Shea Grauer tending bar February 17th, a week ago today, at Mollie Fontaine Lounge (Credit: Allison Cox)
I hadn’t seen Shea Grauer in a long time. So, I was happy to see him when we were both working a bridal luncheon Friday, February 17th, at Mollie Fontaine Lounge. He was bartending and I was playing the piano.
Around 1 p.m. I tried to get Grauer’s attention at the piano. I said something like, “Hey! Look here!” He turned around and we both laughed. I told him how sorry I was about his brother, Beau, who was killed last summer. I asked him how he was doing. He said he was doing okay. But he looked sad. I told him I lost my older brother years ago.
I think he told me I sounded good on the piano. He was smiling.
That was probably the last live piano music Grauer heard. He lost his life about 12 hours later. It was reported he was killed in Midtown. A robbery.
I didn’t find that out until I saw a Facebook post from his great friend, Leanna Tedford, that next afternoon. I was stunned. Like everybody who knew him.
I started thinking about how Grauer and I had known each other over the decades. I originally knew him from bartending. He made many a Beefeater gin martini “up with three olives” — as I requested them — back in the day.
Grauer was just one of those people you liked even if you weren’t a close friend. He was laid-back. He had a great sense of humor. And he had a great sense of style. He was wearing a bulky black-and-white and maybe gray sweater when we talked at the luncheon. I wondered if he was wearing that sweater that night.
I wanted to write a story and post a photo of Grauer, but the only one I almost definitely remember taking of him was at a party in October 2019 at The Beauty Shop Restaurant, where he was manager/bartender. I’m sure I took more photos of him over the decades we knew each other, but I couldn’t find any of them. This particular party was held by his boss/best buddy/biggest champion Karen Carrier, the restaurant’s owner, to open Back Dō at Mi Yard, her open-air restaurant behind The Beauty Shop Restaurant.
The opening party turned into a party for the cast and crew of Bluff City Law, which was filmed in Memphis. Everybody, including me, wanted to have their photo taken with Jimmy Smits.
The original party was supposed to end at 8 p.m., but Carrier kept it going until 10 p.m. because so many of her staff worked on the movie. Grauer was one of them. I still remember how proud he was of that. He went on to work in the film industry in New Orleans.
Then on Thursday, February 23rd, I got a text from Allison Cox with a photo of me she had taken with the bridal party at the Mollie Fontaine luncheon. The luncheon was for Sophie Cox, now Sophie Terrell, who married Henry Terrell. I asked Allison if she, by any chance, had any photos with Grauer in them. She did.
Of course, I instantly thought Grauer had something to do with finding a never-before-published photo of himself to go with my story.
Here’s information that Carrier posted on social media about the funeral arrangements and an event to celebrate Grauer’s life:
“The celebration and funeral for our love SHEA GRAUER will be on April 1st at 11 a.m. at Immaculate Conception on Central — a huge Wake at The Beauty Shop and DKDC to follow as it should be — we will send him off in style with tears, music, food, libations, and of course Dolly Parton and a second line —
“Yes this is on April Fools Day and I think it’s perfect. He will love it —
“Wrap your love around SHEA and his family — hold them tight in your thoughts and prayers — we all have Lost a Gem …”
Unlike your typical band from, say, Austin or Philadelphia, it’s hard to geolocate the band Making Movies, appearing this Thursday, February 23rd at The Green Room at Crosstown Arts. Technically, they’re from Kansas City, but the band’s diversity showcases just what a world city that Missouri metropolis has become.
Consider the personnel: founding singer, guitarist, and songwriter Enrique Chi, and his brother, bassist Diego Chi, are Panamanian; percussionist Juan-Carlos Chaurand is of Mexican descent; and drummer Duncan Burnettspecializes in Black gospel.
Together, they’ve crafted a unique brand of rock blended with African, African American, and Latin American rhythms and structures. Singing in both English and Spanish, playing electric guitars and indigenous instruments, Making Movies has developed a sound that Rolling Stone calls “an eclectic blend of rumbero percussions, delicate organs, and grungy fuzz rock.”
Percussive, grungy fuzz rock? Sounds pretty Memphis. But recently the band took it a step further and recorded with Hi Rhythm organist Rev. Charles Hodges (featured in this Memphis Flyer cover story) and the Sensational Barnes Brothers (featured here). With these cameos, “Calor,” from their 2022 album Xopa, puts a Memphis flavor front and center. The song is also featured in the band’s PBS music documentary AMERI’KANA, aired in April 2022 in various markets.
Thursday’s show will feature the Barnes Brothers, lending the band’s Memphis appearance a special magic. Soon they’ll be South by Southwest (SXSW)-bound, where they may well connect with other collaborators. That list often includes longtime band champion Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, but Panamanian songster Rubén Blades has also cowritten with them, and other Making Movies collaborators include Hurray for the Riff Raff, trumpeter Asdru Sierra of Ozomatli, Puerto Rican salsero Frankie Negròn, and the women’s mariachi group Flor de Toloache.
