The intention may never be intended to harm (sometimes the defenses for these ideals border on saviorism), but there is a very famous phrase about the road to hell and what it is paved with. It’s a slippery slope toward trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) ideals, which can be incredibly harmful. It’s easy to see why people become dismissive of these books. In a lot of magical texts (even books being written now), a lot of ideas distill gender down to female = vulva/womb, and male = penis, which isn’t true. If you’re not introduced to other ideas, how are you supposed to ever explore or expand your individual identity or magic systems as a whole? There’s not a lot of room for exploring the other. In alchemy, there are some ideas around the androgynous and hermaphroditic, but even then, it is still born out of the goal of marrying two opposing and complementary ideas. Western magic and occult systems are largely built on binaries, including definitions that involve the masculine and feminine, and how those concepts exist in relation to each other. ![]() It’s really hard to find a comfortable space to explore your gender and your identity when every book you read is seemingly very rigid in how things are supposed to be. Magicians and witches, like most humans, are not always the most flexible when it comes to shifting beliefs or looking at their beliefs in objective ways. Some of my complicated views around gender exist because of the dialogues created in most magic books. Part of being a curious magic maker is holding the willingness to experiment and grow, and acknowledging that we don’t always have the answers. Even my understanding of magic and witchcraft will change drastically in the near future. It’s how I currently see the world and my understanding of the world, and that perception is constantly shifting. ![]() That doesn’t mean that there’s anything inherently wrong with my views at the time I’m writing this. In a hundred years (heck, even ten years), the way I discuss gender in this book may be obsolete and embarrassing. We’re open and willing to have discussions with others-until the other doesn’t share our views or understanding. We’re generally pretty quick to react when someone doesn’t share the same opinion or doesn’t have the same information. I don’t think that there should be any shame in admitting that we as individuals and a society are in a constant state of flux, shifting and forming ideas, experimenting and unlearning. My opinion and view of gender (including the gender binary) are constantly evolving and shifting. It’s important to acknowledge that the history of magic and the history of our planet have a lot of queerness, in spite of centuries and millennia of attempted erasure. Magic is queer, and we should explore it as such. As a nonbinary person, I’m interested in gender studies, the history of gender equality, and where I would have (and do) fit as neither/both masculine and feminine. In some historical contexts, it is relevant to discuss how gender plays a part in the history of the occult and witchcraft. However, I am interested in historical accuracy, and gender has a place within that framework. ![]() I’m not interested in practicing magic in binary ways, or gendering everything. Hi, it’s me, your friendly neighborhood nonbinary witch. For simplicity’s sake, I use the words magick and magic in this book. Magick, magic, magike, and magix are all sides of the same metaphysical die. I think that any and all spellings have merit, and sometimes one spelling feels more in line with the topic at hand. Day-to-day, I use various spellings interchangeably. The spelling magick with a k was popularized by Aleister Crowley, to distinguish the arcane arts from the art of illusion performed by stage magicians. Take what you need from this book, and leave the rest. The views in this book are my own, based on months (and sometimes years) of research and study, or based on personal experience and my own point of view. While the focus of this book is sigils, the language is inevitably twisted and woven into the language of magic and witchcraft on a whole. ![]() Before we begin, I wish to touch base on a couple of matters regarding magic.
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