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Of all forms of government, theocracy has got to be the most oppressive.

If you haven't noticed yet that a Kreesh-chun America is the Great Evangelical American Dream, you're not paying attention.

What do you call it when a power-driven and dictatorial religious minority bullies, lies, and stacks courts, in order to legislate its own religious values onto others?

Sure sounds like tyranny to me.

Well, the Trump Court of partisan hacks has overturned Roe v. Wade, as we all knew it would.

For me personally, the hardest part of all has been hearing the smug, sanctimonious voices crowing about their victory, and vaunting about what they're going to do next to shove their hate-filled religion even further down everyone else's craws.

(Make no mistake, the war over abortion is at heart religious. Anti-abortionism is a specifically Christian movement embraced almost exclusively by certain forms of Christian conservatism, both Catholic and Protestant. When it comes to abortion, Jewish and Islamic religious law tends to be both more pragmatic and more nuanced. Nuance, of course, has never been an Evangelical strong suit, and Catholicism threw it out with Vatican II.)

So here's what we need to remember when it's our turn—as it eventually will be, because the Evangelical cause has already failed; having to legislate your religion onto others is already a concession of defeat—and the shoe is on the other foot.

Win graciously.

Acknowledge that this triumph is painful for others.

Acknowledge the humanity of the other side.

Acknowledge that their positions are as deeply-held, and honestly-held, as ours.

Affirm that we go forward together into a shared future.

It’s time again to set your intentions for the moonth ahead with the help of these Cancerian inspired paintings from my five hand painted oracle decks. So, take some time and space to recharge your batteries for this New Moon. Enjoy a soul reading below with guidebook wisdom from the cards.

Washington D. C. (Reuters)

For the first time in its history, the US Supreme Court building was struck by lightning last night, less than 24 hours after, in a controversial split ruling, the Supreme Court overturned the right to reproductive freedom guaranteed by Roe. v. Wade.

While no injuries were reported, and structural damage to the building was minimal, according to building manager Letitia Robinson, “The building's entire electrical system is fried. We may not have it up and working again until late next week.”

When asked by reporters, senior justice Clarence Thomas denied any significance to the timing of the lightning-strike.

“God had nothing to do with this,” he said. “This is meteorological coincidence, pure and simple.”

Dr. Melanie Powers, high priestess emerita of Washington, D. C., had a different perspective.

“In 1966, the heathens of Iceland petitioned the Althing—parliament—to have their religion formally recognized. Parliamentarians thought it was a joke, and denied the petition. Next day, the Ministry of Religion was struck by lightning,” she told reporters. “The day after that, Parliament reversed itself and granted the petition unanimously.

“It remains to be seen,” she added, “whether the partisan hacks of SCOTUS will have the wisdom, not to mention the humility, to do the same.”

In western societies (like all societies), people have fundamental and largely unspoken assumptions about how the world is supposed to work and how we are to behave.

Subscribers to these assumptions believe that they are inherently entitled to certain rights, for example, and that governance should protect these rights and enable redress if they are violated: something called justice. They assume that sexually exclusive life commitment by two partners is the default and only “real” relationship format, which is known as monogamy. They view men as superior to women in a wide variety of ways, and that women exist primarily to advance the wishes of men, a system called patriarchy. They accept hierarchical authority to set behavioral rules and the policing power of governance up to and including the usage of violence to enforce them, an arrangement known as the social contract. They view other cultures as inferior to their own, and believe it acceptable to subjugate and exploit them for their cultural resources and homelands, which is colonialism. They view darker-skinned people and people of non-European extraction with suspicion, if not hostility and/or contempt, which is racism. They assume that an acceptably “normal” relationship is between a (cis-gendered) man and a (cis-gendered) woman, which is heteronormativity. They assign particular qualities, behaviors, interests and even colors as “belonging” to one gender or another, which are gender norms. They agree that the exchange of labor ultimately benefiting an investor class for the means to acquire life necessities like shelter, food and health care is a valid and normal transaction, and that they are entitled to whatever they can afford with money, which is capitalism, and that to loyally and diligently engage in this exchange is both a moral good, which is celebrated as the work ethic, and will lead to economic and status advancement, which is meritocracy. They are uncomfortable and insecure about sexuality and pleasure, which leads them to condemn those who openly enjoy and celebrate them, condemning them as immoral hedonists.

With large, fragrant flowers, the peony has been a garden favorite for centuries. My parents grew them, my grandmother grew them, and almost everyone seemed to have peonies in their gardens. Artists have also had a passion for these flowers, but there’s a lot more to peonies than their beauty.
         The Greeks believed peonies could glow night because they came to earth from the moon. The plant was believed to chase away evil spirits and protect the house where it grew. Wearing a necklace of peony seeds was said to ward off bewitchment. However, the roots were regarded as especially powerful and a carved one served as a protective amulet against faeries and goblins.
        According to Pliny the Elder and others, a necklace made from the roots could ward off nightmares as well as the incubus. Anglo-Saxons wore it to cure lunacy and illness caused by demonic possession. Heavily promoted by physicians in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, polished pieces of root were made into beads and worn as an amulet called an anodyne necklace. In addition to a range of ailments including teething babies, the necklace was said to cure the “secret disease” (venereal disease).
        In addition to gracing your garden, try a little modern magic with peonies. For a good luck charm, dry and polish a piece of root to carry with you. A sachet of dried petals on the bedside table invites faeries into your dreams; it will also dispel bad dreams or negative thoughts that keep you from falling asleep.

Oppressors, we defy you.

The word of the Horned, God of Witches:

When the law is unjust, break it:

for mine is the law against law.

He is Free, and the Father of Freedom: the Liberator, breaker of shackles.

Unjust law is no law.

Oppressors: we are the witches, and we defy you.

If you want to jump-start your life and bring about positive change, tap into the power of the rose and red stones. Stones of this side of the color spectrum contain life’s energy and can help you become more motivated, more energetic, and more vibrant, and also give you and appealing aura. Wear this list of rosy and red stones or place them on your desk and throughout your home for an instant boost: alexandrite, carnelian, garnet, red coral, red jasper, rhyolite, rose jasper, and ruby.