Days when memory arrives uninvited, dragging shadows behind it.
Days when your body remembers what your mind had long since tucked away inside Sacred vaults of survival.
And on those days, I hope you remember this: You were never the violence.
Not then. Not now. Not ever.
What happened to you passed through your life like a storm, but it did not become your Soul.
There are those who would measure you by what was taken.
I measure you by what remained.
And what remained was extraordinary.
Is extraordinary.
You remained.
The heart still beating. The lungs still drawing breath. The Spirit still refusing to surrender its song.
You do not need to earn your healing. You do not need to justify your grief. You do not need to explain why some wounds ache louder than others.
You are allowed to be tender. You are allowed to be angry. You are allowed to be both in the same holy breath.
The world may call your scars damage.
I call them evidence.
Evidence that you walked through fire and somehow carried the flame home. Evidence that darkness met you and failed to make you its own. Evidence that even shattered things can become Sacred.
So when the memories come, when sorrow presses its hand against your chest, when the old ache whispers its familiar lies, place your hand over your heart.
Feel the rhythm beneath your palm.
Thump, thump Thump, thump
That is not weakness. That is not brokenness. That is your life.
Still choosing itself. Still choosing itself. Still choosing itself.
Thump, thump Thump, thump
And that, dear Woman, is a miracle.
You are a miracle.
Jaclyn Cherie
The Nephilim Rising Girl God Books
All Rights Reserved.
My poem from the upcoming release, Spells for Survivors: Returning to the Holy Her
They told me to heal quietly. To make my pain palatable. To speak in soft tones and careful language. To forgive before the wound had stopped bleeding.
To be gracious. To be grateful. To be anything but angry.
But anger was the first honest thing I had felt. It arrived like a wildfire through dead timber. Like a Goddess with blood on Her hands and justice in Her eyes. Like a howl clawing its way from the deepest part of me.
You called me victim. I became witness. You called me broken. I became weapon. You called me ruined. I became revelation.
What happened to me was real. The terror was real. The violation was real. The grief was real.
And so is my rage.
My rage is not a flaw. It is the part of me that knows I deserved better.
The part that refused to die. The part that stood guard over the ashes and whispered:
“No more.”
No more silence. No more shrinking. No more carrying shame that was never mine.
I return every ounce of it. Every lie. Every burden. Every poisoned seed.
Take it back. It belongs to you.
I am done carrying the weight of another’s violence. I am done apologizing for surviving. I am done making myself smaller so others can remain comfortable.
I am not what was done to me.
I am what survived. I am the fire that remained. The blade that did not break.
The voice that rose from the wreckage.
And when I speak now,
it is not with trembling.
It is with thunder.
Jaclyn Cherie
The Nephilim Rising Girl God Books
All Rights Reserved.
My second poem from the upcoming release, Spells for Survivors: Returning to the Holy Her
I have a million other things to be doing right now.
Yet Spirit has reached into the quiet, wrapped its unseen hand around my wrist, and whispered…
Write, child.
Because someone is forgetting.
Someone is standing at the Crossroads, convinced that fear is the only language left.
It is not.
So hear me.
Not as a Prophet. Not as a Saint. Not as someone untouched by darkness.
Hear me as one who has walked through it.
Who has swallowed ash and breathed fire. Who has slept beside grief. Who has learned that monsters are not always found in forests, dark corners or beneath the bed sometimes they wear familiar faces, sometimes they echo inside our own minds.
Hear me as one who knows that Shadow is not the enemy.
Fear wants you to kneel.
Despair wants you to forget your own name. Silence wants you to mistake survival for surrender.
Do. Not.
Do not give them your fear.
Do not feed the machine with your Spirit. Do not offer your terror as tribute. Do not become the architect of your own cage.
Your fear is Sacred fire.
Guard it. Transform it. Temper it until it becomes resolve.
To every Witch who has ever hidden their Altar. To every Soul whose existence has been treated as an inconvenience. To every Seeker. Every exile. Every strange child who learned too early that the world does not always welcome those who refuse to fit neatly inside its smallest boxes.
I see you. I have always seen you.
The road beneath your feet has never been easy.
It was never meant to be.
We descend because wisdom waits below. We speak with ghosts because they remember what Empires forgot.
We carry bones, herbs, Cards, prayers, scars, and stories because every generation leaves breadcrumbs for the next.
We are not born from comfort. We are born from remembering.
Remember who you are.
Remember those who stood before you when the fires burned hotter than they do today.
Remember those who whispered prayers beneath their breath when speaking aloud carried consequences.
Remember those who buried their books, hid their symbols, passed Sacred names from trembling lips to willing ears, believing someone, someday, would continue the work.
You are that someone. And so am I.
Darkness has always existed.
So have we.
