Cherished community,
We’ve been made aware of a ritual that is circulating the internet with the intention of binding the current US Executive Branch. While we certainly understand – and share – the desire to do whatever is necessary to curtail the damage done by this Administration, we have concerns about this particular action. We recommend that members of our community think twice before participating in this ritual.
First, despite our decades of activism in the greater community, we have no idea who the person leading this ritual really is, let alone what is his real goal. This Administration is masterful at planting propaganda and sowing mischief: for example, @roguepotus on twitter is believed to be connected to the white nationalist advising the president. Because the ritual includes more than its fair share of Christian imagery, we can assume the author is not someone from the Wiccan or larger Pagan community, but is, nevertheless, someone with knowledge of the occult. We duly note that Steve Bannon, the chief strategist to the president (believed by many to be the man pulling the strings behind the curtain) has publically proclaimed his inspiration to be occultist and philosopher, Julius Evola, who likewise inspired Fascists and Nazis. We suspect that this ritual is nothing more than a honeypot – if anyone you do not know or trust asks you for your information in relation to this ritual, please exercise caution in giving it to them.
And then …
Let’s talk a bit about the ethics of binding spells & magic
Throughout time, Witches, in the service to Justice, have ethically bound and banished (some dare call it 
hexing or cursing) those whose actions are heinous. Not a day goes by in the last month in which we have not seen actions from this Administration that we consider “evil”. (The Temple of Ara defines “evil” as separated from the Sacred.) Just like the use of physical force, the method chosen must be the minimal needed to get the job done.
In crafting any ritual or spell, we keep in mind our central tenant that “We live in a sacred world and so we seek to live in a sacred manner.” All of our behaviors, our magic, and our ethics, flow from the realization that the divine exists within ourselves, in others, and in the world. It’s easy to respond with greater harm, destruction, or cruelty, out of anger. How can you temper your actions and be guided by your awareness of the ever-present Divine? How can you seek to rectify that which is out of alignment with numinous reality?
And so, like those Witches of legend, we make magic to heal where there is a wound, to provide love where there is hate, compassion where there is cruelty, to respond to what is wrong with what is right. We make magic to restore balance, to transform negative energy into positive.
Transforming challenges into strengths and negatives into positives can be the greatest trials of our lives yet they are also one of life’s greatest spiritual gifts.
Every negative reveals the positive. Our emotions point to our greater needs and whether or not we are satisfying them.
Join us for our Spell Rebellions
All of this has lead the Temple to create our #SpellRebellions, which we kicked off at Imbolc. Our #SpellRebellion rituals are held at the solar celebrations of the Equinoxes and Solstices, during which you can reaffirm your commitment to Mother Earth. All while being in the flow with the energy of the season. We call our commitments to Mother Earth as “Activism in Accord”.
To support our #SpellRebellion rituals, we offer our monthly Full Moon rituals so you attune yourself to the energy of the Moon as she sits in each particular zodiac sign. Where our #SpellRebellions focus on your outward “Activism in Accord”, the Full Moon rituals focus on the inner landscape. By focusing inward, you can remove blocks that keep you from manifesting your “Activism in Accord”. As Above, So Below. As Within, So Without.
Won’t you join us? Click here to sign up for our next Spell Rebellion and click here to sign up for our next full moon ritual (in Virgo!)
With love,
The Temple of Ara Elders
Phyllis Curott
Linda Maglionico
Kirsten Rostedt