xandrathewolfwitch

[xandrathewolfwitch]

Anarcho-Paganism, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love Praying for the End Of Capitalism

"No Gods, No Masters," goes the age old cry of the anarchist, and for good reason. Organized religion has been used to control people for thousands of years. The recent rise of fascist sympathy -- "wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross," no less -- gives credence to Marx's old notion that religion is the opiate of the masses. However, much of the recent tide of Christian religious fervor has been directed at other religions just as much as it has atheists and agnostics, if not more so. The rise of Islamaphobia in the Western world is of particular note here. Also of particular note is the "New Atheism" movement, which has added fuel to the fascist fire rather than taking up arms with the anarcho-socialists. Simply removing religion from the equation is not enough, and, in my case at least, left me feling spiritually unfilfilled. Obviously organized religion still has many faults has which make it hard to join it with the aims of anarchy. But what about disorganized religion?

One of the things that drew me to the American neopagan movement was how diverse it was. Though Druidry and Wicca are the main varieties today, there are also movements such as Asatru, Celtic Reconstructionism, Hellenism, Stregheria, Religio Romana, and countless others, to say nothing of the solitary eclectics who blend practices. It's very decentralized on the whole, although large orders and covens do have a significant presence. Solitary practitioners and informal groups make up a large percent of the group, however, and I do believe there is potential for radical momentum within the movement as a whole. With that in mind, let's look at what the guiding principles of an anarcho-pagan movement might look like.

Some Anarcho-Pagan Principles and Shit

This list is just a general overview and by no means exhaustive. Its not so much of a manifesto as a few general points.

We honor the Gods for the gifts they have given us, chief among which are life and freedom of will.

Belief in the Gods is what makes them real. No one's Gods are more or less real than anyone else's.

All people should be free to honor their Gods in whatever ways they choose.

The state is the enemy of all worshipers, for it venerates capital, thereby subordinating the spiritual to the material.

Centralized, organized religion is the weapon of the state.

Decentralized, disorganized religion is a weapon against the state.

Concerning magic: ** Magic is the realization of will in the material plane through mastery over the cognitive plane. ** The use of magic to bring forth one's desires is a radical act, while the use of magic to control others is an act of evil. ** Avoid causing intentional harm with magic if you can avoid it, but be willing and prepared to defend yourself. That "Do No Harm" shit will get you killed. ** In subordinating the spiritual to the physical, the state enforces a cognitive paradigm that denies the validity of magical practice. The primary goal of the magician should be to break through this cognitive paradigm and teach others to do the same.

By the way, consider the above flag to be licensed under a creative commons public domain license. I designed it using public domain elements, and make absolutely no claims to have any rights over the domain whatsover. Seriously. Use it. Share it. Distribute it. I want to see it everywhere.

The Pitfalls of the Pagan Anarchist

I've been in the neopagan community for going on a year now, and I've seen some pretty nasty pitfalls that pagans can run headfirst into no matter how long they've been a part of the community. I'm listing them here to remind myself not to fall into them myself as much as to warn others about them.

The Arrogance Trap: This one is of particular note to witches, warlocks, mages, and anyone else who uses magic. Confidence is one's skill is a necessary part of any magical practice. The more confident you are a spell will work, the more likely it is to work. Arrogance, however, will blind you to your own faults and lead you to do things that will get you into deep shit or turn you into one of those assholes who thinks messing with free will is totally fine. Remember: with great power, there must also come great responsibility.

The Authenticity Trap: Paganism as a whole was pretty much completely wiped out centuries ago. Anything we can do right now is at best an attempt of reconstruction at old practices. We worship the Gods because we believe in them, not because they were revealed to us. Artistic license, personal touches, and blending of traditions should be encouraged. Personal beliefs are valid.

The Appropriation Trap: On the flip side, while personal touches and blending of neopagan traditions is perfectly acceptable, please do not take the shit of cultures who have been historically oppressed. That just helps the oppressor eliminate the religions they don't like. Seriously, just don't do it.