The night has never belonged solely to those who wield power.
It belongs to the owl. The wolf. The Ancestors. The dreamers. The Witches who know that every seed first breaks open beneath the Earth before it ever reaches the light.
We are children of thresholds. Liminal Spaces. Students of endings, and beginnings. Keepers of impossible hope. Not the fragile kind that pretends suffering isn’t real, but the fierce kind that looks directly into the Abyss and refuses to become it. We study it.
No one is coming to save us.
Perhaps that has always been our greatest strength. Because we remember how to gather.
How to tend the Flame. How to bind one another’s wounds. How to laugh in the face of uncertainty. How to sing while surrounded by ruins.
That is Magick. That is Alchemy. Not escaping the darkness. But becoming so familiar with it that it no longer tells you who you are. You are united as One.
So let them have their fear.
Let them build kingdoms from it if they must. We will build something older. Something that cannot be legislated away. Something that cannot be silenced. Something rooted in memory, in courage, in Spirit, and in the wild, untamable heart that still beats beneath every scar we carry.
Stand. Breathe. Remember. Then walk forward. Not because you are unafraid. But because fear was never meant to be your Master.
Death does not occur one, singular time in our lives.
Sure. There is a death that is a finale, there is no coming back from.
None of us can escape that physical, biological ending.
Well, I mean, you know what I mean.
Reincarnation beliefs and such aside.
There are multiple tiny deaths we experience throughout life.
And, sadly, no, I am not referring to la petite mort.
Though I am a loud supporter that the more of THOSE you experience, the better your overall life will be.
I digress.
These tiny deaths I am referring to are not tiny at all; they are sometimes butterfly effects in our microcosm.
Other times, they are foundation cracking.
Making us reassess who we are and our values.
Then there are some minor annoyances.
Ah, one of the things in life besides death and taxes that can be guaranteed is change.
The world moves with or without you.
That’s a harsh reality, an ego death, we all must accept and go through.
You are either an active participant, or you are a passive bystander.
I prefer to be an active participant but sometimes we must, we must be bystanders.
If you are familiar with The Nap Bishop, Tricia Hersey, and her revolutionary work and book, Rest is Resistance then you might know what I am referring to.
Not only is rest an inherent right, but it is also an act of resistance.
An act of defiance in a hustle culture that judges you and defines you by how much you can produce, create, and freely give for “them” to take.
You have worth far beyond what you can give.
You have value far greater than you know.
Rest is a birthright.
“Those are nuanced statements! They’re privileged, too!”
Are they, though?
Make yourself extremely uncomfortable and ask, are they?
The last sense of normalcy, and I use the word loosely, that I experienced, along with many others, was in 2019.
I was at the height of my success. I was in the process of a book deal. I had everything I had ever wanted and dreamed right at my fingertips.
Then, 2020 hit and the world changed.
The world as we knew it had, was forever changed.
In my opinion, that was one of the larger butterfly effects in recent memory.
It altered all our lives whether we recognize the changes or not.
I have fought for nearly six years against nature, the Universe, and their Laws:
I have refused to die.
I have refused to allow certain parts of myself, my path, and my brand that no longer align with who I am and where I am at, go.
Resistance when embodied can seep into our everyday lives.
When we fight against a system, not a person but a system, dare I say an entity that wants everything from you, and we do not bend, flow, change quickly, then we will suffer a fate worse than metaphorical death –
Stagnancy.
Like a ghost, we become stuck in purgatory, unable to move on, but some parts of us know we must.
We remain in chrysalis instead of going through the process of metamorphosis to gain our wings.
We keep ourselves trapped, our world small, all for the sake of comfort.
The illusion of safety.
We refuse to perform one of the most essential forms of personal Alchemy.
In that, we are denying our birthright.
We are denying our power.
We are denying our Magick.
When we resist change, we resist death.
Both are natural parts of the cycle of life.
Both are natural parts of the cycle of our lives.
I experienced burnout and I am actively trying to heal that while finding temperance in my life.
I have found it a bit ironic that in my time away (years) from the more public facing aspects of my brand that the pendulum has swung back and folks are reading blogs again, and even vlogging.
My millennial heart is here for that comeback.
I believe we are better humans when we share our stories.
I didn’t know if I was going to return to this space, or in what capacity, but it is a part of me and my path.
I created this blog nearly 14 years ago as a space free of judgment and one of radical acceptance.
Though it was quiet for a bit while I went through my trial by fire for resisting change, I am grateful I kept the flame going, if only an ember.
As a Torchbearer, I can work with an ember. It means there is still life, still something to create with, still stories to be told.
I plan on doing book reviews and focusing on tackling some of the wild disinformation I see on platforms like TikTok. I am all for Witches sharing history and knowledge but not when it’s knowledge saying Belladonna is illegal.
