While my blog
generally focuses on China and Japan, occasionally other topics
related to religion and mythology warrant a post too. Due to Halloween being right around the corner, I decided to finally cover something I’ve been
meaning to for a long while – the large number of misinterpreted,
misreported or outright made up information about my favorite minor
figure from Greek mythology, Hecate. While only rarely present in
myths, she’s a mainstay of not only popculture, but also of what I
think warrants being called “pop-spirituality”.
Under the cut I
will examine a number of claims commonly seen online, and provide
both the necessary debunks as well as some interesting genuine
information.
Fixed stars affect more than the point they appear at in the sky. Stars appear to rise, set, and culminate (reach the highest point of their journey) at important degrees as well. Planets and angles conjunct important degrees of fixed stars contribute to the characteristics of the chart owner. Note: The rising and set points included in this series are approximate and are applicable to those born within 73 degrees north or south of the equator.
Antares Located at 9 degrees Sagittarius, Antares is associated with the energy of Mars and Jupiter. It lies in the heart of Scorpio and is found prominent in people who are involved with Mars-related life-or-death missions. Antares was considered the “watcher or the west” in Persia and the god of the dead, Yima. This directional association with the afterlife is shared by Egypt, Mesoamerica, and Eastern traditions. Positioned against the ascendant, this star can manifest as ruthless ambition. Planets rising and setting with Antares tend to take on Scorpionic obsessive themes. At its best, Antares’ forward drive can manifest great feats as represented by Nelson Mandela and Joan of Arc; however, this energy is also associated with self-undoing.
Other points associated with this star are the rising and setting points at 11 and 6 degrees Sagittarius and culminates at 9 Sagittarius.
A not so kind rebuttal to my interview with Dazed Beauty Magazine. Trans witches were wronged.
First, some quotes from friends, and strangers turned friends on the matter:
“PLEASE!!! Florence! I think everyone needs to read something of substance around this. The banal saturation is fucking mind numbing.”- Samanthareadsgood
“Think about yourself and don’t be worrying about hurting other people feelings because she’s not considering you… And look at it coldly…She interviewed you for something which you consented to and then she did something else. That’s not okay.” -René ( victim Former friend of the author Isabella AKA sister_bella on Instagram.)
And last but not least, “IM SCREAMING. STOP 4RrEAL!?” Austin of banexbramble on Instagram. Typos intentional and copied.
Awhile back I was randomly messaged by an Instagram page run by a writer for dazed beauty. She expressed that she was writing an article on transgender witches and wanted to interview me. But it needed to be done that night. I did not see the message until a few days later. It seemed sketchy but as a fan of the magazine I took the bait. The woman seemed nice enough and I enjoyed the idea of transness being represented in witchcraft conversations. She had her due date extended.
She asked several questions which I thought were very well crafted. I formulated my replies to her via text and spent a total of two hours chatting with her on the subject. There were paragraphs of content to write on. I was very proud of my work. I was ready to discuss the history of trans people as learned in college through my gender studies courses. I wanted to discuss the GallI of Greece, the Gala of Sumer, the two spirit and other indigenous titles for third/alt genders- my fav being the Hijra of India. I wanted to discuss the transness of the Ethiopian eunuch in the Bible… not Joan of arc… I didn’t mention her. But none of that was of interest clearly. The History was too in-depth to write on for this magazine probably. Word counts and all…
I was lead to believe that this informal and rushed interview was going to be in a interview-to-text- format. I assumed it would be stylized with a question from the writer in bold, and a long winded response from me below it. Like how celebrities are interviewed haha. But girl was I wrong…
Not only was the entirety of the article kept from me post interview, but only one small paragraph was shown to me from our entire conversation. I assumed there was more… there was not. My time and words wasted for a misquote. One sentence of mine made it to the article. And it was not even worded properly. it’s context was stripped. I was explaining how in traditional witchcraft, witches are seen as “other”. Not in a other-kin way, but in a transformative way via gnosis. I went on to describe my feelings of dysphoria and it’s overlap with my spiritual beliefs. But all she heard was “Florence thinks being trans is inhuman and I’m going to word this in a sloppy way to validate TERF’s and their dehumanization of tranniez.”…
On top of this money grabbing terf ridden article, there were loads of TERFy comments making fun of the lack of sources, proper historical legitimacy, and me.
