Mercury Retrograde, Indigenous Weed Witches, Election Hexes + Hemp Wicks
Plus: NOW! That's What I Call Weed Witch Vol. 6
(Pictured: Sacheen Littlefeather at the 1973 Oscars; Breonna Taylor enjoying a moment in the sun by Allegra Maria)
Vol. #15
Astromotional World Update: Mercury Retrogrades (UGH!) in Dramarama Scorpio + Election Hexes
Indigenous Weed Witches
Breonna Taylor: A Woman Who Deserved A Moment in the Sun
Weed Witch Reads
Ask A Weed Witch: What’s A Hemp Wick?
Weirdos of the Week: Ask Wanda
Now! That’s What I Call Weed Witch Vol. 6
Dear coven,
This is coming to you late, again, which should not come as surprise. Time is a construct! I have been spending some time checking out TikTok, which is like watching my teen years on the internet all over again. Good lord.
Aside from the fact there is an unattended six-year-old somewhere in America with a smartphone who makes videos from her princess bedroom with something like 300 followers that started following me, there are so many kids on mushrooms and weed acting like such idiots. I just keep thinking: “I am so very glad that I did not have TikTok when I was in high school and could just do stupid shit with a disposable camera and fading Polaroids.” I’m telling you: analog is going to have considerable value someday.
We are less than a month away from this election that will never end as we collectively sit on edge, wondering if it’s better or not to end because everything is totally terrifying (please register to vote!).
Yesterday was Indigenous People Day (here’s a thing on why everyone hates Christopher Columbus), preceded by National Coming Out Day, and we have officially just entered the last Mercury Retrograde of 2020, when the planet appears to move backwards as a optical illusion. This particular transit is in Scorpio, which is a majorly intense water sign known for being for a total dramarama. Sophie Saint Thomas has an excellent breakdown here.
Scorpio is a water sign ruled by both Mars and Pluto and is the sign of death and rebirth. At its worse, this sign can be jealous, obsessive, distrustful, and paranoid. At its best, Scorpio is sexy, loyal, and highly intuitive. In addition to the scorpion, Scorpio is represented by the phoenix, which means that even in the toughest of times, Scorpio isn't afraid to take a risk on something new because it knows it will rise again, even if things don't exactly pan out the way they were supposed to. During this retrograde, we have the opportunity to let go of old, useless ways of communicating and find newer, more suitable methods.
My favorite way of communicating, for example, is using my human voice and face with direct and reasonable dialogue. Somehow humanity is losing this as a skillset. I think it used to be called “people skills.” It is wild how many people are incapable of this. Can you believe it?
I would say, “Who could have envisioned this future?” but I did watch the Terminator franchise and Total Recall quite a bit in my younger years, and besides most of what we’re witnessing is pretty thematically relevant among 1960s dystopian fiction and Black Mirror, The Handmaid’s Tale, Russian Doll, and the entire Twilight Zone catalog. I mean, you know, I guess there are reasons for that these days and all. Cue the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song!
It is also worth noting that today is National Gumbo Day, which seems like a pretty good holiday to seek comfort via an ode to Louisiana Creole weed witches (here’s a pretty good overview on the differences between Cajun and Creole cultures and food). I used to hate food holidays so much because I was indignant that they were not real, but then I decided the banality of it all was so appealing.
Also, in case you forgot—because this year has been so memorably without celebration—it is October, which is supposed to be my favorite month except that our government is run by morons and everyone is psychologically damaged, including me! I couldn’t even appreciate fall foliage because I was gripped with anxiety! Ugh, cannot take it. I keep getting emails about the most amazing cannabis products and all I can think is, “Wow, how does this all exist and somehow I can’t ever get flower in a New York City dispensary?” No one is free when I am inconvenienced.
On that note, from the Temple of #PayMe:
Indigenous Weed Witches
In commemoration of Indigenous People Day, I'd like to salute Sacheen Littlefeather, who endured a room full of boos at the 1973 Oscars when Marlon Brando refused his award for The Godfather by having her read a 15-page statement to draw attention to the protests happening at Wounded Knee. Look at how fierce she looks putting up with this garbage.
Indigenous plant magic and ritualism are sacred practices that routinely struggle to strike the balance entering the mainstream alongside other practices. Tribal cannabis companies have been carving out their own space within the landscape as part of decolonization efforts created to provide a sense of community and commerce.
Given that I love niche indie magazines, happy to share that I stumbled across this free PDF magazine on Tribal Hemp and Cannabis Magazine (THC) from the Indigenous Cannabis Coalition, featuring a really interesting selection of lived stories.
Over at Cannabitch, Jackie Bryant has an excellent piece on driving two hours to a reservation for tribal hemp.
Since the mid-1800s, when the Indian Removal Act and the Indian Appropriations Act were signed, effectively creating Reservations, Tribal Nations have maintained sovereignty over the lands they were “given.” That means there isn’t much state or local government can do to control the actions of tribal governments nor what happens on their land.
So, the Santa Ysabel tribe continued growing weed. They also decided to make use of their 37,000-square-foot defunct casino by turning it into a dispensary, which was eventually aptly named Mountain Source. Honestly, I laugh thinking about this. It’s such an incredible flex, though obviously it was done out of financial need. Still. I love the thought of racist colonizers being taunted with the success of those they try to actively control and them not being able to do squat about it.
READ: Cultural Appropriation in Spiritual Practice: Magic is Real, but so is Oppression
Check out these three indigenous musicians with a subversive edge:
Alien Weaponry
Want to rage, but can’t quite make it out to a peaceful ocean or forest to meditate or scream your lungs out? Please enjoy this incredible video from Alien Weaponry, a thrash metalcore Te Reo Māori band from New Zealand. This video for "Kai Tangata" features a reenactment of 19th Century musket wars and is pretty raw (probably not as raw actually living through it).
