Current Headlines - Forum - Witches Moon2024-03-28T11:20:50Zhttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/feed/category/Current+HeadlinesWitches Urge Alternatives to Sage Amid Concern About Appropriation, Overharvestinghttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/witches-urge-alternatives-to-sage-amid-concern-about-appropriatio2023-01-15T15:01:08.000Z2023-01-15T15:01:08.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><div class="mb-xxs">
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<div class="dib font-xxs"><span class="gray-darkest">By </span><span class="gray-darkest decoration-none">Emily McFarlan Miller</span></div>
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<div class="wpds-c-kgabfe wpds-c-kgabfe-ikrKXLV-css"><span class="wpds-c-iKQyrV gray-dark display-date">January 13, 2023 </span></div>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">In their online metaphysical shop <a href="https://quiiroi.com/" target="_blank">Quiiroi</a>, Kitha sells bundles of rosemary, cedar and black sage, as well as mugwort, although they are sold out of that at the moment.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">They don’t, however, sell white sage.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">The 23-year-old witch started Quiiroi in 2020 because they didn’t want to support other metaphysical, New Age and witchy businesses where they felt like their Indigenous culture was being commodified and watered down — in particular, by selling white sage.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">“I started my shop because I was always raised with those Indigenous values, and one of those values is that, like, we don’t own Earth. We cannot sell something that we don’t own,” said Kitha, who said their father is Indigenous to Puerto Rico and their mother elsewhere in the Americas.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">“I cannot sell you something, I cannot profit off of something, I cannot financially benefit from something that is meant to be a gift.”</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">Burning white sage to cleanse a person or space or to attract positive energy has become trendy in recent years, with sage bundles appearing in <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/laurenstrapagiel/sephora-starter-witch-kit-pinrose-white-sage" target="_blank">starter witch kits</a> and even <a href="https://shop.erewhonmarket.com/search?item=white%20sage" target="_blank">luxury grocery stores</a>. While smudging with sage is often promoted as part of <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/explore/shop-northwest/smudging-a-wellness-trend-for-your-home/" target="_blank">wellness routines</a>, the religious practices around the ritual end up largely removed.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">But along with the popularity of white sage comes concern about cultural appropriation as well as overharvesting.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">It’s all “very American,” according to Rosalyn LaPier, an ethnobotanist, environmental historian and professor of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">Americans have a tendency not only to appropriate cultures, but also to “simplify and reduce them down to the point where it’s not identifiable anymore by the people in that group,” said LaPier, who is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana and Métis.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">White sage is considered sacred in many Indigenous cultures, which all have different stories and teachings about and uses for the plant, she said.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">For the Blackfeet, burning sage, or “smudging,” is one form of purification that takes place before interacting with the divine, LaPier said. People might smudge themselves or an object they might use as part of their spiritual practice or a place that might be used for ceremony.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">Many religions have similar purification rituals, she pointed out. Catholics cross themselves with holy water before entering a church. Muslims wash their faces, hands, arms and feet before praying. Several traditions use incense to purify spaces or objects.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">So, she said, she’s not sure what people think smudging is doing when it’s disconnected from Indigenous spirituality.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">“The way I grew up understanding this process, and from talking with elders about this process, that it is something that is definitely connected to religion and religious practice, and it’s not something that you would do unless you were going to interact with the supernatural realm, with the divine,” she said.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">It’s not meant to be used for “house cleaning,” LaPier said. “It’s something deeper than that.”</p>
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<p>That commercialization has caused problems because white sage is mostly wildcrafted, meaning it’s collected in the wild, rather than farmed, she said. LaPier pointed to reports that white sage has been overharvested to meet demand in the southwestern United States, California and northern Mexico.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">Some Native Americans think it is important to share Native spiritual practices with non-Native people, as one <a href="https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a28847931/sage-smudging/" target="_blank">Women’s Health article</a> about smudging pointed out.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">“We are more than willing to teach people, to show people our ways,” Shilo and Shawna Clifford, who are Oglala Lakota and own <a href="https://realnativebotanicals.com/" target="_blank">Native Botanicals</a>, told the magazine last year.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">“We are just not willing to give others the keys and have them drive away with what is ours. They have to respect that.”</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">Kitha acknowledged, too, that white sage is meant to be shared.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">But after centuries of boarding schools that separated Indigenous children from their families and culture, as well as laws that made Indigenous spiritual practices illegal until the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Kitha said, “At this point in time, we deserve to be able to heal and reclaim what’s ours.”</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">The commodification of white sage is making it hard once again for Indigenous people to access their spiritual practices, they said.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">“It’s getting harder and harder to find. And it’s getting harder and harder to find at a reasonable price point. And we should not even be buying it in the first place because it’s part of our teachings to not sell it,” they said.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">LaPier also laments that the sudden trendiness of smudging has flattened the significance of the practice.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">“One of the things I would say about sort of the secularizing of smudging is that it really is kind of a reductionist way of looking at Indigenous culture, and of reducing it down to sort of a very simple understanding and a simple method — using one plant, versus lots of different plants for lots of different reasons,” she said.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">Peg Aloi, who calls herself “an older modern Pagan witch,” remembers conversations about cultural appropriation when white sage became popular in Pagan circles back in the 1980s and 1990s, when she first became involved in the witch community.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">At the time, Aloi said, there was a lot of overlap between witchcraft and New Age circles. Many Pagans hosted sweat lodges or smudged with sage — “what we now know was appropriating” Native American practices, she said.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">So Aloi was surprised when researching ways to spiritually cleanse a building <a href="https://twitter.com/themediawitch/status/1598687246835662849?s=20&t=8Na21M9MeS8U5BGQZr8a_Q" target="_blank">last month</a> that the top results online were still dominated by white sage.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">“It’s unfortunate that this is a trend that we already reckoned with decades ago, and here it is again, and the problem once again is lack of education, lack of awareness and, unfortunately, White entitlement. I hate to say that, but that’s really kind of what’s at the center of it,” she said.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">“Even though we do have a lot more ethnic diversity in the modern witch community these days, it’s still primarily a White movement,” she said.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">Witchcraft is an object of renewed interest every decade or so, she said, and its current popularity has been fueled by new social media platforms. First, there were Tumblr and Instagram witches. Now, there’s #WitchTok.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">But although information is made aesthetically pleasing and easily accessible on social media, Aloi said, it often lacks the depth of engagement or knowledge of, say, the shared library beginner that witches pored over decades ago.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">For instance, while smudging with white sage is widely discussed online, there are many other ways people can cleanse a space spiritually using plants or other items that may come from their own cultures. Some witches don’t use any physical component for cleansing, she said, but she likes something more hands-on.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">She ended up using some of her mainstays for the cleansing: rosemary, which she read was used as incense in ancient Rome — something that connects with her Italian heritage — and salt, which is associated with cleansing and purification in many cultures. She also used rosewater, but, she said, “Honestly, that’s just because I’m a gardener.”</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">If Kitha needs to cleanse something spiritually, they’ll reach for lavender, rosemary or cedar.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">If they need a boost of happiness, it might be orange peel or marigold.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">So many people seem to view white sage as a “wonder drug,” Kitha said. “But that’s not really what it is. People don’t understand, and, you know, they don’t have the relationship to the plant to understand.”</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">Different plants have different uses, they said.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">Instead of turning to white sage as a spiritual catchall, considering all the concerns about its use, they suggested people take the time to form relationships with other plants, to learn the history and folklore surrounding them, to find something that meets a specific need.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy">“One of the fun things is when you break from the mold of just using white sage for everything, you get to experience so much more,” they said.</p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy"><em>— Religion News Service</em></p>
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<p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy" style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/01/13/witches-urge-alternatives-sage-amid-concern-about-appropriation-overharvesting/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/01/13/witches-urge-alternatives-sage-amid-concern-about-appropriation-overharvesting/</a></em></p>
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</div></div>Feminist Witches Movement Aims To Destigmatize The Crafthttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/feminist-witches-movement-aims-to-destigmatize-the-craft2022-04-12T21:32:12.000Z2022-04-12T21:32:12.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><p><span style="font-size:14pt;">It took shape when Scotland formally apologized for its misogynistic witch trials of more than 500 years ago.</span></p>
<p><strong>April 11, 2022</strong></p>
<p><strong>By <span class="byline-name">Olivia Wilson</span></strong></p>
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<p>When Scotland became one of the first countries to formally apologize to the nearly 4,000 people accused of witchcraft during witch trials that took place more than 500 years ago, it sparked a feminist movement among present-day witches and their supporters.</p>
<p>The head of the Scottish government, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, <a href="https://twitter.com/RadioClydeNews/status/1501210158818594818">announced</a> the apology on March 8, International Women’s Day, as part of a push in Parliament to recognize misogyny as a hate crime at the request of the <a href="https://www.witchesofscotland.com/">Witches of Scotland</a>, a campaign that also seeks a formal government pardon for those accused of witchcraft and a national memorial for the lives lost during the trials.</p>
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<p>“We want to know our own history, and we’re no longer happy with the one-sided history, the same history that men or scholars have reported,” said Claire Mitchell, a lawyer who started the campaign with Zoe Venditozzi, a teacher. Neither identifies as a witch.</p>
<p>The Scotland witch trials began after the passage of the Witchcraft Act in 1563, which made practicing witchcraft or consulting with witches capital offenses. An<a href="http://witches.shca.ed.ac.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.graph2"> estimated 2,500 women</a> were killed for allegedly violating the law, according to the University of Edinburgh. It was repealed in 1736.</p>
<p>None of the accused women were practicing witches, Mitchell said, but the Scottish government used women as scapegoats to explain away the country’s adversities.</p>
<p>“I absolutely believe the accusations of witchcraft are a feminist issue,” she said. “It was always women to a greater degree that were accused of witchcraft.”</p>
<p>Practicing witches are using past mistreatment to inspire a new feminist movement among their ranks globally, with a goal of erasing the stigma surrounding witchcraft. In the U.S., <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2015/05/RLS-II-FINAL-TOPLINE-FOR-FIRST-RELEASE.pdf" target="_blank">1 million people</a> are estimated to identify as pagan or Wiccan, according to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center; not all of those who practice witchcraft are Wiccan. The infamous Salem witch trials in Massachusetts occurred in 1692 and 1693.</p>
<p>Pam Grossman, the author of the book “Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power,” said the feminist movement has been a long time coming.</p>
<p>“We’re starting to see people re-appropriate ‘the witch’ and redefine the witch as this rebellious, feminist being who is a conductor of feminine power,” she said.</p>
<p>But some have criticized the witch community for racism and appropriation of proper witchcraft techniques.</p>
<p>Aurora Luna, who practices witchcraft in the U.S. and shares their insights on social media, said they have noticed some disturbing trends.</p>
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<p>“There are clear divides,” Luna said. “There is extreme racism and blatant negative aspects. Wanting to make the [craft] palatable is the watering down of witchcraft.”</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/07/1096692">report last year</a>, the United Nations said the number of albino people killed because they were suspected of witchcraft has increased during the coronavirus pandemic, as some believe the superstitions that albinos are Covid-19 carriers or that using their body parts in potions can bring good luck and wealth. The U.N. Human Rights Council passed a groundbreaking resolution condemning violations committed through witchcraft accusations and ritual attacks.</p>
<p>Campaigns like the Witches of Scotland face pushback from critics who do not see the point of pardoning convicted witches from centuries ago. Venditozzi said the reaction shows there is more work to be done. Her group is working with members of the Scottish Parliament to ensure that the accused witches of old are formally pardoned and that a national memorial is established.</p>
<p class="endmark">“We are in no way out of the woods of misogyny,” she said. “Humans always go back to the idea of attacking the vulnerable in society.”</p>
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<p class="endmark" style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/feminist-witches-movement-aims-destigmatize-craft-rcna23495">https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/feminist-witches-movement-aims-destigmatize-craft-rcna23495</a></em></span></p></div>The Herbalism Community Is at War With Itself Over Abuse Allegationshttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/the-herbalism-community-is-at-war-with-itself-over-abuse-allegati2022-04-08T18:53:02.000Z2022-04-08T18:53:02.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><div class="article__header__dek"><span style="font-size:18pt;">Famed herbalist and teacher Susun Weed says anger is part of her teaching method. Some of her former apprentices say it went too far. </span></div>
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<div><span class="contributor__meta__prefix">By </span><a href="https://www.vice.com/en/contributor/anna-merlan">Anna Merlan</a></div>
<div>April 7, 2022</div>
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<div>Many of the stories about the 76-year-old herbalist Susun Weed—positive and negative, frightening and tame—begin like a fairy tale, with a green new apprentice traveling through the thick woods of upstate New York and arriving on the doorstep of a small house on Weed’s property, called the Nettles Patch. What happens next—the screaming, the ritualistic killing of rabbits and goats, the intense psychological pressure —is not really under dispute. But what those stories mean—how best to interpret the things that happen on Weed’s land—is a subject that’s surging, plant-like, from under the surface and flowering once again into view. </div>
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<p>There’s probably no better illustration of Weed’s divisive reputation than the case of two women who both arrived on her land in the late summer of 2020 to participate in a shamanic herbal apprenticeship program that Weed has been offering for more than 30 years. The apprenticeship, which is only open to women, as she defines them, is meant to be an intensive mixture of herbal education and what Weed describes as a carefully orchestrated shamanic initiation, designed to shepherd the participants into a heightened sense of their own power and agency and their connection with the natural world. (There are also shorter, less spiritually intense “Green Goddess” apprenticeships.) Over the years, and perhaps in response to the kinds of events that have made her a heated topic of discussion in the herbal community, Weed has also gotten much clearer about the fact that the apprenticeship program involves yelling and intense confrontation. </p>
<p>The first woman, Katie, said that for her, the experience was transformative. </p>
<p>“Being there in the woods with goats and plants and Susun and moving around so much and being active and spending time alone in the woods,” she told Motherboard recently, “I felt really healthy in my body. I felt strong. I felt nourished.” (Like many people in the herbal community who spoke to me for this story, Katie asked to use only her first name. “I don’t want the mob after me,” she wrote in an email, referring to Weed’s detractors. “I’m just living my life in gratitude!”) </p>
<p>The other woman, who asked for anonymity to tell her story, and whom we’ll call Jane, had a nearly opposite experience, saying she was worked to the bone, not given enough to eat, and verbally abused. Her six days on Weed’s land ended with her fleeing on foot, she said, only to end up in the hospital, delirious and severely dehydrated. She believes she was drugged on Susun’s land—a charge Weed adamantly denies—and says she now struggles with “mild cognitive dysfunction” due to the trauma of the experience. Of the six days she spent apprenticing, she remembers only three, she said. </p>
<p>“I want her stopped,” Jane told Motherboard. “I do. I want her to not be allowed to be able to hurt people anymore. She’s hurt so many people.” </p>
<p>Weed acknowledges that she’s an intense person, but she denies being emotionally or physically abusive to anyone. She is autistic, and said that her blunt communication style is a result of how her brain works. “I’m going to be clear,” she told me. “But that’s not abusive. You have to have power over someone to be abusive. I have enough power of my own.” </p>
<p>In the end, the discussion in the herbalism community is about both Weed herself and a much larger set of concerns about how to create safety and accountability in a community outside the mainstream. Herbalists tend to be a self-reliant group of people, who believe in literally healing themselves, and that philosophy is echoed in how they approach problems within their community. “This is the way of the forest,” herbalist and teacher Sarah Wu told me. “Organisms keep each other in check.” </p>
<p>Herbalists, for a variety of very good reasons, resist any kind of centralized governing body, and point to a long history of mainstream institutions attempting to suppress or cast doubt on the legitimacy of their field. Many of Weed’s supporters see the criticism of her as an attack on herbalism itself as a free and nonconformist space, an attempt to homogenize or regulate them in a way they think will harm the field as a whole. </p>
<p>“There’s not a cohesive herbal community unit,” one herbalist, who asked for anonymity, told me; she has publicly criticized Weed’s behavior in the past and says she faced social media threats and harassment as a result. “There’s not a licensing body that we all have these homogenized standards we have to abide by. So that’s made it somewhat interesting—made it difficult—to figure out the response, other than individuals telling our students not to study with Susun because it’s not safe.” </p>
<p>“There’s no licensure for this,” said another herbalist who’s been critical of Weed on social media and requested anonymity to speak freely about the situation. “And I don’t want there to be required licensure for herbalists. Any time professionalization has happened in this field, it punishes who you think it would: Indigenous people, Southern Black folk herbalists, women, midwives. So I'm very wary of that being the answer to this.” </p>
<p>(While one can become a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild, that’s a professional association, not a licensing body. It’s also one Weed doesn’t belong to, meaning even if it issued a statement or censured her, it would hold no real meaning.)</p>
<p>Weed’s critics say her behavior also shows that there has to be a better way to warn students about unsafe teachers. They say that a whisper network about Weed’s treatment of apprentices hasn’t helped to warn everyone, especially people outside the herbal community—like Jane—who might stumble onto her land without knowing the rumors that have swirled for years about her behavior. </p>
<p>For Weed herself, the current debate over her behavior is “a non-issue,” a mostly fictional creation of her opponents in the herbal world and a small group of former apprentices who refuse to take responsibility for themselves, and who failed to heed her repeated warnings about the intensity of her program. </p>
<p>“It’s not for everyone to be a shaman,” she said. </p>
<p>Regarding the numerous allegations against her, she at times sounded serene. “You can share all of their made-up stories, their fantasies,” she told me at one point, in the six or so hours of interviews we conducted together. “Not a problem. Everyone has the right to make up anything they want to make up. But I'm not going to pay attention to it.” </p>
<p>But Weed was also concerned that any story about the allegations against her could kick off a new round of what she acknowledges has been an acrid debate. “Nobody’s even talking about it anymore,” she said, the first time we spoke. “I’m concerned you’re going to stir something up that’s better left to rest.” </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10298468255,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10298468255,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="500" alt="10298468255?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></a></p>
