Rebecca Scolnick's Blog, page 20
August 26, 2022
SITS 1x03
Hey swimmers! Welcome back to SITS! I hope you’ve had a sweet couple of weeks.
FOR THE CALENDAR 📅Two things to stick on your calendar before we dive into today’s episode!
A FREE ONLINE WORKSHOP on THE WITCH’S BOOK OF NUMBERS
When? September 10th, 2022 @ 2:22 PM EST
Where? On Zoom! Link to come!
What? A 1-hour interactive workshop with me!
Why? Because it’s free & you’ll walk away with some tangible practices & things to reflect on for the remainder of 2022.
THE GATHERING OF THE WITCHES 2022
When? October 21-23, 2022
Where? Online through Insight Events USA! Purchase tickets HERE.
What? A whole witchy weekend of interactive workshops!
Why? Because you want to expand your self and your craft, and spend the equinox with other likeminded & magical pals!
DUNE DEEP DIVE 100-200 ✨Babes, I realize that I’ve promised a lot of episodes at once, so while the deep dive is coming, it ain’t here yet! 😂 Instead, I share a couple fun synchronicities that’ve popped up since we started reading, as well as a few quick thoughts about the next 100 pages of DUNE.
If you haven’t yet listened to DUNE 0-100, check it out! It’s available to all.
consider becoming a paid pal 💸 for access to all episodes of the DUNE Deep Dive!
SITS 1x02 MEME ROUND-UP 😛The meme curator becomes the meme maker!
I had a little too much fun making these memes, which I think I’ll continue to do after each episode. Below are for SITS 1x02 - Five Funny Faith-Based Feuds.
Let me know which one made you LOL and pop over to my Instagram to share!
WITCHY FIRST LADIES ⚡️Alright, it’s time to get a little witchy, a little political & a little occult-y!
This week on SITS, we’re taking a look at the 7 First Ladies who brought a little magic to the White House!
Let’s meet our gals:
Julia Gardiner Tyler — ESP
The wife of the tenth president, John Tyler, and served as the first lady from 1844 to 1845.
FUN FACT: She was the only of the women to claim she herself had spiritual gifts! ✨
Jane Pierce — Spiritualism
Wife of president Franklin Pierce and the first lady from 1853 to 1857.
Invited the Fox Sisters, leading members of the Spiritualist movement, to hold a seance in the White House!
Mary Todd Lincoln — Spiritualism
Served as the first lady from 1861 to 1865, when her husband, president Abraham Lincoln was assassinated while in office.
Hosted seances, which Abraham Lincoln attended, in the White House’s Red Room. Later joined a spiritualist commune, where this spirit picture was taken of her and Lincoln’s ghost 👻 :
Edith Wilson — Employed a Clairvoyant, Madame Marcia Champney
The second wife of president Woodrow Wilson, and the first lady from 1915 to 1921.
Was told that she would one day be the First Lady, and when that came to pass, Edith continued to bring Madame Champney into the White House—through the back door! 👀
Florence Harding — Also employed Madame Marcia Champney
The first lady from 1921 to 1923, when her husband Warren G. Harding died from a strange heart attack while in office.
Consulted Madame Champney throughout her husband’s bid for President, using the code name Jupiter to speak of him through more public channels. Promised upon his win to bring Madame Champney in through the White House front door… but ultimately used the side entrance, directly into the West Wing.
Nancy Reagan — Employed an Astrologer, Joan Quigley
American film actress and wife of president Ronald Reagan, Nancy was the first lady from 1981 to 1989.
When news of Quigley’s involvement in the White House became public, Nancy severely downplayed her role in the President’s affairs. However, Joan (pictured below) went on record stating that she participated in a more “intimate” way, assisting the President with timing of speeches, trips both long and short, and televised debates with both Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.
Hillary Rodham Clinton — Conversed with Eleanor Roosevelt
Served as the first lady from 1993 to 2001 alongside her husband, president Bill Clinton.
