The Portal to Queering the Runes is Re-Opening |
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Hello everyone -
I hope you're all doing ok, that you have what you need in this moment.
I just wanted to take a moment before going into the rest of my business to acknowledge the incredible protests that happened around the country yesterday for No Kings.
I wasn't able to participate personally because I'm traveling and I was not feeling well, but that also gives me even more hope knowing there were so many other people who were supportive who couldn't attend.
Mass scale protests like this are food and fuel for the movement. They are not policy change, they are not revolution, but they are a rallying moment for us all. The fascists in charge want to keep us feeling separate from one another, disconnected, scared and alone. Protests like the ones that happened yesterday show us that we aren't alone - that there are more people who agree with us than we think.
I hope that we are all able to channel that energy and enthusiasm into our local movements. There are so many different places to plug in, whether that is with mutual aid networks, queer rights organizations, environmental activist groups, abortion rights groups, so many different things that we can all be getting involved in.
Speaking of local - I'm also so scared and grieving with my MN community over the loss of Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman. I didn't know her well, but back when I was working in environmental policy she was a powerful ally. She was also an ally in other ways: She championed policies that protected abortion rights as well as gender-affirming care in MN.
I am not exaggerating when I say that MN state policy would not look the same without her. I would not feel as safe in MN as I do without her tireless work over the last 10+ years in office.
So it was necessary that I take a moment to honor her for standing up for what's right. I can't believe the price she has paid to do so.
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Every summer my co-author Cassandra Snow and I select a theme. Neither of us are really summer people, so we pick a theme for the summer. For me, this summer's theme is Road Trip. Think: Arizona Green Tea in the giant can, gummy worms, sandwiches eaten at rest stops, a playlist to sing along to.
And looking at my teaching and conference schedule for the summer, it's looking like that theme is very apt indeed.
I have some exciting announcements in teaching.
I've been on the road for family stuff and so I took the month off on my Patreon, but I do still have some good shenanigans coming up. Because I'm (mostly) on break at the moment I'm not going to be sharing anything terribly substantial with this newsletter, but I did want to touch base with all of you because I've got some good stuff coming up.
The most exciting thing I have to tell you is that the registration portal for the Queering the Runes course reopens on June 20th.
I've decided to reopen Queering the Runes every solstice, and that means it's coming up! This course is really my life's work up until this point and I am so proud of it. This is a hybrid pre-recorded and live course, and I'll be providing you all with more information about the live lectures I'm writing for this session once the course has launched.
Early bird pricing of $300 is available from June 20-June 30, and after that the price goes up to $400. Registration will be open until after Mystic South, so I will be closing it down on July 20. That gives you a full month to register, and then the portal closes until December 21.
But there are other fun class announcements!
Queering the Runes Workshop: June 26
I always like to give an Intro to Queering the Runes workshop during registration period, and so this time it will be through the Fellowship of Fire and Ice. This is the taste test for if you want to invest and take the full course.
Queering the Runes at Mystic South
I will also be presenting my workshop at Mystic South this year and doing a book signing! I'm so honored to be among so many other amazing presenters, and I can't wait to participate this year.
Reclaiming Heathenry at Salem Witch Fest
I'm excited to be debuting a brand new lecture at this year's Salem Witch Fest. This is one that I've been wanting to do for a while, and I figured there were already so many opportunities for people to attend a Queering the Runes workshop that I pitched them something ... a little different.
Runes have been a historically fraught area of magic for a very long time. The occult often runs parallel to history: developments in ideas behind closed doors impact what happens in broad daylight. The occult revival and fascination with runes began at the same time as the rise of Germanic nationalism and directly fed into the idea of Aryan supremacy. But this is not true heathenry - it is a disguise that allows for groups of white supremacists to gather under the banner of "free speech". Because many people don't know what heathenry actually is, they do not realize that this is not heathenry.
There has been a huge movement in modern heathenry to reclaim our practices from white supremacists to the point that völkisch groups bear little to no resemblance to actual heathen groups. In this talk, Siri will cover the rise of the runes/heathenry in Nazi occultism as a case study for understanding when occult ideas are being misappropriated and how to respond to them. They will also cover the response and anti-racist, anti-fascist work that on-the-ground heathen organizers, writers, and teachers are doing to this day to untangle heathenry from these horrible ideas and to actively create a more inclusive, just world.
Come to the conference OR register just for this lecture.
I hope to see you in class this summer! Let's make it one to remember.
See you next week!
This Week's Top Three:
+ Real, actual bagels from New Jersey.
+ My road trip playlist
+ Portuguese Custard Cups
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Secret Sale
And just for those of you who read to the end of the newsletter, I'm having a secret sale at Lore! Take 20% off an order with code "SECRET" now through June 22nd.
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