TWH – Below is a continuously updated list of statements on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine by Pagan, Heathen, Witch, and polytheist organizations and individuals.
TWH will provide updates to the list during the Ukraine crisis. If your organization has a statement to be included please send us a message at ukraine@wildhunt.org.
Updated March 12, 2022
We learned for this woman who we do not know is Pagan or a Witch but reference Witches in Ukraine. TWH cannot verify the spiritual, religious, or magickal practice but the speaker clearly notes Witches and a community of Witches in the region.
“Guys, do you know where you are?! It’s Konotop. Here every second woman is a witch. Tomorrow you’ll no longer be able to get your d*ck to stand.” The woman is use of the konotop Witch is a reference to Ukrainian writer, journalist, and playwright Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko’s Конотопська відьма (“The Witch of Konotop”).
German Eldaring
We as members of the Eldaring e.V. Germany fully condemn the unprovoked Russian attack on Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. As an organization that full-heartedly supports democracy in a free, non-suppressive system and that detests any form of political extremism, of religious intolerance and repression of people due to their gender and/or sexual orientation, the Eldaring sees the attack on Ukraine and the Russian attempts to blackmail the nations of the world as a violation of the right of self-determination and the freedom of all nations.
The tacit acceptance of civil losses in this war and the millionfold destruction of peaceful lives can not be denoted other than war crimes.
Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and their bold struggle against the aggressors and oppression by inhabitants of a foreign country that should culturally and historically be brothers and sisters, joined in peaceful neighborhood. We pray for the all people of Ukraine, whether they are fighting to defend their homeland, whether they dare to stay at their homesteads or whether they are forced to flee.
Philip Shallcrass (a.k.a. Greywolf, Founder of the British Druid Order (speaking for himself):
As a lifelong pacifist, I wholeheartedly condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I also condemn the UK/US invasion of Iraq that resulted in the creation of the Islamic State movement, the US’s more than a century of repression of democratic freedoms in South America, and the UK Conservative party’s acceptance of huge financial donations from friends and colleagues of Vladimir Putin, including at least one Russian arms dealer, Alexander Temerko, a personal friend of Boris Johnson. I condemn all acts of war and all those who give succor to warmongers.
I became a pacifist at the age of four on realising that primary school playground fights achieved nothing except to hurt people and foster anger and a desire for revenge. It required no great leap to see that wars have exactly the same negative consequences, only hugely and tragically magnified. I continue to hope and pray to the gods that humankind finally wakes up to the fact that there are better ways to behave towards fellow humans than killing and maiming them. I have special admiration for those who practice non-violence in the face of extreme aggression, from Mahatma Ghandi to the Ukranian woman handing out sunflower seeds to Russian soldiers. For me, the only way to break the cycle of destruction is to practice and promote peace by all possible means.
There is ancient precedent for this in my tradition. Writing of Druids circa 8 BCE, Diodorus Siculus (Histories, V, 31, 2-5) said that, “It is not only in times of peace, but in war also, that these seers have authority, and the incantations of the bards have effect on friends and foes alike. Often when the combatants are ranged face to face, and swords are drawn and spears bristling, these men come between the armies and stay the battle, just as wild beasts are sometimes held spellbound. Thus even among the most savage barbarians anger yields to wisdom, and Mars is shamed before the Muses.”
So may it be in Ukraine and all other war zones.
Updated March 7, 2022
Asatru UK – AUK
Best it is, for man’s wordsto seek peacewhen it is possible.~Heitharvega, c.35
Asatru UK strongly condemns the violent invasion of Ukraine and implores all involved to seek a peaceful resolution.—-The Disasters Emergency Committee, a coalition of 15 leading UK charities, has launched its collective appeal to provide emergency aid and rapid relief to civilians suffering during the conflict.
Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF)
As we look back upon the prior week in horror at the aggressionunleashed on Ukraine, we look to find ways to express our support forthe people of Ukraine and also for ways we can help.
