Welcome back to California Witchcraft and holy shit welcome back to another day of 2020.
Watching the events of the past couple of weeks unfold here has, for very obvious reasons, made it very clear that there are some very pressing issues we need to address. And while these recent issues have truly emphasized this need, we have BEEN needing to talk about this for a long time.
The time has come (like seriously, the time has come and it came looong ago) to actively use our witchy powers for the magical resistance against racial injustice and inequality. We need activist witches conjuring up a better future in both the physical and ethereal realms. As this meme that has been circulating so eloquently put it, being a witch means stepping into a history of oppression…
And it means stepping up right now, when the world needs us most.
We are living in a time where systematic racism and racial injustices at the hands of the government are allowed to exist and persist. This can not continue. And we don’t need any more white tears or white people just saying they feel bad. We need actual change. So I hereby commit to really be that bitch that presses the issue, and I am NOT going to shut up about it.
The time has come for the magical resistance to collectively rise up in defense of compassion for the living beings of this earth. We have incarnated as magical beings on this earth to work our magic here. So the time has come to really put those spells into action.
Did you know that there are witches all over the world, and thanks to the power of the Internet we are able to network and connect with each other to coordinate our efforts? (That was not the case a few plagues ago. Lucky us.) The “magical resistance” of witches fighting for positive change to our political consciousness is very real, and very present in the physical, spiritual, and virtual realms.
Wherever you are, it is likely that you have a coven organizing against injustice. I cannot provide links to protect anonymity, but please do some Internet detective work and find them. Join them and help them.
Moving forward, I will be coordinating all of the content shared here with information on participating in the magical resistance. Every act of magic created and shared will be very consciously orchestrated for the benefit of all humanity. I hereby devote all my future actions to the purpose of waking up the world to a more conscious state of compassion. Please join me.
From now until forever, I will be offering my Tarot readings in exchange for donations to causes fighting for racial equality and justice.
If you are able to, please consider making a donation to an organization doing real work to help create a safer world for our fellow humans! I am directing all donations to BLACK LIVES MATTER and the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust to aid in the protection of black and indigenous lives being threatened by the actions of our government. If there is a related organization you would also like to donate to, please do so, and I got you! And if you can’t donate right now but are participating in another way by protesting or raising awareness, I would be happy to give you some Tarot love too.
There is another thing that also must be acknowledged here. As a first generation American with Canadian parents and Polish and Irish grandparents, I have been wondering why in the holy white privilege hell did I end up on this piece of stolen land with the luxury of even being able to ask what the fuck is going on here?
I recognize the horrible irony that as a white person I am essentially the beneficiary of a white supremacist system that kicked out the peaceful indigenous people who were previously worshipping this earth, resulting eventually in me ending up here, now also worshipping the earth.
So moving forward, I will be devoting my efforts to lend more support the local indigenous people of California as well. The Ohlone people, the original inhabitants of Northern California, not only had their land stolen by our government. Their tribes are officially “unrecognized,” meaning they are denied the basic rights and protections that are available to other indigenous populations.
The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust is “an urban indigenous women-led land trust in California’s East Bay” working to reclaim sacred sites and protect the well-being of the Ohlone people. You can learn more about their history here.
My feelings are the least important thing right now, but I have to mention them to put this out there: As awkward as it may be to admit, I used to think that the respectful thing to do as a white person was to not speak on the subject of race at all. I share that because I suspect it is an assumption that a lot of “well-meaning” white people have. But listening to the voices that have spoken up and continue to advocate for change, I now know that the opposite is true. We need to use our voices to speak up for what is right, however we can, whenever we can, ALWAYS.
So fuck the fear of confrontation that keeps me from writing more about “real” things, like what is actually happening on this planet. It doesn’t help anyone to let the fear that your words won’t be good enough silence you. There is no “good enough” in this situation and we need to be actively, vocally, putting in the work each day to do better and create a better environment in the world around us. We can’t do that with our mouths shut.
So I will say the things that are uncomfortable to say. I will write the things that the world needs to hear, even if it puts me in an uncomfortable position. I am no longer afraid to be loud and if that makes some people like me less, then fuck you.
Because to stand for magic is to stand for the ability for life to thrive on this earth. To make it clear, this will always be a safe space for the black, POC, queer, trans, indigenous, sex worker, and all marginalized communities in need of magical support.
We need an independent platform voicing compassion now more than ever, what with a government that attacks the truth and all the Internet gurus warning of a potential social media outage. This is only the beginning for California Witchcraft. Each magical footstep taken forward will be to make an actual positive impact.
Originally the goal of sharing witchy stuff here was to help people make their lives feel more magical. But what I realized is you don’t need to do things to make life FEEL magical. Life is magical, and what is REALLY magical is to support life being able to be as vibrant and amazing and beautiful as it can be.
And yes, this is NOWHERE near enough. This is the beginning. I am just getting started. I will dedicate the rest of my life to this, because I know I am here on this planet to bring more love into the world. And there is no fucking point to doing anything at all if you aren’t helping others and making the planet a better place. THAT is real magic.
CALIFORNIA WITCHCRAFT 