Call Me the Pulpit Pagan
As I trick you into reading a Bible verse for your own heathen healing.
Before we get into today’s message, some announcements!
$HMEDIUM Q3 Edition that covers July, August, and September drops July 8th to the public.
$HMEDIUM Substack subscribers get access to pre-sale pricing on the 1st of July. Paid subscribers get the entire issue free with their subscription.
I’ve left Instagram! I’m no longer an IG “brand/personality”. I want to live more like the Village Auntie Witch, not a big corporate entity.
I’ve opened my sessions to clients that are outside of the Spiritual Industrial Complex. You don’t have to be an esoteric entrepreneur! I’ve got mediumship sessions for $222 (if you don’t use the site discount), via Zoom available for the next two months.
I’m moving onto a new career-and focusing more on $HMEDIUM as my main project. I can’t say much yet, and am happy to keep this evolution in my own mental cooker for awhile before I reveal it. In between the big transition, I’m getting rid of some of my unused tarot decks, YuGiOh Cards, crystals, etc. Which means the return of my Adopt a Tool store section of my website later on this week.
If you like this publication, consider becoming a paid subscriber to support us!
Now, a message from your fave Pulpit Pagan:
$HMEDIUM came from the acknowledgement that We-the big “We” of humanity, people, souls- are not one thing or another, but always a conglomerated squished version of all things, and everything in between.
Example: I’m not just a marketing and brand development expert. I’m also a psychic medium. I’m not just a psychic medium. I’m also an staunch believer in science and the scientific method. I am both sober, and a recovering addict. I am a fighter, and a crier (hello Cancer moon).
What I really want to highlight today, and much more in the future is this:
I am a pagan. I’m also a Toaist. Somewhere within all that, I am also fascinated with The Bible and what it can teach us-though I wasn’t always able to say that.
I came from a Buddhist and Taoist lineage biologically(many Chinese and Vietnamese are a mix of these-sometimes also with Confucianism in the mix). Because I am adopted, I grew up in a very white, conservative Pentecostal Christian church family. One side being Irish/Jewish German/Scandinavian while the other side is made up of Irish, Welsh, and a sprinkling of Cherokee.
My personal history with Christianity is long, mostly because I was adopted very young into a Church Family. Our family RAN the Church, we weren’t just members of the congregation. My grandfather was a great orator; and, well loved pastor. I always found his love of the Bible to be profound and deep-even if I didn’t buy it for myself. My grandmother (his wife) was in charge of admin, book keeping, budgeting, etc. My mother-my Sunday School teacher-and I would drive thirty minutes every Saturday for worship team practice (where I played the grand piano from ages 13 to 18). There we would practice the hymn line up for the following Sunday morning, and Sunday night service as well.
This doesn’t mean I am a Christian.
I am-like many others who come to witchcraft or non-Christian philosophical practices-a victim of religious trauma. I would say that out of my whole family, my grandfather was probably the only one who actually was Christ-like. A man after God’s own heart-like King David. Other than him, everyone else in my adopted and church family proved to be wonderful examples of hypocrisy more than holiness.
Don’t take this as me defending an organized religious group that has more scandal, persecution and hellish behavior under it’s belt.
I am well aware of all the evils that can come from those who wear the armor of God to ruin lives instead of defend them.
Actually, I ask that those who have seen or felt the trauma that typical conservative Christians can dole out, separate the beliefs from the believers. It isn’t easy-especially when the “iconic” faces of a belief system are so loudly despicable. If you are reading this and are feeling a weird feeling, an ick, I invite you to challenge that. Where is that ick coming from? What specifically is triggering it? How much of that is based on information you have personally explored or researched; and, how much of it is based on other people’s behavior or beliefs based on conclusions you never came to personally?
Right now, I am a practicing pagan and Taoist. I work mainly with Loki of the Norse pantheon; and, Hathor of the Khemetic pantheon in conjunction with Taoist ideals and philosophy. I also incorporate Biblical text-though I don’t incorporate the beliefs of the organized church.
Non-Christians who reject lessons from The Bible without researching or reading it, are exhibiting the same amount of ignorant bigotry that Christians show towards non-Christians.
Anyone’s dislike of The Bible is most likely due to a lack of education.
Nehemiah 8:10
As explained by a pagan psychic medium.
Then he (Ezra) said unto them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet, and send portions unto those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy unto our Lord; neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” KJV
The Kieu New Translation:
Ezra told the people to go and use their day to eat well, drink well, enjoy life-and share with those that have less opportunity to do so. Do it because God (or whoever/whatever you believe in) thinks it’s important, and sacred. Don’t be sad, or sorry. If what you’re doing would make your gods/ancestors/guides happy, ground yourself in that and keep going. Stay strong and enjoy your life and what brings you joy-your way.