As people of faith, we pray to our Gods and Goddesses for Ukraine andits people. We pray for peace, for strength, for courage, and forsovereignty.As people of compassion, we look for ways to help those in danger andthose displaced. The following organizations can help those in harm’sway:Please keep the people of Ukraine in your thoughts as we continue to work our altars and shrines. Please make offerings and pray for peace and safety.In a global community, we are all neighbors.The ADF Mother Grove
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Aquarian Tabernacle Church
“The Aquarian Tabernacle Church sends blessings to the people of Ukraine that their food, shelter, and defensive needs are met. We ask the Gods that are listening that Ukrainians have all the ability to stand against the aggression they are experiencing and drive those aggressors from their borders. We call upon all nations and people to stand against the tyranny of oppressive governments and organizations. We call for special protection against all who are fighting, or in harm’s way. We send energy that all aggressors are found impotent in their attempts to harm, subjugate or oppress others. We are proud of the Ukrainian people and cheer them on towards victory.”
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The Order of the Oak
The Order of the Oak which is an international and volunteer group of Druids lists their mission as “to advocate, advise, and take real world action to conserve, restore, and protect our divine planet in the face of unprecedented climate change caused by human industrialization and pollution.”
They released the following statement:
We stand in peace and solidarity with all those in Ukraine.
We stand against those who would harm her people and take their lands.
We call upon and offer our energy to Berehynia to help protect those under attack and we offer our energy to Ukranians in their hour of need.
We stand with the Russian civilians who hold peace and justice in their hearts.
We stand with them to find strength and inspiration to make a daily difference for peace.
We ask that Druids across the Earth join the vigils and prayers in support of our Ukrainian cousins and friends.
We ask that world leaders find a solution to the conflict that is built on peace, justice, love, understanding and knowledge.
We call upon President Putin to withdraw his troops and cease his aggression.
May there be peace in the North
May there be peace in the South
May there be peace in the East
May there be peace in the West
May there be peace throughout Ukraine
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Phyllis Curott, author and Program Chair of the 2023 Parliament of World’s Religions, announced that released a statement and presented a prayer at the United Nations.
It’s a nightmare to watch the slaughter of women and children, the brutality and cruelty being rained down upon the Ukrainian people by a psychopath and feel helpless. What can we do? Donations to humanitarian efforts are important. Magic to protect and to sustain the brave Ukrainian people, magic to battle the forces driving these atrocities. Prayers with other faith groups – I have a small role in helping to organize this Multi-Faith service at the United Nations on Thursday and I hope Pagans in NY will attend in person, and Pagans from Ukraine and around the world will participate online. – our presence is important, especially to Pagans in Ukraine and the Balkan states who are increasingly at risk.
This is a hideous wake up call. Authoritarianism is growing like a cancer around the world and here at home – members of Congress praise Putin and go to rallies with Neo- Nazis. Our democracy is at risk. We must become activists – run for school boards, for state legislatures, for Congress. It’s not impossible. I know Pagans elected to city councils and local governments around the U.S. We need to find a new way to talk to friends, family and neighbors. We need to create mandorlas – liminal places where opposites find common ground.
The worst sometimes precipitates the best – chaotic and dangerous times de-stabilize entrenched powers. If we’re active, we can help move the forces at play in the direction of peace, democracy, human rights and freedom. Perhaps Putin has met his Waterloo.
Updated March 3, 2022
Eventide Grove, a Florida-based, pantheist collective, “offers spiritual support and solidarity to Ukraine and her people. We unreservedly condemn the actions of Vladimir Putin and lay this Work against him.”
Further, they sent the following message:
We ask Mercury and Eleguá to carry this message.
We call on Hecate and Oyá to share this message.
We call to the Ancestors who built the Kremlin and Red Square brick by brick with their living hands to awaken.
We ask Hecate and Oyá to lift the Veil, so the Ancestors see how their artwork, artistry, and magical protections are being used today.
We ask Hecate and Oyá to announce the Fallen in Ukraine to the Ancestors who built the Kremlin that they may share their stories.
We ask the Ancestors who built the Kremlin to remove their protections that Craft will seep through the walls.
