This offering is dedicated to and in memory of Liara Tsai and Kitsy.
“[...]you can’t struggle against something without also leaving space for mourning–and […] sometimes the most powerful acts of collective grief are quiet, unnamed, ephemeral.”
Wren Awry, ‘Lungful of Mountain’, Rebellious Mourning: The Collective Work of Grief
For those Befriending Death readers unfamiliar with witchcraft or curious about how it can coincide with religious beliefs or identities you may hold, ‘witchcraft’--or whatever it is that you want to call this practice of mindfully engaging with organic materials alongside invocations for peace or justice, for example–can and do and have in history coexisted hand-in-hand with Christianity, Judaism, monotheistic, polytheistic, and atheistic beliefs. “Spells” can just be another word for ritual, prayer, du’a, manifestation, invocation, desires given voice. Wicca and Paganism are religions centered on witchcraft, but not all invocations of witchcraft are Wiccan or Pagan. You can be a witch and a Christian or a Jew or anything or nothing. You do not need to be a witch to do these (or any) Justice and Peace spells.
Spells are mourning rituals, and mourning rituals can be spells. When you light a candle for your deceased loved one, when you make a cup of coffee with them in mind, when you write them a letter then burn, bury, toss or save it, when you make a Morning Altar or do any other grief exercises I’ve written about before; if you do them with a certain intention, they can all become spells.
And when you do any spell that centers on the life, death, and memory of your loved one, and the resulting grief, search for justice, peace, understanding, community, or fortitude to bear it all, you are engaging in a mourning ritual. Everything is everything.
In my dad’s house, he has my mom’s ashes, her funeral bulletin, her funeral card, sympathy cards, marathon medals, symbolic objects, trinkets, gifted art and books received after her death all on a shelf in his office. This is an altar, all it needs is intention.
Magic is in everything we do, whether we call it that or not. It doesn’t need to be the fairy godmother with her wings & wand, it can just be the kinetic energy of your body & love & intentions meeting the kinetic energy of herbs & stones & wind & candles & poems. Magic can be prayer & cooking & sweeping & kneeling & protesting & laughing & crying & grieving & mourning, it’s doing it on purpose. Because my cells know their cells & your cells & those cells & its cells & her cells have all shuddered & undulated in the same universes & the same solar flares & the same big bang dust & the rain & the dinosaurs & & &&& ….
To me, spell work is a chance to intentionally acknowledge the needs and desires we have and to take a step toward meeting those needs, speaking and living into our desires, and manifesting the world we need to feel a sense of fulfillment, justice, peace, and love–both for ourselves and the world around us. Take what resonates and leave the rest.
I’ve created this ritual to be done through the lens of love. We ask for justice for Liara because of love for her, for trans women everywhere, for her friends and lovers and family and community rather than out of spite or retribution.
I provide two versions of each spell: one with colored candles, herbs, etc. and one that is more accessible for those who’d like to participate but don’t have many supplies.
Note: you can use whichever of these items you have available to you, and then speak or carve into the candle the intentions of the missing ones. Spices and herbs from your pantry are just fine. Use what you have, it’s the intention that does the work.
Spell for Justice:
You’ll need any or all of the following:
A black candle (for protection–of yourself, of your community, of Liara’s spirit; for self-defense–against the oppressive and exploitative powers of bad-faith journalists, media, and the carceral state ‘justice’ systems; banishing negativity–injustice, in-fighting, bad faith engaging in the protests or actions for justice)
Eggshell - (protection)
Salt (protection)
Peppermint (protection)
Black pepper (for protection, banishing negativity (injustice), for the strength and confidence needed to live into action for justice)
Bay leaf (protection, success – in justice, in the fullness of Liara’s humanity being seen and valued by those around her and us, purification – clearing the air to be ready to absorb these intentions)
Thyme (purification, courage, strength)
Rosemary (for remembrance– “When almost nothing remains, what remains is to defend memory.” [Robledo])
Lavender (for love, peace. This is a spell rooted in love and we want to invoke a justice just as rooted in love.)
Rose (love, courage)
Coffee (luck, energy, communication – especially for those who are facilitating the search for justice, speaking to journalists, media, community members, cops, etc. That they/you may have the energy to communicate unhaltingly, freely, easily, and with the fortune to be heard.)
Cypress (Grief, mourning, protection, resilience, transformation – this is a plant of death and the transition from living to dying, the grief of loss, the resilience of persevering in the face of it, and the protection of that grief. It can also represent immortality, which you can understand as life after death, spirit in heaven, or simply the power of memory as a tool of keeping someone around us.)
Dill (power against evil) (this can be just eating a dill pickle w intention! Use what you have!)
Olive Oil (to adhere the ingredients to the candle)
Paper and pen
Alternatively:
A white candle
Paper (something to write on)
Pen (something to write with)
Optional:
Rosemary (a wild card herb, it can step into the role of any of the above herbs etc.)
