branches up, roots down

Last night, as my spouse and I were driving across the city to go to my son's football game, we passed city hall. It was bathed in blue light. We'd never seen this before, and both wondered what it meant. To me, it looked like our city hall was lit with the blue fire I learned way back when to cast circles with, the blue fire of magic. It felt strange, it felt out of the ordinary, it felt a little weird. Magic can be like that. Today I will be getting on my bike and riding over to city hall to take part in standing up for my unalienable rights with queers and our allies across the country. I know now why the city hall was bathed in blue light. It is the blue light of transformation. It is the blue light of magic. And it is spreading.

"When you choose to serve -- whether it's your nation, your community or simply your neighborhood -- you are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That's why it's called the American dream." These are Barack Obama's words. Look and feel what they spell out. What spell they cast. Check out the website for the transition - change.gov Patriotism was just reclaimed. My teenage son said last night how weird he feels, as it is the first time in his life he is feeling proud to be an American. It both feels like we are in a dream, and that we've waken up. The American Dream just expanded into something completely different than the selfishness of the past decades. It no longer is a nightmare. We, the People. All of Us. Obama, you can count on me to be serving. I am for this dream.

Yesterday morning, as my spouse (and using that word is a spell) was sobbing, she kept repeating "why do they hate us so much?". I told her...amidst my own tears.... that it wasn't so much hate as fear. Fear of difference, fear of change, fear of sexuality, and fear of all of us being fully in our power. Love is the antidote and it will prevail. Harvey Milk was right when he said we must "come out, come out, wherever you are". I've been a therapist for many years and have worked with countless folks in the coming out process.The coming out process is essentially iron pentacle work . It involves reclaiming sex, pride, self, power and passion. The process of becoming self actualized means all of us, straight or gay, come out in one way or another. All of us go through a process of claiming our authentic selves, a process that never truly ends. Those of us who are queer, well, we have a bit of a rougher road to hoe in coming out. For many, coming out means...

but, I'm not the only one. This morning I woke to my new spouse (we married on Sunday) crying beside me. She'd woken up, checked the news, and discovered that proposition 8 here in California had passed....which bans gay marriage. Last week, this city was full not only of the Samhain dead, but full of gay weddings. It has been legal here for the last couple of months. Today that has changed. Last night we cried in joy and intense gratitude. The streets of San Francisco were full of happy crying people. The election was not stolen, and America woke up. I am still exhilarated, still full of gratitude. And, full of resolve. I know that in my lifetime there will be full civil rights for gay and lesbians in this country. I can fully imagine it. I cried too, this morning. But in my tears there was joy. The tide has turned. Barack Obama included gays in his speech last night. Anything can happen if we imagine it. Today....I am thanking all the dreamers who have ever dared to imagine. ...