I was looking at the cover of my local gay newspaper, the Washington Blade, and the headline was screaming out at me—"Bush Backs Marriage Protection Week." After reading the article and reading the proclamation from the White House I was completely inflamed and disgusted. When these thirty conservative and religious organizations decided to make an assault on the possibility of gay marriage in the U.S., I decided to take matters into my own hands and into the hands of those who make a difference not only on this world and but also in the astral.

As a Wiccan, all acts of love and pleasure are sacred to me and my religion. To deny legal and binding recognition between two people because of their gender is prejudicial and wrong. So, in order to counter the conservative push I drafted the following piece of magickal activism. This is a revised version of what I originally published as "the marriage protection week countercurse" that I sent to a number of Pagan, Magickal and Radical Faerie listserves as well as to some Indymedia sites. The intent behind it was to diffuse the conservative attack, by sapping their juices and turning the tide in favor of those who wish to be married.

At this very moment there is a push in the U.S. Congress to amend the Constitution specifically to discriminate against Gay and Lesbian people by defining marriage as being only for heterosexual people. The “marriage protection” week has passed, but our struggle for same-sex marriage is not over, and magickal help is still needed. I encourage everyone to do this magickal working, because, apart from being incredibly cathartic, the entire year leading to the November 2004 election is meant to be a crusade to legislate a federal marriage amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Please note that you don't have to be Wiccan to do this spell. Any and all interested parties can and should participate as well, because every ounce of energy, resonance, and action build the power.

Please do the following to the best of your ability:

1. Go to the Thomas Legislative database: thomas.loc.gov, and search HJ Res 56, the amendment to the Constitution proposed by Rep. Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado. Print a copy. (NOTE: The original spell called the caster to go to the White House website and print out a copy of President Bush's proclamation for "Marriage Protection Week." whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031003-12.html)

2. Get thee to a fiery place, such as a candle flame or a gas range or something.

3. Set fire to the paper and as it burns say as follows:

This is nothing
This is gone
Let all who Love Unite and Bond

4. Imagine your gay friends getting married, handfasted, united… Think of the beautiful weddings, and all of the love that they share — sharing their love with each other and with their families and friends.

5. Follow through and write to all your elected representatives, state and federal, and if you feel so inclined write the president and declare your support for the rights of gay, lesbian, and transgender people to marry whomever they damn well please. And let them know that they will face the wrath of the voters. Register people to vote and tell them that this is important and that we can't just sit around and be pushed aside and ignored any more. Come out of the closet and tell your family and friends that you are gay, or you know gay people, and that you want them to be happy and wouldn't the world be better if there was more love and support?

Writing to your congresspeople is easy. Just go to www.house.gov and www.senate.gov and fill out the little search forms on the front pages. For the House you search by ZIP code, for the Senate you search by state. To write to the president just send email to: president@whitehouse.gov

When the "marriage protection" week was over, Gay and Lesbian advocacy groups said that it passed not with a bang, but a whimper.

I believe that the grand vision of love that each and every Witch out there contributed to this spell helped sap the drive of that movement. I also believe that the vision of Gay and Lesbian weddings has led to us seeing that vision realized in San Francisco and Massachusetts — the never ending line at the clerk's office, the tuxedos and gowns, the kisses, and looks of happiness and joy. I have faith that when the time comes and my boyfriend and I have our handfasting that we will be living in a world where Gay marriage is legal.

We're setting the date for early next year.