Party/Prayer for Prana

In the first week or so of my son attending Catholic high school (what better rebellion for a pagan raised teenager!) he said to me; “There’s a lot of people who have cancer, aren’t there?” In quizzing him on why he said this, I found out that there was a daily go-around in one of his classrooms where each student could ask others to support them in their prayers. Casey was struck by how many of them had family or loved ones with cancer, and that this is what most of the prayers were concerned with.

This, along with finding out that every class and event starts with the call of “Let us remember” and the response being “we are in the sacred presence of God”, has softened my resistance to this school he fought so hard to attend. I like him being reminded the sacred is always present. There was a time my feminist witch self would have rankled with the term "God", but Casey has been raised with so much Goddess imagery, I trust that for him, this God that is being invoked is just one among many…half or more which have female form. It helps that Mary is a big presence at Sacred Heart as well. It’s striking that one month of Catholic school provided more awareness of personal suffering than nine years of his progressive elementary school. I think I just might be in favor of prayer in school, but maybe just that - prayer - to any and all gods or spirits that a child finds appealing.

My mother was diagnosed soon after this conversation in September with breast cancer, and she is nearing the end of her chemo treatments. I’m sure Casey has included her in his prayers at school more than once. This week, hopefully he is also asking for prayers for our friend Jeremy. It was a year ago that I was in England when I got the news that Jeremy had cancer. Jeremy has worked on many environmental and social justice campaigns, and has been working for Greenpeace for the last couple of years. He is an incredible photographer, and has documented all his travels, including this current journey as a cancer patient. I met Jeremy before the WTO actions in Seattle, and he helped shape the magic we witches did there. He is an accomplished healer, able to spot where energy is stuck and intuitive as all hell about how to move it. This cancer has been a tremendous challenge.

Dealing with this cancer, Jeremy has kept his focus on healing, on loving, as opposed to outcome. Tomorrow night, we who are his circle of friends and family are going to offer up a mighty spell, a prayer put into action, in service of Jeremy and in service of the life force. My house will host what we are calling “A Party for Prana”. There will be a silent auction and I’m in the process of making altars that have cauldrons on them to hold and stir up donations. In true Jeremy fashion, he has created a foundation to raise money for activists who have life- threatening illnesses or have been injured. This party is a benefit for Jeremy and his “Healing the Roots” Foundation. Even with pain wracking cancer, Jeremy's prana continues to remain a vibrant and beautiful force.

Last night's rain has made today's city sparkle. I can feel the energy of Beltane building. Tomorrow's party will be teeming with it. It will be magical. We will dance, drink and be merry, and there will be some tears, too. Lots of money will be raised. We will take care of each other, and we will have fun doing it. Please support us in this spell, this prayer put into action. Too many people have cancer. This party is for prana, for the life force, and for healing. Prayers are powerful, and this party is a prayer. Everyone is invited. Please come.