Pastor to High Priestess
The Pastor to High Priestess Project is a spell.
A spell for healing from religious trauma from high-control and high-demand religions.
A spell for liberation from descriptions (socially constructed gender normas, etc) that were meant to keep us bound and categorized.
A spell to remember that we are, and have always been, holy. We don’t anything or anyone outside ourselves to be saved.
Knowing that deconstructing from religious trauma is not a one-and-done but a continual deterritorialization and reterritorialization, looking for lines of flight as we create something new.
As witches who are deconstructing Christian upbringings, we are aware of the stigma that comes from being labeled "witch." We've had to have uncomfortable conversations with our friends and families—maybe we're on a prayer list at our meemaw's church. Some of us are still in the broom closet because it is too costly to mount our brooms and fly. We know what it's like to be called rebellious and told that rebellion is the sin of witchcraft. Some of us know what it is to be dragged to the altar on a Sunday so the preacher can try to cast a demon out of us.
Here, we gather to share stories, bear witness to religious trauma, deconstruct together, and cast spells for collective healing. We gather to remember and remind one another that we are holy just as we are.
Here, we gather to reclaim what was stolen from us. Our divinity. Our sacred right to feel safe in our own bodies… bodies that are our own!
Here, we gather to reclaim pleasure and reject the construct of sin (that only serves the patriarchal religious hierarchy hungry for the power in our blood and bones.)
Here, we call back our power by listening to the stories of our siblings.
Here, is a place where I hope we will tell new stories to one another so that we can re-enchant the world.
Episodes
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![Lenny Duncan]()
P2HP 1: Lenny Duncan
Rev/Awo Lenny Duncan (they/them) is a writer, speaker, scholar, and former pastor in the ELCA. In this conversation Reed and Lenny talk about the Institutional Church and leaving ministry, Lenny’s current and upcoming work, and the full room that Jesus joined.
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Becoming Good: A Conversation with Kate Hilderbrandt
A conversation with poet, coach, and permission alchemist, Kate Hilderbrandt.
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The Missing Stair: Secrets in the Church
Reed and Ashely have a conversation about secrets that churches keep, retribution for pointing out toxic people or practices in congregations, and the pain of deconstructing and leaving Christianity.
Episode Notes
The Missing Stair by the Silo Sisters
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Yes, I Know it's Just Called Skanking: An Interview with Erin Johnson
Reed recounts traumatic experiences growing up Pentecostal and has a conversation with Erin Johnson, who also grew up Pentecostal, about her journey of deconstruction and finding solace in practices outside Christianity.
Content Warning: discussions of suicide, suicidal ideation, and mental abuse.
Episode Notes
CONTENT WARNING: discussions of suicide, suicidal ideation, and mental abuse.
Resources for dealing with religious trauma:
https://www.religioustraumainstitute.com/
https://www.reclamationcollective.com/
Sandra Porter's Music
Meet Reed Stephenson
I’m Reed.
I was raised in a fundamentalist, Pentecostal denomination.
I do not remember a time before I learned about Hell and the Rapture.
I was brought up in purity culture and taught that all the sin in the world was the fault of women.
Terror lived in my body.
I was a precocious kid who asked a ton of questions, especially at church. I was pegged as rebellious and told over and over again that rebellion is the sin of witchcraft.
When I was 16, my youth pastor tried to cast a demon out of me…it didn’t work!
At 19, I went to a private bible college that I was later asked (not nicely) to leave.
I was assaulted by a security guard, and I dared to do something about it.
At 32, I had two kids and realized I didn’t want them to endure the same trauma I did as a result of religion.
I knew in my gut that there had to be a better way to raise my babies.
At 40, I went to seminary.
I was diagnosed with Complex PTSD AND an autoimmune disease.
At 45, I became an ordained pastor in the ELCA.
I was trying so hard to make it all work.
At 50,I rescinded my ordination credentials because Jesus didn’t die for my sins to put up with that much bullshit.
My therapist asked me if I had ever considered that the church was a lifelong abuser in my story...
At 51, I bought my first tarot deck in East Tennessee at a witchy store that was part occult shop, part prepper store, and part tiki party supply, and secretly started calling myself a witch.
My entire life, I had been trying to find my place in this system, contorting myself to fit into a system that did not want to make room for me.
At 54, I finished my PhD, and with 55 coming up fast, I am absolutely out of fucks.
I'm bored with the old stories of sky daddys, Edenic myths, and certain apocalyptic futures.
If any of this sounds remotely familiar to you,
even if you aren’t sure what you think about spells,
join me in making magic that makes room for us.
Dear one, you and all those pieces you thought you had to leave behind are welcome here.
Meet Sandra Porter
I’m Sandra. I’m a mom, singer, songwriter, teacher, and witch. I love making music with most people, especially my kids. I have one studio EP with plans for a full-length album in the works. I love being in nature and finding all the ways we are connected to the earth and in turn to each other. Everyone was made for love. Love who you want. Go where you want. We don’t all have one planned path for our lives. Except to fuck the patriarchy.
You can listen to Sandra’s music here.