<p>Since the 1970s, Susun Weed has been one of the biggest names in the world of Western herbalism—which can be defined, broadly, as the use of plants to address medical issues or promote healing. She’s a central figure in what’s known as the Wise Woman tradition, which uses herbs, storytelling, and “simple ceremony,” as she calls it, to ground women as they move through their life stages. Weed writes especially powerfully about the age of the Crone, a woman’s elder years, and, she has written, a period in which herbs can help smooth the passage into a time of tremendous wisdom and spiritual power. Weed’s six books are some of the herbal world’s most foundational texts, found on the shelves of natural foods stores the world over. She often stresses that herbal medicine is <a href="http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/January07/healingwise.htm" target="_blank">“people’s medicine,”</a> free and available to everyone.</p>
<p>Weed’s style of teaching and working with apprentices has been, for many women, powerful and life-changing. Her former apprentices have gone on to found some of the largest herbalism conferences in the country.</p>
<p>“There’s a certain strength and leadership ability that women who study with Susun—some women—are able to access,” said Linda Conroy, a former apprentice. Conroy studied with Weed 30 years ago, and founded the influential Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference, which has been going on for the past 11 years. (Weed will speak there this year, which has generated some amount of backlash—though, Conroy says, it hasn’t ultimately affected registration numbers; 400 people attend in any given year.)</p>
<p>At the same time, Weed’s behavior has long been a topic of discussion in itself: Whether she’s a transformative teacher or an abusive bully is a debate that has been ripping across the herbalist community, not for the first time.</p>
<p>Reports of Weed abusing apprentices have circulated for years, with the claims involving her subjecting them to screaming tirades, calling them names, and making outrageous and ever-changing demands. Online denunciations of her came to a head in 2018, when she was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing and blood circulation after an apprentice accused her of choking her <a href="https://wpdh.com/police-ulster-county-woman-choked-victim-over-lettuce/" target="_blank">for incorrectly tying off a bag of lettuce</a>. (The charge was ultimately reduced; Weed’s attorney Josh Koplovitz told Motherboard, “Susun pleaded guilty to harassment in the second degree and was sentenced to a conditional discharge,” meaning she didn’t serve any jail or probation time and essentially just had to agree to behave herself. In New York state, second-degree harassment is a violation, not a crime.)</p>
<p>In 2020, another apprentice accused Weed of threatening to kill her, telling her, “I’m going to kill you” and threatening to “flatten” her if she asked more questions. Weed was charged with misdemeanor second-degree harassment, <a href="https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/ulster-sullivan/news/ulster-county-herbalist-arrested-for-threatening-her-apprentice-police-say/795605/" target="_blank">according to</a> the Ulster County News, but she said that charge, too, was dropped. </p>
<p>A worker who answered the phone at the Saugerties Town Justice Court, where Weed’s criminal cases would have been heard, at first said—incorrectly—that there were “no cases” associated with Weed; the same person eventually admitted the cases do exist but claimed they were sealed. Linda Conroy told Motherboard that she asked Weed to ask the court to unseal her criminal cases in late December or early January, so that they would be part of the public record amid the ongoing discussion of her behavior. After several weeks of discussion with Motherboard, the court clerk said there are records of three cases against Weed—dating to 2009, 2013, and 2018—in which she was convicted of second-degree harassment. One is clearly the lettuce incident; the records do not include the 2020 case reported on by local media. </p>
<p>Weed is not an entirely linear narrator when it comes to outlining the previous charges against her. She does not, for instance, recall precisely how many people have taken her to court (“maybe two,” she told me, at one point). But she was clear that apprentices have filed restraining orders against her in the past and made other criminal complaints, none of which have resulted in her being convicted of a criminal offense. She’s had no problem agreeing to the restraining orders, she told me, even from “people I had no connection with,” she said.</p>
<p>“It cuts down on the work of my little local court,” she explained. “I live in a small town. In order to make cases move through the courts more easily, if I agree to a restraining order—which does nothing because I want nothing to do with these women—they love me for greasing these through the system.” </p>
<p>Stories also abound about Weed verbally laying into people in environments like conferences and daylong workshops. Several people related anecdotes about Weed yelling at someone for posing a question in a way she didn’t like; for using the term “guys” to refer to a group of women, which Weed finds deeply objectionable; or for defending the use of an herb that Weed doesn’t support. (Weed says she does object to the use of the term “guys” in that context and has raised her voice at people in the past who use it after she asks them to stop. “I won’t be referred to as a guy,” she said. “I’m not being insulting or rude, but if they keep pushing me, I will get overloaded and I’ll get louder and louder, and I think that’s OK. I think they need to take some responsibility. For the past 25 years I’ve been telling women if they allow themselves to be called guys, they’ll lose all their reproductive rights. I hate to be right.”) </p>
<p>At conferences, there have been some heated exchanges over turmeric, specifically: One woman, Norma Fisher-Mixon, recalled having an exchange with Weed over the herb during a conference, and then having Weed pursue her out of the lecture hall where they’d just been. “I use a cane and I'm not the fastest walker,” Fisher-Mixon told me. “She grabbed me by the wrist and she said, ‘You have not been helped by turmeric. I don’t care what you or anybody else says, you have not.’’’ </p>
<p>Fisher-Mixon said that Weed then asked “what was wrong” with Fisher-Mixon—in other words, why she was using a cane. She responded that she has rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, to which Weed replied, as Fisher-Mixon remembered, “That is your own fault for bringing it on, you're the one who caused your own disease.”</p>
<p>“I looked at her and she’s right in my face, holding onto my wrist,” Fisher-Mixon said. “She was hissing and spitting like a cat. Talking very vehemently. I said, ‘No, ma’am, I did not,’ and she kept insisting. Then she got personal and said something to the effect that I was ugly and everything in me was ugly. I cut her off and said, ‘I’ll remember everything you said,’ and walked away.” (Weed doesn’t remember this specific incident, but she denied anything like it has ever occurred; she said that several times during lectures at conferences, she’s said linden is a better anti-inflammatory drug than turmeric, which sometimes inspires people to argue with her or even grab her. In that instance, she told me, “I would definitely remove their grip from me. And I would definitely not be ready to talk or to be nice since they are accosting me.”) </p>
<p>Conroy, who’s hosting Weed this year at the Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference, told me she asked Weed to bring a “support person” to assist her if she feels overloaded. “Her needs don’t get met and she has a difficult time being able to express them,” Conroy told me. Weed, she said, has been “nothing but amenable to my requests.”</p>
<p>There are other claims of physical violence: Shannon Berke, who apprenticed with Weed in 2008, told Motherboard that Weed threw a bucket in her face after she walked on a patch of grass that had just been planted. Another apprentice, Elizabeth Dieleman, who was also on Weed’s land in 2008, recalled Weed twisting the skin of her arm because of how she was handling some salad greens she was preparing for their communal dinner. “She runs over to me and told me I was harming the plants and that they could feel what I was doing to them.” Weed, she said, twisted the skin so hard in opposite directions that it caused pain. (Dieleman told me she came to believe there is “some dark spiritual stuff going on” on Weed’s land, and among other things related a terrifying experience of sleep paralysis she experienced in the Nettles Patch where she envisioned herself levitating off the bed while a sinister figure cackled at her. After years of exploring Wicca and herbs, Dieleman went through what she called a “dramatic spiritual journey,” was re-baptized as a Christian, and is today a religious singer and songwriter.) </p>
<p>Weed denies being physically violent with apprentices or anyone else. “Why on earth would I ever hit anybody?” she said. Past apprentices, she claimed, have in fact been the violent ones: “I’ve had apprentices hit me, jump on me, take me to the ground, try to pull my hair out, slap me, kick me, attack other apprentices, knock holes in the wall, rip things apart.” When that happens, she said, she tries to help women redirect their anger, for instance designating a pillow for punching.</p>
<p>“I believe in women’s anger,” she said. “I think women’s anger is an untapped resource.” </p>
<p>Some women told me they’ve come to see what Weed does as little more than a pretext to get manual labor out of them, accompanied with a heaping side of verbal abuse, bizarre mind games, and baroque punishments. One apprentice, who was just 18 when she worked with Weed in the early 2000s, recalled being told by Weed that she had scooped rice from a pot incorrectly at dinner, and that the rice had to be thrown away. “She was full volume screaming, name calling, insults,” the woman remembered, and told the apprentice she was a “fucking idiot.” Another time, she said she washed Weed’s napkins and towels but was told she’d folded them incorrectly. “We drove an hour back to town at midnight and rewashed them and folded them the way she wanted.” </p>
<p>Several women also said they’d been promised by Weed that they could earn back a portion of the money they paid for their apprenticeship program—usually $2,500—through chores, caring for the goats, and other work. But the women who didn’t formally graduate were never paid back; two said that when they decided to leave, Weed tore up their time sheets in a rage and screamed at them. The woman who was there at 18 said that Weed had sent her a packet of papers in the mail before the apprenticeship began, with a carefully outlined rate of how much in refunds an apprentice could get, week by week, if they left early. (The refund system as it previously existed is outlined <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030603185500/http://www.susunweed.com/Weed_Wise_Apprentice.htm" target="_blank">in a 2003 version of Weed’s apprenticeship webpage</a>.) </p>
<p>When the woman decided to leave, she remembered, “Susun said, ‘You don’t deserve a refund and you're not getting one.’ I lost my cool and started screaming back. I was like, ‘You have no right to take my money.’ She disappeared and came back with a piece of paper that was the same color, font, and format as the refund policy she’d sent in the mail, but this piece of paper said no refunds under any circumstances. She had that ready in her office.” </p>
<p>Weed countered that she has not allowed any refunds for a very long time. She said that apprentices “get paid the day they graduate,” and don’t receive any of their money back otherwise, which she says she clarifies both verbally and in writing before the apprenticeship starts. She says that she doesn’t provide refunds because her work with an apprentice begins the moment they agree to work together, after an initial phone interview. </p>
<p>“A shamanic apprenticeship is one thing,” she explained. “It’s not a series of things. That one thing is already done as soon as I accept that apprentice. That is a linkage that I make available to them. I would say over half of them report to me that after they make that commitment, I start appearing in their dreams. Not because I'm going there, but I'm making that available to them, and if that’s what they need, I'll appear in their dreams. This is why there are no refunds. It’s not like something we can parse out.” </p>
<p>Weed says that her apprenticeships involve carefully-staged steps which are, she says, “consistent throughout the world in every Indigenous culture that I've been in, this is the way you become a shaman.” (Weed is white. She says she has been an initiated witch since 1976, ”a high priestess of Dianic Wicca,” and claims to be an “initiated member” of the Seneca Nation’s Wolf Clan, initiated by an elder named Twylah Hurd Nitsch. Weed does not claim to be Native American or an enrolled member of any tribe. A press officer with the Seneca Nation wasn’t immediately familiar with Nitsch’s name or any formalized way that a non-Seneca person could be “initiated” into a clan. Weed says that Hurd Nitsch, whom she calls “Grandmother,” faced pushback from initiating non-Native people. “Further, Grandmother made me a “Peace Elder,” she told me. “As a Peace Elder, I was accepted at many Native gatherings and fully accepted as a member of the Wolf clan.”)</p>
<p>As Weed explains it, the shamanic initiations she’s been trained in begin with having a teacher you deeply admire, and having that teacher push back on your desire to emulate them, which can frustrate the apprentice. </p>
<p>“I am a mirror to everything they’re in denial of,” Weed told me. “And so they begin to see me as the things they most hate about themselves. But of course they don’t recognize it has anything to do with them. They think it’s me.” </p>
<p>If the apprentice works through the stages appropriately, Weed said, “They can move through the shadow self,” and come to recognize themselves as independent “women of power,” she said. </p>
<p>Weed says 322 women have graduated her apprenticeship; many more leave early, she says, but they often come back, after months or even years, to finish. And when women leave without completing the program, she says, “It’s not a failure for me. It’s not my work. It’s their work.” </p>
<p>But it’s also not just failed apprentices who are left with a sour taste around Weed’s methods. “There's nothing shamanic about the apprenticeship,'' said Shannon Berke, the apprentice who was there in 2008 and graduated from the program, staying for a full six weeks. “I don’t know what shamanic means to her. I think she thinks it means she’s trying to teach you valuable lessons and to become a more powerful female by experiencing her fucked-up mind games.”</p>
<p>That said, Berke added, “I still have a soft spot for her.” Berke worked as Weed’s personal assistant for several months after her apprenticeship ended, before recognizing that it wasn’t a healthy environment for her and quitting. “I think for a long time I didn’t see what she was doing as abusive. I really kind of believe that she was trying to help women become more powerful and strong. But her methods are not—that’s not how you help women and uplift women, by screaming and yelling at them and demoralizing them all the time.” </p>
<p>Weed argues that yelling doesn’t inherently create an unsafe environment for the apprentices. “Yelling has nothing to do with safety,” she told me. “Yelling is about waking somebody up.”</p>
<p>Over the years, the apprenticeship page on Weed’s website has also gotten clearer and clearer about the fact that the apprenticeship involves yelling. An archived version of the page shows that in 2003 it gently warned that “change” and “intense emotions” will occur.</p>
<p>Today, the site now reads, in part: “Shamanic herbal apprenticeship is the most difficult way to study with Susun. When you agree to be a shamanic apprentice, you are hiring Susun to scream at you, to tell you when you are not in truth, to bite off your excuses, in short, to kill the part of you that prevents you from claiming, and living to the fullest, your power, beauty, strength, and healing abilities. You will cry. You will be pushed. You will at some point think you have made a terrible mistake. You may leave. And you are welcome to return. Susun commits to her apprentices for life.”</p>
<p>“I thought it would be sort of a Jedi training, spiritual fortitude,” said Elizabeth Dieleman. In the end, she said, she left after Weed demanded that she kill a goat she’d grown particularly close to, named Horus. Killing goats or rabbits in a formal ritual is a recognized part of the apprenticeship; Weed calls it “giving death.”</p>
<p>“I don’t have any problem with killing an animal,” Dieleman said. “I eat meat. I understand that has to happen. But I found it very twisted the way she was doing it… She didn’t tell me it was going to be the baby goat. If you’re on a farm and you’re going to killl your animals, you don’t name them and become pets. I had bonded with this baby goat, and I would have had to kill it with my own hands. It was very ritualistic.” </p>
<p>“Every apprenticeship includes giving death,” Weed told me in response. “You’re not a shaman until you give death.” If Dieleman had come to her, she said, she would’ve found a solution, she said. “We’ve given death to animals that I’m deeply involved with and I walk in the woods while that happens. Whenever there is a difficulty, we do have a remedy.” </p>
<p>Weed knows about difficulty. Her life has been colorful, intense, and more than occasionally traumatic. She was born in Cleveland and grew up in Dallas, left home at 16, and moved to New York City at 19. By then, she was married to a man named Southworth Swede, and at barely 20 gave birth to their daughter, Justine. She and Swede opened the Psychedelicatessen, a hippie deli near Tompkins Square Park that one source has identified as “the first head shop in New York.” Swede was also said by the tabloids to be the pastor of <a href="https://groups.google.com/g/soc.culture.usa/c/nJ1_3fB_EDE" target="_blank">something called The Church of Mysterious Elation</a>, which used psychedelic drugs as sacraments. The police <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/06/23/91231074.html?pageNumber=23" target="_blank">raided the Psychedelicatessen in 1968</a>; they said they confiscated heroic quantities of magic mushrooms, LSD, cocaine, and hashish. At the same time, the couple’s home was also violently raided, Weed told me. “They came in, broke through the windows, guns drawn, chased us out of our beds, my daughter screaming her head off.” (The <em>Daily News </em>reported, with fascination, that Weed had long black hair and “was wearing a blue velvet, floor-length gown, open at the back, when she was taken to the police station.”) </p>
<p>After the Psychedelicatessen was raided, it soon closed, and Weed and Swede moved upstate. They settled on land near Delhi, New York, that Weed refers to as “my Eden”: a property at the end of a dirt road with flower beds, a pond, and a “huge organic garden,” she remembered. Then, someone living on the property—not Weed or her husband—“decided to mail a small amount of cannabis to someone,” she said, and the couple were violently raided for the second time; Weed awoke in bed, she said, with a cop’s gun at her temple. “They poured the food in a pile in the kitchen and took axes to the wall,” she remembers. Swede was charged with disturbing the peace, she said. </p>
<p>Soon after, when Weed was 24, she said, she told Swede “that I needed some time by myself,” and that she’d arranged with a female friend to be at her place in the city three or four days a week. On her days off, she said, she offered to take Justine, or to leave Swede to take care of her, whatever he preferred. </p>
<p>As Weed remembers it, Swede replied, “Who’s going to cook for me? Who’s going to do my laundry? Who will pick up my dirty clothes? That’s what a wife does.”</p>
<p>Weed responded, “I resign as a wife.” (Swede died in 2020 and thus could not comment on how he remembers this conversation.) </p>
<p>After the couple divorced in the early ’70s, Weed never remarried. She has a longtime “consort,” as she calls him, Michael, who, as numerous former apprentices said, cooks for them during their stays and helps to milk the goats. </p>
<p>As a struggling single mom, Weed started teaching community college classes about whole wheat bread baking and homesteading. When a friend teaching herbalism moved her family into a van and went on the road, Weed took over that class too, learning as she went. She didn’t actively choose to start taking apprentices, she told me: “I didn’t decide. No one decides.” In the early 1980s, a friend announced she needed to live with an herbalist to graduate from an herbalism course, and informed Weed she would be acting as her live-in teacher. </p>
<p>Weed told me she’s been a disciple of Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, the Swiss psychiatrist best known for conceptualizing the five stages of grief, and the author Jean Houston, a pioneer of the human potential movement. (Kubler-Ross died in 2004, and Houston’s office did not respond to a request for comment.) She also derives inspiration from the works of Carlos Castaneda, a writer who, in a series of influential books, claimed to have undergone training from a Yaqui shaman in Mexico. Castaneda’s books are now widely considered to be fabricated. Weed says she is part of the Sisterhood of the Shields, a purported secret society whose members reportedly have included women who were former disciples of Castaneda. </p>
<p>Weed is unbothered by the notion that Castaneda’s work may be fabricated. “They’re all stories,” she told me. “Does it live where you live? If it does, maybe it has something of value for you. If it doesn't, keep looking.” </p>
<p>Talking to Weed is an intense experience. Over the course of two or so weeks, she and I spoke extensively by phone and email, at one point talking for three solid hours while Weed—who is, again, 76, and a recent cancer survivor—took a vigorous seven-mile walk. She speaks in a fusillade of intense, precisely focused sentences; she raises her voice for emphasis and lowers it to a whisper, or occasionally, a growl. We argued, specifically, over whether Weed’s attitudes toward trans women could be considered transphobic, another concern about her approach that’s cropped up for the younger generation of herbalists. Weed has been attending the online meetings of a British group called Women’s Declaration International; formerly known as the Women’s Human Rights Campaign, the group has <a href="https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/01/27/womens-human-rights-campaign-gender-recognition-act-inquiry-trans-transphobia/" target="_blank">been widely identified as transphobic</a> or trans-exclusionary. (It <a href="https://www.womensdeclaration.com/en/about/faqs/" target="_blank">denies</a> being transphobic, saying that while it doesn’t believe trans women are women, “all persons who act in ways which do not conform with sex stereotypes should be protected from discrimination.”) The group has claimed transgenderism is <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/17510/pdf/" target="_blank">“a social and historical construction, not a biological one,</a>” and that nonbinary identity is little more than a fad; it’s part of a <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7dm53/gender-critical-movement-misinformation">growing number of anti-transgender groups</a> in the UK. </p>
<p>“What is a trans woman? I don’t recognize that term,” Weed told me at one point; she is, she said, “totally and completely against the trans agenda. But I'm for trans people.”</p>
<p>Weed stressed that she respects trans people, and that one of her apprentices was someone whom she read as male but who told her she was female. “My inner guidance told me to say yes” when that person asked to be an apprentice, she said. Her commitment to women-only spaces is part of a desire to protect what she called “women’s culture.”</p>
<p>“That culture requires safe space for XX chromosome holders,” Weed said. “The culture of women requires safety for the most delicate of us.” </p>
<p>In our conversations, Weed was forthcoming, voluble, and took well to being challenged; if anything, she seemed invigorated by it, thanking me repeatedly for asking her challenging questions and giving a voice to her accusers. There was one exception: I told her I wasn’t sure she’d like this article since, after all, it deals extensively with allegations of abuse against her. A few moments later, she called back and asked, with trepidation, if I had been “threatening” her. When I assured her that was not the case, she brightened immediately, told me several more colorful stories about her life, and hung up with a cheery “Green blessings!”, her usual sign-off. </p>
