Kirk White, Golden Dawn Healing, and Pagan Politics – Ep. 1

Kirk White is an author, witch, psychotherapist, and Licensed East Asian Medical Practitioner. He’s studied many magickal traditions, such as Freemasonry and the Golden Dawn, and has participated in organizations like Covenant of the Goddess and Cherry Hill Seminary. He currently serves as a legislator for the state of Vermont.

In this conversation, we dive into his work and background, discussing what it’s like to walk so many different paths, plus what it feels like to be an openly pagan politician.

These are the conversational highlights, my friends, but I’d strongly encourage you to watch or listen to the full interview!

Alright, let’s get to it!

Childhood Faeries, Parapsychology, and Organizations

Kirk says he was a weird kid—always aware of spirits and faeries. He had a somewhat eccentric aunt who encouraged his curiosity by showing him things like pendulums. At the age of 11, he received a copy of Mastering Witchcraft by Paul Huson. From those instructions, he scrounged up a set of magickal tools and began practicing.

His formal exploration began at the University of Vermont, where he attended a residential parapsychology program. This enabled him to meet like-minded individuals—or as he puts it, “other people like me”—a small group of which began covening together in the 1980s.

Over time, Kirk was able to channel his experience into leadership roles in the wider pagan community. He founded and served as president of Cherry Hill Seminary, which provides education and practical training in Pagan and nature-based spiritualities. He’s also served as co-president of Covenant of the Goddess, one of the oldest and largest non-profit interfaith organizations for Wiccans and Witches in the United States.

Today, Kirk has taken this leadership experience to the state level, where he currently serves as a legislator for Vermont—but we’ll get to that in a bit.

Healing Modalities

Kirk is a Licensed East Asian Medical Practitioner, so acupuncture is part of his day job (or… one of his day jobs). He’s studied Chinese Medicine, Vedic Medicine, Greek Humoral Medicine, and folk healing. Suffice it to say, a lot of his practice is centered around healing.

To unify this diverse knowledge base, Kirk has developed his own healing modality that examines how illness manifests energetically. It all sounds rather fascinating, so be sure to check out this section of the interview where he explains more details. As luck would have it, he’ll be presenting some of this information in an upcoming workshop at Summer Magick Fest 2026, which… brings me to my next section…

Summer Magick Fest 2026 Workshops

Kirk will be teaching workshops later this year at Summer Magick Fest 2026. If you’re not familiar with the festival, check out their website or go read one of my recap posts from last year.

Here’s what he’s got planned:

Freemasonry & the Golden Dawn: Old Men’s Mysteries for Modern People

This class is an exploration of the history, activities and practices of these two ceremonial groups. We will debunk myths, give away “secrets”, talk about magick, and explain how these groups can be used to transform one’s self and one’s world. Come with your questions about how Freemasonry influenced the development of British Traditional Wicca.  Kirk is Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Vermont and Imperator/Hierophant of the Beth-El Temple in Vermont.

Lessons in Ritual Triage or “When Good Rituals Go Bad”

This will be an anecdote-filled discussion on what makes a ritual a good one or a bad one. Over the years, the presenter has been to some amazingly powerful rituals, some plain duds, and some downright dangerous ones. We will talk about how each got that way and various techniques to make energy flow, get everyone involved, stir up positive change for people, while keeping everyone safe and sane. We will also explore the contrast between ritual and ritual theater and how the size of your group (10, 100, or 1000 participants) requires different planning.

Witching Wellness

The witch walks the line between the worlds, weaving the forces of the plants, the stars, the elements, the spirits, magic and medicine, mind and body, to bring healing (or harm when necessary) to themselves and their communities. Placed into the magical worldview of medieval European folk medicine and magic, yet also drawing on Chinese, Ayurvedic, and Greek humoral medicine, we will begin to explore how these forces are woven together and can be used for health, happiness, growth, and balance.  We will cover basic theory, learn and practice assessment/diagnostic methods, and learn how to choose or create the right treatment strategy based on those findings. Beginners will leave with a firm foundation on which to begin growing while more advanced healers will gain strategies and skills to better define, refine, and deepen their current skill set.

Kirk’s Books

Here are some of Kirk’s books for you to peruse.

He says that Operative Freemasonry is a “cult classic” if you’re a Freemason. It’s supposed to explain how you can make the masonic rituals initiatic rather than just a bunch of people getting together and going through the motions.

