Magic for the Resistance

by Michael M. Hughes

  And accept our brothers and sisters with love and compassion

  No borders, all one family

  Retain prayer position until the end of the spell.

  Lord Hermes, whose eyes are the sun and the moon

  Please protect those traveling to foreign lands

  And those living in new lands

  Open the hearts of the ignorant and bigoted

  And awaken us all to love for our brothers and sisters

  No matter where they were born

  For thou art king of heaven and earth

  And thy name and spirit rest upon the good

  So mote it be

  Stand silently, imagining a globe without borders, in which all humanity acknowledges our deep connection as one family.

  Blow out the blue candle to end the ritual. Be sure to ground.

  While you’re still feeling the leftover energy of the spell, make a donation (however small) to an immigrant rights or refugee support organization. If you desire, make it in the name of Hermes.

  Note

  If done as a group, the leader should read the main passages while the others respond with the refrain No borders, all one family.

  #MeToo

  This spell targets sexual abusers, especially those who have not been outed. Its goal is to bring their behavior to light so they may be exposed, shamed, and prosecuted (if applicable) and also to bind their predatory actions so that no one else is harmed. It may also be used against online harassers.

  The spell cuts all psychic ties to the abuser and ends with a powerful affirmation of healing, empowerment, and strength.

  Perform during the waning or new moon.

  Components

  Black candle

  Nail or pin (to inscribe candle and for use on altar)

  White candle

  Paper figure of a man (about four inches tall, or shorter than your black candle). It can be rough, just a general outline of a human figure.

  Black thread or string

  Pen or marker

  Dirt from near a court building (optional)

  If you have been abused and your abuser is known, write his or her name (or online name, Twitter handle, etc.) on the black candle with the nail or pin. As you are digging in the nail, imagine it cutting deeply and painfully into the target. If you are doing the spell in support of all women who have been abused, inscribe abusers on the candle instead.

  On the white candle, carve #MeToo.

  Take the cut-out paper figure and write the full name of the abuser on it if you are targeting someone. If your abuser uses Twitter or other online services to harass you, write their avatar or handle name. If you have a photo of the abuser’s face, cut it out and glue it onto the paper doll. Otherwise, draw an X for each of its eyes and for its mouth.

  Place all the spell components on your altar.

  Do the Centering Ritual.

  Light the white candle. Say, Me too, if you have been subjected to sexual abuse, otherwise say, I light this candle to honor the abused.

  Using black thread or string, begin to wrap it around the paper doll and the black candle (you are wrapping the paper doll to the candle).

  While you wind the thread or string, say,

  I bind you, (name of abuser or all sexual abusers)

  So that you shall never hurt another vulnerable person

  I bind your hands so they shall not touch another without permission

  I bind your eyes so they shall not stare when it is not wanted

  I bind your mouth so you shall not speak unwanted words

  When it is completely wrapped, tie a knot around the paper doll, binding it to the candle. Say,

  I bind your genitals, that they may fail to bring you pleasure at another’s expense.

  Take the nail or pin and pierce the paper doll’s genitals, embedding the nail or pin in the candle.

  Light the black candle. While holding it in front of you, speak to it as your abuser, summoning all your righteous anger:

  You are powerless over me

  You are powerless over others

  Your foul deeds have bound you

  To their consequences

  And as the elements expose

  What lies hidden beneath the soil

  So your wicked behavior

  Shall be exposed to all

  Blow out the black candle. Lay it on its side. If you’re using dirt from near a court building, sprinkle it solemnly on the candle.

  Hold your hands out to the white candle, palms facing the flame. Say with power and truth, three times, with increasing intensity,

  I am powerful

  I am safe

  I am whole and healed

  I am a survivor

  Feel your body, mind, and soul completely healed and radiating strength and power.

  If you are aiming the ritual at a specific abuser, visualize a thread connecting you to the black candle. It is the last connection to your abuser. Use your dominant hand like a blade to sever that final thread, saying,

  I sever all connection to you.

  When you cut the thread, it withers and disappears. Feel, as powerfully as you can, that you have broken all links to the abuser. (If you are aiming the ritual at abusers in general, skip this step.)

  When you feel ready, say a prayer of thanks to your preferred deity, finish with So mote it be, and blow out the candle.

  Take the bound black candle and leave it somewhere desolate and exposed to the elements. You may need to head into the woods or seek out a deserted, trash-strewn lot. You want to leave it where it will be exposed and where it’s unlikely anyone will disturb it. As with all spells in which you leave something outdoors, be sure to pick up and dispose of three times the spell components’ weight in litter to right the balance.

  Donate to or volunteer to help an organization that supports survivors of sexual abuse.