<p>Soon after, two women who work for Weed sent me the same document: a six-page series of glowing testimonials from past apprentices. “I apprenticed with Susun in 2006, when I was 55,” read one from a New Zealand woman named Adrienne. “I make no bones, it was the hardest thing I have ever done. Susun’s fierce teaching, laced with loving kindness, has an essential honesty and truth to it that I have not met anywhere else. No artifice, no stage dressing, no bullshit.” </p>
<p>“I trust you are also including instances of my generosity and caring,” Weed wrote to me in an email. “I trust that unsupported claims from failed apprentices are balanced with the gratitude of successful apprentice. Graduating 322 apprentices who have lived with me for two weeks to two years is a massive feat. I trust you are praising me for all that hard, hard work of supporting these women, then and now.” One instance she pointed to is an apprentice who, in a horrible accident, <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/xeayuf7" target="_blank">burned down Weed’s barn </a>after failing to extinguish a candle. (The apprentices milk the goats in the evenings by candlelight.) The fire killed eight of Weed’s goats and five rabbits and utterly destroyed the barn, but Weed said she and the apprentice are still in regular touch. </p>
<p>“She destroyed things I loved very much,” Weed said. “If I was an abusive person, wouldn’t I abuse her?” </p>
<p>Weed has compared herself to Baba Yaga, the ferocious, feral, supernatural figure of Slavic folklore. Baba Yaga lives in a house on chicken legs, deep in the woods; those who find her there are sometimes helped and sometimes devoured. </p>
<p>“Baba Yaga is the keeper of the eternal fire, the spark of divine consciousness that informs the best of every profession, that lives in the best healers and the most intuitive herbalists,” Weed <a href="http://susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/October10/grandmother.htm" target="_blank">has written</a>. She is, she added, “not averse to sharing, but she is demanding. You must give to her, must do her bidding, before she will do yours and give to you.” </p>
<p>Not everyone finds this comparison—or the idea that Weed is simply being punished for being a powerful woman, in a field dominated by powerful women—persuasive. </p>
<blockquote class="abc__quote abc__quote--pullquote">
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">“I am a scary person,” she wrote. “There is a reason the witch lives alone.”</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lisa Fazio is an herbalist in the Northeast, one of many who have written statements critical of Weed’s approach. “I know Susun compares herself to Baba Yaga,” she wrote on Facebook earlier this year. “But Baba Yaga is a mythical being in a very specific cultural context whereby everyone knows she is dangerous. Baba Yaga doesn't hide herself behind the guise of ‘healing’ and ‘nourishing infusions.’ Baba Yaga has human skulls staked right at the entrance of her property and her house spins on chicken legs. There's no lure about learning herbal medicine, whole foods, and yoga classes or books that make it sound like she's well when in fact she is deeply disturbed.” </p>
<p>After the 2018 lettuce incident became public, Weed <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10156660771934198&id=195025159197" target="_blank">also issued a lengthy statement on Facebook,</a> again likening herself to Baba Yaga. “I am a scary person,” she wrote. “Please stay at a distance if you are frightened of me. That is the best way to deal with Baba Yaga. There is a reason the witch lives alone. Her friends are few, but they are real friends.”</p>
<p>Also after the choking allegations in 2018, a number of other prominent herbalists felt compelled to make public statements about not studying with Weed. </p>
<p>“I do not believe it is safe, physically or emotionally, to study in person with herbalist Susun Weed,” wrote one, Juliet Blankespoor, in a widely shared Facebook post. “For over 25 years I have heard dozens of similar stories about her emotionally abusive behavior from apprentices and students, and I’ve witnessed it myself firsthand. Susun publicly shames, berates, and intimidates students for having different beliefs or even for asking a simple question. Her treatment of apprentices is worse.” </p>
<p>The same year, a group of concerned activists in the herbalism world tried to make a “coordinated effort,” to raise the alarm about Weed’s behavior, one of them told me. (That person asked me to use only her first initial, J, saying she was concerned about facing harassment.)</p>
<p>“We reached out to major herbalism [social media] accounts urging them to speak up,” J said. “Nobody wanted to address it head-on, partly because of potential harassment. Nobody wanted to put their brand on the line.” When they emailed organizers of conferences where Weed was due to speak, J said, at least two simply said not to contact them again. </p>
<p>In response to their pressure campaign, J said that one major herbal company did take action, scrubbing Weed’s presence from their website and sent a statement to anyone who emailed them about Weed saying they were “deeply concerned” about the allegations. (The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) For the most part, though, the experience was dispiriting and many of the people involved got “burned out,” she said. “It was closed door after closed door.” </p>
<p>The matter wasn’t settled, however, and the debate over Weed’s apprenticeships broke into view yet again this January, when the 2020 apprentice we’re calling Jane <a href="https://www.ripoffreport.com/report/susun-weed-wise-woman-center/saugerties-fish-creek-road-j-1515284?fbclid=IwAR24pHXmGZOd_DpIkfqv3pNTNerqk1C-t9vGyBKyHRlAgisI6FoRhhMqfoQ" target="_blank">posted an anonymous account of her time </a>on Weed’s land on the website Ripoff Report. </p>
<p>Jane told me that she’d been a regular listener to Weed’s radio show and had even called in a few times with questions; she was interested in becoming a clinical herbalist, after many years of running another business. She said she’d become interested in herbs after using them to deal with a serious infection she got from antibiotics, and figured Weed’s program was a logical next step. </p>
<p>“I thought it would be two weeks where I could rest and relax and figure out the next chapter of my life,” she said. </p>
<p>She was also motivated to try out the apprenticeship, ironically <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/kzgbge/susun-weed-profile-stressweek2017">due to a VICE article from 2017</a>, for which former Broadly reporter Callie Beusman visited Weed for a day to learn about coping with anxiety and existential dread; the piece describes Weed as “eternally serene” and “a benevolent forest-dwelling witch.” (Several people told me that rumors have abounded in the herbal world that VICE as an organization knew about the abuse allegations against Weed and “chose” to run a more flattering story instead. That is not true, and Beusman confirmed she was not aware of any abuse allegations against Weed at the time she went to her land. Nor does the piece whitewash what Beusman knew at the time of Weed’s behavior; she mentions that Weed devotes a whole section of her website to the fact that she yells at apprentices. )</p>
<p>In her account on Ripoff Report, Jane alleged that the Nettles Patch, the house where apprentices stay, was filthy, with a shower caked in what she called “blood, feces, rust, rotting something.” (Weed responds that those were iron deposits from the mineral-rich water in the area.) She also said she had been drugged with “some type of psychedelic,” although she doesn’t make any claims about who she specifically believes drugged her. (She wrote in her post that things appeared “hazy and slow,” and “I was very impressionable, more than I have ever been in my life.”) </p>
<p>Jane also wrote that Weed screamed at her constantly, that she spent most of her time doing yard work and other manual labor, and that Weed charged her and Katie if they did something incorrectly. </p>
<p>“I have since learned that this is human trafficking and illegal,” she wrote. “She would tell us to do something a certain way (scream at us), then she would say we did it wrong and punish us.” It was a departure from how Weed had described the apprenticeship to her, she said: “I’m expecting yoga and tai chi and meditation and organic meals, and it was not that at all. It was like a boot camp for a soldier.” Jane felt unable to leave, because she didn’t have a car, and because she was worried about how Weed would respond if she tried, and, she told me, because she felt unusually docile and suggestible while there, adding to her impression that she’d been drugged.</p>
<p>“The normal me would’ve been trying to punch someone and get out of there,” she said. “But the me on her farm was trying to live minute by minute.” </p>
<p>After six days, Jane said, she fled from Weed’s property on foot; she said so many women had left personal belongings behind at the Nettles Patch, she was left with the impression that leaving in a hurry was not uncommon.</p>
<p>Jane was then was rescued by a passing jogger, who saw her disheveled state and offered to call the police. Two responding officers arrived, a man and a woman; according to her, the man told her, “It sounds like you were just unhappy with your accommodations,” and they left without taking further action. Jane then called a cab, whose driver was so concerned with her appearance that he took her to the hospital, where a new round of police were called. </p>
<p>A medical assessment, documentation of which Jane shared with Motherboard, found that she had a bladder infection and a high respiratory rate, from being in distress. She also said the doctors suspected she was having a drug reaction; a line on her medical report reads, “Altered mental status. Substance use disorder. Psychoactive substance abuse.” </p>
<p>Jane said she spent the next two weeks, in the midst of the pandemic, recovering in a hotel room. She filed a police report against Weed and worked with the Ulster County Crime Victims Assistance Program. She shared documentation showing that the organization told her she “met the criteria for confirmation” as a victim of human trafficking in New York state, allowing her to get financial assistance with her medical bills. But she didn’t ultimately choose to go to court against Weed, she said, saying the DA “strongly encouraged” her to work on her recovery and mental health and try to pursue a case “down the road.” She said she obtained a six-month restraining order. (The Ulster County District Attorney’s office acknowledged a request for comment from Motherboard but did not provide comment before publication.) </p>
<p>Weed says she screens all her potential apprentices with a one-on-one phone call, where she warns them how demanding her program is. She tells them, as she put it to me, “You’re not my equal and I will not treat you as my equal. You’re agreeing that I’ll tell you what to eat, drink, what to wear, what jewelry you should take off.” But due to her autism, she said, “I have difficulty knowing that people are lying to me,” which is what she believes happened with Jane. </p>
<p>After Jane left the Nettles Patch, Weed called and left her a message, which was subsequently <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlKjugipUg8&t=5s" target="_blank">uploaded to YouTube</a>.</p>
<p>In the message, Weed angrily told Jane, “You are making a real fool of yourself,” and said the two had agreed on the terms of her apprenticeship over the phone. </p>
<p>“I reminded you that you were agreeing to everything,” Weed said in the message. “Let me quote, ‘As a shamanic herbal apprentice, you agree to allow Susun to use her full power and vision to guide you. Furthermore, you understand that shamanic apprenticeship is extra-legal and you’re agreeing not to involve Susun in legal proceedings of any kind. And if you do bring any legal action, you agree to give Susun $5,000, due the day you file, to cover her expenses.’” </p>
<p>Both Weed and the other apprentice, Katie, who was on the property at the time Jane was there, strongly deny that Weed forced Jane to do inappropriate amounts of manual labor or that she was starved, and say the drugging allegation is outrageous. Weed said Jane wasn’t in a good state when she arrived at her property. “She told me she’d been in a car accident and had a concussion, that her brain wasn’t good, that she couldn’t remember things, and that she had a diagnosis of schizophrenia,” Weed told me. </p>
<p>Jane said the part about schizophrenia is flatly untrue: “[I] never said that, ever. I did, however, tell her I was healing from a concussion from the previous year,” she wrote in an email. “I wanted to make sure it was still a good idea to attend her workshop... she said yes it was.” </p>
<p>Katie, the other apprentice, didn’t want to speak directly to Jane’s claims. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment on this person’s health and wellbeing,” she told me. But Katie added that she found the food to be plentiful and the amount of work she was asked to do appropriate, given that the property is an active homestead, with animals to care for and chores to do. “I had no issues at all with the amount of labor that I was doing. It’s part of the rhythm of living on a homestead.” </p>
<p>Eliane Molina has been studying with Weed for a few years as a correspondence student, and spent a week with Weed in August 2020 for a Green Goddess apprenticeship, which is meant to be a shorter and less intense course than the shamanic herbalism apprenticeships Weed also offers. She and Katie are now close friends, and she wrote to me after Katie and I spoke. “I learned so much from Susun about plants but also about animals, health in general, nutrition, mindful movement, ecology, spirituality, women’s history, and myself,” she wrote. “I feasted on the most delicious, nourishing foods that I have ever had (a lot of which we harvested ourselves), and seriously had a really amazing time.” </p>
<p>Katie also said she didn’t find any issues with the Nettles Patch, the house Jane found filthy. Other former apprentices told me that the house was run-down, and some found it not particularly clean. Elizabeth Dieleman, who was there in 2008, told me that it was “disgusting,” adding, “The room I was given was full of dead bugs. Rat traps or mouse traps. And, like, you’re sleeping on like—a straw mattress? A mattress on the floor. Very, very crude. Very little furniture or anything like that.” Weed says apprentices are responsible for the condition of the Nettles Patch: “If they don’t like the way it is, they need to clean it up. It’s their space, not mine. I’m not running a bed and breakfast… They need to be prepared to take care of themselves.”</p>
<p>In response to the Ripoff Report allegations, the activists from 2018 who’d organized against Weed revived their efforts, creating an Instagram account called<a href="https://www.instagram.com/weedoutabuse/" target="_blank"> Weed Out Abuse</a>, meant to be “an organizing hub and story collection” for those with allegations of abuse. (They have not made contact with Jane, J told me, and don’t know her name or where she lives; in other words, they’re not coordinating with her.) </p>
<p>Jane’s allegations, and those of other past apprentices and conference attendees, were also picked up <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uncanceled-surviving-susun-weed/id1515454301?i=1000549730591" target="_blank">by a podcast called </a><em><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uncanceled-surviving-susun-weed/id1515454301?i=1000549730591" target="_blank">Love and Light Confessionals</a></em>, hosted by Katya Weiss-Andersson, a holistic wellness practitioner. Weiss-Andersson has been interested in how a desire for an influential, all-powerful teacher is a breeding ground for abuse across all kinds of New Age spaces. </p>
<p>“They’re looking to be told what to do, to be enlightened, looking for figures who hold some great wisdom,” she said. “There are so few checks and balances.” </p>
<p>But Jane’s report has itself proved divisive; even some people who believe Weed’s approach to training apprentices is harmful are skeptical of some of the specifics. Namely, they’ve struggled with Jane’s claim that she was drugged, which is not something any previous apprentice—even those who had profoundly negative experiences—has publicly claimed. </p>
<p>“It’s a really serious allegation,” said one herbalist, who asked for anonymity to freely talk about the controversy, and who said she’s faced social media and email threats for speaking out about Weed in the past. “I don't think any of us are questioning the survivor. At the same time, there’s a lot of people I've spoken with who won’t hesitate to call out Susun for verbal or psychological abuse but have seen that particular accusation, and it’s paralyzed them from speaking out.” </p>
<p>For her part, Jane said she decided to post on Ripoff Report because she’d finally healed enough from the experience to want to warn other people. “It was a wild, painful experience,” she said, and one she’s still healing from; she’s moved states, and is undergoing treatment for chronic migraines. </p>
<p>“One thing I want to be clear,” she told me, when we spoke on the phone. “I’m not a victim. I stood up for myself. I fought back. I really tried to get her in jail.” But, she added, ruefully, “I’m having a hard go for sure.” </p>
<p>Some of the old guard of herbalists see the tenor of the discussion about Weed’s behavior as a disturbing example of cancel culture run amok. Rosemary Gladstar is a contemporary of Weed’s and a powerful figure in the herbalism world herself; she helped found two of the central conferences in the herbalism world, the International Herb Symposium and the New England Women’s Herbal Conference. She also founded the famed Sage Mountain Botanical Center in 1987 and taught apprentices in California and New England starting in the 1970s, though she no longer does. </p>
<p>Gladstar told me she’s disturbed by the tone of the discussion about Weed and other herbalism controversies. The world is so agitated and to turn that on ourselves as a healing community seems a tragedy,” she said. “We need to be mindful of not using social media to have these conversations because there’s no opportunity to look someone in the eyes and speak from the heart”.</p>
<p>Gladstar worried that it was leading to a “vigilante” mindset that didn’t leave room for compassion, she added. She was referring, in large part, to the Facebook factor. For the most part, denunciations of Weed have happened in the fervid environment of social media, which doesn’t lend itself to fact-checking or true conflict resolution. Discussions of Weed’s behavior tend to spiral into accusatory comment threads with hundreds of people weighing in. </p>
<blockquote class="abc__quote abc__quote--pullquote">
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">“She’s made important contributions and has introduced thousands of people to herbalism over the past several decades.”</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Gladstar has a nuanced relationship with Weed herself, who was for years a regular speaker at the conferences she organized. “In spite of what people may say, she’s made important contributions and has introduced thousands of people to herbalism over the past several decades,” Gladstar told me.</p>
<p>But Weed had a habit of blowing up at conference organizers and support staff like kitchen workers, Gladstar said, and in the past few years that Gladstar was organizing the conference, it began to require too much of her time and attention to mediate those conflicts. “I felt very burdened and sad and had to say to her, ‘It’s gotten too hard, Susun.’”</p>
<p>Though Weed was no longer invited to teach at the conference, Gladstar said, she still stayed with the teachers in their lodging, out of respect for her. (Weed denies she was ever asked to stop teaching at one of Gladstar’s conferences. Gladstar doesn’t recall whether it was the International Herb Symposium and the New England Women’s Herbal Conference, specifically.) </p>
<p>Linda Conroy, Weed’s former apprentice and the founder of the Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference, thinks the focus on Weed is misplaced. </p>
<p>“Susun is a very easy target. She’s a fierce woman. I think she is very assertive and speaks—her style can be off-putting for some people,” Conroy told me. Even “valid concerns,” she added, aren’t well-handled on social media. “I think the concerns should be handled quite differently than they are. I don’t think social media is the place for the herbal world to have these dialogues.” </p>
<p>“This is bigger than Susun Weed,” Conroy said, adding she thinks it’s more about the ways a lack of compassion and a zest for punishment has overtaken herbalism. She referred to another senior herbalist, Stephen Buhner, who’s been critical of what he calls the “woke mob” in herbalism (and who penned <a href="https://www.pearl-hifi.com/11_Spirited_Growth/10_Health_Pos/03_Worthy_Authors/Stephen_Harrod_Buhner/The_Day_the_Woke_Mob_Came_for_the_Herbalists.pdf" target="_blank">an impassioned essay</a> on the subject, entitled “The Day the Woke Mob Came for the Herbalists”). In response, an herbalist in Toronto <a href="https://everythingherbal.ca/healing-the-rift/" target="_blank">burned books of Buhner’s</a> in a show of displeasure, an incident Conroy and others found disturbing. </p>
<blockquote class="abc__quote abc__quote--pullquote">
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">“This is bigger than Susun Weed.”</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>“Why are we focusing on Susun? This is what I'm saying,” Conroy told me. She’s far more concerned with what she sees as bigger, more pernicious issues in the world of herbalism than one difficult woman: male herbalists preying on female students, the growing commercialization of the herbal world, and people trying to trademark herbal products that have been available for thousands of years. </p>
<p>“There are so many things to talk about,” Conroy told me. “This is a distraction, ultimately.” </p>
<p>Some of Weed’s former apprentices don’t agree; they think the discussion about Weed is long overdue. But that doesn’t make it any easier to figure out what to do next. </p>
<p>“The best resolution and the one we’ve been calling for after talking to survivors is that she retires from apprenticeship and stops bringing people to her property,” said J, the activist who began organizing against Weed in 2018 and who administrates the Weed Out Abuse account. “Because she can’t create a safe environment for everyone.” </p>
<p>The idea of bringing Weed into some kind of frank dialogue or restorative justice conversation about the abuse allegations has come up before. But as Lisa Fazio, the herbalist in the Northeast, pointed out, those take time, money, and willingness not everyone is going to have. “Restorative justice processes are difficult,” she told me. “They take a lot of conversation, which is a huge time commitment, usually unpaid. How do you keep up with your bills, especially if you're an entrepreneur? Herbalists don’t get paid a lot usually. Most of us aren’t raking in the bucks here.” Real accountability, she added, “falls not just on the individual but on the whole community. To have that happen, we’d have to dismantle everything” and rebuild a different world. </p>
<p>On a more practical level, Weed’s critics also don’t think she’s likely to be swayed by polite requests to stop teaching. “I think—a strongly worded letter with 1,000 signatures on it, Susun is going to burn it in a bonfire,” one of the herbalists who’s spoken out against Weed’s behavior in the past told me. “Anyone trying to tell someone like that what to do—who’s been rebellious against all forms of authority, for the history of her teaching—I don't know what the path is.” </p>
<p>This seems true; in February, as the allegations began to circulate again, Weed issued a statement equating them to blackmail, seeming to refer mainly to Jane. “No to blame, no to shame,” she wrote. “No to bullying, no to blackmail. Stand with me or stand with those who lie. Trust me or trust people with grudges who live to destroy others.” </p>
<p>Sarah Wu, the herbalist and teacher, is an admirer of Weed’s work and has hosted her in the past at conferences. She told Motherboard in an email that Weed has been a “kind and active participant” in the events they’ve participated in together if, as she put it, “a little dominant” in discussions. Wu also publicly called for Weed to stop taking in-person students after the 2018 choking allegations. This was ultimately, she told me in an email, “a plea for adaptation,” and for Weed to continue writing and sharing her work that way. Personally, she added, “I would not be able to recommend a student taking her in-person courses because of the potential risk. But I would suggest they read her material and listen to her talks.” </p>