The Ancestry Trap: Getting in touch with the gods of your ancestors is cool and all, but racism is not. You're not better because you worship Odin. Nor is someone who worships Odin but isn't white less entitled to their beliefs. Need I say more?

The Primitivism Trap: Last but by no means least, there is the idea of loving the Earth, and then there is thinking our ancestors somehow had it better than us. This idea ignores the incredible leaps in quality of life we've had over the centuries, especially for people with disabilities. Science and technology can be misused, but they are not our enemy. Neither is civilization. This is the hardest trap not to fall into for an anarchist with an ecological bent. Don't succumb to it.

Going Forward

This is just a brief overview of my philosophy, but I'm hoping to inspire more people with it. I want to do more posts and writings about paganism and occultism, and maybe delve into some magical techniques as well. In fact, I think next time I'll do a brief overview of my magical practices. I hope you'll tune in for that.

[xandrathewolfwitch]

 A pagan anarchist flag, licensed under the creative commons public domain license.

Free to use, without attribution. Enjoy!

[xandrathewolfwitch]

Xandra's Early Morning Paranormal Adventure

When I made my coming out post earlier today, there was something I did not mention. It's a bit hard to explain but...my plural headmate, Anwyn, the one who helped me figure out my gender...well, once I figured out that I was a girl, she decided I didn't need her anymore. She's gone dormant for now. I'll miss her terribly, but I know she'll be back if I need her. That being said? She kind of made her presence known in an odd way. And if you thought me having a split personality that went dormant when i came out of trans was a bit out there, well, this next part is gonna blow your gods-damned socks off.

See, Anwyn wasn't just my headmate. She was an occultist. Specifically, a chaos mage. And before she went dormant, she was planning on programming and binding a spirit. She had gone so far as to write down the sigils she would need in her notebook and on the binding object. If this all sounds like baloney, I assure you, it is not. I myself have used meditative practices to explore other realms of consciousness. I have met with and talked to the very gods I worship. Dismiss it if you want, I was not high and I was not drunk. And I was definitely not high and drunk when I woke up at 5:30 am and felt a presence in the room with me and heard what I can only describe as childlike laughter in my head.

See, the thing about the sigils used in chaos magic is that they work by transferring willpower from the conscious to the unconscious mind. So when Anwyn went dormant, the sigils activated and the spirit they represented came to life. I had some spare magical equipment with me (I was sleeping in the basement, away from my altar), so I attempted a ritual to contact the spirit. And I succeeded. Everybody, meet Scriv:

Scriv is based in appearance of a kobold OC I have that I have not been using. This made it easier for Anwyn to visualize him as she drew the sigils. His personality is based on the Page of Cups and the Page of Wands. His primary function is to protect Anwyn (which, by extension, means protecting me), but his life's purpose is to learn new things. All of this was coded into the sigils used to summon him, which were written in Anwyn's notebook and on the binding object: a large twenty-sided die that flashes when you get a twenty. Anwyn had a pretty awesome sense of whimsy.

I promised to let him out sometime today. I think we'll go for a walk around the block or something, let him see what the world looks like outside the house. I'm definitely keeping him in my room instead of the dingy old basement. Honestly, I'm looking forward to having him around.

[xandrathewolfwitch]

Introduction

Hello there, tumblrverse. My name is Xandra. I’m a transgender heathen witch. My pronouns are she/her. I’m a Heathen, but I don’t fuck around with any of that gross, racist “ancestry” stuff. I practice witchcraft as well, particulary runic divination, runic spellcasting, pathworking, and tarot. The primary gods I work with are Freya and Odin. I also write fiction, particularly SFF and Horror. I self publish books as well, but I’ll post a link to that once I upload my first book sans deadname. I only just figured out that I’m a girl, like, literally yesterday, so I’m still in the process of coming out to people. Once I’m out to more people, I’ll feel better about transferring things over to my new pen name. I’m also gay furry trash, so expect a ref sheet at some point. Expect lots of cross posts from my primary blog, as well as cat pics and the occasional shitpost.