I don’t think Status Quo is even a large or profound enough word for what the feeling of same-old-same-old feels like for a witch, at least for me, a neurodivergent/disabled/fat/pansexual Witch who is also an educator, also a PhD candidate, also an activist, also a Pisces sun, Leo moon, Libra rising. Also a 2nd generation settler, also, also, also…
Stagnation doesn’t quite seem deep enough of a term, either. It’s the feeling of stoppage. A violent halt. There’s a blockage we choose to accept when we embrace Status Quo. Like a blood clot, except with the Status Quo comes the denial you’ll stroke out and die…burn out and perish…drop dead suddenly, leaving a world that needs you to keep pushing for change behind…
I am not quite ready to perish just yet, not quite ready to submit to the pyre. No, thank you...
My neurodivergent identity won’t let me accept Status Quo. My identity as a Witch won’t let me either. My magickal bodymind is always moving, always curious, always questioning authority, always being told by the guardians of the S.Q. that it’s not enough, not smart enough, not productive enough, my body isn’t thin enough…pretty enough…young enough...or trying hard enough to get with the Status Quo…
Some days, rejecting the Status Quo feels like two steps forward and one cartwheel back...
As our disabled ancestor, Judy Heumann wrote in her book Being Heumann: An unrepentant memoir of a disability rights activist;
“Change never happens at the pace we think it should. It happens over years of people joining together, strategizing, sharing, and pulling all the levers they possibly can. Gradually, excruciatingly slowly, things start to happen, and then suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, something will tip.”
Like cats tipping over cups of water, Witches enjoy tipping over the Status Quo, watching it tumble and fall apart to eventually evaporate into nothing. So, for Judy and many others, we vow to keep pulling levers so we can all tip away from the Status Quo...
Like so many other folk, Witches do not have the privilege of being safe if, in the end, Status Quo wins. So we rest up, connect to our covens, and continue…
Witches can’t do Status Quo.
Witches won’t do Status Quo.
So mote it be.
Blessed Fucking be….the revolution.
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Jasmin Stoffer (she/her/they/them) is a multiply neurodivergent/disabled and chronically ill settler, community member, and educator residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They are also a PhD candidate at St. Francis Xavier University, where her research focuses on anti-ableist pedagogy, disability justice and teacher training programs. Jasmin is also a co-founder of DECC, the Disabled Educator's Curriculum Collective (Led by Katie Meyer, PhD Student, Boston University), a member of the Disability Rights Coalition of Nova Scotia, a member at large of the Nova Scotia Association of Teachers for Equity in Education and Educators for Social Justice. Jasmin’s witchcraft is a perpetual work in progress, connecting with her pre-Christian European roots (Dutch, Bavarian, Hungarian). You can find/connect with Jasmin and her/their regular musings about life, public education, ableism, neurodivergence, and advocacy on social media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jastoff
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jastoffer/
Local causes that Jasmin supports:
Halifax Mutual Aid: https://www.halifaxmutualaid.com/#donate
Disability Rights Coalition of Nova Scotia: https://www.disabilityrightscoalitionns.ca/
Gender affirming Care Nova Scotia: https://sites.google.com/view/gacinnovascotia/home?pli=1
