#conservative pagan

[whereserpentswalk]

The nazis that you see in movies are as much a historical fantasy as vikings with horned helmets and samurai cutting people in half.

The nazis were not some vague evil that wanted to hurt people for the sake of hurting them. They had specific goals which furthered a far right agenda, and they wanted to do harm to very specific groups, (largely slavs, jews, Romani, queer people, communists/leftists, and disabled people.)

The nazis didn't use soldiers in creepy gas masks as their main imagery that they sold to the german people, they used blond haired blue eyed families. Nor did they stand up on podiums saying that would wage an endless and brutal war, they gave speeches about protecting white Christian society from degenerates just like how conservatives do today.

Nazis weren't atheists or pagans. They were deeply Christian and Christianity was part of their ideology just like it is for modern conservatives. They spoke at lengths about defending their Christian nation from godless leftism. The ones who hated the catholic church hated it for protestant reasons. Nazi occultism was fringe within the party and never expected to become mainstream, and those occultists were still Christian, none of them ever claimed to be Satanists or Asatru.

Nazis were also not queer or disabled. They killed those groups, before they had a chance to kill almost anyone else actually. Despite the amount of disabled nazis or queer/queer coded nazis you'll see in movies and on TV, in reality they were very cishet and very able bodied. There was one high ranking nazi early on who was gay and the other nazis killed him for that. Saying the nazis were gay or disabled makes about as much sense as saying they were Jewish.

The nazis weren't mentally ill. As previously mentioned they hated disabled people, and this unquestionably included anyone neurodivergent. When the surviving nazi war criminals were given psychological tests after the war, they were shown to be some of the most neurotypical people out there.

The nazis weren't socialists. Full stop. They hated socialists. They got elected on hating socialists. They killed socialists. Hating all forms of lefitsm was a big part of their ideology, and especially a big part of how they sold themselves.

The nazis were not the supervillians you see on screen, not because they didn't do horrible things in real life, they most certainly did, but because they weren't that vague apolitical evil that exists for white American action heros to fight. They did horrible things because they had a right wing authoritarian political ideology, an ideology that is fundamentally the same as what most of the modern right wing believes.

[witchboxco]

[boringgg-bunnyyy]

a working witch’s guide to paganism in the office

i saw a post recently from someone wishing they could incorporate their practice into their workplace without judgement so here are some ways i do it

essential oils are a great way to cleanse your space/bring in specific energies without bringing attention to your beliefs especially as they’re so popular across the board, i keep a spray bottle with a homemade mix of oils on my desk and once a week i walk around my room spraying and setting my intentions

animal imagery/figures in devotion to your gods, most deities have at least one animal associated to them and something cute and small won’t draw any attention, i keep a little crow plush on my desk in devotion to one of my gods and everyone else thinks it’s just a little decoration

plants! as a green witch/herbalist i know not everyone might share this sentiment but i work so closely with nature that having my work space filled with plants helps me still feel very connected and centered without a second thought

spell jars/sachets can be easily tucked away in desk drawers, i keep one filled with herbs for success hidden away in my filing cabinet and take it out to refresh it in times of high stress

[castilestateofmind]

"In Tradition, every authority is fraudulent, every law is unjust and barbarous, every institution is vain and ephemeral unless they are ordained to the superior principle of Being, and unless they are derived from the above and oriented 'upward'".

-Julius Evola.

[thegreenwolf]

Howdy! I stumbled across a broken link to your WordPress blog where you mentioned your views on people who believe their religious/spiritual practices exempt them from wildlife laws. I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts, since this is a topic I have a hard time getting through to others about. If you don't have the time (or don't want to), don't sweat it! Have a wonderful day ^-^

@raspberrysquid Well, it's something I've primarily run into in the Pagan/etc. arena. These religions, as a general rule, are recently created, though they may seek to emulate older polytheisms to varying degrees. (There are also polytheist reconstructionists who do not consider themselves under the modern Pagan umbrella for varying reasons, FTR, but that's a whole other discussion I'm not going to get into here. The Venn diagram is complex, and not everyone fits under the Big Tent, so to speak.)

The attitude I seem to run into repeatedly is the idea that Neopagan religions should be on an equal par with indigenous American religions with regards to access to restricted items such as eagle or other migratory bird feathers. For example, Lady Suzy Bunnysnuggles picks up a red-tailed hawk feather that a bird molted, and decides that this must be a sign from [insert deity or other higher power here] that she must incorporate that animal's energy into her spiritual practice somehow, and so she takes it home.

Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with interpreting an encounter with an animal (or its shed bits) as being personally, spiritually profound. However, if Lady Suzy Bunnysnuggles is--like many of us Pagan folk--an American citizen of varying European origins or otherwise not in a federally enrolled* Native American tribe, she is breaking the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) which prohibits the possession of almost all native wild bird parts, other than a few exceptions like turkeys. This law is in place because in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries bird populations in North America were being absolutely demolished for both restaurant tables and the feather trade. Since you can't really tell the difference between a feather that was naturally molted, and one that was torn off of a poached bird, the law has a blanket prohibition on possession regardless of origin.

