Solstice Magic: Feed the Hungry

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June 18, 2003

This Solstice is a potent time, with many powerful forces at work in the world. My astrologer friends tell me that Neptune is conjoining the Sun, making it a good time for truth to come out and hidden things to be revealed. Questions are finally being asked about whether Bush and Blair deceived the public about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. At the same time, here in California we’re organizing actions and rituals around the big meeting in Sacramento of all the agricultural ministers in the run-up to the WTO in Cancun. The U.S. will be pushing industrial agriculture and biotechnology, trying to arm-twist reluctant nations into accepting our genetically modified foods. My friend Tristan is in Greece preparing for demonstrations against the European Union which he fears will be met with intense repression. The war in Iraq has moved into a chronic, rather than an acute phase, and the violence in Palestine is not getting any better. And many people—most not Witches, have remarked on how the American public seems to be hypnotized, under some spell of apathy. My own feeling is that the Bush junta has used the deaths in Iraq and 9-11 as a form of blood magic, feeding off the energies released by all the deaths to create a literal spell that maintains their power.

So—can we do some coordinated magic? Let the solstice fires fan the flames of truth, so that truth is not only revealed but received and heard and makes an impact, that the fire burns away the haze of apathy and wakes people up. And when people wake up, they need to see new possibilities, and be fed and nurtured from sources of real power.

If it feels right, maybe sprinkle on those flames a few drops of life blood, menstrual blood, offered as a counterspell, waking us all up to life and neutralizing whatever blood magic is feeding off death.

In Sacramento, we’ll do a solstice ritual late on Saturday evening the 21st. On Sunday, part of our nonviolent direct action will be to create gardens in the street, and part will be a moveable feast, a spell to say that we can feed each other and feed the hungry. ‘Feed the hungry’ was a magical thread in Reclaiming communities for many years, and maybe it’s time to revive it. Make part of the magic feeding each other with good, healthy, organic, (ideally) homegrown food, as an act of magical will to say that we can feed and nurture and care for each other on every level. Do something in the ritual or throughout these days to feed the hungry—whether its collecting food for a soup kitchen or giving spare change to someone on the street.

And weave in some protection—for our friends taking action at this time to confront oppressive power and to make visible the alternatives.

The card that keeps coming up is the Hanged Man, the solstice sacrifice, the offering of oneself in order to serve some sacred need or move on to some deeper or higher level of wisdom and growth.

Now let the flames of truth ignite
The will to change, the vision bright.
In the face of truth no lie can stand,
Ash and compost feed the land.

Love, Starhawk

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