Dialogue Description:

In honor of Halloween and the time of spirits close among us, our October Dialogue will look at the long history of political repression related to witchcraft and the demonization of the independent, earth-based feminine that lives into today. How are modern and historical characterizations and treatment of witches influenced by legacies of oppression? What are the implications and effects of the past witch hunts as well as the ones that continue today across the globe (both overt and covert versions)? How do we build resiliency in our communities of dissent while maintaining awareness of the risk of persecution?

Dialogue Notes:

These are rough, uncut, unfiltered, and anonymous notes taken at the dialogue. We get that these may not be very readable to those who were not in attendance at the dialogue, and, honestly, sometimes even to those of us who were. We still feel it is important to keep them available as part of our accountability process and for archiving and reference purposes.  Some of these notes have been digested/transformed into blogs.

  • Presence of princess spectrum
  • Connection between multinational development and demonization of “witches” in other countries
  • The ancient witch represents the Baba yaga. When you think about the Goddess religion, people try to make pinpoint one when Goddess is a many women and depends on a constellation of goddesses.
  • The princess witch dichotomy brings out a history of targeting working poor women.
  • Halloween brings out the psyche on display—people dressing as stigmatized people (Middle Eastern man, Mexican border crossing)
  • Sexy and desirable
  • Womens inhabiting the body and the earth (equating to threats to Christianity)
  • If people had more babies then they had less power so this brought birth control, homos, etc and so there is a strange stereotype (in 12th century) of repression of sexuality and now, this exotification of witches.
  • Breeding cattle brought awareness of men controlling birth possibilities.
  • Images of Eastern European faces as witches.
  • Feline imagery
  • Cauldron represents the womb, power to populate the world
  • Scariness of a woman alone- the capitalist evil woman who attached nature
  • The Last Wild Witch–the Secret Teachings of – the pointy hat is the sorcerer and a receptacle to the Divine
  • Star of David equated to satanic star
  • Not all witches are pagans
  • Reclaiming Movement-religion started in 70s neo pagan, rituals are made up based on a specific order, grounding-casting-setting a circle-, Starhawk investigated links between appropriation and reclaiming. She made up rituals as a result
  • Know a lot of people who identify as witches but not female. Do these men identify as having feminine energy? Rather than focus on men/women what if we focus on violence from the state on women or femininity. When men claim witchiness they claim otherness and reject the binary.
  • What do we do in our everyday life to be witches or not? People dress up. How do we embody the divine feminine and our stories.
  • Starhawk defines magic as a change of consciousness. Casting a circle centers us on our ego.
  • What are the different definitions of witches? People sensitive to unseen or ghosts
    • identifying as queer and reclaiming queerness, if I claim witchiness then I align with women over history. I have the privilege to practice. I can identify sensitivities that I have so I can choose in power.
    • Christian or non-christian perspective on witch
    • we are not all one in the same around having witchese
    • there is a diversity of identities and some are privileged and some are persecuted
    • claiming of the term and the naming of the witches, people are calling the war on terror a witch hunt
    • the web is the alphabet in a circle so we have access to anyone who had internet access, the connection is quicker between people. it is a brilliant time to be who we want to be. it is like riding a wave. We can change who we want to be. Women are web builders.
    • Who are the modern day witches
    • How do people problematize whiteness or interrogate it
    • If you are white and claiming a marginalized identity is safer in the Bay Area you get social privileges.
    • Idilous morphous
    • Souen shares with dio de los muertos- the veil is the thinnest
    • White culture is normalized so white witchcraft is normalized amongst a white group. There are people in Louisiana who are reclaiming Voodoo as a Black traditional. (Jimbalaya book). She is reclaiming the tradition and wanting people.
      • It is invisibilized in other states.
      • If you look at book stores then you see white authors writing about reclaiming.

Magic! We haven’t mentioned it enough!

What is magic?

  • Starhawk defines it as the ability to change consciousness at will. Change our perceptions of ourselves, our bodies, our cycles, the world.
    • (i.e. menstrual magic workshop that one participant leads looks at ways to change perceptions of own body and menstrual cycle)
  • Joanna Macy: 3 way to band-aids (immediate actions), creating new structures, changing consciousness
  • Caroline Casey: Magic is the willingness to work with everything
  • Healing work: “by far the most magical thing I’ve experienced”
    • Ritual to heal from the week, to receive touch, to sleep..
  • Magic can be used to be dismissive of human effort. Erases legacies and history that created something. Also has image as deceptive.
  • Something about the difference between “Christianity” where some guy in the sky has all the power and pre-colonial practices about the capacity for “us” to be agents of change. Magic is us not being removed from power.
  • Transition to industry.. body becomes machine. Not a part of nature. Then exported it to colonies as form of oppression. Terms witch and savage were terms that were used to clear land. Commodification of land tied to oppression of people.
  • “Magic kills industry”

REDD – climate negotions. Pay money for carbon off-setting by donating land to other countries. i.e. Chevron can continue to have huge offputs in Richmond because they pay gov’ts on indigenous lands (Chiapas, etc) to clear people from land and “save it.” Seeing land as oxygen sinks. Rather than seeing lands as they are. Over 7 billion invested in this. Part of CA’s AB32. Voting now to include REDD.

  • This is a time to hex the state! Send blessings to people speaking at hearing tomorrow and making the decision.
  • Also discussion of Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Bill that Brown also shot down which speaks to this phenomenon of devaluing feminine, housework, reproduction, education, etc.
  • What forms of racism and sexism normalize unpaid labor and slavery?
  • Living on planet of finite resources, doesn’t seem completely unconnected to resurgence of nature-based practices
  • So much of upcoming election are based on abortion debate. And after that, immigration. Core issue is women’s control of birth.
  • Fable. “Men realized they had something to do with reproduction and the whole world was fucked” – (Caroline Casey)
  • In some matriarchal cultures, uncles took care of kids. In others, there were practices of polyandry.

Idea of global graxing. We are not going to be able to get ourselves out of this fix with our knowledge. We will rely on other realms of knowledge and the knowledge of other types of being.

Next steps/action: Write. Talk. Discuss. Learn. Slime mold as 3rd-party candidate. Cast positive spells. Work to use magic to change my own consciousness. Continue to reclaim the commons. SURG No Room 4 Racism campaign (chance for white people to show up and point out racialized dynamics of this election – action around hunting, “witches on Wall Street”), continue letting topic resonate in me and develop my own awareness of internalized views of myself regarding gender oppression and patriarchy, re-personalize these issues, recognize magic that has been dampened, give another menstrual magic workshop, commit to learning more about herbs, talk more about witches with other people and with my kids at school, reclaiming the commons, reclaiming my body, reclaim reproduction, learn more about different definitions of magic and explore it in my life, read Caliban and the Witch, cultivate my own practices re my ancestors, garden, ferment things, in order to bring into the work I do.

One participant’s organization is developing awareness of what are the essential components of movement building:

sun (fire – purpose driven action)

water (having a direction movement)

air (holding broad awareness)

earth (roots and connecting to histories)

5th element (still unnamed – working with cycles)