Statement of Inclusion

Posted on by lisa

I am very proud to announce that JaguarMoon Coven has produced it’s statement of inclusion. It is no longer acceptable to presume that a magickal group is a safe place. We need standards we can point to, that our students can look at, and we all need to hold one another accountable.

I think that all students will be good with this statement even though we are sharing it mid year. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask for clarification.

We are very serious about this. We believe in safe space.

 

 

 

 

JaguarMoon Coven is inclusive.
We utterly reject racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, ableism, sizeism, jingoism, classism, and transphobia.
We believe diversity strengthens us as individuals and as witches; we embrace all facets of the human condition. Our students and members are different in gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion of origin, and age, as well as in cultural backgrounds, life experiences, economic status, thoughts and ideas.
We welcome and respect the stranger, the so-called other. We believe that gender (in all of its variations), sex, skin color, religion of origin, preference in partner, or biological status are facets of an individual’s overall being, and all are welcome here: no requirement for participation in our class or coven is based on any biological facet.
Shame has no place in the circle. We believe that any act that takes place between consenting adults is beautiful. There is no shame in any body type, physical expression, disability, or adornment.
Our tradition is based on the idea that witchcraft empowers the individual and imbues each practitioner with complete sovereignty. No teacher, priest/ess, member, or student of JaguarMoon will ever violate the sovereignty of another.
We honor honesty and compassion as the foundations for an atmosphere of trust.

Ritual and magic require our full attention in the Circle. Illness — physical, mental, or spiritual — is not a moral failing and there is a place in the Circle for those who are sick and trying to get well. For our sake as well as theirs, those who by reason of addiction or mental illness do not have the ability to be fully present are still loved by us, but may be asked to get help before they return to the Circle.

Violation of these standards will result in dismissal from the Class or Coven.

Beltane Altar

Posted on by lisa

I manage to re-arrange/re-do my altar every Sabbat, and almost every Esbat. Here are some pics from the Beltane altar.

The full altar layout. (Its on a shelf in a tall, deep bookshelf.)

Close up of the right side.

Close up of the left side.

… and the center!

 

Chakra Work: Foundation

Posted on by lisa

This year my coven has decided to quietly embark on a couple of intermediate lessons for ourselves. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to do more than just teach the class, and it feels really good to get into new things. Daystar is making salves for the wheel of the year; Cynnamon is teaching some of the live classes .  .  . and I’m heading up a series of lessons on each of the seven major chakras.

Muladhara (Root)

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Jolabokaflod

Posted on by lisa

This year we hosted a Jolabokaflod party, and it will be the genesis for future traditions!

We put together a brunch, invited friends, and gave them the rules:

  • bring an anonymously wrapped book
  • the book must be something you loved yourself, or that you feel more people need to know about
  • We’ll all take a number
  • Lowest number goes first and chooses a book
  • Subsequent numbers can either ‘steal’ a previously unwrapped book, or choose a new one
  • Books can only be swapped three times

It was fabulous!

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Mabon Musings

Posted on by lisa

I’m spending Mabon literally in the middle of an orchard. I’m in Italy and all around me they are harvesting apples and pears (the peaches were last week, melons the week before). The house we are staying in is 100s of years old and has been in the same family all of that time. There is a pomegranate tree in the garden, and I’m delighted to see one ‘in the wild’ because it’s so entirely new for me. When we aren’t cooking for ourselves, my husband and I venture uot to one of many local places where we are often the only Americans, if not the only ones speaking something other than Italian. We do our best to expand our vocabulary and laugh when they switch to English because we just aren’t very good at it.

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