Yes, a creator really said that ten toes down.
Like the name of my brand + business suggests, I am a Giant, and even Giants fall.
But we also rise.
It is in our rise that we find our greatest strengths.
I hope to reconnect with my audience in this space and on Facebook again.
I do hope you’re still out there.
If not, my fire will lead you home to the Crossroads as it once did.
It has been one year, two months and 20 days since I have sat down to write a blog.
I have not stopped writing; I write posts on my personal page, and the NR fb page. I have also worked on some writing projects.
The blog felt like it needed to rest.
Like it needed to be in chrysalis as badly as I did.
Emerging is scary, emerging in a new form, scarier still.
But here I am with my first blog in an awfully long time to talk about a topic that is much overdue.
A topic I have discussed many times in comments, or a few sentences here and there on the page.
As I move and shift this space to a Collective of writers, instead of just myself, I am inspired more than ever to push the limits. I am inspired to talk about what nobody wants to talk about, or topics that will surely get me trolled.
Bring it on, I say.
I am not here to make you comfortable, and I am done trying to have comfortable conversations.
Comfort gets us nowhere; it will only bring stagnation.
So, what is it exactly that I have to say that is going to get everyone in a tizzy?
I don’t often make generalized or absolute statements, there are simply too many variables and moving parts to any equation in this vast universe that I am careful what I say and how I say it.
This, however, needs to be spoken as an absolute.
Here it goes:
Witchcraft is political.
Witchcraft. Is. Political.
WITCHCRAFT IS POLITICAL.
I can hear it now, the cries and whimpers like, and I am using direct past quotes that have been said to me:
“Don’t bring politics into my Craft!”
“I don’t read your work to read about politics and social issues. Please don’t become *that*.”
“Witchcraft is not political, humans are. We don’t need politics here.”
Privilege.
P R I V I L E G E.
It’s privilege to be a Witch and say that you are not political, to ignore injustices because they “don’t affect you”.
Witchcraft is now and will always be political.
When I use the word political, I am not talking about democracy, per se. Nor am I talking about the United States’ 2 party system that has f*cked us all. This is not Democrat and Republican.
I am talking about what being a Witch, calling oneself a Witch means.
It is truly Revolutionary to call yourself a Witch.
We stand for the marginalized, the outcasts, the downtrodden, the misfits, and the weirdos.
AND WE ALWAYS HAVE!
Activism, Social Issues, Human & Civil Rights, Allyship, Anti-racism, Anti-ableism (and more!) are all pre-requisites to being a Witch.
“You are gatekeeping! How dare you tell me how to be a Witch!”
Is asking you, or telling you, rather, to be a decent human being gatekeeping?
Is it REALLY?!
I want you to think about that long and hard if your immediate reaction was/is that I am gatekeeping.
Ask yourself why you feel the way you do?
Is requesting human decency gatekeeping?
If you answer yes, then your issue is far deeper and greater than I can address here.
So, as they say, “not my circus, not my monkeys”.
Witches may have been hidden in history—even hid ourselves and moved in silence, but we got sh*t done.
We weren’t afraid to get our hands dirty.
Some of us still aren’t.
It was the Wise Woman, Man and Person who lived on the edge of the forest communing with nature and plant Spirits, carrying deep rooted herbal and plant knowledge that were Healers in days past.
It was the Healer who was shunned for knowing too much about plants that would help a Woman/Femme deal with unwanted pregnancy in a safer manner than some of her/their other options. Or help heal a Soldier’s war wounds, or gout.
It was the unsuspecting Granny who went to Church every Sunday, who knew Psalms like the back of her hand and whipped up the most glorious Kitchen Magick you ever had seen. Her prayers worked like she had a direct line to God.
To deny the power and role of the Witch is to douse our history in toxic positivity.
Many of us found our way to the Craft because we were met with injustice and/or adversity of some kind, and we needed to take our power back.
To be a Witch is to be Sovereign, without a doubt.
Then I think about this Tweet (one that I have shared on the page before) and I am left wondering:
Are we meant to be Sovereign AND in Service (to Magick) at the same time?
Why else would we have or collect all this knowledge, and even though I hate the word power?
Why not use it for the greater good?
It is time we decolonized the Craft.
There are too many people who call themselves Witch and turn the other cheek when they see oppression and continue to benefit from systems put in place long ago instead of smashing said system.
We first need equality, then we need equity and finally we will find liberation.
We have a silent oath to uphold when walking this path.
We have an obligation to fight deep in the trenches so that the systems harming us can be destroyed.
If you are not willing to pushback against the status quo, what are you even doing here?
Are you even a Witch, or are you a WINO (Witch In Name Only)?
Witchcraft requires action, to be a Witch requires action; just like the Magick we cast.
