Friendly reminder for Disability Pride Month that disabled witches & pagans aren't just valid...
Disabled witches & pagans are sacred. We don't need anyone's acceptance or inclusion to be real worshippers and witches. We are the blood and bones of magik and paganism.
You can't exclude us from witchcraft and paganism. What you can do is distort the craft, violate the core of our theology, and disrespect our traditions. Your ableism cuts us off from our means to practice, it limits our access, but it can never, ever make it more yours than ours.
In Hellenic Polytheism (and so many religions), ableism is disrespecting the gods. When you say negativity and illness has no space in worship, you ignore all worship of Dionysos. Your constant use of slurs against the disabled does not go unnoticed by the family of Hephaistos. Apollon, patron of a blind prophet, watches you refuse to accommodate the blind members of your community. Hermes and Athena see your refusal to learn and improve, despite the tools they have granted you. Asklepios and Apollon did not give us medicine for you to advocate disabled worshipers skip their pills.
And where do you think your herbs are from? Do you think your encyclopedias of magik and medicine were all written by abled hands? Disabled people sought out and found the remedies you use in your craft. We wrote those books. The knowledge wasn't pulled from thin air, and everything was discovered intentionally.
You don't need to tell us we're valid. We are not foreigners to this craft, and we don't need your hospitality. Magik and religion is not the property of the able-bodied. What we need is basic decency and accessibility, not half-hearted attempts by ableds to convince us that our presence "isn't actively bad."
You never seek validation from us. You never ask if you're too abled to practice--why do you assume we need approval from you?
For my disabled pagans and practitioners:
You are sacred. Your disability doesn't weaken your craft, and it doesn't need to be separate. You never have to be happy to be disabled, but know that your disability is not a curse. Magik has always been for you, always. The gods have always been for you. The universe and the divine are not ableist, and no one has a right to tell you how your disability affects your practice.
If I can say one thing to stick with you, I hope it's that you don't need to be valid. Your access needs aren't "special" or something for ableds to convince you aren't a detriment. You--all of you, disability and access needs included--make the world a better place and the craft that much stronger. You don't need to overcome anything. All you need is to exist. Know that what you are now is enough.
[Ableds can RB but don't add anything. Disabled folks, do as you wish]
