Thorn Mooney
@thornthewitch.bsky.social
Religious Studies PhD student: the paranormal, secularism, magic, spiritualism, ethnography. Lit MA. Publishing production day job. Witch author, Gard priestess, guitarist, fountain pen person, Swiftie, probably a werewolf.
https://linktr.ee/thornthewitch
https://linktr.ee/thornthewitch
Pinned
Thorn Mooney
@thornthewitch.bsky.social
· Nov 15
Hello new platform! I’m Thorn. I’m a religious studies PhD student thinking about magic, modernity, and the paranormal. I publish trade books about witchcraft, and am usually online talking about fountain pens and books. Every now and then, guitars.
Working with Religion for Breakfast and the Religion Department has been super fun. I’ll be offering my paranormal survey seminar again next year, but in the meantime am prepping an intro to contemporary Paganism for the spring. #witchsky #religiousstudies
November 11, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Working with Religion for Breakfast and the Religion Department has been super fun. I’ll be offering my paranormal survey seminar again next year, but in the meantime am prepping an intro to contemporary Paganism for the spring. #witchsky #religiousstudies
Please Satan send me a therapist who takes insurance and didn’t get their credentials from a seminary
November 9, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Please Satan send me a therapist who takes insurance and didn’t get their credentials from a seminary
Its 2025 and we don’t get on social media and correct stranger‘s spelling and grammer anymore;
Try to restrain yourselves. There’s no prize for never mistyping on your phone, not having a shit keyboard that inserts errors, or even, for that matter, knowing more than someone else.
Try to restrain yourselves. There’s no prize for never mistyping on your phone, not having a shit keyboard that inserts errors, or even, for that matter, knowing more than someone else.
November 7, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Its 2025 and we don’t get on social media and correct stranger‘s spelling and grammer anymore;
Try to restrain yourselves. There’s no prize for never mistyping on your phone, not having a shit keyboard that inserts errors, or even, for that matter, knowing more than someone else.
Try to restrain yourselves. There’s no prize for never mistyping on your phone, not having a shit keyboard that inserts errors, or even, for that matter, knowing more than someone else.
Happy Fountain Pen Day to all who celebrate. Enjoy your local stationary shop and all of the great indie retailers online, many of which are having some great sales! Don’t give Amazon your money. 💙
November 7, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Happy Fountain Pen Day to all who celebrate. Enjoy your local stationary shop and all of the great indie retailers online, many of which are having some great sales! Don’t give Amazon your money. 💙
Reposted by Thorn Mooney
If you are looking for new seasonal magical inspiration or have ever been curious about the holidays of Thelema, then this is the book for you!
"The Holy Year of Thelema: A Guide to the Ritual Calendar of Aleister Crowley's Tradition"
@llewellynbooks.bsky.social
youtube.com/shorts/Kc39Q...
"The Holy Year of Thelema: A Guide to the Ritual Calendar of Aleister Crowley's Tradition"
@llewellynbooks.bsky.social
youtube.com/shorts/Kc39Q...
Interested in the holy days of Thelema? I wrote a book!
YouTube video by Maevius Lynn
youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:34 PM
If you are looking for new seasonal magical inspiration or have ever been curious about the holidays of Thelema, then this is the book for you!
"The Holy Year of Thelema: A Guide to the Ritual Calendar of Aleister Crowley's Tradition"
@llewellynbooks.bsky.social
youtube.com/shorts/Kc39Q...
"The Holy Year of Thelema: A Guide to the Ritual Calendar of Aleister Crowley's Tradition"
@llewellynbooks.bsky.social
youtube.com/shorts/Kc39Q...
Reposted by Thorn Mooney
Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back!
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
November 2, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back!
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
Today I am prepping a lecture about cryptozoology. Sometimes life *does* feel ordered and right.
November 2, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Today I am prepping a lecture about cryptozoology. Sometimes life *does* feel ordered and right.