And then we lay this Craft upon the Kremlin:
We curse you with clarity to see the weight of your actions.
We bind you with peace to see the weight of your actions.
We bless you with courage to remove the weight of your actions.
We ask Mercury and Eleguá to carry this message to the People of Russia so they remove the weight of Putin from all of our lives.
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Starhawk
As Russia invades Ukraine, I want to speak about weakness.
Over and over, Trump and the Republicans and their Fox News echo chamber are somehow managing to blame Biden for Putin’s aggression, calling him ‘weak’. So it’s worth looking at the word ‘weak’ through a feminist lens.‘Weak’ is sexist dog-whistle for ‘womanlike’ — not ‘manly’, not representing those qualities which a patriarchal world-view assigns to the male sex as strength — mostly involving the ability to forcibly penetrate someone or something, with or without their consent, whether that’s the rape of a woman or the invasion of a country or the riddling of soft bodies with hard bullets.
It’s force divorced from empathy or compassion, and it has been used for millennia to goad men into acts of brutality and violence and to coerce women into enabling them. And I’m using ‘men’ and ‘women’ deliberately because this world-view doesn’t recognize the possibility of the nonbinary and insists on this sharp division between genders.
But real strength is not determined by access to projectile weapons — indeed, we could say that dependence on weaponry is a sign of inner weakness, of deep insecurity and an abyss of internal isolation. I think of the quote from Hari Seldon, Isaac Asimov’s great fictional psychohistorian, “Violence is the last resort of the incompetent.”Real strength is not violence. Real strength is getting up at two in the morning when you’re exhausted to feed the baby and let your partner get some sleep. Real strength is listening to a friend’s grief and holding them close, going to work every day when you’d rather stay in bed in order to feed your children, saying ‘no’ to a toddler and withstanding the ensuing temper tantrum, speaking an unpopular truth, daring to protest in an autocratic dictatorship, listening to someone you disagree with and striving to understand their point of view, losing with grace, admitting when you’re wrong.
Real strength is a thousand ordinary acts of responsibility and caring done by ordinary people of every gender every day to keep the world running, and it requires empathy — that ability to understand that the world is full of other people who have feelings and needs and rights, just as you do, and to care about them.
Let us not confuse strength with power. A strong person may or may not have the power to get something done or stop something from happening. Real strength may mean recognizing the limitations of your power, and using the power you do have judiciously and wisely.
In this terrible moment, I am impressed with Biden’s strength. Empathy is one of his strong suits, born of his personal losses. He is facing this situation, where he does not have the unilateral power to stop Putin short of engaging in an out and out shooting war, which nobody wants. But he has gathered support from allies, acted in concert with them, and is doing what he can to hold Putin accountable.
Could he do more? Should he do less? Maybe. There’s no perfect way to be in this situation, and certainly the US has a history of our use of aggressive force that undercuts our ability to hold the high ground. Nonetheless, he is showing up as a grownup, and doing what he can.
My grandparents all fled Ukraine in the early 20th century, trying to escape the aggressive weakness of their time, the pogroms and forced conscription and discrimination. In this time, I stand with Ukraine, and for a world where we will constrain the weakness of violence and celebrate real strength.
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Michael M. Hughes
Michael M. Hughes, author of Magic for the Resistance: Rituals and Spells for Change and founder of the Facebook Official Bind Trump group and planned the Hex Putin: Global Mass Ritual to Curse Vladimir Putin and Protect Ukraine.
Hughes organized similar rituals each dark moon during the term of the former U.S. president. The ritual was scheduled for March 2, at 7:33 pm (EST). Currently, the Bind Trump group has over 6,500 members.
Meanwhile fighting continues throughout much of Ukraine and everyone, including ordinary citizens, are being asked to defend against Russian forces. Evidence of their determination and resilience continue to inspire others around the globe.
Coverage of Hughes’ ritual is available in a separate article on TWH.
