Witches Are Casting A Spell to Help Democrats Win the 2020 Election
Nov 3 is only days away and progressives are wasting no time or energy to unseat President Trump and GOP incumbents. You’re probably tired by now of the incessant text messages and phone banking calls from voter turnout organizations (pro tip: once you vote, they stop calling you!) However, one group drumming up energy to swing the election left is one you might not have heard of. Drawing on the power of the moon, TikTok, and a “Blue Wave Spell,” witches and magicians across the country have taken to their cauldrons to ensure a Democrat victory. On Halloween night, in the light of a Blue Moon, they hope to cast a massive ritual to bind Donald Trump and bring the GOP to their knees.
The Blue Wave spell, originally written for the 2018 midterm election, is the culmination of four years of intense magical activism spurred by magician and Magic for the Resistance author Micheal M Hughes. Hughes first reached witchy internet fame after his spell to “Bind Trump and All Those Who Abet Him” went viral. The binding, written not long after the 2016 election, is meant to limit Trump’s ability to do harm to the most vulnerable. While people of all faiths took part in the first binding, it was particularly appealing to younger members of the witchcraft and pagan communities.
The spell spread rapidly across the internet and thousands of witches and non-magical beings alike turned out all over the world to bind the President that first new moon. Four years later, participants now gather in the Official Bind Trump Facebook group, completing the ritual once a month. In Oct, the group adds the Blue Wave spell into the mix, which they will cast alongside the Bind Trump spell in the light of the full moon on Halloween.
Hughes is far from the first to bind bigotry or magically influence politics or resist oppression, as he explains in his book. From the Hoodoo, Voudou, and Rootwork practices of enslaved Africans reclaiming power against white supremacy to the New Forest Coven standing up against the Nazi Regime in Germany, marginalized people have been drawn to various magic-based practices for hundreds if not thousands of years. Books like Queer Magic by Tomás Prower and Becoming Dangerous: Witchy Femmes, Queer Conjurers, and Magical Rebels by Katie West and Jasmine Elliott detail the long and continued history of queer people engaging in magical practices.
In more recent years, “witchy aesthetic” and “goddess energy” communities have gained popularity. More young people have sought out alternative spiritual paths both in person and through social media. You yourself may follow #witchtok on TikTok (and more-likely cringed or laughed at teen witches hexing the moon). Hughes attributes the rise in magic use at least partly to a rejection of patriarchal spirituality. “They’ve seen what [toxic, religious patriarchy] has done to women, to marginalized people, to the environment… I think young people are just kind of done with,” he says. So done, in fact, they’ve decided to take matters into their own hands with rituals like the Bind Trump and Blue Wave spells. Talk about power to the people!
When the Blue Wave spell was first written, a record number of women and minorities were running in the 2018 election.“The goal was simply to win as many seats in the election to cause a blue wave of votes to… [wash] over the U.S.,” Hughes says, and looking back, it seems to have worked! Two years later, the U.S. has a majority Democratic Congress with icon representatives such as Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. In this election, Hughes hopes to bring this same energy to the polls and flip both the White House and the Senate. The timing for Hughes feels critical, he says. “I can’t really think of anything else right now.”
During a global pandemic and social and political unrest currently shaking up the country, the stakes feel all the higher this election cycle. The White House has failed to control the spread of COVID-19, even as Trump contracts (and spreads) the virus himself. However, Hughes says the call for another Blue Wave isn’t so much about political parties as it is about protection and justice in the face of bigotry and violence. “This is not a call for everyone to join the Democratic Party,” he said in his original 2018 post. “It is not a call to pretend the Democrats do not have their own problems or to suggest that voting straight D will fix everything. It won’t…. but the current GOP is aiding and abetting the authoritarian destruction of our system of governance under the cult of Trump.”
This election’s spell, like most of Hughes’ work, is fairly simple. There’s no need to run out to the nearest metaphysical shop and purchase $50 worth of artisan candles or special oils. All you need is a blue candle, a small red candle, a black and white printout of the U.S., blue paint/crayon/marker, the Justice tarot card (or a print-out of it) and a pin or nail. Hughes also recommends bringing a photo or campaign material of your favorite Democrats running for office this election. The full spell can be found on Hughes’ Medium account and should be performed as often as possible before the election, but may have particular potency during the upcoming blue moon (the second full moon in a month) which is on Halloween night. It also makes an excellent activity on election day to channel some of that nervous energy.
By now you might be wondering “what’s with this woohoo sh*t? Magic isn’t real!” Hughes says that’s not really the point. “At the very minimum, it’s a way for people to affirm their desires and to focus their intention and energy. I think that does make a difference. I always say, even for people who don’t believe magic or rituals are efficacious at all, it still has a positive effect on the people doing it.”
Civic engagement doesn’t stop at the cauldron though. In addition to manifesting civic intentions, Hughes hopes the spell will encourage voters to research the candidates running locally, too. While it can feel like the presidential race is the only one that matters, there are a ton of positions up for election locally as well as important ballot measures voters should be paying attention to.
The official casting of both the Blue Wave and Bind Trump spell will take place Oct 31 at 11:59 EST. Not only will this casting be under a Blue Moon (the second full moon in one month), it’s also the first time since WWII the moon will be visible to the entire globe making for a particularly charged night of mischief.
