story change

I love the Oscars. I’ve watched them as far back as I can remember, my parents letting me stay up late – a tradition I carried on when I had my own child. If magic is defined as “changing consciousness at will”, then movies are magic. Throughout time, stories have held power. Movies are the stories and myths of popular culture, binding us together and creating frames of reference. On Oscar night we gather around the flicker of the television screen to celebrate the stories and honor and award those who’ve written, directed, produced, edited, and acted out the stories. Awards are given too to those who created sets, dressed the actors, and made the music that fueled the story. People gather around the screen, debating who they think deserves the award, placing bets, arguing over the significance of the stories. And, of course, dish the fashion. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.

Last year there was a plethora of movies with gay characters, signaling that the closet door of consciousness is wide open and won’t be closing. This year, the Oscars showed we are opening up to stories from other lands, other cultures, signaling that the United States just may be beginning a shift away from considering ourselves front and center. More movies were nominated that were made outside of Hollywood, with at least one, Babel, centering on a more international understanding. People of color were in the past an aberration as Oscar nominees and winners, so much so that there has been a secret tradition of a “Black Oscars” where black actors get together the night before the Oscars to recognize each other’s achievements, knowing they will be invisible the following night. This gathering was cancelled this year, due to visibility.

I miss the spontaneity of Oscars of my youth, when you could count on Vanessa Redgrave or Marlon Brando to say or do something out of the box. But that was a different time. As I watched the Oscars this year, I thought about how it is not only an award ceremony for the movies, those pictures which do tell a thousand tales, but is in itself a story and reflection of our time.

What struck me this year is how the story of climate change is finally center stage, thank the Goddess and Al Gore. It has affected the Oscars quite literally. The Oscars have gone green. When Leo announced this, I got the kundalini spark up the spine. The story is changing. The story makers are literally paying attention to the environment. As Melissa Etheridge was singing “An Inconvenient Truth”, there was a stark print in back of her on a screen with facts on climate change. As she came to the end of her song, one sentence held on the screen for just a little bit longer than the others. That sentence was “Pray that people will find the strength to change”.

I’m praying. And on the full moon of March 2^nd beginning at 7:30 pm Eastern Time I will be working with Hecate and her circle in invoking a recipient for the $25 million prize for the scientist who invents/discovers a way to remove carbon from the atmosphere which has been offered by Sir Richard Branson. Join us. I know the story can’t be as simple as one scientist figuring out how to stop climate change. We all have to change. That’s the change in climate that NEEDS to occur. I saw the climate change at the Oscars this year. Nobody carried a sign; there were no cry of outrage. But if the Oscars have gone green, maybe we all can. That's what I will be thinking about on this full moon. I love the Oscars. I love stories of all kinds. The story is changing. Let’s pray in the way we witches do that we all find the strength to change and we change the story. And let's look fabulous while we do it. I love the Oscars.