Sister Hanukkah Jewinski (formally Sister Jewnita Hug)and Sister Marjorie Arcana were not prepared for the amount of love and fellowship they discovered during Laid Back Labor Day at the Gaea Retreat Center. They spent time with Many different Sisters and Guards from the City of Fountains Sisters Sister Clara Cumpassionata, Reverend Mother of The MOPI House, The Emerald City Sisters, Abbey of the Sacred Ruby Slippers as well as our new Sisters and Guards from the Priory of the Wilde Rose Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Mission House.

All of the Guards, Sisters and Siblings they met were super wonderful folks and they all brought their best when we all manifested together! Both Sisters want to thank all the Houses for their amazing hospitality they really felt they were with family. Especially when Marjorie tried on some Christina 301 eyelashes and put them on backwards, was assisted, and now lives her best long lash life.

Sister Hanukkah and Marjorie spent time working in the kitchen for the breakfast shifts and enjoyed serving their community. Sister Hanukkah especially felt blessed because food is their love language! Sister Marjorie also felt blessed because they learned some life skills and how to do other more PG hand things to serve others!
They also helped work with Sisters and Guards from all the Houses present to raise money for charity at an Auction. Sister Clara started off the evening performing to "Lick it Before You Stick it" by Denise LaSalle (always very good advice.), then we helped to auction off many dick shaped things, SPREADER BARS, and lovely altar pieces and crafts!
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At the end of the weekend Both Sisters were feeling the love glow and they learned three very important things. Sister Hanukkah's love language is food and they can and will interpret this into a snarky pancake, Sister Marjorie can do more in the kitchen than warm up a Hot pocket so its not cold in the middle, and we all need to lick it before we stick it.

Sister Mothra teamed up with some of the Southern Illinois PrideFest Royalty and the Rainbow Cafe to present a Drag Brunch at PK's as a fundraiser for the Carbondale Assembly for Radical Justice (CARE). Particular emphasis was given to the Rainbow Refuge project, which is helping queer and trans folks relocate to Southern Illinois from states enacting laws that criminalize their identity and healthcare.

Sr Mothra took full advantage of the venue's age restrictions to work a little blue--as in, you do not want to know how this clown nun juggles balls (hint: she only uses two!). She also came with ruler in hand to enforce nunly decorum--which means she was measuring everybody's everything! As an extra pervy perk, she got to give Korra DeVill a spanking with her ruler, proving she can get that sting through a drag queen's padding! What can we say? The moth has swing in her wings!

The event included two separate performances featuring sets from local band "Temporary Satisfaction" and belly dancing by Renn Hart. Drag performances across the gender spectrum were provided by Princess Korra DeVill, Prince Azure Du D'Claire, and Page Jelly Lizard. Pk's was an amazing host, offering special dishes for the brunch, including pink, white, and blue transcakes. After expenses, the event raised $650 for CARE and was a whoppin' success--literally whuppin' Korra's perky behind, too!

Sister Fagatha Hardness and Sister Mothra Stewart ran the "Wheel of Trans Trivia" at the Southern Illinois Transgender Resource Fair on Friday, welcoming new members to the community and students back to school. Now, the SOIL Sisters were not responsible for coming up with those questions; they just spun the wheel, looked pretty, and handed out prizes (sticky condom flags!). Those questions were hard, y'all!!! But they had fun, giving clues and changing the rules as needed to keep things upbeat and educational. You know, a trivia game at a trans resource fair should be fluid, right? 

(Oh, wait! We are reminded that the prizes were a choice of trans-themed stickers, mini trans flags, or condoms. Silly us! That's not to say sticky condom flags weren't available as the event wore on, though.)

The SI Trans Resource Fair was hosted by Rainbow Café and included most LGBTQ organizations in the area as well as organizations sponsoring food accessibility, community health, physical therapy, housing, etc. Local health clinics providing both reproductive services and gender-affirming care were also prominently present. Any organization acting truly with pride for the Southern Illinois transgender and LGBTQIA+ community was present and having a good time. The music was awesome, the food was great, and the crowds were large--both in the Rainbow Café facilities and across the street in the Carbondale Town Square Pavilion.

Now who wants a sticky condom flag, cuz you know a dirty hoe has extras! Yeet!

​We took to the streets of St Louis again to celebrate community and spread joy and joy at the Black Pride Expo hosted by Black Pride StL.
When not teaching sorority girls how to fan clack or showing the proper way to breathe while working through a contraction Sister Marjorie Arcana and Sister Jewnita Hug along with our amazing new Aspirant Hannah wandered through the tables of vendors at the Polish Heritage Center in the A/C sharing our Sistory with different organizations. We even had a moment to enjoy a tasty beverage!
What a wonderful way to kick off the month of August and keep it hot and spicy for our BIPOC LGBTQIA+ community. We also do apologize for Sister Jewnita breaking in to St. Stanislaus and creating mischief.

Did y'all know there is a National Moth Week? Well, Sr Mothra Stewart sure did, and she's been fluttering on and on about it, lately. Calm down, grrl! You're gonna break an antennae!

Last Friday, she helped Anne "Cupcake" Townsend at the Illinois Extension paint some local species of moths for an event this week at the Cache River State Natural Area, sponsored by the University of Illinois Extension. She's also been out in her yard at night, mothing with a light and a sheet, inviting all her friends to party! Give a grrl an excuse and she will run with it!

