Climate Witchcraft and the Magic of Direct Action

Those of us who’d been part of the ritual glanced around at each other with that what the actual fuck look in our eyes. Did our spell work? Were they here because of our magic?

[...]

At the time, I didn’t believe our spellwork manifested the belayed drape of climate change activists. I still don’t. They started planning their action well before we performed our ritual. But that fact didn’t matter. What mattered was the shift in my own consciousness, and that a group of people came together with a common purpose, sharing a connection and a spiritual moment in service of a greater good.

My spirituality always comes with healthy doses of skepticism. I don’t carry active beliefs about gods, spirits, and magic with me throughout my day. My spirituality is rooted here on Earth. It’s about connecting with nature and other beings in this world, in this life. Some people practice religion and spiritual traditions to earn favors in an afterlife. But for me, it’s about coming together with others to build meaningful communities and to create a better world we can be proud to leave behind for future generations. No doubt, this is why my spirituality has always involved social justice and political activism.

I wonder why they relate to their groundedness as "skepticism". For me 'skepticism' implies a hard break between the magical worldview and the skeptical one. This hard break would then also explain the "what the fuck" reaction; skepticism being overturned by reality, rather than ritual and reality being in resonance as always.

What I would expect is actual integration. Recognizing the reality of rituals, whether the healing power of a placebo, or the bonding of social synchronization, or the psychological work of manifestation, or the power of artistic presence.

The ritual did not manifest the greenpeace activists, but a world in which the ritual occurs is more likely to have greenpeace activists, and will have more activists in the future.