Behold!

We don't get excited enough about creation. Could we make the world better if we did?

So the Spawn and I are in Vienna, Austria visiting friends. One of the things that caught my eye as I was planning activities was a light show in a church on Rooseveltplatz. The show was a riff on the Biblical creation myth from the book of Genesis. I had chosen this because a 30 minute light show set to music is perfect for Spawn. It’s not likely to overwhelm him sensorily, and it’s short enough that he won’t get bored. And let’s face it, light shows are cool. And a light show in an ornate space like the nave of a Catholic Church is bound to kick ass.

I was not wrong.

Most cosmologies have creation myths. After all, where did all this come from is a pretty reasonable question for any sentient being to ask. And because every cosmology views the Universe differently, creation myths are diverse and often have a touch of the ridiculous, which makes them fascinating.

So couple that with bold music and bright lights and wonder is bound to ensue.

And as I contemplated the act of creation in the midst of this stunning display of lights and music, some things occurred to me.

First, it occurred to me that this is what we are here for -- to create things of wild beauty and meaning. It is the highest and best thing we can be doing with our time in this world. It is the thing that is undeniably positive and the thing that makes us most satisfied and most human.

What if we could live in a world where all of our ingenuity and resources were aimed at creating opportunities for humans to build wonderful things for each other? Things like renewable energy sources, beautiful homes, medical centers where sick people are healed, community spaces where we can be together and sing and dance or create kick ass light shows.

What if every day we got the chance to turn to the folks around us and proclaim, “BEHOLD WHAT I HAVE MADE!” What if that was how we lived our lives? How awesome would that be? And what if our fellows were there to cheer us on as we created, with resources and encouragement and constructive help?

BEHOLD I HAVE CREATED A LIGHT SHOW!

BEHOLD I HAVE CREATED A POWERPOINT!

BEHOLD I HAVE REBUILT AN ENGINE!

BEHOLD I HAVE WRITTEN A STORY!

BEHOLD I HAVE HEALED A BROKEN LEG!

BEHOLD I HAVE HELPED SOMEONE BUY A HOUSE!

What if we could have a moment like this every day? What if we lived our lives looking for those moments and being loud and joyful about them?

What if we measured success by how much joy and wonder we could incite in those around us with the things we shout “BEHOLD” about?

Yeah, it sounds polyanna-ish and a little strange. But we are living in some strange times, where a deranged old man and the craven lickspittles who follow him are being allowed to perpetrate atrocious things that are stupid as fuck. And you know what? I’m tired of being appalled and afraid. I’m tired of the cruelty and destruction and people looking for ways to flex on each other to show how powerful they are by how they can dominate each other. I am tired of gotcha games and “owning” people we don’t agree with. If we’re gonna get strange and stupid, let’s get strange and stupid in ways that might actually make the world a better place to live.

I sat in that light show and wondered at it, and thought, what a gift to be able to do this, and to partake in it. Everyone deserves to have this gift. How do we make a world where people, all people from every place and every stratum of society, has the opportunity to exist in this kind of creative joy?

We are in the midst of a war. Actually, more like many wars whose lines are all blurring together and threatening to engulf us all. And wars are about destruction. So much of our world is about domination, destruction, and what you can own instead of what you can make. Those who try to sell us on those things usually have no soul. They destroy because they cannot create, and therefore want to negate creation.

The thing is, creation, the state of making something out of nothing, of building the seeds of a thing into a full grown entity, that’s why I do magic. THAT’S why I’m a witch. I live for the moment when I can shout out SO MOTE IT BE (which is a witchy version of saying BEHOLD!) and announce to the Universe that something beautiful and alive that wasn’t before, now is. That something that was broken or un-whole is made new again, or maybe for the first time. That shit is amazing when you can make it happen. Nothing can beat that feeling. It’s what magic, and being human, is for.

I do understand that conflict is inevitable. Sometimes the thing you want to shout BEHOLD about is gonna make someone else unhappy. But I think we might be able, if we try, to have fewer of these awkward moments than we do now. And the fact that it doesn’t work out every time is no reason to stop trying to make it work as many times as you can.

And let’s be clear on something -- ownership and creation are two different things. This is why guys like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos don’t really count as creators. Elon hasn’t created a damn thing in his life. He just buys shit other people have made and adds more money and people to it until someone tells him it’s more valuable than when he bought it. Jeff Bezos hasn’t created anything that wasn’t made off the exploitation of others in a long long time, and it’s why he’s become so pathetic to watch now as he tries to live his best oligarch life, at the expense of the rest of us.

We are fighting for our lives, to have a future for ourselves and for our planet. And it’s easy to forget as we try to fight those that know only how to own or destroy, that what we are fighting for is the ability to create the future we want.

And here’s the really important part: we cannot create a thing in the world until we have first created it in our minds. That’s the basic underlying principle of all magic, and all creation. So we need to make sure that we don’t lose the power to wonder. We must keep a mind that imagines the best of all possible worlds, even as we grapple with and fight against the worst offenses against humanity and democracy and creation that we have ever seen.

In the midst of doubt, darkness and fear, find the places and spaces where you can indulge in the wonder of imagination and the magic of creating and the joy of sharing it in community. Find moments where you can shout BEHOLD! They want you to forget that power when you claim the battle cry of the creator. Because it’s the one thing that will overwrite their attempts to own things and destroy them.

Stay creative, witches. Make really great shit for you and your community and shout BEHOLD! into the Universe with wild joy and profligate generosity. Do it every day. Get your friends to do it too. Do it together and egg each other on to do it more and more. This is the thing that delivers the wonderful world we all want to live in. It’s the thing they can’t destroy.

Blessed be.