Reclaiming Witchcraft (Pagan Portals book) by Irisanya Moon

The new Pagan Portals book, Reclaiming Witchcraft by Irisanya Moon, was published by Moon Books in 2020. This is a short book, fewer than 100 pages! Several shorter chapters are only four pages, while the longer couple of chapters are around sixteen pages each, going into a little more detail about Reclaiming ritual, and Core Classes.

An earlier post on this blog outlined a few other books which can be thought of as Introductory Reclaiming Books. Covering three books -- The Spiral Dance, The Twelve Wild Swans, and the Elements of Magic anthology to which Irisanya also contributed -- that post was written before this book came out! 

This book, given its brevity, is definitely one anyone should pick up if they are looking for a brief introduction to Reclaiming as a tradition and community. Irisanya, who is a Reclaiming initiate, teacher, and priestexx, gives insight into how Reclaiming operates. Topics include the way consensus process is used, how tradition-wide decisions are made, how meetings are held, and how Witchcamps, cells, and working groups are organized.

There is a chapter about how we do ritual, but this is not a "how to be a Witch" book by any means! This is a look into how this tradition actually functions. If you're curious about the things that make Reclaiming different than other traditions, this book will give you a nice primer.

This book was also published before Reclaiming began the recent updates to the Principles of Unity! This is a living tradition and change can happen at any moment! So do bear in mind that the text of the POU as published in this book is now different as far as the fifth paragraph. The text of this book was, however, accurate as of the release date, which was in the summer of 2020. Discussions to update the POU did not begin until September 2020, and the changes were officially agreed upon and put into place in January 2021.

Check your local public library systems and library apps for copies of this book, too! You may want to read before buying, or borrow a friend's copy. Irisanya has also written other books in the Pagan Portals series, too, if you're interested. Visit Irisanya's website!

Blessings~
- Ember -

Principles of Unity: Updated!

The Reclaiming Tradition's Principles of Unity have been updated! Discussions began online in September 2020 as the BIRCH council met to discuss alterations to the fifth paragraph of the POU. Changes were agreed upon and then proposed to the wider community by the DARC council - Decolonizing Actions in Reclaiming Communities - which is made up of BIPOC Witches (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) from Reclaiming community around the world. Then in January, BIRCH council again met online with representatives from various communities, to make a final decision.

This is the new version of the fifth paragraph as it was agreed upon officially on 30 January 2021! This reflects the changes proposed by DARC, which all communities had a chance to discuss between September's meetings and January's.

"Our tradition honors the wild, and calls for service to the earth and the community. We work in diverse ways, including nonviolent direct action, for all forms of justice: environmental, social, political, racial, gender and economic. We are an anti-racist tradition that strives to uplift and center BIPOC voices (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). Our feminism includes a radical analysis of power, seeing all systems of oppression as interrelated, rooted in structures of domination and control."

I am also now updating the Principles of Unity as they have been on our blog's "About" page, to reflect this new version. Hopefully this is the first of several much-desired updates for our documented agreed-upon values as a tradition. ⭐ You can read Reclaiming's blog about this update here.