It’s been a while since I’ve written about my Slavic polytheist practice. That’s not because I’m not practicing! Things have just been on the quiet side. I still do regular devotionals (although I’d be lying if I said I kept up with a daily routine on that), I still have a relationship with Baba Yaga, […]
Read more "Slavic Polytheism: Ideas That Aren’t Part of my Practice Anymore"I’m at an odd juncture in my life right now. I only have one year left of my Ph.D (although I said that this time last year, so who really knows?) and I’m desperate to move on to the next thing. I don’t know exactly what the next thing is; I’ll apply for academic jobs […]
Read more "The Seven and Eight of Pentacles: Patience and Humility"“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"Look, I’m not immune to buzzwords. I’ve been known to drop a hashtag or two, hoping to catch some internet attention for the things I write. I’m dreadful at SEO, and not nearly on the level of social media influencers or content creators who know how to get eyes on what they make. Frankly, I […]
Read more "On Empty Buzzwords and “Shadow Work”"Tarot is riddled with alchemical symbolism. Particularly in decks influenced by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn or other high forms of high magic (Etteila, Papus, etc.), we find that the Tarot deck is a series of symbolic, allegorical depictions of the same spiritual, magical, and psychological forces at play in the Great Work […]
Read more "After Temperance, the Devil: The Great Work is never done"This is a fun deck. Tarot can be (and often is) a serious business, but it can also be whimsical, playful, and just plain fun. The Disney Villains Tarot is a novelty deck designed for the young at heart, filling the 78 cards of the Tarot deck with familiar dastards from across the Disney canon. […]
Read more "A Review of the Disney Villains Tarot"New on YouTube. In various religious and magical spaces, the concept of “tradition” is incredibly important. But what is tradition, really? Why is it valuable? And why do people get so weird about it? In this video, I talk through my thoughts on these questions, and provide my own proposed definition of religion: A set […]
Read more "Video: What Even is Tradition, Anyway?"In my previous post, I started to outline the interpretation of a massive Opening of the Key reading that I did for myself last week, to mark the winter solstice. I’ve been in a bit of a rough patch lately, with the death of my father, genera malaise in the workplace, and a healthy dose […]
Read more "My Yule Opening of the Key: The Second Operation"New on YouTube. Qabalah for Wiccans released last week, which means I’m officially a published Pagan author now. That’s incredibly exciting, but it’s also weird in some ways I hadn’t anticipated. I share some thoughts about the Pagan community’s relationship with publishing and with authors, the way an author’s involvement in book publicity requires the […]
Read more "Video: Thoughts on Being a Pagan Author"This is an older deck, but it’s one I’ve been meaning to get my hands on for quite some time. The Green Witch Tarot is a deck designed by Ann Moura, the author of the highly successful Green Witchcraft books.* It’s a colorful Tarot deck printed with Pagans and witches in mind, adapting the classic […]
Read more "A Review of the Green Witch Tarot"
Jack Chanek 