A homily for the New Moon on January 29, 2025.
Dearly Beloved,
I greet you in the name of the Divine and in the name of the goddess Aphrodite. I pray that in these difficult times, when so much is in doubt and so many of us are under threat, that you find yourselves safe, hopeful, and thriving as much as possible. For those who are in need of intercessory prayer or pastoral care, please feel free to contact me. It’s literally what I am here for.
I know that a lot of people are scared. I’m scared, too. And I know that a lot of people are angry. I’m angry, too. So I was as surprised as anyone could be when I pulled a card—as I often do—to decide upon which virtue I would write today, and got the 7 Of Cups. By itself, with no surrounding spread or other cards, any card can have multiple interpretations, so I reached out to feel a bit, to gauge the intent of the Divine as best I could, and got an immediate confirmation. The resonances were clear. Pleasure was the right topic, the right virtue for this New Moon.
Needless to say, I was confused. So I spent some time contemplating the topic and came to a surprising conclusion: that pleasure—real pleasure—is powerful. That pleasure is revolutionary. That pleasure is the surest key to our desire and will, and that desire and will are beautiful. Desire and will are holy. Desire and will are what magick is all about.
In Starhawk’s version of “The Charge Of The Goddess”, one of the holy texts of modern witchcraft, we see the text:
“Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.”
In “Liber AL vel Legis”, the primary holy text of Thelema, we see:
“Come forth, o children, under the stars, & take your fill of love! I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.” -AL 1:12-13
Why this emphasis on love? On joy? On pleasure? Aren’t these things all of us enjoy, by definition? Why would the Divine put so much importance on these things? And why now, in modern holy texts, has this emphasis become so pronounced? In my opinion, it is because these are precisely the experiences that have been so tightly controlled by the ruling classes—political, economic, and religious—for thousands of years.
Consider: hierarchy tells us that only the pleasure of the ruling class is legitimate and that the rest of us only exist to give that pleasure to them. Capitalism tells us that only the pleasures it can sell us are worthwhile, while all other pleasures are inferior, and when capitalism is at its most powerful, it controls almost all available pleasure. Colonialism and bigotry tell us that only some people, some groups, deserve to have pleasure, and that the pleasure of all other groups is illegitimate and dangerous to society. Much of mainstream monotheism tells us that pleasure is dangerous to our souls, overstating legitimate worries about the spiritual dangers of materialism and using guilt over our natural urges as a tool for social control.
In all of these cases, the radical reclaiming of our rights to our own hearts, minds, and bodies is the key to getting back our freedom. What else are the clockwork gods of capitalism and hierarchy so afraid of in queer liberation but the liberation of pleasure? Pleasure that isn’t yoked to the reproduction of workers and soldiers or the buying and selling of products, but just sheer, exuberant pleasure in our flesh, in our hearts, and in our deliberate and ongoing relationships with each other, with the world, and with the Divine.
By legitimizing our pleasure and declaring it holy, the “Charge Of The Goddess”, “Liber AL vel Legis”, and other similar holy texts resonate with the messages of the Divine we observe throughout nature telling us that pleasure is sacred, that desire is holy, and that the Divine takes joy in our joy.
This is not to say that there is no spiritual value in asceticism. I am a big believer in prayer, contemplation, meditation, fasting, and vigils. But nature teaches us that to be healthy all things must exist in balance. If we sometimes fast (including sexual abstinence), we should also sometimes feast. If we sometimes keep vigils, we should also sometimes enjoy a nice nap.
This is also not to say that there isn’t spiritual value in suffering…all things partake of the Divine, and that includes suffering. But in all things, even suffering, I believe that it is possible to do them joyfully. When I fast, it is not a hardship that has been forced upon me, but a spiritual discipline, an ancient and holy tradition, a gift handed down by thousands of years of mystics from all over the world and in which it is my privilege to partake. That doesn’t mean it’s fun—by the time I finish an extended fast I am ready to eat ALL the food—but when I’m doing it right, it is joyful.
There is , of course, also the worry that overindulgence in pleasure (or asceticism, for that matter) can be harmful. We have all seen the misery of the addict. But the key to this, again, is joy. The question must be “am I feasting (or fasting) joyfully, or am I pursuing it compulsively or because of some imbalance? Am I feeling compelled to fast, forced to feast?” If so, then this cannot be an holy and sacred act of joy and devotion, either to the Divine or to ourselves. It can only be, at best, work, and at worst, self-destruction.
So let us work together to reclaim our rights to our own minds, hearts, and bodies. Let us liberate joy and liberate ourselves in the process. Let us celebrate, make love, and make art in joy and devotion to both ourselves and to the Divine.
Let us take pleasure.
Blessed New Moon.
In love,
Soror Alice
Art: Henri Matisse, “Bonheur de Vivre”, (1906)