How To Perform A Texorcism: A Spooky Season Election Guide
Spooky season has officially arrived, and Texas elections are right around the corner… enter Texorcism, a witchy ritual to combine the two.
Designed by Becky Bullard, the civic witch behind Democrasexy, Texorcism is one-part mystical ritual and one-part practical voting power move.
Think of this nonpartisan guide as a five-step exercise in manifesting good Texas energy and determining how you’ll vote on November 8, 2022.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR, BECKY BULLARD:
Becky Bullard is the founder and CEO of Democrasexy, a creative civic engagement and pleasure activism organization. Democrasexy is all about making democracy sexy—so more people do it.
In addition to running Democrasexy, she’s served as an Election Judge, a Precinct Chair and Co-Chair of the Travis County Democratic Party's Training Committee, as well as co-hosted The Rabble Texas politics podcast and volunteered for various campaigns.
She’s also a civic witch.
LET’S GET THIS TEXORCISM STARTED.
You will need:
2 pieces of loose paper OR download and print this PDF if you don’t like arts and crafts
Something you like to write with—a pen, pencil, marker, etc!
A lighter
A candle
Then, follow the video or written instructions.
Step No. 1 — Light your candle and take a moment to invite in the wisdom of the Texan ancestors who came before us, like:
Ladybird Johnson, who played a crucial but unsung role in getting civil rights legislation passed when her husband LBJ was president in the ‘60s,
Barbara Jordan, the first Black woman from a former confederate state elected to the U.S. House of Representatives,
Ann Richards, the only woman elected Governor of Texas in her own right and a champion of racial and gender equality,
Emma Tenayuca, who organized the Workers Alliance in the 1930s to advocate for marginalized Mexican Americans in San Antonio,
Sarah Weddington, the Texas attorney who argued and won Roe v. Wade in front of the Supreme Court when she was only 26 years old.
We also want to invite in the energies of all those who are working for good now, as well as the wisdom of future Texans.
✨ May they guide our actions to be of the greatest benefit for those living here many generations from now. ✨
Step No. 2 — On your first piece of paper, write three evil things you want to cast out of Texas.
For example, I wrote down school shootings, abortion bans, and anti-trans legislation. (You could also write people you’d like to remove from power in Texas.)
When you’re done, please fold that piece of paper three times and set it to the side. We’ll come back to it at the end.
*You’ll notice we’re using the number 3 a lot. It’s a magical number that represents stability, openness, hope, optimism and abundance.
Step No. 3 — On your other piece of paper write three positive things you would like to manifest in Texas, then create your pentacle.
How To Create Your Pentacle:
Flip the paper over.
Draw a big Texas Lone Star—a simple, five-pointed star where the lines cross each other. (You will want to make it as big as possible because we’ll be writing inside of it.)
Then, draw a circle around the star, connecting each of the points.
Congrats, you’ve just made a pentacle! (People sometimes see this symbol and think it’s evil, but actually the opposite is true. Pentacles have been used across different faith traditions for thousands of years as a talisman of protection. You’re going to invoke the power of this pentacle to bring about transformative change in Texas.)
Next, in the middle of the star, write, “My Coven.” Take a moment to think of three people in your life who:
have similar values as you on things like abortion rights, health care, the environment, etc
are as passionate as you are about this election
you like to go on adventures with
you call when you need help doing something scary
are good at holding you accountable
inspire you
Write those 3 names down in the center of the star. (Also, these don’t have to be people that are living now. I sometimes write down my chosen ancestors. These are the people who will give you strength as you activate your election powers.)
As your coven, you will call these people and/or invoke their spirits to support you as you activate your election powers—you may want to tell them about this project, or even invite them to do it alongside you, and induct them into this ceremony.
Step No. 4 — Now, somewhere else inside the circle (it doesn’t matter where) write down at least nine people who you want to use your election powers on.
Maybe you aren’t totally sure if these people are going to vote. (There’s a strong chance many people you know won’t vote without your encouragement… in the last midterm election in 2018, less than half of registered voters actually cast a ballot—only 46.3%. And that was an 18% increase over 2014!)
To come up with your nine people, it can be helpful to think of different ways you know people…
Work friends
Lovers
Family
Neighbors
Your hair stylist
Your barista
Maybe you’re on a dodgeball or trivia team
friends from orgs, Future Front, etc!
Really give it some thought, but if you don’t arrive at nine names, that’s okay. Just draw lines for the rest—the universe will send you these names when the time is right, trust.
Step No. 5 — Now, for the names you’ve written inside your pentacle? You are offering them protection from evil—and you’re going to reach out and ask them to vote.
And that’s not magic*, that’s just some good community work. Studies have shown the most effective means of getting someone to vote is to have a person they know encourage them. So, that’s you—you have the power!
*As for the magic behind this exercise, here are a few things we invoked…
The use of 3s — 9 is 3 x 3 (triply powerful!) and represents the culmination of something, or the completion of a cycle to create way for something new and better.
The use pentacles — In a tarot deck, pentacles are connected with the elements of earth and represent tangible success. But it’s the kind of success we have to work for, much like we have to tend a garden and get our hands dirty, if we want a solid harvest. That’s the same kind of energy we need to bring to voting—if we want a positive outcome in this election in Texas, we need to get our hands dirty. The Empress is the Major Arcana card associated with pentacles in tarot, too. So, we’re also invoking some divine feminine mother energy with the power to create and nourish.
Step No. 6 — Complete the Texorcism.
Hold your pentacle page to your heart to seal in your intentions.
Then, use it to create an election altar for Texas.
Finally, grab the folded-up piece of paper with the bad things you want out of Texas. Rip it up! It feels so good! Then take it to your kitchen sink, or put it in a pot and take it outside (if you don’t want to set off your smoke alarm), and burn it (responsibly, please).
End the ritual with a quote or word of affirmation. I like to use a quote from my chosen ancestor Ann Richards. This was something she said in her inaugural speech as governor, and now it is written on her tombstone in the Texas State Cemetery. Read it aloud for greatest impact: “Today we have a vision of a Texas where opportunity knows no race, no gender, no color—a glimpse of what can happen in government if we simply open the doors and let the people in.”
To close the ceremony, blow out your candle.
My altar has my pentacle, a candle, quotes from some of my favorite chosen ancestors, some crystals, and drawings my kids did to keep me connected to the future generations who will benefit from the work I'm doing now.
*You can also go to Texorcism.com and put in your phone number. Between now and the election, I’ll text you suggestions for how you can reach out to your people, plus information about what some of our elected offices do that most people don’t know. Like did you know that the Texas Attorney General has discretion over which state laws to enforce? They could simply decide not to enforce an abortion ban, for example. I’ll also send you cute affirmations and general encouragement to keep you going. No spam, no urgent pleas for money—it will be 100% useful information delivered in a fun and witchy way!
NEED ELECTION INFORMATION? NOT SURE HOW TO VOTE?
Here are some quick facts and reminders.
Early voting in Texas runs October 24 to November 4.
Election Day is November 8.
Vote411.org will tell you everything that’s on your ballot.
THIS GUIDE HAS BEEN SHARED AS PART OF FUTURE FRONT’S TEXAN FEMINIST INITIATIVES.
At Future Front, our work is guided by a commitment to improving representation and resilience in our creative and small business communities. This has a distinct relationship to our understanding of social justice in Texas—which includes reproductive justice.
We envision a Texas that acknowledges and fights against the intersectional issues that affect the health of people with uteruses, like access to resources that cover basic needs, systemic racism, transphobia, abuse and violence, sexual miseducation and more. We envision a Texas without sexual stigma—a Texas that does not work to prevent all genders and sexes from receiving appropriate reproductive care and health services.
We envision a Texas where spaces that prioritize individual agency and the communication of truthful, responsible information thrive. We envision a Texas where abortion is decriminalized. We envision a Texas where we can speak for ourselves.