Women's Leadership Initiative- Red Queen's Pavilion by Sindee Blackfeather
by Sindee Blackfeather
There are social issues of every form and focus that move from the trending headlines demanding our attention to the more traditional and sedate which we are reminded of in well designed and celebrity sponsored informational spots. Our heart strings are pulled as images of animals, children, and disasters play across the screen and in the background an appropriate song to move our emotions underscores how for just a small amount a day we can change the situation. There are vital and critical issues that are part of the social struggle that we are lectured about and made aware of the part that we play in the problem. The environment, political oppression, economic issues, health concerns, as well as those cause celebs where a person becomes the focus of the news cycles and the icon of a particular social crisis that we are aggressively reminded in 30-45 second blurbs. In essence there is a suitable cause or issue to meet the sensibilities of every individual wanting to act on a social conscious and become involved. With the myriad of issues to choose from and all the competing calls for action, focus, and involvement the challenge is deciding which to prioritize. The Red Queen’s Pavilion has provided a suggestion and has recently announced an area they believe our community should consider.
The Pavilion
The Red Queen’s Pavilion began as a property space in Seattle that was used to support magic and to develop tools and energies for the people in the neighborhood where it is located. Using ritual and placement of a central pyramid designed to tap into and focus the current that was perceived to be present, the property became an active source of magical projects and undertakings. The concept was to develop resources to be available for community use. The actual name for the space came from a group ritual that was undertaken called Operation Red Queen. The Pavilion participated in the ritual and helped extend the reach of the magical current. With this ritual the Red Queen’s Pavilion was named and became dedicated to supporting and advancing magic and the Occult community. (Operation Red Queen was undertaken by DKMU LATAM and to this day stands as an example of effective and dynamic use of group ritual and magic application. You can find the notations and results for Operation Red Queen in the archives of DKMU LATAM) A special connection between the Pavilion and the work and people of DKMU LATAM was formed. The Hexorius Emergence arose from this group and the message and purpose of Hexorius resonated and was wholly embraced by the Pavilion. Concepts of ethical application of magic and commitment to support and work on behalf of the community are the underlying meaning and purpose of the Hexorius Movement. The first principles of Feed the City and Let the City Feed us are the simple yet profound message of the Hexorius Movement and the Red Queen’s Pavilion has sought to support and advance these concepts. The Pavilion creates and provides instructional materials that help people understand the magical and ethical aspects of the movement. To promote learning and the proper study of the emergent entities and developing magical and spiritual construct of the Hexorius Movement a place of study and scholarship was established by the Pavilion. The Loresrat gathers those with an established record of study and scholarship within the Occult community to curate and compile writings and essays and commentaries on all aspects of our Occult traditions and to curate and keep these materials available for anyone seeking to learn or study. These scholars are also called on from time to time to issue opinions on magical issues or points of occult science. The Red Queen’s Pavilion initially was focused on supporting the Hexorius Movement and as it has continued it has taken on a broader purpose in acting to support and promote the wider community. The Arcadia Shrine was established on the property and is dedicated to promoting the creation of communities in balance.
Projects and Purpose of the Pavilion
The Red Queen’s Pavilion functions as a physical resource for members of the Hexorius Movement who may find themselves in the Seattle area. The Arcadia Shrine is available for those seeking to visit for magical or spiritual work as well as seeking to rest in their travels. The shrine has also attracted the attention of some of the people in the area who visit from time to time. At the time of this article a large statue of Buddha is being installed onto the property and appropriate rituals and preparations are being made for the final ceremony of opening the third eye which will mark the awakening of The Hexorius Buddha. A symbol of Hexorius incorporated in the shape of a spiritual eye will be placed on the icon in the final ceremony. The devotional Mantra will be “I will feed the city and I will allow the city to feed me.” It is the incorporation of the Buddhist imperative and the first principles of the Hexorius Movement to resonate the concepts of community involvement and good works. The property is just large enough to provide a space for the children in the area to play and is offered as there are too few spaces for such activities. This year there was a small Easter Egg hunt for the kids and the surrounding neighborhood, and its residents interact and are aware of the purpose of the property. From supporting the creation and outreach of a food bank set up during the pandemic or meeting with the local business owners to discuss community issues, or discussions with the youth center and residents of the community to find workable solutions the Red Queen’s Pavilion is an active part of the community landscape. Using ritual and magic the energies and currents have been extended outwards from the property to be involved in the wider community. The goals and ideals of the Hexorius Movement are taken seriously at the Pavilion as it is understood that to hear the message is to seek to be an answer. The concept of Arcadia, communities in balance with one another and their surroundings, is the accepted purpose. It is understood that if we are ever to see that as the future, we must participate in bringing it about.
From a property space dedicated to its surrounding neighborhood the purpose and vision of the Red Queen’s Pavilion has continued to change. With each change of vision or purpose there remains at the heart of it all the concept of using magical/spiritual resources for the benefit of community.
The Red Queen’s Pavilion believes that we must have a more inclusive vision of our Occult community and that we must work together to create supportive and interactive relationships between all the different groups and purposes that make up our diverse collective. Barriers and divisions and separatist attitudes of exclusion must be amended and the awareness of the benefits of cooperative purpose must be shown. This vision of an Occult community that accepts the unique and varied beliefs and expressions of each group while seeing the common thread that unites our people is the objective of the Red Queen’s Pavilion. It is this purpose that determines which causes it will support and which activities and projects that it will lend its name to and aid.
