Yvonne Aburrow's Blog, page 26
September 30, 2022
Orange Shirt Day
Today is Orange Shirt Day, the day for remembering Indigenous children who died in residential schools and honouring the survivors.
It was organized by grassroots Indigenous activists for many years before it was officially adopted as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
This photo is of Phyllis Webstad, one of the founders of Orange Shirt Day. When she was sent to residential school as a child, her grandma gave her a beautiful orange shirt, and the school took it from her on...
September 27, 2022
Occult Clerihews Challenge
The Occult Clerihews Challenge! Write a Clerihew about a famous occultist (and post it in the comments or link back to this post so I get a ping-back).
The only rule of clerihews is that they have four lines with an AABB rhyme scheme, and the first line ends with the subject’s last name. I’ve bent the rule slightly because it’s hard to find words to rhyme with Gardner and Valiente. Clerihews don’t have to scan, nor be a complete biography of the person they’re about, and they’re comic rather...
September 21, 2022
Autumn Equinox
There are three harvest festivals in the Pagan Wheel of the Year. The first is Lammas (also known as Lughnasadh) which is the grain harvest (wheat and barley). The second is Autumn Equinox, which is the fruit harvest (particularly relevant in southern Ontario with the huge fruit-growing region of Niagara). It is also the time when day and night are of equal length, but the nights are going to get longer until the Winter Solstice. The third harvest is Halloween (known in Scots Gaelic as Samhain, ...
September 20, 2022
Good night, Moon
Inspired by the title, and the quasi-animism, of Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon, which I only found out existed today, as it was featured on CBC.
The room was filled with moonlight,
An ancient greenish June light,
From the canopy of trees.
Good night, Moon.
The chair was humming a woodland tune,
Under its breath. The eiderdown
Winged its way to the land of sleep.
Good night, friends.
Too soft for human ears to hear,
Each thing sang or breathed its history
Into the sleep-filled roo...
August 31, 2022
Books I read in August 2022
A wonderful novel given to me got my birthday by a friend, a hard science fiction murder mystery, and a couple of books I read as research for my upcoming book, Changing Paths.
Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie GarmusI really enjoyed this book, which is heartwarming and heartbreaking by turns, as Elizabeth Zott, the heroine, comes up against the misogynist attitudes of the 1950s and 60s (many of which are still prevalent today). Zott just wants to be valued as a scientist, but her male...
August 12, 2022
Changing Paths
Are you entering Paganism, leaving Paganism, or changing traditions within it? How do you explain your new path to friends, family, former co-religionists, and yourself? How do you extricate yourself from your previous tradition and its associated ideas? How do you unpack your complex feelings about your path, and why you are changing direction?
If you have ever changed paths or considered changing paths, this book is for you. It is a guide for people who have entered Paganism from another tr...
July 31, 2022
Books I read in July 2022
A varied month: bisexuality, climate fiction, and essays.
The Actual Star, Monica ByrneMy mind was blown by this book. A mysterious cave in Belize is the heart of this novel. In 1012, the last monarchs of the ancient Maya are preparing for the sacrificial ball game. In 2012, Leah Oliveri travels to Belize to rediscover her roots. And in 3012, two competing factions of a religion born from climate chaos travel to Belize to see which of their visions should prevail.
July 22, 2022
Gardnerians speak!
Recently some transphobic people claimed that they are more traditional than Gardnerians who are welcoming and inclusive. Several people have written or spoken to refute their transphobic nonsense and their claims to be more traditional, including me, Mortellus, Jack Chanek, Jason Mankey, Ash the Gardnerian Librarian, and Dylan. I’m going to try to collect all the YouTube videos, Instagram videos and posts, blogposts, and tweets here — so please add a link to yours in the comments if I missed yo...
July 19, 2022
Repost: Weaponizing Polarity: A Critical Response to “Traditional Gardnerians”
Absolutely brilliant post from Dylan, High Priest of the Beacon Hill Coven, Boston MA.
Those who seek initiation into our coven often ask, “How do you decide when to initiate …
Weaponizing Polarity: A Critical Response to “Traditional Gardnerians”
July 18, 2022
Gender versus sex
The Overton Window is in different positions in different parts of the world. What seems obvious to many people is baffling to someone else. This is exacerbated by the different social media bubbles that we all inhabit. One example of this polarisation is the argument about trans rights. So here’s an attempt to explain it for people who are sitting on the fence, or not familiar with the arguments.
First, a bit of background and explanations of terminology.
Gender is your lived experie...