  Hex the NRA

  As mentioned earlier, this spell, previously appearing on Medium, was born of the reprehensible response of the National Rifle Association (NRA) to the murder of seventeen students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine’s Day 2018.32

  On Valentine’s Day, seventeen schoolchildren were mowed down and over a dozen others were injured by a nineteen-year-old with an AR-15.

  Earlier that same day, the NRA retweeted a gun manufacturer’s holiday promotion: a photo of a heart-shaped box and two 9mm pistols, along with the message “Give your significant other something they’ll appreciate this Valentine’s Day.”

  Something is seriously wrong with this country.

  As Tim Dickinson details in his Rolling Stone article from 2016 (“How the NRA Paved the Way for Mass Shootings”), the NRA’s unholy legion of lobbyists is responsible for the surreal state of affairs in which mass shootings have become a normal part of American life.33

  The NRA fought for Florida’s permissive gun laws, earning it the nickname “the Gunshine State.” Governor Rick Scott earned an A+ rating from the NRA for opposing universal background checks, and the organization spent two million dollars to ensure Scott’s reelection.34 And while the state mandates a three-day waiting period for handgun purchases, there is no such restriction for assault rifles.

  Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who also received an A+ rating, received $90,205 of NRA blood money in the 2015–2016 campaign year and over three million dollars in his career.35

  The biggest beneficiary of all? Donald Trump, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars spent on the 2016 presidential campaign. Surprise, surprise. Perhaps that’s why he said, “I am going to come through for you” when he addressed their conference in Atlanta in April of 2017.36 And why, shortly after he was elected, he rolled back a safety measure aimed at preventing severely mentally ill Americans from buying guns.

  Let’s be honest, sha
ll we? As a supporter of the right to own firearms, I have no issue with citizens owning guns for hunting, home defense, or sport shooting. But the NRA is not the champion of gun owners—it is the marketing wing of the gun manufacturer industry, and those gun makers are increasingly dependent upon sales of assault-styled weapons like the one that killed those seventeen Florida children and so many others before them.

  The NRA is not a patriotic defender of hunters and sportsmen, but a profit-driven, mercenary cult fueled by sales of increasingly lethal weapons designed not for hunting, but for the mass killing of human beings. They oppose any and all gun safety regulations, including common-sense measures, like background checks, that the majority of their members support. And they suppress scientific research into gun violence by public health organizations—because they know the truth would appall all decent Americans.

  They’ve stoked paranoia about the government coming for everyone’s guns (how’d that turn out?) and radicalized citizens against civic institutions. Lately, they’ve completely embraced far-right politics, defending Trump and his cohorts against accusations of Russian election meddling, inciting violence against nonviolent activists, and portraying the news media, as Trump has called them, as the “enemy of the people” in slick propaganda videos.

  I’ve fucking had enough.

  Some Things to Consider

  Graveyard dirt is a very powerful magical substance. In all traditions, it must be gathered appropriately (with permission from the spirit or spirits) and paid for. So don’t just stop by your local cemetery and grab a handful of earth. Learn about its proper use or don’t use it. Powdered mullein is a good substitute.

  While technically illegal, defacing or destroying money as a symbolic protest is extremely unlikely to result in prosecution. If the government comes after you for painting a dollar bill red, I suspect the resulting negative publicity would win you a very supportive lawyer. But as always, you make your decisions and accept the responsibility. I will happily paint my dollar bill red and write NRA Blood Money on it in front of the Treasury Secretary if it comes down to defending your right to do it.

  Note the possible legal complications of this protest mailing. If you’re wary of getting on some sort of enemies list, by all means, avoid this direct action and just do the spell itself. But I don’t believe there’s need to worry, unless you put your real name and address on the envelope, and even then, this is clearly a symbolic action, not an actual bloodied bill (and please, do not think about using actual blood, which is a biological hazard and could actually land you in the slammer. Don’t. Do. It). You have the right, as a citizen, to express your dissent symbolically, through writing and imagery, to your compromised representatives or to morally bankrupt organizations, as long as you are not threatening anyone or sending illegal substances.

  Finally, protest is not meant to be polite. Fuck the NRA.

  Components

  Red paint or red permanent marker

  Black permanent marker

  Dollar bill

  Printed image of an NRA logo

  Black candle engraved with NRA (use a nail or pin)

  Olive oil (optional)

  Graveyard dirt (optional)

  Printed image of an assault rifle

  Ashtray or flameproof container

  3 wildflower seeds (from plants native to your region)

  Envelope and stamp

  Take your red paint or red permanent marker and apply it to the dollar bill, covering the entire front. Make sure there is enough red paint or ink to render it invalid as legal tender. You’ll see why soon enough.

  Use your black marker to write across the bill, in bold lettering, NRA BLOOD MONEY.

  On your printout of the NRA logo, write the following text from Psalm 37:13–17 across it, reading the words aloud as you write them.

  The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.

