Spring Wrap Up 2022

Well folks, it’s been a busy Spring, and Summer is finally here. We at the Mortal Path Alliance had quite a few adventures so we wanted to share a little bit of our Spring 2022 with you all.

Deconstructed Altar

At every Equinox we always take down our altars, clean them, and then reset them. We physically dust or clean each item and then cleanse them as well, to reset the energy. The Parlor has about six altars and so we dedicate time and energy to methodically and with intention, do this process. A literal Spring cleaning for the new season.

Not only do we do physical cleaning and set up with the altars, but we also we take time to check in with each other, reflect on the previous season and set intentions for the upcoming one. We finish the discussion by pulling some oracle cards - we love Wisdom of the Oracle by Collette Baron-Reid - pulling cards for each other, our collaborative workings, and the Mortal Path Alliance as an organization.

This has become a staple in the seasonal changes for equinoxes or solstices.

But enough about that, was only the first day of Spring, so let’s dive into what else we did during the Season.

April was kind of quiet with our workings and our day to day. We are always reading cards or runes for people, designing rituals, or Anna is working with clients through the Grief Recovery Method. Naturally those aren’t always moments we capture.

Beltane Beach Ritual

Beltane

Our next big event was Beltane, or May Day - aka May 1st. For this holiday we set a feast to share together and also wanted to really harness the fires of Beltane, the passionate, creative, and potent energy, into a larger will-working spell. We focused on some social justice magic, that we call: Spells for Democracy. After we feasted and had fellowship, we grabbed our supplies and headed to the beach of Lake Michigan. We are very fortunate in Rogers Park Chicago that we have such close access to such a powerful presence. There we set up the ritual, with the bind runes drawn in the sand, fire ready to burn, mirrors and crystals. The focus was to capture that fire energy and use it as a battery to fuel future spells before the Summer Solstice.

International Mister Leather (IML)

Probably one of the most exciting and interesting events that we participated in this Spring, was our Tarot Reading booth at the International Mister Leather event (IML), hosted at the Congress hotel in downtown Chicago. This event is one of the largest conventions in Chicago, and dates back to 1979, with an audience that travels from all over the US and internationally. It has both a market place with clothing, kink, and fetish accessories, along with a formal competition for the International Mister Leather. While there is a diversity of queer persons at the event, the primary audience are gay/bi or nonbinary persons who are in the Leather community. Other fetish communities, such as Rubber, are welcome as well but the focus is on the leather. It was a four day convention with major events each day for the folks to participate in and enjoy.

We partnered with Seth Vermilyea of Coming Out Tarot, and set up our tables hoping to connect with attendees and it was blast. We definitely had a little fun getting into the theme of the event with some clothing and accessory choices. We had tarot cards that were very sexual and graphic specific for this clientele and we met all kinds of folks and gave readings on every topic under the sun.

Midsommar Blot

Our highlight in June was the blòt we participated in for Midsommar with the Ash Wood Hearth. They are a local Heathen Hearth that celebrates and practices Norse traditions. This blòt focused on Sunna (Sòl) the sun deity, Máni the moon deity, Yggdrasil the World Tree, and the Bifrost.

The evening started with one of the leaders beginning the blòt by telling the stories and lore, honoring each of these different beings/energies, raising a sacred toast and hailing them. Folks in the group are also invited to “hail” each of the deities or sacred tree or bifrost, and speak on how they connect with them.

Following the blòt, is a feast where the group breaks bread together and enjoys food, drink, and merriment. This is followed by the Sumbal. The host states a greeting and intent, tells a story or something meaningful to set the theme, toasts, and then everyone goes around the group and also toasts. This is somewhat less formal of topic than the blòt part but still very meaningful and at the heart of the community of the Hearth.

At this Midsommar blòt, Anna also lead a group guided journey to the nine realms on the branches of Yggdrasil. Beginning and Midgard to Asgard, through the realms and ended at Helheim. It was a great way for the folks in the group to connect to the different energies of the Norse paradigm and a fantastic close to the evening.

Spells for Democracy

To end this Spring and before going into Summer, we did do one final ritual with the energy we gathered at Beltane. As we believe in practical magic, we do a lot of social justice magic to try to energetically and magically bring change into the world. Right now the US is a bit of a political dumpster fire with all marginalized groups feeling the impact of some of these proposed laws and decisions from the highest courts. As queer pagan folx, we are often directly impacted by these types of laws - those against people who can become pregnant, anti-trans legislation, anti-gay legislation, and the the rise of the evangelical, intolerant, Christian right again in the United States.

While we actively perform our civic duties of voting, protesting, donating, etc, we believe that magic is real and powerful, so we harnessed some of that primal energy into spells against those who wish us harm and who are sowing the seeds of hatred and bigotry as well as working on spells that unify folks on the other side to be able to collaboratively and collectively make change. It will be an ongoing process and there will be work in the Summer and especially with Autumn with the Primaries in the US, but we will continue to do what we can, as the time is now to cast our spells and call on our gods.

Remember: when witches don’t fight, we burn.