Hell-low, pornies. Hope you're having a killer week. There's a certain, no-nosense kind of Witch whose work I admire a lot and I truly believe many should learn from him whenever they can. I had the chance to talk with author David Salisbury about Witchcraft, Activism and its role in the Craft, because it has one and we both agree in that. Keep reading to know more about it, and thanks to David for doing this interview! Be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
1. Which came first: Witchcraft or Queer Identity?
The witch identity came first for me, although the realization of being queer wasn’t too long after. I started training in the Craft when I was 12 and it was a couple of years later that I came to understand my queer self. I like to think that both things inform the other. When I started to embody myself fully as a witch, it felt very seamless to come into my queerness. I strongly believe that there is an inherent queerness within witchcraft so I’m very grateful that those two things flowered for me around the time age range in my life.
2. How would you describe your path as a Witch?
My daily practice is what most would see as an odd mix of ecstatic witchcraft and ritualized ceremonial magick. I’m both an initiate of the Feri tradition of witchcraft as well as a Thelemic order and both of those influences are equally important to me. So you’ll find that one moment I’m writhing about channeling wild spirits, and the next I’m waving a sword around and speaking in Hebrew and Greek inside a chalked circle. These paths both consolidate well for me. In Thelema we recognize Nuit as the highest embodiment of the universe, who in Feri is literally the “Star Goddess” among other names. And so my path is based in the eternal desiring and yearning for the infinite, both within the self and without. My goal in my path is to continuously fall in love with myself and with God Hirself, who is also me.
3. Do you feel your sexuality has played a role in it?
Sexuality is vital in both of the named paths that I identify with. Thelema is often jokingly called a “Solar-phallic sex cult” and Feri is intimately steeped in the importance of our pure, wild, sexual natures (which we call the “Black Heart of Innocence”). To me, the concept of desire is in itself the core of all meaningful spiritual contact. I experience desire when I sing my hymns to the gods, when I’m engaging in direct spirit contact, and also when I’m sharing myself with another person. All of these things are different embodied experiences that result in the same thing: a holy state of reunion with the divine. My status as a man who is attracted to men also plays out in important stories and mythologies that I’ve grown up appreciating and love to this day. The mythic history of queer love is something I find so sacred and inspiring, both at the altar and away from it.
4. You have worked on several manifestations and activism events. Is there one aspect of society you feel is not being the attention it needs?
This is a hard one because there is an unspeakable amount of societal brokenness. It’s hard to pick out one thing in particular because so much of it is connected. Black trans women are being killed at a devastatingly disproportionate rate in the U.S. and abroad. Climate change is causing conditions that continue to deepen global poverty and disease in populations around the world. The displacement of individuals experiencing homelessness due to the class system continues to destroy lives. I see so much of this as interconnected. Our society has a broken relationship with power and has for hundreds of years.
5. There are several Pagans and Witches who claim that Witchcraft should not be "tainted" by being used in politics, and I would say it is especially popular among those new to the Craft. What do you think about this?
Frankly, I think anyone who thinks that witchcraft and politics must not be connected is deeply out of touch, both with witchcraft and with the world we live in. There is a saying- “the political is always personal and the personal is always political.” Witchcraft is about having the right to consensually love whom we will. It is about the care of streams and forests and fields. It is about recognizing the value and holiness inherent within all beings regardless of borders or nation. It is about our right to access our personal power and liberty as we see fit. Because of this, witchcraft in particular is inherently one of the most political forces imaginable. If a politician destroys the sacred wood by your home in favor of luxury condos, what happens to the spirits you work with who live there? If a politician says that a valued member of your coven is an outlaw because of their immigration status, how would you feel about that? Witchcraft calls us to acknowledge the ways in which we are both complicit with oppression and warriors against it. If we don’t, then we’re just playing a fantasy game and making wishes on birthday candles. Witchcraft deserves the substance that being engaged with the world brings.
6. Should Witches and Pagans be interested in activism or social matters in any way?
We must! I remember as a teenager seeing a cheesy bumper sticker that said “activism is the rent I pay to live on this planet.” And I don’t care if it's cheesy. It's true. As people who tend to be more aware of the state of the world than some others, witches and pagans have a duty to use our voices, our bodies, our minds, and our magic to make a change. Don’t just become interested. Become invested.
7. You published your most recent book, Witchcraft Activism, in 2019. What was it that made you work on it? Would you say you are different because of that book?
To be perfectly honest, the publisher (Weiser) asked me to! I had long thought I’d write something on the topic but it wasn’t until they came up with thought for me that I put pen to paper. I’m glad they approached me to do it or I probably would have waited too long, and the moment for it was definitely there.
Although I did several books before Witchcraft Activism, this one had such a different reaction. It's the only book that garnered attention from the mainstream media, causing a profile with CNN, and Donald Trump Jr. calling the whole concept “deranged” when he heard of it. It was also the only one that felt deeply personal as opposed to a “how to” type of manual that I typically do. I’m extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to write it and I continue to learn so much as I hear from folks who read it and have shared their own perspectives on the topic.
8. After so many manifestations this year and in the middle of a pandemic, and in your opinion, what role should Witches and Pagans have? What can we do on any scale while these things take place?
Primary and most importantly, be kind. Now, this is not a call to be weak or to coddle those who choose oppression. Instead, it's an invitation for curiosity. Question the things that seem standard and unmovable and dare to move them. When loneliness and hatred closes in around you and you feel overwhelmed by its grip, choose to expand in love. T. Thorn Coyle says “Like God Hirself, we are always in process” and I think this is the perfect response to this question. We are always moving, however slowly, into our becoming. Do what you can to make things just a little bit better for the least among you. Activism doesn’t always have to look like a march on the streets. It's every little conversation and choice we make to be informed and to use that information to be better.
9. Looking back in time, let's say, five years ago, which is your most significant change?
The 2016 election completely transformed my work at my day job, in my personal life, and in my career since all of those things are involved with the political landscape. It was also a time when the witch community all of a sudden became more politically engaged than ever before, which was great to see, but also kept me very busy!
10. Which are your plans for the future?
So I’m at that weird age (mid 30s) where I’m solidly in a place I want to be while also still trying to think about what’s next and where my Will might take me. I have a lot of ideas writing-wise that are a bit outside of what I’ve been doing that I’d like to explore. You’ll likely see my first non-witchy book experiment towards the end of 2021, if I get enough buy-in on the idea.
11. Which would be your advice for new and future Witches and Pagans?
Don’t get too caught up in expectations and dogma. Some will tell you that witchcraft is only xyz while others will tell you it's whatever you do. Try to find the happy middle; practice, read, learn, make pals with spirits, and carve your own way. Witchcraft holds the unique paradox of having both a very old current and an ever-evolving face. Lean into that because it's what keeps these traditions exciting and alive.
And once you find your footing in our little world, please join us in pushing our communities to be queerer, browner, more radical, and everything else that earlier generations of witches have failed to bring to our tables. It starts with us!
Kinky regards, K!
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