<p>“I hope Susun can reflect on the nature of harm,” Wu added. “And while the forest has no mercy, human beings do.” </p>
<p>At some point, I began to wonder if Weed was talking to me so extensively because she was concerned about her legacy, or the effects these allegations might have on it. (She assured me that was not the case: “I've spent enormous amounts of time talking to journalists and other people.”) She told me that she doesn’t think the abuse allegations ultimately figure into a larger discussion about her work. The Wise Woman tradition, Weed said, “That’s my legacy. I have defined an entire tradition and now they can't take it away from us—even if I’m the biggest piece of shit on the planet, and I’m not.”</p>
<p>“What is real,” she told me, in another conversation, “is my success at taking herbalism out of the hands of the elite and restoring it to the hands of the common person. My goal of making herbal medicine people’s medicine is accomplished. Everyone benefits.” </p>
<p>Throughout, Weed told me, she’s been comfortable with the concept of power, hers and that of others: “My power is mine. I have no need of anyone else’s power. The cultural norm is to be powerful <strong>over</strong> others,” she wrote (emphasis Weed’s). “The Wise Woman way is to be powerful <strong>with</strong> others. We live at a time when any woman who dares to be powerful is a target. I dare.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7vnxv/the-herbalism-community-is-at-war-with-itself-over-abuse-allegations">https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7vnxv/the-herbalism-community-is-at-war-with-itself-over-abuse-allegations</a></p>
</div>
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</div>
</div></div>Scotland Issues Formal Apology to Thousands Accused of Witchcrafthttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/scotland-issues-formal-apology-to-thousands-accused-of-witchcraft2022-04-06T18:21:06.000Z2022-04-06T18:21:06.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><p><span style="font-size:18pt;">An estimated 2,500 Scots were executed as witches between the 16th and 18th centuries</span></p>
<p class="author"><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/author/jane-recker/">Jane Recker</a></p>
<p>April 5, 2022</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Scottish First Minister <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicola-Sturgeon" target="_blank">Nicola Sturgeon</a> has issued a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scotland-considers-pardon-for-thousands-of-accused-witches-180979316/" target="_blank">formal apology</a> to the estimated 4,000 people accused of witchcraft in the country between the 16th and 18th centuries, reports <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-60667533" target="_blank">BBC News</a>. Charged with violating the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4146312?seq=1" target="_blank">Witchcraft Act</a>, which was passed in 1563 and repealed in 1736, most of the individuals targeted were women. According to the University of Edinburgh’s <a href="https://www.shca.ed.ac.uk/Research/witches/introduction.html" target="_blank">Survey of Scottish Witchcraft</a>, two-thirds of those accused (around 2,500 people) were executed.</p>
<p>Scotland’s <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/map-visualizes-scale-16th-and-17th-century-scottish-witch-hunts-180973226/" target="_blank">witch hunts</a> took place amid a wave of similar <a href="https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/early-modern-witch-trials/" target="_blank">mass hysteria events</a> in both Europe and further afield. In the United States, for example, the 1692–1693 <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/" target="_blank">Salem witch trials</a> resulted in the deaths of <a href="https://historyofmassachusetts.org/salem-witch-trials-victims/#:~:text=The%20official%20death%20count%20for,in%20prison%20while%20awaiting%20trial." target="_blank">20 people</a>. Other countries and regions, including <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/12/23/german-church-apologizes-for-killing-witches-centuries-ago/" target="_blank">Germany</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60149778" target="_blank">Catalonia</a> in Spain and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-08-28/swiss-pardon-18th-century-witch/491462" target="_blank">Switzerland</a>, have issued exonerations for victims of witch hunts in recent years—but Scotland only formally apologized for this bloody chapter in its history last month, notes Sarah Durn for <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/witches-scotland-pardon-apology" target="_blank"><em>Atlas Obscura</em></a>.</p>
<p>“At a time when women were not even allowed to speak as witnesses in a courtroom, they were accused and killed because they were poor, different, vulnerable or in many cases just because they were women,” said Sturgeon in a speech on <a href="https://www.internationalwomensday.com/" target="_blank">International Women’s Day</a> (March 8), as quoted by BBC News. “It was injustice on a colossal scale.”</p>
<p>Lawyer <a href="https://www.compasschambers.com/advocates/claire-mitchell" target="_blank">Claire Mitchell</a> and writer <a href="https://booksfromscotland.com/bfs-author/zoe-venditozzi/" target="_blank">Zoe Venditozzi</a> tell the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/09/world/europe/scotland-nicola-sturgeon-apologizes-witches.html" target="_blank"><em>New York Times</em></a>’ Maria Cramer that they were “delighted” with Sturgeon’s speech. On International Women’s Day in 2020, the two launched a campaign called <a href="https://www.witchesofscotland.com/" target="_blank">Witches of Scotland</a>, which pushed for the Scottish Parliament to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scotland-considers-pardon-for-thousands-of-accused-witches-180979316/" target="_blank">pardon and memorialize</a> the accused. Last year, organizers submitted <a href="https://petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE1855" target="_blank">a petition</a> bearing the signatures of more than 3,400 supporters to the Scottish government.</p>
<p>Mitchell and Venditozzi founded Witches of Scotland after partnering up to create a true crime podcast on an undetermined topic. As Mitchell tells Atlas Obscura, her research led her to the witch trials.</p>
<p>“I started looking at [them] … as kind of an academic, legal exercise to find out what were these witch trials about, how many of them were there, what was the evidence like,” she says.</p>
<p>The lawyer’s findings were disturbing. Confessions were often given under duress, be it via sleep deprivation, thumbscrews or iron muzzles. Professional “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/014107689709000914" target="_blank">witch-prickers</a>” were tasked with continually piercing the accused with a needle until they came upon a “Devil’s” or “witch’s mark” spot that didn’t bleed or elicit pain. Sometimes, these witch hunters stripped the accused while searching their bodies for signs of wrongdoing.</p>
<p>On their <a href="https://www.witchesofscotland.com/podcast" target="_blank">podcast</a>, which launched on the same day as their campaign, Mitchell and Venditozzi interviewed experts and shared their findings on Scotland’s witch trials, focusing on events not typically taught in schools.</p>
<p>“In Scotland, the perception of witch trials is almost unknown,” Mitchell tells Atlas Obscura. “It’s only in the past few years that people have really engaged with the idea of talking about the witch trials.”</p>
<p>While the pair say they are pleased with the government’s apology, they still plan to push for an official pardon (which Member of Scottish Parliament <a href="https://www.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps/natalie-don" target="_blank">Natalie Don</a> is working to introduce as legislation, per BBC News) and a memorial.</p>
<p>“We want there to be a state national monument that will mark what happened,” Venditozzi tells the New York Times, “let people know what happened if they’re traveling to the country, and will stand for us to remember this terrible miscarriage of justice for many, many, many years to come.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scotland-issues-formal-apology-to-thousands-accused-of-witchcraft-180979869/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scotland-issues-formal-apology-to-thousands-accused-of-witchcraft-180979869/</a></em></span></p></div>Still Paying For Antivirus Software? Experts Say You Probably Don't Need Ithttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/still-paying-for-antivirus-software-experts-say-you-probably-don-2021-12-02T17:18:17.000Z2021-12-02T17:18:17.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">Viruses are no longer the biggest threats for most users, particularly now that software updates itself automatically and so much personal computing happens over the internet.</span></p>
<p>Dec. 1, 2021</p>
<p>By <span class="byline-name"><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/author/kevin-collier-ncpn1110251">Kevin Collier</a></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Josh Brunty had spent more than a decade in cybersecurity — first as a digital forensics analyst for the West Virginia State Police, then as someone who taught the subject at Marshall University — when he discovered a shocking secret about his father, Butch.</p>
<p>Butch Brunty was still paying money every year for third-party antivirus protection on his home computer, which his son felt hadn’t been necessary for most people for years.</p>
<div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow"> </div>
<p>“He was talking about renewing his antivirus. I said, ‘Are you literally paying for antivirus?’” Brunty said. “I don’t know how he ended up doing it, but he ended up getting connected to Norton, spending, like, $60 a year.”</p>
<p>Brunty’s father, like a lot of other people, hadn’t gotten the message that has become intuitive to many people who work in cybersecurity: There’s just no longer any reason for regular people to pay for antivirus software for their personal devices.</p>
<p>It’s a shift that highlights not only how computer security has evolved in the past decade but also the way many people misunderstand the greatest threats to their computer security.</p>
<p>Antivirus software still centers on its original use: looking for and mitigating software viruses. Because modern computer systems already do that, many programs now offer additional protections, like monitoring the dark web to see whether someone posts customers’ personal information, which experts find to be of little use.</p>
<p>But the greatest threats most users face are no longer from viruses, particularly now that so much personal computing happens over the internet.</p>
<p>Brunty said his dad also paid for a virtual private network, which routes a computer’s internet traffic through a third party. They were once considered vital to prevent nearby hackers from spying on online activity, but <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20211004/07084447693/most-people-probably-dont-need-vpn-experts-now-advise.shtml">security experts now say</a> that thanks to additional built-in security protections in most major browsers, virtual private networks are useful in only a handful of specific scenarios, like streaming video that is restricted in certain countries or getting around government censors like China’s “Great Firewall.”</p>
<p>“He had no understanding of those two technologies, really,” Brunty said. “I think he just felt like if he spent the money, the investment of paying for it was going to protect him from everything.”</p>
<p>Some antivirus programs can offer certain benefits, such as tools that help users avoid email-based phishing campaigns that steal sensitive login credentials. Others can help prevent identity theft.</p>
<p>But most<strong> </strong>experts agree that the built-in antivirus protections on any major system — a fully updated Windows or Apple computer or an Android phone or iPhone — already protect against viruses just as well as the major programs people can pay for. It’s important, however, for users to keep their systems protected through automatic software updates offered by all major software providers.</p>
<h2><span style="font-size:14pt;">Patchwork</span></h2>
<p>It wasn’t always that way. For much of Microsoft’s history, computer experts worried that Windows machines were susceptible to viruses, and there was no firm consensus about what third-party programs people needed to stay safe. </p>
<p>But Microsoft Defender, the free and automatic antivirus program now built into Windows, has gotten so effective that it’s as good as anything customers can pay for, said Simon Edwards, the founder of SE Labs, a London-based company that compares and tests antivirus programs.</p>
<p>“We test it regularly, and it’s one of the top products we’ve seen. It has improved a lot,” Edwards said. </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean malicious software isn’t a threat. But newer devices tend to take care of most problems on their own. Hackers are constantly devising new ways to break into operating systems, and companies have to keep updating ways to stop them. Fortunately, the days of cybersecurity engineers’ writing patches for new, safer versions of software and just hoping users will update them is largely over.</p>
<p>“It’s almost impossible these days to not have a fully patched Windows or Mac system, because they pretty much force updates,” Edwards said.</p>
<p>While it’s a myth that Macs can’t get viruses, the myth is well-founded: Macs essentially had antivirus protections built into their operating systems from their early days. The same goes for iPhones and Android smartphones. The British government even tells its residents <a href="https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/what-is-an-antivirus-product">not to bother</a> buying antivirus software for their phones, provided that they don’t needlessly endanger themselves by installing programs not vetted by an app store.</p>
<p>Butch Brunty isn’t alone. A <a href="https://www.security.org/antivirus/antivirus-consumer-report-annual/">survey by Security.org</a>, a cybersecurity advice website, estimated that nearly 45 million households pay for antivirus software. It also found that people are increasingly more likely to pay for antivirus software the older they are and that most have been using it for years.<strong> </strong>The dynamic has been observed in other parts of the technology world, such as <a href="https://consumerist.com/2011/01/21/aol-makes-most-of-its-money-from-old-people-who-dont-realize-they-dont-need-it-to-check-email/">people who continued to pay AOL</a> for internet service even though they had other internet providers.</p>
<p>McAfee, the once-ubiquitous Windows antivirus program, still has more than 20 million paying customers, a spokesperson said. More than half of the revenue the antivirus company Malwarebytes made last year came from personal users, a spokesperson for the company said. Other major antivirus companies, including Norton, ESET and Kaspersky, didn’t respond to emailed requests for such information.</p>
<p>But trying to stay secure by relying on antivirus software misses the way hackers have evolved, said Bob Lord, who revamped the Democratic National Committee’s cybersecurity strategy for the 2018 and 2020 elections after the party was hacked by Russian intelligence in 2016.</p>
<p>“When I look at all the personal account compromises I’ve seen over the past three years, I don’t think any of them were caused by malware,” Lord said. “They happened because the victims had poor password hygiene and didn’t have two-factor authentication on their accounts.”</p>
<h2><span style="font-size:14pt;">What to do instead</span></h2>
<p>The good news is that almost all of the tools everyone should be relying on to be more secure are free.</p>
<p>Hackers today are most likely to target regular people by trying to take over their personal accounts for email, social media or financial websites. It’s easier to stop them when you know that their goal is “to impersonate you and take over an account you want to keep private,” said Harlo Holmes, the chief information security officer at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, where she advises journalists around the world about the best ways to protect themselves from hackers.</p>
<p>That means using <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/portland/news/press-releases/oregon-fbi-tech-tuesday-building-a-digital-defense-with-passwords">unique passphrases</a> — several words together, which are easier to remember than a string of random characters — because the longer a password is, the harder it is for an automated program to guess. People should also protect every important account with two-factor authentication. That<strong> </strong>lets users use their phones as a second way to prove their identities to websites, which gives hackers an additional hurdle if they’re trying to get into one of their accounts.</p>
<p>Experts recommend using an app like Google Authenticator or Authy when you set up two-factor authentication, rather than through a text message, which dedicated hackers can <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3g8wb/hacker-got-my-texts-16-dollars-sakari-netnumber">intercept</a>.</p>
<h2><span style="font-size:14pt;">Extra features</span></h2>
<p>Some for-purchase antivirus products come bundled with additional benefits that address more modern concerns, like monitoring whether customers’ passwords have been included in a giant dump of stolen credentials or telling them whether criminals are sharing their personal information on the dark web.</p>
<p>But most of the services either do little or are available elsewhere for free, said Susan Grant, the director of consumer protection and privacy at the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit group that serves as an umbrella organization for consumer advocacy groups.</p>
<p>“There’s a limit to what that type of service actually provides,” Grant said. “They don’t prevent you from becoming an identity theft victim. They can’t prevent your information from ending up on the dark web, and they can’t remove it. They can just alert you.”</p>
<p>The website <a href="https://haveibeenpwned.com/">Have I Been Pwned</a> lets everyone check which of their accounts and passwords have been stolen and traded. The Federal Trade Commission offers a <a href="https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/">free guide</a> for people who have had their identities stolen, as does the nonprofit <a href="https://helpcenter.idtheftcenter.org/s/">Identity Theft Resource Center</a>.</p>
<p class="endmark">“It may make people feel better to pay for such a service,” Grant said. But “the advice that you get is available from other sources for nothing.”</p>
<p class="endmark"> </p>
<p class="endmark" style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/still-paying-antivirus-software-experts-say-probably-dont-need-rcna6335" target="_blank">https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/still-paying-antivirus-software-experts-say-probably-dont-need-rcna6335</a></em></span></p></div>Debt Collectors Can Now Text, Email and DM You On Social Mediahttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/debt-collectors-can-now-text-email-and-dm-you-on-social-media2021-12-02T17:12:30.000Z2021-12-02T17:12:30.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><p>December 2, 2021</p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/people/1000952100/joe-hernandez">JOE HERNANDEZ</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next time someone tries to friend you on Facebook or follow you on Instagram, it could be a debt collector.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-confirms-effective-date-for-debt-collection-final-rules/">New rules</a> approved by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that took effect on Tuesday dictate how collection agencies can email and text people as well as message them on social media to seek repayment for unpaid debts.</p>
<p>Kathleen L. Kraninger, the former CFPB director who oversaw the rule changes, said last year that they were a necessary update to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which is more than four decades old.</p>
<p>"We are finally leaving 1977 behind and developing a debt collection system that works for consumers and industry in the modern world," Kraninger <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/cfpbs-clear-rules-road-debt-collector-communications-lead-stronger-consumer-rights/">said in a blog post</a>.</p>
<p>But consumer advocates say borrowers risk missing key information about their debts or falling prey to illegal scams if they're contacted online.</p>
<p>"The rules are really disappointing and concerning in a number of ways," said April Kuehnhoff, a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.</p>
<h3 class="edTag">The new rules set limits for debt collectors</h3>
<p>Under the new rules, debt collectors who contact you on social media have to identify themselves as debt collectors but can attempt to join your network by sending you a friend request. Collectors must give you the option to opt out of being contacted online, and any messages they send have to be private — collectors can't post on your page if it can be seen by your contacts or the public.</p>
<p>Collection agencies can also email and text message debtors, but must still offer the ability to opt out. Industry officials praised the move as a welcome change to the outdated methods currently used by the collections industry.</p>
<p>"Consumers in the collections process deserve to be on a level playing field with others in the financial services marketplace with recognition of their preference to use email and text messaging over other outdated methods, such as faxes as outlined in the current law," Mark Neeb, CEO of ACA International, a trade association for debt collectors, said in a statement.</p>
<h3 class="edTag">Advocates say consumers will pay the price</h3>
<p>Kuehnhoff said consumers should have been given the ability to opt into electronic messages rather than being forced to opt out of them. She suggested that consumers who don't check social media regularly or miss an email may fail to see critical information about a debt. Many people don't have regular access to the internet either, she added.</p>
<p>Allowing debt collectors to email, text and use social media to contact consumers also gives criminals a new avenue to try to swindle people out of their money, a practice Kuehnhoff expects to increase in the future.</p>
<p>"I have actually already gotten my first spam debt collection email even before the new rules took effect," she said. "So certainly we should anticipate more bad actors who are trying to scam people into paying them money on alleged debts."</p>
<p>Kuehnhoff suggested that consumers shouldn't click on links from people they don't know and said they could report any problems with debt collection messages to the CFPB.</p>
<p>The new rules were devised during the Trump administration, when the bureau became more business-friendly than it had been in the past. Kraninger <a href="https://twitter.com/CFPBKraninger/status/1351949184883163138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1351949184883163138%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.housingwire.com%2Farticles%2Fcfpb-director-kathy-kraninger-resigns-at-bidens-request%2F">resigned </a>in January at the request of President Biden, who nominated Rohit Chopra to be the agency's new director.</p>
