My next subscriber-only post will be posted this Thursday, and will elaborate the ideas mentioned in this post.
But first, I thought you might enjoy the following emails I received from Christian Day. Those who don’t know who he is (that is, the overwhelming majority of the world) should remain in utter bliss.
He’s indicative of the sort of ‘witchcraft’ endemic in American Paganism, where magic is replaced with litigation. When I first started writing, I’d get warnings from other anti-capitalist Pagans that I should steer clear of certain people who sue those who disagree with them. All of them have significant financial interests in maintaining a placid, consumerist culture of ‘magic’ (high-priced useless items lining shelves, glossy books with no content, and expensive weekend retreats promising to teach those with money the ‘deep arts.’)
To put it as nicely as possible, it’s a Bourgeois spirituality. And it’s backed up by some pretty awful tactics. Women were doxxed (had their personal details released to the public) by the same author of these emails, people have been sued, and other financial power leveraged to block people from access to events and the markets such folks command.
Sound’s a lot like Capitalism and the State, huh? On a very, very tiny scale.
Anyway, I received the following emails from him.
Email One
3:41am
Rhyd What you posted and what Peter Dybing continues to post in attacking me is beyond disgusting. I said absolutely nothing racist. Nor am I, or my friends, right wingers. Allowing me to be compared to David Duke is the most extreme and disgusting thing. I am going to be speaking with my attorneys as soon as I get back from the UK and I will make an example of this if need be. I have also send David Salisbury’s books back to the publisher. He was a friend and we were having a pleasant conversation but you chose to use that conversation as a weapon against me and he seems unable or unwilling to correct the situation. We are the number one seller of occult books in both Louisiana and Massachusetts and I every intention of continuing to use that buying power as a commentary on this. I will be speaking to Weiser and Llewellyn specifically about this. Trust me when I say that when I call, they’ll listen. I have also cancelled Lasara Allen’s class because, well, she just always seems to be connected to people that suck. I have no leverage over you, but I will leverage anything and everything I can around you to make you stop this untrue and unfair attack on my character and I have only just begun. You’ll be wishing for the likes of Cathy Brennan when I’m done. – Christian
7:34am
Oh, I saw you posted my commentary. I hope you enjoyed the first act. The next one is sure to please. I just reached out to Cathy Brennan. I detest her position on trans rights but I like her tactics. With her abilities and my near bottomless pit of money, I think we could accomplish a lot, don’t you?
When I reposted the first email on Facebook, my post was reported as violating ‘community standards,’ and I was temporarily locked out of my account until I could prove my identity (an easier process than it used to be).
As such, posting it here will ensure there’s a permanent record. As I learned from being on the receiving end of blackmail attempts, a fake website, and other very abusive private emails after “Confronting the New Right,” the best way to deal with such stuff is to get it out into the open as quickly as possible.
These tactics primarily work on isolation. The goal of chantage (blackmail, but also gaslighting, many hexes, and other forms of private abuse) is to gain power over a victim by making them feel alone and trapped so that the threat looms larger than it should.
The way to break such chantage is to ensure you are not enclosed by the meaning of the abuser.
It’s much easier for me in this case than it might be for others. For instance, threatening an anarchist with lawyers or an anti-capitalist with a ‘bottomless pit of money’ is pretty useless. Lawyers and money mean nothing to me. They aren’t in my realm of meaning since I live in state of existence where they could not have any mental affect on my actions.
For a more vulnerable person (women, transfolk, people of color), the situation would be different; likewise, someone over whom the abuser holds ‘leverage’ (nice word choice there!) will have a harder time with such things. But the defense tactic is the same: ensure you don’t become isolated, and withdraw from the shadow of their meaning. That latter part is pretty easy as a Marxist, but also requires holding multiple worlds at once. That’s mostly what the next essay (and gods!) will be about.
Do feel free to share. And much love!
Rhyd Wildermuth 
Ew. So much for freedom of speech, eh? I have to say, as one who rarely gets a glimpse into Pagan community at large, this is disappointing behavior. It is one thing to disagree. Then there’s throwing a temper tantrum and going out of one’s way with poorly written angry emails and vindictive behavior to attack someone with different views. Good luck, Rhyd.
What he said. Eww.
Solidarity, friendship.