About a month and half ago, I made a (hacker) 3d version of Bricket Wood Coven’s Witches’ Cottage. Feeling proud of my ability to choose other people’s 3D models for such a project, I shared an image on Discord, and a witch friend suggested I post it here. As mentioned, this was a while ago.

Before I got to it, Roe was overturned, a small branch of American Gardnerian Wiccans decided to out themselves is transphobes (while insisting that they’re not) and claiming they speak for the craft (they abso-fucking-lutely do not), and finally Hawkfire suddenly had an online OC again.

Y’all. It’s been a time. I’ll tell you what.

Sometimes we need hugs. And sometimes we have to settle for proxy emoticons. Well, here’s a cute and spooky 3D cottage. It’s my digital hug to you, if you’ve been needing one, whoever you are.

I don’t really have any wisdom to add. If you’re a Seeker of Gardnerian Wicca and haven’t heard about this, I recommend The Wild Hunt article that summarizes what happened.

For those familiar, I echo the statements of Jack Chanek, Jason Mankey, Thorn Mooney and others who have spoken and written beautifully and eloquently on this topic for public audiences.

Other wonderful Gardnerians and kin folk in the Alexandrian community have also spoken and written abot this, often specifically for initiates, and occasionally for both initiates and Seekers. And I’ve taken the greatest comfort from those individual private messages and texts of encouragement and compassion — it’s meant a great deal to me.

If I had my way, I’d just let the trans-phobic/non-binary-phobic branch of Wicca wither and die in obscurity while the rest of us get on with living this religion and pursuing this craft. I have witchcraft to do, Seekers to work with, and gods to honor, I don’t have time for small-minded bullshit. Even more, as heat waves roil the globe, and as national and international politics grow tense and fragile, I sometimes wonder if its all worth it. I’m such a small person, inside such a small community, and the world’s challenges are just so vast.

But when I circle with members of my OC, when I see my coven mates after long absences, and when I feel the ocean-pull of Her love, I remember: Oh, yes. It is all absolutely worth it. 1,000% times infinity.

I’m grateful for the Gardnerians and Alexandrians I’ve come to know over social media. But I’m sincerely afraid I’ll need every drop of energy I can get, and social media just saps too much. Which is sad. There are some wonderful people in the world, and it’s been a real gift getting to know them, even if it’s ‘just’ been online.

Putting this post together is making me think about magical proxies, too, whether it’s a sigil for a name, or a computer screen for a coven stead.

Something is always given up with a proxy. I can send a hug emoticon, but the recipient won’t feel the curiously soothing nature of being pressed.

(And now I just spent way too long looking at pictures of hugging chairs, and trying to figure out if there’s a way I can leverage this technology for my online Outer Court.)

I don’t have much else to say at present. The purpose of this post is to just make one thing abundantly clear to Seekers as well as initiates: Hawkfire is an inclusive coven.

Who you are out of circle is who you are in circle — a priest, priestess, or priestX of the Wice. We are witches and we are adept at all forms of shape shifting. If you are drawn to these gods, and even if Hawkfire isn’t the best place for you, I will do what I can to help you find your place in this Craft, a place that is inclusive and allows you to be you. There is room for all in this craft. We are of the Wice: we bend.