Dowsing for Divinity

Pagan Theology, Poetry, and Praxis

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Review: Ammonite

We watched the film Ammonite last night, about Mary Anning the geologist and a fictional lesbian relationship with another geologist, Charlotte Murchison. (Spoilers after the jump.) Continue reading Review: Ammonite

Review: Ammonite

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Happy Pride Month

June is Pride Month in Canada. And it is not just an excuse for a party, but an opportunity for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to be visible, and to celebrate our wins over the years, from greater social acceptance to same-sex-marriage. Continue reading Happy Pride Month

Happy Pride Month

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Call for contributions: Pagan, Heathen, animist, and/or polytheist responses to AI

Call for contributions: Pagan, Heathen, animist, and/or polytheist responses to AI

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Reasonable adjustments

…and unreasonable responses to them. There’s a general pushback on diversity, equity, and inclusion right now, but even so, I find it startling to see some of the unreasonable arguments put forward for rolling back perfectly reasonable adjustments to help disabled people and neurodiverse people to be comfortable. Continue reading Reasonable adjustments

Reasonable adjustments

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New publishing venture

I have finally decided to take the plunge and start my own publishing company. It’s called Vox Clamantis Books, and you can follow it on WordPress, Instagram, and Facebook. Continue reading New publishing venture

New publishing venture

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Conscience

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that my grandpa Harold was a conscientious objector. I’ve even found a newspaper clipping about his tribunal hearing. So I was pleased to see this poem about conscientious objectors shared on Facebook today by a friend. Continue reading Conscience

Conscience

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Notable and quotable - transphobia edition

Among the general onslaught upon the rights of minorities and the right to protest, it may have escaped people’s notice that the USA is currently seeking to erase trans people from public life in a variety of increasingly cruel ways, and the UK and parts of Canada are not far behind them. In this climate, then, it matters deeply if a transphobe is platformed at Pagan events. Continue reading…

Notable and quotable - transphobia edition

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Animals are people

I dreamed that a child had been writing an essay and referred to dogs as people. The child had shown their teacher a draft of the essay and the teacher had corrected people to animals. The child asked me what to do. I suggested adding a footnote that they believe animals are people and that it’s an ontological category mistake to think they’re not. Continue reading Animals are people

Animals are people

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A potted history of inclusive Wicca

It has now been 12 years since the publication of my book, All Acts of Love and Pleasure: inclusive Wicca, and obviously a lot of developments led up to the publication of that book. So I’d like to just go through a few of the key developments that led to inclusive Wicca. Wicca was founded in or became public in the 1940s. It is no secret that Gerald Gardner was homophobic. However, …

A potted history of inclusive Wicca

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Midwives as witches

It is generally agreed among academic historians that midwives were not generally persecuted as witches across all the areas where witchcraft persecution occurred. David Harley (1990), “Historians as Demonologists: The Myth of the Midwife-witch.” Social History of Medicine, Volume 3, Issue 1, April 1990, Pages 1–26 Continue reading Midwives as witches

Midwives as witches

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Witchy & Pagan fiction

There are so many great fictional books to read about witchy, occult, and Pagan topics. Some of them are also written by LGBTQ+ people, and/or feature LGBTQ+ characters! Continue reading Witchy & Pagan fiction

Witchy & Pagan fiction

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Seasonal wreaths

Seasonal wreaths

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Pagan & witchy groups online

I’m not in very many Pagan groups online for multiple reasons: they’re full of misinformation about the history of Paganism and witchcraft, which I don’t have the energy to counter; there’s a LOT of anti-Wicca stuff in there; there’s a lot of people asking for spells, and the effort required to explain why a magical intervention might make things worse is too much, and not what they want to…

Pagan & witchy groups online

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Dystopian fiction has been moved to current affairs

I recently read an excellent dystopian novel that seems scarily prescient. It’s the first part of a series set in a world where 95% of the population has been killed by a respiratory virus. As a result, giving birth is compulsory. Continue reading Dystopian fiction has been moved to current affairs

Dystopian fiction has been moved to current affairs

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Ways of talking about faith

Ways of talking about faith

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Mirror revisited

I wrote this poem 23 years and one day ago, about the Iraq war. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. Looking at the cherry blossomJust opening on the black branches:Fragile stars in the February wind. Continue reading Mirror revisited

Mirror revisited

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Short story: The ghost in the machine

I decided to have a go at short story writing using some prompts I found online. This story lacks a plot but I like the incidental details. At first we thought the pandemic would only last a few weeks or months, like flu season. So we laughed at the people who rushed out to stock up on toilet rolls, learned to bake sourdough bread, or crochet our way out of boredom. But as the death toll…

Short story: The ghost in the machine