Your intentions may be well and good, but unless you act on them, they mean nothing.
Silence is compliance.
Nobody said this would be easy, but it is worth it.
The freedom, strength and courage I have found through Witchcraft and living my life as a Witch cannot be put into words for, they do it no justice.
Blessed Are the Witches, the Oathkeepers, the Torchbearers and the Balancers of Scales.
I have not written in a while. I guess, like the rest of the world I am observing, and trying to figure out what is happening, what is being revealed, what is falling away, what is resisting imminent death.
Systems are crumbling, rebellions are rising, and a virus has held us hostage for months now.
While I have a list of topics to write about, political, mundane, and obviously Magickal, this is the one that seems most pressing today.
First let me say, loudly:
BLACK LIVES MATTER
ARREST BREONNA TAYLOR’S MURDERERS
AND
WEAR A MASK
If you have a problem with these messages, unfollow the blog because I have news for you:
WITCRAFT IS POLITICAL
Now, carrying on…
I really tried to stay out of this TikTok/Witchtok bullshit, but it’s literally everywhere, and people are asking my opinion; instead of replying to 50 messages, and risk getting myself wrapped up in a conversation *nervous introvert laugh*—I decided writing a blog was the best way to address my opinion, and hit on some points I don’t think folks are understanding or willing to see.
I have watched many videos, read article after article, consulted with folks on all sides and here are the facts as we know them.
A few days ago, a group of “baby Witches” on TikTok decided that they were going to “hex the Fae”.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Okay, sidebar before we get into the juicy parts of this I gotta say:
Can we stop using the term Baby Witch? I know that it seems innocent enough, but not only is it patronizing as fuck, it’s being used as an insult and a way to further close off our community to new blood.
Why do new Witches bother established, practicing Witches so much?
You were not new before?
How about you just stay in your lane, and let the new Witches create theirs.
What is the issue?
Personally? I like waves being created, I mean, HELLO, have you read my work?
Also, we are not giving these young Adults and Adults enough credit.
These are not children we are speaking of, and in the case of children and Witchcraft, that is an entirely different topic.
“Baby Witches” are often given a free pass, and nah.
Nah.
Nope.
Not happening.
Discernment is key when dealing with all Magickal and Occult Traditions.
Whether you are 18, or 42, in most cases you are of sound mind and able to make educated decisions for yourself.
If you, as an adult, choose to make a poor decision, that is on you.
Those consequences are yours, and nobody else’s.
Is it someone’s job to step in and say, “you might not want to do that?”
Nope.
That’s gatekeeping.
My number one rule in life: you can’t tell people about themselves.
These are Adults.
Back to my point:
Obviously, hexing the Fae is ridiculous to even think about.
Why would you attack a group of Spirits for no reason? It doesn’t affect me, and so I am able to shrug it off, roll my eyes, and keep it moving.
But, seriously, do you not know who the Fae are and what they are capable of? Seelie, Unseelie or otherwise? Like….why?
We, as experienced Witches, must allow the new ones to fuck up and make mistakes.
We all have made mistakes, we still (hopefully) make mistakes because that is how we LEARN; that is how we continue to evolve on our path and as people.
Getting mad and making fun of these “TikTok Witches” is yet another form of gatekeeping.
I want to give Jason Miller a shoutout for his initial post that inspired me and gave me the courage to write this. His post stated:
“Dear TikTok Witches: Hex, the moon, the fae, or whatever the hell you want. Don’t let anyone police your practice. However it shakes out, and make no mistake some of it will end badly: learn from it.
I have no idea what you are doing or even trying to do, but am excited that young people are doing stuff that makes us roll our eyes. I think its dumb as heck, but that’s half that fun.”
There were rumors that these same Witches were going to hex the Moon and Sun as well.
I have since learned that it was initially started by a TikTok troll, see video below:
You hexed the Fae, the Moon, the Sun and angered Ancient Ones?
Weird flex, but okay.
I am not here to tell anyone how to practice, unless they are coming to me directly for advice and even then, there are so many variables that determine the kind of help they receive.
Here are two key points in all of my rambling that I really want to get out into the world:
Everyone and anyone CAN practice Magick, but often SHOULD is overlooked.
There is no wrong way to do a hex, but there is a right way.
Allow me to elaborate, as I can hear the collective gasp even before this is published.
I don’t care what kind of Witch you are, your initiations or titles (though I will always congratulate and applaud)—the fact remains, everyone and anyone CAN practice Magick.
I said what I said.
There are a lot of Witches who do not agree with this statement, “Well I am a third generation Witch, High Priestess, Initiate and I am telling you that real Witches….”
Everyone gets tuned out as soon as they say, “real Witch”.
Nobody speaks for all Witches because WITCHES ARE SOVEREIGN BEINGS.
