The Magical Battle for America 12.16.18

Now’s probably a good time to remind everyone to check/refresh the wards on your home or wherever you do this work.  (No, really.  You really need to do this.)  Be sure that you’re rested, grounded, and in a comfortable position.  Maybe wrap up in a blanket or cloak and grasp an herb, stone, or talisman that matters to you.  Grow your roots, send them deep into the soil, let them intertwine and grow small hairs to attach to the mycelia in your own landbase.

Breathe.

Anchor yourself firmly to your landbase.  Does your landbase have anything to tell you today?  Notice a small detail that will call you back when this working is finished.

Ground and center.  Cast a circle.

Breathe.

As you move to our American plain on the astral plane, you can see again the safe hillock where you do your work.  You can see the five giant banners, shining in the sky: Walden Pond, the Underground Railroad, the Cowboy, the Salmon, and Lady Liberty.  Do they seem more defined since we began our work? Do they have anything special to tell you this week?

For a few moments, just sit on your hillock and allow yourself to become comfortable.  This place should be feeling very real to you by now; we’ve been working together to create it for months and months.  What’s become familiar to you?  A tuft of prairie grass?  Buffalo off in the distance?  The scent of sand carried on the wind?  You’ve been involved in a months-long magical working here, joined with magic workers from across the globe.  Feel your connection to this place on the astral plane. It is always here for you, always a source of strength.

Look to the Northeast and, in the sky, see the Walden Pond banner growing larger and larger.  As you watch, the banner becomes three-dimensional and you step onto the banks of Walden Pond.  It’s winter and, at first glance, everything seems dead.  The trees stand leafless and grey.  The ground is frozen hard.  Nothing blooms.  There are no birds singing.  The surface of the lake is frozen and you can’t see anything below the frosty surface.  A biting wind slips between your scarf and your coat and chills you.  Just as you are about to turn and go, Henry David Thoreau comes up beside you and stands quietly, looking into the frozen pond.

“Everything seems dead,” you say to him.  “It’s as if there’s no hope.”

“It does look like that,” he agrees, “but I promise you, there is life here, after all.  It’s sleeping, dormant, out of sight, but it’s there.  And, in a few months, the trees will be covered in spring-green leaves.  The ground will thaw and be covered with wildflowers and grass.  Birds will return to lay their eggs and the frozen pond will thaw so that fish can jump and frogs can hop.”

Thank Mr. Thoreau, turn, and walk out of the banner.  As you look across America, it seems that many of our cherished freedoms, institutions, and norms are dead.  Hope is fading.  Pick up a handful of Earth and warm it with your breath.  Hold it up to the sun and clutch it to your breast.  Will life back into American democracy.  See the tiny organism in the soil waking up, interconnecting, and preparing for fresh growth.  Scatter the Earth to the wind, allowing it to settle over every part of our country.

Breathe.

Slowly, come down from your hillock and begin to walk back to your own landbase.

Open your eyes.  Rub your arms and face.  Notice the detail that you selected to call yourself back.  Drink something, maybe eggnog or steaming cider.  Have something to eat, maybe a bowl of yogurt with pomegranate seeds or collard greens with ham.  Maybe you can set up a small altar dedicated to Walden Pond and renewal.  You may want to repeat this working several times this week.  You may want to journal about it.  Are you inspired to make any art? If you’re willing, please share in comments what happened and how this working went.

Picture found here.