BLM Invocation
Our Druid Grove tries to be respectful to all— not just the Gods and the land and the season but also all of the various peoples on Earth. We routinely acknowledge the original inhibitors of the land and the Watershed we are on, and often have a Working for what people are doing locally and globally (the pandemic, the children in cages, one of our members graduating from college).
So it seemed obvious to ask for Larger Allies for BLM. Our ritual and beliefs include the Kindreds, or not-gods, as well as the Pantheon and, since we are all related at the first, I added a directed invocation to one of the Ancestors rather that make a separate Working:
Sojourner Truth, come lead us please,
Out of the dark canyon of fear.
We are beset by enemies,
We want you for our brigadier.
Men of ill intent, emboldened,
Led by King Misinformation;
An army— brazen, not golden—
Leaves us searching for chelation.
Good people, sieve out the decay:
Hatred, lies, and raging violence,
Gather it up, piss it away—
Rid humankind of fraudulence.
Sojourner, we will be as kidneys;
And work together as one organ.
Lead our protest, ward off disease,
You can be our enemies’ Gorgon.
Freeze the followers of fake news.
Flush them from our community,
Without power, their harm diffused,
We’re left with an immunity.
Lead us, Sojourner, on the journey,
From Now to Unimagined Future.
You the Conductor, we the trainees,
We labour, you’re the accoucheur.
Together in commonality,
We strive to gain what we now dream of.
Resist! March! Walk the walk, take a knee.
Live here below as you do above.
With folk of all colours and genders,
Free to vote what’s in their minds.
The same battle that once you fought for,
Now in this different time unwinds.
Shine equal light on great and small,
Let us breathe in Justice for all.
JUDITH O’GRADY
is an elderly Druid (Elders are trees, neh?) living on a tiny urban farm in Ottawa, Canada. She speaks respectfully to the Spirits, shares her home and environs with insects and animals, and fervently preaches un-grassing yards and repurposing trash (aka ‘found-object art’).