erika rides the cusp of the Alpha / Omega and favors the Morrighan, Isis, Hecate, Freya, and Cernunnos.

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