Now… I’m certainly not a Freemason, but something he said about that purpose really stuck out to me. Regardless of what spiritual affiliation you have, there will always be people whose highest level of achievement is the memorization of ritual words and actions—form and function—rather than developing a complete understanding of what those things represent on an energetic level. You can see that in Christian congregations just as much as you can in Wiccan circles. And apparently, it happens often enough in Freemasonry that Kirk was inspired to write a book about it.

There’s a difference between wisdom and understanding. And knowledge is its own thing, too.

Handling Multiple Traditions

I’ve seen people who love to claim how they’re an initiate of this tradition and an initiate of that tradition, yada yada yada, but nowhere along the line do they ever finish anything. I could rant about that for another few paragraphs, but instead, I’ll just say this: at a certain point, it can easily just become about vanity.

Kirk has probably participated in almost every magickal tradition that I’ve ever heard of. Just to recap some of that: he’s been in Druidry, British Traditional Witchcraft, Freemasonry, and the Golden Dawn, but the list doesn’t stop there. Most importantly, however, he says that he doesn’t approach these as a dilettante. In other words, Kirk doesn’t do these things superficially or for his own amusement—rather, his intention is a serious one. He means to go as far as possible. And the thing is… that’s a real time commitment.

Naturally, I asked Kirk how he handles this. First, he made a joke about sacrificing eating and sleeping, but in the end, he said the real answer is to master one before you move to another.

He compares it to people studying martial arts. They’ll get an entry-level belt in one style, then another in a different style, rinse and repeat. But they never get their black belt in anything. And if, instead, they focused on one, the skills learned through mastery would have made all subsequent styles easier and faster to learn. I’ve never studied martial arts, so I can’t say I have first-hand knowledge of how often that happens, but it certainly sounds like a good metaphor for this subject!

Paganism in Politics

It might not surprise you that nearly 90% of the US Congress members follow some form of Christianity. And while it’s quite difficult to get accurate statistics on things like that, I was actually able to find some if you’re curious.

My point is that it’s not every day that you get to speak to someone in politics who does not identify with one on the mainstream world religions—and certainly an even rarer occurrence for that individual to be open about their beliefs being pagan.

But that’s Kirk for you! He says he has plenty of skeletons, but no closets to hide them in. And he’s pretty much open about everything—so far as I can tell.

I would have guessed that such a position would have certainly sparked conflicts, but when I asked Kirk about it, he painted an almost idyllic picture where people are elected based on their merits rather than their labels… and where little old ladies run up to him to talk about witchcraft, saying “we had a coven back in the 60s!”

It almost made me want to move to Vermont. You definitely don’t want to miss this portion of the interview.

Finding Kirk White Online

If you’re looking to find out more about Kirk White or get contact information, then look no further!

Either way, he should be pretty easy to find!

Signature Question

In Kirk’s answer to the signature question, he spoke of hearing the “music” around him in nature—the sound of the wind in the trees, the birds singing, or the voices of land spirits. It was really quite a beautiful thought! As per usual, I don’t like to mince other people’s words here, so go and listen to the end of the interview—you can hear it straight from him.

And once you do that (or hey, even if you don’t), spend a few minutes thinking about this question: what type of “music” is around you on a daily basis? (Hint: we’re talking about things that don’t fit the standard definition for composed and recorded music.)

Conclusion

I had a great time chatting with Kirk. Although a good deal of our conversation was spent discussing traditions I don’t personally participate in, I think we were still able to connect on some of the underlying principles. And to top it off, I always find it fascinating to hear how others practice. I’m really looking forward to meeting him in person later this year. If you’d also like to have that opportunity, grab a ticket to Summer Magick Fest. We can all hang out!

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Season 4 is going to have some great interviews! You’ll see new faces as well as returning guests. That’s all for today, but stay tuned for more soon!

Hey everybody. Thanks so much for reading the entire article. I’m currently sitting in a hotel room in Rhode Island and it’s well after midnight. I find that regardless of the time or my physical location, I just love writing fine print. I think I’d like to write fine print in every single state. Anyway, here it goes: there are external links on this page. Many of those are to Amazon products. If you use one of those links to make a purchase, Amazon will pay me a small commission. That’s all. I’m tired. Goodnight.