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Covenant of the Goddess
Yesterday evening, The Covenant of the Goddess released a statement in support of Ukraine through the organization’s Public Information Officer:
The Covenant of the Goddess stands with the brave citizens of Ukraine who are suffering an unwarranted and unprovoked attack. On Thursday, the invasion of Ukraine began with missiles fired by Russian troops and Russia’s movement across Ukraine’s borders.
The invasion of Ukraine by President Vladimir Putin is a blatant act of aggression and a shameful violation of international norms. This attack has already resulted in the killing of innocents and driving out thousands of families from their homes.
The Covenant condemns the actions of President Putin and his troops. Our support, prayers, and spiritual protections are offered unreservedly to the people of Ukraine.
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EarthSpirit Community
Andras Corban-Arthen, released their statement on the Ukraine invasion:
The EarthSpirit Community join our voices to the millions of other voices around the world which strongly oppose and condemn Russia’s reprehensible invasion of Ukraine. The violent attack initiated by Vladimir Putin, with the support of the Russian government and armed forces, threatens not only the lives and the autonomy of the Ukrainian people, but of the rest of Europe as well. We hope that the powers of the world will stand by Ukraine at this dangerous time, so eerily reminiscent of the events which resulted in World War II some eighty years ago. We ignore the lessons of history at our own peril.
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Dr. Patricia Robin Woodruff
Dr. Patricia Robin Woodruff is an ordained minister, a Wiccan priestess of Stone Circle Wicca (USA), and a spirit-initiated Łemko bosorka, a type of shamanic Witch, who runs the “The Roots of Slavic Magic” Facebook group which has members from around the world including within Slavic countries. “So many of our members are frightened for folks they know or may even be in the thick of things,” she told TWH. “One fellow is in Ukraine and could hear the jets but said they weren’t in his town. Yet.
“Some folks in our group have ancestry from both Russian and Ukrainian heritage,” Woodruff continued. “Some hold a deep hatred against Russia for past wrongs against their ancestors and some have [generational] trauma that seems to be welling up. One person just said, ‘This night will be extremely hard. Please keep us in mind.'”
Many members in Woodruff’s group are working energetically for peace, invoking Береги́ня (Berehynia), the Slavic hearth mother goddess, or Vila, and protector of home. A statue of Berehynia tops the victory column called Independence Monument in Independence Square in Kyiv. The square and monument were built in 2001, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union.
“The goddess Berehynia’s title may come from berech which means ‘to protect,'” said Woodruff. “Berehynia is one way to perceive the Mother Goddess Mokosh. Berehynia spreads her cloak of protection over people. Ironically both Ukraine and Russia have ‘claimed’ her as their protector. But she is a protector of life – all life.”
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Pagan Federation International
Morgan Sythove on behalf of the Pagan Federation International released a statement this morning in support of the people of Ukraine. Morgana said that the PFI has “been active in Ukraine for a number of years. This is their logo, epitomizing the rich fertile land, also known as ‘the Granary of Europe.’”
The PFI said in their statement:
Pagan Federation International stands with our brave and courageous community in Ukraine. We share the pain of all those suffering and affected by the horrifying events of the last couple of days.
Let us hold close in our hearts all living beings impacted by the destruction of war. Let us reach out in unity and solidarity and call upon the help and blessings of Berehynia, she who stands as a symbol of independence, of a free Ukraine.
The PFI invoked Berehynia in support of Ukraine:
We call upon the spirits of the land
The Beloved Berehynias,
Sacred spirits of rivers and streams
Of healing and protection
Of this glorious land, of the golden fields under bright blue skies
To bless, heal, guard and keep safe from all harm
Women, children and men, our brothers and sisters
And our fellow beings, the animals, domestic and wild
And the lay of the land, the hills and valleys, rivers and fields
We call upon you and ask your blessings
To stop the pestilence and crimes of war
And to restore peace to the souls of all living beings.
Blessed be!
Editor’s note: TWH will be following events in Ukraine and updating our readers as the conflict progresses. If you are a reader in Ukraine or have connections to the country and would like to speak with TWH about your experiences, please send us a message to ukraine@wildhunt.org.
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