Dear friends,
It’s the eve of the elections, and I find
myself filled with hope.
I’ve noticed a strange thing about this election,
as I’ve been traveling around the country
this last month or so. I feel much less of
a divide than usual between people who consider
themselves ‘spiritual’ and those who
consider themselves ‘political’. Being
so much both myself, it’s never easy for me
to understand how people can separate the two, but
they do. I often hear from ‘spiritual’
people that they’d rather not have their beautiful
rituals sullied with nasty politics, thank you.
And from the political side, that they cannot
comprehend why anyone would blunt the hard edge
of struggle with silly woo-woo new age stuff.
But now it seems that everyone has woken up and
realized how deeply those harsh political realities
affect us, and how good it is to have the support
of community and connection to deep and abiding
sources of strength in facing those things that
are too hard to face alone.
I’ve seen people who are not normally activists
out canvassing, going to swing states to do poll
watching, stepping out and getting involved at a
whole new level. Whatever happens tomorrow,
something powerful and beautiful has woken up, and
it is up to all of us to keep it awake and active
and engaged whatever happens with the election.
And there are plans across the country for
actions as needed on November 3—to find out
what is happening in your area, go to www.nov3.us.
If Bush wins or steals the election, or if
it is in doubt, there will be massive nonviolent
civil disobedience. If Kerry wins, we will
let him know that we want him to stand for something
different, for truth, for an agenda of compassion
of human rights and needs and environmental balance,
of security through peace not endless war. Whoever
wins, we have much work to do.
And I am hopeful. On Saturday, we had our
big Spiral Dance in San Francisco, one of the biggest
ever, with fifteen hundred to maybe two thousand
people gathered in a ritual to turn the wheel of
change. We dance the spiral, which came together
easily and gracefully—a perfect double spiral
with its two strands twining and untwining like
the double spiral of DNA. And when we came
together in the center and raised a cone of power,
it was like a deep roar from beneath the earth,
then like a sweet song, and then a wild, exuberant
cheering laced with a few wolf howls. It rose
and fell three times—appropriate for Hecate
who likes things in threes. And what many
of us saw was the torch of Hecate, the torch of
Lady Liberty, the flame of truth, burning so brightly
over the land, lies shriveling up and burning away,
fresh winds blowing through the heart-shaped portal
we’ve opened between the worlds. The
light shining like a beacon, lighting our choices,
lighting up the road that leads to a living future.
And when the power was grounded, and the time came
for me to lead everyone back out of the trance which
had brought us to the crossroads, the words below
(or something very like them) came pouring out of
my mouth:
We are on a good road—Yes!
We are on a road with heart
We are on a road of freedom
We are on a road of compassion
We are on a road of love
We are on a good road
We are on a road that leads to a green future
For these beautiful babies that we have named tonight
We are on a healing road
We are on a road of life
We are on a road of balance
We are on a good road
We are on a road of justice
We are on a road of courage
We are on a road of peace.
We are on a good road-Yes!
May it be so. Sleep well. Vote early.
Don’t lose heart,
Starhawk