My first sex magic ritual taught me that healing doesn’t work the way you expect.

I came for pleasure and got an exorcism instead.

In 2023, Charlie and I were trying to build a new kind of life together—more honest, more erotic, more ours. The Beltane, a BDSM/Sacred Sexuality themed pagan gathering in Maryland, seemed like a good place to start. A little kink. A little community. A long weekend in the woods.