Reposted by Thorn Mooney
I’m SO excited to be partnering with The Religion Department next month with a guest lecture on a Supreme Court case that I think is just as relevant today as it was 50 years ago! Come hang out with me on December 3!
Register: www.religiondepartment.com/offers/8NZYi...
Register: www.religiondepartment.com/offers/8NZYi...
November 1, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I’m SO excited to be partnering with The Religion Department next month with a guest lecture on a Supreme Court case that I think is just as relevant today as it was 50 years ago! Come hang out with me on December 3!
Register: www.religiondepartment.com/offers/8NZYi...
Register: www.religiondepartment.com/offers/8NZYi...
Reposted by Thorn Mooney
Happy Halloween & Samhain all! Oíche Shamhna shona daoibh from where it all began 🎃
#witchsky #speirgorm
#witchsky #speirgorm
October 31, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Happy Halloween & Samhain all! Oíche Shamhna shona daoibh from where it all began 🎃
#witchsky #speirgorm
#witchsky #speirgorm
This is your annual reminder that you can’t look at a child and know how old they are. Never tell a kid they’re too old to be trick-or-treating, or tell anyone they aren’t dressed up enough. Don’t be an asshole—everyone deserves a treat. The point is joy, not judgment.
October 31, 2025 at 5:05 PM
This is your annual reminder that you can’t look at a child and know how old they are. Never tell a kid they’re too old to be trick-or-treating, or tell anyone they aren’t dressed up enough. Don’t be an asshole—everyone deserves a treat. The point is joy, not judgment.
We are prepped! It is my sacred duty to hand out full-sized candy. we don’t get many trick or treaters, but god damn if I don’t try to make it worth their while. Everyone who comes to the door, any age, gets offered treats.
October 31, 2025 at 5:03 PM
We are prepped! It is my sacred duty to hand out full-sized candy. we don’t get many trick or treaters, but god damn if I don’t try to make it worth their while. Everyone who comes to the door, any age, gets offered treats.
I’m developing my next seminar for the Religion Department! These past few weeks teaching about paranormal beliefs and histories in the US has been really fun, and I’m excited to be able to develop additional seminars in contemporary paganisms, witchcraft, and the occult. #religiousstudies #witchsky
October 30, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I’m developing my next seminar for the Religion Department! These past few weeks teaching about paranormal beliefs and histories in the US has been really fun, and I’m excited to be able to develop additional seminars in contemporary paganisms, witchcraft, and the occult. #religiousstudies #witchsky
Not me emailing a department head I don’t know to ask if a faculty member is still alive because they haven’t answered my emails in weeks. Dear Department Head, can you please do a wellness check. 😭
October 27, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Not me emailing a department head I don’t know to ask if a faculty member is still alive because they haven’t answered my emails in weeks. Dear Department Head, can you please do a wellness check. 😭
Hell is a discussion board where every single response begins with “good job” and then continues with some superficial affirmation that contributes absolutely nothing. Why do educators think this is a worthwhile strategy.
October 27, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Hell is a discussion board where every single response begins with “good job” and then continues with some superficial affirmation that contributes absolutely nothing. Why do educators think this is a worthwhile strategy.
Please reply to my emails you’re the ones complaining about how long it takes students to get through your stupid hoops. 😭 I literally could’ve been ABD last spring. 😭😭 I am sick of me too just answer my emails I don’t want to show up at your car in the lot but I will I only have so much funding.
One of the reasons grad school takes forever is faculty not answering their emails. 🥲
October 26, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Please reply to my emails you’re the ones complaining about how long it takes students to get through your stupid hoops. 😭 I literally could’ve been ABD last spring. 😭😭 I am sick of me too just answer my emails I don’t want to show up at your car in the lot but I will I only have so much funding.
One of the reasons grad school takes forever is faculty not answering their emails. 🥲
October 26, 2025 at 4:31 PM
One of the reasons grad school takes forever is faculty not answering their emails. 🥲
This is so important. We have to stop treating students like they’re willfully cheating, or even just being lazy. Some are, sure, but more of it is a different relationship with writing and what’s important about it. It’s more effective to try to change that relationship than become a cop about it.
my goal as a English prof is for my students to cultivate a writer’s voice that reflects who they are. I want them to identify as writers, to write every day, & to take pride in their writing. if I then act like a policeman about ChatGPT it means I don’t trust them or myself.
