Magic for the Resistance Read online

  On February 23 I received a barrage of requests from antsy TV producers who wanted to capture the ritual. Where could they find witches to film in their area? Was it happening on the West Coast? In Boston? Washington, DC? In London? Several of the covens I knew of didn’t want to be filmed, but the requests kept coming in.

  I felt bad that I couldn’t give them direct answers. So I lied. “I hear a group of witches is going to do the ritual outside of Trump Tower,” I started telling them. “At midnight. It’s gonna be lit.”

  In the meantime, a friend offered his wooded backyard for our ritual. He had a fire pit and it was close enough to the city for it to be easily accessible. More people were contacting me asking to attend. Another friend offered to film it for posterity.

  On the day of the ritual I left work early to prepare. I needed to finish shopping. I bought all the orange candles in my local witchcraft store and then had to hit a new age bookstore several miles away to get more (I bought all of theirs, too). And because I hang out with a lot of artists and bohemian types, I stopped by a liquor store to get some beer and wine. When the young woman at the register asked me if I wanted my receipt, I said, “Oh, definitely. I’m going to write this off. I’m cursing Donald Trump tonight.”

  She smiled. “Oh. Do you have the unflattering photo of him?”

  I stood, stunned.

  She laughed. “I’m getting together with my friends to do it tonight.”

  At midnight on February 24, we performed the first ritual to bind Donald Trump and all those abetting him. It was live-streamed on Facebook, and tens of thousands tuned in to watch.

  When it was over, we all broke out in spontaneous cheers. What had begun as a bit of a lark had become a global happening.

  A friend showed me the news on his phone. In New York City and in Chicago, witches gathered together on the sidewalk next to the Trump Towers with their stubby orange candles and Tower tarot cards and burned unflattering photos of Donald Trump while camera crews eagerly captured it. The producers got their footage after all.

  And that was just the beginning.

  Every waning crescent moon since that February evening, people around the world, alone or in groups, have gathered at a minute before midnight (Eastern Time) to focus their consciousness in a ritualistic effort to bind Donald Trump and his cohorts from doing harm. Afterward, many of these witches, magicians, artists, and activists gathered on Facebook and other social media to share photos of their altars (many of which are beautiful works of art in their own right) as well as their emotions, visions, and experiences. For the majority, the spell is liberating and energizing, a reclaiming of personal power and an affirmation of their deeply held values in the face of what they see as a dangerous, antidemocratic administration.

  Far from being ineffectual “slacktivism,” as some of its critics have branded it, the ritual (and others developed by participants) helps many of us stay focused, committed, and invigorated for our everyday activism and resistance. It has become a spiritual balm and a monthly reminder of our commitment to fighting injustice and the ongoing dismantling of our liberal democracy.

  If you’re reading this, and if (gods forbid) Donald Trump is still president, you can join the rest of us by following the spell below every waning crescent moon at midnight. If he’s no longer president (thank the gods), you can adapt it to bind other horrible individuals in power and read it as a document of the #MagicResistance and a testament to those who drove him from office.

  Because you can bet your pointy hat we’ll take credit.

  A Spell to Bind Donald Trump

  and All Those Who Abet Him

  Perform at midnight on every waning crescent moon until he is removed from office. The first ritual took place Friday evening, February 24, 2017, at the stroke of midnight. 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 for DC, Mar-a-Lago, and NYC Trump Tower 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

  Pin or small nail (to inscribe candle)

  White candle (any size), representing the element of fire

  Small bowl of water, representing the element of water

  Small bowl of salt, representing the element of earth

  Feather (any), representing the element of air

  Matches or lighter

  Ashtray or dish of sand

  Optional Components

  Black thread (for traditional binding variant)

  Baby carrot (as substitute for orange candle stub)

  Piece of pyrite (fool’s gold) placed on altar

  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 Psalm 23 aloud is common in Hoodoo, Conjure, and Rootwork traditions. Those who use banishing rituals may wish to employ them.

  To begin, 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 his malignant works 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:

  You’re fired!

  You’re fired!

  You’re fired!

  Blow out orange candle, visualizing Trump blowing apart into dust or ash. Pinch or snuff out the white candle. The ritual ends with the participants breaking into riotous laughter.

  If this is a group working, the leader says,

  Our ritual has ended, brothers and sisters. May we go in peace, harming none, and continue our magical resistance under each waning crescent moon until Donald J. Trump is driven from office.

