De Kastelein

Thirty-year-old Tamara Rees shows us what trans empowerment looked like in 1954. She fought Nazis, taught parachuting, and traveled the world... but her biggest challenge came when the press learned of her identity.

1950s news coverage of Tamera Rees' transition shows a time before the trans moral panic. Most stories regarded her as brave or heroic for her openness. National newspapers even celebrated her wedding in 1955.

The New York Daily News, which now hosts daily anti-trans editorials, ran a shockingly respectful series on trans people in the 1950s. Tamara Rees's narrative was among the longest and most detailed. She thoughtfully implored the public to respect not only her identity, but also other trans people like her.

Like, you can say you “know more” than the average person in antiquity - but you don’t. Maybe in a conceptual manner - yeah, we know about distant planets and galaxies, we’ve got germ theory, we have made a collection of the entire human genome, we have walked on the fucking moon - but from the perspective of someone from 500 BCE (if I may be allowed a dash of speculation here), does that matter?

In our industrialized, globalized world, I think we forget the sheer effort that went into everything. The sheer degree of skill needed to create homes, tools, clothing, ceramics, fine jewelry, statues, and everything in-between. The skill, knowledge, and effort that went into everyday subsistence activities, like farming, herding, and weaving; and into other trades such as shipping and manufacturing. These are not mindless tasks, devoid of calculation and forethought; to pretend they are in even the slightest is disingenuous.

I would even go so far as to say it is extremely classist & sexist, because - shocker - people still work in these fields. The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the streets you walk, the buildings you eat and sleep and live in - these did not spawn out of a vacuum. Constant effort - unending, backbreaking labor, time, and skill has gone into the world we walk through today, so people can go on pretending like they’re somehow ‘smarter’ than those who came before them, when the only difference is that we* are able to concentrate on something besides our own survival. something otherwise ‘useless’ for everyday survival, and i say that as an archaeologist. Excavating a Bronze Age brewery does not provide food, it does not provide you with clothes (it actually damages them), it does not give you shelter, it mostly provides you with broken potsherds and a whole lot of dirt destined for floatation. Yes, it requires practical skills too - but many of these are essentially also used, even more frequently, in manual labor and agriculture.

And - in this broken, frightful world - we are so damn lucky** that people can even spare time for this, to learn more about the ancient world. And we are even more lucky that - when we are born with health complications, are disabled, or are faced with diseases like pneumonia, measles, and COVID - that these are not death sentences. Artificial scarcity, corporate greed, and fearmongering can make them so, but there is still that ability to live. To focus on the past, instead of making it to the next day, the next week, the next month.

But - I want to emphasize here - this is all entirely reliant on the work of people who continue to carry out the same manual labor done by countless individuals - enslaved and free - up through antiquity. People whose calculations were their survival, whose understanding of the natural world and local resources made the difference between life and death.

To pretend like we are somehow more knowledgable, more capable, more “advanced” intellectually than those who laid the foundations for the entire fucking world we live in today, is a lie. A smug, disgusting little lie that spits on all we have done as a species (and all the progress we are trying to make) with the idea that “we’ve done it”, we’re “superior,” this idea that only encourages rotting in self-assured apathy while the world burns.

And you cannot appreciate the past when you approach it with false assumptions which are based on nothing except preconcieved notions of modern superiority and the belief that knowledge is both ‘quantifiable’ and absolute. We are just as capable of joy, wisdom, compassion, and love as the ancients; and we are just as susceptible to fear, anger, and hatred as they were. I’m not saying everyone has to know the ins and outs of every ancient industry ever to appreciate the fucking Parthenon, but if someone cannot approach the ancient world with an open mind, a sense of humility, and self-reflection - then I suspect they cannot appreciate the fucking Parthenon.

*When I use the term 'we,' I am referring to individuals who do not specialize in manual labor/blue-collar industries and/or engage in subsistence agriculture.

Tempted to actually put this on spotify so I can secretly stream it at work...

Kim Whalen with a longsword that barely fits in frame

Historical / specifically paganism

- heidense heiligdommen - Judith Schuyf

This book is honestly my favourite source she compiles a lot of evidence and if you read anything here, this one is probably the best one, judith also has a blog where she posts related articles sometimes.

Noord holland in het eerste millennium - published by huis van hilde

all of huis van hilde is amazing and these are free and available as pdfs. they have a lot of publications in English as well definitely worth checking out they also have archeological an archive [chapter about animal symbolism is available in English here ]

Heilige bronnen in de lage landen - Linda Wormhoudt

This is one of those books where it is not as historically informed or acedemic as the previous two which has it's perks and it's downsides. Very interesting if you want to get ideas for things to incorporate into your own praxis as there's also talk of a verity of people's praxis in there.

Wodan's mythical birds - Nicolay, Johan; van Eerden, R.A

Acedemic paper about wodan's birds and symbolism in archological finds available here one of these authors also worked on noordholland in het eerste millennium

Sagas and fairy tales

Verhalen bank - here

This site has started to use art ai which is a shame because their work is honestly quite good and you can really specifically search for this to a locality or time period. Hopefully they drop it soon but i did want to mention it upfront.

veluwsche sagen

Feel like i have to mention this well refrenced book but anything that has dutch sagas if you connect to any of them that's honestly an amazing jumping off point in my opinion

Bonus books that i have not gotten to read yet but am curious about

Woden a historical companion - Stephen Pollington

North sea water in my veins - Imelda Almqvist

De Atlantische Edda - pieter jansen

Ja, mannen versie

Ja, vrouwen versie

Ja, iets anders (bijvoorbeeld speciaal voor trans mensen)

Ja, nuance/verschilt teveel

Nee

Ik heb wel een piemel

Ja, mannen versie

Ja, vrouwen versie

Ja, iets anders (bijvoorbeeld speciaal voor trans mensen)

Ja, nuance/verschilt teveel

Nee

Ik heb wel een piemel

64 or lower

65-67

68-69

70-72

73 or higher

No preference