A TRIBUTE TO JAKE STRATTON-KENT

Composing a tribute to Jake Stratton-Kent is challenging, given the profound impact he had on both my personal and professional development. Expressing the breadth and depth of his influence goes beyond a straightforward narrative and requires careful reflection to convey its true extent. Our first online interactions were through a series of Facebook posts that inspired one of my biggest threads to date and highlighted the power of asking important questions.

Though our time together was brief, through online interactions and in interview, I formed a meaningful and genuine friendship with him. I asked him about Night School One and his other books, and those conversations tremendously inspired what I did afterward. His books remain my most used, most loved, and the ones I continually work from. While I can’t speak on his behalf, I owe a great debt to him and his work, because it enabled me to do what I wanted with my practice and my life. Our last conversations followed the publication of The Sworn and Secret Grimoire, and his ability to point at the moon without giving direct answers kept me motivated to continue the search.

If he had a resource to share, he would share it. But if it was something he wanted you to discover for yourself, he would give a humorous, trickster-like response that hinted only practice could reveal the answer, not words. That was what I loved most about how he shared his work: he was deeply committed to advancing the tradition and sharing knowledge, but he refused to give away answers meant to be learned through experience.

The most significant thing I learned from Jake was the concept of ritual stages. Once I understood that, my ritual reconstruction problems resolved. Even if I wasn’t an expert with every magical text I wanted to use, I could identify the components of ritual in those texts. That allowed me to build something that worked within my existing framework or expand on material lacking a complete structure. It gave me the chance to stop doing what others told me to do and instead learn to do what I wanted.

His public persona was identical to his one-on-one interactions. He was always kind, and even when I thought my questions were silly, I felt safe to ask him. I loved his answers and the way he explained things. You could tell he had devoted his life to this, and it was a privilege to speak with him. He was truly a wealth of knowledge.

I carry his influence in my work now through interests in chaos magic, being a bit “Thelemish,” and using EQ, the Papyri, and grimoire traditions in how I practice, code, and live. Through his work, I learned how to shape my everyday life into a practice: how to honor my ancestors, create a Goetic Garden, work outdoors rather than indoors, build relationships with spirits, and engage with my tradition — continuing it. Designing my home to be a sacred and magical space that welcomes my spirits and embodies my practice has connected me to my magical lineage and ancestral traditions.

I want new people to know you can read his books and listen to him many times, and still return to the same content and learn something new. Never stop with one read or one glance. Along the way, you’ll realize you’ve learned something you didn’t know before, and next time it will make sense in a new way. If you treat his work as a companion and constant reference, it will lead you exactly where you want to go. I don’t think he expected anyone to take everything he did or said as final and was open to challenge and debate in meaningful ways. Nor do I think he would want you to accept his words without forming your own opinion.

His passing was a great loss, because the community's heartbeat was with him. While we still carry it on, something amazing is absent because he’s not here. We see his memories come up in our posts or conversations, and we pause to pay our respects. We were truly fortunate to have shared space with him. What a beautiful legacy he has left behind, both online and in his published work, as well as through his relationships with the community. Memes shared on social platforms keep us connected to his humorous reflections and spirit.

I am most grateful to Jake for our first interview, because he showed me an example of the type of person I wanted to be when I grew up. If I could say anything to him now, it would be that I never forgot the last conversations we had, and I will cherish them forever.