To make matters worse better, i was not tagged in the article advertisement on Instagram. This both angered me and relieved me. My name was not caught up in this shit. But my time was not being recognized. Instead, the more famous, more appreciated interviewed were highlighted. And there is no telling if their logic was sound. I was not aware of their interviews. Judging from their Instagram content, I’m sure they are less informed on true magic or history… if you read this article, I’m sure you saw the portion comparing Joan of arc to trans men. I would like to say the writer of the article completely fabricated that herself. But who knows what other shit people are spewing.
When I heard of this article, I thought a cis woman was highlighting the experiences of trans people by giving us a platform. This is something I gladly allow! But instead, she was taking the crumbs of our words and using them for woke points and click bait. It was a poorly formed article with no real point. It was a mishmash of words speaking loosely of an issue that is already difficult to describe. It allowed space for terf’s and non witches alike to give their shitty opinions. And the writer??? Nowhere to be seen. Dazed beauty? No reply or combat against the ever-flowing comments. It’s as if this entire article was a ruse to make us all look stupid.
So now that I’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the author and her personal life. When she approached me she seemed nice. I genuinely thought I had a shot at maybe being represented in a magazine I like. She was willing to offer me that. But little did I know, she had sketchy occult business practices of her own. This woman has titled herself a “priestess, sorceress, spell caster” and other trigger words to make her look powerful. Other than aesthetics, she has no real grab on a magical tradition. I was informed of her moving to Mexico and hosting “full moon rituals” of some ambiguous type. At these rituals she was charging people 300 MXN twice a month on full and dark moons with no explanation of what would take place there. People were somewhat pressured into discussing sexual trauma, and others believed it was a safe space to share things. However, it was cult-like psychology at play. There was no real therapy practices implemented. It was just an unqualified woman just crying to strangers and making them pay her since it was cheaper than real therapy. It was not sound. It was not ethical.
People tried leaving. To which she would send many many messages to those people as if they were friends. She was trying to make people feel guilty for not coming to her “rituals” that cost money. It was treated as betrayal to her…
Anyway, all of that mess aside, let’s show some actual sources to discuss the history of Trans people. I have said this many times before and I hope I don’t sound like a brag, but I have 2 degrees in sociology at escalating levels. I actually am hoping to write a text book in collaboration with my university next year on similar subjects. Here are some texts I read in my gender studies classes and plan to cite in future works. Please please consider these texts. I do not want to waste my time explaining what’s already been beautifully written by others. Especially for FREE on TUMBLR.
-Histories of the Transgender Child by Jules Gill-Peterson
-Sexing the body: Gender politics and the construction of sexuality by Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling
-Brain Storm: The Flaws in the Science of Sex Differences. By Dr. Rebecca Jordan-Young
-Measuring Manhood: Race and the Science of Masculinity by Dr. Melissa N. Stein
-Sexual Science: The Victorian Construction of Womanhood by Dr. Cynthia Russet.
As for trans people’s place in occult spaces or religion, I highly recommend reading the following links and titles. [It’s also important to note here that the Joan of arc mess in the original article, could have been replaced with the Ethiopian eunuch of the Bible… “but no. Cis girl brain go brrrrr. Must pick popular feminist figure and make up a history”]
The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press.
A Comparative Analysis of Hijras and Drag Queens: The Subversive Possibilities and Limits of Parading Effeminacy and Negotiating Masculinity.“ Ed. Stephen Hunt, Religions of the East. Surrey: Ashgate, 2010.
The Invisibles: A Tale of the Eunuchs of India.
Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature (for Sumerian trans priests)
