Here's where we found magic this week:
We left the woods, we went to the city, we spoke to a McGill University sociology class on social deviance about witchcraft and witch hunts, and we lugged ourselves across town till we collapsed.
Amy's chronic illness took her out when we got back home, and so her prescription starts with drag artists Yvie Oddly and Willow Pill telling the truth about being all out of spoons in their hilarious and poignant song Sick Bitch:
I’m a sick bitch, figuratively.
But also very literally.
I’m an ill bitch, I got drugs
If we talkin’ self-care bitches know I’m the plug
Take your pills when you eat
Stay hydrated, rest, repeat
Take your pills. Get some sleep
You’re a sick bitch if you’re sick like me.
Amy brings spoons for those of us without any and adds Nova Heart by Canadian 80's band The Spoons with its new wave lullaby for the tired but faithful:
And I'll sleep, sleep in your nova heart
As things come apart
I'll hide, hide in your nova heart
At ease with the thought
That this nova won't burn out
Remember to take your pills, eat, get some sleep. Hide out, find some easing, trust that you are part of a nova that won't burn out.
Risa got a dose of heavy kid magic this week. There's something about traveling alone and hanging out with other people's offspring that helps us see the potent, present possible of young people with fresh eyes. If you have been paralyzed with grief, exhausted by the onslaught of relentless injustice, it becomes all the more important to nourish your resilience and feed your joy. Recommended: an interpretive dance party with 8-year-olds to Beyonce's re-rooting of the country music genre back into Black history, seeding its future with Black magic. The song is 16 Carriages. Channel how kids move, and see what doors that opens for you.
Follow with Paris Paloma's feminist + worker anthem: Labour. If you're feeling it, loop it till you know the lyrics. If a song speaks to where you need to raise your power, turn it into an incantation. Add your voice to it in the car, or whenever you're alone. Follow the energy as it rises, see who or what you direct these lyrics at:
It's not an act of love if you make her.
You make me do too much labour.
We're here to resist domination and oppression, we're here for the big dream: the nova that never goes out, a world made of the kinds of choices love makes.
So dance if you can, rest if you must, but stay hydrated - we've still got a long way to go.
Coven Invites
Coven Organized: Body Doubling (rsvp)
Saturday, Feb 24, 11:00 AM - 03:00 PM EST
Hosted by Kalika: "Body doubling is a productivity strategy used by individuals with ADHD to finish possibly annoying jobs while having another person beside them.
You can have your camera on or off, have your mic on or off, stay for the whole time or just pop in to say hi. I'm going to be cleaning and doing some paperwork. So bring your projects! (cleaning or otherwise.)"
Coven Organized: Meditation Group (rsvp)
Sunday, Feb 25, 8:00 PM - 08:45 PM EST
Hosted by Liz: "Join us each Sunday evening to ground and clear your mind for the week ahead. Sessions will be 15-20 minutes with time to chat afterwards. I look forward to sitting with you!
If you are new to meditation, this video from 10 Percent Happier has helpful tips: Learn Meditation in 5 Minutes with Dan Harris (youtube.com)
Sebene Selassie has a beautiful starter meditation to try: Loving Attention to the Breath with Sebene (youtube.com)
For folks with ADD or ADHD, Jeff Warren is a practitioner with ADD and has some guidance: Meditation Strategies for ADD (youtube.com)"
Podcast Interview: In Conversation with Christopher Marmolejo author of Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide To Divinatory Literacy (rsvp)
Monday, Feb 26, 7:30 PM - 08:30 PM EST
Hosted by Risa: "Christopher Marmolejo is a queer Indigenous teacher committed to radical community healing and building. They are the author of Red Tarot. Designed to be used with any deck, Red Tarot is a radical praxis and decolonized oracle that moves beyond self-help and divination to reclaim tarot for liberation, self-determination, and collective healing."
Coven Organized: Celebrating the Neuroqueer Leap Year! (rsvp)
Thursday, Feb 29, 8:00 PM - 09:30 PM EST
Hosted by Jasmin: "Hello all, Some of you may already know, I am a leap year baby and this year is my 9th leap year. Last time it was my actual birthday, covid happened. This year I would like to celebrate the extra day we are granted in community with y'all.
I'd like to make this as much of a Neuroqueer community connection event as possible. So all of us are invited to occupy space just as we are. Feel free to bring a drink to toast the extra day we get to be in community together.
This event was inspired by this prayer my work-bestie sent me:
Lord, Make Me a Channel of Disturbance: The “Reverse St. Francis Prayer”
Lord, make me a channel of disturbance.
Where there is apathy, let me provoke;
Where there is compliance, let me bring questioning.
Where there is silence, may I be a voice.
Where there is too much comfort and too little action, grant disruption.
Where there are doors closed and hearts locked,
Grant the willingness to listen.
When laws dictate and pain is overlooked…
When tradition speaks louder than need…
Grant that I may seek rather to do justice than to talk about it;
Disturb us, O Lord.
To be with, as well as for, the alienated;
To love the unlovable as well as the lovely;
Lord, make me a channel of disturbance.
~Author Unknown
I'd love to share space to talk about how we will spend the extra day creating a lovely disabled/neurodivergent/chronically ill space together."
Can you think of someone who might like.. all this? (She said, gesticulating wildly.) Forward them this email with all our love! Introduce your witch friends to each other and let's give each other hope + community.
Blessed Fucking BE!
Risa + Amy
PS. People all over the world are drawing on the tidal power of this weekend's full moon to amplify our collective activism, prayer, conjuring, and crafting for justice and peace in Palestine. If you can add your magic to the clamor this weekend, know that you will not be alone. ✌️🔥🌕
