“Mutual aid is a form of protest and a form of protest magic”
BY EMMA CIESLIK (SHE/HER), IMAGES BY FRANKIE CASTANEA
Over the past year, queer protest magic has proliferated online, as has a deep dive into the histories of queer protective magic throughout time. “I have a big handful of queer and trans clients,” Italian-American folk magic practitioner Frankie Anne Castanea said, “that are seeking out protective magics or magics that are a little bit more intensive, or magics to pass, and those are all very rooted into various historical folk magics tend to have a lot of workings for trans and queer folks.”
Castanea has written a literal book on protest magic: Spells for Change: A Guide for Modern Witches, published in April 2022. Better known online as the Chaotic Witch Aunt, they are the godparent of modern queer protest magic, publishing a piece on their blog about Protective Magic for Protesting Practitioners, which has been continually updated with workings, safety information, and resources as needed including not only protest safety but intentional practices for identity and healing in the face of queerphobic, xenophobic, and racist violence.
As a result of increasing violence against queer and trans communities and folk magic and witchcraft communities as well, “actively sitting in a liminal space is a protest in itself,” Castanea said. “I think that actively participating in queer community and building resilience and joy and forming communal mutual aid networks based on that experience is also a protest in itself, and there are so many different ways to incorporate folk magic in that. And I would even argue that folk magic is community and mutual aid.”
Protesting in the streets and civil disobedience against the police and ICE are critical, especially for white protestors who have more privilege and protection because of white supremacy, but it’s not a form of rebellion accessible to all people. Especially for disabled individuals, Black and indigenous people of colour, and many others who are not physically able to engage in this form of protest or who face intense violence from the police, state-sanctioned officials, and other fringe and private militia groups, face more deadly violence if they engage in this protest.
For Castanea, there is folk magic specifically devoted to keeping people safe during this, especially found in the PaganPunk Community Grimoire Project, a resource created by gay hedge priest Ron Padrón. The Project provides free one or two-page zines with histories, rituals, and spells that people can easily access online, including one by Padrón about Queer Ancestors, another by M. Belanger to restore equity and justice in the United States, and finally a recipe and ritual for lip balm protection magic by Vittorio Benetti.
As Benetti wrote in the zine, his cargo pants act like a hidden backpack, full of non-magical things like a coin wallet and spare keys, as well as magical ones like crystals and sigils. “In my ongoing exploration of urban, street, and punk witchcraft, I was looking for something protective, easy to carry, versatile enough for multiple uses, and that could be hidden in plain sight whether I’m on the street or at the office.” The protective lip balm he created was a covert but powerful form of protective magic while out in public and while protesting.
But for people who cannot go out in the streets to do this work, “protest, especially coming from a place of privilege, a place of whiteness, is finding and being in community spaces. It’s ensuring that my spaces are safe and accessible for Black, indigenous people of colour and queer, Black indigenous people of colour.”
Queer protest magic doesn’t necessarily have to be what many consider traditional magic – spells, rituals, and sachets – rather, it is collective action inspired by historical solidarity with queer ancestors and the queer and trans people that are today fighting for their lives.
“It’s ensuring that I am making sure that their voices are the first voices heard,” Castanea said, “and it’s also building community spaces for people to just be themselves. It’s forming mutual aid networks. It’s ensuring that you’re checking in with your trans and queer friends and relatives. It’s making sure that they know that if they need a place to crash, your house is there. We often think of community and protest as two separate things, but for me, community is protest. Mutual aid is a form of protest and a form of protest magic.”
Protest magic at its heart has always been about fighting systemic abuse and violence, and in times of increasingly state-sanctioned and led violence against queer, immigrant, disabled, and BIPOC individuals and communities, protest magic has reemerged as a vital tool not just for queer people but for all peoples who are marginalised, discriminated against, and harmed.
“Protest magic isn’t just rooted in being an Italian American,” Castanea continued, “but anyone who experiences or has ever historically experienced marginalisation or discrimination, including queer folks, Black and indigenous people of colour. There have always been spells and folk magics and practices that are rooted in survival.”
So as we near Samhain, a pagan festival centered on the liminal space between life and death, and Halloween, a gay sacred holiday in its own right, Castanea invites queer and trans people – and all people – to engage in folk magic themselves, to not be afraid that they will do it wrong, make mistakes, or be excluded, or that practicing folk magic will invalidate their cultural or religious past or roots or challenge any interfaith identity or practice.
Rather, Castanea urges people to find their own local communities – on social media, at local botanicas and metaphysical shops, at magical workshops and circles – and ethical teachers who cite their sources, and more than anything, that in the true spirit of queer and trans folk magic and queer Halloween, people not “be afraid to fuck around and find out.” They urge people to find and flourish in the generative power of queer and trans protest magic, as protection and nourishment during a time of increasing violence.
Love media made by and for LGBTQIA+ women and gender diverse people? Then you’ll love DIVA. We’ve been spotlighting the community for over 30 years. Here’s how you can get behind queer media and keep us going for another generation: linkin.bio/ig-divamagazine
Did you know that DIVA has now become a charity? Our magazine is published by the DIVA Charitable Trust. You can find out more about the organisation and how you can offer your support here: divacharitabletrust.com