A cup of coffee (for the energy of lucky, energy, communication)
A cup of peppermint tea or peppermint candy, gum, toothpaste you use with intention etc.
Steps:
Take the ingredients you have and mix them together on a plate or bowl. You don’t need much of each. When adding each ingredient, speak or think the intention of it. Whichever ingredients you don’t have, simply speak the intention of that ingredient.
Coat the candle lightly in oil then roll the candle in the mixture. Or if you are using a tea light or other not candlestick candle, sprinkle the mixture on the surface of the candle.
Or put the ingredients in a cauldron and light a candle separately.
(Don’t over oil your candle or put too much of the spell ingredients as this can become a fire hazard – be sure to keep an eye on your candle and burn it in a safe place with water nearby.)
Write on your paper what justice looks like - write this in present tense, with as many affirmative statements as you can (things like ‘The community feels safe’ rather than ‘The community isn’t in pain’). Write what your role in justice looks like–if that role is just doing this ritual, that’s okay! What does justice mean for this situation, for Liara, for the local and wider community?
If you can do so safely, burn this paper in the candle flame. If you cannot do so safely, bury or throw away with intention.
For the alternative spell option with the white candle, either carve the intentions into the surface of the candle or think/speak the intentions into the candle (I would do this by holding the candle, closing my eyes, and thinking the intentions in the parentheses of each above listed ingredient). Light the candle. Write the above intention/manifestation. Burn, bury, or otherwise dispose of the paper in whichever manner is safe and accessible to you.
Either let the candle burn out or put it out. If you are going to put it out, it is advised not to blow it out but to extinguish/snuff it out another way. Some believe that blowing out the candle blows away all your work, cutting the spell off, but sometimes you can’t help but to blow it out. In this case, I usually close my eyes, and think something like “thank you for your part in this ritual, the ritual is complete, I’m going to blow this out but not end the spell.” Again, intention is everything. I know someone who blows out their spell candles and thinks of it like blowing on a dandelion, sending the seeds into the world. Nothing is set in stone, everything is up to intention and accessibility.
If you drink coffee, peppermint tea, chew a piece of gum, or eat a pickle as a stand in for any of the above ingredients, do the same with intention. You may use the sigil I created and stir in the shape of it.
Spell for Peace (in oneself, your community)
**This is not a spell to banish or get over grief or even anger. We want the grief and the anger to guide us and be tools in our search for and movements toward justice and peace.**
“Being affected does not imply weakness. Rather, it implies the presence of all the qualities the state does not possess, the tenets that make struggle worthwhile, make it sustainable, and the realization of a justice that is more sweepingly beautiful.
Pretending I am not sad, hiding my pain, ignoring the fear and rage that surround loss, is exactly what in the long run will weaken me. When we talk of self-care, self-defense, and self-preservation, we need to talk no tabout overcoming our feelings of grief but allowing them, making room for them.”
Benji Hart, Feeling is not Weakness
You’ll need some or all of the following:
Choose the candle color that offers the aspect of peace you most need at the moment:
Blue - healing, peace
Red - survival
Pink - love, friendship, calm emotions
White - all of the above
Catnip love, communication, sleep, peace
Lavender (for love, peace. This is a spell rooted in love and we want to invoke a justice just as rooted in love.)
Rose (love, courage)
Cypress (Grief, mourning, protection, resilience, transformation – this is a plant of death and the transition from living to dying, the grief of loss, the resilience of persevering in the face of it, and the protection of that grief.)
Olive Oil
Alternatively:
A white candle
Paper (something to write on)
Pen (something to write with)
Take the ingredients you have and mix them together on a plate or bowl. You don’t need much of each. When adding each ingredient, speak or think the intention of it. Whichever ingredients you don’t have, simply speak the intention of that ingredient.
Coat the candle lightly in oil then roll the candle in the mixture. Or if you are using a tea light or other not candlestick candle, sprinkle the mixture on the surface of the candle.
Or put the ingredients in a cauldron and light a candle separately.
(Don’t over oil your candle or put too much of the spell ingredients as this can become a fire hazard – be sure to keep an eye on your candle and burn it in a safe place with water nearby.)
Write on your paper what peace looks like - write this in present tense, with as many affirmative statements as you can (things like ‘I/the community feel peace” rather than ‘I/the community is not afraid’). What does it mean in the grand scheme of things and in the mundane, everyday? What does it mean for you, for your friends, for Liara, for her community, for the local and larger communities? What kind of peace do you need or want or hope for? What is peace? These are some things to consider.
If you can do so safely, burn this paper in the candle flame. If you cannot do so safely, bury or throw away with intention.
If you drink or smoke a blend of these ingredients (catnip, lavender, rose petal blunt sounds kind of incredible actually…you could roll it with your written manifestation!), do so with intention.
A tarot spread I’ve come across for grief that you may find helpful: