Magic for the Resistance

by Michael M. Hughes

  3. Step forward toward the east. With your right hand, trace your or symbol in front of you, visualizing it as hot, bright red energy, while saying,

  Guardians of the east, protect me.

  After you trace it, use the incense stick (or your fingers) to “shoot” your energy into the center of the symbol. See and feel powerful energy surging into the protective symbol as you push into the center, causing it to glow brightly. Try to time the drawing of the symbol and the words so that you’re saying “protect me” as you shoot the energy.

  4. With your incense stick still pointing in front of you, walk along a circle to your right, stopping at the south. You are essentially tracing a horizontal line of energy as you walk, so visualize it glowing bright red as it trails the burning end of the incense stick.

  5. Facing south, again draw your symbol, saying,

  Guardians of the south, protect me.

  Again, try to end your words as you’re shooting the energy into the symbol’s center.

  6. Move along the circle to the west, continue tracing a horizontal glowing line of energy with the burning end of the incense, and stop in the west.

  7. Draw your symbol and charge it as previously, saying,

  Guardians of the west, protect me.

  8. Move along the circle to the north, continuing the glowing line with the burning end of the incense, and stop in the north.

  9. Draw and charge your symbol as before, saying,

  Guardians of the north, protect me.

  10. Move along the circle back to the east where you began, linking the horizontal line to the glowing symbol already hanging there in space. You have now formed a horizontal line connecting all four glowing symbols. You don’t need to say anything or draw the symbol because it’s already there. Stand still for a moment and visualize all four crosses (or pentagrams) blazing with protective energy in the air around you. Feel them as vividly as you can.

  Now this is where it gets a little tricky to describe, but follow along and you’ll see it’s actually pretty intuitive.

  11. With your arm extended in front of you, slowly turn in place to your right. As you are turning, begin to bring your arm overhead, stepping forward toward the center of the circle and continuing a vertical line to directly over your head. The idea is to time your steps so that when you arrive in the center of the circle the incense stick will be pointing directly overhead.

  12. Looking upward at the sky, as you trace and charge your symbol as before, say,

  Guardians of the heavens, protect me.

  You are sealing the top center of the sphere you are creating.

  13. Step to the west, tracing the line of energy from top center and joining it with the glowing symbol already suspended in the air in front of you in the west. Again, you don’t need to draw or charge the symbol because it’s already there—just make a point of connecting it.

  14. Mirroring your action in the east, turn in place to your left, slowly bringing your arm and pointed incense stick downward this time as you step back to the center. When you arrive in the center of the circle, your incense stick should be pointing directly below you at the earth.

  15. While tracing and charging your symbol, say,

  Guardians of the earth, protect me.

  16. Step back to the east, tracing the line of energy with the incense and linking it to the glowing symbol in the east. You have now connected all six of the symbols in a glowing, three-dimensional protective sphere and have returned to where you began.

  17. Turn in place 180 degrees and step back to the center, bringing your hands into prayer position. When you arrive at the center, turn around again and face the east.

  18. Stand quietly. See and feel all six glowing, charged symbols around you, connecting a matrix of vibrant, protective energy—in the east before you, the west behind you, the north to your left, and the south to your right, as well as above your head and below your feet. See the lines connecting the glowing symbols and forming the outlines of an impenetrable, sacred sphere.

  19. Now visualize the symbol glowing within you and feel it connected to the energized sphere around you. You can imagine a line of energy going from the infinite heavens through the top of your head and out of your feet into the earth, while two other lines bisect you horizontally from north to south and east to west. Your body has become embedded in a three dimensional, six-armed cross with a glowing center at your heart.

  20. See the grid turning into a sphere around you. Visualize it as bright, glowing gold.

  21. Finally, say,

  Bless (Protect) this Circle of Art

  Guide me in my Work

  Protect me from all harm

  So mote it be

  If that sounds complicated, it isn’t. Walk through the steps as you’re reading it, and you’ll see how intuitive and simple it is to perform.

  Now you can either meditate or pray (sitting or standing), do your magic within the protected sphere, with a group inside the sanctified space, or any combination of the above.

  Closing

  To end the ritual, stand again in the center, facing east, with your hands in prayer position. Say,

  All those present may now go in peace, with my gratitude.

  Group Sphere of Protection

  The ritual above can be easily adapted for group use.

  For a simple sphere, have the group form a circle. One person walks the outside perimeter with incense in a censer (or holding a stick of incense) three times while all the participants visualize a sphere forming and surrounding the group.

  For a candle sphere, everyone is given a candle (white, unless you’re using a specific color) and a larger “mother” candle is lit and placed in the center of the circle. The leader lights hers from the mother candle, returns to her place in the circle, then the person to her left lights her candle from the leader’s, and so on around the circle until everyone’s is burning. The group meditates silently, forming the sphere, and then proceeds with the ritual.