(Credit: STAND UP For LGBTQ+ Memphis! via Facebook)
A bill that would make public drag shows in Tennessee a crime was passed on Thursday morning by the Tennessee House of Representatives.
HB0009 was passed by a vote of 74-19. The Senate bill was passed on February 9 with a 26-6 vote.
The next step is for the bill to be signed into law by Governor Bill Lee. If signed, the bill is expected to take effect on April 1.
According to the bill, “a person who engages in an adult cabaret performance on public property or in a location where the adult cabaret performance could be viewed by a person who is not an adult,” would face a Class A misdemeanor. Any offense after this would result in a Class E Felony.
Performances that are defined by the bill as “adult cabaret” include topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, and male or female impersonators who “provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest.”
Slade Kyle is a full-time drag entertainer, also known as Bella DuBalle, and serves as the show director at Atomic Rose on Beale Street. Kyle recently went viral in a TikTok posted by a user named drwpkrr while speaking on the bill in front of a crowd dressed in drag.
“This is an attempt to erase drag in Tennessee,” said Kyle in the video. “This bill will further harm trans people who are literally just living their fucking lives.”
“It’s kind of crazy right now to be a queer person,” Kyle told the Flyer. “Given the fact that we live in a city with terrible roads and infrastructure, crazy crime, poverty, homelessness, police brutality, they want to worry about drag queens.”
While the legislation has been passed and is headed to the Governor, members of the LGBTQ community still plan to have their voices heard and fight against the bill.
A “Stand Up For LGBTQ+ Memphis!” rally is scheduled for Friday, February 24 at 4:00 p.m. at 892 South Cooper Street. This event is sponsored by OUTMemphis, Tennessee Equality Project, Mid-South Pride, Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood and CHOICES Center for Reproductive Health.
Aubrey Wallace is a local drag performer and the title-holder of Miss Gay Memphis and said that while this news is disturbing, she is not giving up the fight.
“We’re going to protest, but we’re going to protest the peaceful way, and we’re going to let our voices be heard,” said Wallace. “We’re not going to give them the satisfaction of having us act a fool like they think we’re going to act.”
Wallace said that her fight is fueled by the panic that members of the LGBTQ community are experiencing, especially the trans community.
“It affects us more than anything,” Wallace said. “Us just out there, minding our business, living our life, fearing if we’re going to be arrested or someone just scream out that we’re harassing their child or something now, just because it’s illegal to have drag queens and children near each other.”
New designs for Downtown show a skybridge on Front Street, a boat dock at Greenbelt Park, and a new co-working space (with koi) in the Edge District.
The Downtown Memphis Commission’s (DMC) Design Review Board (DRB) meets next week to review the proposed designs. That approval is a sort of first step for a project to come to fruition.
AutoZone Inc. has proposed building a skybridge from the under-construction, $42 million Downtown Mobility Center and its Downtown headquarters.
The bridge would connect from the Mobility Center’s fifth level to AutoZone’s third level, spanning the intersection of Front Street and Peabody Place.
“This skybridge will be an enclosed and secure connection for AutoZone employees and their visitors,” reads a description of the project. “The exterior of the skybridge will extend the modern aesthetic of the Mobility Center using the same metal finishes and curtain wall glazing.”
Greenbelt Park already has a boat ramp at its northern edge. But the city is proposing to dock more than jon boats.
“With the growth of the number of cruising vessels on the Mississippi River, the city of Memphis needs to be able to accommodate multiple vessels docking Downtown,” reads a description of the project.
Cruising vessels. Cruise ships. River boats. That’s what the city has in mind for Greenbelt Park.
An enormous dock would jut into the river just north of the existing boat ramp. Two shade structures would be built nearby for passengers waiting land transportation. Another building would house golf carts for passengers. The parking lot would be patched and new lighting added.
But DMC staff thinks the project will be good for locals, too.
“The new pedestrian paths will help connect visitors to the park’s existing trail system, and the shade structures will provide a welcome amenity during warm weather,” reads the staff report. “The proposed structures blend well with the landscape of the park, and the use of the golf cart storage structure for signage and art near the entrance to the lot will assist with wayfinding.”
The project is slated to begin construction next month.
A tucked-away and vacant space in the Edge District is due for a glow up a new purpose.
The project will bring two new storefronts, one an office for cnct. design + develop and the other would be studios, gallery space, and retail space for Ugly Art Co. The building at 635 Madison sits in a corner near the intersection of Marshall and Madison with an alley connecting the two streets.
“Art will spill into the alley in the form of asphalt art and lighting,” reads a description. “The alley will connect the site, strengthening access to a central courtyard and pedestrian traffic within the Edge District.”
Design renderings show the massive white walls of the building covered with a mural of koi fish. The application says the fish are only placeholders (bummer) “but the koi fish theme is expected to carry through to the final design (huzzah!).
Tennessee, which once counted on Mississippi’s worst-in-the-nation reading scores to elevate its own national ranking for literacy, is now looking to its neighbor to the south as a role model for how to improve.
In a turnaround dubbed the “Mississippi miracle,” the state saw its fourth-grade reading scores on a national test rise dramatically between 2013 and 2019, even for historically marginalized groups like Black and Hispanic students. Mississippi also maintained its reading gains in 2022, while scores in most other states declined after the pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions to schooling.
Now under several 2021 laws, Tennessee is employing many of the same tactics that Mississippi did under its 2013 law. Among them: prioritizing reading improvements and investments in grades K-3, training teachers on the “science of reading,” including an emphasis on phonics, and — most controversial of all — requiring third graders to pass a state reading test to get promoted to the fourth grade.
“You are really to be commended for the comprehensive nature in which you’ve approached this topic,” she said, noting that Tennessee has even required its teacher training programs to change how they teach reading instruction, which Mississippi did not.
Wright cited a recent Boston University study finding that Mississippi third-graders who were retained under that state’s law went on to achieve substantially higher scores in English language arts by the sixth grade. The study also found that retention had no impact on other outcomes such as attendance or identification for special education.
Literacy is foundational to all subsequent learning, and third grade is considered a critical marker. As the old saying goes: You learn to read up until the third grade, and after that, you read to learn.
In 2011, lawmakers passed a retention law to try to address the problem, but the statute was largely unenforced, with few third graders being held back by local school leaders.
“So here we are 12 years later having the same discussion,” said Rep. Mark White, who chairs the House Education Administration Committee and helped pass the state’s new reading and retention policies.
“I personally am grateful that we passed a retention law … because now we have everybody’s attention,” the Memphis Republican said to kick off Wednesday’s hearing.
House leaders have compiled a list of 14 bills that aim to revise or tweak the law. They range from gutting the retention provision altogether to giving local districts more authority to determine which students should be held back. Gov. Bill Lee pressed for the 2021 law and wants to stay the course.
To avoid retention, the law says third graders whose scores on state tests show they are “approaching” proficiency must attend a summer camp and demonstrate “adequate growth” on a test administered at the camp’s end, or they must participate in a tutoring program in the fourth grade. Students who score “below” proficiency must participate in both intervention programs.
Third graders are exempt from retention if they were held back in a previous grade; have or may have a disability that affects reading; are English language learners with less than two years of English instruction; or retest as proficient before the beginning of fourth grade.
Parents also can appeal a retention decision if their child performed at the 40th percentile on a different test that allows for comparisons with national benchmarks, or if the child experienced an event that reasonably impacted the child’s performance on the TCAP test.
While Tennessee’s tutoring and summer learning programs are popular, many parents and educators dislike the part of the law that makes results of the state’s standardized TCAP test for English language arts the only criterion to determine whether third-graders can progress to the fourth grade. Numerous school boards also have passed resolutions urging the legislature to revisit the new retention policy.
On Wednesday, several district superintendents echoed that call.
“I respectfully ask that you allow districts to use multiple data points when making the monumental decision to retain a student, which can have serious long-term consequences,” said Gary Lilly, director of Collierville Schools in Shelby County.
Beyond the state’s test, school districts generally give students multiple assessments that are specifically designed to gauge reading progress. All of those results could be considered, Lilly said, along with other factors such as a student’s overall achievement, attendance record, and emotional and social maturity.
Lilly noted that Tennessee also has among the nation’s highest thresholds for measuring proficiency. The state began working to raise them when a 2007 U.S. Chamber of Commerce report gave Tennessee an “F” for truth in advertising, because its standards were so low that most students were deemed proficient.
But Lilly suggested that Tennessee may want to rethink those high thresholds.
“I am not advocating to decrease the rigor of our standards,” he said. “What I am saying is that the TCAP test should not be viewed as the definitive authority to target students for retention.”
The state’s one-year timeline for implementing the new retention policy at scale is another concern.
Jeanne Barker, director of Lenoir City Schools, said her district won’t receive TCAP results until after the school year ends, leaving little time for students to take the test over or for families to decide about attending summer learning camps or appealing retention decisions to the state education department.
Penny Schwinn, Tennessee’s education commissioner, acknowledged the “tight timeline” but testified that no parent should be surprised by the end of the school year if their child is identified as having a reading deficiency.
“Parents should be receiving notification that their child may be at risk for needing additional supports two times before we even get into testing season,” said Schwinn, adding that preliminary TCAP results will become available the week of May 19.
Policy conversations that began with third grade reading continue to gravitate toward earlier grades.
