witch

Light Magic for Dark Times review on BUST

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I love Lisa Marie Basile‘s new book, Light Magic for Dark Times. “Basile’s magic feels like a dip into The Artist’s Way for witches,” which is no surprise since you may already know her creative writing, and Luna Luna Magazine, which she runs and founded. The spells she writes benefit from her poetry, and the journaling and other reflective exercises help the reader heal and learn about themselves before they even light a candle.

While the book is geared toward femme spirits, Basile’s language and focus is mindfully intersectional and gender-inclusive, embracing of fluid and non-binary identities, and all bodies and body types. The focus is always on self-love and self-care, particularly for marginalized people who may feel ground-down in the day to day of our, lately dark, times. There are spells for healing burnout after social justice protests, trauma, chronic illness, grief, and discrimination, and as always, the focus is on increasing love and kindness in all of its forms. In short, bringing the light in.

To learn more about what I love about the book, her work in shadow magic, and the ins and outs of ritual, check out my review for BUST.com. I’m looking forward to revisiting this book for years to come, and I hope all you artists, witches, and wonderful sprites answer if it calls to you.

lisa

Illustration of the author in Light Magic for Dark Times

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

jesswitchesslutsfeminists

Loving the book in a lacy cami

“Halloween Savvy: Your Guide to the Sexiest (Smartest) Costume” in Quail Bell Magazine

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You don’t have to go to that party dressed as a Sexy Bed Sheet! I’ve got you covered. And even if you already have a costume in mind, it’s worth checking out this Quail Bell Magazine Halloween costume guide before you head to the shindig.

The-Two-Fridas

http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/the-real/halloween-savvy-guide-sexiest-smartest-costume