Is this *really* what democracy looks like?
Witchcraft and the revolution
Saturday I went to a protest in San Luis Obispo with my family. I was up there for my mother’s birthday (happy b-day, Mom!). While I was in heaven with my family getting fro-yo and waving at cars honking against the president, I left the protest with a sinking feeling.
“This is what democracy looks like!” the protestors chanted, waving their signs to “Dump Trump,” and “Protest While It Is Still Legal.” Looking around I wondered, “Is this really what democracy looks like?”
The crowd was mostly white, retirement-aged folks — though San Luis County is 25% Latino (but I was glad to see our elders taking a stand). There were a few queer people there, but not many (still, I saw a sign that said “leave trans people alone,” which I appreciated). Hardly any signs in solidarity with Palestine (but I did give a fist bump to someone wearing a keffiyeh).
Really, my sense of disquiet was triggered when someone in crossing-guard gear politely asked a group of protestors to get back on the sidewalk, and the protestors politely obliged.
What would have happened if the protestors would have said, “Hell no! We won’t go!” What if the protestors didn’t get a police permit for their 2-hour protest?
Friends, witches, if these protestors would have forgone a permit and blocked even one street in sleepy downtown San Luis Obispo, they would have been arrested. But they weren’t arrested, because they weren’t threatening.
Right now, as you read this, college students around the country are going door-to-door in dorm buildings educating foreign students about their rights. With their bodies, these students are blocking ICE from coming into the buildings and disappearing fellow students into unmarked vans.
Democracy looks like: care, solidarity, direct action against state power.
Democracy makes demands. Democracy takes risks. Democracy builds actual, sustained community.
It’s not that I’m against protesting. I’m grateful to protestors. I’ve been to many protests, and I will continue to go to them.
I know many people who feel galvanized and encouraged by protests, I often share that feeling. My concern now is that we get charged up, protest, and then go back to the status quo, which has happened so many times now, getting us nowhere.
Protest can function to reinforce the oppressive power of the state.
Rather than disrupting oppression, protest can serve as a safety valve to our anger. Especially if there’s no further call to action.
I’m not saying, “don’t protest.” I AM saying…
Protest without direct sustained action trains us to think that resistance looks like “having our say,” when in fact the oligarchy could not give less of a crap what protestors write on their signs as long as they go home and keep shopping.
Some people might argue, “well, it’s good that crossing guard kept people on the sidewalk, because what if someone got hurt?”
To that person I ask, “These retirees are at risk of losing their social security, which they’ve worked for all their lives. People are going to go hungry. Aged people will lose their homes and be out on the street. They will lose their health care. People will die.” Many people are ALREADY dying, and HAVE BEEN dying (murdered) for hundreds of years as a result of US imperialism.
I worry that we who want to build a world of care are unprepared for the fight that is coming to us.
The great unraveling is going to require much more than risking a jaywalking ticket.
I worry that we have been propagandized against what democracy *actually* looks like for generations. Democracy requires direct participation in governance.
I have no simple solution for us. But I do have some good news.
The good news is, we who believe in democracy are being called now to build systems of solidarity and care.
While building solidarity may be more difficult than protesting for an hour, I do believe in our capacity to build *actual* power. Solidarity answers a deep longing within us for community and belonging — the effort is worth it.
Further, the work we’re being called to do now is asking us to take our voices, our bodies, and our authentic desires seriously and build together.
Foundational to the history of witchcraft is resistance to state tyranny.
My hope for us here at Mystery Cult is to practice together building our strength, our ability to risk making those in power uncomfortable, our willingness to risk creating an enchanted world. Our revolution will not have a permit from the department of homeland security.
Here’s to becoming ungovernable by any but ourselves, with love,
Amanda
P.S. Join the Full Moon Circle this Saturday on Zoom at 5pm PST.
I consider our Full Moon Gatherings to be resilience practices. They help us build our strength, stay connected to our authenticity, to the rhythms and cycles of witches throughout space and time. Resilience practices give us the energy to stand for what we love in our daily lives, at work, at home, and in our communities. This month, our theme for the Full Moon in Libra ritual is Power In Relationship. Hope to see you there!
*If you’re experiencing income insecurity, but want to join Mystery Cult, don’t be shy, please email us at guardian@oracleoflosangeles.com to find out about our scholarship opportunities.
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