Individuals
Bonnie Hoppa
Jessica “Yeshe Rabbit” Matthews, while in the role of High Priestess of CAYA Coven, abused, gaslit, manipulated, and victim blamed me. She used her role to attempt to force unquestioned following of her orders, even when they were in direct violation of CAYA doctrine. To this day, she denies any wrongdoing, and claims she is being wrongly persecuted.
This is not the first time. I am not the only one.
Stella Iris
A top leader at CAYA Coven who has a few testimonies published on this site at her request
I can’t apologize enough for the years in which I followed her instruction, stood by and witnessed or facilitated her wrongdoing, and apologized or covered for her. My own experiences of gaslighting, manipulation, and abuse at her hands (as well as acts of actual kindness and friendship intermixed) are no excuse for enabling her. She kept me isolated from friends and associates with lies and threats, there were constant loyalty tests.
Heaven Walker
A founder of CAYA Coven
She preys on who she believes to be weak. I believe her to be truly psychologically unhinged and dangerous. The words narcissist, or pathological liar, do not even begin to explain what she is capable of.
T. Drakos
A heavily involved member of CAYA Coven
In retrospect, there were red flags from early on, but it was easy to dismiss them as being misunderstandings, or over-zealousness, or the sort of gossip that just arises in small, active communities. However, as CAYA grew bigger, and as Yeshe Matthews, the main leader (yes, I know she was one of many founders, but she was always treated as the foremost authority, and held the title of “Visionholder” and “Visioning High Priestess” for the coven) went through personal events which contributed to her increasing instability, that sense of well-masked and tolerable dysfunction spiraled into blatant and systematic emotional, verbal, and spiritual abuse, along with financial and sexual impropriety, which I will detail below.
- Peer pressure and outside life
- Sexual behavior and concerns
- Financial issues
- Relationship issues
- Cult dynamics
- Intracoven social dynamics
- Sexism, transphobia, and appropriation
- Emotional abuse
- The difficulties of leaving
Rowan Nightshade
A heavily involved member of CAYA CovenI experienced and witnessed innumerable occasions of verbal and emotional abuse, gaslighting, and cruelty that increased in severity and frequency over time. The most extreme personal case of it was in February of last year when Jessica Matthews had a couple of cocktails and then proceeded to spend 90 minutes publicly (as in, in a crowded restaurant) berating me about my parenting and how awful she thought my kids were. She only stopped when I finally broke down in tears and said that I understood that she thought I was a terrible mother.
I personally witnessed the shaming and exclusionary practices she had and promoted, I personally heard her say terrible, bigoted things about trans women and was there when she swore us all to secrecy about it under the guise of being in "sacred space."
She also sexually coerced and exploited me during an extremely vulnerable time in my life when I had just split with my husband of 17 years.
Devin Hunter
A member of the Pagan community who worked with Yeshe Rabbit Matthews and her covenmates
For years I have been dealing with her personal attacks silently while simultaneously cleaning up after her wake. I didn’t want to speak out because I didn’t want her attention, I wanted to focus on my work. Then word went out locally that Jessica was being asked to step down from her position because accusations were mounting up internally and finally people were speaking out through a private internal investigation. The next day I found out that Jessica had stepped down to beat the leadership council to the punch, and on the wave of that news I was contacted by yet even more survivors. There are something like two dozen people who have come forward most of them I know, have spoken to about their abuse, and are deathly afraid of Jessica’s influence still over CAYA.
Lorelei Moon
A heavily involved member of CAYA CovenI personally watched her interfere with coveners’ sobriety, mental health, jobs, finances, sexuality, family connections, love lives and marriages. She abused her power. She did sketchy things financially. Her dress, practices and entitlement smacked of cultural appropriation. She is a predator who preys on the vulnerable, people who have been marginalized, abused or have low self esteem. She had inappropriate relationships with those she was in a position of power over and did not respect boundaries or care about consent if she wanted something. She used both members and others in the pagan community to gain respectability, knowledge and prestige. When she was through or when they started to question her, she threw them under the bus and got her followers to drive it over them. Under her stewardship, CAYA Coven became nothing less than a cult. The things I observed were so horrible it's going to take a long time to process them.
Organizations
CAYA Coven
The organization Yeshe Rabbit Matthews led for several years, announcing her resignationThe CAYA Council of Elders recently followed up on allegations of abuse by our former Presiding High Priestess, Jessica Matthews, aka Yeshe Rabbit. Jessica resigned, and as a result of her choice to resign while under investigation, she has been given the status of “not in good standing” within our community.
Open letter
Pagan organizations calling for accountability, citing multiple allegations of abuse and bigotry
It has come to our attention that numerous members of the Come As You Are Coven community have come forward with substantiated allegations of abuse -- ritual, financial, emotional, physical, and sexual -- regarding their former presiding high priestess, Jessica "Yeshe Rabbit" Matthews, as well as allegations of volatile displays of bigotry, particularly in the form of transphobia. In the time since these allegations became public knowledge, they have been corroborated and added to by many more former members of that community, and others who had pas associations with her.
The Wild Hunt
Pagan news site reporting on some personal accounts
However, both Rowan and Iris stated that Rabbit blurred the lines between friendship and being her subordinate. That made it difficult, by Rowan’s account, to “tease out the unhealthy parts” of the relationship.
What gradually unfolded, according to Rowan, was a transition from “we are all in this together with many leaders” to Rabbit being the only voice. She said that Rabbit had an influence “born of manipulation,” rather than actual authority.
They tended not to have friends outside the group simply because there was no time for other relationships, according to their accounts. When Iris did eventually leave, she said that she found herself cut off from all of her friends.