ANNOUNCMENT: HARVEST GATHERING 2023

Hello Everyone!

I'm happy to announce that I will be teaching and presenting a ritual at Harvest Gathering 2023.

Therefore I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog. Here it is!

I'll start with sharing my plans for the workshop and ritual:

THE WORKSHOP

Pagan Pronouns 101: An Introduction to Trans Inclusion in Pagan Spaces

Presenters Erick Sastre (he/him) and Liv Keden (They/Them) will speak on gender diversity and inclusion first generally, and then how it applies to our pagan community. The workshop will begin with the basics of gender. We will go over foundational concepts and definitions to strengthen understanding and positive vocabulary. We will answer questions like: Who are transgender people? What does LGBTQIA2S+ stand for? Why do we need so many letters? What does it mean to be gender non conforming? What can we do to create welcoming and inclusive spaces for all pagans regardless of sexuality and gender identity? How can we affirm these identities politically and spiritually? Why do we need to? Our next session we will discuss community and group dynamics, how to make our spaces, circles, and rituals more inclusive and affirming. Our presentation will touch upon queer paganism. You might be surprised how much affirmation we can find in our magick, history, and mythology!

Liv and Erick have presented to a variety of audiences on gender and inclusivity, they have modified their presentation for the pagan community, hope you enjoy it!

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THE RITUAL:

Rite for Trans Life... A ritual for the protection of transgender youth. 

Ritual for the affirmation and protection of transgender youth. Our ritual structure is based principles of gender-inclusive witchcraft, we will call upon the powers of our ancestors, the elements, and the principal powers of the Earth, Moon, and Sun to create a shield for vulnerable gender non-conforming youth who are at risk and bearing the brunt of our current political climate in America and around the world.

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So, how does that sound?

You might be curious why I want to do this work, share these ideas, and run these workshops in my local pagan community. 

If you live in America, you know the topic of transgender rights is HOT right now. This is really a global phenomena and a discussion that has been going on for a long-long time... However, right now there is more transgender visibility in mainstream culture than ever before! It makes me so happy to see so much more representation and so sad to see so much intolerance bubbling up after it. 

I am so grateful to be part of the Pagan community, which is much more open minded, gayer, and progressive than the general culture. This spiritual path has helped me discover myself and feel safe in my identity. 

Even to the most accepting people, a lot of the information about the transgender community is new, updated, reorganized from how we used to think about things. When I was a teenager I did not know about transgender people, 'Pansexual' was not a word in the discourse yet, there were only a few flags to keep track of at Pride events. 

There has been so much more we are able to express now, there is so much more discourse, vocabulary, and so many-many more flags!

The workshop is meant to be an approachable space for those who would like to make their pagan spaces more friendly to transgender people, and deepen our community understanding of modern queer culture.

I never imagined I'd willingly put myself in 'the hot seat' to have to explain myself or the bigger community, but, here I am! Hopefully I'm a familiar face that can answer questions and, along with my very experienced co-presenter Liv, help to our community be even more inclusive. 

I also want to blow the lid of any conception that transgender people are a new phenomenon, or that they do not fit into pagan philosophy or theology. There have always been transgender people. In fact, many of the cultures that modern pagans are inspired by have queer people, mythology, and deities. These figures and stories are often left out of our modern discourse. It is time to bring them back to a place of honor... with mirth, and reverence of course! 

I will let you all know how it goes, wish me luck!