Note: This article was originally published in 2008 in PanGaia #48: Facing the Future.
Does your spiritual path honor the cycle of changing seasons? Does the Wheel of the Year play an important role in the life lessons and magical practices of your tradition? If so, you might want to take a long, hard look at how your path is being affected by global climate change.
I’ve been exploring this issue for almost a decade. Ever since the mid-90s, I’ve been following an earth-centered path with a complimentary blend of magical and activist elements. This has given me time to explore the impact of climate change on earth-centered spirituality, including a look at how we can respond in our magical and mundane lives.
Changing Seasons
The seasons are changing. After years of celebrating them, I’ve learned to appreciate the unique energy of the eight Sabbats. I’ve also learned to recognize the often subtle but always powerful shift in energy that occurs as one Sabbat passes into the next. But what would it be like if Beltaine no longer felt like Beltaine? At first, even the thought of such a change might seem impossible: the turning of the Wheel has carried on since before the dawn of human history. Surely, we don’t have the power to alter the changing of seasons and the energy of the Sabbats.
Or do we?
A growing body of evidence indicates that human activity is changing the global climate, and over time, these changes are slowly but surely affecting the life cycles of the plants and animals whose energies shape the Sabbats themselves. In a world where human activities are disrupting the entire climate, no earth-centered spiritual path can remain unaffected.
This isn’t just theory: I’ve experienced it firsthand over the past year or two. For example, in Southern Illinois when I live, we had a prolonged early warm spell this spring followed by a vicious cold snap. Many flowering crops blossomed early, only to fall prey to a final frost that weakened and even killed many of them.
This isn’t unheard of — but it is unusual. It felt even more strange to me in my magical practice: as I walked amidst the drops of freezing rain, I felt the familiar sting of Samhain energy all around me. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t mind a taste of Samhain; but since Samhain doesn’t usually fall between Imbolc and Ostara, it was a very disturbing feeling! My intuition and guidance both told me that it was more than just a seasonal fluke. It was, in fact, a taste of the climate slipping out of balance. How, then, do we respond magically and spiritually to a climate that human activity is nudging out of kilter?
Finding Balance
The good news is that the Wheel of the Year hasn’t been broken entirely, and that we can work magically and spiritually to keep it from doing so. Even if we don’t see ourselves as “activists,” we can do our part in both our mundane and magical lives to address the root causes of climate change. In addition, we can take steps to ensure that we remain magically and spiritually connected to the Earth, no matter what comes. Here’s a few ideas of how we can accomplish the goals of personal and ecological balance.
- Strengthen Your Grounding. As Witches, most of us know by now that what we do with our own consciousness is at the center of who we are and what sort of reality we create. Connecting with earth energies helps us to understand what’s going on in our land. It also helps us to find the strength, stamina, health, and wisdom to deal with difficult issues. If you don’t already have a daily (or semi-daily) meditation for grounding and centering, consider adopting one.
- Work Magic for Climate Stability. I’m not usually a fan of weather magic, but in this case, I’ll make an exception. It’s probably going to take humanity a generation or two to start living in ways that no longer contribute to climate change. In the meantime, many climate consequences are already starting to manifest. Since it took so much human energy to throw the climate out of balance, I feel it’s only fair to channel an equal or greater amount of magical energy to the task of slowing human-caused disruption. Let your personal style guide you in choosing a magical working to ensure that the weather doesn’t get too out of whack while we humans sort out our collective issues.
- Draw on Deeper Earth Energies. Much of our experience of earth energy springs out of the life energy of the plants, animals, soil, water, and wind that we discover in natural areas or our own backyards. Sadly, even these great storehouses of natural magic may be thrown out of balance by climate change. There is, however, a deeper magical energy at the core of the Earth that remains largely unscathed by the energy shifts in any given ecosystem. If you live in a major city, you may already be used to digging deep to connect with these core energies but now even people in rural areas or natural areas may find it helpful to send an energetic taproot down as deeply as possible. When we connect to core Earth energy and use it in our magical workings, we are aligning our surroundings and ourselves with the deepest magical inten-
tions of the Earth. This is a good thing. - Draw on Solar/Lunar Energies. Luckily, no one has come up with a way to knock the Moon out of its orbit or change the path of the sun. Thus, drawing down solar/lunar energies can be helpful in magical workings related to climate change. This is especially helpful for traditions with roots in cultures that operated according to a hybrid lunar-solar calendar. For example, if you have names for the full moons of the year that tie them to the solar-agricultural cycle, then your magical workings during these full moons can help to restore a measure of stability to your region’s climate. After all, when the Harvest Moon is rising, the harvest should be ready, right?
- Work for Change. Send supportive energy to the people who are advocating social change; whether you use candle magic, prayer, an elaborate full moon ritual, or a simple rune written on the back of a dollar donated to an environmental group, your help can have a powerful effect. The same magical techniques that have changed your life can also do the same for people working to correct the injustices and imbalances that are leading to climate change.Even if activism feels completely alien to you, you can take one mundane action, however simple and symbolic, to address the issue of climate change. Groups such as Stop Global Warming (stopglobalwarming.org) and Rising Tide (www.risingtidenorthamerica.org/wordpress/what-is-rising-tide/) that are devoted entirely to addressing climate change; others such as Bioneers (bioneers.org) and the Pagan Cluster (pagancluster.org) offer more general support for earth action and green living. To make a difference as an individual, examine your “eco-footprint” (myfootprint.org) and discover ways to lighten your personal impact on our planet (ourclimate.net). Bonus: many green lifestyle tips save you money, too! Or take creative action by writing a song, painting a mural, or doing a skit or performance piece that incorporates the themes of climate change. However you decide to act, taking mundane action will add to the power of your magic.
These are just a few examples of how you can address the issues of climate change. If you come up with any really good ideas of your own, be sure to share them with other Witches! Together, Together, we have the power to restore balance to our lives and our world.