Michael Morris is an astrologer, tarot reader, writer, teacher, registered yoga instructor, dance instructor, and a witch. That constellation of roles lights the way for gatherings they hold for LGBTQ+ people to practice magic, called “Queer Magic.”
Practicing magic, said Morris, can be a tool to build community and connection within the LGBTQ+ community. At Queer Magic events, participants connect with one another, themselves and the world around them. They do this not only through dance but also through tarot readings and other rituals.
Morris’ next Queer Magic gathering is in Columbus, on Saturday, June 24, in honor of the summer solstice. The event requires no experience or knowledge of magic. In fact, Morris said they’d rather people bring openness and curiosity to the gathering.
Changing consciousness
Magic, Morris said, isn’t wands and broomsticks. Magic is “the art of changing consciousness at will,” and consciousness is “our awareness of the world around us and our place in that world.”
Being away of your “felt states,” and using magic in various forms to shift those states, is part of the practice. Dance is one of those forms.
“Dance, or movement more broadly, is a really direct way to engage with that felt sense,” said Morris. “When you move quickly, your heart rate starts going faster, maybe you start sweating, maybe you start to feel more of your muscle fibers engaging, more of your tissues shifting around. Maybe you become more aware of your bones or skeleton, and that’s a very different state than you were before you began. We can work with those kinds of states to actively shift how we are feeling.”
Claiming forbidden spaces
Raised in an evangelical Christian household, Morris found a connection with witchcraft in high school.
“I think I already felt forbidden,” they said. “And so I think I went looking for witchcraft and magic because those were other forbidden spaces. I was intuitively seeking out some space of belonging within places where other forbidden things existed.”
For that reason, they don’t find it surprising that “a lot of queer folks find some sort of sense of belonging in spaces that are oriented towards magic or ritual or witchcraft. Things that have historically, and in the present, been disavowed by the church, the state and mainstream culture …. There’s a kind of resonance there in the marginality of both the figure of the witch and also the experience of queer people.”
Morris hopes that Queer Magic events give queer people a place where they don’t have to feel forbidden.
“It embraces the fact that we get to care for and connect with one another, even when we’re forbidden by the world around us,” they said. For instance, in Ohio, trans people of a certain age, “in a very real way, are about to be forbidden from a particular medical legislative standpoint, potentially, if [House Bill 68] gets passed. An event like this has the potential to say … there’s still spaces of opportunities for connection and care that are available to you. Those things never get to be taken away from us because we get to decide how we show up for one another.”
Queer Magic specifically, Morris said, comes from collective acts.
“We’re living through a particularly difficult period of relentless legislative assaults on LGBTQ people, including here in Ohio. It’s up to us to build communities of care with and for one another, regardless of whether lawmakers attempt to eradicate us from public life,” Morris said. “Queer Magic I think is an affirmation that we get to create a world with and for one another, even as we’re struggling against things like suppression or oppression from the state.”
Feeling connected
Queer Magic is also a place for healing. Morris said healing is synonymous with repairing connection and consciousness.
“I think most of the things we suffer from come from disconnection,” said Morris. “And so when I talk about healing, I’m often talking about practices that facilitate a re-engagement with connection or a reconnection to ourselves, one another, our bodies, the planet, the world around us, etc.”
One of the healing rituals at Queer Magic is what Morris calls “fake healing”—where participants can facilitate another person’s healing.
“The idea of fake healing is that it’s kind of like a game that you’re making up as you go along,” they said. “You don’t have to come in with any special credentials. You don’t have to be a trained massage therapist or reiki practitioner or acupuncturist. We all can offer whatever we have to support the well-being of another.”
Participants are put in pairs or trios to work through the healing process.
“One person is receiving and the others are giving, and they’re giving whatever they can to help that person feel connected or feel better—or just feel that they’re being attended to in some way.”
This practice allows people to receive attention and care that they may be lacking. Morris often gets feedback from participants that it really isn’t “fake” at all—that they indeed felt better.
“We don’t have to hope for more connection within queer communities that will lead us to action,” Morris said. “We can get together and create community with one another. And then that action that we’ve taken leads to our ability to hope for the kinds of community we want to be.” 🔥
Ignite Action
- Attend “Queer Magic” on Saturday, June 24, 6-8pm, at Flux + Flow Dance and Movement Center (200 Crestview Road, Columbus, OH 43202). Suggested donation $10, no one turned away for lack of resources (cash or electronic payment accepted). Register HERE.
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