When I was a kid, I dreamed of freedom. I dreamt of leaving behind the rotten, soul-sucking gilded cage I was raised in for a place where people actually cared about each other in an honest way. I dreamt of a place where laws made to control me were replaced with procedures that honored each person’s autonomy. I dreamt of a place where joy was valued, where truth was important, and where honest suffering was better than a fake peace.
Baldart Castle, Kilkee, County Clare, Ireland by
William Trost Richards, sourced from Public Domain at National Gallery of Art
I’m lucky. I made it to freedom. I made it to a place where other people felt as I did, that our society is built on the backs of people suffering without any reason other than another human’s fear. I found people who were dedicated to trying new ways of doing things, who could be grateful for failed experiments if they brought us wisdom. Comrades, lovers, family: my greatest treasure lay within reach.
You are all unreliable and incredibly annoying.
If I thought the fake happiness and backstabbing gossip of the suburb was bad, I was blown away by the overly-defensive, unforgiving, irresponsible behavior of my fellow freaks. It turns out that when you escape a childhood and adolecence in sick social structures, you don’t actually have the skills to live in healthy community. You have to learn them. What’s worse, everything I saw that disappointed me in other people were also qualities I began to see in myself. If I wanted things to improve, I would need to improve myself first.
Its hard. It’s not work that can be done in a few years, but a lifetime. If we are to suceed, if we are to live in a world where people work together to build a better future, we are all going to have to rethink and reframe how we see our relationships with other people.
This is where Pearl Pentacle comes in. I’m not a big fan of the Andersons, but a lot of witches I know who endorse it are the ones who walk the walk. I may not fully understand this pentacle, but I know that I trust the people who are running the class. These are the people who have show me, by example, what healthy boundaries and communication could look like. What it means to be imperfect and forgive other people of their imperfections. What we could build if we actually had good relationships with each other.
Come take pearl with me. It’ll be a good time, and maybe we’ll find out how to keep the next collective we join from falling apart due to burnout and infighting.