Gaol Naofa and Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism.

(source)

This has taken me a while to write. What I am talking about happened over a month ago at the near-end of November. The reason it took me so long to write is that it was very, very traumatic for me. I had put a lot of trust into the members of Gaol Naofa. Maybe faster than I should have. I was deeply hurt by how things transpired, especially how the President handled things--as I looked up to her the most. It's taken me a month to fully recover from the broken trust that shattered my heart. But it's time to address it, because unfortunately this is something that may concern future members of Gaol Naofa and I don't want to leave it unaddressed.

Trigger Warning: Trans-misogyny and rape discussed.

I'm Really Getting Irritated

...but I guess I shouldn't try to post information about cultural appropriation, eh?

Under the cut: Facebook "conversation" about Cultural Appropriation with EarthSoul

Continuing the UU Conversations...

Well, I emailed the Reverend of the UU church. Here are the copy and pasted conversations thus far. Feedback about how I am handling the situation is always welcomed.

And goes on and on...

I support CAORANN.

Well, after three weeks of silence, I get a message from the UU Pagan group's organizer about a decision they reached about me, my actions, and the issue...at a meeting they knew I wouldn't be at. The conversation isn't done, but I want to post what I have so far have collected so I can show it to the Reverend of the UU church (reasons will be given at the end.)

And it continues...

Well, I got responses from my remarks on the Facebook group page.

Before I post the screenshots, I want to mention that I changed methods in how I screen-capped these conversations about half-way through the events. Typically, I block out names. As much as I'm for public scrutiny on people who have problematic opinions and practices, I do realize that employers and communities hold prejudices against non-Abrahamic religious beliefs that fall under the pagan umbrella. This Facebook group I am screen-capping is actually private for those reasons. So, I block out names for that reason.

However, green-blocked guy from all these chats is public about his beliefs. He legally changed his name to reflect these beliefs. So I think Kevin EarthSoul doesn't need this type of protection when he is willing to be public about his ideas, beliefs, and teachings. (This extends to his wife.)

And in fairness, I also unblocked my legal name (typically hidden with the purple blocks). My online life and offline life are so intermingled that it hardly needs to be a secret. I'm open about my spiritual beliefs too. So after I unblock his name, I also unblock mine. (Spoilers: my legal name is Marcella. "Allec" is my nickname backwards, "Cella.") And I also want to be under scrutiny for my actions. I am a white middle-class person. I am speaking as an ally, not as an oppressed person, in these conversations. Therefore, if I misspeak in any way please tell me.

UU Group and Cultural Appropriation Articles

(image source)

While on Tumblr, a person I follow posted a link to a really insightful article on cultural appropriation on Jezebel's website. The article is titled: "A Much-Needed Primer on Cultural Appropriation" by Katie J.M. Baker. I thought it had some really informative parts as well as helping people who want to wear Native-inspired clothing. (Hint: you should buy from Native Americans.) I reblogged it on Tumblr, linked it to my Facebook timeline, linked it to OPPSG (which needs to be changed over into PAGBAH, I think), linked it on Cross Quarterly's Facebook, and finally decided to also link it to the UU Facebook Group.

Which brings me to this: I haven't been removed from the Facebook group! Even though I have decided to stop attending monthly meet-ups, they haven't removed me from the Facebook group. I would like to go back to the monthly meet-ups once the current organizer steps down.

Anyway, after I posted that article from Jezebel, the guy declaring he should be able to use the word "Shaman"--whom I've dubbed MoonSpirit--decided to make another post after mine about his views on cultural appropriation:

(trigger warning: racism below, though thankfully no slurs.)

Another One Bites the Dust

I wonder if I should make getting kicked out of Facebook Groups my new hobby?

(Warning: Below the cut contains slurs.)

What to do with a Gender Binary?

Before I was banned from this group, I went to a meet up where in the general discussion a person mentioned a Women's Retreat. I don't recall which one she meant, but there are Pagan Women Retreats throughout the United States. This also is not a purely Pagan or New Age ideology. Christian Churches will have women's retreats, or even secular groups will engage in this dichotomy. To be clear, there are also male-only retreats or gatherings.

As the title suggests, I'm not a fan of this.

Critique: Next Millennium's Newsletter

taken from the newsletter email

I forgot to unsubscribe from the Next Millennium newsletter that is sent out via email once a month. On June 2nd I saw it in my email inbox and out of curiosity decided to peruse it. Who knows? Maybe they made a mention of my petition and/or boycott.

While they didn't, I found more troubling misinformation being spread. I am spending this email, as well as emailing the store back, with why certain parts of the email are very, very concerning. Even if you are not a customer at Next Millennium, these are still problems to look out for at any other occult store you may shop at.

Update: Next Millennium Boycott and now Petition.

Just an update on the boycott article I posted a couple weeks ago.

My position still hasn't changed on how the store should conduct itself. While this is considerably an opinion of mine, I have started a petition to help the owners see that I am not the only one of this opinion.

Here are some remarks to the boycott and petition with my answer:

The Local Pagan Community--Summed up in Facebook?

This is probably the easiest article post I will ever have to publish. All I am doing is copying over screenshots from a group I was apart of, called "Pagans of Nebraska." I'm going to avoid adding as the entire discussion can speak for itself. Also, it's going to get lengthy.

The Power of Belief

There is a quote I heard years ago that I never fully understood until recently. It's by Richard Dawkins, of all people. While I don't agree with a lot he says and some of his views, I do find some truth in this quote he made:

"By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out."

What could he mean by that? Well, I don't know what he meant, but let me tell you what it means to me in regards to paganism.