I remember when Starhawk’s Truth or Dare: Magic, Sex, and Politics was released in 1988, I was disappointed it seemed more politics than magic. I don’t think at that time I’d grasped the connection between magic and what Phil Hine refers to as the “wider world” with its politics front and center: ecology, peace, equality, diversity, and social justice. I came to spirituality and activism through my interest in Allen Ginsberg with his blending of Buddhist meditation and mantra chanting with social activism. In this new work, Acts of Magical Resistance, Hine provides a history and analysis of the intersection of activism and magic/witchcraft.
He sets the historical context where occult practitioners eschewed mixing magic with political activism. He quotes Dion Fortune’s warning to stay clear of the mundane political sphere. Often overlooked, politics and magical practice have also been a long connection. I mean, John Dee was as much a political advisor as an astrologer to Queen Bess. British witches raised the legendary cone of power against Hitler and the seemingly inevitable Nazi invasion of Britain. Leo Martello and Eddie Buczynski were as much gay activists as they were witch pioneers.
An occultist with a long connection to progressive magic and political discussions, Hine provides a fascinating history of the developing relationship between occultism and political activism. His historical survey has a British slant, but that makes it all the more informative to me with my limited awareness of occult political activist impulses in the UK over the years. He does give a shout-out to Martello in his discussion of queer activism, including an extended quote from his writing that I had not previously encountered, which I welcomed. All the more evocative, Hine includes contemporary images from the DIY publications of many of the activist movements he discusses.
Hine writes in his introduction:
Why then, this book? I feel it is useful for contemporary practitioners involved in magical activism to know what previous generations have attempted, and some of the methods they chose to go about it. Those methods might not be deemed applicable to the contemporary situation— either ethically or practically. But at a time when peaceful protesters are increasingly subject to being arrested; when protest against climate change is being labelled as a form of terrorism; when wearing a t-shirt can be a cause for arrest in the UK, or drag performance in the U.S., perhaps it is useful to know what magical approaches have been tried in the past.
Excerpt From: Phil Hine. “Acts of Magical Resistance.”
Hine follows his historical survey with a fascinating collection—what he calls a “brief romp”—of magical-poltical spells and activities. The romp includes some fascinating, creative, and, at times, even entertaining rituals, spells, charms, and other workings.
Knowing Hine’s other work, it came as no surprise that there is a lot in these 56 pages. Highly recommended.
And if you missed last year’s collection, Queerying Occultures, buy them together!