Tanya Tagaq
Famously described as a “the polar punk who makes Bjork sound tame,” Canadian Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq has a fifth studio album called Retribution that “addresses politically-charged topics including climate change, the Canadian government’s treatment of indigenous communities, and the continued prevalence of sexual assault (highlighted by a somber cover of Nirvana’s ‘Rape Me’)” (via Six Shooter Records).
Romeo Void
Chances are you may have heard at least one or two songs from this San Francisco new wave/post punk band which was fronted by Cowlitz Native American singer and artist, Debora Iyall. Their hit song "Never Say Never" features a black-and-white music video spoofing Godard's Breathless. Please note her amazing outfit that is essentially my former uniform at post punk dance nights at Late Bar in Chicago between 2009 and 2011. I was going through kind of an “Anne Rice phase” wearing black velvet blazers with white button-up collar shirts, bolos, thick liner and messy hair. Such a good look!
WEED WITCH READS
Having a tough time reading because you can’t see beyond the cards and getting your head lost in the clouds? Feed your mind with some unexpectedly cool tales from the underground.
Breonna Taylor: A Woman Who Deserved A Moment in the Sun
When the Breonna Taylor verdict delivered a devastating blow to the world, I was both not surprised and deeply upset, which is why I did not bring it up. What do you say exactly? This wasn't just an insult and injustice to Taylor, her boyfriend, family, friends and the entire black community, but a terrifying threat against every citizen. To say that the police can show up to your home on a hunch, murder you while you are in bed sleeping, and then go home with a slap on the wrist is such a flagrant abuse of power that gives me chills to think about. Please register to vote.
Her image remains a viscereal one, as a martyr, which is both important and tragic. Certainly not the way I would ever want to be remembered. I'm not sure what she would have wanted. She's not around to ask.
My friend, Allegra Maria, an exceptionally talented artist and witch with an amazing heart, made this painting of Breonna enjoying a moment in the sunshine. It brought a smile to my face to think of her in this way because she is gone now. I will always remember what happened to her, but want to think of her drinking margaritas in the sun instead immortalized as a painful tragedy as she had been represented in months of memes and stories in the media. She sells prints of these, with donations going to the ACLU.
At present, one of the anonymous Grand Jurors is fighting Mitch McConnell for the right to speak out until after a state appeal. It seems this is more about jury procedures and what is being asked vs. race relations. I am curious what that juror has to say, but the case is in appeals so I'd rather not disrupt that progress. Progress takes time, is messy, and sometimes you have to trust that there are just as many people dedicated to fighting within a system as outside of it. It would be easier with public support. Then again, I understand why so many people stopped trusting in these systems. I just think it's better to try to vote than to do nothing at all.
Having sat on jury duty before with a civil case where both parties were wrong, it does reveal an interesting dilemma: when a jury is asked to objectively weigh facts and evidence that may fulfill an obligation of what is being asked, where perhaps questions of guilt and innocence are not so clear in legal proceedings. I am going to take a wild guess that the jury was asked specific questions and answer them objectively within the framework of antiquated laws and loopholes. That's why voting for leaders who care about these issues is important. I am curious what the juror has to say, so long as it does not disrupt the fair pursuit of appeals in the name of justice.
As a reminder, the 26-year-old Taylor was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department officers who broke down her apartment door during a botched drug raid on March 13.
Ask A Weed Witch: What’s A Hemp Wick?
As someone who has proudly smoked out of nearly every kind of bong, hitter, bowl, joint, blunt, dab rig, vape, and apple—the kind of woman who would rarely turn down an edible and tried every topical—I admit, I still learn about new things every day. Case in point: hemp wicks, an item I had never used in my 20 years of smoking weed (yikes!), despite owning about 50 lighters for my daily joint habit.
I was recently sent a couple of these—one from Summerland and another from Canndescent—which went mostly unnoticed until I cleaning my stashbox and realized these were not matches, but rather spools of coated hemp. (Also discovered in my stash box: a random oil cartridge. Yay!
So, why would anyone need this? Hemp wicks are useful in that butane from lighters emits noxious fumes that can be harmful after repeat use. Not only do hemp wicks reduce this as a healthier form of intake, but can tackle lighting those too-close-for-comfort roaches, bongs and bowls without worrying about singeing your eyebrows, fingernails or anything else that comes into contact with high flames.
True story: My mom once lit her whole hand on fire due to an unfortunate incident during my second grade birthday party at Pizza Hut in South Florida where her acrylic nails went in flames as she tried light some candles. Ah, the price of beauty. Safety first!
Weirdos of the Week: Ask Wanda
Our friends over at ceramic smokable company Miwak Junior found themselves marooned in Nicaragua as the pandemic hit, resulting in a lot of really amazing and weird art that I absolutely adore, including this micro-Insta account called “Ask Wanda” featuring this doll. They crack me up so much. Really going to make a concerted effort to honor more weirdos.
Now! That’s What I Call Weed Witch Vol. 6
Have you been lost in a trance? Unable to focus or get down that long list of to-dos that never seem to go away? Grab a sativa and blast some tunes to put an extra skip in your step while you get through the rest of this month. This playlist features throwback hits from the B-52s, Breeders, Bikini Kill, Os Mutantes, NEU!, Sonic Youth, Television, Sleater Kinney and more. Enjoy!
ASK A WEED WITCH
Have a question about cannabis, witch life, existentialism or nihilism, bathtubs, or whether reality is a construct? Have a cool story to share? Want to tell me about your favorite products, real life adventure, conspiracy theory, or psychic connection with ghosts manifested from your third eye? Send all your need-to-know questions to itstheweedwitch@gmail.com.