Witches In Action, Witches Inaction

Recently, several groups of witches performed a collective hex or curse on President Donald Trump and his administration. This caused a lot of discussion about the threefold law, aka the Wiccan Rede.

Specifically, the Rede says (with many wording variations): Do No Harm. A hex or a curse is meant to do, at least most of the time, SOME harm, usually harm triggered by or stemming from certain behaviors of the recipient.

So why would it be okay to do this?

Now, I don't personally follow the Rede. I'm not Wiccan, and I have no beliefs regarding that. However, let's pretend we all do follow the Rede, for the sake of this discussion. What could make a hex or curse acceptable under the Rede?

What if it is our only alternative to sitting back and doing nothing?

The argument is that the Trump administration is a clear and present threat to several demographics, specifically virtually all minorities - women, people of color, LGBTQ, immigrants, Muslims and Jews (and, by extrapolation, any other non-Christian religious group), or even people PERCEIVED to be any one of these.

People aren't necessarily asking if the Hispanic is a real illegal immigrant before harassing him, or if the woman is an actual Muslim before ripping the scarf off of her head, or if the teen boy is really LGBTQ or just more feminine in his behavior than they like.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, the go-to organization for determining hate groups, has reported a significant spike in hate crimes since the election. Trump's executive orders have resulted in a dangerous and/or extremely discriminatory set of policies towards minorities. His administration, via support for the GOP-heavy congress, has resulted in a slew of proposed laws that also discriminate against minorities.

Make no mistake, love him or hate him, Trump has had an effect on discrimination and bias in the US.

So, in the simplest form, the choice is to harm Trump and his administration via a hex or curse, or to sit back and allow the harm of thousands of innocent people by the rippling effects of Trump being in power.

Oh, but Karma will take care of Trump and all the others.

Really? And how does Karma do that? Earthquakes? Heart attacks? Other "random" things that just happen?

Rule #1 of spell casting is that spells do not manifest in a void. You want to do a spell to find work? Fine, but you still need to apply for jobs. You want to do a spell to find love? Great, but you still need to be a lovable person, and get out and meet people.

Karma often works the same way. It isn't just people getting what they deserve through great cosmic effects. It's also people getting what they deserve by reaping the reactions of what they sow. If we suppress our reactions because KARMA, we are inhibiting the way the world creates consequences.

We need to stop being afraid of our power. Spells and energy work are our strength, and that includes the darker magics of hexes and curses. We are like a bodybuilder walking past a man attempting to rape a woman. We can "control ourselves" and keep our power on a leash while we call the police, and hope they get here on time. Or we can use our power to hurt the man and punch him in the face.

I'm not ashamed to admit, I punch people in the face. #Resist

A Little Bit of (Bad) Luck

Today I was discussing some of the issues that have come in to my life of the past few months. I was talking with a Wiccan, who I hadn't seen in several months, so we were more or less catching up. It was at this point that I realized that our spiritual paths and philosophies diverged drastically.

You see, there have been many unfortunate incidences that have occurred in my life over the past several months. Now, the situations that have come up have not been pleasant by any means. However, I never really looked at them as being a form of cosmic punishment or retribution. But that's exactly what she questioned me on.

First, she asked me who I pissed off; then, and she asked who I had wronged. I explained that we don't do that kind of stuff. We're not into hexing; we're not into cursing. We don't piss people off. We're actually really quiet and boring, and we stay home and watch TV.

Then I mentioned that, aside from all of the rather nasty things that have been happening, certain things in my life are actually going really well. I mentioned that I had finally found a serious motivation to work on my writing. I also mentioned that the writing was going really well, and that I had networking and contacts that I'd never even considered before.

She then suggested that we were not making appropriate offerings toward our gods. This is not only patently incorrect, but also rather inappropriate considering our gods do not demand offerings of us.

So she asked what I was writing about, and if that could have anything to do with my bad luck. I mentioned my science-fiction novel, and she said, "no, that's not it." So I said that the only thing I was working on with any kind of potential for offense was the Goddess of Ick. As soon as I mentioned it, she said. "Drop it."

Now, there's something that you have to understand at this point. The Goddess of Ick is an idea that has sprung from the collective experience and belief system of my entire spiritual life. This book is getting written, even if it's just for me. Telling me to "drop it" is definitely the wrong way to go. So I told her that... nicely.

She then suggested that I was being punished for vanity. After some clarification, I realized she was talking about my sense of pride and success in my writing. When we parted ways, I had a disturbing sensation. I was distinctly uncomfortable. It took me a few minutes to figure out why: she was assuming that I had done something wrong.

She seemed to truly believe that a person could only have this kind of general bad luck if they had either been bad, or redirected somebody's karma, or were otherwise being punished.

The thing is, it never crossed my mind that I was being punished. And I don't think that it's because I was being dense about it. Really this entire situation has felt more like fire. As in, the flames of the forge making one stronger.

Could I really be that delusional? Well, I don't think so.