There are some exceptions to the MBTA, and to the Bald and Golden Eagle Act, for federally enrolled people to have access to otherwise prohibited parts for religious or cultural use. However, people like Lady Suzy Bunnysnuggles, when informed of the laws, huff in indignation that they, too, should have religious exemptions, and that they are not, in fact, going to put that feather back where they found it. In fact, they may very well hang it from their rearview mirror or on a ritual staff, in blatant violation of the MBTA, and with the assumption that they will not run across a USFW law enforcement agent or other authority who is familiar with the laws. If pressed, they may claim "Oh, it's a TURKEY feather**!", but they're banking on the idea that no one is actually going to recognize what they have.

My thought on it, as a longtime Pagan of various European descent, is that it's my people who basically screwed up everything for everyone else by coming over here and overhunting species and systematically destroying their habitats. I've been working with hides, bones, and other remains in my practice for over a quarter of a century, and I am totally fine with staying within the confines of various laws. I have plenty of things I can legally work with, AND I am creative and flexible enough to come up with legal alternatives to prohibited items. My traditions are my own, and they don't pre-date me. Indigenous people, on the other hand, have been dealing with over 500 years of physical and cultural genocide, and the previous ban on their possession of eagle feathers and the like is just one more manifestation thereof; reversing that ban and making allowances for feathers/etc. for their spiritual and cultural practices is a TINY piece of trying to undo centuries of damage.

I am not going to try to argue that the erasure of European polytheistic traditions by Christianity many centuries ago affects me in the same way that the ongoing oppression of indigenous Americans affects them. They're not even comparable. Any problems I may have experienced as a relatively out Pagan in the United States are nowhere near in comparison to the immensity of 500+ years of active racism and other violence enacted upon Native American communities by both individuals and governmental entities.

Moreover, if we open exceptions to Neopagans and other followers of modern nature spirituality, then anyone can step up and say "Oh, hey, I'm a Wiccan/Druid/etc., can I have some eagle feathers?" that would then open up a greater demand for otherwise prohibited animal remains, and feed into a still-substantial black market. Therefore, I think it's best if I and Lady Suzy Bunnysnuggles simply find alternative ways to work with the archetypal spirit of Red-Tailed Hawk, rather than argue that our supposed religious oppression is somehow on par of that of indigenous Americans, and use their plight to try to weasel our way out of following a law that is in place to protect wildlife after other white people have demonstrated time and again that they couldn't be trusted to hunt wildlife at a sustainable level. Is it a case of some bad actors ruining things for everyone else? I mean, sure, maybe. But it's one of those things that I've long since made my peace with.

*This is with the understanding that there are also significant problems with federal recognition of some tribes, but not others, and the immense amount of bureaucratic bullshit a group of indigenous people have to wade through just to prove their legitimacy to the BIA.

**I once pointed out to a fellow vendor at an event that some of the feathers on their wares were, in fact, from various species of owl, because the last thing I want is for someone who is simply ignorant of the law to get in trouble, and generally speaking people are pretty cool about removing the illegal bits of their work and grateful that they met me before they met someone who could actually issue a ticket and/or cause trouble for the event runners. This person instead insisted repeatedly, both to me and to event staff, that they were turkey feathers, in such a manner that it was clear they knew what they were but was assuming we all played the "wink wink, nudge nudge, yeah, those sure are TURKEY feathers!" game. Needless to say, they had to take down anything made with owl feathers in order to stay in the vendors' row.

[wildfeather5002]

Hey ex-religious people of Tumblr!

What do you think, should the concept of eternal damnation be abolished entirely from all religions? If yes, how should it happen?

Religious people can weigh in as well, conservatives & assholes DNI!

[tengerist]

Often natural resource extraction and industry have no ties to the location where they operate. Very often they're foreign companies that come in to extract and exploit, and when the resources are depleted they leave. Many companies neglect to make a long term plans how to treat their waste and disregard the consequences of their pollution. Leaving their mess to local people or the next generation to solve.

Indigenous people are generally most vulnerable to this. They're often not taken seriously or seen as deserving equal right to other citizens; and they have reduced say in matters that concern them. Governments easily give permits for destructive extraction and industry in places where indigenous people live.

In Tengerism it is taught that a person should recognise the personhood of all people and beings around us. People should plan in advance what the consequences of their actions are and act accordingly to protect others.

[beastrambles]

Stop anthropomorphizing animals.

Please, stop.

That deer skull isn't "sad because it was killed by a hunter-" you are projecting. Those are your own feelings and opinions interfering with your craft, please recognize that.

[creepykuroneko]

Don't have the time or energy to get into a long discussion about it right now but I absolutely hate it when I see people posting photos of their Gothic jewelry and/or home decor and they have taxidermy bats.