And all Witches are real Witches.
So, miss me with that bullshit.
What is this should I refer to, you ask?
Well folks, should is discernment.
Just because you can do something does not mean you should, or even have to.
There is no manual or advice that can truly be given regarding “should they practice” because that is a decision only the Practitioner can make, and if they hurt themselves then that is on them.
We cannot be both savior and gatekeeper.
Read it again, put it on a t-shirt, write it on your mirror.
We can’t be both.
My second point, you are probably thinking I am off my rocker, but I assure I am not.
There is no wrong way to hex.
I have seen some of the most non-Magickal folks EVERRR throw the nastiest Evil Eye.
I have seen non-Magick folk channel their emotion with enough power and intent that they threw Malefica towards another.
Hexes do not all look like ceremonial glitz, candle Magick, or blood and bone in the woods.
Hexes can be as simple as a look, a whisper in the wind, or a thought.
In fact, that’s often-what hexes were throughout history.
But you are not ready for that conversation.
Now, there is a right way to do a hex, and what I mean by this is: there is a formula for all Magickal workings to allow their outcomes to serve us best.
It is for this reason that many of us pay attention to not only the Moon but Astrological forecasts, days of the week and correspondences and the potential kick back of the Magick we are about to throw; a well thought out hex can produce little kick back if done properly. I am being vague on purpose as I believe Malefica to be a topic that deserves respect and can’t be summarized in a paragraph, or two.
Allow new Witches to make mistakes, allow them to make us uncomfortable.
Roll your eyes and laugh it off!
We were young and dumb once too, and I know this may hit some of you hard but, we might be able to learn a thing or two from fresh eyes.
Witchcraft is a tradition, a path that has been walked by the marginalized, the downtrodden, the misfits, the outcasts since the beginning of time and we have the audacity to continue gatekeeping?
Witchcraft is also a tradition, a path of powerful individuals who are living and seeking their truth in a world who tells them not to and we have the audacity to box them in and kill their fire?
We are healers. We are teachers. We are students. We are Keepers of the Old Ways.
It is okay to spice Sacred up with a little modern fun, I promise.
Witchcraft can evolve, and should, as all things from nature must grow.
I urge anyone reading this to read the piece in its entirety before commenting or passing judgment.
I write this knowing full well the backlash that I will face, but at this point it’s go hard or go home, and what I am about to say is going to be hard for many to swallow.
The inspiration for this blog is this delightful gatekeeping bullshit meme that has been making the rounds:
I want to make a few points and cause a few waves.
I am the first person to admit that humor is a key to life, and the Craft.
We must be able to laugh at ourselves, otherwise, the world will laugh at our expense.
Does that make sense?
The more you learn to have a thick skin and laugh at your own mistakes and the fuckery of life, the more you will be able to handle the world’s criticism.
And, trust me, the world always something to say.
Especially when it comes to someone else’s opinion or way of life.
Ah, the fucking irony.
I don’t think the above meme is funny though, I think it only further divides us and makes our community look completely uninviting.
It was for me—uninviting, I mean.
The community DID NOT accept me, and I was forced to create my own space.
Covens can be intimidating to Witches that are inherently Solitary; not everyone wants to be part of a Coven, or group.
So, the division this meme creates is issue number one.
Again, I am in favor of making fun of ourselves but this is gatekeeping.
You can have that.
The second thing is that this meme doesn’t consider accessibility.
This issue came up when the whole Sephora Witch Kit shit show went down, and people were up in arms.
Not everyone has access to buying things on the internet.
Maybe they don’t have a bank account yet, or they live with parents/family and can’t have packages sent to their house because their mail is opened (illegal or not, shit happens).
Then there are the people who are hearing the collective call to wake up, but they don’t quite know what that means yet, what it looks like, or how it will manifest.
A Sage bundle at Whole Foods, a crystal at TJ MAXX, or a tapestry at Pier 1 might help them on their journey—might trigger something in their memory.
The Witch IS the tool, I know that, many of you know that, but that knowing comes with time and practice.
Heck, even after all my years of practice, I still like using tools; ambiance, and focus and all.
Overharvesting of herbs, and ethical sourcing of minerals is a concern, and a valid one; not only the effects it has on Earth, but HOW the crystals are mined.
You would be surprised to hear that many of the big chain stores do ethically source their products; other’s do not.
You must research anything you buy, that’s your responsibility as a consumer regardless if we are talking Witch tools, or food you feed your family.
Obviously, in an ideal world we would be able to trust all sellers, but that simply isn’t the case.
Do your research.
The next point is something that so many Magickians are missing.
The use of herbs/botanicals, gemstones, Sacred Geometry and the like are all forms of Low Magick—not everyone aspires to be a High Magickian, not everyone is about ceremonial Magick; some are about dirt and bone, blood and earth.