  Notes

  Why visualize the symbol as red? Red has been used magically as a protective color in many cultures (with ancient Egypt’s being an exception, as it was associated with Set and malevolent magic). Red says “stop!” and “danger!” and, as the color of blood, was painted on armor and weapons by ancient cultures. It is a firm warning to anything that may want to get through to STOP.

  However, you can try other colors. If you’ve been doing the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) for a while, you’re probably used to using blue or white light. Experimentation is the key to establishing what works best for you.

  If you’re doing other workings after you cast the circle, have your necessary tools and components with you at a temporary altar in the center when you begin. Most importantly, have a fireproof container or burner for your incense.

  Unless you feel strongly otherwise, there is no reason to ritually close or shut down the circle. Simply visualize it fading when your work is finished and after you have sent away any attendant spirits.

  [contents]

  * * *

  30. Ioan P. Couliano, Eros and Magic in the Renaissance, trans. Margaret Cook (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1987), 133.

  Chapter Ten

  The Magical Activist’s Spellbook

  The following spells have been created to be easy to follow and understand, and they utilize common or readily acquired components. That does not mean they are “beginner” magic or in any way “dumbed down.” This is the real deal. Approach these spells with respect and perform them responsibly.

  With minor modifications, all of them can plug into a wide variety of traditions, so adjust and tweak accordingly.

  As you read and work with the spells in this book, you will begin to see the patterns that make up a larger set of practices I have developed, through tria
l and error, over the course of twenty-five years. By practicing the following rituals, you will be well on your way to understanding and mastering the larger system. The spells here can, and should, be used as a foundation to create your own workings.

  In recent years, a divide has grown between magicians who emphasize a personal energy model of magic and those who adhere to a spirit-based system. I find that split, like many divisive arguments in the magical community, to be silly and counterproductive. Both models work, so I use both.

  Black Lives Matter: Spell for Justice

  for a Victim of a Police Action

  This is a spell for justice in what has become an increasingly common situation—when an African American is the victim of an unjust, extrajudicial killing by a police officer. I watched as my home city, Baltimore, was torn asunder after the death of Freddie Gray in the back of a Baltimore City Police van. None of the officers were charged with a crime, which is also all too common in these cases.

  I’m tired of innocent black men, women, and children dying without any consequences.

  In this spell the power of the color black is invoked to represent the energy of the African American resistance in the United States, going back to the uprisings of enslaved Africans.

  This is a powerful working that calls upon the severity of the sword of Justice and should not be employed lightly or indiscriminately, but only when it is overwhelmingly clear that the attacker(s) killed someone without justification.

  The ideal time is during the waning or new moon.

  Components

  Black candle

  Hyssop Oil or Power Oil (see pages 143–144)

  Pin or nail to inscribe candle

  Justice tarot card (you will need to give up this card for the spell, so if you can’t afford to buy a new deck, use a printout instead)

  Images of slain African American activists: MLK, Medgar Evers, Fred Hampton, Malcolm X, etc.

  Images of the police officer or small square of paper with their name written on it

  Arrange the images of the slain civil rights leaders around your altar. They will be the audience for your working.

  Inscribe the candle with the name of the victim while keeping the victim in mind and saying a prayer for them. Anoint (dress) the candle with oil.

  Print the photo or write the name of the assailant on a piece of paper. Write JUSTICE across their photo or name twice, in the shape of an X.

  Place the image (or paper with name) of the perpetrator facedown on a fireproof surface on your altar. Place the Justice card on top of it, faceup. Then place the candle on top of the Justice card.

  Do the Centering Ritual.

  Light the candle.

  As you look upon the faces of the slain black activists, say,

  I call upon the honorable spirits of those who died in the great struggle for civil rights. May you be with me as I work for justice for the soul of (victim’s name).

  As this candle burns down, just as the spirit left (name of victim)’s body, may it bring the full force of Justice, by all means necessary, down upon (name of perpetrator). May the soul of the unjustly murdered (name of victim) find peace, and may the guilty be tormented by the cries of the spirits of the unjustly slain until they atone for their wickedness. Amen, selah, so mote it be.

  Burn the candle daily for as long as it takes to melt it down to a stub. If wax drips on the tarot card, so much the better.

  When the candle has fully melted, take all the components and leave them on the steps or grounds of a courthouse (ideal), jail, or detention center or bury them away from your home near a crossroads or in a place with little human traffic.

  As with all spells in which components are left in a public place (which should only be done when magically and symbolically significant), please balance the act by collecting and disposing three times the mass of your leavings of litter nearby or elsewhere.

  Extra Credit

  Donate time or money to a victims’ rights organization, a victim’s family, or to support families of slain police officers.