  The participants reply (with emotion),

  So mote it be!

  Everyone bursts into laughter to end the ritual and grounds themselves.

  Grounding and Disposal

  After having a good, hearty laugh, jump up and down, clap your hands, stomp your
feet, and have a bite to eat. Grounding is very important—don’t neglect it. And remember—malignant narcissists hate people laughing at them.

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

  Traditional Binding Variant

  In place of burning the photo, tie the photo to the orange candle (or baby carrot) with black thread. As you are wrapping the thread around the photo and candle, say “I bind you” three times. You may also tie knots in the thread. Then bury the whole package, or, as one contributor suggested, “leave it outside a Trump hotel.”

  [contents]

  Chapter Four

  Toolkit for Magical Activism

  If you’re going to do magic, you’ll need to gather some tools. Luckily, resistance magic has grown from folk traditions that use simple, easy-to-find items. A basic toolkit is all that is required to accomplish very powerful magic. Any items you don’t have already can be acquired cheaply and with minimal effort (especially now that things like resin incense, colored candles, and specialty herbs are easily ordered online).

  Magical Tools

  Candles

  Ever since our ancestors gathered around communal fires to tell stories and stay warm and safe from predators lurking in the darkness, the dance of flames has held us entranced. Fire creates, destroys, changes food, and turns liquids and solids into vapor and smoke. Of all the classic elements, it seems most alive, as it eats, grows, and spreads warmth.

  The manufacture of candles of various shapes and colors in the early twentieth century allowed us to bring the magical aspects of fire into our lives in a controlled, safe manner. There are entire systems of magic built solely around burning candles of various colors (the classic The Master Book of Candle Burning: How to Burn Candles for Every Purpose by Henri Gamache is still in print seven decades after it was originally published).

  Candles come in an enormous variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. If you can’t find the type or color you’re looking for in a store, you can easily order it online. I generally use freestanding candles (cylinders or tapers; many tapers, however, require holders) and glass-encased candles (also known as prayer or novena candles). Glass-encased prayer candles are my favorites because you can affix photos or images to them, turning a plain white or colored candle into a symbolic, radiant powerhouse. They’re also safer than freestanding candles because the flame is enclosed (although the glass bottom can get hot when the candle burns down).

  My preference is for unscented candles. Many scented candles are made with artificial ingredients and, frankly, smell horrible and disgustingly fake when compared to natural oils and fragrances. Your main scents will likely come from incenses and oils deliberately employed for their qualities anyway.

  Most of the spells in this book utilize candles. If you absolutely cannot have open flames in your living space, battery-powered candles and tea lights that mimic a flickering flame are now available. You can paint them the color required for the spell.

  Cauldron

  A cauldron or other fireproof container or ashtray of some sort is a necessity in resistance magic, as a number of spells in this book require you to burn paper and other items. If you get one with a handle, you can carry burning incense around in it for suffumigating (smudging) an area. But any fireproof container filled with sand, such as a large seashell or dish, will be fine.

  Incense

  Let me start by saying I have nothing against smudging with sage. It is an all-around excellent purifier and does a superb job dispelling negative energies. But please allow me to introduce you to the dynamic duo of magical incenses: frankincense and copal.

  If you grew up Catholic, as I did, you’ve likely smelled frankincense. This resin, extracted from trees of the Boswellia genus, has an unmistakable scent and has been used in spiritual practices for over five thousand years (and was one of the gifts given to the newborn Christ by the magi). Recent studies have shown evidence for frankincense’s utility as an antidepressant.29

  Copal is another tree resin, but unlike frankincense, which is mostly harvested in Africa, it comes from Central America and Mexico. I first encountered its unforgettable scent in a Maya village church in San Juan Chamula, Mexico, as Maya shamans performed healing ceremonies (yes, they did their healing rituals inside the church—the Maya, like many indigenous peoples, are not averse to a little religious syncretism). The smell, which is paradoxically bright and also deeply layered, instantly transformed my consciousness in such a powerful way that I’ve been using it ever since. The Maya and other peoples in Central and South America use it for purification, cleansing, healing, and to call upon spirits. It is my go-to magical incense.

  Although it’s easy to find stick incense (also known as joss sticks), I suggest burning resins, woods, and other plant materials on charcoal. You can add your incense a bit at a time, when needed throughout the ritual (as opposed to sticks and cones, which burn continuously). You can also craft your own mixes or burn materials that aren’t conventionally incorporated into commercial incense (like herbs and spices).

  Charcoal gets very hot (especially the easy-light variety), so you need to keep it in a fireproof container on a layer of clean sand. A variety of commercial censers can be found in stores or online, but any nonflammable container filled with sand will suffice.

  You can get charcoal disks made for incense in many new age and occult retailers, health food stores, and botanicas. The self-lighting charcoal disks are made with additives like saltpeter, which has a scent of its own that some people find unappealing and others consider harmful. They are easy to light, and I used them for many years. When you hold a flame to them, they begin to crackle, and you can watch the flame spread across quickly.

  Nowadays, I use Japanese charcoal bricks made from coconut or bamboo, which are preferred by serious incense aficionados. They have a barely discernible but appealing scent of their own and have no additives, so you get nothing but the pure incense smoke. I recommend looking for them online, especially if you don’t like the saltpeter smell of the quick-lighting disks. They take longer to light, but it’s worth it. A fireplace or grill lighter with the flame held against the charcoal for thirty to forty seconds is usually enough to get a corner lit, after which you can place it in its container and let it do its thing.

  Whichever charcoal you use, the process for burning loose incense is the same.

  Light the charcoal—the easiest and safest way is to use tongs or chopsticks while holding it over a candle or lighter flame until the edge begins to glow red. Place it on the sand or screen of your censer or container and wait until it gets covered in a thin layer of gray ash. Then put a tiny bit of your resin, wood, or herb on top. When I say tiny, I mean a pinch. And be careful—a little goes a long way! If you’re worried about the smoke setting off an alarm (and trust me, nothing ruins a ritual like a high-pitched electronic shriek), consider temporarily removing the battery. Just don’t forget to replace it when you’re done!

  For some rituals, I suggest “washing” or “smoking” yourself with the smoke. Here’s how I do it.

  Using your hands, pull the rising smoke toward your head and down over your body. Do this a few times. You should feel an unambiguous shift in energy as the smoke cleanses you. For me, it feels like full-body chills and is immensely pleasurable. You can also use feathers to wave it toward you.

  If you’re allergic or hypersensitive to smoke or if circumstances prohibit you from using incense or having an open flame, consider an electric incense burner or heater, which will release the scent of your woods or resins without smoke. You can also use an essential oil heater or diffuser, or mix essential oils with water in a spray bottle and spritz yourself or your environment.

  But there is something special about incense smoke, as I think you’ll agree if you use it ritually. It has been part of magical practice since antiquity, and whe
n you’re in a heightened state of consciousness, the smoke can sometimes shape itself into an image. In some traditions, evoked spirits make themselves visible via the twisting tendrils of smoke.

  Holding an object in rising incense smoke is an excellent way to purify it and is part of the basic Consecration Ritual you will find in chapter 9, “Preparation for Ritual.”

  Oils

  Magical oils are used throughout this book, and most you can easily craft yourself—and you should, because creating them is a magical act in itself. No store-bought oil will have the energy of something you empower with your intention and energy. If you buy commercial oils, try to get the purest, most natural possible.

  My go-to, multipurpose spiritual oil is made from hyssop and a vegetable oil base—you’ll find the recipe in the section on getting clean in chapter 9.

  Herbs and Plants

  Fresh and dried plant products are a vital part of most magical traditions, and scores of encyclopedic books have been written about plant magic. There are plants used almost exclusively for magical purposes, such as High John the Conqueror root and mandrake, and those you already are likely to have in your kitchen, such as cinnamon, basil, and black pepper. Although I focus on substances useful for resistance magic in this book, I encourage you to delve deeper into the incredible world of plant magic in the books mentioned in the appendix. You’ll find that the plants themselves are powerful teachers if you simply learn to listen.

  A good rule for using plants is to get as close to the natural state as you can—that is, unprocessed or minimally processed and free from pesticides and other chemicals. Wildcrafted or harvested plants are optimal, but use what you can find. If you harvest a plant yourself, it is customary to leave an offering or, at minimum, a prayer of thanks.

  I also cover the controversial use of psychoactive plants in the section on the ritual mind (see page 146).

  Mortar and Pestle

  A mortar and pestle is good to have around for grinding herbal material, roots, incense resins, and other spell ingredients.