Burnt Sage & Blunt Truths

I had a great conversation this past weekend where practitioners of color and culture were discussing this very thing.  Let’s quit pretending this is confusing. It isn’t. What it is , is inconvenient—especially for people who’ve built a brand, a following, and a tidy little income stream off something they barely understand but know how to market. So here’s the line, carved clean. Appropriation vs Assimilation (No Hand-Holding Edition) Appropriation is taking. Assimilation is adapting a practice because you were taught it, because it was what was there where you were taught. It is done with respect and recognition. I point specifically to African slaves who hid their religions in the saints and the songs of what appears to be a Christian religion. They did it to survive. Then there is Appalachian magic and it's cross over into multiple disciplines. There was always trade between nations just as there was always a sharing of knowledge. Now when it comes to cultural appropriation ver...

 Paganicon 2026 came in with a venue change, and as expected, that shifted the energy in ways both good and… let’s call them “educational.” Let’s start with what worked—because quite a bit did. The Good (And There Was Plenty) The presenters this year were, overall, solid. Engaging, knowledgeable, and worth the price of admission—exactly what Paganicon has built its reputation on. There’s a reason this event still holds the weight it does in the community. Some standouts: Laura Tempest Zakroff delivered a fantastic talk on runes and the Tarot—smart, funny, and genuinely insightful. Not fluff. Not recycled nonsense. Actual substance. Lady J Griot brought depth with The Blues is Magic You Can Use . The reminder that magic lives in the silence—the liminal spaces between notes—was one of those moments that sticks. And then there was Celia Farran on Friday night—pure light. Whidbey Island magic at its finest. Her set wasn’t just music, it was an experience. Grounding, expan...

Every once in a while, someone wanders into a space that isn’t theirs and decides they’re going to poison the well. You know the type. The sideways comments. The passive-aggressive whispers. The subtle little digs meant to make people doubt themselves. It’s the oldest trick in the book. If you can’t build something meaningful, you try to rot what someone else built. Here’s the funny part though. That strategy only works when the person on the receiving end is insecure, isolated, or desperate for approval. I am none of those things. I see the behavior. I see the pattern. And I see exactly what it is: insecurity dressed up as cleverness. Let me say something clearly for anyone who might need to hear it. Communities are not built by people who lurk in corners throwing shade. They’re built by people who show up, do the work, create things, support others, and keep going even when the path gets messy. That’s the difference. You can throw all the little barbs you want, but the reality is s...

 Let’s begin with a truth you won’t find in your average moon-charged influencer spell kit: the Craft was never meant to be cute. It was never meant to match your throw pillows. It wasn’t designed to photograph well, to fit within a TikTok trend, or to be distilled into a digestible affirmation. The Craft — true witchcraft — is born of necessity, fire, blood, silence, and survival. Somewhere along the way, it got dipped in glitter and sold like a limited-edition candle set. What should’ve remained sacred got sterilized, market-tested, and aestheticized. And in the process, far too many forgot what the Work actually is. We live in a time where 'witch' has become an accessory. The same word our ancestors whispered in fear and reverence is now printed on t-shirts and etched into pink crystal wine glasses. Witchcraft has been curated, sanitized, and glamorized until it barely resembles the sharp-edged, soil-stained, spirit-heavy practice our foremothers carried through plague, ...

There’s a strange habit that keeps popping up in the Pagan world. Every time things get messy, someone decides what we really need is another grand speech about truth, justice, unity, community, integrity, courage, harmony, balance, and whatever other noble words they can string together like beads on a rosary. The speeches get longer every year. Like a bad, dry sermon in a backwater church. Preaching civic duty.  The wisdom… not so much. You’ve seen them. We all have. Long declarations about what the community must do. Stirring language about standing together. Bullet points about values. Flowery phrases about being the guardians of something or the keepers of something else. And after all the talking? Nothing changes. Because here’s the blunt truth: communities are not fixed by speeches. They’re fixed by work. Real work. The kind that doesn’t fit neatly into a poster graphic or a newsletter essay. If people are confused about witchcraft, then teach witchcraft. If new practitione...

One of the things no one tells you about magic—or about life, which frankly runs on the same damn mechanics—is that timing is rarely in your control. People talk about intention. They talk about focus. They talk about discipline and will and manifesting like the universe is a vending machine where you just press the right button and wait for the snack to drop. Cute theory. But anyone who has practiced real magic for more than five minutes knows better. Magic is a system of variables. Timing. Energy. Alignment. Opportunity. The right door opening at the right moment. The right person walking into the room. The right piece of information arriving exactly when it needs to. And sometimes every single one of those things lines up perfectly… except one. Just one. That last stubborn variable. And until it moves, nothing else can. It’s a strange place to exist—standing in a moment where you can see the entire path ahead of you with absolute clarity. The bags are mentally packed. The map is dra...

  (A Non-Exhaustive, Unapologetic List) There are some life lessons you learn slowly. Over years. Through therapy. Through careful reflection. And then there are the lessons you learn when your body throws a coup, you end up in a hospital bed under fluorescent lighting, and your entire life quietly rearranges itself while you’re wearing grippy socks. This is about the second kind. No details. No dramatics. Just observations. Because when your trajectory changes in a week, you don’t get wisdom—you get clarity. And clarity is louder than wisdom anyway. Lesson One: Your Body Is Not a Democracy You can negotiate with your mind all day. Your body does not attend meetings. It issues statements. Sometimes those statements come with IV fluids. Sometimes they come with paperwork. What I learned is this: the body keeps receipts. And when it’s done being polite, it stops whispering. Lesson Two: Systems Are Only Kind When You’re Convenient Every system smiles when you’re compliant, pr...