Of all the occult authors and teachers out there that I have read over the years, I consider Josephine McCarthy (Littlejohn) to be one of the best, no-nonsense, no bullshit people that are out there. I also consider her to be a Sekhmet sister, a seba (teacher) and a much-valued friend.
Josephine’s latest post, referenced below, is one of the best that I have read in a very long time. It is a must read for every woman who considers herself an occultist of any stripe – whether she consider herself to be a witch, a magician, a Priestess, a sorceress, a diviner or anything else. Men would also do very well to listen up to what she has to say. All too often in our communities, no matter how we think we have gotten past all that, there is a tendency to couch the sexism, racism, classism and various other ‘isms’ that have the vile tendency to rear their ugly heads in denial if not outright excuses of one kind or another. Josephine has a firm grip on the Zep Tepi Bat (aka Cosmic Clue By Four) and she hits this subject squarely between the eyes without flinching. Hers is the voice of experience and it has long needed to be said.
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Something that has bothered me for a long time is something that has come up frequently in magical discussion and that is the issue of women and magic, or to be more precise, sexism in the magical community. Rather than launch into the usual ‘all men a bad and all women are victims’, which is not true by any means, there are some things that as an older woman in my fifties I can pass on to young women stepping out into magic.
Like any aspect of modern life, magical communities are very much defined by the cultures they spring from, regardless of how hard a magical group tries to avoid that. What we can do as magicians is be aware of those cultural traps, particularly the subtle ones that tend to get missed, and avoid them as much as possible? In truth, behind the apparent smokescreen of sexism, is the real issue which is one of power: people seeking power or lacking in power, regardless of gender, are the most likely to exhibit sexism whether it is intentional or subconscious. (READ THE REST OF JOSEPHINE’S POST HERE)
Fanny Fae 
I don’t always agree with everything she has to say, but the fact I have only just realised this woman existed (and she is a helluva magician) proves the point of her post and her work. I’ve recently acquired as many of her books as I managed to find, and read them voraciously. She gives great advice.
I was first familiar with the artwork of her husband, Stuart Littlejohn, and then discovered Josephine’s work. I am so glad that I did, because it has been like getting a crash, college level course in all of the things that we American magicians have been missing out on. Andrieh Vitimus has done at least two interviews with Josephine on his podcast, Deeper Down the Rabbit Hole – and both are fantastic. If you haven’t heard them yet, you owe it to yourself to give them a listen. 🙂
thankyou !!
You are very welcome! And besides…everything you said is TRUE!! 🙂
As a 53 year old woman, very much a beginner in witchcraft, this is fantastic! I’m going to find Josephine’s books and devour them. They are going to be so valuable and an immense help to me on my path. Thank you Fanny for sharing her work, and thank you Josephine for your wonderful wealth of knowledge and guidance! 🙂
You are certainly welcome. Josephine lends a voice to occultism that is very sadly lacking in the work of most books published in that genre in the U.S.
Be sure to check out the website that she shares with her husband, Stuart Littlejohn at http://www.theinnerlibrary.org 🙂 From there, she maintains a Yahoo group that is excellent, however, everyone is expected to participate. 😉
Thank you Fanny! I’ve bookmarked the website. I can’t wait to burry my head in it. 🙂 I’ll take a look at the Yahoo group. If I don’t participate, I can’t learn.