Wright said Mississippi’s playbook emphasized the importance of literacy instruction and interventions for struggling readers as early as possible.
“My goal was that, by the time third grade came around, there shouldn’t even be an issue around third grade,” she said. “We should have captured those kids a long time ago and made sure that they were getting the interventions and the help that they needed.”
Tennessee education advocates shared similar sentiments.
Nancy Dishner, president and CEO of the Niswonger Foundation supporting students and educators in East Tennessee, said her biggest concern about Tennessee’s current initiative is that “we’re not doing it early enough.”
“We have to move back,” Dishner said. “Birth is when we need to start helping our kids, not when they enter elementary school.”
Amy Doren, a 35-year educator and former coordinator of early childhood programs at Kingsport City Schools, agreed.
“Children’s brains develop 90 percent to capacity by age 5. So why would we not seek to make an impact in those early years?” Doren asked. “That’s where we want our children to learn to be problem-solvers and critical thinkers, so that when they get to the third grade, they’ll be ready to handle it.”
Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
SisterReach recently hosted their 7th annual “Black Folks Day On The Hill,” on Tuesday, February 21.
According to a post on the SisterReach social media account, the purpose of this event was to “discuss key issues that affect the lives of Black, Brown, and other marginalized communities in Tennessee.”
SisterReach invited elected officials to a virtual Zoom call to discuss bills that were focused on human and reproductive rights, which are essential to SisterReach’s purpose.
Each lawmaker was invited to talk about different pieces of legislation that they either sponsored or filed.
SisterReach is a “grassroots, 501(c)3 nonprofit that supports the reproductive autonomy of women and teens of color ,poor and rural women, LGBTQIA+people and their families through the framework of Reproductive Justice.” The organization was founded by Cherisse Scott in 2011.
During an information session held prior to the event hosted by SisterReach’s director of programming, Reverend Elise Saulsberry and a policy associate for the organization, SisterReach explained that legislators and policymakers “need to hear the voices of the lives most impacted by their actions and poor policy decisions.” Some of their key legislative concerns for 2023 include reproductive health and healthcare justice, reproductive rights, environmental justice, and RFRA and religious exemptions.”
The organization pulled bills for elected officials from both parties to discuss during their time slot. Here are a few of the bills discussed by a few of the representatives present for the virtual session.
Representative Torrey Harris(D-Memphis)
HB539: Juvenile Offenders – As introduced, requires that an interview or interrogation of a child taken into custody for a delinquent act must be recorded or conducted in the presence of an attorney who represents the child.
“Many people are running this piece of legislation across the country right now. That is to make sure that an adequate perspective of what actually took place during the time of an interaction between a juvenile[ a youth] and an officer, or member of our law enforcement actually gets properly documented.”
Harris explained that this bill was run four years ago by Senator Raumesh Akbari, but it failed in the House.
HB1392: Law Enforcement – As introduced, requires the Tennessee bureau of investigation’s annual report on the use of force by law enforcement to include data for each law enforcement agency, in addition to statewide and countywide aggregate data. – Amends TCA Title 38; Title 39 and Title 40.
Harris explained that this is a caption bill, and that he and Sen. Akbari met a few weeks ago in the aftermath of the murder of Tyre Nichols.
“You notice and see a lot of things, especially in Tennessee, or in Memphis, when Tyre Nichols was murdered, everybody wanted their opportunity to be on TV to talk about it…but where’s the actual action behind all of that work? We’re holding this slot to figure out what is going to be the best way to put action behind all the talk people have.”
Representative Sam McKenzie(D-Knoxville)
HB279: “Criminal Procedure – As introduced, allows certain persons deprived of the right of suffrage to apply for a voter registration card and have the right of suffrage provisionally restored if the person enters into a payment plan to become current on all child support obligations. – Amends TCA Title 40, Chapter 29.”
“Bottom line is it is every person’s, man or woman, it’s their responsibility to provide for their child,” McKenzie said. “It’s our right to vote.”
“What this bill says is ‘okay, we know you have a back balance.’ If you enter an agreement with the court, and you’re making adequate payment for that agreed amount, you can vote.”
McKenzie said that once someone serves their time, they should be able to be whole citizens. According to McKenzie, being able to take part in the election process is a “huge” part of that.
“It gives a man or woman their dignity back.”
HB929: Driver Licenses – As introduced, exempts a person under 18 years of age who is in custody of the department of children’s services or receiving foster care services from payment of fees for issuance, renewal, or reinstatement of a driver license, instruction permit, intermediate driver license, or photo identification card.
McKenzie explained that these services would be for children that are in state custody.
“This is something to say ‘we want you to get all of your life, and to become great, productive citizens,’ so we’re going to waive those fees,” said McKenzie.
McKenzie added that there are people who are supposed to be advocates for children, who try to block them from getting their license. He also stressed the importance of transportation in Tennessee.
Representative Caleb Hemmer(D-Knoxville)
HB575:Physicians and Surgeons – As introduced, requires the board of medical examiners to consider including a course in maternal mental health when establishing continuing medical educational requirements for persons licensed to practice medicine. – Amends TCA Title 63.
Hemmer said that they wanted to urge the Board of Medical Examiners and the Osteo board to create a more “streamlined” education requirement so that those in these positions can learn more about maternal mental health issues.
“We think this is a good common sense step forward that’ll really help this patient population,” said Hemmer.
Representative John Ray Clemmons(D-Nashville)
HB370:Infectious Diseases – As introduced, requires the department of health to seek federal funding to implement programs for the prevention, testing, and treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) for residents of this state, including programs in partnership with community and nonprofit partners; requires the department to annually report to the general assembly certain information about the programs and funding.
During the session, Clemmons was asked would this bill allow for the State Health Department to not only request, but gain access to the funding without interference from the governor or “any other entity.”
According to Clemmons, this bill would “restore the status quo.”
“Any money that comes through the state is going to necessarily include the fingerprints of the Department of Health most likely, and or the governor’s office” said Clemmons. Nothing comes through the state of Tennessee, distributed through there without their fingerprints on it to some extent. Our bill is more to return to the status quo, but they do have a duty to distribute it as those funds are intended. That’s what they don’t like.”
Mick Wright: "I hope "God will forgive me if I vote wrong." Photo courtesy Shelby County Government
There are various ways of dividing the efforts of humankind into separate but oddly complementary spheres: sacred vs. profane is one way, ad hoc vs. eternal is another. And who is to say that one sphere exceeds the other in importance?
Maybe not the Shelby County Commission, whose current Democratic-dominated version seems bent on taking direct action wherever it can.
On Wednesday, the Commission spent roughly the same amount of time and energy on two radically differing pending matters — one being how next to try to get the office of the Shelby County Clerk up to snuff (in this case via a “special adviser”), the other being how best to remedy centuries of racial injustice through a system of reparations for the African-American component of local society. Left pending until the Commission’s next meeting were a series of proposed correctives aimed at preventing another Tyre Nichols situation.
The matter of County Clerk Wanda Halbert came first on the agenda. Various commissioners made it plain they were fed up with Halbert’s inabilities to deal expeditiously with the duties of her office, which include the processing of auto license tag applications and the distribution of them. Through much of the past year, during which Halbert twice closed her office so as to do catch-up, long lines of frustrated Shelby Countians turned up daily at the various clerk’s offices in a vain effort to get their plates.
During one of those shut-downs, Halbert conspicuously took time off in Jamaica. She periodically has described herself as a “whistle-blower” and has blamed her office imbroglios on vague insinuations of conspiratorial action on the Commission’s part or on that of County Mayor Lee Harris.
The Commission has tried numerous incentives to help the clerk out, but, as commissioners noted on Wednesday, none of these bore much fruit. Simultaneously, state Representative Mark White has introduced a bill in the General Assembly in Nashville that would facilitate local efforts to recall the clerk.
On Wednesday, Halbert, along with aides, was present in the Commission chamber, behaving more or less meekly as the Commission tossed around a proposal to appropriate $150,000 to hire a special adviser to her. The clerk welcomed the initiative, claiming she had wanted something like that all along.
Much of a lengthy debate on what was clearly being put forth as a “last chance” solution concerned the issue of where the money to hire the adviser should come from. Various commissioners objected to the proposal’s original formulation that the $150,000 should come from the Commission’s own contingency fund, and it was ultimately decided that the clerk herself possessed enough uncommitted funds to foot the bill for the adviser.
In the end, that’s how things were decided. Halbert’s helper, who will be hired by the Commission, will be paid by available funds from the clerk’s office but will answer to the Commission, not to her. The vote was 12 to 1, with Republican Commissioner Brandon Morrison expressing disapproval of the need to spend more taxpayer money to accomplish duties that are part of the express charge of the elected clerk’s office.
Later in Wednesday’s public meeting, which was specially called by chairman Mickell Lowery, the Commission took up the momentous matter of a proposed $5 million outlay to fund a feasibility study on reparations for the African-American population. The “reparations” were not necessarily financial, although at least one successful amendment to the resolution proposed by Commissioner Henri Brooks seemed to call for make-up pay differentials for African-Americans.
Most of several amendments by Brooks addressed directly, as did the resolution itself, the undeniable fact of overall racial disparities in accessing of advantages of American citizenship.
Sponsoring the reparations measure were eight of the Commission’s Democrats, including all of the body’s Black members, most of whom spoke for the measure with various degrees of passionate intensity.
