Past the Tipping Point

It started at the vernal equinox. Well, ok, it started long before that and has been building for quite some time, but that tipping point, the point when everything was suddenly here, that was the 2020 vernal equinox. While it wasn’t on the exact date, that was the weekend we saw what was happening. That was the weekend we went from groups of no more than 50, to no more than 10, to cancel all events and stay home. It was the weekend most of the country declared a state of emergency. It was the weekend we all decided to pause, and it is no accident it happened at a balance point in the year. We were standing at the edge of the cliff looking out, like the fool about to jump off. That pause was the moment we had to look out over where we were falling to, and to decide which way to fall. This is what has been called Tower Time, or The Storm by people like Byron Ballard and John Beckett.

Image via Wikipedia.com

The events since then have been massive and mind boggling. We went from re-learning how to cook, bake bread, grow food, and stay at home to impressive worldwide protests in the streets against police brutality. In fact, the Black Lives Matter protests are one of the biggest signs that the façade of the system has cracked, and the proof is in the size and scope of the protests. Not only have they proven to be multi-racial and multicultural, they have tremendous support both in the US, and across the world. We are able to video the truth of what happens to counteract most media spin, and spread the word through social media. It is hard to lie about events when there is so much evidence to the contrary. Another good sign that we are ready for change, is that so many cities are starting to listen to the protesters and actually make policy changes. The Minneapolis City Council actually voted unanimously to abolish the police department. While it is not without controversy, a move like this would have been entirely unheard of 6 months ago. These things are evidence of a move towards a better world, towards rethinking the systems we are so used to that have only been serving the most elite among us, evidence that the tower is falling, and it’s time to claim our power.

The world around us is changing whether we are ready or not. What we do after the tower falls is entirely up to us. We have a choice. Do we let things go as they will and end up falling into a resurgence of facism, nationalism, racism, xenophobia, and all those other forms of bigotry we have been fighting against for so long now? Or, do we fight to take the wheel and steer ourselves into the kind of world we have been dreaming of? I can tell you, getting the world we want will not be an easy task, and it will not happen quickly. Besides that, the old world will not fall easily and quietly, it *wants* to fall into a facist state. What we have considered “normal” has been slowly moving the overton window to the right for decades. We may see things that look like the people actually want more socialist and left leaning policies, but we are going to have to fight tooth and nail to actually move ourselves that direction. The time for that is now, or three months ago, even. This war will be long and difficult, and we need to work together to keep it up, to take turns so everyone can have a moment to rest.

The part of this we have all seen happening already is the practical action. This is the protests, the start of the revolution. But it is not only people in the street asking to no longer be unreasonably killed, it is forward thinking progressives we elect to office at all levels of government. It is sharing the articles, information, and memes to tell people what is really happening, and what they can actually do about it. It is having that tough conversation, not only with your overtly racist relative or friend, but with the ones who think they aren’t racist, or homophobic, or transphobic. Show them how the system is rigged against people. How it is not now, and never has been equal rights for everyone. It is calling and writing to your elected officials to express that you want them to vote for and enact policies that will actually help people, or even running for office yourself. It is organizing within your community to not only help those in need, but to work with each other to come up with those big ideas that will change the world. Practical action is guerilla kindness, it is organizing community to help those in difficult situations. Not all of us can do all of these things, but each of us can do something. The more people we have moving in the direction of justice, equality, and right relationship, the easier it will become to build that world.

Image found at nbcnews.com

There is also an unseen part to changing our direction. This is where the magic comes in. To all of those magically inclined, This is where you add another layer of action. Because I see the inclination of some of you, we do not need magic for peace. Peace brings complacency and slows necessary change. There will not be peace until there is justice. So do your spells for justice, for social change, for a society built on equality if you cannot bear to do magic for destruction. If you can do that magic, tear down the tower. Lend your magic to breaking down the systems of power, privilege, and oppression that we are working to end. Throw your curses at facism, racism, homophobia, and transphobia. Do spells to support those on the front lines of the fight. Do spells to support those at all levels of the fight. We need the help of those in this world and on the other side. Bring in your spirit guides, your ancestors, your deities in the ways they are best suited to help. We need all hands on deck.

This fight will not be merely on the front of government and its role in our lives, it is cultural. This fight goes into greening our society, to fighting for sustainability in agriculture, industry, and everyday life. It goes to housing the homeless, to creating social safety nets, to rethinking how policing and public safety are dealt with, and so much more. It won’t be easy because we need to work on all of these things at the same time. Luckily, they are all interconnected. Movement in one arena spurs movement in another. This means now is not the time for incremental change. Now is not the time for only asking for what we think we can get. Now IS the time to go for all of it. Dream big. Don’t even ask for the big things, demand them. Demand the monumental changes and think in new and creative ways about how we can do better. This goes back, once again, to talking to those in your community and spreading those ideas that seem totally crazy. Maybe someone else has the same idea. Maybe someone else has an idea that makes yours better. Maybe, just maybe, someone has an idea of how to put yours into action.

Art by Barbara Jones-Hogu

Our power is in cooperation. Within our communities, between races, cultures, religions, and movements, between this world, and the other. We can argue over the details later, but right now, at this moment, we need to work together to steer this world away from the fascist, nationalist, racist state none of us want to see, and towards a world where power, privilege, and oppression are defeated. A world of justice, equality, and reciprocity.

We are no longer at the tipping point, we have passed it. We have been fighting for the direction we will go since we went over the edge. Now is the time to grab the wheel and steer.