Was advised to have imagined conversations with her idol, and former First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, which was publicized as “channeling.” Hillary’s team firmly disagrees, claiming it was a creative and therapeutic activity, not anything witchy 🙄
What do you make of the long and sordid history of the intersection of witchcraft and American politics? Do you see anything in the pattern or even the individual events? What’s striking your rabbit hole, deep dive fancy? Let me know!
SOURCES / CITATIONSThe First Ladies Who Brought the Occult to the White House (VICE)
The White House Plays Down a New Age Visitor (NYT)
First Ladies & The Occult: Seances and Spiritualists, Part 1 (First Ladies.Org)
The Fox Sisters and the Rap on Spiritualism (Smithsonian)
Nancy Reagan turned to astrology in White House to protect her husband (LA TImes)
Hillary Clinton to set out her vision by invoking her heroine Eleanor Roosevelt (The Guardian)
August 19, 2022
DUNE: 0-100 ✨
What’s up, swimmers? Let’s talk DUNE!
These first 100 pages are so jam-packed that I want to first ground us in the world of DUNE, make sure we understand the political power structures and all of the involved players, and then chat about some symbolism that’s already present within the story.
We’re also going to reflect on who we identify with in the story as we begin to read, and remind ourselves of the emotional core that’s needed as to not over-intellectualize big topics that have devastating real world effects.
Future DUNE Deep Dives will only be shared with my Paid Pals! To continue receiving these episodes, please consider subscribing.
Key words or Events defined:
The Butlerian Jihad
The Great Convention
The Imperium
The Great Houses of Landsraad
The Space Guild
The Bene Gesserits
CHOAM
Spice and Melange
Tie-ins and Sources cited:
The Washington Posts’s Obituary for Frank Herbert
Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction”
Fanny Priests’s “Home and Native Land” from the newsletter “Resourced”
Until next time, just keep swimming! xx
August 12, 2022
Diving into SITS 1x02
What’s up, swimmers? We’re back!
A HUGE THANK YOU to you all for the enthusiasm and support around the launch of this project! I’m just pinching myself to be surrounded by such gorgeous, bright, wonderful folks.
(And if you’re still thinking about making the leap to being a paid pal, I do still have a few slots left for those mailed tarot offerings! See the WELCOME post for more details!)
I hope you’re hanging in after yesterday’s Full Moon in Aquarius, and this week’s heat wave 🥵.
It was a hard week for us in NYC, especially Gus, our Boston terrier who couldn’t go to the dog park for 3 whole days! The horror! But things have cooled off just enough for us to get outside, and I hope that wherever you are, you’re also finding ways to beat the heat.
Either way, I’m here to offer you an hour of escape from indoor boredom or some fun company as you walk around your neighborhood to drive to/from work!
Keep reading for a very exciting event announcement, an update on our DUNE deep dive, and a sneak peek of what to expect from this week’s episode of SITS–along with visual aids!
Listen in full by clicking the button below or heading to the Substack post, and be sure to let me know what you dig from the episode! xx
THE GATHERING OF WITCHES 2022I’m so excited to announce that I will be both your teacher and your host at the second annual Gathering of the Witches, A Weekend of Magic, Inspiration, and Transformation- Online, the weekend of October 21st – 23rd !
I’ll be teaching alongside Judika Illes, Arin Murphy Hiscock, and many other magical teachers for what is sure to be a wonderfully witchy weekend! This inspirational event is all about empowering your magical potential and learning how a magical practice can foster transformation in your life.
This will NOT be a lecture only event! Instead, you can expect an interactive weekend filled with workshops to help you deepen your magical practice. You’ll be able to engage with me, other teachers, and other participants in real time! Plus, all sessions will be recorded, and you will have 6 months access to review all workshops at your leisure!
If you pre-order my book, The Witch’s Book of Numbers , before August 31st, the festival sponsor, Insight Events, will give you $50 off your ticket!
I hope to see you there!
DUNE UPDATE!The response to reading DUNE has been super rad, honestly. A lot of us have been wanting to read it, some are excited by the lenses through which we’re going to read, and even one person shared that they’ve been waiting for someone to tackle Dune who isn’t a straight cis man. So, ready to come atcha with my femme queer lens, and also some explorations of climate change and eco-fascism and patriarchy—all of the fun things we’ve done as a species. Good work team! 🥴
So, what’s the plan?