Reservations were heard from the body’s four Republicans, who tended to see the resolution as “divisive” or in conflict somehow with the American system of equality. Aligning with them in harboring doubts about the reparations issue was Democrat Michael Whaley, whose mother is Asian-born and who self-identified Wednesday as a “person of col0r.”
Voting for the resolution were chairman Lowery and fellow Commissioners Shante Avant, Brooks, Charlie Caswell, Miska Clay-Bibbs, Ed Ford, Erika Sugarmon, and Britney Thornton, all Democrats.
“No” votes came from Republicans Amber Mills, Brandon Morrison, and Mick Wright, and abstaining were Democrat Whaley and Republican Bradford.
In one form or another, the objecting Commissioners wondered where the $5 million to pay for the feasibility study would come from (Ford made the case that such funds were available in the county’s residual share of funds from ARPA, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021).
The objectors conceded during debate that disparities existed between the races that needed addressing but expressed disagreement with reparations as such as the remedy. Bradford had originally moved that the matter be postponed until the next public Commission meeting but ultimately withdrew his motion (that clearly would have failed) and expressed hopes that the larger effort to alter disparities succeeded.
His fellow Republican, Mick Wright, expressed similar sentiments, concluding with a blessing for his colleagues and the seemingly heartfelt statement, “I hope God will forgive me if I vote wrong.”
Cord-cutting is a popular topic among spiritual practitioners. It can be a useful tool in helping you move on from a relationship or situation, and may be considered a form of self-care. It is a spiritual exercise that a person does when they need help releasing unhealthy energetic ties from a relationship or situation that has ended or no longer serves them.
Cord-cutting allows us to assert a measure of control over a situation that may be out of our hands. It can help facilitate a natural process and speed up the results. We will eventually get over our ex or stop thinking about them every time we go to a certain place. But why wait? Humans are pack animals, in need of connections, but we also want to feel in control of our own lives and we are not patient people.
This exercise does not have to be done just for romantic relationships gone bad. If you struggle with toxic relationships with family or friends, you can use a cord-cutting ceremony to help release those attachments and signal the moving away from that relationship.
Releasing energetic attachments does not have to be done only when things have ended badly. If your last relationship concluded amicably, you can do a cord-cutting to bring closure and signal that you are moving on with your life.
I have studied under a person who told me she practiced cord-cutting every day. As part of her daily spiritual practice, she would release all the attachments between herself and her loved ones that were not of unconditional love. She said this helped her and her loved ones from dwelling over disagreements or hurt feelings, and gave the family a sense of personal freedom to be themselves.
When we spend time with a person, whether romantic or platonic, we form energetic bonds with those people. You can also form energetic bonds to places such as your home, favorite coffee shop, or park. If you are a sentimental person, it can be easy to form attachments to objects. When it is time to move on from that person, place, or thing, we may find it difficult due to those bonds.
When we have strong energetic bonds with someone, performing a cord-cutting ceremony once may not be enough. Depending on the length or strength of your bond, you may want to do it multiple times or make it part of regular spiritual practice. Healing and cleansing your energetic body is a process. Even if we do a cord-cutting to speed up the results, this can still take time. Only you will know when it has worked, so don’t be afraid to repeat it or don’t feel like a failure if you still feel a connection after doing it.
A popular method of cord-cutting is done using two candles and a piece of thread. I suggest using black candles for this, but use whatever color feels the most appropriate to you. Set the two candles on a fire-safe surface, some distance apart. Tie the thread around one candle, leave a taut length of string between the two candles, and then tie the loose end of the thread to the opposite candle. Light both candles. As the candles burn down, the string will catch fire and will burn. This is a physical representation of those energetic bonds burning and dying. Once your candles have burned down, dispose of any leftover wax and string.
Cord-cutting can bring back emotions and trauma; it is part of the healing process. Once you have completed the ceremony, spend some time performing self-care. Meditate or journal as you process your experience and feelings. Because it can bring up old feelings, remind yourself not to reach out to the person you just cut energetic ties with. They may be on your mind now, but it will pass. And you had to cut your ties with them for a reason, so remember that if the feeling to slide into someone’s DMs hits you.
