First, let’s talk about online communities, particularly reddit (since this is the site I most use – yeah, yeah, I know, preddit). There are quite a few varieties of occult flavored subreddits catering to different paths of practice. The most general sub is full of armchair occultists, mostly men. There are tons of posts about how to charging sigils by ejaculating onto them and asking how to summon succubi. Also, since ceremonial magick (high magick) has traditionally been a male field, there is a slant toward that. The type of magick women have traditionally used (or assumed to have used) is witchcraft, cunning work, and healing (low magick), and these are more often discussed on separate niche subreddits, with much less focus on the penis, and (usually) more on praxis. But don’t you dare mention Dianic Wicca, T*RF!

One particular subreddit that caught my eye referred to using witchcraft to hex the patriarchy. Rad! Sign me up! Modern witchcraft should be about women reclaiming their power, reclaiming the dirty word “witch”, and turning the patriarchy on its head. I mean, an occult subreddit about hexing the patriarchy should center women, right?

Wrong. I was so, so wrong. It was full of libfems and TRAs, especially the mods. Trans memes, oodles of infantalizing “baby witch!” posts, and I’m sure plenty of SWIW “empowerment”, but I’ve blacked out a lot. The last straw was a question about period blood magick with the first response demanding OP be inclusive of people who don’t have periods. Fuck off. Whatever happened to “If you don’t like what you see, scroll by”?

Local shops aren’t much better. Occult practitioners are often on the margins of society by virtue of practicing the occult. Many of us are pagans, accustomed to living under Judeo-Christian framed societies. And we are open, so open-minded and accepting and welcoming to WEIRD that it doesn’t seem like much stretch of the imagination that we should just accept everyone and everything. At least, this is my theory. I live in a very liberal state in the Northeastern US and ALL* the occult shops are run by TRAs and gender specials: always women attempting to opt out of womanhood by declaring themselves TIFs and NBs (* except maybe the one shop run by a couple of old white neophytes who think they’re shamans because they sell copper wrapped gemstone jewelry, dreamcatchers made in China, and toss your purchases into a Tibetan singing bowl to “cleanse” them, but that’s another issue entirely). They tell you about it apropos of nothing (or post it prominently on their websites). Look, I just want some candles and incense, not your misguided politics.

I didn’t learn these things about one of my favorite shops until after a few trips. The owner (I later learned she has a TIF tween) suggested I might be interested in the Wild Woman Project and something called a Wild Woman Circle that occurs every new moon and that one is hosted at the shop. As I am indeed a wild woman, I thought I might be amenable to such an outing. When I got home, I did a little research and I’m just going to copy/paste some details directly from the [organization’s website](www.thewildwomanproject.com):

What is The Wild Woman Project? The Wild Woman Project is at once a philosophy (an invigorating approach to life as a wondrous, often messy, creative project) & a growing movement of courageous, creative, heart centered (often weird & wonderful) women on a mission to remember, to reimagine what it means to be a woman – untamed.

What is our Mission? To awaken women to their most authentic, undomesticated nature, so they may feel like themselves, all the time, no apologies.

“So far so good,” I thought. “I could use some fierce female friends.”

About Wild Woman Project Circles In this international network of circles, you can expect: A Sensuous Sacred Space held by a trained WWP [Wild Woman Project] Facilitator with Guided Meditation, Sharing, Intention Setting Ritual & more held on or near the New Moon. These circles are not associated with a singular path or religion, but rather, an inclusive coming together with women from all paths. We all come from different spiritual/cultural backgrounds and gather around the ideas of: Sisterhood (having each others backs, empowering one another), a respect for the earth (wildness, turning to nature as a teacher) & co-creation (the understanding that just as we co-create our experience in circle, so do we co-create life on earth).

Now I was sufficiently interested that I was ready to reserve a spot for the next Circle. But first, one last short message--

These Circles are open to all who identify as women.

So much for sisterhood.

It is often stated in occult communities that this (magick) is a lonely path to walk. While I am a solitary practitioner, I’m positive I’m not the only one with radfem politics. But to speak unabashedly of womanhood or of biology is to be branded an evil witch TRF. What is scouring someone’s online presence for witch TRF marks? What is doxxing, canceling, threatening our livelihoods, threatening us with bodily harm? What is it if not a medieval witch T*RF hunt? The irony would be funny if it weren’t so fucking enraging.

I want there to be spaces for women who practice magick or sorcery or witchcraft or whatever they call it. There need to be spaces free from men where women can discuss and explore how being a woman effects their magick and how magick effects their womanhood. We need spaces to get away from the scrotes who want to have sex with astral beings and predatory “mentors”. We need spaces where women can heal their internalized misogyny, not attempt to escape it by mutilating their bodies. Most of all, we need spaces where we can empower ourselves and each other so that we can burn the fucking patriarchy to the ground and scatter the ashes on the four winds.