Yesterday (Thursday, July 27), Sr Mothra Stewart was a featured guest at The Carbondale Science Center's "Moth Mania" event. She enjoyed coloring with kids and talking about the differences and similarities between moths and butterflies. When some young boys wanted to quiz her about her Godzilla and Mothra knowledge, she did not disappoint! That moth nun can flit between science and popular culture so easily. The Carbondale Science Center was excited to have her as a contributing guest and encouraged The SOIL Sisters to participate in future events.

She also appeared on this week's episode of WDBX's "Isn't It Queer" (she has inside connections!) to offer some commentary about National Moth Week and a bit of a plug for the Netflix movie, Nimona. You can hear her contribution at the 45:10 mark of this week's IIQ podcast.

So sure, yeah, moths are very on brand for our Sr Mothra Stewart. But she's also pretty big into Queer Ecology, whether she's in her manifested or mundane form. The SOIL Sisters embrace all ways to serve their community, and they cast that idea of community as something a bit bigger than merely human. The best way to get to true equity and inclusion is to accept that we live on a queer planet, y'all, and that advocacy for human diversity and biodiversity are the same mission. It's a good thing!

Sister Toggaf attended the Hangar 9 Emo Night with blessings of love, peace, and condoms (and lube)!

What did Sister Marjorie do today?

If you answered got stuck in the bathroom stall at the Machinist Hall while the man next to her was most likely horrified as he most likely saw press on nails trying to shake the stall so she could get free,

you would be half right. This time she escaped no one was traumatized by a giant clown nun trying to use the bathroom. and no press ons were in sight.
She spent her day handing out candy to as many people she could at the Toyman Toyshow and had a ton of fun doing it! She met some new folks, spread joy and was able to even see friends she already knew!
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Sometimes spreading joy is handing out candy in an act of kindness with hugs and pictures!
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She was even surprised when someone she met awhile ago at the same event gave her pictures of their encounter when they first met! It was super sweet!
Today was alot of fun and no glamour yetis were hurt in the making of this manifestation.

Pride St. Louis PrideFest 2023 Diversity Creates Community was so amazing!
Sister Marjorie Arcana put on her super subtle flower Cornett and got her ass down to St. Louis to spread joy and help out where she could!
Some magical moments from Pride.

.Sister Marjorie got to help someone who told her they were alone at Pride, they looked super dehydrated so Marjorie gave them her water bottle and even checked in on them before starting their hour at MTUG. That person stopped Marjorie before she left and let her know she really helped out and their friends were there now and they were feeling much better.

.Sister Marjorie got to help out at the MTUG booth helping to give toiletries away and give folks who came up resources. We love to help out organizations like MTUG and MTUG shows us Sisters alot of love!

.She got to see some friends and even met some folks from Facebook! She got big ole hugs and saw so many happy folks that knew the Sisters and love us! We love them back!

.She got to hear a story from a person who told Marjorie this was their first Pride event. They were so excited that they brought a Polaroid camera with them to take everyone's pictures. It was so amazing to see that person's face light up with pure joy as they told Marjorie everyone was so nice including her.

.She got to make connections and get resources from many groups. Alot of them already knew who the Sisters were and were very open about sharing resources and queer affirming churches we could help out at.

.Sister Marjorie even ran into Sister Gay Bitch Milkshake in representing their SOIL Sisters sticker and hat!

Lots of hugs. Lots laughter and love and even a few "gurrrllll you did that!" Thrown to Marjorie as she walked through the rows with her giant blue discreet flower!

At the end of the day Sister Marjorie was tired, hot but full of love from community.
The community supports the Sisters and allows us to come into their spaces to spread joy and help. We are forever grateful for that trust.
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Thank you Pride St. Louis for a magical time.

On Saturday afternoon, Sisters Gay Bitch Milkshake and Mothra Stewart visited the "Oogle Boogle" house in Carbondale, a residential communal home with a basement alternative music venue. The house and its residents hosted an Oogle Fair, with activities in and and out of the house and music planned for the evening. Proceeds from the fair support CARE--Carbondale Assembly for Radical Equity, a consortium of local support groups assisting trans and queer folks moving to the Carbondale area to escape the toxic legislation in their home states.

Sister Gay Bitch Milkshake was a little sad to learn that the house mascot dog, PoDo, was not receptive to sister blessings and head kisses. Ever the kind Mistress of Fur Beings, she gave PoDo his space and accepted shin sniffs as close enough to a puppy blessing.

Sister Mothra Stewart "won" a game of supersized Jenga. She was sad to learn that knocking the tower over was considered losing. Where she comes from, a giant kaiju moth is expected to do some property damage! Knocking over an increasingly rickety tower is just a Tuesday afternoon!

The Sisters had a great time hanging out with Carbondale's cool queer & trans clan. The alt/punk folk music in the backyard was a foreshadowing of the music to come in the evening. The walking tacos were amazing. So much art and games and community spirit. And all for a good cause! 

Donations to support CARE can be made through The Rainbow Cafe. In the memo line for the donation, please note that you intend the funds to support CARE, otherwise you will be generally supporting The Rainbow Cafe (which is also a good thing!)