<p>The new rules also set a limit for the first time on how often debt collectors can call you. Agencies will be restricted to seven calls per week per account in collection.</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/12/02/1060597759/debt-collectors-can-now-text-email-and-dm-you-on-social-media" target="_blank">https://www.npr.org/2021/12/02/1060597759/debt-collectors-can-now-text-email-and-dm-you-on-social-media</a></em></span></p></div>Old Movie Nighthttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/old-movie-night2021-11-27T01:59:22.000Z2021-11-27T01:59:22.000ZLinda Mann~admin.https://witches-moon.ning.com/members/LindaMann<div><p><em><strong>HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPPY!!</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong> I thought this year we'd keep it simple, old movies and munchies for your birthday. No worries, Sunkat said she'd bake a cake this year. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Let's see, where to start...where should i start. OH, I KNOW....</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.93e1ac2e1ca80ddf2218be36357d8c9d?rik=wDGaThhVJfdXXg&pid=ImgRaw&r=0&sres=1&sresct=1" alt="See the source image" /></strong></em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><strong><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cKOoOK09HvQ" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>~Hey, when I said old, I meant old. </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Let's grab some food while we watch.</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9854082668,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9854082668,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="9854082668?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9854083063,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9854083063,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="9854083063?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9cz3F0EifLY" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>....more food coming up! It looks like the chicken is done. </strong></em></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9854084668,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9854084668,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="9854084668?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9854085073,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9854085073,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="9854085073?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></strong></em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><strong>We can't forget Groucho. You know somewhere in my many movies, I have one with Groucho and a very young Lucille Ball</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GmnnLs0v9_s" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></strong></em></p>
<p><strong><em>Hey, I'm getting thirsty, let me rustle up some drinks for us.</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/la2BVTLFQ94" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.00905e7448b16a1536645b0bbc2aa7b2?rik=1%2FAxhT0ik7C4Lg&riu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.party-ideas-by-a-pro.com%2Fimage-files%2Fxdrinks0a.jpg.pagespeed.ic._khc7jSQ8t.jpg&ehk=I0r5jQoCC8s%2FyQXZf9ZA1WULmtlmZW2yVCsFyaXkb0w%3D&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0" alt="See the source image" /></em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em><img src="https://fccmansfield.org/img/best-party-alcoholic-drink-recipes-3.jpg" alt="See the source image" /></em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em><img src="https://www.onlyfoods.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Christmas-Cocktails-Drinks.jpg" alt="See the source image" /></em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>There we go....HEY SUNKAT, is the cake done yet, okay, great the cake is here, now we can have dessert and you can see your presents. (Oh come on I wouldn't forget that)</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9854087889,RESIZE_1200x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9854087889,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="9854087889?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></em></strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><em><img src="https://birthdaysongswithnames.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Personalized-Birthday-Gifts-For-Men.jpg" alt="See the source image" /></em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.984a82a556946d365c6d24daea8fa159?rik=2YYZJQhaX5y9iw&riu=http%3A%2F%2Fmenhealth.in%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F50th-Birthday-Gifts.jpg&ehk=kq8ROhTwyFOlswqrZ%2FU7kbH11HPFdMGyhvkcRfO6pEw%3D&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0&sres=1&sresct=1" alt="See the source image" /></em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9854094288,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9854094288,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="230" alt="9854094288?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></a></em></strong></p></div>Ocracoke's Four Ghostshttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/ocracoke-s-four-ghosts2021-07-26T01:59:13.000Z2021-07-26T01:59:13.000ZLinda Mann~admin.https://witches-moon.ning.com/members/LindaMann<div><p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>Cindy, no we would never forget you. So this is your We Really Love You and Belated Birthday Party!!</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>We are bound for Ocracoke Island in North Carolina, and all their many ghosts, including Edward Teach.</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>First we need to take the free ferry over there. Nope no roads to Ocracoke. by the way, watch for the hungry seagulls.</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/odEYn50QUck" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>We're headed to Blackbeards Lodge, for our party.</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong><img src="https://www.villagecraftsmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IslandInn2017-500x281.jpg" alt="See the source image" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>Blackbeard loved this place, and would stand by the lighthouse for hours at a time just staring out to sea.</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong><img src="https://usercontent2.hubstatic.com/2671449_50.jpg" alt="See the source image" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>and yes, it's still in operation, I've seen it, and felt the ghost(s) around the isle. </strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>Ahhhhh, here is our hotel at last, I can wash the seagull poo off me. lol</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.4a9fbe949adf4926d08673ca82c3c7ae?rik=JQfKbSZwUZCNLQ&pid=ImgRaw" alt="See the source image" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>let's find our rooms</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong><img src="https://blackbeardslodge.com/wp-content/uploads/blackbeards-lodge-ocracoke-nc-bridge3.jpg" alt="See the source image" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong><img src="https://blackbeardslodge.com/wp-content/uploads/blackbeards-lodge-ocracoke-nc-H-Kitchen.jpg" alt="See the source image" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>and yes the lodge is haunted.</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong><img src="https://blackbeardslodge.com/wp-content/uploads/blackbeards-lodge-ocracoke-nc-beach-view-1024x683.jpg" alt="See the source image" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>Besides Blackbeard we have Theodosia Burr Alston,An old <a href="https://discover.hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/St_Augustine_Ghosts">lighthouse</a> keeper with black and gray striped pants and a white shirt is often seen around and in the Ocracoke lighthouse, and others. </strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>Tomorrow we should spend some time wandering around, collect some souvenirs, drink gallons of coffee, etc.</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>Let me check and see if the restaurant is ready, Oops, I lied, we're having cookout on the beach. Much more informal and we don't have to get dressed up.</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong> <img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.oP7s7WbDq12WSFTeBd7N9wHaE8?pid=ImgDet&rs=1" alt="See the source image" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.ZzDwShHdOSJcYBg6IBy6iQHaE8?pid=ImgDet&rs=1" alt="See the source image" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.KICRk3WTf9Ubbs4wj3dPuAHaE7?pid=ImgDet&w=629&h=419&rs=1" alt="See the source image" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><em><strong>we have it all, a bit of this and a bit of that</strong></em></span></p>
<p><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.uuXbRoxE3lPXQwc5jBgSJgAAAA?pid=ImgDet&rs=1" alt="See the source image" /></p>
<p>and we can't forget the cocktails, let's splurge</p>
<p><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.UT96sfKCJ0VvX7_Z1MjzHQHaEk?pid=ImgDet&rs=1" alt="See the source image" /></p>
<p>Poppy brought us some Jello Shots too</p>
<p><img src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d4/b0/2a/d4b02aa9c31462ebf2576cfe5958d013.jpg" alt="See the source image" /></p>
<p>it's getting dark, let's start the bonfire.</p>
<p><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.jjvZbxC7z6DxLUwCcE5ElQHaFj?pid=ImgDet&w=1200&h=900&rs=1" alt="See the source image" /></p>
<p><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.Ut9ttTdoF0nmHw_nb4xWWAHaE7?pid=ImgDet&rs=1" alt="See the source image" /></p>
<p>It looks like Edward and his friends are joining us, cool.</p>
<p>Sunkat said she'd bring a cake, oh there it is.</p>
<p><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.8da69c0c46a5d58af0bf6974154e6f80?rik=0UMOYs%2FEE%2Fg1TA&pid=ImgRaw" alt="See the source image" /></p>
<p>Kat you outdid yourself this time.</p>
<p>I did bring you some gifts too. No birthday is complete without gifts</p>
<p>Maid Service for a month</p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.e79ebaf4cff10ad88dcf26f8a6d1ec76?rik=gnqXbNj7fkjQuw&pid=ImgRaw" alt="See the source image" /></p>
<p><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.YTphurtB2ALTHvLgcRrCwAAAAA?pid=ImgDet&rs=1" alt="See the source image" /></p>
<p><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.rdlrQTwwV9teBhsYizke0wHaIX?pid=ImgDet&rs=1" alt="See the source image" /></p>
<p>Yes, I get everyone books, and there is some interesting stores on Hatteras, including The Lost Colony.</p>
<p>Hatteras Islands is one of my favorite places and I wanted to share it with you, even though there is top much to fit into a party of love for you.</p>
<p>You're lucky I didn't get you to hang glide off Jocky's ridge. lol,</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9311076895,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9311076895,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="474" alt="9311076895?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9311077285,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9311077285,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="9311077285?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9311077100,RESIZE_1200x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9311077100,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="9311077100?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p>we all love you Cindy</p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A0yWgLCQEnk" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p><img src="https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.P17wUKLkQi9mv3g8cxemowHaHa?pid=ImgDet&rs=1" alt="See the source image" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p></div>Woman Fired From Panera For Being Pagan!https://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/woman-fired-from-panera-for-being-pagan2021-04-07T15:53:22.000Z2021-04-07T15:53:22.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><p>MARCH 26, 2021 BY <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/author/gwyn/">GWYN</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>While perusing a friend’s social media feed I noticed a headline reading, “<strong><a href="https://triblive.com/local/south-hills/pagan-woman-sues-pleasant-hills-panera-over-religious-discrimination/" target="_blank">Pagan Woman Sues Pleasant Hills Panera Over Religious Discrimination.</a></strong>” Well, I thought, that is curious. So I read the story. And then I did a Google search and found more stories about this woman’s lawsuit. And that got me thinking about how <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2021/02/tiktok-witches-experiencing-targeted-discrimination/" target="_blank">TikTok Witches are experiencing targeted discrimination</a>.</p>
<p>Naturally, my next thought went to a conversation in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/3pagansandacat" target="_blank">3 Pagans and a Cat Facebook Group</a> regarding Etsy’s deletion of anything smacking of witchcraft or the <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/3dmy38/witches-are-being-kicked-off-of-square-for-selling-occult-items" target="_blank">Square app’s removal of Pagan or Witchcraft-related businesses</a> for selling occult items. Paganism and Witchcraft remain on the rise in America. Seems like some folks are not too happy about it.</p>
<h2><span style="font-size:14pt;">So, You’re a Pagan?</span></h2>
<p>In the news reports, (and a post by <a href="https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/03/25/pagan-employee-sues-panera-bread-citing-religious-discrimination-by-her-managers/" target="_blank">The Friendly Athiest — Hement Mehta</a>), Tammy McCoy began working as a baker for Panera Bread in October 2019. Presumably, she had good reviews, experienced no problems, and never asked for special consideration. Indeed, according to Ms. McCoy, she never discussed her religion with colleagues while at work considering it to be a private matter.</p>
<p>Here is a snippet from the <a href="https://triblive.com/local/south-hills/pagan-woman-sues-pleasant-hills-panera-over-religious-discrimination/" target="_blank">Trib Live article by Paula Reed Ward</a>, based on the court filing:</p>
<p><em>“On May 29, while McCoy was outside taking a break, according to the complaint, assistant general manager Kerri Ann Show said she was Christian and then asked McCoy, “what religion are you?”</em></p>
<p><em>McCoy, who was surprised by the question but answered because Show was her supervisor, responded, “I’m Pagan,” the lawsuit said.</em></p>
<p><em>“Show made a face and immediately said, ‘You’re going to hell,’ ” the lawsuit said.</em></p>
<p><em>The general manager, Lori Dubs, who was standing nearby, “vigorously nodded her head in agreement, her facial expression indicating that she was upset with the plaintiff’s disclosure,” the lawsuit said.</em></p>
<p><em>McCoy did not want to argue with her supervisors, the complaint continued, and instead, said, “OK,” and walked away.”</em></p>
<h2><span style="font-size:14pt;">“Your hours are being cut until you find God.”</span></h2>
<p>From there, the situation escalated. They cut McCoy’s work schedule. When asked, Show made it clear the reason revolved around McCoy’s religious preferences. According to the lawsuit, she continued to lose hours at work in various ways. Additionally, Show and Dubs made the environment hostile by saying things such as her “religion is false”, she “needs to believe in God”, and they were “praying for her.”</p>
<p>Ironic, that last one.</p>
<p>Finally, McCoy tried to take the matter up the chain to the District Manager, who ignored her complaint. When she attempted to contact Human Resources at the parent company, McCoy never heard back. Then the District Manager told McCoy (after taunting her about trying to call the higher-ups), to resign. Both McCoy and her husband (who also worked at the Pleasent Hills, Pennsylvania location) were terminated.</p>
<p>As we have all seen, there are plenty of people who are willing to bully, coerce, or threaten those who do not line up with their particular version of “rightness.” This includes minority groups, the LGBTQ community, and minority religious groups. But when it comes to Pagans, Witches, Heathens, Druids, etc., well, there is a reason why many remain in the “<a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2019/07/living-in-metaphorical-space/" target="_blank">broom closet</a>.” The above situation of losing a job because of Christian bigotry is one of those reasons.</p>
<h2><span style="font-size:14pt;">But freedom of religion and stuff…</span></h2>
<p>I’ve said before that this is a great time to <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2020/10/honestly-i-believe-its-a-great-time-to-be-a-witch/" target="_blank">be a Witch</a>. There are resources available from beginning to advanced thanks to social media, YouTube, and publishing companies. <a href="http://3pagansandacat.com/" target="_blank">Our podcast</a> is one of many to choose from discussing witchcraft and Pagan topics. We even have <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2021/02/tom-bradys-wife-a-witch-and-thats-a-problem/" target="_blank">some celebrities</a> among our ranks. Many of us live in places where we can wear our pentacles or “Hex the Patriarchy” t-shirts without a problem.</p>
<p>Paganism is <a href="https://wildhunt.org/2019/01/estimating-growing-number-of-us-pagans.html" target="_blank">growing</a> in North America. And that is an awesome thing! But we should never grow complacent or forget that while <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/" target="_blank">Christianity is on the decline</a>, its influence remains. There are many places in this country where you keep your witchcraft or paganism to yourself because it is in the “Bible Belt” or some other “Bastian of the faith.”</p>
<p>As Pagans, Witches, Heathen, Druids, et al., we are enjoying a time of unprecedented freedom of religious expression but never forget these liberties can be fleeting. Regardless of how our numbers grow, we remain outnumbered and our communities on the fringe.</p>
<h2><span style="font-size:14pt;">Big companies making it harder to sell occult products.</span></h2>
<p>Companies such as <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/3dmy38/witches-are-being-kicked-off-of-square-for-selling-occult-items" target="_blank">Etsy and Square</a> that facilitate small business are making it harder for Pagans and Witches to operate. Why? I can only speculate. But Square, eBay, or Etsy have put restrictions on “occult” items being sold on their platforms. They claim to be protecting the public from scams (illegal activity). Some of these companies say it saves themselves from financial liability when customers complain about “the results” and want the money back.</p>
<p>But to add “occult items or services” to a list that includes hate speech and racism? The inclusion smacks of days not so long ago when the practice of witchcraft, mediumship, and divination was illegal. This is why “for entertainment purposes only” is added to descriptions for readings, crystals, or other items. However, this no longer seems to be enough.</p>
<h4>Here is my concern.</h4>
<p>If more companies put “occult services and items” into their terms and services as prohibited then what comes next? Straight up zero tolerance for Pagan or Witchcraft sellers? Will these small business owners be able to continue selling online at all? Or will they be relegated to festivals, farmer’s markets, and street fairs? What if those permits start being refused?</p>
<p>All of us who promote pagan or witchcraft-related content (blogs, books, videos, podcasts, products, services) or other “occult” topics know these services, activities, and items are tied to who we are as individuals, our practices, and spiritual beliefs. If it becomes the norm to “delete” our shops and videos (as on TikTok) then what? It’s a pretty effective way of stifling our voice and ability to operate within the marketplace if it continues.</p>
<p>Neighborhood Christians already make concerted efforts to close metaphysical shops when they open in retail locations. They have “protested” our festivals (when we could all still have public gatherings). Just makes me wonder how far emboldened people will push their agenda of “Christians only.” All one has to do is remember the previous administration, the fact half the country supported that mess, and how some people who believe “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53477121" target="_blank">masks violate my freedom</a>” have lashed out to get an idea.</p>
<h2><span style="font-size:14pt;">Support A Fellow Pagan</span></h2>
<p>I’m planning on lighting a spell candle on Tammy McCoy’s behalf for the successful outcome of her lawsuit. May the parent company, Panera Bread, Kerri Ann Show, Lori Dubs, and the District Manager be held accountable for their discriminatory actions. May Tammy McCoy be awarded full compensation for any emotional and financial injury caused by people and events leading up to her unjust treatment and firing.</p>
<p>And while I do not know if it will help, I will no longer support a restaurant chain that ignores its employees when they are trying to report religious persecution and harassment. They fired Tammy McCoy for being a Pagan. Straight up. So, no more <a href="https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html" target="_blank">Panera Bread</a> for me. I stand in solidarity with my fellow Pagan. She should be able to do her job (where she kept her beliefs to herself) without being bullied by a Christian tag-team in positions of authority over her.</p>
<p>You know, we value our freedoms in this country. Religion is one of them. May we never allow this kind of persecution to go unchallenged.</p>
<h2><span style="font-size:14pt;">CORRECTION</span></h2>
<p>In this article, I cited Etsy as having a policy that includes shutting down Witch/Pagan/Occult stores. A reader let me know this is a <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mbvd/etsy-angers-witches-with-new-policy-banning-magic-and-spells" target="_blank"><em><strong>past</strong> </em></a>problem. Digging deeper I discovered the issue is from 2015. Resolution seems to have been found (which makes me happy as I support a lot of Etsy shops and purchase things there).</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2021/03/woman-fired-from-panera-for-being-pagan/" target="_blank">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2021/03/woman-fired-from-panera-for-being-pagan/</a></em></span></p></div>~A Haunted Mansion It Is~https://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/a-haunted-mansion-it-is2020-11-25T03:07:06.000Z2020-11-25T03:07:06.000ZLinda Mann~admin.https://witches-moon.ning.com/members/LindaMann<div><p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>Hello Poppy, </strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>This year we decided to take you to a haunted mansion for dinner and cocktails.</strong></em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong><img class="n3VNCb align-center" style="width:525px;height:393.75px;margin:0px;" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQt4DMtizkRKOKX87q-weWYHFw2HDbDgAMcAQ&usqp=CAU" alt="The Beckett Mansion - Home | Facebook" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>So, here we go....</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong><img class="n3VNCb" style="width:525px;height:331.232px;margin:0px;" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/4e/8c/714e8cd06a1e181048c346393f5be6b8.jpg" alt="spooky mansion interior - The Munsters Mansion Foyer - Google Search | Mansion interior, Gothic house, Old mansions interior" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>Let's take our time going up the stairs, please. they said the dining room was up here somewhere.</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong><img class="n3VNCb" style="width:525px;height:393.75px;margin:0px;" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/54/6c/d1/546cd17e1300108c4143f533fd30b1ff.jpg" alt="Pin on Castle" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>We must have made a wrong turn, it's not here. Let's try again.</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>HEY, we found it!</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong><img class="n3VNCb" style="width:525px;height:350.318px;margin:0px;" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c1/6a/80/c16a80714dd63e4fcc87ae9dba568a2b.jpg" alt="Pin on Haunted Mansion" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>Well, let's have some cocktails while we wait for dinner. Poppy, what will you have?</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong><img class="n3VNCb" style="width:265.718px;height:458px;margin:0px;" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRGd7u_Q4IsTILBhmzYfsEHOXEHvrVwi5jzLw&usqp=CAU" alt="LongHorn Steakhouse Drinks" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong><img class="n3VNCb" style="width:453.456px;height:458px;margin:0px;" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/aa/84/93/aa8493b5718b35da2303bb3bc748e2e1.png" alt="Top Shelf | Alkohol, Saufen, Trinkspiel party" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>Okay, way too many choices here</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong><img class="n3VNCb" style="width:458px;height:458px;margin:0px;" src="https://www.cookingpanda.