February 24th, 2017

Today, we are having witch weather.

The sky is dark, but a brilliant beam of sunlight poking through the clouds makes everything glow. The air is warm, but there is a stiff breeze blowing, the kind that whips your hair in your face and makes your coat stream out behind you.

Now it is thunder-storming, and the rain is pelting the windows. Intermittent cracks of thunder echo over campus.

Tonight is the waning moon. Perhaps the storm will continue. One way or the other, there is the feeling of electricity in the air. It's time to bind some neo-nazis.

February 21st, 2017

For any and all interested parties, an anonymous magickal group has developed a spell, to be performed monthly, with the intent of binding Donald Trump and those who abet him and his policies. It is available here, but I will also transcribe it below in the event that the link does not work.

~~~~~

A Spell to Bind Donald Trump and All Those Who Abet Him

To be performed at midnight on every waning crescent moon until he is removed from office. This binding spell is open source, and may be modified to fit your preferred spiritual practice or magical system — the critical elements are the simultaneity of the working (midnight, EST—DC, Mar-a-Lago, and Trump Tower NYC time) and the mass energy of participants.

Components:

• Unflattering photo of Trump (small)
• Tower tarot card (from any deck)
• Tiny stub of an orange candle or baby carrot
• Pin or small nail (to inscribe the candle/carrot)
• White candle (any size), representing the element of Fire
• Small bowl of water, representing elemental Water
• Small bowl of salt, representing elemental Earth
• Feather (any), representing the element of Air
• Matches or lighter
• Ashtray or dish of sand

Optional Components:

• Piece of pyrite (fool’s gold)
• Sulfur
• Black thread (for traditional binding variant)

Preparation:

• Write “Donald J. Trump” on the orange candle stub with a pin or nail
• Arrange other items in a pleasing circle in front of you
• Lean the Tower card against something so that it’s standing up (vertically)
• Say a prayer for protection and invoke blessing from your preferred spirit or deity. Reading the 23rd Psalm aloud is common in Hoodoo/Conjure/Rootwork traditions. Experienced magicians may perform an appropriate banishing ritual.

Ritual:

(Light white candle)

Hear me, oh spirits
Of Water, Earth, Fire, and Air
Heavenly hosts
Demons of the infernal realms
And spirits of the ancestors

(Light inscribed orange candle stub)
I call upon you
To bind
Donald J. Trump
So that he may fail utterly
That he may do no harm
To any human soul
Nor any tree
Animal
Rock
Stream
or Sea

Bind him so that he shall not break our polity
Usurp our liberty
Or fill our minds with hate, confusion, fear, or despair
And bind, too,
All those who enable his wickedness
And those whose mouths speak his poisonous lies

I beseech thee, spirits, bind all of them
As with chains of iron
Bind their malicious tongues
Strike down their towers of vanity

(Invert Tower tarot card)

I beseech thee in my name
(Say your full name)
In the name of all who walk
Crawl, swim, or fly
Of all the trees, the forests,
Streams, deserts,
Rivers and seas
In the name of Justice
And Liberty
And Love
And Equality
And Peace

Bind them in chains
Bind their tongues
Bind their works
Bind their wickedness

(Light the small photo of Trump from the flame of the orange candle stub and hold carefully above the ashtray)

(Speak the following loudly and with increasing passion as the photo burns to ashes)

So mote it be!
So mote it be!
So mote it be!

(Blow out orange candle, visualizing Trump blowing apart into dust or ash*)

(Pinch or snuff out the white candle, ending the ritual)

Grounding and Disposal:

Afterward, ground yourself by having a good, hearty laugh, jumping up and down, clapping your hands, stomping your feet, and having a bite to eat. Grounding is very important—don’t neglect it. And remember—he hates people laughing at him.

Finally, bury the orange candle stub or discard it at a crossroads or in running water.

~~~~~

The website lists some ideas for variations; I will probably re-write the references to heavenly hosts and demons, as those are not entities I am currently working with. This is definitely a spell I will be employing, however. The next waning crescent moon is this Friday - a good night for a ritual! 

January 22nd, 2017

Hello, everyone, and Happy New Year. Yes, I'm a little late to the party, but I think we all know by now that I am incapable of posting consistently. I have some more explicitly Pagan things to share, but first: yesterday, all around the world, was the Women's March, in solidarity with the Women's March on Washington, DC. Things have been looking bad since the election back in November, but to echo the statement made by many others, for the first time yesterday, I felt hope.

I participated in the local march here at school. It's a small college town, but they still had a turnout of at least 1,000 people - we surrounded an entire city block!

Here is the sign I made to carry; in all caps, it says "I'M WITH HER," and then in smaller font, it lists "Black, Hispanic, Arab, Asian, Disabled, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Non-binary, Asexual, Muslim, Christian, Pagan, Hindu, Atheist, Mentally Ill, Lesbian, Immigrant, Buddhist, Sikh, Jew, Neurodivergent, Poor, Middle Class, CEO, Janitor, HUMAN".

And this is me at the Civic Center before the march, with my pantsuit, pussycat hat, "Love Trumps Hate" pin, and asexual pride pin. The local Women's Center was also giving out pins, so I got ones saying "Start by believing" and "I <3 consent".

Beforehand, there were some speeches and even a Native American blessing of the marchers, but there were so many people that I actually couldn't get close enough to hear what was going on. Instead, I met up with some friends, and we checked out the booths of local organizations like the Sierra Club. Gaia House also had a booth, specifically sharing information on their Labyrinth Peace Park.

Then we marched. We only went a little over a mile, but there were so many people that it took something like two hours. While we marched, we chanted things such as, "The people united will never be divided," "Justice - we're coming for it! Freedom - we're fighting for it!" and so on. There were news crews, and people filming, and even a group of frat boys standing outside their house with a megaphone to read off people's signs as they went by.

It seemed like every other car to go by would slow down to honk, wave, or give us a thumbs up. The reaction was so overwhelmingly positive, it was incredible. And it was also clear that people were there marching for a huge number of reasons - gender equality, racial equality, religious equality, LGBTQ+ rights (My favorite sign was held by the child of a queer couple in front of me - it was the pride flag with the words "Toddlers against fascists" on it.), acknowledgement of climate change, and more. I know I marched for all of these things.

I am not necessarily an outspoken person. I learned the hard way growing up that divergence from the norm would be punished by my peers, and nothing about who I am would typically be classed as "normal". As such, I tend to be quiet, and easily steamrolled by those who are willing to speak over me. I am going to end that. In the face of misogyny, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, ableism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, misinformation, and fear-mongering, we must not be silent. I am not Wiccan, but I do ascribe to, "An it harm none, do what ye will". Or, to put it another way, "Do no harm, but take no shit". I am not going to sit back and take this shit. 

To all those who marched, thank you. To all those who could not march for one reason or another, your resistance is not less important just because it may be less visible. No matter what path you take, we all stand in solidarity against hatred, because we know that we are stronger together.

As scary as it is that this WWII poster is once again relevant, I will close with this final sentiment:

Freedom is in peril. Defend it with all your might.

Election 2016

I don't usually get political on this blog. When I do, it's generally embarrassing. Here I go, anyway.

I'll try to keep my thoughts on this brief - I have a lot of them, but much of what I would say has already been said by others. A lot of Americans, myself included (and, I think, a lot of folks from other countries included, as well), have been following this United States election cycle very closely. The choice, as it stands, is clear - a choice between backwards white supremacy and fascism, or the most progressive platform run by any candidate ever in the history of this country.

I am #withHer, plain and simple. I have already cast my vote, having voted by absentee ballot last month. Hillary Clinton is pro-LGBTQA+, supports a reformed and nuanced approach to mental health, supports autistic people and those with other neurodivergences, supports women's rights to health care and to make their own reproductive choices, and has spent decades working across party lines to create compromise and make change.

Tonight, I felt called to action. I don't usually share my spells when they're in progress, but tonight, I would like to.

If you, like me, know how critical it is that Hillary Clinton be the next POTUS, then please, take a second to lend your thoughts to this little spell.

And if you want to do something similar for yourself, I just traced a map of the US (in blue!), and inside it, wrote "Madame President Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, 2016-2020". I then surrounded it with several stones - Copper in the center, to conduct energy and charge the spell, Spirit Quartz to draw people together in harmony towards a cause, and then Blue Lace Agate, Sodalite, Turquoise, and Emerald to activate all those powers of communication that get people to lend their voice and say, "Today, I am going to vote".