So I live in the DC area.  Understandably, I get a lot of news about DC and the politicking and bureaucrasshattery that goes on here.  I also keep tabs on some of the local occult news and goings-on, for the off-chance that something both catches my interest and lands in a free spot in my oh-so-busy schedule.

There’s this particularly nasty event coming up called DC40.  It’s a gathering of New Apostolic Reformation Christians (“Dominionists”) who are praying around the country and in DC to rid the nation of its pagan, occult, and in-any-way-not-their-narrow-view-of-Christianist-dogma-dogshit influences.  It’s pretty damn horrifying, really, and it only gets more vitriolic and angry day by day.  I refuse to link to it since I don’t want to give them the traffic, but it’s horrifying.

Their general plan is this: for each of fifty-one days, they’ll be praying in different state, gathering together these sorts of Christian extremists to “pray out the demons” from the nation and getting God to elect people just as hardcore, extreme, fundamentalist, and uncompromising as themseles.  From 10/2 until 11/11, they’ll be praying to turn DC into the “District of Christ” within DC, and another 11 days after that in Philadephia.  They’re keeping this around the pagan festivals of Halloween/All Hallows Eve/Feast of the Dead/Samhain, in case you didn’t notice, for added douchebaggery.

Pagans, occultists, and non-Abrahamic practitioners haven’t let this slip, and have made an uproar about this among themselves and to the DC40 folks.  The DC40 folks replied with this almost revolting “prayer”, of which I will only post an excerpt (the whole thing is available over at the Wild Hunt, see links below):

We release perfect Blood-covered love into the core of your being!
May eternal light flood your hearts this day with the revelation of who you really are, and, more importantly, who God really is! We also pray that this revelation will dismantle and refute all arguments, theories, reasonings, and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God. Your ladder has been placed on the wrong wall. We call you to your right mind through the finished work of the cross.

The sheer number of issues I take with this alone is daunting.  “Blood-covered love” makes it sound like they’ve been reading too many trashy vampire books, and who exactly is being cursed, here?  Fuck if I know, but it sure ain’t the people who feel entitled to having a whole nation suited to their every whim whipped up by frenzy and fanaticism.  Also, keep in mind that this “prayer” is really a legit spell: invoking names of God, casting of blood and divine essences onto their targets, entering into a sort of legal deal of “he started it, thus he must be punished”, and that they’ve already done significant work beforehand to this end and this is just the implementation of something already done.  There’s a lot to this that makes it far more like something a maniacal and disturbed ceremonial magician would do rather than some Christ-like good shepherds and sheep gathering for some spontaneous heartfelt prayer.

Now, I’m not gonna lie.  This gets me worked up in no good way.  I’m rather glad to live in the US where I can expect, as guaranteed me constitutionally, that I’m free to practice whatever the fuck I want for my religion, including not practicing at all; that I’m free to live my life as I choose without harm and harming none in the process.  That, to me, is the essence of America, and moreover, of America’s deity, patroness, and deification Columbia, Goddess of Freedom.  I’m going to help out as I can by making prayers to Columbia, if at least to counter the imprecatory bullshit espoused by the Dominionists, for one.  For another, I’ll see what I can do about getting together an effort to nonintrusively affect the Dominionists’ sphere of influence to limit, chain down, banish, and maybe even nullify their prayers (daunting, yes, impossible, maybe not).  While they may not call it such, what they’re doing is exersizing a fuckton of magical will and power here.  They may not call it magic, they may not have much experience with different planes, and they may not realize that divinities and powers listen to humankind of all streaks and creeds, but they’re doing magic and harmful magic at that.

Have some links to help you out, if you’re interested in more info to help against this bullshittery:

• Over at Into the Mound, the splendid IanC has written a prayer and charm to help act as a counterspell.  I’ll be using it daily in my devotions and works for anything related to this or future Columbian works.  (UPDATE!) IanC gave permission to repost it, so to keep it in my index, I’ve reposted it in full below.  Go give him site traffic anyway.
  

  This is a voice of the people, the people of the United States of America.
  In the United States, let no god be master, and let all be free.
  Let this be the voice of the Wise, for wisdom is my prayer.
  In the United States, let no god be master, and let all be free.
  Let the wisdom of the founders bring freedom.
  In the United States, let no god be master, and let all be free.
  Let the freedom in our spirits be the foundation of the law.
  In the United States, let no god be master, and let all be free.
  Let our law proclaim that we have no ‘lords’.
  In the United States, let no god be master, and let all be free.
  May our Ancestors witness our commitment to freedom and justice.
  In the United States, let no god be master, and let all be free.
  May the Other Kins of North America know our commitment to their well-being.
  In the United States, let no god be master, and let all be free.
  May the Gods and Goddesses of all peoples know welcome in our nation.
  In the United States, let no god be master, and let all be free.
  By Sky and by Grain, by Mountain and by Plain, by Liberty and by Justice
  In the United States, let no god be master, and let all be free.
  From sea to sea, so be it!

• Jason Pitzl-Walters keeps tabs on the event and other associated topics at his blog The Wild Hunt over on Patheos.
• If you’re interested in getting a statue of Columbia for an altar or focus, the United States Capitol Historical Society sells them made from the same marble as the Capitol Building itself.  I’m considering getting one myself.
• (UPDATE!) The Hail Columbia project is a group of Pagans and like-minded people to protect and guard the religious freedom that America was built on.  They’re getting together an effort to fight back against the DC40 campaign and other projects, and you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

Also, if you’re interested, talk to your local pagan groups, meetups, covens, whatever.  Get involved, send an email, get some coffee with them.  Anything within an hour’s drive is fair game.  Strength here lies in numbers, and the Dominionists get more day by day; there aren’t that many of them, but they’re being loud about it, and that can be even worse.