Events Witchcraft

Nonbinary Magic for All at BTV Conference

by Sidney Eileen

A brand new conference, Between the Veils, will be holding an online-only prelude event on May 21-23, 2021, via Zoom, and I am honored to have been chosen as one of the presenters!  I will be talking about how to create nonbinary magic by shifting your perspective to include nonbinary ways of being.

Gender Diversity Symbol (hi-res)

Nonbinary Magic for All

1:00-2:30pm, Sunday May 23rd, at Between the Veils Conference

Nonbinary magic and having a nonbinary perspective is for anyone, of any gender, and any path. It is about framing your view of life, the universe, and everything to include nonbinary ways of being, even if you are binary gendered or focus on male and female in your life and your practice. All that is required to have a nonbinary perspective is to acknowledge and accept that there is a whole world of genders out there in addition to male and female, not only in humanity, but also in other beings and divinities. In changing the framework through which we view the world, we can achieve greater appreciation and understanding of the amazing diversity that exists across all of human experience. Since most of us are raised with a binary view of the world, it can be difficult to step free of binary restraints, even for individuals who are themselves nonbinary. It can make interacting with nonbinary deities, spirits, and entities more confusing or limiting than it needs to be. Come with an open heart and a curious mind, as we explore how to achieve a nonbinary perspective that enriches your life and your practice, for people of all genders.

I am transgender nonbinary.  Intergender (not intersex) is the most accurate specific term that currently exists for my gender experience in this life.  I realized as a small child that I was as male as female, and as an adult came to understand that my experience of gender is strongly that of being neither male nor female, distinctly something else and yet incorporating aspects of both.  I have closely observed as other people who restrict themselves to binary views, even cis men and women, also restrict their own personal truths in order to conform to arbitrary cultural standards and stereotypes that are often oppositional and antagonistic, both in their everyday lives and their spiritual practices.  After all, even maleness and femaleness is not so easy to define in concrete ways, and each woman and man will have a different personal definition of what those words mean for them.

My perspective as someone who experiences and views the world from outside binary restrictions gives me the ability to help others lift the shades and expand their awareness and perspectives.  When they do, it allows them to achieve a more profound and compassionate understanding, not only of nonbinary genders, but binary genders as well.  I am not looking to shame anyone for worshiping the God and Goddess, or for focusing on binary gender in their personal practice, but instead to provide an avenue to broader understanding of the whole of the world that exists in addition to binary genders, and how understanding those things can enrich even binary worship and understanding of personal binary gender.  After all, binary genders still exist within a nonbinary perspective.  They are just nowhere near the whole picture, and helping people to understand how that works is essential to achieving full acceptance of nonbinary people, spirits, deities, and more, and enriching our personal practices and communities.

Between the Veils Conference

Between the Veils Conference

“A truly inclusive interfaith conference for people with differing Earth based spiritual practices including: pagan, polytheist, alternative, Native and/or indigenous spiritual and cultural practices”

May 21st-23rd, 2021, online via Zoom

Some of My Writings on Gender and Magic

Gender Diversity Sigil (hi-res)

This is a sigil for gender diversity, acceptance, and inclusion in pagan and magical spaces, community, rituals, and workings.

This has been magically charged with intent for:

  • learning
  • welcoming
  • community
  • crossroads and bridges
  • inclusion and full acceptance
  • open to other perspectives
  • wards against hate and bigotry

You can read more about the sigil on its own page, including what it means, suggestions for how to use it, details about its creation and the specific symbology used, and download high resolution image files.