{"id":306,"date":"2017-01-20T12:03:28","date_gmt":"2017-01-20T20:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/?p=306"},"modified":"2017-01-21T10:12:48","modified_gmt":"2017-01-21T18:12:48","slug":"claim-your-power-time-to-witch-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/2017\/01\/claim-your-power-time-to-witch-up.html","title":{"rendered":"Claim Your Power: Time To Witch Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It\u2019s been a bit of a rough week, mainly of my own doing. \u00a0You see, it seems no matter how much I try to get a book done a little each day, there\u2019s a point close to the deadline when it starts \u201cdownloading\u201d en masse. \u00a0Where ideas I didn\u2019t even think to include in my original outline start pouring forth constantly, my sleep schedule shifts completely, and I\u2019m writing for hours upon hours nonstop. \u00a0I even start dreaming about the concepts in the book. \u00a0Which is fantastic for the book \u2013 but leaves me feeling completely exhausted \u2013 physically, mentally, and emotionally at the end of it.<\/p>\n

So\u00a0in that state, it wasn\u2019t exactly easy to deal with\u00a0\u00a0the Theater of the Absurd that is happening\u00a0right now. \u00a0I had a shred of hope lodged in the back of my teeth, but I knew it would happen anyway. \u00a0Of course the most unqualified, the most unfit, the best displays of cronyism are taking\u00a0the stage. \u00a0It makes absolutely no sense, but yet of course it does. \u00a0That little morsel of hope that things would get better, somehow get changed \u2013 just a bit of wishful thinking, because it\u2019s be made known: these are the times we were made for.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Orpheus
Orpheus by Michel-Martin Dr\u00f6lling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To give you a sense of where my head was yesterday, this comparative myth formulated in my brain:
\n\u201cWe are Orpheus, exiting the Underworld with hard-won Eurydice just behind us. We reach the sunlight and excitedly turn back to Eurydice, not realizing she wasn\u2019t immediately behind us, she was still in the shadows. Hades grabs her and whisks her away.<\/em><\/p>\n

Eurydice was all the progress and change we\u2019ve been working for, the sunlight gave us hope that we were already completely past the darkness. But we weren\u2019t there yet, not for all. Hades is all those in power slowly watching their empires collapse, fighting unfairly.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Watch out for drunken Maenads.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve revisited the myth of Orpheus several times in my life, and not because I find it appealing. \u00a0I\u2019m a sucker for happy endings, and this one is definitely the antithesis of all of those. \u00a0Yet it keeps surfacing. \u00a0It roots at the unfairness of life, the machinations of other people and beings throwing everything off balance.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not a reason to give up, give in, step aside, or stand down. \u00a0My goal in this blog post isn\u2019t to revel in despair, but to remind you that this all is a call to action. \u00a0It might feel futile as you watch and read about the Theater of the Absurd, high above us.<\/p>\n

\"Power
Power Sigil \u2013 full color<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But real change, real witchery happens down at the roots. \u00a0The reason you are called to witchcraft is not to gain power through others, but to call upon the power residing within yourself. \u00a0To grow it, use it to manifest change with our will. We don\u2019t make prayers, asking our deities to grant us boons and give us things, to use their power instead of our own. \u00a0We stand up and take responsibility for our own actions, we make change happen through us. \u00a0We may ask for their assistance and guidance, but we\u2019re the ones in the driver\u2019s seat, we\u2019re the ones flying the broom. \u00a0It\u2019s up to us.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s a scary thing \u2013 another one of those dangerous things about witchcraft.<\/a> \u00a0It means you take responsibility, it acknowledges that you do have the power.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not just talking about metaphysics here either. \u00a0Down here in the roots, we need to take care of ourselves, and we need to take care of and watch over each other. \u00a0We need to reach down and secure our position \u2013 with determination, compassion, and love \u2013 all fiercely and strongly. As Witches we\u00a0must embolden our spirits and minds. We need to reach out to those next to us who are struggling and give them hope and guidance. And then together we all grow upward and outward.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the time to be paralyzed by fear, it\u2019s time to think about transformation, change, and taking care of business.<\/p>\n

And I was inspired last night to revisit the Power Sigil<\/a> and give it some color. \u00a0The rainbow stands for so many things: diversity, LGBTQ, a promise of tomorrow. \u00a0And as someone who as a child ran through quite a few 8-tracks of the soundtrack to the Muppet Movie, it makes me think of Kermit and \u00a0The Rainbow Connection:<\/em><\/p>\n

Rainbows are visions, but only illusions, and rainbows have nothing to hide.<\/em>
\nSo we\u2019ve been told and some choose to believe it.<\/em>
\nI know they\u2019re wrong wait and see.<\/em>
\nSomeday we\u2019ll find it, the rainbow connection.<\/em>
\nThe lovers, the dreamers and me.<\/em><\/p>\n

Who said that wishes would be heard and answered when wished on the morningstar?<\/em>
\nSomeone thought of that and someone believed it.<\/em>
\nLook what it\u2019s done so far.<\/em>
\nWhat\u2019s so amazing that keeps us stargazing and what do we think we might see?<\/em>
\nSomeday we\u2019ll find it, the rainbow connection.<\/em>
\nThe lovers, the dreamers and me.<\/em><\/p>\n

All of us under its spell.<\/em>
\nWe know that it\u2019s probably magic.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, I just referenced The Muppets<\/em> in a blog on witchcraft. \u00a0Because that\u2019s how I roll. \u00a0Go forth and claim that power, let\u2019s get up to some serious witchcraft.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a bit of a rough week, mainly of my own doing. \u00a0You see, it seems no matter how much I try to get a book done a little each day, there\u2019s a point close to the deadline when it starts \u201cdownloading\u201d en masse. \u00a0Where ideas I didn\u2019t even think to include in my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2676,"featured_media":309,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13],"tags":[159,69,52,51,160,126,7,158,4,138],"class_list":["post-306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-modernpractice","category-myth-and-folklore","tag-activism","tag-magic","tag-magick","tag-power","tag-revolution","tag-sigil","tag-witch","tag-witch-power","tag-witchcraft","tag-witchery"],"yoast_head":"\nClaim Your Power: Time To Witch Up<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It might feel futile as you watch and read about the Theater of the Absurd, high above us. 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