Some are all of these and more.
Magick, and the Craft—how we experience them and how we practice is so vast, so unique that it almost cannot be quantified or individualized.
We all have our own experiences, our own reality and we all found our way to this path some way, somehow.
I think the further we go into the Abyss, and the longer we walk our path, we forget how we started.
We forget where we started and how we stumbled.
I was raised with my Mother teaching me the Old Ways to wash out the Catholicism my Father was attempting to teach me.
But it wasn’t until I was 12 and watched The Craft that I willingly approached my Mom with real interest, and at that point was gifted my first Tarot Deck, and my whole world changed.
As they say, the rest is history.
Not everyone has supportive parents, and with the boom Witchcraft is experiencing in Hollywood, you can expect a lot of young Witches to start waking up.
Also, the collective is breeding rebels.
That’s another post entirely though.
These baby Witches could benefit from having tools accessible in big chain stores.
Another point, someone commented on this meme saying that “having the girls who bullied, tormented and threatened to burn them alive in high school now call themselves Witches is a slap in the face”.
That is a valid point, and a valid wound.
High School fucking sucks.
It has sucked for everyone since the beginning of time.
And, yes, it is super irritating to see the people who taunted you for being authentic back then, claim to be a Witch now.
I get it.
Maybe we should approach with a bit of compassion though, instead of pain.
Maybe they grew as a person and they really are a Witch.
Maybe they are using the aesthetic as if it’s a trend.
That’s not for you to judge nor is it your weight to carry and it’s only a slap in the face if you give that hand power.
Witchcraft, and Spirituality in general have become trends, they are commodities for sale; they have been for decades now.
Read it again, and let it fucking burn because it DOES BURN.
It fucking sucks to see our Craft become watered down and commercialized to make it more palatable for the masses.
But, on the flip side, it’s empowering to see it become mainstream and hopefully, slowly, breakthrough the lies and stigmas told about us.
I see a new wave of Witches waking up, and I embrace them with open arms.
We all must start somewhere, and who cares where that starting point is?
When did we become so rigid about who we allow in our ranks?
Last time I checked Witchcraft is a personal practice.
And, an individual’s personal practice is not open to public interpretation, or prosecution.
Live and let live.
And for those who want to proclaim that their path is Sacred, so is mine.
I have put blood, sweat and tears into my Craft and it’s my lifeline; I don’t think it is something that is free for the taking, and that’s the beauty of the Craft.
Yes, people may find it buying Sage at Whole Foods, but the Craft itself, the Magick and egregore that Witchcraft carries, will weed out the real over the fake, you needn’t worry.
There will always be parts of the Craft that will remain hidden, and known only to those who truly walk the path of the Old Ways.
We cannot bring down this patriarchal system, these misogynistic religions unless we are unified, and we cannot be unified if we are distracted gossiping and judging each other and where we buy our tools.
“Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Dylan Thomas
**TRIGGER WARNING**
I do not speak for all Women, but for myself and those closest to me, the last 10 days have been profoundly painful; I did not realize how triggered my own trauma would be.
I watched in awe as Dr. Christine Baisley Ford testified and told her story of survival.
I watched in shock as Brett Kavanaugh testified by throwing temper tantrums, losing his composure, putting on the fake tears, justifying his predatory behavior (“boys will be boys”) and trying to be a victim.
I watched in horror as Congress voted 11-10 to confirm him through the first process of nomination.
I watched as our Government told myself, the females in my family, the Women, girls and Femmes around the world, that we do not matter.
Our voices do not matter.
Our stories do not matter.
Our pain does not matter.
But, I am here to say that
I do matter.
Our stories matter.
Our pain matters.
We matter.
The Divine Feminine is more than waking up, She is here and She is GROWLING WITH RAGE.
Humans have raped and pillaged this planet, its animal inhabitants, and people through genocides, crusades, white supremacy and all-out war for eons.
Men have raped and pillaged Women since the beginning of time to place their superiority over us; to place their superiority over all things.
Side note: I do not hate Men. I know that not all Men are predators. I know that there are good Men out there. We are not here to discuss them, though, we are here to call out the predators and discuss how we got to this place as a country, and world. If your initial response to this blog is “not all Men!” then you have missed the point entirely.
I have not met a Woman, in my life, who has not been sexually assaulted.
Read that line again.
And, again.
For the Men who follow my page/blog: your Sister, your Mother, your Grandmothers, your Aunts, your Female/Femme Cousins, your Nieces, your Daughters have or will be sexually assaulted to some degree in their lifetime.
This is not to say that Men do not experience sexual assault, too—they do.
But not in the way Women do, and to compare the two is a false equivalency that helps nothing.
