Blog – Gus diZerega

Samhain and Day of the Dead, 2019

Posted on October 14, 2019October 14, 2019 by Gus

With Samhain just around the corner, its relation with Day of the Dead is an issue of some importance to many Pagans. Taos, where I now live, is famous for the ubiquitous presence of decorated Day of the Dead skulls … Read more

+

Critics of natal-women-only rituals oppose NeoPagan religion

Posted on June 28, 2019June 28, 2019 by Gus

One of the more disturbing things about the uproar among some mistakenly calling themselves ‘woke,’ while attacking natal women-only rituals in a Pagan context, is their failure to distinguish between universal human standards and those focused on honoring a particular

+

The right wing’s Orwellian manipulation of ‘socialism’

Posted on April 13, 2019April 13, 2019 by Gus

All of a sudden, some right wing online commentators are emphasizing that Scandinavian nations are “not socialist.” I am seeing this claim in many places of late. But for years, decades even, right wing commentators have called Sweden in particular … Read more

+

Two Sexes, Many Genders and the Perils of Thinking in Dichotomies

Posted on January 30, 2019April 13, 2019 by Gus

The NeoPagan community has been divided over issues of gender and sexuality, particularly the appropriate relations between natal and trans-women. While this controversy deals with important issues, its vehemence is due to mistaken ways of thinking about it, ways rooted in … Read more

+

Looking Deeper: Kavanaugh, Women, the Culture War, and Us.

Posted on October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 by Gus

The controversy over appointing a ruthless political operative, perjurer, and probable sexual predator to the Supreme Court has led many people to put the blame on old White males and their culture of privilege. While there is some truth to … Read more

+

Two Spirits, Two Sexes, Many Genders

Posted on September 16, 2018October 15, 2018 by Gus

This post is from my August 8, 2018, blog at Witches and Pagans.

_________________________________

Z Budapest once stirred up strong feelings, ending in a demonstration, by holding a biological-women-only ritual at Pantheacon. The previous year another group had also … Read more

+

Why arguments against abortion fail

Posted on May 7, 2018October 15, 2018 by Gus

I am struck with how the debate over whether or not abortion is morally acceptable has become a battle of slogans rather than of reason. I think the major culprits are on the so-called ‘pro life’ side, but at this … Read more

+

Transforming the Cultural Appropriation Debate: Pagan and magickal insights.

Posted on September 2, 2017October 15, 2019 by Gus

The common academic issue of whether or not one engages in ‘cultural appropriation’ has divided the Pagan community. I have been very explicit in my dislike of the idea, but in working out just why I dislike the concept I … Read more

+

Circles and Lines in “The Wolf at Twilight”

Posted on September 29, 2016June 23, 2017 by Gus

I was started along this line of thought while reading Kent Nerburn’s powerful, moving, painful and hauntingly beautiful The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder’s Journey through a Land of Ghosts and Shadows. There are many levels to this … Read more

+

The Trance of Belief: Part I.

Posted on April 27, 2016October 15, 2018 by Gus

I have been both fascinated and appalled at how quickly mostly the political right has abandoned reason and evidence in favor of assertion and arrogance in discussing issues. Here is what I think is going on. I published it in … Read more

+