I talk about this more in full in Episode 1x02, but essentially, here’s how this is going to work:
We’ll be reading 100 pages per week for 8 weeks! This means that our DUNE read-thru will last from August 12 to October 7.
The every other week SITS drops will stay short and sweet and focused on the key takeaways for those who are digging it, while still covering other topics for those who aren’t.
But because I think there will likely be so much to talk about, I am going to release separate DUNE-only episodes for my paid pals. Hopefully weekly, but TBD.
I’m toying with the idea of hosting a live Book Club meeting on Zoom. Date TBD, but would be in early October. Will likely poll y’all as we get into the book to gauge interest.
swimming in the soup is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts & perks and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
THIS WEEK ON SITS…If you follow me Instagram, you’re likely familiar with my Sunday blasphememes! If not, they’re weekly drops of memes & tweets that poke fun at mainly Christianity, but also the construct and history of religion.
What you may not know, is that before I identified as a witch, I very much chose to participate in, and find Divine connection through, organized religion. Keeping up this tradition, and the community interaction that’s built up around it, has been super amazing for my own deconditioning.
This week’s episode of SITS carries on my love of marrying humor with religion, as we take a look at five funny faith-based feuds.
Listen to the whole shebang [here], which also includes some sweet stats about non-denominational Christianity, fluctuating trust in the Church, and the rising population of the religiously unaffiliated in the United States, but let’s meet our fighters, shall we?
1. HILDEGARD VON BINGEN VS. THE ABBOT KUNOHildegard von Bingen was an 11th Century German nun, mystic and artist. She lived at the convent of Disibodenberg from the age of 7, and eventually became its Mother Abbess. Her unique visions and creations were legitimized by Pope Eugenius, and many people came to visit Hildegard and receive her wisdom.
Hildy ultimately wanted to leave Disibodenberg to start her own convent, but her request was denied by the Abbot Kuno. What begins as a stand-off between two religious powers ultimately turns into a wild story of paralysis and “Divine” intervention.
Hildegard and her nuns2. MICHELANGELO VS. BIAGIO DE CESENAFor more on Hildegard, listen to this multi-episode series from DOTS Podcast, as well as her entry in the World History Encyclopedia.
Twenty-five years after the Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he was commissioned by Pope Paul III to paint a new fresco. “The Last Judgment,” which covers the entirety of the chapel’s altar wall, is an intricate, masterful fresco.
But not everyone saw it that way.
Find out which of Michelangelo’s critics was his inspiration for this striking and NSFW inclusion of Minos, the judge of Hell.
Minos in “The Last Judgement”3. THE BROTHERS GEEF VS. THE CATHEDRAL OF SAINT PAULFor more on Michelangelo’s famed feud, read Through Eternity Tour’s reflections on Nudity and Controversy in the Sistine Chapel or discover 10 Secrets of the Sistine Chapel from Michelangelo.org.
When the Cathedral of St. Paul in Liege, Belgium wanted a new statue to really make their church pop, they hired local sculptor Joseph Geefs to create a version of Lucifer, the fallen angel. Unfortunately, they didn’t expect him to be so sublime… They also didn’t expect what would happen when they replaced Joseph with his own bother Guillame!
L’Ange du Maal by Joseph Geefs and Le Genie du Maal by Guillame Geefs4. THE SATANIC TEMPLE VS. THE STATE OF ARKANSASFind out more about The Brothers Geef in Theophane Avery’s You Sexy Devil or Art History News’s piece, The Devil is Too Sublime.
In the mid 2010s, The Satanic Temple’s Arkansas chapter attempted to resurrect an 8-foot statue of the horned figure Baphomet in front of the State Capitol Building.
Why? To protest the plan to install a statue of The 10 Commandments.
According to the Constitutional right to freedom of religion, the Temple felt it was only fair to erect both statues. Things escalate… quickly.
Baphomet statue at the Arkansas State Capitol5. THE ARK ENCOUNTER VS. ALLIED WORLD ASSURANCE COMPANYLearn more about the Satanic Temple’s fight for religious freedoms in the documentary Hail Satan! or the AP News coverage of the Arkansas Capitol unveiling.
