In the past they burned us, because they thought we were witches. Just because we knew what to do with herbs outside the kitchen because we knew how to dance, how to seduce, how to pray. Because we moved with the cycles of the moon.
In the past they burned us alive because they knew that we are witches. So now we cast spells with our mouths pieces of our hearts spill out. It is incredible, the power of a woman who is not afraid to say ‘no’.
No we won’t sit any longer while you ponder on our rights. On our rights to give or not give life. On our rights to make another woman our wife. On our rights to be safe, to get paid an equal wage. To have a voice, in a place where we might make a change.
It is incredible, the amount of ways they have slayed just to keep us small. If they could’ve they probably would’ve burned us all. But they couldn’t with fire so they did it with words. Laid down laws to determine the amount of our worth. They kept us in contracts. They separated our circles. Erased us from pages and made labour saving devices our saviors.
It is incredible how quickly knowledge can fade. How much effort was invested to lead us astray.
But we will notcome quietly.
Well, there’s another thing they tried to take away. Our rights to exclaim our orgasms ecstatically. We will not come quietly. We will open our mouths and let our spells spill out. Cast poetic prayers into the night so that every woman can hear the howl of her sister’s delight, reminding her that her voice deserves to be heard.
Let her jaw drop. Let her shame stop. Let her body scream under the self pleasure of what it means to be a woman who can speak freely. You see words, they carry meaning. They have fooled us for so long that ‘no’ means ‘yes’. So much so that I’m almost impressed. Except I finally discovered they’re right.
So I’ve claimed back that ‘no’ as mine. Because every ‘no’ I throw against their forces is another ‘yes’ I retain for my own self-worth.
It is a spell cast for my own protection. It is incredible, the power of a woman who is not afraid to say NO.
And this old witch? I’m done with broomsticks. I’m done with ‘know your place’. This witch knows that some knowledge just won’t fade. That every woman is my sister. Through the hubble and the bubble and the toil and the trouble we grow stronger when we cast our spells together.
We entered the fire. Now we rise from the ashes and we are holding our candles and lighting our matches until the night becomes lighter and our voices can grow because we have remembered we are witches and we have learned to say ‘NO’.
The Beloved has no body now on Earth but mine. The Beloved has no hands on Earth but mine, The Beloved has no feet on Earth but mine, Mine are the eyes through which the Beloved streams compassion to the world. Mine are the feet with which the Beloved is to go about healing, loving, and serving all beings now. Mine are the hands with which the Beloved is to bless all beings.
“Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning.
You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up.
And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.”
Think Like a Tree Soak up the sun Affirm life’s magic Be graceful in the wind Stand tall after a storm Feel refreshed after it rains Grow strong without notice Be prepared for each season Provide shelter to strangers Hang tough through a cold spell Emerge renewed at the first signs of spring Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky Be still long enough to hear your own leaves rustling.
