By Richael Faithful
A reflection: to have your body the subject of national moral panic is both odd and familiar.
It’s odd because one’s body–the very fact of its existence or your relationship with it–should be uncontroversial. The intimacy of one’s self-concept, self-identification, and self-determination is so obvious that it should not invite public scrutiny. After all, shouldn’t how I understand myself and relate to the world fit squarely inside the same liberty about which so many are claiming infringement through public health laws? It should seem that any liberty that extends to people who want unchallenged speech or feckless government should reach my ability to claim my authentic self, be called by my true names, live without harm, have my basic needs met, and access necessary healthcare.
It too, sadly, is familiar. The legacy of the US is that bodies are afforded liberty unless you are wealthy and white and male. The limits of liberty hit at the borders of bodies of color, poor bodies, disabled bodies, reproductively-valuable bodies, and non-gender normative bodies. In fact, not only are these bodies robbed of otherwise inherent liberties, as we were reminded of with the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion, certain bodies are expected to be met with a wildness of disgust, terror, and vehemence as to sanction state and vigilante violence.
So as liberty remains selective and exclusive, those of us, like myself, whose bodies and being are part of a grotesque cultural fixation, must protect ourselves. Our spiritual, psychic and energetic wellbeing are as under attack alongside our dignity as people and our right to exist at all.
I wrote the “No Harm Protection Spell” as a self-affirmation, ancestral appeal, and act of collective solidarity. These are the words and energy that I carry as I move through a world that might not see me or much worse. It was among several offerings for The Black Trans Prayer Book (2020) that includes a number of inspiring poems, essays, and even recipes. In March, I was honored to read the spell at a service called, Who Do I Say That I Am? (19:20 time stamp) at All Souls Unitarian Church, a social justice ministry, based in my home of Washington DC.
I invite you speak the spell to life–and learn your own spell for spiritual support as you embody who you are, your divinity, your values, and your sense of love.
May all beings be honored and affirmed! It is so.
“No Harm” Protection Spell
Loving beings who surround me, and inside me,
As I go on my way
I need your reflection
To invite
the kindness of kindred,
To attract
genuine care,
To welcome
radical hospitality.
I need your force!
To send back
viciousness from its source,
To resist
confusion of cowardice,
To reject
hate before it originates.
In return, I offer you
All of my excellence!
I am only visible to rightness,
And beloveds.
May I move with power today! It is so.