magic

Mystic Lady: An Interview with Katelan Foisy on Wolfwych

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I already loved this Wolfwych interview with Katelan Foisy before I noticed that she very kindly listed this blog as a reference for Romani folklore and culture. Foisy is an artist, witch, writer, model, fortune teller… she does all of it, and lives her life with an admirable sense of purpose and ritual. She’s also of Sinti heritage, like me, and one of the most delightful and generous people I’ve ever met. During the Romani Arts and Letters Conference at NYU, I gave a talk on the importance of her work and the work of Selma Selman in reconfiguring the archetype of the “Gypsy Woman,” and included the PowerPoint here: Portraits and Performativity. If you would like to read a thoughtful and beautifully crafted interview with her about her artwork, life, magical work, fortune telling, and reading list, then here you go, and you’re welcome. Enjoy! https://wolfwych.com/2017/07/20/mystic-lady-an-interview-with-katelan-foisy/

I’ve gotten some of my best divination from cut-ups and some very good practical advice. It rearranges the brain to see what isn’t there. I’m also a fan of working with technology to increase energy. We are creating magical worlds with our internet presences so when I’m doing a working, I will photograph parts of it, edit the image to enhance the feeling of the work and put it up online. I feel that the love and buoyancy that pours in from that helps to boost the energy within the working. It’s one of the reasons I take so much care in the aesthetics of the working. If each working itself is it’s one piece of art, the care put into each work becomes part of the magic in that particular working. This method is what works best for me but each practitioner will have their own method. For instance I work with land magic a lot. If I’m doing a working for immigration I will take that person with me on a journey and the we will walk the path of those that came before us. I believe we need to know the history of the land before we can work our magic there. That may be one thing that I find odd about some modern day practices and with people in general. We tend to forget our history but the real magic lies underneath the pavement and deep within the soil, it lies in land memory. –Excerpt from interview

Image by Katelan Foisy, featured in WolfWych

 

Book Review: Witches, Sluts, Feminists by Kristen Sollée is a Must-Read

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I was delighted to review a book I love, Witches, Sluts, Feminists by Kristen J. Sollée, for BUST.com. Here’s an excerpt:

As a Romani woman from a long, matrilineal line of healers and magic workers, how could I fail to be intrigued by Kristen J. Sollée’s book, Witches, Sluts, Feminists. It’s a scintillating, wry, and accessibly academic overview of the witch archetype in relation to the European and American witch hunts, and to the festival of misogyny in current American politics. Sollée, a professor of Gender Studies at The New School, teaches a popular class on the same topic. In the book, Sollée explores the deadly interplay of women’s financial and social autonomy, and sometimes sexual liberation, during the inquisition and the days of colonial America. Today, though sex and power can still be damning for women, they can also be quite a combination for activism and protest art.

In my review, I discuss the ways in which my own experience with witchcraft relates to Sollée’s work, and the ways in which she acknowledges that so much of modern Paganism is often unapologetically appropriative, and what can be done to initiate that healing. I should explain that my first line,”A Romani woman from a long, matrilineal line of healers and magic workers….” refers to the very ordinary magic of herbalism, energy work, and prayer that many Roma practice. My grandmother claims the title witch because it is understood by outsiders, and I do too. And while I am an English professor, writer, and editor, I also work the family trades, fortune telling and dancing, still practiced by some Roma. Like all Roma, I am not one thing. Romani people aren’t inherently magical, and most would be reluctant to claim the words “magic” and “witch” the way my family does, because these practices are not out of the ordinary. They are everyday healing, and I think that’s what Sollée is saying in her book too. The witch/slut archetype are very human, and that humanity is extraordinary in its tradition, practicality, and power.

For the full review on http://www.bust.com, follow this link: http://bust.com/books/193139-witches-sluts-feminists-kristen-sollee-review.html

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Loving the book in a lacy cami

Writers’ Circle: Establishing Creative Ritual

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I’m delighted to announce that I’m running a bi-monthly Writers’ Circle at Tarot Society in Brooklyn, NY, every other Wednesday night from 7-8:30. It’s my experience as an English and Writing Professor and yoga teacher that ritual can lend not only structure to a creative person’s life but also a great deal of inspiration. Ritual helps us delineate space and energy, and if you are the type to believe that writing is a kind of alchemy, then you may appreciate the practice of charging your writing time and environment with intention. Think of it as a magical rite, invoking the muse, calling to your higher self, or appealing to your genius (those delightful daemons the Romans believed worked through us). We’ll draw from various traditions of meditation, mindfulness, and magic work to open the space for our writing. Then, we’ll begin the circle with craft talk, usually incorporating examples from a diverse array of writers (often outside of the great white canon). From here, we move on to writing prompts and time to write, and end with optional sharing and feedback. The goal is to have you leave with some new material that you can play with afterwards, and if you choose to invite feedback, our suggestions are informed by the freshness of the work, rooted in questions like, “What did you love? What did you want to see more of? What were you curious about?”

