On the Aftermath of the ’04 Election:
Beyond Glamour-Bombing

===I have heard a few in the otherkin community talk about the need to really do more “glamour-bombing” and such to counter the sorts of things that the election seems to imply about a rather large percent of the population.

===I disagree.

===As some folks that know me may be aware of, I tend to focus on environmental magic as one of my paths…in having a working interaction and relationship with the environs I inhabit. I try to be an embodiment of the flows I am, and I try to refine myself to be an even better expression of that essence.

===Glamor-bombing does not really do this. It is a flash in the pan, a quick burst of sparkle, that the “average” mind forgets or associates with something else. It is not making something enduring. It is not opening gates to the Otherworld, and making the environment better.

===It does not stand up. It does not endure. It does not dive deep into the psyche and make things wake up.

===These bits of magick (and I use the spelling intentionally) do have their place…they can inspire, they can affect things that are already of the mindset that will accept that they are. But they do not make an environment that is more likely to allow for the fey-touched to survive and thrive. They are not of the deeper Fae touch…they are ephemera that hints, but cannot deliver.

===We do not need more “flashes”. We need more deep and burning flames. We need more cowled figures that walk unnoticed, but energise and comfort. We need to have more hearths lit with the everlasting flame of the Otherworld. We need to have more depth….more wells into the deep land of the Fae that we can drink from…that are hidden from those that would despoil them.

===We need to kindle and feed…and, every so often….bring that fire into a space that encourages what we are and lay a blessing on that place. We then step back, and see how the flame is kept.

===Let folks associate the flame with something that is obvious and tangible…and something that is not of the world that they would foist on us.

===I am not saying that the little sparkles and not something to do…but they are not the answer. They are indeed Glamours…meant to draw the attention away from our hearths and our lives. They are the Will-o-Wisps that lead the unwary into the swamps.

===And we need to make those swamps dangerous to those that come after the flashes with ill-intent and the wrong mindset.

Some Practical Suggestions:

===I tend to suggest things like having a good hearth and keeping it healthy, encourage the magics you want in your own home. Make an effort to have those small gathers in your home with folks that you know understand the flows.

===Work on the quiet things…like gathering trash from areas that have been littered. Work with a site and maintain it. Deepen the connections to the land, and focus on it.

===The twits gave us a bit of a hint as to what is “missing”….the values. We do have them, but we have not made it so that our “home values” shine more than theirs. They hunger…and someone was able to sell them something.

===Part of the fire that has not been honored has been that fire of the hearth. A lot of the otherkin I have met understand the fire of the party and the club…but the hearth is sadly lacking. The idea of family has been based more on the social constructs of the clique than of the hearth feel….and it shows. Gangs and crews are not really what we are looking for…but it is what we get. Either that, or we get to see some really interesting dysfunctional family dynamics, as people re-play their problems growing up with “different roles”.

===To get back to more of the “practical”…I personally work a lot with the local land and extend out that awareness to the landmass I live on. (I work a modified understanding of some Faery paths I know). I have my practice of walking or riding my bike in awareness around an area that I live in. I try to be active in interacting with the flows of place.