Our Sunlight Is Not For Franchise

7 days ago
2 min read

Shortly before Litha, a seeker with whom we'd previously met, reached out to get the details on attending our Litha ritual. We resent her the link to our Partiful invitation, and upon seeing that it included a Pride aspect she wrote back, saying she'd be skipping this ritual, as she was hoping for a more "traditional" celebration of the summer solstice. We reached out to clarify for her that our ritual was absolutely about the light and abundance of the longest day, but that for all our rituals we consider the needs of our community alongside the meanings and themes of the sabbat. She replied that she was looking for a group that celebrated the sabbats "as they are," without "bringing politics into it."

It is true that not all witches are Wiccan. However, all Wiccans practice witchcraft. It's built into the religion. Witchcraft is a tool of the oppressed; it is inherently political. Our practice is one we live everyday beyond the confines of formal ritual spaces. As such it must acknowledge and honor the realities of day to day life. Every member of our coven, and every one of our regular guests is a member of one or more minorities whose rights are currently under threat. It would be a disservice to all of us to celebrate abundance and vitality without acknowledging the long road our community has walked (and is still walking) to partake in that joy

We don't bring politics into our practice, but neither do we scrub them out to present a sanitized, fairy tale version of our religion.

This year we took inspiration from an old Italian folk song, adapted and adopted by the Italian resistance during WWII. The translation we pulled from, performed by Chumbawamba, uses sunlight as a metaphor for freedom and other inalienable human rights. In addition to "keeping the darkness" (a counterpoint to keeping a flame lit through the longest night), and our now-traditional pride flag of candles, we blessed candles for everyone to take home with them.

"May the sunlight wake us to what must be done, and light the path we tread on our journey–real or metaphorical–to shake the doors of congress–or the gates of hell. May those who would attempt to franchise the light of the sun be burned by its heat. May the fires of the sun pull us toward joy, even as we struggle. May Loki inspire us to good trouble. May Dionysus inspire us to revelry."

The world is waking outside my window

Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao

It pulls my senses into the sunlgiht

For there are things that I must do

Wish me luck now, I have to leave you

Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao

With my friends now up to the city

We're going to shake the gates of hell