Bats are endangered and play a vital role in our environment. Seriously stop buying their remains from people who sell them. There's hardly any ethically sourced bats found on Etsy or thru any other seller.

I remember several years ago I was at a horror convention and there was a seller with taxidermy adult bats. The bats were being sold in these plastic bouquets with purple and black flowers. Immediately the seller tried to pull the salesman tactic with me. Then froze when I asked if they were ethically sourced. She told me that she doesn't actually make them, a friend of hers makes them. I asked if she knew where her friend got the bats from and she couldn't answer the question.

[adddramabutton]

The truth is that I am not a progressive at all. I am the traditionalist of traditionalists. It is not the image of a bright future that guides me, but rather the singing of bones from the ancient past, buried in the ground. Anthropology, archaeology, and mythology form my values.

If evidence were found of trans people being respected in Minoan civilization, that would be all the argument I need. If there were a mention of abortion being administered in the Old Testament, that would be all the reason I require.

The Earth is old, very old. It has seen it all. Polyamorous families of hunter-gatherers and pagan Bacchanalia, Greek lovers betrothed by the rage of the battlefield, and huntresses piercing the mammoth's heart in the final strike. The chorus of believers calling to the goddesses of fear and wisdom, and the blinding fires of the inquisition.

There is a habit of seeing ancient cultures as underdeveloped and ignorant. To those who believe this, spend a week in a forest. Sit by the sea in a storm. Learn the voices of herbs and the habits of birds. Build a system of knowledge and memory necessary to survive. And the net of faith and relationships to keep your sanity intact when the sky falls down on you. The older cultures that had to understand the multiplicity and unpredictability of existence, to adapt to it, and even manage to have fun - this is where our power comes from. This is tradition.

Crying about how things were not as they were 100-50-20 years ago is a banal weakness of imagination.

[local-queer-classicist]

Just broke the news to my mom that I’ve decided to celebrate Saturnalia this year on top of our family’s normal Christmas celebrations, and she said that she was fine with it because the sexy vampire man in her favorite book series also celebrates Saturnalia. So. Win? I think?

[whereserpentswalk]

You don't have to be ok with every religion. You don't have to treat every religion equally. You have to respect the rights of everyone regardless of religion, but that doesn't mean you have to treat their religions as ok. Beliefs that preach bigoted ideas, that have underlying fucked up philosophies, don't have to exist. You don't have to defend Christianity or Islam based on some perfect sanitized idea of them that will never be the way they exist as institutions or philosophies.

Mabye they're just bad. The idea of one unquestionable authority that will burn you for disobeying, will kind of always be oppressive. And I'm going to sympathize with the victims of these religions before I sympathize with their books. Especially when most of their claims of progressive values are just ways of doorstepping (a church with a gay flag is likely trying to get queer people inside to 'cure' them).

This doesn't excuse bigotry, and I know that can be an especially thin line when talking about Islam or Judaism (though I'd argue Judaism isn't as inherently oppressive). Conservatives will try to hijack these critisms. But that doesn't mean we should defend oppressive ideologies because they're associated with minority ethnicities.

As a queer, Jewish (ethnically), pagan, I'm not going to defend ideologies that very clearly think I should suffer.

[delphinidin4]

One thing they don’t mention until “utilities” is that even if you don’t move all the way off the grid, you need to check and see what kind of internet is available to your house before you move in. We didn’t get cable TV at my parents’ place until I was in college (2004 to 2008). So there’s cable internet there now, but before that our only option was dial-up. Make sure you check these things before moving to the country!

[boringgg-bunnyyy]

Green Witchery and Where to Start

i often see beginners starting out their path to green/garden witchcraft buying tons of books (that mostly all recycle the same few facts) and copious herbs (most of which will go to waste)

and while research is great and i know you’re excited to try out spells you see on tiktok or what have you, you should start out more locally, get to know the earth and its spirits around you

i live in what is quickly becoming a rare ecosystem due to forest fires, overdevelopment, and invasive species, and because of this i spend as much time as i can meditating out in the quickly depleting forests learning all i can from them and for them

are there any endangered species in your area? is there anything you can do to help? is there anything you should avoid in your practice to prevent further damage to your local ecosystem?

these are the things you should be researching as you start out, these are the things that will connect you to the plants you intend to use, not buying yet another book that will tell you for the tenth time that lemons are cleansing

[castilestateofmind]

"In short, Faye sees the pagan (or, in his own words, "Greek") heritage, at once Apollonian and Dionysian, as the most secure and solid foundations of Europe".

-Robert Steuckers.

[shredsandpatches]

first Mendelssohn concert was tonight and it was amazeballs, I fucking love singing

Tomorrow night's concert is going to be on the local NPR and thus streamable online. I'll post the link tomorrow because it's gonna be awesome.

Bonus score note: