Spell Blog: Business Success for the New Year!

Success in Money Spell

Spell Class- Beginner/Intermediate

Supplies:

Beeswax roll candle

Mystic Dream Brand Filthy Rich Condition Oil 

Mystic Dream Brand Crown of Success Self Lighting incense powder

Rue Herb

Devin Hunter’s Blessing Herb Mix 

Palo Santo

Timing: Waxing moon cycle any day (one-shot / one-time spell)

Well, it is a new year and that means creating and reinforcing new goals in our lives. This year I am embarking on a professional challenge- make more money doing what I love and having fun! 

If you are anything like me it is incredibly important to make sure that the creation of positive change in your life must be done all while loving what you do and playing all at the same time. This spell is creative and fun to make, sure a little messy, but what is life without a little mess? If you are ready for some financial and business success in 2012 look no further! 

This spell can be done at anytime really, however I do recommend utilizing moon cycles as much as possible. First, it never hurts to sync our magic with the ebb and flow of the universe ( lunar cycles are perfect for this!) and second, as the moon crescendos into its fullest form I suggest ritually burying the spell remnants next to your front door to draw this energy into your home. Alright witches, lets get started!

Step One: Collect all of your ingredients, make sure that if you are choosing to substitute any product that you do so using materials that are comparable to those of what is listed above. I must admit, I am kind-of a snob when it comes to the products I use in my magic! Whenever doing money magic I take special care to use only top quality ingredients- you get what you pay for! 

Step Two:  Perform and alignment and/or grounding then light you Palo Santo and smudge your matierals, while doing so recite a prayer ( Something like this);

I pray to the spirits of success, that my road be open!

I pray to the allies within these herbs that you lend your life force to my task!

By Rue I claim my right and with blessed herbs I call my crown!

Step Three: Unroll the beeswax candle. On the rolled out sheet of beeswax sprinkle herbs, powdered incense, and oil. As you do so speak directly to each of your materials. Thank each ally for their help as you sprinkle them onto the sheet and be specific as to why you request their attention. Let Rue know that this is a dream that you wish to come true and that you ask for the tools to become successful. The blessed herbs should know that you seek to have blessings of success. As you sprinkle the oil and incense be sure to ask the incense to open the road of success and the oil to draw money your way. Remember you are doing this for money so do not be afraid to be direct.

Step Four: Roll the candle up taking special care of the bees wax sheet as they tend to be fragile and like to crack. If you notice cracking in the wax you have a few options. First you can either place the wax sheet in the Sun for a few minutes to warm it up, or very carefully continue to roll it up and then when finished take a hair-dryer to the seams for about 30 seconds and gently press the seams together. Once your candle has been rolled it should look something like this.

Step Five: Placing it in a fire-safe dish. Keep in mind that some of these ingredients can be flammable and improper use may lead to safety concerns. I used my cauldron but you can also use any other fire-safe dish or fire-place. Whatever you do make sure this candle is contained and the container is heat-safe. 

Place your projective hand over the unlit candle, and your receptive hand up in the air towards the ceiling and recite this spell;

By the power of the cosmos I conjure this charm,

From heaven to earth success without harm!

With the powers invested in me I open roads often unseen,

By my magic I light this flame with vision so keen!

Queen of Heaven share this light- the waxing moon rides high this night.

As above, so below, the flow is plenty, my pockets grow!

For the good of all but most for me, I cast this spell, so must it be!

Step Six: Light that candle!

Step Seven: Keep an eye on the candle as it burns. Keep in mind that you basically will end up with an herbal wick from all the good stuff you stuffed your candle with and the wax will simple act like fuel. When in doubt, take this outside. I came across no problems when burning this candle and it took about one-hour to burn. When finished burning save the remnants for later burial.

Step Seven: Alright so here comes the fun part- the follow through. It is imperative that you don’t cast it and forget it! Be sure to go out and look for success, jump on those opportunities, and ride them all the way home.  Magick will help you achieve those goals but remember we are asking for the tools not the outcome. 

I hope you like! Let me know how it turns out for you!

Tolerating Men and Transgender individuals in Goddess spirituality.

 * Note from Devin- This post has nothing to do with one specific priestess! This is an exercise in my own spiritual growth. I felt the need to post this now as it has been a project that has haunted me for sometime. In no way am I pointing fingers, merely stating my own observation and noting my own struggles as a priest in the Goddess Tradition. I love my fellow star children regardless of gender. Luckily there have been some amazing women who have stepped forward to help find an end to this issue. *

    I have sat down several times to write this post. Actually most of the reason why I haven’t posted anything for some time has more to do with the fact that this post was not easy for me to sit down and write. After forgotten drafts, angry fist shaking at my monitor, and Goddess awesomeness I think I finally have found at least the angle to take this.

    Truth be told to sit down and type out the complexities of divine relationships would not only be redundant but a little silly, however I also know that  very little is out there about people like me- men who found the Goddess and how our relationships developed. I run the risk of placing men against women yet again and please know that has nothing to do with the point I am going to attempt to make here. Alright enough pre-amble lets do this-

    I look around me, especially as a Dianic Priest, and I see all of these truly amazing priestesses. All of these women are the physical/spiritual embodiment of Goddess and have been such points of inspiration. I am not inspired by their ability to look fabulous in ritual jewelry nor their ability to command the attention of a room full of hundreds, but inspired by their sheer drive to be who they are- proud women who fought hard in their own lives to be extraordinary examples of spiritual development. I am disheartened however at the sheer amount of dislike and snobbery these priestesses have when it comes to guys like me.

    In many ways this reminds me of a school assembly I had when I was a child. We were all rounded up in the gymnasium and the principal introduced an all African American rap group. As the music came on over the speakers and the teachers took their seats the lights dimmed and we were treated to an hour of anti-racism musical education that was all wrapped up like a Halmark advert.

     I remember the word ‘Tolerance’ being thrown about several times throughout the presentation and feeling like something was not quite right.

    When the assembly was at an end we were invited to ask questions once back in class and I asked what the word Tolerance meant. I was instructed to look in the dictionary ( as any good teacher would have you do ) and I was completely taken aback! My fifth grade jaw hit the floor.

Tolerance: To endure, put up-with due to need.  ( Thankfully the word now has a more elaborated definition!)

    Tolerance to me was ridiculous, no one should be tolerated, we should just be able to be. We tolerate the barking dog, the tax hikes, the other million things that cause us little stresses and annoyances but to tolerate African Americans seamed wrong to me. Perhaps it was because of my mother and her strict - “ Think Human not color” approach to parenting, but I never saw the point in putting up with a group of people who just happen to have darker skin than me. So this brings me full circle-

     I don’t like being tolerated by priestesses. Its demeaning. It is absolutely arrogant to look down on me and assume that your path is in any way more valid or deeper than mine or other men who work with Goddess. I am not an abusive man, I would never lay a finger on a woman, yet I feel like because I have a penis I am automatically stamped with “Tolerate Me” on my forehead. I don’t want to be tolerated anymore than you do sister.

    Truthfully, the entire gender dynamic snafu of the neo-pagan movement irks me. I look at my brothers and I see family, I look at my sisters and I see family. I couldn’t care less about someone’s gender (outside of what I want to be cuddling up to at the end of the day) and much more about how they are living their life. Are they empowered? Are the living embodiments of self possession? Are they connected to the here and now?  Ironically ( and yes you Fem Fatals can agree with this one!) more women who demand respect as priestesses have bigger issues with self-possession, empowerment, and connectedness than there are those who simply embody those things. I have seen more bigotry and close mindedness from women in my pagan career than from any man.

      Recently I have embarked on a bit of a spiritual journey of my own, one that I have no doubt is going to force me to deal with this issue. (Again it has taken me some time to find the words for this.) As an ecstatic priest in an ecstatic tradition I find that when I am at my best I am letting go and surrendering to Goddess. Now, you must also realize in our tradition we go about Goddess in two ways.

     The first is that Goddess is here on earth, she is earth, she is the spirit of empowerment in all of us. For us she is the Queen of the Witches, Diana mother of Aradia, lover of the Light Bearer ( Splendour) , she is mystery, experience, something to strive to become as you light and feed the sacred fire within. She is most importantly to us -Mother.

     The Second is an expansion of the first, Diana then becomes the Cosmic mother who is for all intensive purposes the divine pre-gender force that all things came from. In scientific terms God Herself  or for clarification the ACLG  ( Androgynous Cosmic Life Giver) is the point of singularity that was everything before the big-bang. We see God Herself as the divine nature of the cosmos manifest in all matter and in all things as all things are of her. We don’t separate ourselves from this ACLG nor do we divide it up into halves.

     In our practices we believe ourselves to have been created whole with no missing or extra pieces. This means that if you have a penis or a vagina or  receive those bits later on in life, they are simply parts of you! Sometimes those parts need to be created and fought for and through that work we are brought closer to the divine. Essentially, there is nothing wrong with any of us, merely the baggage that weighs us down from a life time of being told there was. We are Goddess, we are God, we are God Herself.

      I mention all of the above because it is important for you the reader to know where I am coming from. To me and others within our line gender is not an issue, let alone THE issue. We open our arms to all those who feel called to the work of empowerment, sacred self possession, and connectedness. We totally understand that for others this is not the case and respect that soul’s need for work centered around their sexuality. We do offer circles and practices specifically for the healing and empowerment around gender and as such have women only and men only space always available for those in need, again we just try not to allow it to be the end-all be-all to our work.

     In many ways this is too how I feel about my own sexuality. I grew up in a backwards little town in the middle of no-where Ohio and I fought everyday of my youth to not allow my sexuality to be cause for alarm or bigotry. I didn’t think my sexuality was anyone’s business nor was it any reason to separate me out in a crowd. I just didn’t think it should matter. As you could imagine in my spiritual life I never wanted my sexuality to matter either, but it did, and it still does to others.

      I found Goddess the first time when I was a wee little guy. I remember glimpses of her as a child soothing me when I was scared and confused. I found her in my pillow after being hit and beaten by my step-father. I found her again when I turned thirteen in a field under the full moon. I found her a few times as I would hold my head high and walk through the halls of High School as I got spit on and beaten up.  I found her a third time in the tears I shed after I was rapped and everything fell a part. I found her when my sister gave birth to a beautiful and healthy little boy.

      I find her every time I make love, when I dance all night to the drums as I lift my hands up towards the sky in divine reverence, I find her when I look at my own mother who works so hard to make it in life, I find her in myself as I write this blog.

       I have said it a million times, I simply wouldn’t be here if the Goddess had not been with me. For being a young man I have already lived quite the life. Some things I am proud of, others I work to heal the shame that I harbor for. I am just as connected to her ( albeit not via a gender lens) and in some cases connected to her for the same reasons as those women who tolerate me “stealing their Goddess.” I haven’t stolen her ladies, she stole me!

     The hardest part of this for me is to come face to face with the notion that women who I support whole-heartedly in their own interpretation of the work still don’t respect my position and path.  There is still an air of arrogance between the lines that spill forth. I can’t change that though no matter how hard I try. There will always be the Z. Budapests of the world who despite their cries for equality and justice refuse to give it as freely to others as they would expect it given to them.

      These women are warriors, they are fighters, they are lovers, and they are mothers but at some time they need to learn to be human- if only for the sake of living with other humans and acknowledging engaging in all her mysteries and all that she creates. It’s still bigotry just with a different flavor.

      So to all those priestesses out there who have found their home in the arms of the Goddess keep it up please the world needs you! However next time you put your shoes on know that I put mine on the same way, next time you feel that a man couldn’t possibly understand have enough respect not to presume we don’t have at least one shared story, and whatever you do next time you jump to the conclusion that the Goddess is somehow not as connected to men or transgender individuals as Goddess is to women- know that you are being a judgmental and hurtful person who missed out on one of the greatest chapters in her book.

      To you men and trans folks out there who have found your home in the arms of the Goddess keep it up too, we definitely need more of you! Goddess is alive and you are the proof.

Namaste- I honor the divinity within you.

Devin

Reflections on a Sabbat- Samhain has come and gone…. Or has it?

I think the past two months have been a complete submersion into the depths of my own personal gnosis. I celebrated Mabon in Ohio with my tribe, then made the quick transition back to California and before I knew it it was time for Samhain! The magic that was sparked within grew to a brilliant flame as the turning of the wheel fanned the fires of change and transformation.

While in Ohio I got to spend time reconnecting to old friends, the old coven stead- there were a few spirits back home who seamed to be new, and the whole experience was akin to being dipped in the womb of the mother. I had ten days of sheer amazing love, healing, but mostly release. Those new spirits of place brought with them the reality that I no-longer belonged there, even though I come from that land, I have not lived there for several years and life just seamed to move on without me. This brought a sadness to me: The magic of the area I grew up in- the same magic that nurtured me as a boy, that fed me as a young man, and that guided me to adulthood has changed.

Realistically looking back on the experience now I see that I simply no-longer need that same magic because I have changed- in more ways than I had thought possible. The seed of my being may have been planted there, but now my roots draw strength from different soil. The nurturing of the spirits that were my friends and allies once upon a time has now redirected itself - or is it that I have redirected myself?

When I flew back to California I knew three things, three very big things were about to happen. First, I was going to quit smoking. I had been smoking since I was nine years old. No, I didn’t have horrible parents, lord knows they tried to stop me countless times, but I am a rather persistent person- imagine what I was like as a teen! Second, Blue Rose Samhain was about to happen. My partners teach within a line of the Feri tradition and we were due for a full house for a trad retreat. Third- I knew that I had to take a serious look at where my energy had been going- a busy man quickly loses himself in the art of “getting shit done.” Sadly, I felt I had been lost for a few months prior to this. Not lost in the sense that I could not find my way again, just that I had taken a detour on the path and somehow, someway, my internal compass was experiencing interference.

As Samhain approached there was much to do and little time to see it happen. As I stressed over the garden, trying oh-so-hard to replace the stone path, plant lavender bushes, trim roses, etc. My partners focused on getting the house in shape, see we had recently had a room-mate leave us which freed up a large portion of our house- the excitement over the décor possibilities alone kept us chatting for weeks! I had to plan airport pick-ups, sleeping arrangements, menu options, make trips to the grocery store, oh and you know, do my other ‘normal’ day to day stuff too! It seemed as though there was no end in sight to the busy.

People began to arrive from all over the country; students, initiates, and seekers alike. My idea originally had been that I would be staying in the kitchen the entire extended weekend. I was going to cook, then clean, then cook some more. I had been deemed Captain during one of our conversations- me, captain of the USS BR SAMHAIN and I was taking this job seriously.

Sure, for the first two or three hours I kept the stern face and the tough-guy act up, but then I was hit with something no-one could have ever prepared me for: I was called out on my little act. “ So, what are you doing over here all by yourself?” asked the initiate, “ Oh just working.” I replied. “ I see….” he responded, “ And are you going to be ’working’  all weekend?”

Shocked, I traced my mental sketch of the weekend as if to thumb the pages of a manual. “ Yes of course, I have to make sure food is cooked, the house is clean, people have what they need. I have to do it so you guys can have a worry-free weekend.” I was so smug with my response. I thought for sure anyone would understand my need to be the mighty kitchen over-seer. I had spent weeks planning meals and making sure that in general everything I was responsible for would be done to perfection.

“ Alright, well” he said as he quickly looked around the room, finally fixing his gaze on my eyes, “ Is it really your job? Do you really have to be in the kitchen all weekend?” he rebutted in his own know-it-all kind of way. “ Just sayin is all….“ he explained after a moment of silence finally driving the nail further into my psyche as he finished his point.

So there I was, completely full of shit and he knew it. I didn’t really have to be in the kitchen, everything was either pre-cooked and frozen for easier kitchen use through out the event or it was something that I could really just whip up on the spot. See, all that planning actually gave me the ability to not ‘just be in the kitchen’ the whole time. Not only was I dished up a nice healthy portion of what I am now lovingly referring to as “ REALLY?” but I knew I deserved a healthy dose of it.

The thing is, you have to know when you have been called out and you must at all times be willing to accept that as a human-being there will be times when you are just simply full of shit. Now, being full of shit is not a horrible thing, it really means, at least in my case, that you have so many streams of thought that you create your own walls that keep you from being in the moment and then as if a cup running over ( not a two-girls one cup reference ) it spills forth into the things that matter the most. I was relieved of all my own self-imposed tasks and came to the abrupt conclusion that I had been exposed as the fraud I was. Captain? Bleck- I wanted to be a passenger.

I attended a conversation that afternoon held by Storm and those other students and initiates. I was part of it, and I liked it. I didn’t have to be the leader who had all the answers, or the priest dispensing advice, I just got to be chill and present. One of my craft teachers refers to mana as being fluid like water, and if we do not stimulate it well, what happens to a pool of standing water? Sitting there with twenty plus others was like finally putting an air pump in the stagnant waters of my being.

I made my way back to the kitchen where I muddled over how I was feeling, what this could mean to me, etc. As I was taking chicken breasts out of the oven I looked out into the backyard via the sliding doors and saw my half done stone path, the various plant containers that I never put in the outside storage unit and as the feeling of embarrassment began to creep up my spine I stopped myself. These people could care less about the way my garden looks, they see how busy I am and I know how busy each of them are, no one is going to hold my half done walk-way over my head. There I was in the midst of allowing myself to have a good-time and my ego just could not let the distractions go.

Then, it dawned on me-

Conversation between me and me, in my head:

“Devin, do you love yourself?”
“Well, yes of course!”
“Devin, do you love Samhain?”
“ Almost as much as I love myself.”
“ God you can be a smug ass”
“Yep”
“ How is that working for you?”
“Eh, not so much.”
“Ahh… Well, perhaps you should try something else then.”
“Perhaps, but all the good jobs are taken- ninja, ruler of Mordor….”
“What is your potential in this moment? After-all that is your perpetual spiritual quest, to find and live up to your spiritual potential.”
“ It is- good point. Well, I suppose the potential this weekend is to be one of those coveners that are here to experience.”
“ Perhaps you should do that.”
“Yes, perhaps.”

I spent the rest of the weekend in sweet surrender. When I finally allowed myself to just let go I realized how much energy I used on a daily basis to keep it all together. Who asked me to become a stress-ball? No-one, I became one because I was coming from a place of fear. What happens if I don’t do X, Y, and Z? What will happen if I fail to take care of all my projects? More-so, in my career, what happens when I just go poof? I desperately needed sweet surrender, and I realized that although my “ shit’s gotta get done” approach to the daily grind is important, it is also the very last thing I needed to invite whilst trying to give myself permission to be in the now.

In need of no more convincing I gave-in. You see, compassion is such an important and often over-looked part of our own spiritual journey. We can muster-up compassion for others easily if we search for it, but when it comes time to have compassion for ourselves we might as well just spin blind-folded with our foreheads touching a stick then coerce ourselves into hitting the pinata that may or may not be directly in-front of us. Even when the need for compassion is there, finding enough at the end of the day for yourself is often as dizzying and confusing as swinging at an unseen paper mache horse that is full of sweet tarts and sour-heads.

I put the bat down and became a part of the experience. I chose to live despite the consequences of what may happen when I let go. The rest of the weekend I did not serve one meal on-time, I only went out into my garden at night, and I had the most fun I have had in a long time.

I met and got to know some truly inspiring people. We drummed into the wee hours of the morning, chanted ancient names in the shadows, and danced with the dead. Samhain was here, and it had come the time for parts of me to be left in the under-world, not because I wanted to run away from them, but because I realized they did not serve me nearly as well as just being present. You see, when in session and the ten of wands pops up, I often recite the story of Atlas and then mutter something the effect of:  “ Do you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders?” “Well stop because Atlas’s punishment was to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, if you accept that feeling, than you are accepting that you are being punished as well.” Eating your own medicine can be bitter sometimes.

Luckily being in that space, with those amazing people gave me just enough sugar to help that medicine go down. One of the holiest of times during our year had brought the death of self punishment and the rebirth of pieces of myself I had lost. I got to heal wounds that egotism had caused within and as I looked around I saw that in all the others a similar process was taking place. We all came to drink from the well and with each others help we drank deeply.

Ancestors came in spades making sure I and everyone else knew they were there. Being open and responsive allowed me to actually receive their messages, not just act as a channel. I would go into all the fun details, but I think that is better off in another post or in a book sometime. Just know this: I readjusted my focus and began to see life and my role within it through a different set of spectacles- nothing like the dead to tell you a thing or two about living.

For those of you who were present for the retreat know that I am forever indebted to you for allowing the experience to unfold as it did. My soul was cleansed, nurtured, and empowered by the space you helped to create. As you all left I felt as though companions on the journey were setting sail for their own voyages and know that you took a little piece of me with you, and that I cherish the little piece of you that I have as well. It is my belief that those tiny pieces of each other that we carry will guide us to circle once again. Namaste, I honor the god-self in all of you.

Samhain, a festival of the beloved and mighty dead showed me how to live again.

As soon as November rolled into town it brought with it other holidays and festivities to plan and focus on, but instead of getting caught up in the nightmare of holiday madness I am going to take a page from Samhain; sometimes the greatest gift you can give yourself is surrender, and that surrender is found at the end of compassion.

We the People

Alright so here's the thing. I love this country. I was raised in the middle of nowhere Ohio and every spring I marched in the Memorial Day parade. At the end of that parade I would listen to veterans tell stories of freedom, war, and peace as the microphone sent waves across an almost forgotten cemetery full of fallen local men and women. They would play taps which echoed through the town and no matter where you were you could hear the chilling reminder of the sacrifices these men and women made for freedom.

My grandfather was in the Navy during WWII and barely survived a torpedo attack on his carrier which left him floating in the south pacific for almost two weeks. I have cousins in the military, friends who I grew up with who I have not seen in almost six years as they are serving with the armed forces.

The truth is, I never thought of myself as much of a fighter. I am a lover. I love to love mankind, and the mere idea of causing another human bodily injury or death makes me shiver at the base of my spine. For a long time I thought I just was not cut out to be a military boy. Too much discipline, too many rules, too many fears. I had even plotted an escape to Canada in 2001 after 9/11 when talks of another draft were all over the news.

Some American I had turned out to be. I found my own wars here at home as I grew into my priesthood. Men and women in horrible situations in life, fighting to survive, fighting for their dignity. As a priest, it is my job to open my arms to them, help them find clarity so they may rise up against that which keeps them so small. I learned that we only live once- sure you may be reincarnated, but there will only ever be one of you, one being who walks the path you walk, so life is precious, it is finite, it is all we have. I discovered that often those who I helped merely needed someone to tell them it was OK to want more for themselves, it was OK to fight for a better life.

The American dream felt dead to me when I became an adult and shortly after the first waves of economic turmoil began to quake the country. Everywhere we looked we found out even more disturbing news regarding the rape of our planet, the disrespect from those who could change things. I grew to realize that if it was not profitable it had no importance.

I became active in the green movement, AIDS awareness, and advocacy. I drew inspiration from other spiritual faiths, their leaders, and their own causes. I looked deep into the myths and the stories of my own spirituality and I found a gem that I must have read over a million times. This has all happened before. The rules have only changed slightly, but the past is the best prophet.

In the The Book of Aradia: The Gospel of the Witches by Charles Leland Diana gives specific instructions to her daughter Aradia; She was to go to the poor folk, the escaped slaves who fought for their freedom, the outcasts and undesirables. She told of peace in the after-life, of struggles that would come, but of the need to fight for their freedom as human beings regardless of wealth or influence. This was the battle cry of my matron- to overturn the oppressors and let them see that we are all created equal.

My life's work up to this point has been about empowering those who seek me out. To help them find a means to an end of the perpetual cycles of life that only bring disenchantment, fear, anxiety, and exhaustion. I have tried in every way I can to live by the principles given to me as religious cannon: Empower the masses, give them freedom from the demons that persecute them, help them to find peace, because only in peace can we find true freedom.

Last week the news of the Occupy Wall Street movement finally broke. The media it turns out had been covering it up as much as possible. News leaked onto the web of a supposed cover-up attempt by the wealthy, those who own the media corporations. We became aware as a people that we had been taken advantage of, abused, and enslaved by the lies of the rich. We became enlightened as to how bad things really were, that this was an issue on both sides of the debate, democrat, republican, it did not matter- all lies. We had been tamed, made slaves of by the system. We had lost our freedom.

This nation, this great nation that held so many promises, that called out from it's shores not 300 years ago for an end to this. We won our independence through blood. We fought for our freedom until we overcame the persecution of a king. We erected a statue to sit outside one of our largest ports that cried out for the unwanted, the lost, the weak, the poor -declaring to them that America was the land of opportunity. This land was free, this land was fertile, this land was sovereign.

Now the poor, the unwanted, and the lost are pouring out into the streets of every major city in America crying out for justice once more. Our ancestors- no matter who you are as an American – fought to come to this country because it promised so much. Unless you are of the native people, your genetic sequence was brought here by someone else. The greed that our ancestors fought to find a better life has finally knocked on our doors and its deafening roar and putrid stench has made its way into every home.

We are the oppressed, we are the tired, the uninsured. We have become a people who have been told the preservation of our own livelihood depends on the generosity of big business. We have been told that even though we have worked our entire lives to better this land that all the taxes, all the money has simply been not enough. We have been told that our planet is not worth saving because the ruling class places its faith in an unknowable God who may or may not come back to save them from their sin. We have no true freedom, only shackles. Shackles forged in the flames of greed and gluttony as the rich look over their balconies and open bottles of champagne as the masses gather below them and cry for freedom.

Make no mistake- you have been lied to. You have been taken advantage of. Your ancestors have been taken advantage of.

As a people, where do we turn to in these times? We can not put our faith in those who would see us die of infection before signing a bill for universal health care. We can not place our hope for freedom in a president who is too scared to stand-up to the bullies of corporate America. We can only place our faith within ourselves. To quote one of our most beloved teachings, the Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valiente - “ And ye shall be free from slavery....For mine is the ecstasy of the spirit,
and mine also is joy on earth; for my law is love unto all beings. Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside. For mine is the secret door which opens upon the Land of Youth, and mine is the cup of the wine of life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen,which is the Holy Grail of immortality..... And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not unless thou knowest the mystery; that if that which thou seekest thee findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee. For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.”

I believe in love, the power of the unconditional heart, the mighty human spirit which rises to claim the birthright inherit to every man, woman, and child on our world. I believe in freedom, I believe in empowerment, I believe in the potential to do many great things within our universe. I do believe we are a chosen people, created to learn through struggle, to move through our fears of what would happen if we challenged our own limits. But the changes needed to make this planet a better place, to create an infrastructure that supports the growth of a peaceful and advanced people must start within the individual. One day you too will be someone's ancestor, your legacy will be told by your children and their children, your students and their students. Ask yourself, what is your legacy.

It is you who has to create a change in the way things are done. It is you who must look inside yourself and push away the distractions of the mundane world that have been built to keep you from focusing on how truly great you are. Ghandi said, “ Be the change you want to see in the world.” It all starts with you.

As I pondered over all of this, as each day more and more people flock to our capitals and major cities, each day we discover more tyranny, more lies, more oppression I feel I have been called, like so many others, to fight for what I believe in.

The answer is not to place blame, but to create result. We the people must create these results by coming together in mind, body, and spirit and by looking at one another and being able to say, “ I love you.” But before any of that can happen you must look upon your own life and say, “ I love you too.” True love is unconditional, it is powerful and unyielding, it is the power of the Goddess. "Love thyself" is not the answer but rather, "love thy neighbor as you would love thyself." It is not the 1% that threatens us but our own unwillingness to stand side by side with our fellow Americans and declare our love for our own communities, our own country. 

We are a people who have the opportunity to claim our voice, claim our power but make no mistake power can never be given. Power must be taken. As creatures of love it is our responsibility to take that power with love and for love for that is the only way that we will be able to do what is right.

I love this country. I love what it stands for. I love what it is capable of being. I do not understand why greed has taken power, but I do know love is the answer- it always has been.

The Goddess Columbia, found Goddess of America, the emblem of our ancestors struggles for independence and freedom sits atop the capital building looking out upon this nation as its protector. She was born from the blood, sweat, and tears of our grandfathers and grandmothers, and I believe that we too must rise to her call. As witches, priestesses, priests, shamans, healers, and medicine people it is our responsibility to fight for a better way. It is our responsibility to stand up for what we and our ancestors fought for- our independence.

We may not have the ability to fly to the capital, but we do have the ability to send our magick. We have the ability to unite as one people under Goddess to send love to our nation so that we can open communications, we can unite to send healing and warmth to those who stand in protest in the cold nights, we can unite to bind the oppressors for a better tomorrow. I have heard this call.

I created the Covenant of Columbia- a network of free practitioners who wish to join the cause by sending their energy. As information comes to us, we will target specific demonstrations through-out the country to send magick, healing, love, and peace. It costs nothing, only your energy. You can find a link here.

Join me Brothers, Sisters, Mothers, Fathers, Friends, Loved Ones, fellow Humans. Join me as we return to the words of the Goddess and look within. Find the power that has been denied to you and let your light shine. This movement is going to require aide on all sides, from many directions, from the collective will-power of the oppressed. Without our cry for freedom and our united love of the promise within our spirit, we can not live the words of the Goddess.

I love you. I love you because I know you too struggle to make it through the long winters, the threats of failure, the feeling of being powerless as all that you know is taken from you. But I know you are not powerless, the Goddess knows you are not powerless. You were meant to live a bigger life, but what will you do to ensure that you have that bigger life, that your children and grandchildren have that better life. Let us end this now and not do what our fathers have done to us, let us end this war, the rape of our planet, the proselytizing of the Goddess and her many gifts. Let us create a peaceful end to this struggle for equality.