The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/category/perspectives)
A round up of Pagan Perspectives on current news and historical events. You will also find columns related to personal experiences and how they relate back to the spirituality of the author.
Note: We welcome submissions for our Perspectives section. Please send inquiries or completed pieces to eric@wildhunt.org
The woods around my home in Arctic Norway were few and far between, mostly small birches barely taller than your average adult. Here in Åland, I met with real woods: tall bone-white birches, spruce, thick pines, bushy walnut groves. This vibrant life was everywhere, and all the while I was searching for graves.
Once the immediate danger had passed, though, it was not long before the facades began to crack and slide away like pieces of mud-caked siding. The groups of helpers that traveled in from other areas started to include hate groups, religious zealots, bigots, and con artists. Some local helpers began to show their true colors, too.
Veilguard won me over with its ability to tell a meaningful story about personhood, balance, and healing connection between embodied mortals and the spirit world.
“It’s hard to feel hopeful in the face of so much violence and gaslighting,” writes Storm Faerywolf. “That is why it is important to periodically disconnect from the noise and reconnect with our inner natures. To “touch grass,” as the often-snarky internet memes suggest. Toward this end, let us apply our magic.”
“I really appreciated that instead of simply highlighting one queer aspect of history,” writes Sprocket Wagner, “this zine emphasizes the encompassing nature of queerness throughout time: that it is everywhere and always has been.”
“She pushes me under the water quickly, but there’s no violence to it,” writes Luke Babb in a searing encounter with the spirit world. “Still, I panic. I hold my breath, struggle against her, but this is the sort of thing she is. I am the sort of thing that breathes, and so, despite my body’s stubborn refusal, eventually my lungs pull in and I taste the water in the back of my throat.”
