Like a lot of folks who practice metaphysics in various forms, I mix science, sociology, anthropology, folklore, storytelling and more into my magick. One of the most beautiful aspects of Pagan spiritual practice (and the magickal techniques that support it) is that it calls us to become more deeply connected to the world in every way. Where some spiritual paths encourage adherents to separate themselves from the world, Paganism calls for deeper roots, stronger branches, and more connection to All That Is. This means that as a whole, Pagans tend to follow other fields of research in order to inform our rites, workings, and celebrations with some of their findings.
For me, this means there are a handful of pieces of human behavioral science that I tend to come back to. The one I’m thinking about today is mimicry. One evolutionary advantage our species developed in order to strengthen cooperation (and therefore survival) is the mimicking of emotions. There’s some fascinating footage from a study on this behavior of two people talking. The speaker is sharing an emotionally challenging story. If you slow down the footage, the listener begins to show the same emotions the speaker is sharing slightly before the speaker finishes their sentence. Without any real detail, the listener automatically begins to mimic the emotions – to feel and show them through facial expression and gesture – of the person they’re talking to.
This is ultimately a beautiful trait. It allows us to share, connect, and hold space for each other. It means the emotional context of a situation can be communicated faster than human speech allows. It enables us to feel real empathy for our fellow travelers in this incarnation. It’s part of why our species survived.
But, as with every light, there is a shadow. This is part of why, no matter how strong your wards and purification practices are, it’s impossible not to pick up on the emotions of the people you live with. Those of us who have lived with someone with severe depression know this battle all too well. You can line your bedroom door with black tourmaline, but fighting a hardwired evolutionary trait is an uphill fight in the snow to say the least.
I’m thinking about emotional mimicry today because…well…*gestures vaguely at the rhetoric surrounding the United States election*.
There are a lot of emotions running high right now. We’re seeing them play out in the deluge of media currently swamping every source. We’re witnessing those big feelings in our friends and loved ones. Our own fears and concerns are adding to the mix. And do not mistake me here – those fears are based on reality. Those of us who are anything other than a well-off straight white cisgender Christianity-practicing man stand to lose rights and be subject to yet more aggression in many forms if Orange Caligula gets back into office.
And, this collective anxiety is making our individual anxiety worse. We are picking up, mimicking, the human emotions unfolding around us as well feeling our own. It’s a strong poison. And it’s one that the other side wants us to drink. If we’re afraid, if we’re despondent, we’re much easier to defeat. Humans who have given up can be controlled. Humans who have given up don’t fight back.
So, let’s reset. It’s time to put the poison down. One of the things magick is good for is reclaiming agency and sovereignty when we feel like we have none.
We begin with fundamentals.
Ground. Imagine roots extending from the soles of your feet, spreading out and down into the earth. Feel them connecting to the deep, rich soil beneath us. Sense them touching groundwater, hidden caves, crystals, down and down and down through the sweet, comforting darkness until they encounter the warmth of the earth’s core. Feel how securely you are held here, how strong the earth is beneath you. Feel that stability rising up to you from your roots. A millennia of strength is here. Allow it to fill you. Whisper to yourself, “I am grounded.”
Shield. Visualize a barrier rising from a foot or so beneath the part of your body closest to the earth. Imagine it as a strong substance that repels onslaught – flames, spikes, pure light, castle walls – something you can easily imagine that is protective in nature. Feel the shield rising up your aura, protecting and enclosing you as it goes. Sense the moment when the shield fully connects above your head. Imagine it thickening, growing even stronger, now that it is in place. Whisper to yourself, “I am protected.”
Now we add on.
Connect. Find where you feel your fear in your body. It may be in your chest or belly, your head, your heart…fear can live in many places. Turn your inner gaze toward your fear and see it as the blazing light it truly is. Fear is your mind and body trying to protect you. It’s sending up a warning flare. It’s deliberately glowing as brightly as it can because your fear loves you. It’s trying to help. It hopes that by keeping you informed, by warning you, you’ll be safe. See that blazing light with your inner eye and express gratitude to it. Whisper to yourself, “I hear you. I am grateful.”
Align. The fire of witchcraft burns throughout the spiraling centuries that preceded this moment and that wild, wonderful light lives in us now. Ten thousand thousand practitioners of magick tread similar paths before we incarnated here in this life. The magicians, witches, seers, and healers of old carried their people through famines, wars, plagues, and struggles of every kind. Connect now to that legacy of magick. Feel the hands of the Hidden Company upon your shoulders. Feel the current of magick passing into you. We are the blossom of witchcraft at this time, but the roots of this fiery flower go deep indeed. Whisper to yourself, “I am connected.”
Link up. Reach out into the web of the witch spirit and feel the rest of us – the other practitioners, those of us bending will, wit, and magick into creating the dream we share. Feel the light of all of us around you like stars shining in the darkness, countless points of brightness in every direction. Feel the shining lines of light that connect star to star, practitioner to practitioner, a network of hope, strength, and magick glowing brightly. We are here. Whisper to yourself, “I am not alone.”
We are not alone. We are all here, together. As Vice President Kamala Harris recently said, “It is time to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms.” Lock your arms with mine, with all the other practitioners, with the witches who have gone before us. We are formidable. We are strong. We shall endure.
We will get through this. We are here together, sharing strength with each other. Keep your shields up. Stay connected. Stay grounded. Stay seated in who you are and in the legacy of magick you’re connected to.
Put down the poison. Pick up the torch.
Hold the line.
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