I love this verse, because it reminds me that no matter what I do and how people react to it, if I know that it would make my gods (Hathor, Loki, Sobek) happy…I can be confident that I’m making the right decisions. This has been a lesson that has created such a relief from the weight of Christianity’s negative lessons-lessons that Jesus himself wouldn’t teach to anyone.
God, Yahweh, Adonai, Jesus, the Holy Spirit is much more pleased with me writing this article in an authentic way than He would be if I was forcing my way through a Church service instead.
Not a lot of people will agree with me on this. I think one of the reasons why being loudly (and snarkily) “anti-Christian” is common in the esoteric space? Rebellion. Many of us haven’t left the “FUCK YOU” middle finger, double barreled teen angst like energy that we often need to propel us out of the harmful system we grew up in. We try so hard not to be our parents, or grandparents…or whoever, that we swing from their end of the spectrum, to the complete opposite end.
But here’s the thing, when we go from point A to point Z immediately, we end up a lot closer to A than we were trying to. And we miss all the other letters in between. If we go from the color white to the color black, we miss all the colors in between. If we go from a small cake to a medium, we miss all the shmedium treats in between.
Another example:Hathor has asked me to downsize my closet, and general possessions in the home-as she’s a goddess of harvest, hearth and home-so that I can attract more of what I want (which is a new apartment). She asks that I get better at seeing what I’ve got in this apartment, before moving all that same junk to another one.
Yesterday I gave away a bunch of clothing; and set aside a lot of nicer denim plus spiritual tools like crystals, tarot cards, etc. to sell to someone who will actually use them. This made Hathor really happy. What wouldn’t have made her happy is throwing all that stuff away. I can be assured and confident that I will get assistance from Hathor, because I know she’d be happy that I got rid of stuff in a way that isn’t wasteful. The same day I almost wrote this article-which I knew immediately made her mad.
AND I FELT BAD. I haven’t posted a lot on Substack lately since we’ve been handling grief, the move, and a frickin’ pandemmy. Even though I did a lot of emotional and manual heavy lifting of boxes, items, and clothing I actually considered then doing a lot of mental and philosophical work. I grounded myself, and prevented burn out, by knowing that Hathor would view overworking as something that doesn’t bring her joy.
I know this, because I’ve been through it. I’ve done it.
A few years ago, my grandfather passed. His funeral was the first time in probably more than a decade that I’ve been in a church. When my visit to my small, rural hometown was over, I returned with The Bible my grandpa delivered many sermons from, spent many hours studying. I also ended up taking home his favorite coffee mug-which may or may not just be a branded mug stolen from iHop….
Throughout my years working with The Dead, I have learned so much about the supernatural world that actually makes them easier to work with. One of these realizations I came to, was that The Dead will communicate much like they did in life. So when I started to feel intuitive pulls to read specific Bible verses-or opening up to a random page-I wasn’t surprised at all. I was a little iffy about it; not wanting my grandfather from the grave to evangelize me-but that’s definitely not what he was doing.
And that’s not what I am or what I will ever do to others. I’m not a Christian, and I don’t plan on being a Christian or setting down my beliefs in Loki, Hathor, or the other gods that I love.
I do think we can all find healing in debunking Biblically based behaviors.
If we can understand the source material, we can see where the human beings who claim to act on behalf of it are actually only acting on behalf of themselves-their egos. Once we start treating The Bible as a historical document that records the beliefs of a group of people; written by men of the time; and in the context of societal and cultural changes, we begin to actually start engaging in mindfulness and evolution.
I treat the works of the many people who contributed to what is now known as The Bible-the one that’s sold in stores-the same way many treat the Poetic Eddas, The Quran, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or the works of Taoist masters. I know things get lost in translation; words are changed to reflect politics or vernacular around the date of printing; and whole pieces of documents lost to time and history in tombs or ruins.
After my grandfather passed, I felt like there were so many people who could use a bit of the Word of God, to heal the effects of the followers that misinterpret or misuse it. I did one Sunday School with spice lesson, which covered King Solomon-and the lesson that our ancestors and deities want us to be prosperous, abundant, and materially satisfied as well as spiritually.
This Sunday is the first of many that I’ll be sharing Bible verses as a form of invitation to come together with your younger, religiously undermined self.
All this to say:
God thinks it’s important for us to take time for ourselves-it’s the right thing to do. We must enjoy the parts of being human that we’re allowed to enjoy.
We can always be assured in the fact that whatever makes our gods happy, is the right thing to do-even if society doesn’t get it or would say otherwise.
Loki loves that I do Biblical work. I’m confident that Loki finds joy in my personal healing-no matter where it comes from. He is a god of transformation, movement, and thinking differently. He’s more pleased that I help others work through the pain of their past, than he would be if I just posted another article about typical offerings to him, ya know?
That’s all for this Sunday!
Have a great week.
Kieu
PS: Here’s a sneak peek of the next issue:
💲Read the current edition of SHMEDIUM