A love note for those who are feeling overwhelmed.

Plus some invitations

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INSIDE: A LOVE NOTE for those who are feeling stressed.

ALSO: I’M HOLDING A VIGIL on my Instagram feed at 10am today for anyone who feels like they need community right now. Please join us.

ALSO: FULL MOON CEREMONY on Wednesday the 25th. This ceremony will be open to anyone who wishes to attend, TELL YOUR FRIENDS. There will be a suggested donation of $25. I will be donating 100% of the proceeds to Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.

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Illustration by Jane Ray.

Dear Witches,

Has anyone else been finding it hard to cope? Hard to sleep? Hard to concentrate?

I’ve been finding it next to impossible to pull myself away from the constant stream of violence and horror. Feeling like I owe it to the people suffering not to turn away.

Feeling caught in the web of it.

Yesterday, in my Culture, Power, and Social Change class, the scholar Elena Shih was giving a presentation about Sex Workers in South Asia. Conservative Christian groups are over there trying to help the women “redeem their femininity,” by getting them to make jewelry for NGO’s to sell at American crafts faires.

I asked the scholar what we could do to help the situation. And she said, compassionately, kindly…

… in our culture we always “want to help.” We want to fix things, we want to find the solution, and then be done and move on to the next thing.

We want “a solution” because we find it hard to sit in the complexity and discomfort of knowing there is pain and not being able to instantaneously deliver a clear answer for it.

Sometimes (every time?), our interventions and paternalistic attitudes do more harm than good.

For instance, the United States sending arms to foreign countries has caused a lot of harm.

Even if the bombing of Palestine were to stop tomorrow though (which it SHOULD), that wouldn’t be “the end”. The Palestinians won’t just “be done with it” then, neither will the Israelis, and neither will those of us here in the United States.

We are all part of the same earth and we all share responsibility for it and each other.

As Shih said, the struggle of Sex Workers in South Asia has just as much to do with affordable housing, and workers rights, as it does with Christian NGOs.

Similarly, even though stopping genocide in Palestine requires a cease fire, the fact that the bombs were made in the United States has just as much to do with the electoral college, racism, and indigenous rights here as it does with weapons sent over there.

Just to be clear, of course we need to be calling our reps, speaking out, and doing everything we can to stop the bombing of Palestine, free civilian hostages of both nations, bring in humanitarian aid, and end apartheid and genocide. Now. Everywhere.

We also need to stand up against anti-semitism, stand with the Jewish people, stand with the Palestinian people, and stand with all people struggling for life, freedom, and beauty everywhere.

Not just now, but forever. Not only for the people in Palestine or in Ukraine, but also for the kids in cages at our border, and the kids without clean drinking water right here in the U.S.

We need to stand with everyone, until every being everywhere is free.

But in order to do that, we have to be able to sit in discomfort. We have to be able to hold the truth that none of us alone knows the answer, but that together, we can find it.

Here are some things I want to practice doing…

• Show up and care for the people who are hurting

• Practice mutual aid

• Remember that all children belong to the world and must be cared for by us all

• Take care of myself, remembering the world is in crisis, it’s not going to heal overnight, I need to be able to sustain my energy

• Speak truth to power, I don’t have to deny what I am seeing to protect anyone’s feelings, I can be loving and still be honest

• Defend the vulnerable, witches always stand with the oppressed, and if the balance of power shifts, then I can shift with it so that I am always considering whose voice is being silenced and using my magic to help hold open the channels so they can be heard

• Stay connected to my rituals, say prayers, light candles, sing, these practices are like food for my spirits, they keep me nourished

• Stay connected to my people, be in community, share ideas, value each my loved one’s creativity and wisdom

• Whatever people in positions of economic power say I should do, question it

• Whatever the hegemonic powers say is a problem with me, remember that thing is is probably also my super power, celebrate it

What do you think? Can you add to this list? Leave your ideas as a comment

So many people are standing up for one another now.

So many Jews around the world are standing up for Palestinians. So many Americans are standing up against military violence and saying “not in our name”.

People are recognizing that the State will not protect us, that the corporations will not help us, but that we can help each other, and we can and will create a world where all beings are free and all beings thrive.

As we will it, so will it be. Fiat!

Love,

Amanda

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FULL MOON CEREMONY 10/25/23

BENEFIT FOR PALESTINIAN CHILDREN’S RELIEF FUND

Next week I will be holding a Full Moon Ceremony in honor of the Full Moon in Taurus and Samhain, the ancestors holiday. We will be working to heal ancestral wounds, honor those who have passed, and bring peace to unquiet spirits of our lineage.

More info on how to prepare and what to bring soon. I will send out an email on this channel with the link for the ceremony on the 25th.

This ceremony is open to the public. PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS. Suggested donation of $25 — 100% of proceeds will go to Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF).

(Note: Subscribers don’t need to pay to attend of course, but if you want to contribute to the PCRF please feel free to donate!)

If you’d like to donate you can:

• Paypal me: amandayatesgarcia@gmail.com

• Venmo me: @Amanda-YatesGarcia