Witching Through the Storm

As witches, magickal practitioners, tarot readers, astrologers, and occultists, activism is as important to participate in as any ritual. Activism pushes the status quo and demands progress instead of deterioration, protecting our neighborhoods, our communities, our tribes, our friends, our families and ourselves. 

And I am not speaking as an altruistic individual. I know I fall closer to True Neutral on a DND alignment chart than any truly altruistic person ever could or would want to be. Whether it's a flavor of my neurospiciness or an aspect of my introverted nature, I just don't have the bandwidth to fall anywhere else even in real life. I’m not “nice” and my focus isn’t always on what’s correct or legal but rather how systems flow in and out of balance with themselves. 

Nonetheless, or maybe because of this, I recognize the importance of activism, of standing up for what is right, speaking power to truth and truth to power. 

Activist witchcraft is a branch of magick that has proven difficult for me. I have had to spend years in discussion with my witch friends, especially Megan, to understand the nuances, as well as to find the workings that I can perform with confidence. 

Between February 2022 and November of 2024, I had done several types of activist magickal workings, researching and experimenting to find the best form that works for my lower energy reserves that had some external impact to verify it was worth doing. 

By the time the suspicious November 2024 POTUS election results were in, I had my format—a curse box. 

Curse boxes have a storied history, including the wholly modern infamous Dybbuk box and the mythical Pandora's Box (or jar as the case may be).

Despite the descriptive name, curse “boxes” can have many different forms—boxes, chests, bottles, tins, jars, cabinets, etc—and have different purposes. Some, like Pandora's, are designed to release the curse upon opening and others, similar to the Dybbuk box’s story, contain the horrors and maliciousness witnessed or performed on others. 

They help compartmentalize negativity with intent. 

My curse box is neither a jump-scare nor a deposit of negativity. It's a collection. 

I designed my working with my low energy levels in mind, so I can perform it regularly over a long period of time. I inscribed a small 4.5” by 9” cardboard box with spell verses and sigils to consecrate it to hold the collection of curses, karma magnets, hexes, and jinxes as my curse box. This gave me a stable foundation to actually do activist magick with one third of the working readily available at any time. The other two thirds were the small scrolls of paper and candles.

Each day, I would write out the individual names, organizations, ideologies, institutions, and administrations doing their part to spread fascism, authoritarianism, and hate. As my own intention focused with each scroll, I asked Universe, Karma, and willing participants on my personal pantheon (the Morrigan, Kali Ma, and Shiva Pa in particular) to pay attention to these malicious entities and help direct their own negativity back at themselves while dismantling and destroying the ideas and philosophies used to prop them up. Then I would set the scroll into the candle’s flame, allowing Fire to (quickly) bring in results. 

The ashes always ended up in the melted wax (I have no interest in burning myself or my tools), but that wasn't detrimental to the intention of my working—in fact it was part of the design. Once the ashes floated in the wax, I extinguished the candle(s) and poured the mixture into the curse box, not to bury but to stick the consequences of their actions, inactions, and hate to them—to seal those onto them. 

I worked on this activist magick working for well over a year, almost 15 months, in silence. I didn't share, or overshare, details of my curse box,  because some spells and rituals (like this one) gain potency in the quiet action, especially when a glaring of solitary witches, covens of practitioners, and cloisters of artists are all pushing energy and magick towards this same direction. 

I, honestly, expected to be working in silence on this working for at least four years; focusing and bringing karma's attention towards the negativity and maliciousness, but the energy shifted. 

At the end of January 2026, there was a swift change to energetic currents, simultaneous to a change in the curse box. 

The regularity of the working meant I was burning through several candles. The third candle had burned out, and I was using a fourth, when the arrows targeting the problems, or (as I came to realize as the shift occured) the symptoms turned the trajectory towards changing the field, the underlying cause. The working evolved in that moment to focus on the society that had allowed these atrocities to manifest, be accepted and/or hidden in the first place. 

The energetic shift felt like a universal, collective deep breath as a spiritual evolution, revolution, and cultural awakening stood taller, squared our shoulders in confidence. This shift has also given me the time, space, and energy to share my activist magickal workings. 

The need to be aware of the situations on the ground, or to do the practical (and if possible financial) activism and continue to meet the moment, pushing back against fascism, authoritarianism, and cruelty is just as crucial now as ever before. 

Now, though, the focus has broadened, and my activist witchcraft has expanded to include what else needs to be done, what else needs to be held accountable. 

I have a new box to collect the next set of wax sealed ashes focused on bringing change and healing to our society, the growing spiritual revolution, and empowerment of we the people. A different set of candles burn the new small scrolls. 

Activism isn't always public or broadcasted but however it is done, safety is always important. 

Be careful and stay safe. When burning candles, keep the wicks cut back, don't leave a lit candle unattended, use tweezers if you are also burning anything, and keep a way to quickly extinguish a flame on hand (like a candle snuffer). When protesting, wear masks (and eye protection whenever possible), have a couple of liters of purified water on hand just in case, switch your phone unlocking mechanism to passcodes and patterns, blow whistles, and stay at a safe distance from roaming violent gangs formed to enact cruelty on the civilian population. If you wear contacts, leave them at home in favor of spectacles, wear sturdy shoes, and keep your arms and legs covered.

Around the world, the authorities in control of the narrative have been committing atrocities and turning away from human decency, pretending justification in the acts of their allies—on both personal and national levels. Despite their violence, we the people have only gotten louder, speaking out against the horrors of genocide, of ethnic cleansing, of child kidnappings, of trafficking and abuse, of amoral imprisonment, and so much more. If you’re unable to get out into the streets, creating a curse box is a powerful way to protest at home. If you’re wary of baneful workings, turn it into a protection box for all those in harm’s way and the people protecting them. There is no such thing as too little effort. 

The evolution is here and the status quo is quaking. There is no going backwards. We don't evolve backwards. We ascend. 

Further reading: 

78 Acts of Liberation: Tarot to Transform Our World by Lane Smith

Pagan Visions for a Sustainable Future edited by Ly de Angeles, Emma Restall Orr, and Thom van Dooren

Encyclopedia of spirits: The ultimate guide to the magic of fairies, genies, demons, ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes

Container Magic: Spell Craft Using Sachets, Bottles, Poppets, & Jars by Charity L Bedell

The Deal with the Dybbuk – Jewitches 

Curse jar found in Athens Agora

Curses in the Box