Disabled Witch

Hello all and welcome to the disabled-witch blog! Here I will be posting about anything existing in the realm of disability and my pagan practice. Disability impacts every aspect of my life, and therefore heavily impacts my craft.

Feel free to (respectfully) ask me anything!

But who am I?

Name: Juniper

Pronouns: they/them

Witchy Interests: knot magic, liminal witchcraft, rune work, shadow work

Worships: Frau Holda, the Norns

Hail to Fenrir, true to his nature! He who did not hide his inner self for the comfort of others He who was kept in a gilded cage long before actual chains For no one should be judged and imprisoned by the nature of their birth

Exciting news! I am a writer for chronically heathen, which is a column hosted by the Fellowship of Fire and Ice that focuses on disabled heathen experiences. My first article focused on the popular Grimm Fairy tale of Frau Holle and interpreting it as a disabled follower.

please consider contacting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services about CMS-2025-0242-0002 ! (https://www.ostomy.org/take-action/)

Essentially, this new change would redefine ostomy supplies as "medical equipment" instead of "prosthetic devices". This would allow insurance companies to force patients to use damaging and incompatible products to cut costs. As someone who has experienced extreme skin complications from incompatible ostomy supplies, this is highly dangerous.

As my body seems to decompose around me, I try and remember that no creature is outside the Norns and the tapestry of fate.

My hamingja (luck) may be weak, but the effects of my actions still ripple out around me. I am a beautiful and essential part of the dance of the universe, no matter what shape my body takes.

I am proud to be disabled, I truly am.

But as I sit here, without the medical equipment I need, without the medical appointments I need, without the medical support in general I need... I cannot help but shake with rage.

I am worthy of life. I am worthy of access to what makes life worth living. I am worthy of the support I need for both of those things.

My needs are not "special" and my needs are not "burdensome". Fuck anyone who says otherwise.

Now?

Now my grimoire is full of scratched out words, hastily drawn stick figures, and way too many contradictions.

But it is still a grimoire worth keeping.

In fact, if my grimoire was as immaculate as I initially hoped, I would spend my time hemming and hawing over my next passage instead of using my energy to express my craft. I would postpone writing in it until my tremors passed, instead of letting inspiration guide my hand. I would have lost out on so many precious pieces of my workings by drawing and redrawing and redrawing the same rune until it was perfect.

So enjoy a piece of my grimoire that is still worth keeping, and still worth sharing.

To learn more about why disability identity is important, I recommend Episode 7 of Included: The Disability Equity Podcast! (Transcript here)

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One of my favorite parts of this episode:

"I think it goes back to my underlying belief that all means all. When we talk about inclusion, we should be talking about all individuals with disabilities. That carries over into research. If we’re talking about doing research with and alongside and immersed within the disability community, we need to be intentional about making sure that all really does mean all."

Initially, I was deeply afraid that my ileostomy procedure would diminish my connection to the natural world, make me unnatural in some way. How could it not? I would have a plastic bag attached to me for the rest of my life, I would have my intestines sewn into my skin. In my mind, these adaptations were going to irreparably separate me from the natural order.

I have come to realize that this is simply untrue. What could be more natural than survival? What could be more natural than adapting to the environment that you are born into? Disability is part of nature's diversity, a part of the chaos that makes up the universe. The strive to live, the strive to build a better life, the strive to protect you and yours, that is of nature. I did not become less because of this, I am simply adapting. And that adaptation is precious.