October: We Got You, Boo
Many cultures have traditions of feeding spirits and ancestors by leaving offerings of food. Sharing physical food with those who aren’t in physical form is more than a metaphorical act or a way to attract insects—it is part of a practice of reciprocity with the whole system that supports life. Our food grows in the ground, in soil made rich by death—by plant and animal bodies breaking down and returning to the earth. Modern living makes it easy to forget that we live within this endless cycle of death, transformation, and rebirth. When we set aside a portion of our meal for those we cannot see, we are acknowledging our connection to this cycle, our dependence on it, and, perhaps, making contact with our own inevitable transformation into the unseen.
This kind of gift is a magical, practical act. In the heart of folk tales across the world, we find someone on a dangerous quest who shares their food with a small bird or an old woman on the side of the road and then receives powerful support along their way. Lewis Hyde writes of this in his book “The Gift,” where he elaborates the spiritual and ethical consequences of gift giving (or its opposite, wealth hoarding). When we give, we are acting from gratitude and we trust that our connection to the cycles of time will bring something needed back to us. However, what returns to us is not something we can control or predict! That would be a transaction, not an offering. We could steal a magic item in hopes that it would give us power, but again folk tales caution us that magic only works in reciprocity and relationship—it is not the item that is powerful but rather the circuit of generosity and gratitude that is created in the giving.
On that note, we want to name that the language we used for this spell might not be ours to use. “Boo” as a term of endearment is from African-American culture, derived from the French “beau.” Like so many aspects of African-American culture, it’s in wide use by people of all races, but that doesn’t mean it was a gift to us. Cultural appropriation looks a lot of ways, and as white people we’re not interested in splitting hairs about whether we “get to” use this word—for a project that must be in right relationship with the world to do the magic it does, we acknowledge that we may have contributed to the ongoing pain of cultural theft and erasure, and we want to apologize and make amends. For the apology, we want to say we are sincerely sorry to anyone who saw this month’s image and felt a sting of pain, or a feeling of being taken from. For amends, we have been fundraising for black and indigenous projects, and in the coming year will be committing to the process of weaving reparations into our business model. We see this as the lifelong learning and giving that is required of us.
About the Spell
When we think of who’s speaking this spell, it can be us to the ancestors, the ancestors to us, or us to each other—to the people to whom we offer our commitment and support. Working with this spell is about stepping into the kind of generosity we need to transform generations of theft and hoarding. It is also about learning to receive support in non-material ways—emotional support, spiritual support, the support offered by your own integrity. By learning and remembering the practice of giving, we are unbreaking our hearts and reconditioning our minds. With this spell, we conjure the kind of openings that can give and receive—we call in the kind of humanity that can support and be supported.
Meditation on We Got You, Boo
For this meditation, please find a comfortable place to rest your body. As you rest, let your gaze wander or settle, whatever feels most natural. Gently notice your breath, moving in and out, the steady timekeeper at your core. Give more attention to each coming breath; each one feeding you, and clearing you out. Your breath is a very immediate source of unseen nourishment… the essence of an exchange that is with us throughout our lives, from the first inhale at birth to last exhale at death. Can you imagine right now that each inhale is a gift, an offering to your body from the unseen realms. It may take a few breaths to establish this, but perhaps you take as many breaths as you need to before exploring the more vulnerable realm of receiving them. What changes when a breath is received rather than taken? Can these shifts help orient you to more unseen support? To experiment with this, let your attention pour into the feel of your body breathing, the feel of your body resting, even the feeling of your mind as it allows this reorientation to flow through you. Unseen support being offered in every breath. Unseen support being offered to every cell of your body by the earth and its pull on you. Unseen support being offered by the love that holds you, the life force that sustains you, and the countless connections that make that life and love possible. For however long you’d like to, rest, receive, and be fed by the unseen. And, as you are ready, perhaps you close this meditation by gathering together some food on a plate and offering it back in thanks to the unseen forces that hold and sustain you.
About the painting
Corina: What can I say, I love it when my sister paints earthenware. Something about the trompe l’oeil effect of paint looking like flecks of baked stone just does it for me. I’m also welcoming the energy of this spell right now for personal reasons—this month we’re really leaning into our ancestors for support, as I’m recovering from surgery and Jo is having a baby! I also feel pretty humbled that our spell about generosity and reciprocity highlighted our own need to step up our anti-racist work, notice what we’ve assumed was ours to take, and be in better relationships of giving back.
Jocelyn: This time of year always brings me outdoors in wonder and appreciation. It felt good to have a painting for this month reflect how I like to bring myself to the world during this season—with gifts, with gratitude, with a sense of connection to the unseen. I remember the painting was quite fun to do — so different from the usual animal portraits or nature scenes. The recognition afterwards that we used language that may not be ours to use was a powerful lesson -- one I’m glad Corina and I both want to open ourselves and our collaboration to. The spell for this month has become even more supercharged with relevance for me as I will be going through quite the initiation this month—bringing a new human into the world! I can feel in this spell the reassurance of those that hold me, and the reassurance we are all offering this new little person as they emerge into the air and color of their life. What a time!
This month
Please consider buying and/or gifting our 2021 calendar this season! Since we’re without craft fairs this year, we’re relying almost entirely on Etsy sales to distribute our calendars and make a living this winter.
We will be doing our best to keep shipping in a timely manner, but having a newborn in the house means we’ll actually have no idea what “time” is anymore :) Don’t worry, we’ll have help - and the orders themselves are a huge help for our family!
As always, you can follow our shenanigans at @abacuscorvus on Instagram. And you can find out what each of us is up to by following @corinadross and @jocelyncorvus