The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/witches/page/6)
In the past they burned us,
because they thought we were witches. Just because we knew what to do with herbs outside of the kitchen. Because we knew how to dance, seduce, pray. Because we moved with the cycles of the moon. That’s the beginning of poet Fleassy Malay’s Witches, which has been shared and appreciated widely within Pagan circles.
There are lots of articles and essays of interest to modern Pagans and Heathens out there, more than our team can write about in depth in any given week. Therefore, the Wild Hunt must unleash the hounds in order to round them all up. Today marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Scott Cunningham, one of Wicca and Witchcraft’s most prominent figures. Over his career, Cunningham authored more than 30 books of which the most well known is Wicca: a Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. Through that work alone, he made solitary Wiccan practice more visible, more credible, and more accessible. Cunningham died in 1993 of an AIDS-related illness.
KOBE, Japan — Eriko Kawanishi first came to Glastonbury as a graduate student, working on Western paganism for her thesis. Impressing the locals with her understanding, her courage in coming alone to a small English town on the other side of the planet, and her good humour, Eriko soon became an integral part of the Glastonbury community and has taken her knowledge of the UK Pagan scene back to her home country of Japan. Eriko is a researcher at Kyoto University and will be teaching at Konan Women’s University in Kobe as a part-time lecturer beginning September 2017. She said that Western Paganism isn’t studied widely in Asia, and although Shinto, for instance, shares some common themes with Pagan paths such as Druidry, there is currently little formal exchange between the two. As the work of academics like Eriko expands, however, a more in-depth understanding of the spiritual analogies between the cultures is likely to develop.
UNITED STATES — President Donald Trump continues to raise hackles among progressives — as well as some conservatives — during these first hundred days of his term in office. Some of his opponents in the Pagan and polytheist communities are working magic against the 45th president, and in the tradition of hexing Brock Turner, some of that work is being done very publicly. Gala Darling broadcast a “bind Trump” ritual on President’s Day, capitalizing on the holiday to focus energy on the effort. Based on the participant locations she rattled off, the effort was an international one. Binding is a form of magic that is less ethically problematic for practitioners who subscribe to the threefold law or similar injunctions against manipulative magic.
TWH — As the sun rose on Oct. 31 and the Halloween frenzy crested, a viral social media campaign appeared, generating hundreds of responses on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr ,and Twitter. Using hashtag #whatwitcheslooklike, people from around the world posted photographs of themselves wearing no religious ritual wear, costumes, or other atypical clothing for their personal lifestyle. The goal was to combat popular fictional witch stereotypes by demonstrating what real, modern Witches actually look like. As is typical of the Samhain season, the popular use of words, such as witch and witchcraft, find their way into and onto everything.