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/" alt="<a href=" /><a href="">www.chowhound.com_blog-media_2013_12_30241_holiday_drink_gif_620x620_boothby.gif</a>" alt="Which Of These 17 Stunning Cocktails Are You Craving? (GIFs) | Cooking Panda" data-noaft="1" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>Oh goody, here comes dinner</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>I wasn't sure what to cook, so I went with an assortment of dinners</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8213092257,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8213092257,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8213092257?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8213098676,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8213098676,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8213098676?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8213100300,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8213100300,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8213100300?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>and of course, a cake, because n birthday is complete without a cake</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong><img class="n3VNCb" style="width:458px;height:458px;margin:0px;" src="https://www.handletheheat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Best-Birthday-Cake-with-milk-chocolate-buttercream-SQUARE.jpg" alt="Best Birthday Cake - Handle the Heat" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>Oh, I almost forgot we bought you presents too</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong><img class="n3VNCb" style="width:458px;height:458px;margin:0px;" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0291/4793/articles/whiskey-decanter_1600x.jpg?v=1605784001" alt="56 Of The Best Birthday Gifts For Him (from $14.99)" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>....and for<img class="n3VNCb" style="width:456.774px;height:458px;margin:0px;" src="https://s29745.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Travel-Pillow-for-Long-Haul-Flights-Best-Gifts-For-Men-2020.jpg.optimal.jpg" alt="33 PERFECT GIFT IDEAS FOR MEN WHO TRAVEL | Travel Gifts For Men" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong> relaxing,</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong><img class="n3VNCb" style="width:422.651px;height:458px;margin:0px;" src="https://www.80thbirthdayideas.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/80th-Birthday-Gift-Baskets-for-Men1.jpg" alt="80th Birthday Gifts for Men - Best 80th Birthday Gift Ideas for Him 2019" /></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong>HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPPY, WE ALL LOVE YOU</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:18pt;"><em><strong><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qqqrxO9UQdA" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><img class="n3VNCb" style="width:458px;height:458px;margin:0px;" src="https://www.funimada.com/assets/images/cards/big/poppy-3.gif" alt="Wishing You A Happy Birthday, Poppy! Best fireworks GIF animated greeting card. — Download on Funimada.com" /></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p></div>United States Postal Service : Hermês, Dikê, Dikaiosynê, Themishttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/united-states-postal-service-hermes-dike-dikaiosyne-themis2020-09-07T21:20:59.000Z2020-09-07T21:20:59.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>AUGUST 30, 2020 BY <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/holisticspirituality/author/tmierzwicki/">TONY MIERZWICKI</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>So-called “Hermes Ingenui” after the inscription on the pedestal indicating the name of the sculptor or of the donator. Hermes wears some of his usual attributes: kerykeion (or herald’s staff), petasus (round hat), traveller’s cloak. Marble, Roman copy of the 2nd century BCE after a Greek original of the 5th century BCE.</p>
<p><strong>Brief History of the United States Postal Service</strong></p>
<p>During <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-postal-system-established"><strong>early colonial times</strong></a> in the 1600s, few American colonists needed to send mail to each other; it was more likely that their correspondence was with letter writers in Britain. Mail deliveries from across the Atlantic were sporadic and could take many months to arrive. There were no post offices in the colonies, so mail was typically left at inns and taverns.</p>
<p>“The <a class="decorated-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service#:~:text=The%20USPS%20traces%20its%20roots,appointed%20the%20first%20postmaster%20general.&text=It%20was%20elevated%20to%20a,Service%20as%20an%20independent%20agency."><strong>United States Postal Service</strong></a> (USPS) … traces its roots to 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, when Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general. The Post Office Department was created in 1792 with the passage of the Postal Service Act. It was elevated to a cabinet-level department in 1872, and was transformed by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 into the United States Postal Service as an independent agency. … “</p>
<p><strong>“<a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-postal-system-established">Today, the United States has over 40,000 post offices</a></strong> and the postal service delivers 212 billion pieces of mail each year to over 144 million homes and businesses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, the American Virgin Islands and American Samoa. The postal service is the nation’s largest civilian employer, with roughly 500,000 career workers. The postal service is a not-for-profit, self-supporting agency that covers its expenses through postage (stamp use in the United States started in 1847) and related products. The postal service gets the mail delivered, rain or shine, using everything from planes to mules.”</p>
<p>While not perfect, USPS provided a good mail service for Americans until mid-July 2020.</p>
<p><strong>Sabotaging of the United States Postal Service</strong></p>
<p>On July 15, 2020 <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/expect-mail-delays-as-trumps-new-postal-service-chief-pushes-cost-cutting-2020-07-15"><strong>Associated Press</strong></a> reported:</p>
<p>“Mail deliveries could be delayed by a day or more under cost-cutting efforts being imposed by the new postmaster general. The plan eliminates overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers and says employees must adopt a ‘different mindset’ to ensure the Postal Service’s survival during the coronavirus pandemic.</p>
<p>Late trips will no longer be authorized. If postal distribution centers are running late, ‘they will keep the mail for the next day,’ Postal Service leaders say in a document obtained by The Associated Press. ‘One aspect of these changes that may be difficult for employees is that — temporarily — we may see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor or docks,’ another document says.</p>
<p>The changes come a month after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major donor to President Donald Trump, took over the sprawling mail service. … “</p>
<p>This was just the beginning of the sabotaging of the USPS, and it all seemed to stem from an unsubstantiated fear of voting fraud.</p>
<p>On August 13, 2020, <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-admits-he-wants-block-usps-funding-sabotage-mail-voting-2020-8"><strong>Business Insider</strong></a> reported that:</p>
<ul>
<li>“President Donald Trump told Fox Business on Thursday morning that he would block additional funding and election assistance for the US Postal Service to sabotage mail-in voting.</li>
<li>On Wednesday and Thursday, Trump said he would not sign off on any relief bill that includes emergency federal funds for the USPS and more money to process election-related mail.</li>
<li>‘They want $25 billion — billion — for the post office. Now they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots … But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting.’</li>
<li>Under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the cash-strapped USPS has implemented cost-cutting measures that experts say could harm the delivery of election-related mail.”</li>
</ul>
<p>“The <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-seal-william-mcraven-trump-is-actively-undermining-us-institutions-2020-8?utm_source=reddit.com&fbclid=IwAR3-A0cC1aQuyg7n66ce4i4F8g9P1CaIy7ldSMXD_dO62Q9kki3xxbR4ETQ"><strong>US Postal Service</strong></a> has emerged as a focal point during the coronavirus pandemic and ahead of the presidential election. Trump has claimed, without evidence, that voting by mail will lead to extensive voter fraud and has suggested withholding funding from the Postal Service, sparking concerns that he is stoking fears about voting systems that have been free of widespread fraud.”</p>
<p>In an <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-seal-william-mcraven-trump-is-actively-undermining-us-institutions-2020-8?utm_source=reddit.com&fbclid=IwAR3-A0cC1aQuyg7n66ce4i4F8g9P1CaIy7ldSMXD_dO62Q9kki3xxbR4ETQ"><strong>op-ed article in The Washington Post</strong></a> published August 16, 20202, Retired US Navy Adm. William McRaven, who had a distinguished military career as a Navy SEAL and oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, accused President Donald Trump of undermining not only the United States Postal Service but every major US institution. He wrote:</p>
<p>“As Trump seeks to undermine the US Postal Service and stop mail-in voting, he is taking away our voice to decide who will lead America. It is not hyperbole to say that the future of the country could depend on those remarkable men and women who brave the elements to bring us our mail and deliver our vote.”</p>
<p>The previously good service provided by USPS was now woefully inadequate. On August 20, 2020, <a class="decorated-link" href="https://news.yahoo.com/armageddon-rotting-food-dead-animals-180715834.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=fb&tsrc=fb"><strong>Yahoo News</strong></a> quoted <strong>LA Times</strong> which reported:</p>
<p>“And inside a massive mail-sorting facility in South Los Angeles, workers fell so far behind processing packages that by early August, gnats and rodents were swarming around containers of rotted fruit and meat, and baby chicks were dead inside their boxes.</p>
<p>Accounts of conditions from employees at California mail facilities provide a glimpse of what some say are the consequences of widespread cutbacks in staffing and equipment recently imposed by the postal service.</p>
<p>Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, responding to a national outcry over service disruptions and fears of voter disenfranchisement, said this week he would suspend many planned changes until after the election. But postal workers say significant damage has already been done, including the removal of mail-sorting machines, which may not be replaced. </p>
<p>Inside one sprawling facility at Florence and Central avenues in Los Angeles, which serves 92 L.A.-area post offices … Packages piled up, blocking the aisles and the heavy sorting machinery. Boxes of steaks, fruit and other perishables rotted. Rats dashed across the floor. At one point, Scantlebury said, the ‘whole building was filled with gnats.’</p>
<p>The delays were particularly tragic for live animals, including baby chickens and crickets, that are transported through the U.S. Postal Service. Usually, mail handlers say, they can hear the birds peeping and rustling around in their boxes.</p>
<p>This month, one worker said, she found a box with air holes in a pile of packages. Instead of hearing the gentle sounds of baby chicks, she heard nothing.</p>
<p>Workers sometimes see shipments of crickets jumping around inside their packaging, said Eddie Cowan, a mail handler and the president of a local chapter of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union. Now, he said, ‘you can see in the packages those crickets are dead.’”</p>
<p>On August 20, 2020, <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/thousands-of-chicks-arrive-dead-to-farmers-amid-usps-turmoil?fbclid=IwAR0w1HgpPRlaJpjyXVI8_WnQTqiXsEw61j-ysfM0014FMKB6rU8OLMQqLpA"><strong>PBS</strong></a> reported:</p>
<p>“At least 4,800 chicks shipped to Maine farmers through the U.S. Postal Service have arrived dead in recent weeks after rapid cuts hit the federal mail carrier’s operations, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said.</p>
<p>Pingree, a Maine Democrat, is raising the issue of the dead chicks and the losses farms are facing in a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and U.S. Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sonny Perdue, The Portland Press Herald reported.”</p>
<p>On August 30, 2020 <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.cnet.com/how-to/usps-crisis-why-mail-is-delayed-how-it-may-affect-the-election-and-whats-being-done-about-it/"><strong>CNET</strong> </a>reported that:</p>
<p>“This fall, with concerns around COVID-19 still high, more than 80 million voters are expected to vote by mail to avoid polling places and the risk of infection.</p>
<p>Instead of boosting its capacity to take on what could be double the number of mail-in ballots cast compared with the last presidential election, the US Postal Service has taken a series of steps this summer that could dramatically cut back its ability to handle the unprecedented number of ballots it will receive. And while Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress he intends to pause planned changes to the service, which include closures of mail processing machines, until after the Nov. 3 election, some cities report the USPS continues to cut back on services. …</p>
<p>The reductions initially planned by DeJoy, who was appointed in June, includes taking offline 671 of its high-capacity letter sorting machines, removing collection boxes in Western states, limiting overtime and cutting back post office hours.</p>
<p>The Postal Service has advised states it can’t guarantee ballots will reach voters before the election. In letters sent to 46 states and the District of Columbia, the Postal Service warned ‘there is a significant risk that the voter will not have sufficient time to complete and mail the completed ballot … in time for it to arrive by the state’s return deadline’.”</p>
<p><strong>The Postal Service Role in the Digital Age</strong></p>
<p>“<a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/document-library-files/2015/rarc-wp-11-003_0.pdf"><strong>The Internet and the digital revolution</strong></a> are fundamentally changing the worlds of communications and commerce. The digital economy continues to grow at a rapid rate. Electronic substitution of traditional mail is accelerating as both consumers and businesses adopt electronic processes across multiple domains. Mail users are shifting from traditional hard copy distribution models to a variety of new ways to digitally communicate, advertise, or transact. They are attracted to greater convenience, faster service, and lower cost.”</p>
<p>While there is increasing digital communication, and USPS has been morphing to keep pace there will always be a need for a traditional service – legal documents, packages and votes – need to be physically transported.</p>
<p><strong>Activism</strong></p>
<p>On August 17, 2020, <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/08/17/activists-announce-protests-to-save-the-post-office-postal-service-dejoy/#c507cbdb2c2b"><strong>Forbes</strong> </a>reported that:</p>
<p>“MoveOn, the NAACP, Working Families Party and other national organizations are organizing ‘#SaveThePostOffice Saturday,’ which asks Americans nationwide to show up at post offices across the country at 11:00 AM on Saturday, August 22, ‘to save the post office from Trump and declare that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy must resign.’</p>
<p>The announcement came as hundreds of protesters picketed outside DeJoy’s Greensboro, North Carolina, home Sunday, after gathering Saturday outside his apartment building in Washington, D.C.”</p>
<p>Apart from demonstrations there are numerous petitions online.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Greek Deities to Assist in Activism</strong></p>
<p>Hermês, as a god of merchants and travel would have to be the one most closely associated with postal services. Dikaiosynê, Dikaiosynê and Themis would be very appropriate to call on to address the injustice of sabotaging the USPS.</p>
<p>In ancient Greece, the most widespread offering was a simple granule of frankincense strewn in the flames. Unless I’m using a hymn that specifies a particular fragrance or incense, I always default to frankincense. If you feel motivated to make an offering as well, by all means do so.</p>
<p>In this case, every the recommended incense for every deity called is actually frankincense.</p>
<p>[Mierzwicki, <em>Hellenismos</em>, 28]</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Hermês</strong></p>
<p>“Hermes [Hermês]: the son of Zeus and Maia (Maia was the eldest of the seven Pleiades, who were mountain nymphs); the god of communication (messenger of the gods), and hence roads and travel; commerce, thievery, animal husbandry, hospitality, heralds, diplomacy, language, writing, persuasion, quick wit and cunning wiles, athletic contests, gymnasiums, astronomy, and astrology. He was the personal agent and herald of Zeus, as well as a psychopomp (guide bringing the dead to the underworld). … Hermes was depicted as either a handsome and athletic beardless youth, or in earlier art as a mature bearded man. He would normally have winged sandals or a winged hat. His symbols included the herald’s wand [kerykeion] (Latin caduceus—a staff entwined with two snakes), winged boots or sandals, sometimes a winged traveler’s cap and chlamys cloak, stork and tortoise (whose shell he used to invent the lyre).”</p>
<p>[Mierzwicki, <em>Hellenismos</em>, 43-44]</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Orphic Hymn 28. For Hermes</p>
<p>Incense: frankincense</p>
<p>“Hear me, Hermes, herald of Zeus and son of Maia, having an all-mighty heart.</p>
<p>The lord of contests and guide of mortals,</p>
<p>kind and clever messenger of the gods and slayer of Argos.</p>
<p>With your winged feet, you are a friend to humans, and you are a prophet of the word to mortals.</p>
<p>You delight in exercise, in deceit and trickery, and you wear the sacred band.</p>
<p>Interpreter of all, you preside over the profits of business,</p>
<p>driving off all our cares, you who hold in your hands the blameless weapon of peace.</p>
<p>Blessed god of Korykos, bringer of good luck,</p>
<p>with many stories, helper in business and friend to mortals in need,</p>
<p>you possess the venerable and dreadful weapon of language.</p>
<p>Hear me in my prayers and bring a noble end to life in deeds,</p>
<p>and graceful remembrances of reputation.”</p>
<p>Note: The term used for “word” above ( , logos) can also mean reason, logic, ratio, story, and account, among other things. In Stoic philosophy, it describes the underlying order of the universe. It is unclear what the “sacred band” refers to; perhaps a ritual blindfold.</p>
<p>[Translation from Dunn, <em>The Orphic Hymns</em>]</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Dikê</strong></p>
<p><strong>“<a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/HoraDike.html">Dikê</a></strong> was the goddess of justice, fair judgements and the rights established by custom and law. She was one of the three Horai (Horae), goddesses of the seasons, and keepers of the gates of heaven. Her sisters were Eunomia (Good Order) and Eirene (Peace). Like her siblings, she probably also represented an aspect of springtime growth.</p>
<p>Dikê was identified with Dikaiosyne (RIghteousness) and Astraia (Astraea) (the Contellation Virgo). Her opposite number was Adikia (Adicia) (Injustice).”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Orphic Hymn 62. For Dikê</p>
<p>Incense: frankincense</p>
<p>“I celebrate in song the all-seeing eye of splendid Dikê,</p>
<p>who also seats herself on the holy throne of Lord Zeus,</p>
<p>and looks down from the heavens on the lives of the many different kinds of mortals,</p>
<p>an avenging, heavy judgement against the unjust.</p>
<p>Out of equality, she corrects imbalance by means of the truth.</p>
<p>For everything that wicked mortal minds hold in obscurity,</p>
<p>in greedy plans and unjust desires, you alone step forth and wake up justice against the unjust.</p>
<p>The enemy of the unjust, you join yourself kindly with the just.</p>
<p>But, come, fair goddess, to noble minds when the day that was ever destined for life arrives.”</p>
<p>Note: The word used for “life” in the last line is (<em>biotēs</em>) which more commonly means “livelihood” or “means of living.”</p>
<p>[Translation from Dunn, <em>The Orphic Hymns</em>]</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Dikaiosynê</strong></p>
<p><strong>“<a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Dikaiosyne.html">Dikaiosynê</a></strong> (righteousness) was the personified spirit (daimona) of righteousness and justice. She was closely related to Dikê (Justice).”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Orphic Hymn 63. For Dikaiosynê (Justice)</p>
<p>Incense: frankincense</p>
<p>“O utmost Justice, blessed and desired by mortals, rejoicing always in just people equally,</p>
<p>honored by all, the greatly shining Dikaiosynê of blessed portion:</p>
<p>always unbroken in knowledge,</p>
<p>you determine what is right for pure minds;</p>
<p>for you always shatter every one who does not come under your yoke</p>
<p>but struggles to take control over it for themselves,</p>
<p>who greedily try to tip the balance of your stout scales.</p>
<p>Taking no sides, a friend to all, charming one who loves festivals,</p>
<p>you joy in peace, eager for a steady life, for you always hate excess, but you rejoice in fairness.</p>
<p>For virtue’s wisdom within you hits its noble end.</p>
<p>Listen, goddess, and shatter human evil with justice,</p>
<p>so a noble life might always travel amid equanimity for mortal humans,</p>
<p>who eat of the fruit of the tilled fields,</p>
<p>and for all the living things whom the divine mother Gaia nurses at her breast,</p>
<p>and Zeus of the salty sea. “</p>
<p>Note: “Zeus of the salty sea” is a reference to Poseidon. Both Poseidon and Hades are sometimes called the “Zeus” of their respective realms.</p>
<p>[Translation from Dunn, <em>The Orphic Hymns</em>]</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Themis</strong></p>
<p><a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisThemis.html"><strong>Themis</strong> </a>was the Titan goddess of divine law and order–the traditional rules of conduct first established by the gods. She was also a prophetic goddess who presided over the most ancient oracles, including Delphoi (Delphi). In this role, she was the divine voice (<em>themistes</em>) who first instructed mankind in the primal laws of justice and morality, such as the precepts of piety, the rules of hospitality, good governance, conduct of assembly, and pious offerings to the gods. In Greek, the word <em>themis</em> referred to divine law, those rules of conduct long established by custom. …</p>
<p>Themis was an early bride of Zeus and his first counsellor. She was often represented seated beside his throne advising him on the precepts of divine law and the rules of fate. Themis was closely identified with Demeter Thesmophoros (“Bringer of Law”).”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Orphic Hymn 79. For Themis</p>
<p>Incense: frankincense</p>
<p>“I call on Themis, the holy daughter of her noble father, Ouranos, and offspring of Gaia,</p>
<p>the maiden whose face is like a budding flower, who first showed mortals the holy oracle,</p>
<p>giving prophesies to the gods from the abyss in Delphi on the Pythian plain where King Python ruled.</p>
<p>She taught the lord Phoibos the oracles.</p>
<p>All honored, lovely-shaped, revered, roaming the night,</p>
<p>you brought holy rites to light for mortals for the first time,</p>
<p>shouting to the lord throughout the Bacchic nights.</p>
<p>For the honors of the blessed ones and the holy mysteries come from you.</p>
<p>But, blessed maiden, kindly come, welcomed to holy rites of your solemnity.”</p>
<p>[Translation from Dunn, <em>The Orphic Hymns</em>]</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>The primary reference texts for this article are:</strong></p>
<p>Patrick Dunn, <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.amazon.com/Orphic-Hymns-Translation-Occult-Practitioner/dp/0738753440/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2R95SJJ0Y3J5A&dchild=1&keywords=patrick+dunn+orphic&qid=1598228448&s=books&sprefix=patrick+dunn+o%2Cstripbooks%2C756&sr=1-1"><em>The Orphic Hymns: A New Translation for the Occult Practitioner</em></a></p>
<p>Tony Mierzwicki, <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.amazon.com/Hellenismos-Practicing-Greek-Polytheism-Today/dp/0738725935"><em>Hellenismos: Practicing Greek Polytheism Today</em></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tony Mierzwicki</p>