October 18, 2025 at 4:51 PM
This is so important. We have to stop treating students like they’re willfully cheating, or even just being lazy. Some are, sure, but more of it is a different relationship with writing and what’s important about it. It’s more effective to try to change that relationship than become a cop about it.
This should have been my niche ethical beef post from yesterday. I don’t want to hear about how “cults” operate from people who don’t study religion in some capacity, and broadly, at that. At best, it’s ignorant and misleading. At worst, it’s bigoted and dangerous.
Awful lot of "cult scholars" out there that seem to ignore actual scholarship and make sensationaliat claims
October 18, 2025 at 4:42 PM
This should have been my niche ethical beef post from yesterday. I don’t want to hear about how “cults” operate from people who don’t study religion in some capacity, and broadly, at that. At best, it’s ignorant and misleading. At worst, it’s bigoted and dangerous.
Reposted by Thorn Mooney
October 18, 2025 at 4:18 PM
IT’S COOL AND FUN IS ENOUGH
It’s cool and fun.
October 17, 2025 at 9:15 PM
IT’S COOL AND FUN IS ENOUGH
If your bigass car doesn’t fit in the parking spot, that’s on you. Sorry you can’t open your doors when I park next to you. I’m not parking farther away because it’s tight for you.
Do you have any extremely niche, but serious, ethical stances?
October 17, 2025 at 3:32 PM
If your bigass car doesn’t fit in the parking spot, that’s on you. Sorry you can’t open your doors when I park next to you. I’m not parking farther away because it’s tight for you.
I've had so much fun teaching with the Religion Department this last month. I've taught in a lot of very different settings, and my favorite by far is with enthusiastic adults who are just curious and exploring their interests because it's fun. www.religiondepartment.com
The Religion Department
www.religiondepartment.com
October 16, 2025 at 4:47 PM
I've had so much fun teaching with the Religion Department this last month. I've taught in a lot of very different settings, and my favorite by far is with enthusiastic adults who are just curious and exploring their interests because it's fun. www.religiondepartment.com
Every time I post videos or am interviewed about witchcraft, people comment that I didn‘t do enough to explain what witches *believe.* Good thing I wrote a short, accessible book all about why that’s sort of a weird question: bookshop.org/p/books/witc...
Witches Among Us: Understanding Contemporary Witchcraft and Wicca
Understanding Contemporary Witchcraft and Wicca
bookshop.org
October 15, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Every time I post videos or am interviewed about witchcraft, people comment that I didn‘t do enough to explain what witches *believe.* Good thing I wrote a short, accessible book all about why that’s sort of a weird question: bookshop.org/p/books/witc...
Reposted by Thorn Mooney
We are offering Coptic again!
Come learn Coptic! In partnership with the Religion Department, I developed a two-part introduction to Coptic via close study of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas. Come learn about ancient languages and sayings of Jesus!
Part 1: Starts Oct. 27 | Part 2: Jan. 5
www.religiondepartment.com/learning-cop...
Part 1: Starts Oct. 27 | Part 2: Jan. 5
www.religiondepartment.com/learning-cop...
Learning Coptic Through the Gospel of Thomas (Level 1)
www.religiondepartment.com
October 15, 2025 at 11:03 AM
We are offering Coptic again!
The fact that fellowships always have some stipulation about not having other income is so out of touch. Like, just say you only want scholars who have family wealth or other kinds of financial support. Some of us have to work through school, and it’s wild how that disqualifies us from so much.
October 14, 2025 at 12:39 PM
The fact that fellowships always have some stipulation about not having other income is so out of touch. Like, just say you only want scholars who have family wealth or other kinds of financial support. Some of us have to work through school, and it’s wild how that disqualifies us from so much.