Let’s look at statistics:
One in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives
In the U.S., one in three women and one in six men experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime
51.1% of female victims of rape reported being raped by an intimate partner and 40.8% by an acquaintance
52.4% of male victims report being raped by an acquaintance and 15.1% by a stranger
Almost half (49.5%) of multiracial women and over 45% of American Indian/Alaska Native women were subjected to some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime
91% of victims of rape and sexual assault are female, and nine percent are male
In eight out of 10 cases of rape, the victim knew the perpetrator
Eight percent of rapes occur while the victim is at work.
How can you look at the next generation and not feel despair in your heart for what they will experience? How can you look at them and not want to change their fate?
I can’t do nothing. I can’t remain silent. I can’t accept this.
I won’t.
The world will hear me roar because:
I have experienced (multiple) sexual trauma in the form of rape and molestation. I have experienced sexual (and physical) trauma in abusive relationships. I have experienced sexual harassment in every workplace. I have had men pleasure themselves in front of me on public transportation. I have been stalked (and fought off an attempted kidnapping, twice). I have been verbally threatened and physically abused on more than one occasion when saying no to a man’s advances. I have been spat on (by strangers) for speaking my mind. I have been sexually assaulted by partners for saying no to sex; relationship rape is real.
And that’s the abbreviated list.
The unrest so many of us are feeling lately is not just the cosmic fuckery going on, it’s the collective.
It’s our trauma coming to the surface.
It’s our Sisters’ trauma coming to the surface.
It’s every single word we have swallowed when biting our tongue’s coming to the surface.
It’s every Woman/Femme to have ever existed finding her/their voice.
And, it’s magnificent to watch.
A few days ago, a prominent Herbalist and Witch posted a blogabout sexual abuse in the Pagan community; it was illuminating and heartbreaking. I support you, Sarah.
On Social Media I saw Women, and Men, showing solidarity with Dr. Ford by using #WhyIDidntReportIt and telling their stories.
More recently there was the “blackout” to represent how Women do not matter; a cool concept, but poorly executed. (The idea was/is to change your profile picture to all black.)
I will not give the Patriarchy what it wants; I will not give them my silence.
I will not give them the satisfaction of thinking for one split second that they have won.
I will not shrink myself.
I will not make myself invisible; the world tries to do that already.
“Be wild; that is how to clear the river. The river does not flow in polluted, we manage that. The river does not dry up, we block it. If we want to allow it its freedom, we have to allow our ideational lives to be let loose, to stream, letting anything come, initially censoring nothing. That is creative life. It is made up of divine paradox. To create one must be willing to be stone stupid, to sit upon a throne on top of a jackass and spill rubies from one’s mouth. Then the river will flow, then we can stand in the stream of it raining down.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estés
For the past decade, peaking in the last 3-4 years, there has been an uprising of the Wild Woman Archetype; people are waking up to their true nature and they are honoring that place within themselves by letting their wild run free.
What is it about this Wild Woman that gives us all the permission to be ourselves?
What is it about her that resonates with so many people, across so many cultures?
Why are we hearing her calls now?
Her howls echo and dance through the night like a serpent coiling its body through the Earth’s crevices.
The Wild Woman lives within us all, not just those of us who are or identify as Women; the Wild Woman is the voice deep inside of us that refuses to be silenced, or tamed.
She is the rumbling thunder in our chest, the fire burning in our Soul; she is the voice of reason and intuition, our connection to Mother.
Wild Woman, howl for me so that I may follow your voice back home.
If the past couple years have not proved to you that we are in midst of chaos, and mass change then you are not paying close enough attention.
Recent years have kicked our ass, and taken names.
I applaud the Universe for its ruthless approach; Kali would stand in glory at the destruction that’s leading to rebirth and change.
Years like these are catalysts for change within ourselves and the collective.
If you have not witnessed this change, if you have not felt this change within you then you should move out of the way because a wave of angry, awakened people is coming and we are going to be the ones kicking ass and taking names.
Illusions are being destroyed, divisive lies are becoming evident, false narratives are being blasted with truth and those of us aware enough to feel this shift are craving a simpler way of life; a re-wilding of sorts.
We are craving the dirt in our hands and Earth beneath our bare feet; we are craving the oceans, lakes and streams washing over our bodies—cleansing, purifying, baptizing us.
We crave to live like the Wild Woman; to heal our bodies and listen to the wisdom in our blood.
We crave to stand unapologetically in our power against a system that wishes to erase and belittle us.
We crave freedom.
We crave redemption.
We crave justice.
I first heard the Wild Woman’s call when a book was suggested and that book forever changed my life; Women Who Run with Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés became a bible for me.
The text was like a holy scripture of fire and I was in desperate need; that fire was the spark that ignited my flame.