Emily Guenther is a co-owner of The Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Philosopher John O’Donohue wrote a prayer not so much to God as to Life. It’s perfect for your needs right now. He said, “May my mind come alive today to the invisible geography that invites me to new frontiers, to break the dead shell of yesterdays, to risk being disturbed and changed.” I think you will generate an interesting onrush of healing, Aries, if you break the dead shell of yesterdays and risk being disturbed and changed. The new frontier is calling to you. To respond with alacrity, you must shed some baggage.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Right-wing religious influencers are rambling amuck in the United States. In recent months, their repressive pressures have forced over 1,600 books to be banned in 138 school districts in 38 states. The forbidden books include some about heroes Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez, and Rosa Parks. With this appalling trend as a motivational force, I encourage you Tauruses to take inventory of any tendencies you might have to censor the information you expose yourself to. According to my reading of the astrological omens, now is an excellent time to pry open your mind to consider ideas and facts you have shut out. Be eager to get educated and inspired by stimuli outside your usual scope.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I think we can all agree that it’s really fun to fall in love. Those times when we feel a thrilling infatuation welling up within us are among the most pleasurable of all human experiences. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do it over and over again as the years go by? Just keep getting bowled over by fresh immersions in swooning adoration? Maybe we could drum up two or three bouts of mad love explosions every year. But alas, giving in to such a temptation might make it hard to build intimacy and trust with a committed, long-term partner. Here’s a possible alternative: Instead of getting smitten with an endless series of new paramours, we could get swept away by novel teachings, revelatory meditations, lovable animals, sublime art or music, amazing landscapes or sanctuaries, and exhilarating adventures. I hope you will be doing that in the coming weeks, Gemini.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The scientific method is an excellent approach for understanding reality. It’s not the only one and should not be used to the exclusion of other ways of knowing. But even if you’re allergic to physics or never step into a chemistry lab, you are wise to use the scientific method in your daily life. The coming weeks will be an especially good time to enjoy its benefits. What would that mean, practically speaking? Set aside your subjective opinions and habitual responses. Instead, simply gather evidence. Treasure actual facts. Try to be as objective as you can in evaluating everything that happens. Be highly attuned to your feelings, but also be aware that they may not provide all facets of the truth.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Is there anything in your psychological makeup that would help you do some detective work? How are your skills as a researcher? Are you willing to be cagey and strategic as you investigate what’s going on behind the scenes? If so, I invite you to carry out any or all of these four tasks in the coming weeks: 1. Try to become aware of shrouded half-truths. 2. Be alert for shadowy stuff lurking in bright, shiny environments. 3. Uncover secret agendas and unacknowledged evidence. 4. Explore stories and situations that no one else seems curious about.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The country of Nepal, which has strong Virgo qualities, is divided into seven provinces. One is simply called “Province No. 1,” while the others are Sudurpashchim, Karnali, Gandaki, Lumbini, Bagmati, and Janakpur. I advise Nepal to give Province No. 1 a decent name very soon. I also recommend that you Virgos extend a similar outreach to some of the unnamed beauty in your sphere. Have fun with it. Give names to your phone, your computer, your bed, your hair dryer, and your lamps, as well as your favorite trees, houseplants, and clouds. You may find that the gift of naming helps make the world a more welcoming place with which you have a more intimate relationship. And that would be an artful response to current cosmic rhythms.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Are you aimless, impassive, and stuck, floundering as you try to preserve and maintain? Or are you fiercely and joyfully in quest of vigorous and dynamic success? What you do in the coming weeks will determine which of these two forks in your destiny will be your path for the rest of 2023. I’ll be rooting for the second option. Here is a tip to help you be strong and bold: Learn the distinctions between your own soulful definition of success and the superficial, irrelevant, meaningless definitions of success that our culture celebrates. Then swear an oath to love, honor, and serve your soulful definition.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The next four weeks will be a time of germination, metaphorically analogous to the beginning of a pregnancy. The attitudes and feelings that predominate during this time will put a strong imprint on the seeds that will mature into full ripeness by late 2023. What do you want to give birth to in 40 weeks or so, Scorpio? Choose wisely! And make sure that in this early, impressionable part of the process, you provide your growing creations with positive, nurturing influences.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I recommend you set up Designated Arguing Summits (DAT). These will be short periods when you and your allies get disputes out in the open. Disagreements must be confined to these intervals. You are not allowed to squabble at any other time. Why do I make this recommendation? I believe that many positive accomplishments are possible for you in the coming weeks, and it would be counterproductive to expend more than the minimal necessary amount on sparring. Your glorious assignment: Be emotionally available and eager to embrace the budding opportunities.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Actor Judi Dench won an Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth in the film Shakespeare in Love — even though she was on-screen for just eight minutes. Beatrice Straight got an Oscar for her role in the movie Network, though she appeared for less than six minutes. I expect a similar phenomenon in your world, Capricorn. A seemingly small pivot will lead to a vivid turning point. A modest seed will sprout into a prismatic bloom. A cameo performance will generate long-term ripples. Be alert for the signs.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Most of us are constantly skirmishing with time, doing our best to coax it or compel it to give us more slack. But lately, you Aquarians have slipped into a more intense conflict. And from what I’ve been able to determine, time is kicking your ass. What can you do to relieve the pressure? Maybe you could edit your priority list — eliminate two mildly interesting pursuits to make more room for a fascinating one. You might also consider reading a book to help you with time management and organizational strategies, like these: 1. Getting Things Done by David Allen; 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey; 3. 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “What is originality?” asked philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Here’s how he answered: “to see something that has no name as yet, and hence cannot be mentioned though it stares us all in the face.” Got that, Pisces? I hope so, because your fun assignments in the coming days include the following: 1. to make a shimmering dream coalesce into a concrete reality; 2. to cause a figment of the imagination to materialize into a useful accessory; 3. to coax an unborn truth to sprout into a galvanizing insight.
