21/12/2019
The shortest day and the longest night are here as the earth's axial tilt brings us midwinter, the original ancient observation of which underpins the celebrations that were eventually to evolve into the Christmas and Hanukkah periods. LGBT pagan groups will be marking these days, characterised by magic and reflection. Our friends at the Glastonbury based pagan shop “The Goddess and the Green Man” summarises the deep rooted symbolism of the mid winter festivals, as the sun stops its decline and for a few days rises in the same place. The world, as they note, holds its breath and the northern hemisphere stands still. These are days of magic and a time to mark the gradual turning of the seasons. For thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years, human societies have regarded these days and nights as extremely precious and very open to spirituality. At Newgrange in Ireland, fantastically old structures built by stone age peoples are aligned so that the rising sun at midwinter enters the burial shaft. We here share a few links that might help you explore your pagan roots and ancestry and understand the symbolism of the season.
The Goddess and the Green Man has a lovely exploration of pagan and Celtic customs for midwinter, including recipes and magic incantations:
https://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/yule/?version=1105
The Pagan Federation is a body which nationally aims to represent the needs and aspirations of pagan people
Wyldwood Radio is a British pagan radio station, featuring a wide variety of pagan and Celtic, neo-folk and other genres of spiritual music
http://wyldwoodradio.torontocast.stream/
Wicca Radio International is based in New Orleans and features pagan podcasts, and a wide variety of music appealing to pagan traditions
ttp://www.wicca-radio.com/
Jasmeine Moonsong is a Wiccan practitioner who blogs about the spiritual sphere and the magic she uses in her daily life. Her blogs have a wide variety of observations on paganism and spirit.
Holly Mosely blogs at the feminist web portal Female First about the sometimes uncomfortable relationship between LGBTQ people and the pagan faiths, although she notes that she has never come across an anti-gay or anti-trans pagan:
https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/features/witching-hour-lgbtq-and-paganism-...
Lois Sheering also explores these themes in a blog for web portal The Queerness:
https://thequeerness.com/2017/03/12/queer-and-wicca-a-contradiction/
As our friend, the trans activist Cheryl Morgan noted on a past episode of “ShoutOut”, there are a group of gay and bi and trans men who have re-established the ancient pagan cult of Antinous, lover of the Emporer Hadrian, whose mythological status is important for pagans wishing to channel male energies.
http://www.antinopolis.org/index.htm
Queer Pagan Camp operate spiritual retreats and celebrations for LGBTQ magical people:
http://www.queerpagancamp.org/
A selection of LGBTQ spiritual books stocked by News from Nowhere, the Liverpool based radical and alternative bookstore, which are all available nationwide through mail order.
https://www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk/books/DisplayBooklist.php?BookListID=444
Nearly any gay spiritual book in print can be ordered via the London based Gay's The Word independent bookstore at 66 Marchmont Street.
https://www.facebook.com/gaystheword/
Watkins and Treadwells are London's oldest and most famous spiritualist bookstores, with a strong representation of pagan religions:
