We live in a time when we need to reclaim freedom and our rights in the face of oppression that does not seem backwards, but on the contrary it seems that every day wants to get bigger and stronger again every day. We need to counteract the efforts of those who want to undermine our freedom or who don’t move a finger because things get better. We must claim our freedom and our rights by all possible means such as demonstrations, protests, activism of all kinds, etc., but as pagans and withces we can also resort to our spirituality to give an extra boost to all this.  This rite is intended within LGBTIQ + Pride week but can be used to support other movements such as Black Lives Matter, the feminist movement or any other movement that fights against oppression and deprivation of rights and freedoms.

The need for a ritual for freedom

Although the struggles that the various movements and collectives are essentially different, we share common points where, because they are different, we have been discriminated against. Power is usually wielded by heterosexual white men, or people who reproduce those same power dynamics, creating a form of slavery much more subtle than that of a few centuries ago. Before the physical chains were, today they are systemic and our duty is to break with those chains. It is the system itself in which it has educated us and has placed us in positions in which we are either oppressed or we reproduce the oppression, although this does not imply that we are not oppressed in turn.

Precisely the power of Eros Eleuterio, which you can read from in this article, is precisely about breaking the chains that oppress us and regaining our freedom. This epithet, applied to Eros and other gods already had to do with the liberation of slaves, the liberation of inhibitions and the liberation of guilt and shame for unleashing our desires. Today the power of Eros Eleuterio still has effect in these areas but it also has it over the abuses of power that is exercised on a lot of collectives and people just because they do not belong to the group that holds power. LGBTIQ + people, racialized people, women, immigrants, poor people, etc.

The fact of being different and not supporting or following the status quo is a reason for discrimination in its many forms and variants. The pain, fear and fury that we can feel every time we suffer oppression are the impulse we need to change things. It was the boost that the Stonewall riots needed, or the massive #BlackLivesMatter protests. Those are very powerful emotions that for a long time within witchcraft and paganism have been described as dangerous and harmful, in many cases fueling complacency in the face of injustice. These emotions are a great source of energy, which, directed towards a goal, can serve to empower our fight.

The ritual for freedom

For this ritual you will need:

• An image of Eros Eleuterio, that is, an image of Eros carrying a torch. Although the torch in Eros can symbolize more things like desire, the torch is already an inseparable attribute of the deities and allegories of freedom.
• Essential oil, an aromatic candle or incense related to Eros. You can see a list of aromas associated with Eros in plant correspondences in this article.
• An image or symbol that represents the oppression that is taking away your freedom: an image of an aggression of LGBTIQ+ people, images of racist police repression, sexist images…
• An image or symbol that represents your struggle for freedom: the flag of the LGBTIQ+ collective, a black raised fist high, a raised fist high within the symbol of women…
• A black candle
• A cauldron or a fire-resistant bowl
• Iincense of rude or any other plant that serves to banish and break ties
• Offerings to Eros

Start the ritual as you usual, whether by casting a circle, invoking other gods before, honoring the ancestors, asking for help from spirits, etc. Now let’s invoke Eros, you can light the candle, incense or essential oil you have reserved for him while you say:

Eros Eleuterio, I call you looking for freedom,

You, who unite and disunite all things in the universe

You carry the arrows that join and separate souls.

Come free me from the chains and laces that bind me today

Destroy the oppression that grips me

May freedom take flight free of fear!

Eros Eleuterio, bless me to be my sole owner

Let nothing bind me or link me to that which causes me pain.

May light and courage fill my heart,

May each step I take be of my own free will,

May I move toward my happiness.

I call you, Eros Eleuterio,

To honor you and ask for your favor.

Lord of liberty, come to me,

I appreciate your guide and your favor.

Turn on the incense to banish. Light the black candle. Take the image or symbol that represents what oppresses you and burns it with the flame of the candle while you let it burn in the cauldron or fire-resistant bowl as you say:

Let the chains that hold me burn in the fire of this candle.

May the bonds of oppression disintegrate forever in this flame.

That the barriers that retain my rights be cleared.

That the mechanisms that deprive me of my freedom disappear.

So mote it be!

Take a few moments to visualize how those chains that grip you disintegrate forever from your life and that of all those who oppress. Now take the symbol of your fight for freedom, press it against your heart as you visualize moments of your fight for freedom. Visualize those moments turning into a purple energy coming out of your heart and filling the symbol with all those emotions that have led you to fight. You say:

I have felt pain, fear, anger and helplessness, but not from now on,

May these emotions be a memory of my struggle,

Because freedom is not negotiable, because I have to conquer freedom again.

May the flame of freedom burn in my heart and encourage me in every battle.

Today I claim my freedom, from today I fight for it.

Now the time has come to leave the offerings to Eros, when you do, dedicate some heartfelt words to him. In the same way, say goodbye to Eros Eleuterio thanking him from the bottom of your heart. Finish the ritual as usual.

You can’t stop fighting for freedom

This ritual is a way to strengthen our spirit to continue fighting for our rights, because, as we have recently seen in many parts of the world. It takes very little for the groups that have taken many years to obtain the rights they now have to be deprived of them and become second-class citizens or people who must be “tolerated”.

As long as there are still people who have privileges over others, as long as there are people who have too much power over others, freedom will always be at risk of disappearing for those in the least advantageous position. We cannot let the flame of freedom die out and this ritual serves us precisely as an aid so that the fight does not wane, so that we continue fighting to be free.