If you feel like you could use some more energy, discipline, and magic in your work, then join the Writers’ Circle, open to all genres and writers. Follow Tarot Society on Facebook or join the mailing list to keep on top of the Writers’ Circle schedule.

The Writers’ Circle and Tarot Society is a decidedly safe and intersectional space, welcoming to all genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and abilities. Please come in the spirit of art, love, and tolerance.

 

 

Free Yoga! Family of Light Holistic Center’s Open House 1/17!

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Jesswink

The brilliant writer Emily Alford did my makeup for this pic. And she just finished her novel. She’s the basically the best.

Do you like free yoga? Aromatherapy yoga? How about I give you a tarot reading? Would you like a mini-channeling session with Igor? Are you a fan of juice and kombucha? Into DIY? Ever wonder what your aura looks like? If you answered yes to any of these, come on over to Brooklyn’s Family of Light Holistic Center in Ditmas Park on 1/17 and enjoy the open house! We want to reach out to the community and have a lovely day. It’s one of my very favorite places in the city, and I bet you’ll love it too. Plus you can pick up some beautiful crystals, mala beads, and other jewelry in the gift shop. Check out the poster for more details. Hope to see you! *Wink*

 

openhouse

 

 

Fantasy Literature’s Expanded Universe: Romani Gypsy Power in Sci-Fi & Fantasy Part I

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If you don’t know Kate Lechler’s new column “The Expanded Universe” over at Fantasy Literature, you’d best check it out. She thoughtfully features writers and their thoughts on the SciFi Fantasy genres, both the craft and the literary theory of it. One of my favorites is Micah Dean Hicks’ essay on Elite Groups in SFF.

I wrote a 2-parted essay on Romani (Gypsy) Power in SciFi and Fantasy, taking a look at who the Roma are, the role or function that Gypsies play in Fantasy and SciFi and why, and what that means for both art and politics. I’m so thankful to be a part of such a cool publication, and I’m excited for Part II coming up featuring one of my favorite Romani writers of SFF and why I think there is no such thing as magical realism. Stay tuned!

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Space Unicorn by SpieGirl

Last chance to join me in France for yoga & writing! I’ll be at the Château.

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Quail Bell Magazine was so sweet to make this announcement that I’m teaching writing workshops this summer in France on the Yoga & Writing Retreat at the Château de Verderonne, France (Aug 7-20, 2014. I’m so honored to be teaching alongside Cambridge Writers’ Workshop superstars Elissa Joi Lewis, Rita Banerjee, and Diana Norma Szokolyai (recently one of VIDA’s “20 Gypsy Women You Should Be Reading”). They are all so talented, smart, and divinely sweet. And I’m wildly excited that I’m teaching “Yearning & Character Motivation” and “Magic & Trauma– Writing from the Unconscious,” and there are a bunch more awesome writing workshops on the schedule including writing workshops, craft talks, art classes, adventures to Paris & Chantilly, and yoga twice a day. In France. A couple of spots have opened so apply ASAP or by July 15th.

Enjoying yoga with magnificent Elissa Joi Lewis. I'm the one, all in black, lounging beside the thousand year old moat.

Enjoying yoga with magnificent Elissa Joi Lewis. I’m the one, all in black, lounging beside the thousand year old moat. Image Source: Quail Bell Magazine

 

 

“I write because magic.” Laura Steadham Smith’s manifesto in Quail Bell Magazine

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 Laura Steadham Smith’s manifesto as part of the “why I do what I do” series in Quail Bell Magazine, “Another Manifesto: Where Stories Come From”

“I write because magic.” And you know what? Smith’s whole manifesto is magic so get to it: http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/3/post/2014/03/writing-another-manifesto.html

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Image: Laura Steadham Smith

Quail Bell Magazine is accepting essays, manifestos, rants from artists and writers of all kinds on what they do and why until 3/30. Send your submissions to submissions@quailbellmagazine.com