Carrier pigeons have been couriers of legitimate and nefarious items for centuries, but officials at the Pacific Institution in Abbotsford, British Columbia, nonetheless were stunned when a gray bird with a tiny backpack landed in a fenced inmate prison yard on Dec. 29. The CBC reported that officers “had to corner it,” according to John Randle, Pacific regional president of the Union for Canadian Correctional Officers. “You can imagine how that would look, trying to catch a pigeon.” After some time, they were able to grab it and remove the package, which contained about 30 grams of crystal meth. “We’ve been focusing so much on drone interdiction … Now we have to look at, I guess, pigeons again,” Randle said. They set the little guy free and are investigating its origin. [CBC, 1/6/2023]
Illustration: Jeanne Seagle
Family Values
It’s important to encourage your children in their scholastic endeavors. But an unnamed mother in LaGrange, New York, took parental support too far when she snuck into Arlington High School on Jan. 17 before school started to watch her freshman daughter beat up another girl. The Mid Hudson News reported that Mom was caught on video using vulgar language and egging her daughter on as the girls tussled. Superintendent Dave Moyer said the woman blended in with the students coming to school by wearing a backpack. “The students and the mother involved … will be held accountable for their actions,” Moyer said. [Mid Hudson News, 1/18/2023]
WSMV-TV reported that a car that crashed into a mailbox in Nashville, Tennessee, on Jan. 14 was driven by an underage motorist —really underage, as in 5 years old. The child’s father, John Edwin Harris, 53, was seen by a witness grabbing the kid and running from the scene, police said. Officers found multiple open bottles of alcohol inside and ran the tags; when they arrived at Harris’ home, he was driving away in his wife’s car. He failed a field sobriety test, could barely stand up, and smelled of alcohol. He was charged with DUI and leaving the scene of an accident — where’s the child endangerment charge?! — and was released on $4,000 bond. [WSMV, 1/16/2023]
Repeat Offender
An unnamed 62-year-old man from Garfield Heights, Ohio, was arrested — for the 70th time — in early January after he allegedly stole a shopping cart full of packaged meat to sell to restaurants, WJW-TV reported. The Walmart in South Euclid alerted authorities to the theft; in the parking lot, the thief transferred the goods to a stolen suitcase and threw what wouldn’t fit in a dumpster. He told officers he sells the meat half-price to area restaurants. He was booked, again, for theft. [WSW, 1/10/2023]
It’s Come to This
Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 of 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported a 108 percent increase in a certain smuggled item at ports of entry, Fox5-TV reported on Jan. 18. It wasn’t fentanyl or heroin, though. Seized egg products and poultry were the hot catch as prices soared in the United States. “My advice is, don’t bring them over,” said CBP supervisory agriculture specialist Charles Payne. Or, he advised, if you do, declare them so you won’t be fined. Thirty eggs in Juarez, Mexico, cost $3.40 — a fraction of what they’d cost in the U.S. because of an outbreak of avian flu that forced producers to euthanize 43 million egg-laying hens. [Fox5, 1/18/2023]
Least Competent Criminal
Federal prosecutors charged Mohammed Chowdhury, 46, of Boston with one count of murder-for-hire on Jan. 17, ABC News reported, after he allegedly contracted with “hired killers,” aka federal agents, on the internet. Chowdhury had shared his wife’s and her boyfriend’s work and home locations, photos, and work schedules with the contractors, and wanted both of them snuffed out — all for $8,000, with a $500 down payment. The agents met with Chowdhury for two months to plan the murders. “No evidence. No evidence from like, you know, that, uh, I did something, you know?” Chowdhury told them. He was arrested as they met to collect the down payment; he could face up to 10 years in prison. [ABC News, 1/19/2023]
Awesome!
Dominican sailor Elvis Francois, 47, was rescued by the Colombian navy on Jan. 18 after surviving 24 days drifting from the island of St. Martin in the Netherlands Antilles, NPR reported. Francois said he had been making repairs to a sailboat when currents swept it out to sea. He scrawled “help” on the boat’s hull, then survived on a bottle of ketchup, garlic powder, seasoning cubes, and collected rainwater while he waited for a rescue. “I called my friends, they tried to contact me, but I lost the signal,” Francois said. “There was nothing else to do but sit and wait.” He finally caught the attention of a passing airplane by signaling with a mirror. “I thank the coast guard. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be telling the story,” he said. [NPR, 1/19/2023]
