Column: Loki in the White House

Pagan Perspectives

A Note from the Editors Regarding Loki in the White House

December 2nd, 2018

Dear Readers of The Wild Hunt:

Since the publication of Loki in the White House, the column has been discussed at length across the Pagan internet. To say that its portrayal of Loki, and its comparison of Loki to Donald Trump, has been regarded as controversial would be an understatement. The Lokean community in particular has strongly criticized the column, with many feeling that it was tantamount to a call for Heathens to cut ties with Lokeans altogether. (A group of Lokeans sent a letter to The Wild Hunt calling for amendments or a retraction to the column; that letter can be read here.)

At The Wild Hunt, we are proud to have writers from many different backgrounds represented in our roster of regular columnists, including multiple writers of color, writers from outside the Anglosphere, and writers of queer identities – not to mention writers from many different approaches to Paganism. We see our commentary section as a place for these voices to have the freedom to analyze, critique, and debate issues of interest to Pagans in deep and challenging ways.

Brooklyn store schedules hex action against Brett Kavanaugh

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — As the Trump administration continues to create great divides within the country and within the Pagan community, many magical people continue to turn to ritual as part of their action and protest. The nomination, hearings, and eventual confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court has triggered a new hex event, one that has been making mainstream headlines. Catland Books in Brooklyn, New York has invited people to participate in a public hexing of Kavanaugh Saturday, October 20, 2018. The ritual is being led by Dakota Bracciale, co-owner of Catland and founder of Black Hand Conjure. The event is described on Eventbrite as a “…publich(sic) hex on Brett Kavanaugh and upon all rapists and the patriarchy which emboldens, rewards and protects them.”  Bracciale goes on to say, “We will be embracing witchcraft’s true roots as the magik of the poor, the downtrodden and disenfranchised and it’s(sic) history as often the only weapon, the only means of exacting justice available to those of us who have been wronged by men just like him.”

A second ritual is scheduled for immediately after the hexing that is titled “The Rites of the Scorned Ones” and is described in part as seeking “to validate, affirm, uphold and support those of us who have been wronged and who refuse to be silent any longer.“

The Wild Hunt reached out to Dakota Bracciale; however, we were unable to conduct a full interview in time for publication. Bracciale did refer us to several other interviews given to other publications.