Community Warning: Matthew Catalano

I am sharing this post for the safety and protection of the Neopagan community both online and off. I have been made aware of deeply disturbing information about a man that many people know, and have become connected to by social media: Matthew Catalano, who also goes by the name Matthew McEwan, and sometimes Artaigne McEwan. The link I just gave to his FB may disappear soon after this blog is made public, but many screenshots from it are preserved below, demonstrating the potentially very dangerous, certainly hateful, and two-faced reality of this homophobic and racist man.

Catalano has been lurking in the Neopagan community for a space of years, wearing many hats within it. You may have seen him under these “Pagan” and “Witch” incarnations:

So I Crossed a Fraud Psychic Online

Image by Jessie Leiber

What follows is a statement originally made to Facebook, in response to a substack post made by Josh Simonds. It is deeply regretful that such things have to be recounted and made public, but in the interests of truth and clarity, and because communities of compassionate people were also defamed, I made the decision to do so.

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A situation has arisen which requires a public response from me. I almost never make statements like this, as anyone who has followed my feed for years already knows. But since seriously defamatory and false things have been said not only about me, but about communities that I have had a hand in shaping or supporting, and since the person who said them swiftly made sure these meritless claims would spread about and get connected to my name and those communities, I have to make a fair and measured response.

I must speak for more than just myself here; I am speaking for many people who have been harmed over several years by the words and activities of a man who claims to be a “psychic” online, named Josh Simonds. I have the job of sharing not just my experiences with Josh but the experiences of others, as well.