In a deeply ironic and unexpected turn of events, heavy floods threatened the access roads leading to The Ark Encounter’s “life-sized recreation of Noah’s Ark, an attraction advertised as the closest to the legendary ship of the Bible that modern civilization can build.” (x)
But will their insurance cover it?
Replica of Noah’s Ark at The Ark Encounter in KentuckyUntil next time, just keep swimming! xxRead more about this recently settled lawsuit on the Courier Journal.
Connect with me further at www.rebeccascolnick.com or @beescolnick on Instagram!
swimming in the soup is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
SITS 1x02
What’s up, swimmers? We’re back!
If you follow me Instagram, you’re likely familiar with my Sunday blasphememes! If not, they’re weekly drops of memes & tweets that poke fun at mainly Christianity, but also the construct and history of religion.
What you may not know, is that before I identified as a witch, I very much chose to participate in, and find Divine connection through, organized religion. Keeping up this tradition, and the community interaction that’s built up around it, has been super amazing for my own deconditioning.
This week’s episode of SITS carries on my love of marrying humor with religion, as we take a look at five funny faith-based feuds.
BUT FIRST… A DUNE UPDATE!
Listen for the full plan, but here’s the TL;DL version:
We’re starting DUNE today! We’re reading 100 pages a week for 8 weeks, ending on 10/7/2022. Every two weeks, we’ll have a short and sweet check-in via new episodes of SITS. I’ll also be releasing longer DUNE-only episodes for my paid pals!
Now back to the good stuff…
LET’S MEET OUR FIGHTERS!
1. HILDEGARD VON BINGEN VS. THE ABBOT KUNOWhat begins as a stand-off between two religious powers ultimately turns into a wild story of paralysis and “Divine” intervention.
Hildegard and her nuns2. MICHELANGELO VS. BIAGIO DE CESENAFor more on Hildegard, listen to this multi-episode series from DOTS Podcast, as well as her entry in the World History Encyclopedia.
Find out which of Michelangelo’s critics was his inspiration for this striking and NSFW inclusion of Minos, the judge of Hell.
Minos in “The Last Judgement”3. THE BROTHERS GEEF VS. THE CATHEDRAL OF SAINT PAULFor more on Michelangelo’s famed feud, read Through Eternity Tour’s reflections on Nudity and Controversy in the Sistine Chapel or discover 10 Secrets of the Sistine Chapel from Michelangelo.org.
A commissioned statue of Lucifer goes horribly wrong, but even worse is how the church decided to have it replaced…
L’Ange du Maal by Joseph Geefs and Le Genie du Maal by Guillame Geefs4. THE SATANIC TEMPLE VS. THE STATE OF ARKANSASFind out more about The Brothers Geef in Theophane Avery’s You Sexy Devil or Art History News’s piece, The Devil is Too Sublime.
What happens when you mix the 10 Commandments with Baphomet and the fight for religious freedoms in the US? Just ask the state of Arkansas…
Baphomet statue at the Arkansas State Capitol5. THE ARK ENCOUNTER VS. ALLIED WORLD ASSURANCE COMPANYLearn more about the Satanic Temple’s fight for religious freedoms in the documentary Hail Satan! or the AP News coverage of the Arkansas Capitol unveiling.
Heavy floods + a life-sized recreation of Noah’s Ark = an insurance company’s worst nightmare…
Replica of Noah’s Ark at The Ark Encounter in KentuckyRead more about this recently settled lawsuit on the Courier Journal.
Additional Episode Citations:
Burge, R. P. (2022, August 5). Nondenominational Churches Are Adding Millions of Members. Where Are They Coming From? News & Reporting. https://www.christianitytoday.com/new...
Deibert, B. (2018, November 8). What Are Non-Denominational Churches? Meaning & Examples. Christianity.Com. https://www.christianity.com/church/d...
Earls, A. (2022, January 11). 22 Vital Stats for Ministry in 2022. Lifeway Research. https://research.lifeway.com/2022/01/...
Until next time, just keep swimming! xx