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE
The Red Queen’s Pavilion recently announced the Women’s Leadership Initiative to define an area of needed community focus. This initiative will be an ongoing effort and will be comprised of several moving parts or efforts. The Red Queen’s Pavilion set this initiative to address the underlying issues that arise from the lack of a gender balance within all areas of our Occult community. On a basic level, this failure to achieve gender parity proves to be a wasteful use of our primary and most valued resource, our human potential. In a time when we most need to use the available talents, creativity, and experience on behalf of our community we have squandered much of this in the inherent blocks that limit our women from applying these abilities. By continuing much of the inherent limitations of access of women to achieve levels of influence in our group structures, the spiritual orders, and magical movements, as well as in education or our cultural leadership we have removed from ourselves immense resources and have fundamentally limited our community. And this concept must be viewed not as a men or women’s issue but as a human issue that by does harm to everyone, regardless of their gender. Gender disparity and the concepts that promote these ideas and reenforce these social and cultural negative stereotypes harm both men and women equally, even as the damage that it does to each is seen to be expressed differently. Religious statements that teach the subjugation of one gender over the other do equal harm to our men and women through the accepting of such fundamentally oppressive and retrograde belief. We find that within our laws, our cultural traditions, and within our community structures there remain many beliefs or assumptions that we continue and support this mechanism of limitations. Our magical, Pagan, and Occult traditions and practices have historically walked hand and hand with liberation movement and were the tools of those seeking to withstand the monoliths of enforced static social and political norms. Our beliefs and community have functioned as a counterpoint to challenge the larger religious, political, and social institutions of the times and have operated with the unstated principle that values the individual expression, supports the creative search for personal agency, and speaks to a sense of empowerment available to each person. We must continue the work of moving our community to act on these Occult principles and provide these opportunities which are the birthright of our people. It requires that we work to address the issues of gender disparity and that we see the issue not as a men or women’s issue, but as a human issue. It is an Occult issue.
As part of the Women’s Leadership Initiative the Red Queen’s Pavilion has established an Awards program. These awards will be given to women within the Occult community who are examples of leadership and who influence the direction of our collective journey. The intent is to highlight women from all corners of our community and to show that leadership takes many forms. By sharing their stories and accomplishments we then begin to change the perceptions of how we see people in positions of influence. It is hoped that in the future that we might create resources and structures that will educate and work to teach our young women (and men) concepts of leadership and participation in community that values and encourages their talents and abilities. The Women’s Leadership Award is just the first step in this initiative. It is thought that the recipients of this award can be seen as a resource or talent pool for the community. A resource that we may draw upon to find creative and innovative responses to meet the needs of our community and move us towards the goals of an effective and inclusive gender equity.
AWARD RECIPIENTS
At the time of this article, there are three recipients of the Women’s Leadership Award, and they are only the first of what is said to be a growing list of women being commended for their service and leadership within our Occult community.
The first recipient was Erica Nevermoore. She was given the award for the following (taken from the award certificate issued by the Red Queen’s Pavilion): She has created community resource through the establishment of a mental health crisis group focused to meet the needs of our Pagan, Magical, and Occult people and has applied her training in the mental health field and Occult Sciences to build and provide resources within our community. She has gone on to create a center where she lives that focuses on mental issues with a Pagan/Magical perspective. Her belief is that our community needs such resources that respects and works with our Pagan/magical traditions as it addresses mental health issues.
The next woman to receive the award was Luna La Croix. Her work in the creation and administration of CMG FIGHT CLUB was the first item listed on the reasons she was given the Women’s Leadership Award. For those within the chaos magick community it is immediately understood why this would be cause for such an award. Other members of our community might require further explanation to understand this achievement. Chaos Magick has a tradition of debate and argument that is part of the process of learning and applying the tools of its magick. The idea is that a practitioner ( the term is Chaote) of chaos magick learns discipline of the mind, power of rhetoric and words, and critical thinking in this process of debate and argument. Ideally this would be so, the practical situation is that often it is division, acrimonious commentary, and a breakdown in relationships. CMG FIGHT CLUB is a concept and space dedicated to working through these issues to solutions and understanding the need for productive conflict and showing how to use appropriate tools to bring this about. It is a remarkable accomplishment. Equally remarkable is the example that she shows by her speaking out and assisting those in need within the community. By her example and reputation, she exerts an influence on the community that is beneficial and is noteworthy. This is why she was given the award.
The third recipient of the Women’s Leadership Award was given to the remarkable and irrepressible (a writer longs for the opportunity to use that word appropriately) Angel Greer. Her list of accomplishments are founded on the creation of Pagans of the Path- Rise of the Phoenix which under her leadership has become an example of what a group can be. It has become known within the Pagan community as a source of learning, community support, and an example of leadership that shows the ethical and interactive qualities inherent in the Pagan traditions. She also shows her qualities of leadership influenced by her personal and family life which she shares openly. It is an example of living Pagan traditions in our modern times. Teaching and showing practical applications of these traditions from raising children, marriage and relationships, our work, and our community efforts are the focus of her educational discussions. Like the other recipients of this award, it is not only the achievements that are what brought her the award, but the way she acts upon her belief and how she applies in her life that has defined her as many things and one of them happens to be a leader.
These three women, remarkable and very different from one another, are the first choices of the Red Queen’s Pavilion and show the way women provide leadership and the value of what they give to the community. Leadership takes many forms and is not simply in the title a person holds. It is in the sense of accountability for the outcome of things and understanding that we have an impact on the results that is at the heart of what it means to lead. These women show the value and need of them, their abilities, their creativeness, and we are made more effective and productive as a community when we can encourage such people. This is the purpose, the message, and the objective of the Women’s Leadership Initiative and this is only the first step.
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