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by Shadow Walker
On September 27, I participated in a nonviolent direct action demonstration against the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington, D.C. I helped make big magick; well, it felt pretty big to me.
We are the weavers, we are the woven ones.
We are the dreamers, we are the Dream.
In the Reclaiming tradition, we take our song lyrics pretty seriously. There is great power in words and intentions. In the Mobilization for Justice movement, in particular the Pagan Cluster people (also known as the Living River people) ask: "What is your dream? What kind of world would you choose to live in?" We believe each of us, each of our dreams, is important. Many of us dream of peace, especially in these interesting times when we seem to be teetering on the brink of war and nuclear disaster. What I wanted from the IMF/World Bank meetings and my reason for demonstrating is a world worth living in, that acts with heart, is fair, is organic, preserves nature, pays a livable wage, composts and recycles and sustains itself, encourages autonomy and independence, honors diversity, thinks globally, gives power to the people equally, puts people before profits and supports community and communities.
Presently, the policies of the IMF/World Bank support the rich getting richer and prey upon poor and indigenous cultures around the world. For example, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) has a great publication that clearly explains what the IMF/World Bank policies have done to Jamaica, called "Life and Debt." Because of the overwhelming debt that Jamaica has incurred, the country has no money to educate its children. Schools are one-room tin shacks with no supplies. In the demonstration, many people in the Globalization for Justice movement carried signs that said "Cancel the Debt!"
Back to our direct action. It's Friday morning. We have joined the Anti-Capitalist Convergence (ACC), mostly anarchist and mostly very young people, in a desire and an attempt to shut down the streets of Washington, D.C. Our purpose to draw world and media attention to the failings of the IMF/World Bank policies. The big-picture plan was to let small, autonomous affinity group actions occur all over the city, blocking intersections, holding up traffic, attracting media, whatever, using a diversity of tactics. The Pagan Cluster's choice of tactics is nonviolent direct action with lots of color and theatrics and magick and education.
So here I am on the street at 7:30 in the morning protesting 3,000 miles from home wearing purple butterfly wings printed with the words LOVE and COMPASSION and carrying -- at the last minute -- a Peace Dove puppet that somebody said should be out in front helping to lead the way, with some of the most beautiful people on the planet who are now covered in mud, leaves, black face paint and element-colored ribbons, and the police have us surrounded as we create our before-the-march ritual and weave our yarn web of magick and intention. How does stuff like this happen to an ordinary girl? Umm, that would actually be to a middle-aged premenopausal soon-to-be-single warrior woman who may have just gone off the deep end. Must have been magick. 'Cause I wasn't even frightened or timid -- well, not very, anyway....
In sacred space, we set off on our march into the street. I was frantically wrapping my magick yarn around the base of my little Peace Dove friend, cause I was working all the magickal connections I could think of, and the yarn connected me to the magickal web that I've been working with the Reclaiming community for last two years. The tension was thick, and the police were all over us. Basically, they let us march halfway around Dupont Circle, briefly blocking traffic, and then they ordered us onto the sidewalk. We complied with their orders and continued our march on the sidewalk, attracting attention, working our magick -- the magick of the mud people and the beings of air and fire. Our message was out there. There were lots of pedestrians and street traffic; people noticed us, and they were very curious -- they would come to question why we would do such an odd thing. We passed out pamphlets explaining what we're about. We were a lovely spectacle with our escort of many police, some in riot gear, with motorcycles and cop cars and of course lots of cameras and media people. Apparently, we were making an impact on the powers that be, because they decided they must arrest us for parading down the street exercising our right of free speech and our right to demonstrate and oppose the IMF/World Bank policies. As we were breaking no laws and doing what the police said we should do, we unexpectedly found ourselves surrounded by shoulder-to-shoulder riot-squad police, batons in hand. We were engulfed by the powers of the corporate fortress, our rights as human beings obliterated. I noted ironically that we were standing in front of a Bank of America. A potent magickal message from the universe. Sigh....
