Yvonne Aburrow's Blog, page 72

New Book Coming Soon!

Inner work is a name commonly given to the inner processes that happen in ritual. However, the best kind of inner work also has an effect outside the individual and outside the circle. When rituals are focused only on self-development, they tend to be a bit too introspective. Ritual is about creating and maintaining relationships and connections - between body, mind, and spirit; with the Earth, Nature, the land, the spirit world, the community, and friends.

A Meditation: The Trees and the Forest

A Meditation: The Trees and the Forest

“But I’m not racist”

Sure, not everyone who voted for Trump or for Brexit was a white supremacist, or a homophobe, or a misogynist, or anti-disabled. But they were people who ignored the blatant misogynist, homophobic, anti-disabled, and racist rhetoric of the campaigns, and voted for Trump or Brexit anyway. If you did that, it implies that you don’t care enough about the concerns of minority groups who will be victimised by the far-right policies of Trump or the Tories and by the violent attacks by thugs who feel vindicated in their racism, homophobia, misogyny, or anti-disabled attitudes.

The safety pin: a reminder to resist bigotry

If you see someone being attacked (whether physically or verbally), don’t stay silent. If the perpetrator is too scary to tackle, try to get the victim away to safety, and make sure they know that you don’t agree with the perpetrator. In these situations, silence from bystanders is assumed by the perpetrator and the victim to be approval of the perpetrator’s actions.

Colours of Paganism

The symbolism and mythology of colours in various Pagan traditions.

Erotic Religion: The Body and Sex for Wiccans and Pagans

For Wiccans, witches, and many other Pagans, the sexual body is a site of religious practice, a place where we meet divinity flesh to flesh and heart to heart.

Misconceptions about cultural appropriation

Frequently, people assume that talk of cultural appropriation means that no-one can ever use an idea from another culture. This is not what is meant by it at all.

Fraud, and why it matters

A fraud is someone who deliberately and knowingly seeks to deceive others. If you can't trust their word, it would be inadvisable to trust them about anything else.

Binary Thinking and Dealing with Abuse

The biggest problem with this binary view of 100% good people & 100% bad people is that people tend to take the view that preventing abuse and rape is simply a matter of getting rid of the "few bad apples in the barrel". They think that if only we had a perfect means of identifying abusers and preventing them from getting in to the Pagan community, we would be able to fix this problem. If only we could eject abusers from the community once and for all when they were discovered to be abusers, they think.

“Good” people do bad things: statement on the Frosts

This is why we need the Pagan and Heathen Symposium Code of Conduct for all events. This is why we need to discuss consent culture and strive to create it in our Pagan communities. This is why "big name Pagans" need to speak out and condemn those who advocate for or commit abuse, and refuse to invite them to events, or attend events where they will be speaking.