<p>Author of <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.amazon.com/Hellenismos-Practicing-Greek-Polytheism-Today/dp/0738725935"><em>Hellenismos: Practicing Greek Polytheism Today</em></a> and <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1905713037/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1"><em>Graeco-Egyptian Magick: Everyday Empowerment</em></a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/holisticspirituality/2020/08/30/united-states-postal-service-hermes-dikaiosyne-dikaiosyne-themis/" target="_blank">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/holisticspirituality/2020/08/30/united-states-postal-service-hermes-dikaiosyne-dikaiosyne-themis/</a></em></span></p></div>Mayor Says Women Can’t Lead Prayerhttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/mayor-says-women-can-t-lead-prayer2020-05-29T19:48:33.000Z2020-05-29T19:48:33.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><p>MAY 26, 2020 BY <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/author/johnbeckett">JOHN BECKETT</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>A bit of local controversy arose late last week when <a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-mayor-says-women-cant-pray-at-city-council-meetings/287-2c842884-f841-49c3-bc63-f9744f8ec6f6">news reports</a> began to surface around comments made by Eric Hogue, who is mayor of Wylie, Texas, a small town that used to be rural and is now a suburb of Dallas.</p>
<p>Another member of Wylie City Council suggested that some local students lead the public prayer at an upcoming council meeting. Mayor Hogue’s response was:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“All I ask is that those leading the public prayer be young men.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Eric Hogue is not just mayor of Wylie. He’s also a pastor in the Church of Christ – that’s the very conservative, congregationalist Church of Christ, not the rather progressive United Church of Christ. They believe – based off a literal reading of New Testament writings generally attributed to St. Paul – that women are not permitted to preach, teach, or have any religious authority over men. That includes leading prayer where men are present.</p>
<p>Hogue told <a href="https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/05/21/wylie-mayor-eric-hogue-women-silent-invocation-church-council-meetings/">another reporter</a> that when other council members have selected women to lead the prayer “I’ve always shown the respect that they deserve.” But he only selects men. I think it’s safe to assume he only selects Christian men, and only certain types of Christian men at that.</p>
<p>He says “If I am asked my opinion, I’m going to state my opinion.”</p>
<p>And he doesn’t understand why that’s a problem.</p>
<h1>Why do we even have prayer before government meetings, anyway?</h1>
<p>On one hand, I get it: public prayer is a very old thing – far older than Christianity. The temples of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and other societies of the ancient world were civic institutions. Most were publicly financed, with the goal of maintaining good relations between a people and their deities.</p>
<p>This country is different. While some of the early settlers came here to establish their own theocracy, the United States of America was founded on the principle of <a href="https://www.au.org/resources/publications/is-america-a-christian-nation">religious freedom</a>. Not only do we have no patron deities, our constitution specifically forbids the establishment of any religion – which, despite what Dominionist propaganda would have you believe, means far more than “no national church.” It means that government cannot favor one religion over other religions, or over no religion.</p>
<p>That we have never truly lived up to that ideal is no excuse for not doing better now.</p>
<p>My preference is to end all civic prayer immediately. Public sectarian prayer is inherently divisive, as this incident shows.</p>
<p>But old habits are hard to break, and the benefits of a forced end to civic prayer aren’t worth the backlash against it, particularly now. And public prayer can be done inclusively.</p>
<h1>Eric Hogue is wrong because he’s mayor of all citizens</h1>
<p>This is what politicians who want to bring religion into government fail to realize. If you’re mayor of a city, you’re the mayor of all that city and you have an obligation to represent all its citizens, not just those who follow your religion. If you have public prayer then everyone has a right to participate, and every tradition has a right to be represented.</p>
<p>That means more than Church of Christ men. It means Methodist women and non-binary Unitarian Universalists. It means Muslims and Buddhists and Pagans.</p>
<p>Yes, it includes <a href="https://komonews.com/news/local/congregation-of-washington-satanists-allowed-to-perform-ritual-at-state-capitol">Satanists</a>.</p>
<p>And it includes atheists who want to offer a <a href="https://ffrf.org/outreach/item/19628-an-atheist-invocation-and-its-aftermath">non-religious invocation</a>.</p>
<p>A city official who only selects prayer leaders who meet his own religious criteria is not representing all his city – he’s subtly trying to establish his own religion, in fact if not in law.</p>
<p>If Eric Hogue won’t select women to lead civic prayer he should resign, or at least recuse himself from the selection process.</p>
<h1>What he does in his own church is their business</h1>
<p>Religious freedom is for everyone, not just for those you agree with. While I believe fundamentalism is religiously flawed and often leads to acts that can only be described as evil, fundamentalists have the right to practice their religion as they see fit… at least as long as they aren’t bombing abortion clinics or flying airplanes into buildings.</p>
<p>Do they have the right to inflict their religion on their children? I’m extremely reluctant to tell anyone they can’t pass their religion down to their children. At the same time, as someone who grew up in a fundamentalist church, teaching children that if they don’t follow the right religion in the right way they’ll burn in hell forever <em>is</em> child abuse.</p>
<p>But that’s another topic for another time. What matters here is that if Eric Hogue and the Church of Christ want to prohibit women from leading prayer, that’s their right. If the women of that church want to go along with it, that’s their right.</p>
<p>If they want to leave and find a church that respects them as whole persons, that’s their right too.</p>
<h1>Limiting religious leadership by gender is wrong</h1>
<p>At the end of the day I’m not a relativist. I respect your right to be wrong, but I’m not going to pretend wrong is right.</p>
<p>Limiting religious leadership by gender is wrong.</p>
<p>As a Pagan I have no sacred texts to tell me gender discrimination is wrong. But as helpful as the writings of our ancestors can be, they always reflect the times and traditions of the people who wrote them. Tradition is decidedly mixed – when men have dominated a society (which is most times in most places) they’ve usually dominated the religion as well.</p>
<p>“We’ve always done it this way” is no excuse for not embodying sacred values and virtues in the best way possible here and now.</p>
<p>For me, it comes down to this: if a deity calls someone to Their service, who am I to tell that person they’re wrong?</p>
<p>I clearly remember the first time I encountered this. I was 9 or 10 years old and I was just starting to realize that much of what I was being taught in the Baptist church ain’t necessarily so. The 6:30 PM national news had a feature on a woman who was fighting to be ordained. I don’t remember which denomination – this was the early 70s, so it could have been most of them. I remember that when I heard the introduction I repeated what the Baptists told me: “God doesn’t call women to be preachers.”</p>
<p>After I heard this woman’s story, it hit me: who am I to tell her she’s wrong?</p>
<p>Scripture and tradition have been used to justify slavery and genocide – they’re not an infallable inerrant guide on other issues either. A religion that’s stuck in the culture of its founding days is a stagnant religion.</p>
<p>I mostly stay out of the internal affairs of other religions – my own religion keeps me plenty busy. If your religion restricts leadership roles based on gender, that’s your business. But if a woman or a non-binary person says they’re called to a role you say is limited to men, I’m going to be on their side.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Eric Hogue needs to learn to separate his religious duties as pastor from his civic duties as mayor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2020/05/mayor-says-women-cant-lead-prayer.html">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2020/05/mayor-says-women-cant-lead-prayer.html</a></em></span></p>
</div>Simple Spells To Get Through Thishttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/simple-spells-to-get-through-this2020-03-27T21:12:59.000Z2020-03-27T21:12:59.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}4239752235,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}4239752235,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="4239752235?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p>MARCH 27, 2020 BY <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/oakandolive/author/lreufner/">LAUREL REUFNER</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>I really couldn’t figure out what to write about, so I’ve been quiet for a while. Actually, that’s not true, I could think of tons of things to write about, I just couldn’t decide where to start and what would be good for our current situation. There’s a need to feel like one is contributing in such situations, ya know? So, I’ve been working on a small collection of many of the spells I’ve created for Llewellyn over the years. Sharing some of those with you here seemed like a good thing to do. And so, I present some simple spells to get through this. Some help with healing energy and keeping loved ones safe and some are simply for smoothing over frangled energies within a house of cooped up folks. Take them and use as necessary, substituting where you need to, making them your own.</p>
<p>Stay safe. Stay healthy. And stay six feet apart. Oh, and wash your hands…again.</p>
<h2>Healing and Energy Work</h2>
<h3><em>Shielding Meditation for the Strongly Empathic</em></h3>
<p>The psychic shield that this meditation crates will allow you, when it is activated, to filter out strong emotions that can be disorienting, or even extremely draining. To start, sit or lie comfortably and calm your breathing. Feel your body coming to rest. Now, take an extra-deep breath and, as you continue to breathe deeply, begin building a mental shield around yourself. Feel layer upon layer building up, wrapping itself around you in a warm protective coating. Feel the shield becoming translucent, even porous. Let it become part of you, and then, visualize yourself reaching out a hand to touch the shield, seeing a static pulse spark under your fingers. Know that when any strong emotions come toward you, they will be “vaporized” in a similar pulse. Let the shield damp itself down, remaining dormant until needed. To activate at an time, visualize the shield “powering up” around you like a force field brought back to life. 17 May 2005</p>
<h3><em>Healing at a Distance</em></h3>
<p>Send healing energy to a loved one fairly quickly and easily with this simple spell.</p>
<p>You will need:</p>
<p>Picture of your target</p>
<p>A green candle</p>
<p>Rosemary or lavender essential oil</p>
<p>Candle holder</p>
<p>Place the picture under the candle holder and then light the candle. Place your hands on either side of it. Take a calming, centering breath, and visualize the person well and healthy once more. Pour your energy into the image and send it spiraling out in their direction. Ask that the energy be accepted if it is the best thing for the ill person. Ground yourself and cut the link to the spell. Allow the candle to burn out or burn it for ½ hour over several days. 22 April 2007</p>
<h3><em>Protection of a Warrior</em></h3>
<p>The beliefs of soldier’s in times past have imbued the golden coin with protective powers. Prepare this safety charm for the warrior in your life, whether they be a cop on the streets or someone in the military overseas.</p>
<p>You will need:</p>
<p>Gold-colored coin*</p>
<p>Picture of person to protect, if possible</p>
<p>Hold the coin in your hands and go into a meditative state. Visualize strong currents of protective white light moving about your warrior. Build them up and make them truly strong before sending all of that energy into the coin. Ask them to carry the coin on their person. 25 November 2008</p>
<p>*Here in the US, you can get Sacagawea or presidential dollar coins that are gold in color.</p>
<h3><em>A Little Empathy</em></h3>
<p>Sometimes wish that a loved one better understood you? A little empathy is usually what is needed.</p>
<p>You will need:</p>
<p>2 pink candles</p>
<p>White candle</p>
<p>A picture of each of you</p>
<p>Place your image under the pink candle on the left and the other under the pink candle on the right. The white candle goes in the middle. Light all of the candles. Centering yourself, look into the central candle’s flame, saying the following, “May you walk in my shoes. See things from my perspective and understand. May I do the same for you.” Switch the photos under the candles and allow them to burn down.</p>
<p>Note: You can’t force someone to see your point of view if they truly have no interest in doing so. This spell only nudges things, or helps along a person already willing to see your perspective. 26 December 2008</p>
<h2>Relationships</h2>
<h3><em>Scented Candle Friendship Spell</em></h3>
<p>While this spell won’t repair serious damage in a relationship between two friends, it can help ease over those occasional rough spots that we all go through. For the simplest version of this spell, you’ll need:</p>
<p>A scented candle</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Paper and pen</p>
<p>Heat-proof bowl</p>
<p>Pick a candle scent that makes you feel calm, relaxed, and at ease. Hold the candle in your hands and inhale deeply. Now, light the candle and on a piece of paper, write down what it is that’s causing tension between the two of you. Take a moment to watch the candle flame while you focus on all the positives in your relationship. Create as vivid an image of those good things as you can and keep them in focus while you light the paper in the candle’s flame and allow it to burn to ashes in a heat-proof bowl. Feel free to burn the candle often, remembering your friendships as you light it. You can also give matching candles to your closest friends as an offering of how much they mean to you. 29 April 2011</p>
<h3><em>Tension Easing Stovetop Potpourri</em></h3>
<p>Life has a way of becoming hectic and our energies become stressed and jumpy. To help ease those tensions in a stressed-out household, try putting this brew on a back burner and let the aroma work its magic.</p>
<p>You will need:</p>
<p>Equal parts: lavender</p>
<p>Roses</p>
<p>Cedar</p>
<p>Cinnamon sticks</p>
<p>Oak moss, a generous pinch</p>
<p>Lemon peel (great for spring and summer)</p>
<p>Orange peel (great for fall and winter)</p>
<p>Place all of the ingredients into a small saucepan*, place on the back burner, and allow to simmer as long as needed, refreshing the water and the ingredients as necessary.</p>
<p>*I prefer to use a glass or ceramic saucepan because they don’t leach anything into the mix. However, since this isn’t an infusion to be drunk, it doesn’t matter nearly as much what sort of pan you use. 3 March 2008</p>
<h2>Finances</h2>
<h3><em>Tide Me Over Spell</em></h3>
<p>This spell will help you find a job, but not necessarily a career. This is for those seeking something to keep them afloat while looking for more enjoyable long-term employment.</p>
<p>You will need:</p>
<p>The want ads</p>
<p>Green candle and holder</p>
<p>Cumin</p>
<p>Cinnamon</p>
<p>Ginger</p>
<p>Nutmeg</p>
<p>Sm. glass container</p>
<p>For ease, you might want to powder the spices before starting your spell, although you could also powder them during the spell working. Doing so will give you a chance to add extra energy into the herbs.</p>
<p>Place the want ads under the candle and the light it. If you are powdering your spices during the ritual, now is the time to do so. Add your spices to a small, glass bowl and stir them together. As you do so, focus on your need to earn extra money. After it is thoroughly mixed together, store in a special jar. Let the candle finish burning out.</p>
<p>To use, sprinkle the mixture lightly onto resumes, job applications, and cover letters before sending them out. If applying online, consider burning some of the spices on a small charcoal near your computer area. (Make sure it’s well ventilated!) 9 August 2007</p>
<h3><em>Money Bottle</em></h3>
<p>You will need:</p>
<p>Sm. corked bottle</p>
<p>Piece of jade, to fit in bottle</p>
<p>Piece of tiger’s eye, to fit in bottle</p>
<p>Piece of aventurine, to fit in bottle</p>
<p>Salt, pinch</p>
<p>Tea, pinch</p>
<p>Basil, pinch</p>
<p>5 cloves</p>
<p>Olive oil, extra virgin</p>
<p>Green candle</p>
<p>Charging the items with prosperity can be done all at once before you begin, or one at a time just before placing an item in the bottle. Either way works just fine. Place the gemstones in the bottle, followed by the salt, tea, and basil. Add in the cloves. Fill the bottle to the top with the extra virgin olive oil and cork it shut. Light the green candle and allow the melting wax to drip down over the cork, helping seal it shut.</p>
<p>Let your money bottle sit in a windowsill in the increasing moonlight for a week, spending a moment here and there looking at it and its contents while imagining your money problems disappearing. Put the bottle in a safe place and it is done. 11 October 2007</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/oakandolive/2020/03/simple-spells-to-get-through-this-current-mandated-isolation/">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/oakandolive/2020/03/simple-spells-to-get-through-this-current-mandated-isolation/</a></em></span></p></div>Witchcraft For Coping With COVID-19: Banish, Protect And Healhttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/witchcraft-for-coping-with-covid-19-banish-protect-and-heal2020-03-20T19:17:14.000Z2020-03-20T19:17:14.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><p> MARCH 15, 2020 BY <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keepingherkeys/author/cbrannen/">CYNDI BRANNEN</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The outbreak of the novel coronavirus is a global crisis that’s significantly impacting all of our lives. As witches, we know that there is no separation from the material and spirit worlds. Our work for banishing, protection and healing involves both the mainstream practices, like social distancing and hand washing, and the deeper work of our witchcraft.</p>
<p>I’ve embedded links throughout this article to help you cope and stay focused on strengthening your mind, body and soul. Included are links especially relevant to those engaged with my courses and books. I’ve also included the components of our Keeping Her Keys COVID-19 altar comprised of releasing, protecting and blessing.</p>
<p>The practices and energy shared within this article are not substitutes for medical care. If you are suffering symptoms of the virus or may have been exposed, I urge you to seek the appropriate services.</p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12pt;">Our Energy And Energy Intake</span></h1>
<p>Perhaps as witches our greatest challenge is to manage our own stress and the energy intake that we absorb from others, not just during this outbreak, but overall in life. We are incredible powerhouses of our own energy, and we often <a class="decorated-link" href="https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/keepingherkeys/2019/03/the-witches-journey-spirit-and-soul-collecting/">“collect”</a> other’s energy as well. This is awesome, except when it gets to be overwhelming and exhausting.</p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12pt;">Deepening Prevention</span></h1>
<p>Our efforts to stay safe and sane during this pandemic will naturally include the recommended preventative practices and, if necessary, the required treatments, that the mainstream health care system is prescribing.</p>
<p>We can deepen our prevention and healing practices through our witchcraft, working our magick to protect and ensure health, taking the medicine of our plant and stone allies, and leaning into the mystery of this time. There is much to feel, do and learn from this outbreak.</p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12pt;">It Is Right To Be Fearful: It Is Our Right To Release The Fear</span></h1>
<p>This crisis is frightening. That needed to be said. In a world where our emotions are often minimized, taking some time to honor the fearful emotions evoked is important.</p>
<p>If you’ve performed the Agape Phoberos Ritual, you’ll have tapped into the power of fear. In this ritual, you’ll also experience the way that agape – pure love – soothes our fears. Learning the power of our emotions, and how we can correct them through restorative words evocative of love, through this ceremony is an excellent ritual for anytime, but particularly now while we are so in fear, the corrective power of the love energies is potent. If you are feeling afraid, only doing the love ceremony will help immensely. <a class="decorated-link" href="https://keepingherkeys.com/read/f/the-agape-phoberos-ritual" target="_blank">You can find the Agape Phoberos Ritual here. </a></p>
<p>Correcting an excess of fear is vital to managing any crisis. We can’t think, let alone connect to our deeper selves, when we are in a terror spiral. Honor your fears, then release them. They are not bad, but they must not remain in control.</p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12pt;">Banish: Ritual For Releasing Fears</span></h1>
<p>Cast your fears into this black bowl filled with sea salt for cleansing, layered with soapwort and juniper, plus a hunk of salt for added purification. One of the biggest challenges of this pandemic for us witches is that we can become incredibly stressed. This is for a multitude of reasons. We are, of course, concerned for our safety and health, as well as our beloveds.</p>
<p>In addition, because we are empaths, we can acquire the fears of others. We can also be attuned to the societal zeitgeist, the spirit of the times, which could make us quite terrified. Finally, many of us have lived through horrific events, rendering us even more sensitive to crises like this. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these experiences. We are blessed to be able to feel it all, when so many humans feel nothing. We need not be bound by these fears. Writing or speaking your fears and concerns into the light of the screen or your notebook can burn away their power. We are so much more than these concerns of ours. Right as they may be, they do not control us.</p>
<p>Release your fears into this vessel, envisioning them being absorbed into the waiting plant spirits and salt. If you are able, offer this releasing energy to banish the virus from yourself, your beloveds, community and the planet. See the powers of the plant spirits in this bowl absorbing it all.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}4171192274,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}4171192274,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="4171192274?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="400" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><strong>Release your fears so you can clearly cope with the situation</strong></span></p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12pt;">Absorbing The Energy Of Others</span></h1>
<p>We need to stay informed about the pandemic as it evolves, both on the large scale and in our own lives. From shortages at the supermarket to cancelled travel plans, there are many minor hassles associated with it. Then there are the larger issues, like if the virus is impacting our work, education or social lives. We may have beloveds who have to change their behaviors to minimize risk. It is a moment in time that we need to be well informed yet not succumb to panic. This is a lot to manage.</p>
<p>In particular, being witches we are often sensitive to the general energy currents of society, as well as to those of individuals and organizations with whom we associate. Again, this is a lot to manage. This is where energetic shielding can really help.</p>