  Assemble all the components on your altar. If you’re using the optional graveyard dirt, dress the engraved black candle with olive oil and roll it in the dirt. Place the candle atop the NRA logo, in the center over the eagle.

  Say a prayer to God or your preferred deity or deities for the protection of innocent beings against violence, and ask for a blessing on yourself.

  Light the black engraved candle.

  Say the following, with as much emotion as you can:

  I curse you

  Merchants of mayhem

  Profiteers of pain

  Dealers of death

  You who fatten on the blood of innocents

  And feast like demons on their corpses

  May your thoughts and prayers

  Turn to poison in your mouths

  May every mother’s cry be a bullet to your heart

  May the weeping of children rend your flesh like shrapnel

  May the people turn against you

  May they, too, curse your wickedness

  May they melt your murderous machines

  Light the paper image of the gun from the candle and let it burn out in your ashtray or flameproof container. Say,

  May your blood money blister your hands

  And your riches turn to ash

  In the eternal fires of hell

  So mote it be

  Blow out the black candle. Bury it somewhere far away from your home.

  Plant the three wildflower seeds above the candle, saying a prayer for the protection of all innocents from gun violence.

  If you’re feeling any negative residue from this working, take a salt bath, pray, and, if possible, spend some time playing with children.

  Now comes the important part, where your hex is sent directly to its recipient.

  Fold the blood money dollar bill inside the inscribed NRA logo. You want to fold it so that it will fit inside a regular envelope.

  Put the folded package inside an envelope. A security (opaque) envelope is best.

  For the return address, use a fake address and the name of a victim of a mass shooting in place of your name.

  Address it to the NRA Headquarters at 11250 Waples Mill Rd., Fairfax, VA 22030. You can address it directly to Wayne LaPierre or leave it blank. You can also send it to your Congressional representative (if he or she is a recipient of NRA money) or use this handy chart at OpenSecrets.org to find the worst of the worst offenders: https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000082. Add a stamp, and as you’re dropping it in the mailbox whisper a curse (Fuck the NRA, which I use, is short and succinct).

  Another Option

  Send away for free NRA materials. Burn them while repeating the above spell, and return your red-painted dollar bill in their reply envelope.

  Follow-Up

  After doing any hex, it is always wise to take direct positive action to keep the scales balanced. Donate money to a gun victim support fund or charity, donate blood, or volunteer with a gun safety organization.

  Candidate Boosting Spell

  Here is a simple spell to help a candidate in an election. It is best done during the waxing or full moon.

  As this may be utilized as a “road opener” spell, especially if the candidate faces great odds, you may consider invoking the following deities: Ganesha, Hekate, Hermes, Elegua, Papa Legba.

  Components

  Glue stick

  Printed photo of the candidate (sized to fit ⅓ the width of the candle)

  Yellow or white glass-enclosed prayer candle

  Campaign materials (pamphlets, flyers, buttons, bumper stickers)

  Power Oil (see page 144) or abre camino o
il

  Incense (frankincense, copal, or your preference)

  Lodestone (or magnet)

  Emperor or Empress tarot card (depending upon sex or identity of candidate; if trans use the World card instead)

  Use the glue stick to apply the photo to the glass. Voilà! Instant vigil candle for your candidate. Place it on your altar.

  In the center of your altar pile the campaign materials. Place the lodestone or magnet atop them. Lay the tarot card atop the lodestone.

  Anoint the candle by first wiping a bit of the Power Oil around the wax at the top (near the wick) with your finger. Make three clockwise circles.

  Do the Centering Ritual.

  Light your incense.

  Light the vigil candle, saying,

  Hear me, oh spirits (or deity name)

  In the name of all that is good, and true, and honorable

  Open the way for (name of candidate)

  Who represents the lawful

  The righteous

  And the just

  Guide (her/him/them) to victory

  In the contest before us

  For the sake of (name of town/city/state/country)

  May (name of candidate) serve with honor

  Compassion

  And fairness

  And awaken the people to their true goodness

  Hold your hands over the campaign materials, feeling the spiritual energy radiating from your hands, and say,

  Bless these materials, spirits (or deity name)

  May they open the road to victory

  For (name of candidate)

  In the name of the greater good

  So mote it be

  Clap your hands three times, ending the ritual.

  Allow the candle to burn and the lodestone to attract more energy for as long as you’d like.

  Extinguish the candle and ground.

  Afterward, when possible, distribute the energized campaign materials to voters who are either leaning toward your candidate or on the fence.

  Burn the candidate vigil candle daily, each time saying a silent prayer for victory.

  Note

  You can repeat this ritual with more campaign materials as desired. If you’re doing the spell for an important election, but it’s not one you are personally connected to locally, omit the campaign materials and use a photo of the candidate beneath the lodestone and tarot card instead. Just use a plain white or orange candle.