The words spoken in that sacred space and time were to set the tone for the campaign, currently still ongoing 2 years later. Words to the effect of..."May our words be true, May our actions be just, May we treat each other with respect and May our motivation be founded on love for our land and our environment, not founded on hate."
Not many of the people gathered on that day realised how long this campaign was going to carry on, and how much of a toll it would take on everyones lives and wellbeing.
And this is the thing. The struggle against the fracking industry will take years.
The best resource that we can draw upon is ourselves. To be effective and to stay mentally and physically well through a long term, and at times, tough campaign, each of us needs to be able to look after ourselves, and our trusted companions, or there will be times when we will fall by the wayside through stress, overwork or burnout.
If you are working magickally alongside a campaign, you will need to be aware of the longevity needed. It will take years, so it is important that your initial intention is grounded and healthy. Remember the reasons why you got involved in this, what made this important to you, and take the time every once in a while to check in with yourself and your actions - are they still in line with your intention?
Over the course of time, situations and people change, both in a physical sense, and through dealing with all the issues that come with the campaign, personalities change. Eyes get opened. The facade of the apparent world drops a little.
Take time to check - months, years later - are your campaign and your actions still in line with that reason that made you get involved right at the beginning? Has your campaign started to alienate you from the reason you got involved? If so, you may need to raise the ethos of the group as a subject for discussion with the other members, or change your level or manner of involvement, or work differently so that you stay involved and committed to a campaign that you feel proud and part of.
One of the phrases that has stuck with me personally was about the corruption and violence that is part of the mechanism that supports and propels this industry, and if you are OK with fracking, then you are saying you are OK with this level of corruption and violence that comes with it.
The same applies to the health of your group - and this isnt solely within the anti-fracking community - if the ethos of your group is unhealthy, or at odds with your own moral compass, it will take its toll on you. Even well meaning groups can, under stress, act in ways such as bullying egotism or sexism in order to achieve their goal. This is why checking in with yourself, and your reasons to be involved, is important. If you are aware that your group is acting against your own moral compass, but you carry on with it and accept that behaviour because you think it will achieve your goal, then you are also condoning this behaviour and saying it is OK to be this way.
As pagans, most of us at least try to live morally responsible lives or in ways hoping to make this world a better place. Often we have gone through rituals, initiations and journeys to make ourselves better people and increase our self awareness. This is what we need to hold on to. This industry is the product of, and supported by, a corrupt and at times immoral system. How can we hope to defeat it, if we become, or take on the very things that support it? If we do, we have failed. Even if the fracking companies are defeated, if we take on part their spirit, if each of us becomes a bit more accepting of the things that supported it and gave it power, a part of us dies, and 'it' lives on, inside us.
Especially if we are working magickally.
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