  We Shall Form a Circle

  to Protect Our Children

  (With special contributions by Nick Dickinson)

  Deity options for this spell include Great Goddess, Horned God, Demeter, Artemis, and Diana. Perform this ritual during the waxing or full moon.

  This spell arose as a response to the vacuous “thoughts and prayers” offered by politicians and pundits in response to the plague of school shootings in the United States. It recognizes the need to spread compassion, education, and justice to end violence against children, and can be performed as a prayer at schools or other places where children congregate. You may wish to combine this spell with the Hex the NRA spell (page 201) for a double whammy against the purveyors of toxic gun culture.

  Components

  Rose quartz

  White candle

  This spell may be performed individually or in a group—see notes at the end of the spell for group suggestions.

  Perform the Centering Ritual. Stand before your altar. Hold the rose quartz in your clasped hands at the center of your chest. Close your eyes.

  Recall in your mind the most beautiful sunrise you have ever seen. If you don’t have a specific memory, visualize the sun rising over the ocean, its rays spreading through brilliantly colored clouds. Feel the warmth of the sun’s rays on your skin, your face, your heart, and in the rose quartz in your hands. You may begin to feel the crystal warming along with your visualization. Say,

  A sunrise.

  Recall in your memory a time when you laughed to the point of tears. If you can’t recall a specific moment, visualize and hear the friend you laugh the most with as you both are overcome with unstoppable laughter. You should be smiling broadly and on the brink of laughter. Feel the laughter coursing through your body, into your hands, and into the rose quartz. When the laughter reaches a peak, say,

  Laughter.

  Call to mind people you love dearly. See their faces, smiling. See your love for them reflected in their eyes. Feel the love that exists between you and them centering in your heart and energizing the rose quartz in your hands. When the feeling reaches a peak, say,

  Love.

  Take a deep breath and blow into the rose quartz, charging it with the energies of a sunrise, laughter, and love. Say,

  I charge you to carry sunlight, laughter, and love.

  Place the rose quartz on the center of your altar.

  Now hold out your hands at your sides, and feel people at either side taking your hands into theirs. Visualize a line of people to each side of you stretching in a circle so wide it wraps around the earth. Say,

  Hand to hand, heart to heart, mind to mind. May wisdom and reason prevail. May the cycle of ignorance, hatred, and violence be broken.

  Visualize the glowing love in your heart running down your arms, through your hands, and into the hands and hearts of the millions of others connected in your circle. See your compassionate circle making a protective fence surrounding all the world’s children. Say,

  May all the world’s children be treated with reverence and respect. May our circle protect them from all dangers, violence, or injustice. May they experience health and harmony, and grow into healthy and harmonious beings.

  Light the white candle. Again, extend your hands and reconnect with all those in your infinite circle of compassion. Say,

  I offer this light to the world. May it burn away all ignorance, hatred, and violence. May it lead us all out of darkness and fear into the purifying light of joy.

  Feel the healing light expanding into infinity as you breathe slowly and deeply. Know that the children inside the circle are safe, loved, and supported.

  When you feel the time is right, say, So mote it be, and blow out the candle.

  Ground yourself. Shake your bo
dy, jump, stomp your feet, and have a small bite to eat. Chocolate is a delicious choice.

  When the opportunity arises, give the charged rose quartz to a child. Tell the child it is a very special stone of protection and love, and if they ever know someone who is feeling unsafe or hurt, they should gift it to that person, with the same message to pass it along to someone else in need.

  Extra Credit

  Donate money to a child protection or gun control organization. Volunteer at a local school, daycare, or recreation center.

  Notes

  The rose quartz portion of the spell creates a powerful protective talisman, and can be done on its own (ending when you place the rose quartz on your altar). You can give these to people to carry, incorporate them into protective mojo bags, place them inconspicuously on school grounds, or use them in other workings.

  Without the ritual elements, this can be done as a group prayer, starting with “Hand to hand.”

  Spirits of (Polling) Place

  Components

  Four ordinary, small rocks

  Black marker or black paint and brush

  Vote protection sigil that you have created

  Altar with four elements represented

  Three small white candles

  Incense

  Water bottle (or other discreet container) filled with spring water, rum, or whisky

  Several days before a major election, look for four rocks. They should stand out from other rocks or otherwise call to you, but they should look normal. Clean the rocks with soapy water and let them dry.

  When dry, use the marker or paintbrush to draw a voter protection sigil on each of the rocks. As you are adding the sigil to each rock, focus your energy on imbuing it with protective energy. Allow them to dry completely.

  Set up your altar for the Consecration Ritual (see page 160).

  Place the four rocks in the center of the triangular candle formation.

  Stand or sit before your altar and perform the Centering Ritual.

  Light your incense.

  Pick up the four rocks. Hold them in your hands in front of you and then say,