The Declaration of Independence Ritual: Declare and Enact Yours

On July 4th I will be continuing the tradition I began last year. I’m going to read aloud the Declaration of Independence, for the edification of myself and whoever else might be around. And it wouldn’t be such a bad idea for you, whoever “you” are, out there or in here, to bone up on the Declaration, too. And the Constitution. And Bill of Rights, for that matter.

And if and when you do, perhaps you will consider this:

The Declaration of Independence is, aside of a historical document, a political statement, it is a magickal ritual.

Stay with me here.

The Structure of the Declaration

The Declaration of Independence begins by stating generally the context under which this action (declaration) is being taken. It also sets out the intention to declare what impels this ritual act:

When in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

The Declaration next elucidates the undergirding metaphysical-philosophical assumptions that guide the action, the following very famous passage:

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness–

The basic assumptions continue that the only legitimate reason for government is in order to safeguard the above-mentioned (and implied) unalienable Rights and self-evident Truths. This then leads to the third part of the document. In this section, Jefferson and the signers set forth all of the ways that the King has failed to recognize and has wantonly violated the Rights and self-evident Truths that are the key to any government’s (or ruler’s) legitimacy.

I’ll excerpt some of the listed greivances that have a rather contemporary tone (for those with ears to hear):

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

…For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our Governments.

Only after stating these grievances, do we reach the actual declaration:

WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved…

So, to sum up the structure of the Declaration is as so:

I. The importance of this particular time and place for making the declaration.
II. The foundation values/basic assumptions under which the participants operate.

III. The violations to values/basic assumptions made the (so-called) ruler/government they aim to liberate themselves from.

IV. A declaration of independence and what that independence entails in terms of powers, rights and responsibilities of the new ruling (so-called) government

The Declaration of Independence as a Magickal Template

“You” (whoever “you” are) may have noticed that the rhetorical structure of the Declaration of Independence is such that each section builds upon the previous one to increase its emotional impact, culminating in the final release of the “declaration of independence” at the end. Now, scribbling words on parchment does not necessarily “change” anything unless there’s a tacit agreement, a consensus-trance that alters the perceptions of those creating the document and/or reading it. This change in perception within an individual or group and the subsequent release from one trance and the leap into another, constitutes magick.

The Continental Congress could have commissioned the Declaration of Independence, approved it and then sat back and done nothing, in which case their little ritual would have been hollow. However, they acted as if the document was true, that it did what it said it did (cut their ties to England) with the frame of mind it purported to embody (e.g. the notion that they were free and equal to any King or ruler and thus had the right to take the action declared). The believed in their ritual, that by creating the document and assenting to it, they had “conjured” a nation into existence. And lo and behold, this working was such that it filled them with the energy to enact into reality that which it stated, partially by these “Founding Fathers” own elevated energies but also via inculcating a new trance in the individuals comprising the general population who said: “Yes, it’s true. We are free and independent. Let’s enact it.”

Individually, you may use the Declaration of Independence as the template for a magickal ritual to make yourself independent of circumstances or mechanical habits in your life which no longer serve you–your own metaphorical King Georges and Great Britains. I’ll leave it up to “you” (whoever you may be) to fill in the particulars.

First things first: set the proper time and place for your declaration and stick to it.

Create a document using the Declaration of Independence as your template. Elucidate why this is the time to “free” yourself of this particular situation or habit or belief. State your basic assumptions and values that will provide the energy and motivation to affect your liberation. Reduce these to the most fundamental assumptions you have, worded in the most powerful way you can. (It may be that you’re trying to set yourself free of a “belief” that has been a core value for you but now enslaves you. In this case, be very, very sure about what you want to take its place.) Set forth the reasons why you are severing ties to the situation/habit/belief. List the offenses “it” has committed against “you.” (Yes, kids, if you are dealing with a habit or a belief or circumstance or person, you are exteriorizing it, so you may loosen “the bands that have connected” it to you.) Perhaps, as the Declaration of Independence does, you may list the ways you have tried to negotiate or reason with this thing unsuccessfully, leading you to realize that it simply is pointless to do so as it will not change its nature (“it,” not “you”). Finally, declare your independence from it and the powers (implied by your core beliefs and values) you will now freely exercise now that you are free. You may even “conjure” an abstract word-entity like UNITED STATES OF AMERICA that embodies your new state, but maybe it’s just as well that you add an appropriate appellation to yourself.

Revise the thing until it sounds just right, ending as powerfully as possible. On your appointed time and in your appointed place, read the document aloud with as much focus and devotion as you can. Now enact it. Assume you’ve successful gained your independence and be prepared to act like it, regardless of any obstacles or bumps along the path.

Feel free to test this out and see if it works. It certainly worked for the “Founding Fathers.”

One More Thing: 

As you may have guessed, the original Declaration of Independence ritual can be re-enacted by you and other individuals, just like it was in 1776. (Feel free to update the languge for our particular times.) If done in the same spirit, and with enough focused and devoted individuals, it may be just as successful this time around as it was the first.

Dobbs knows we need it. We certainly find ourselves in very similar circumstances of late…