<p><a class="decorated-link" href="https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/keepingherkeys/2018/08/the-dangers-of-shielding-and-ways-to-practice-healthy-self-protection/" target="_blank">Read my guide to shielding here.</a></p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12pt;">Enforce Your Boundaries</span></h1>
<p>Moreover, our energetic boundaries are incredibly crucial to our successful navigation of any crisis. We are dealing with our own hassles and fears, perhaps even a real risk of having been exposed. Plus, we are often compelled to be the caregivers of those around us who are also dealing with all of this. This is a direct challenge to our boundaries. We must be careful to not be so supportive that we drain ourselves dry.</p>
<p><a class="decorated-link" href="https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/keepingherkeys/2018/08/boundaries-are-your-personal-magic-circle-ways-to-know-and-strengthen-them/" target="_blank">You can read more about boundaries here.</a></p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12pt;">Amplified Sensitivity Due To Previous Trauma</span></h1>
<p>Additionally, we witches are often survivors of all manner of trauma. Not only does this result in poor boundaries, but also in us being hyper-responsive to threatening stimuli. Certainly this crisis counts as that. This is because our physiological fear system is always searching for any threats. Because of what was done to us in the past, in the present we can be forced into a huge reaction when we cognitively know that the threat to our safety is actually quite low.</p>
<p>Talking to those who are obsessing over the crisis and endlessly engaging in the news about the virus will be very triggering to a witch who has a hard-wired trauma response. Limiting our exposure to such things is a necessity. That is a boundary we must enforce, lest we be pummeled into a deep spiral of distress.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a class="decorated-link" href="https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/keepingherkeys/2019/06/opening-up-your-personal-magic-circle-the-power-of-vulnerability/" target="_blank">Explore more about healthy vulnerability here.</a></p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12pt;">Protect: Candle For Preventing Harm</span></h1>
<p>The sacred fire of protection is freely offered from this candle. Draw the energy from this candle all around you to boost your awareness of the risks and to enhance your immunity. Envision the flame surrounding you, your beloveds, community and the world, if you are able. I’ve anointed this candle with a blend of agrimony, black cohosh, dandelion root, eucalyptus, slipper elm and yarrow. All are protective in general, and specifically for calming thoughts and protecting the respiratory system.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}4171201326,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}4171201326,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="4171201326?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="400" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><strong>Create your own COVID-19 Protection Candle by anointing one with protective plant medicine. The botanicals used are also part of a family recipe for a respiratory ailment fighting infusion. It is resting on top of pink quartz</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12pt;">Dissolving The Stress Spiral</span></h1>
<p>If you find yourself in a spiral, which is practically to be expected given everything that is going on, I’ve included some ways to use our breath to loosen the spiral gently, creating space within it to break its stranglehold on us.</p>
<p>The Animarum Nyssa, known as the Unifying The Three Selves Meditation and The Sacred Seven can be listened to further down in this article. You can also do the Hekate’s Breath Chanting which will quickly dissolve that spiral, it’s linked below.</p>
<p>Quick fix: draw your breath in slowly in a controlled manner until your belly is full. When it is as full as possible, hold your breath right there. While holding your breath, recite in your mind, “I am safe. I am healthy. I am whole.” Exhale in a slow and controlled manner. Do this at least three times or until you feel better. There are days I do this for 30 minutes.</p>
<p>Breathe, witches. It really is all about the breath. Through our breath we release, protect and bless.</p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12pt;">Bless: Healing Through Sacred Smoke</span></h1>
<p>The sacred smoke offered consists of bay, lavender and yarrow surrounded by pink quartz. Take what you need to restore your own state of wellness; the abundance of bay, the calm clarity of lavender, and the well-being wonder that is yarrow. If you are able, draw the smoke deep into you, then extend it to your beloveds, community and the planet. If you can, add your own healing energies into this smoke, strengthening this offering, directing it to those in need after you have received your fill.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}4171208213,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}4171208213,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="4171208213?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="400" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><strong>May this bless you with calmness of mind, wholeness of body and kindness towards others</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p>
<h1><span style="font-size:12pt;">The COVID-19 Altar: Release, Protect And Heal</span></h1>
<p>I made this as a silent video so you can add your own ritual while attuning to the energy offered.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SCrw-cB3Lj0" width="500" height="375" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keepingherkeys/2020/03/witchcraft-for-coping-with-covid-19/">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keepingherkeys/2020/03/witchcraft-for-coping-with-covid-19/</a></em></span></p></div>DIY Gel Hand Cleanser Recipe - From Mountain Rose Herbshttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/diy-gel-hand-cleanser-recipe-from-mountain-rose-herbs2020-03-13T23:37:30.000Z2020-03-13T23:37:30.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><em>This recipe isn't meant to replace frequent and proper hand washing with soap and water, but it is a great option for getting you through tough spots when a full hand wash isn't available. </em></span></p>
<h2><span style="text-decoration:underline;font-size:14pt;"><strong>How to Make Your Own Gel Hand Cleanser</strong></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>Ingredients</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">5 oz. 190-proof vodka</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">20 drops <a href="https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/clove-bud-essential-oil/profile" target="_blank">organic clove bud essential oil </a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">17 drops <a href="https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/lemon-essential-oil/profile" target="_blank">organic lemon essential oil</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">10 drops <a href="https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/cinnamon-leaf-essential-oil/profile" target="_blank">organic cinnamon leaf essential oil</a>* </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">8 drops <a href="https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/eucalyptus-essential-oil/profile" target="_blank">organic eucalyptus essential oil</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">5 drops <a href="https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/rosemary-essential-oil/profile" target="_blank">organic rosemary essential oil</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">3 oz. <a href="https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/aloe-vera-gel/profile" target="_blank">Non-GMO Project Verified aloe vera gel </a></span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>Directions</strong></span></p>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">Combine all essential oils in 8 oz. wide-mouth container of your choice with lid.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">Add alcohol, secure lid, and shake well to mix and dissolve oils.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">Add aloe vera gel, secure lid again, and shake well to mix.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">If clumping occurs, throw mixture into a blender and blend until smooth.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">Optional: Transfer into smaller bottles for easy portability, if desired.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:12pt;">Rub a small amount into hands as needed.</span></li>
</ol></div>Green Witch Guide To Herbal Shields: Natural Cleansershttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/green-witch-guide-to-herbal-shields-natural-cleansers2020-03-13T21:57:21.000Z2020-03-13T21:57:21.000ZSunKathttps://witches-moon.ning.com/members/SunKat<div><div class="pull-left"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}4098455531,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}4098455531,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="500" alt="4098455531?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></div>
<div class="pull-left"> </div>
<div class="pull-left">MARCH 6, 2020 BY <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/author/gwyn/">GWYN</a></div>
<div class="pull-left"> </div>
<div class="pull-left">Inspired by reading articles about natural hand sanitizers (including <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/voodoouniverse/2020/03/magickal-hand-sanitizer-recipe-because-the-stores-aint-got-none/" target="_blank">this excellent one by Lilith Dorsey</a>), I have decided to share information about natural cleansers and what I use. Now, when it comes to <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/symptoms.html" target="_blank">viruses</a>, the best option will always be to <strong><em>wash your hands</em></strong>. This is everyone’s first and <a class="decorated-link" href="https://ptaourchildren.org/handwashing/" target="_blank">best defense</a> against the spread of germs. Period. Not to mention, staying home from work, school, general errands, or events if you are ill. However, it is good to protect your home surfaces (especially car steering wheels and door handles, doorknobs, kitchen appliances, cabinet handles, etc.).</div>
<div class="pull-left"> </div>
<div class="pull-left">
<h2><strong>Cleansers: Herbal Shields</strong></h2>
<p>The CDC recommends a hand sanitizer with 60% alcohol as effective against most (not all) germs and viruses in <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodnews/titos-tells-customers-to-not-use-their-vodka-for-hand-sanitizer/ar-BB10O8KZ?ocid=sf" target="_blank">homemade hand sanitizers.</a> <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-hand-sanitizer.html" target="_blank">The CDC</a> is also recommending people wash their hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds, avoid touching their face and cover hand/mouth when sneezing or coughing.</p>
<p>I am including the above information because I do not want anyone to think the information or recipe I’m going to share for a homemade cleanser is foolproof protection against the Coronavirus, common cold, and flu, etc. The herbs and oils I use have been proven to be effective but nothing is 100%. But may common sense and good housekeeping prevail.</p>
<p>So, that said if you are looking for herbal shields to use in cleaning your house there are several options for both diffusing and making a cleanser. The essential oils include:</p>
<p><strong>Clove Bud: </strong>A versatile oil that is antiseptic and part of the fabled “<a class="decorated-link" href="https://myhealthessentials.ca/thieves-oil-history-blend-benefits/" target="_blank">Thieves Oil”</a>, a 14th-century plague defense.<strong><br />Eucalyptus</strong>: This plant is said to have antimicrobial and antifungal properties. It can be found in cleaners and disinfectants.<br /><strong>Lemon: </strong>A powerhouse cleaner with antiseptic, antimicrobial and bactericidal properties. The fresh scent also brightens a room.<br /><strong>Lavender</strong>: A plant in which its constituents are used in a variety of ways which include antiseptic, antiviral, and bactericidal.<br /><strong>Oregano</strong>: Antibacterial, antifungal, antimicrobial, and antiseptic. Great to use if you do not mind a house that smells like a pizzeria.<br /><strong>Peppermint</strong>: A popular plant with many uses which include cleaning because of its antiseptic properties.<br /><strong>TeaTree</strong>: Another plant with antimicrobial, antifungal, and bactericidal substances, it is used in household cleaners and bath/body products alike.</p>
<p>**Be aware that not all essential oils are safe to use with children or pets. I recommend Google and <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Essential-Oils-Reference-Everyday/dp/1623157404/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=VKRA4J4V7L0S&keywords=the+portable+essential+oils+anne+kennedy&qid=1583521788&sprefix=the+portable+essential+oils+anne+ke%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzOFgzTjBRUlhSQ1I1JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTc5MDI5VEg5NFY3UTc3RzU3JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5MzE2OTIyMDY1UjlEQkMzUUNJJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==" target="_blank">The Portable Essential Oils by Anne Kennedy</a>. Do your research and find what will work best for your family.**</p>
<p>For creating homemade cleansers, I may use any of the following: <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/Swan-Witch-Hazel-16-Fl-Oz/162272467" target="_blank">Witch Hazel</a>, <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/Murray-and-Lanman-Florida-Water-Cologne-Original-7-5oz-Pack-of-3/466748477?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=9331&adid=22222222227119134151&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=320957507009&wl4=pla-386402166441&wl5=9017274&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=115780068&wl11=online&wl12=466748477&veh=sem&gclid=Cj0KCQiAhojzBRC3ARIsAGtNtHWQ0HwUuMn10kL6JOvDRxLoGPJjoyI5UkWqQ6gMGZUD6xmC3BPQBy0aAu5hEALw_wcB" target="_blank">Murray and Lanman Florida Water</a>, white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, or very diluted bleach.</p>
<h2>Cleansers: Basic Recipe for Home Cleaning Spray</h2>
<p>Adapted from <a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.bhg.com/homekeeping/house-cleaning/cleaning-products-tools/homemade-cleaners/" target="_blank">B H & G Amazing Homemade Cleaners</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Combine the following ingredients in a spray bottle:</strong><br />2 cups Water<br />1/2 cup White Vinegar<br />1/4 cup Witch Hazel or Florida Water<br />1 tsp Unscented Dish Soap (Ex: Seventh Generation)<br />Add: 15 drops Lavender Essential Oil<br />10 drops TeaTree Essential Oil<br />5 drops Peppermint Essential Oil</p>
<p>**Use the above-suggested oils or choose others that suit your needs best. Some oils combine better than others. For instance, clove and lavender pair well. Or you may want to use lemon and eucalyptus as an effective, refreshing cleanser. While not listed above, rosemary has great antiseptic properties and teams with peppermint and lavender. Additional information of note, Witch Hazel and Florida Water do not have the CDC recommended alcohol content.**</p>
<p>Be proactive and make use of the herbs and plants which the Earth Mother provides to assist us in our health and in caring for our homes. I know it’s tempting to think <strong><em><a class="decorated-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stand" target="_blank">Stephen King’s The Stand</a></em></strong> may be playing out before our eyes but I do not think we need to worry just yet. As magickal people, we can reach out to the <a class="decorated-link" href="http://admin.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2020/01/powerful-plant-allies-greening-home-space/">plant allies</a> included in our homemade cleansers and hand sanitizers for some extra mundane protection. I find them to be very <a class="decorated-link" href="http://admin.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2019/09/green-witchcraft-using-magick-with-teeth/">effective powerhouses</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2020/03/green-witch-guide-to-herbal-shields-natural-cleansers/">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2020/03/green-witch-guide-to-herbal-shields-natural-cleansers/</a></em></span></p>
<p> </p>
</div></div>Dinner At The Castlehttps://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/dinner-at-the-castle2019-09-22T01:36:59.000Z2019-09-22T01:36:59.000ZLinda Mann~admin.https://witches-moon.ning.com/members/LindaMann<div><p>Happy BirthdaySunkat. I thought this year we'd have dinner at a castle. </p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://img.theculturetrip.com/768x432/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/3853059139_2c9910c6ed_b.jpg" alt="Image result for medieval castle dinner party" width="602" height="339" /></p>
<p>Let's go inside.....</p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://d5qsyj6vaeh11.cloudfront.net/images/whats%20available/food%20and%20drink/article%20images/dining-with-a-difference/dining-bunratty-castle-inset.jpg" alt="Image result for medieval castle dinner party" width="507" height="319" /></p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="http://www.chasingthesuntravel.com/res/foto_pagine/id334_torre2-1501167053.jpeg" alt="Image result for medieval castle dinner party" width="602" height="401" /></p>
<p>Well, the dining room has to be here someplace...</p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/stately.jpg" alt="Image result for medieval castle dinner party" width="602" height="222" /></p>
<p>nope, this looks like the library, let's try again. I didn't intend this to be a hike.</p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/0b/29/980b29e75a76165a940761423dc4a829.jpg" alt="Image result for medieval castle dinner party" width="459" height="584" /></p>
<p>Ahhhh, at last we found the dining room. Now we can relax for a bit and eat.</p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://secure.cdn1.wdpromedia.com/resize/mwImage/1/640/360/75/dam/wdpro-assets/gallery/dining/epcot/akershus-royal-banquet-hall/akershus-royal-banquet-buffet-food-16x9.jpg?1520568617859" alt="Image result for medieval castle dinner party" width="602" height="339" /></p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://restaurantimages.menuism.com/b66zEm6Ryr3R9jaby-v9yy-dessert-party-ana-bealls-tea-320x480.JPG" alt="Related image" width="320" height="480" /></p>
<p>Rosey, did you get a chance to bring the cake?</p>
<p>Well, you can't go wrng with chocolate.</p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7c/4f/b1/7c4fb1ec7636b5336764c6a5da6b616d.jpg" alt="Image result for medieval castle dinner party cake" width="542" height="407" /></p>
<p>We even have a champagne fountain</p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://chocolatefountainheaven.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/champagne_fountain.jpg" alt="Image result for champagne fountain" width="300" height="450" /></p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://www.californiastrawberries.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Must-Try-Summer-Cocktails.jpg" alt="Image result for cocktails" width="584" height="584" /></p>
<p>hey, time for presents, we got you a new pet dragon</p>
<p>Look, he's smiling. He's happy to see you.</p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://www.factzoo.com/sites/all/img/reptiles/bearded/bearded_dragon-smile.jpg" alt="Image result for pet dragon" width="492" height="367" /></p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://i.pinimg.com/736x/88/a3/1a/88a31a9d44714279fe5832caf35c6846--birthday-quotes-for-friends-happy-birthday-friend.jpg" alt="Image result for happy birthday sunkat photos" width="542" height="465" /></p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="https://a.wattpad.com/cover/129683970-288-k853922.jpg" alt="Image result for happy birthday sunkat photos" width="288" height="450" /></p>
<p><img class="irc_mi" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/55494599?profile=original" alt="Image result for happy birthday sunkat photos" width="368" height="490" /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3592394714,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3592394714,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="426" alt="3592394714?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p></div>HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dr. Cindy Ravenmoon Ph.D !!https://witches-moon.ning.com/forum/happy-birthday-dr-cindy-ravenmoon-ph-d2019-07-16T02:49:29.000Z2019-07-16T02:49:29.000ZLinda Mann~admin.https://witches-moon.ning.com/members/LindaMann<div><p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR. LET'S CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF OUR ADMIN, OUR DEAR FRIEND, CINDY!</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>Let's just relax for the night and have some fun. I cooked the food and brought it in:</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><img class="irc_mut" style="margin-top:0px;" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqnsI2dbWUaVsdH-w86yvQewQoRJOfG_WTIQPTzmnXPgETDIuMNw" alt="Image result for birthday foods photos" width="514" height="353" /></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><img class="irc_mi" style="margin-top:0px;" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4e/50/28/4e50289d7867f6a279d736a628751fbb.jpg" alt="Image result for birthday foods bbq photos" width="235" height="353" /></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><img class="irc_mi" style="margin-top:0px;" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b0/dc/51/b0dc51bc7733fa78a0248a26a9a08c29.jpg" alt="Image result for birthday foods bbq photos" width="379" height="353" /></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>a little bit of everything here. I decided to take advantage of the glorious weather.</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><img class="irc_mi" style="margin-top:0px;" src="https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/best-grilling-recipes-honey-chicken-1525721170.jpg" alt="Image result for birthday foods bbq photos" width="235" height="353" /></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>Let's not forget the cake</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><img class="irc_mi" style="margin-top:0px;" src="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57cef8758419c27dea2ebf7f/57d712f1c534a56aa475d515/594aeeea15d5db265cb75913/1509141508754/BD_085800.jpg" alt="Image result for birthday cake photos" width="348" height="353" /></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>And....let's drink a toast to Cindy</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><img class="irc_mi" style="margin-top:0px;" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2b/bd/f0/2bbdf0df6830755fdae3930173b2a1bf.jpg" alt="Image result for birthday toast photos" width="255" height="353" /></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>sorry, I couldn't resist.</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><img class="irc_mi" style="margin-top:2px;" src="https://i.123g.us/c/birth_wishes/card/109744.gif" alt="Related image" width="550" height="350" /></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><img class="irc_mi" style="margin-top:0px;" src="https://www.wishesgreeting.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/birthday-toasts04.jpg" alt="Image result for birthday toast photos" width="530" height="353" /></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><img class="irc_mi" style="margin-top:0px;" src="https://media2.giphy.com/media/26tPapNnbxXhRDlyU/giphy.gif" alt="Image result for birthday presents photos gifs" width="353" height="353" /></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><img class="irc_mi" style="margin-top:67px;" src="https://media.tenor.com/images/aa25d21a3a2718cd8a993e92cfc2081c/tenor.gif" alt="Image result for birthday presents photos gifs" width="220" height="220" /></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><img class="irc_mi" style="margin-top:51px;" src="https://thumbs.gfycat.com/JaggedYellowGermanspaniel-size_restricted.gif" alt="Image result for happy birthday cindy photos gifs" width="327" height="251" /></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ocvjAUbM598" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong>Cindy, thank you for being my friend through the years. I love you.</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18pt;"><strong><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qde5NMy7WTU" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></strong></span></p></div>