Reading page after page became cathartic; it was like a voice from beyond reminding me who I am, and what I am capable of.
Our society is structured in a way that it oppresses certain groups of people, and if you happen to be in one of those marginalized groups, you forget who you are; they make sure you do.
It reminds me of how circus animals, or other show animals are broken so they “obey their master”. But, if you look closely even in the most desperate of cases and saddest of eyes, you can still see the wild glowing inside.
That’s exactly how we are, and that’s exactly what’s happening.
The re-wilding has hit so many people that it is now effecting the collective and there is no way to stop it.
If I had to compare what I am seeing and feeling spiritually to something scientific, I would say this is like herd immunity: “general immunity to a pathogen in a population based on the acquired immunity to it by a high proportion of members over time.”
Except the pathogen we are becoming immune to is bullshit.
We will not be tamed, lied to, categorized, divided or beaten in to submission.
After such a long stretch in the darkness with seemingly no hope in sight for humanity, it is amazing to see the waves of enlightenment and illumination taking over.
We hit rock bottom and now Wild Woman is going to bring us home; back to a place we are meant to be, a place where we can run wild and free.
“I am the blood of the dragon. I must be strong. I must have fire in my eyes when I face them, not tears.”
George R.R. Martin
As I wrote in a recentblog I have been noticing a trend of the Dark Goddess calling to, and appearing for many people; it seems that as our world has plummeted into times of uncertainty and darkness, so has the collective conscious and unconscious; there to greet us is Mother.
We are in Her domain now.
At first, I was unsure how I felt about the Dark Goddess, in all Her forms, particularly Lilith, becoming trends—more and more I would see articles about firsthand experiences with Her; Witches and Mystics were finally opening up and telling their stories and sharing their lessons learned from the Dark Mother.
Conversely, I also saw a plethora of historical texts that vilify Her making the rounds, as well.
Is it at all shocking that a Woman who chose Her own path, showed strength and fought for individual sovereignty has been dragged through the mud?
Is it surprising that she is so misunderstood, and even those who choose to walk Her path are demonized, too?
What is it about this primordial energy that draws people in? Why are some terrified, and others fascinated? Why are people, especially (most importantly) Women finding resonance with Her?
What IS all the hype about?
Well, to put it bluntly, the world is full of angry Women, and the people who love them.
The days where the patriarchy rules, and Women are treated as second-class citizens are coming to an end; I know that it seems like it’s getting worse, and in some ways, it is—but it must get worse before it can get better.
There must be a catalyst; that catalyst must affect a lot of people so that the Revolution can gain momentum.
And, a Revolution is coming.
The Divine Feminine is taking Her power back.
The Divine Masculine is taking His power back.
We are taking our power back.
Monotheism, and the divisive tactics of “the system” are being destroyed—piece by piece, layer by layer.
So, what is She?
Who is She?
A Sex Goddess?
A Daemon?
A Sacred Whore?
A Monster?
A Mother?
A Succubus?
A Serpent?
She is all of this and so much more.
Lilith is everything that is wild and carnal within us.
She represents uninhibited sexual energy.
She is unapologetic rage.
She is the Womb of the Dragon—the spark of Creation.
She is the epitome of rebellion.
She is both apple and Serpent.
She is the Dark Mother who teaches us tough, hard lessons.
She is the personification of Shadow work.
She is every Woman.
And every Woman is Her.
The more Women and other groups of marginalized people are blatantly beaten into submission, the more power it gives to these Dark Divine Feminine energies, like Lilith.
These are the deities, and energies who refuse to accept oppression of any kind.
They are Dark Goddesses such as Hekate, Kali, Morrigan, Brigid, Hel, Baba Yaga, Aradia, Isis, Persephone, and Ereshkigal; they are rising from their dark abodes and daring us to jump into the Abyss.
Asking us to trust our senses as we navigate our way through darkness, the underworld and the unknown.
They are teaching us to fight, to have a warrior mentality, and to rely solely on Self.
The Dark Divine Feminine lives in all of us—regardless of gender but She is awakening rapidly inside of Women and THAT is the key.
When that Divine spark is ignited inside us, a door opens and there to meet us is our Magick; this is a huge reason why religion and monotheism are dying (I don’t necessarily think religion is the problem, as I have said in the past).
People are sick and tired of being told how to live, love and believe based on words written thousands of years ago that have no real-world application today. I would go so far as to argue that they never had any real-world application to begin with.
Lilith teaches us to submit to no one, to live on our terms, and to be free in our wildness.
She is not for the faint of heart and asks a lot of those who answer Her calls but, it’s worth it.
Every single moment spent in Her darkness is worth it.
Every single drop of blood, sweat, and tears have purpose.
So, if you can’t handle that, then ask yourself what are you doing on this path?
The Nephilim Rising 