Yvonne Aburrow's Blog, page 27
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...
The Satanic Panic
It’s over thirty years since the Satanic Panic in the UK. So perhaps it is fading from memory. But at the time, things were really scary — and with the current rolling back of various human rights legislation that we have taken for granted for a generation or more, in both the USA and the UK, those times could return.
When I first became a seeker of Wicca in 1989, and for quite a while after I was initiated in 1991, social workers had been rounding up the children of people who were seen...
July 16, 2022
Books I read in June 2022
Revisiting an old book friend, reading the latest in a trilogy, and a new book by a friend.
Prince of Foxes, Samuel ShellabargerA fascinating tale of a character who is initially a follower and admirer of Cesare Borgia, but who changes his perspective on meeting and getting involved with people who are honourable and kind and who don’t want to take over the world by force. The unforgettable character of Mario Belli also develops throughout the book, although he deceives other characte...
July 15, 2022
Including trans people
One of the ways that the right and the centre tries to shut down discussion and debate is by dismissing it as “identity politics” and “the bickering of the left”. But what they fail to say is that there wouldn’t be “identity politics” if they were not constantly trying to remove the rights of marginalized people such as trans people and sex workers.
This is not just an argument about a lifestyle choice. Bickering about lifestyle choices is arguing about whether feminists should wear makeu...
July 14, 2022
Happy International Nonbinary People’s Day
Thursday 14 July is International Nonbinary People’s Day—a day for raising awareness and organizing around issues that nonbinary people face around the world since it was first observed in 2012.
Nonbinary people are nothing new. We aren’t confused about our gender identity or trying to be trendy—nonbinary identities have been recognized for millennia by cultures and societies across the globe.
It’s important for nonbinary people to be able to live, dress, and have our gender respected at w...
July 13, 2022
Review of The Actual Star
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.
My mind was blown by this book. It is incredibly original and unique; it also has nods to CS Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Ursula K L...
