Witches Betwixt | Philadelphia Pagan Pride | Urglaawe

Hey, I’m Jay, your friendly neighborhood heathen trans guy. My arthritic wrists and knees firmly place me in the “geriatric millennial” age bracket and I’ve been involved in the Pagan & adjacent occult & magickal communities since I was in my early twenties. Vague math is intentionally vague.

By day, I push papers in the corporate world. By night, I am a chronic community organizer within my local Pagan community. Why chronic? Because I’m obsessed and I can’t stop. I feel a calling to this work even though it requires an immense amount of my time and energy. It burns me out, but I always find a way to recharge and keep going because I know the importance of this work.

Despite knowing full well that I am a product of my two very human parents, I have always felt like I was a “child of the universe” like I was connected to something bigger than myself. I’ve always seen the beauty of this world and the good within the hearts of the humans who inhabit it. No, I don’t turn away from evil, and I have a pretty good spidey sense about keeping away from “bad people,” but I have seen a lot of good in this world; especially within the Pagan community, which is what keeps me here.

There are moments when my “main character syndrome” kicks in and I feel like I need to save the world. These are usually moments when I experience, witness, or hear about an extreme injustice or violation of human rights. I contribute these intense feelings to my Aries Sun placement. I always want to charge into battle, giving a rallying speech and terrifying war cry as I race headfirst into the heart of the enemy, aiming to cut it off quickly from the source.

But in order to do that, I need an army behind me.

And that’s what brings me back to Pagan community organizing.

No, not to build an actual army to pull some Jan 6th bullshittery, but more like a network of support among the different Pagan religions. We don’t have a centralized church or hierarchy and that’s perfectly fine. I think it should be that way. Pagan practice is as wild as the Earth and cosmos around us. However, we do need to network in a more organized and frithful way with one another. More of these networking groups and organizations are popping up and it’s been incredible to witness and be a part of.

I feel as if my life’s work is to increase intrafaith work within the Pagan, Heathen and Wiccan communities and the other spiritual practices that fall under or adjacent to those umbrella terms. That’s what’s kept me at the helm of Philadelphia Pagan Pride all these years. I genuinely want to build something beautiful to combat the evil forces that oppress the spiritual advancement of humanity. This is the legacy I want to leave.

This blog serves as a virtual nexus point for everything that I do outside of my 9-5 day job. The work I do outside of that time block is my true life’s work, my true passion and purpose. Here, is where I talk about it all.

That’s all I have for now. I hope you enjoy my posts and if so, please share with other like-minded folks. May the circle of frith grow ever wider.

Hail to you, friend of Fro!