What is the ethical underpinning of Wicca, if there is one at all? Most often, you’ll hear people answer this question by pointing to the Wiccan Rede or the Threefold Law of Return. Personally, though, I think that Wicca–at least, the version of Wicca I practice–doesn’t teach ethics. Rather, there’s an expectation that people come […]
Read more "Video: Wiccan Ethics"“I do not know these good people,” the prisoner replied. “Truly?” “Truly.” “And now tell me, why is it that you use the words ‘good people’ all the time? Do you call everyone that, or what?” “Everyone,” the prisoner replied. “There are no evil people in the world.” Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita This […]
Read more "The Devil and the Star: There Are No Evil People"Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about Beverly Keane. For those who don’t know her, Bev Keane is a major antagonist from Mike Flanagan’s small-town Catholic horror series Midnight Mass on Netflix. She is the embodiment of sanctimonious self-righteousness; an early scene in the show has her admonishing the town’s new priest for wearing the […]
Read more "Bev Keane, Hierophant"I made some bad decisions recently. I got in a fight and said some things I had no right to say. I spoke out of anger and spite, and even though I was right in that moment I was an ugly version of myself that I’m not proud to have been. I like to think […]
Read more "The Three of Pentacles and the Three of Wands, or, The People We Choose To Be"I spend a disproportionate amount of time on this blog talking about the Major Arcana. This is, perhaps, unsurprising–the Majors represent the big, shiny, sexy themes of human existence, so they make for great blogging material–but it’s also a bit of a pity. After all, the Minors constitute 72% of the Tarot deck. There’s a […]
Read more "“Aristotelian” Shadow Work (And A Tarot Spread)"I am not, by nature, a compassionate person. This is not to say that I’m not capable of treating others kindly, because of course I am, but compassion for me is a learned behavior. It doesn’t come naturally. Rather, I have to look at other people to see what compassion looks like from the outside, […]
Read more "Aspiring to the King of Cups: Or, I Am Not a Replicant"I realized today that I’ve never actually shared my Tarot ethics here on the blog. All members of the American Tarot Association are bound by the ATA’s code of ethics (although the ATA is by no means a regulatory body, and there are serious issues with the practicality of trying to enforce that code). In […]
Read more "My Personal Code of Tarot Ethics"
Jack Chanek 