For me, I think it was a conscious choice to be arrested. There was a 30-second window of opportunity, I saw the police closing in on our group. I think I could have slipped out and avoided arrest, but I felt me and the Peace Dove choosing to slip into that magickal little circle as it closed around us. The Sacrifice card had come up so many times in my Tarot readings, it felt the appropriate place to be. Magick is an interesting thing; you have to trust the flow of the currents. Was I worried, fearful, anxious, confused? Well, yeah! But I remained amazingly calm, aware of the overall energies and able to function, magickally speaking. I found myself reaching out with love and compassion to the humanity that is the common ground of protesters and police alike. I looked a couple of the riot cops in the eye, and without a word I let each of them know that we were both good people and that I understood we both had a job to do. And I prayed like hell that we would do it without pain and violence.
The Cluster people sat down on the ground in solidarity. They comforted, consoled, supported each other, hugged and held hands. Some of us were not prepared to be arrested and were very panicked to find themselves in our situation. There were negotiations by Lisa (one of our brave and beautiful organizers), Starhawk (notorious author and activist) and Charles (whose heart is as big as the sky) to release those that were seriously not wanting or supposed to be arrested. The negotiations were almost successful until an order from a higher-up came that said that none of us was to be released.
One by one, the police started to handcuff us and put us on the police bus. We had time to use our cell phones to call loved ones; time slowed, and life became very surreal. There was time to breathe and ground and work the exchange of energy with our police captors. Imagine if you will 42 witches working the energies of the other world and the real world to affect in a positive way the experience of being arrested. There was no further brutality or violence, but we also were choosing to comply.
Needless to say, it was powerful. I was in way over my head. I was second to the last to be handcuffed. As I was led toward the bus, the Peace Dove and I parted company. I left him on the hood of a police car as I was separated from my belongings. I hope the police who drove the car hold peace in their hearts, too.
I didn't know diddly about what was going on or about what to expect. The bus had room for 40; I was number 41. I was about to be separated from the Pagan Cluster and my beloved affinity group. But Lisa and Starhawk jumped in and started negotiating to keep us all together. Whew! I was allowed floor space on the bus. And they even found me a seat, next to Starhawk no less. Talk about a really good time to be mentored by your guru. Life is beautiful, even on your way to jail. It was very comforting to be with people of experience and magickal skill and great love.
I like to think that my going to jail had great magickal significance. We found ourselves in the very depths of the fortress of the people in power. I like to think we shook the foundations of that fortress while we were in there. We had a power greater than anything the "justice" system had control of. And in spite of the justice system's attempts to belittle us, to break us, to dehumanize us, we kept our beliefs and our faith and our power. We will affect the injustices of our world. We knew we had the power of love and compassion, big Love, very strong magick. We planted those seeds of Love deep in the fortress that night.
By the way, have you heard the prophecy yet? The Pagan Cluster worked with this in our action.
All of you who would be free,
Heed the voice of prophecy!
In the fortress, thieves conspire,
On the throne there sits a liar.
Rich and bloated, they grow fat
On the burdened peoples' sweat
The false king wants even more
To drink the blood that's spilled in war.
Drunk with power, he forgot
What is real and what is not.
No gold, no jewels can compare
With earth and water, fire and air.
When beings of earth and air awake
Foundations of the fortress quake.
Seeds take root in rubble, grow
Living springs of water flow.
Winds of change scour the skies
Dispersing the dank haze of lies.
Now the flames of truth ignite
The will to change, the vision bright.
A new world will come to birth.
Hear the voice of Mother Earth!
"Feed the hungry, teach the youth,
Heal the sick, and speak the truth.
Take the power, hear the call,
Weave a web to link us all.
Faced with truth, no lie can stand,
Weave the vision, strand by strand."
I have come to realize why I was carrying my friend the Peace Dove on the front line. I was holding hope and vision and the dreaming of the world I want to live in. We were speaking our truth. The Dove was the embodiment of the powers of the element of air. She was, and always will be, my ally in magick.
Following are some Web sites with more information on local and magickal activism:
Peace and Justice Events, Seattle area: http://www.scn.org/activism/calendar/
Activism, Reclaiming style: http://www.starhawk.org/