tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13912538994238036192024-02-07T09:26:01.754-08:00Rock-n-Roll WitchMama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.comBlogger231125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-36077250432257653242017-05-16T22:19:00.003-07:002017-05-16T22:19:39.192-07:00Occult Link RoundupThere's an awful lot of talk online lately about paganism dying - the last time I cruised by Patheos the subject made up about half the posts. Myself, I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other. This may be because I am not a terribly community-minded person to begin with, and also because I have always been of the belief that the gods find a way regardless of what humanity gets up to.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timely.</td></tr>
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I also view myself as a witch before a pagan - religion is secondary to magic, for me, or perhaps so deeply entrenched in it that it seems like cutting it out from the sorcery would be castrating it. Whether paganism as a movement lives or dies is not something that overly worries me provided that witchcraft survives.<br />
<br />
(And it always does. You cannot kill the witch.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://archaichoney.com/blog/2017/1/26/a-witches-resistance-action-list">A Witches Resistance and Action List</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2017/05/aleister-crowley-the-primrose-league/">Aleister Crowley and the Primrose League</a><br />
<a href="http://secretsun.blogspot.ca/2017/05/reel-paganismthe-folk-horror-revival.html"><br /></a>
<a href="http://secretsun.blogspot.ca/2017/05/reel-paganismthe-folk-horror-revival.html">Reel Paganism: The Folk Horror Revival </a><br />
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/215849774">The Wizard of Oz</a>Emma Eldritchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12035363069197045944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-90950181810194084732017-04-24T22:53:00.001-07:002017-05-16T21:51:19.167-07:00Devil MonkIn my last post, I ended by saying that I had used the 40 Servants online deck and pulled the Devil card. I spent the rest of the month petitioning the servant, burning a candle for him and asking to be shown what my limiting beliefs are, and asking to free myself from whatever is holding me back. I put the image of the card and its sigil on my phone, so I could see it daily.<br />
<br />
For the first few weeks, I honestly wasn't sure what it was that could possibly be blocking me. After all, I engage in introspection perhaps a little <i>too</i> much, how could I possibly have such a blind spot? It took a while for it to dawn on me that it was very likely that I was holding myself back in my physical endeavours. Exercise, and dance - these are places where in the past I have doubted my ability.<br />
<br />
That leads me to the past weekend. I preformed at the Taboo Revue - my Bride number again, and a trio with Melody Mangler and my sister. I did not fuck up horrendously, I had fun, and I'm proud of myself.<br />
<br />
The very next day I went and did the Vancouver Sun Run - my very first 10K. My sister and I were in the slowpokes division and all told I only ran 3K, but we still finished the bloody thing in one hour and forty-three minutes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKJq-zFNAISLjyGWAL6jnIZ67jOq0YGf1ryekfxf6AkJ03XptyZCn1RrK2QbA5_r_BWRgAaTilc9-GVXksSalKyAY7yMWfhf7G1nbL_MUqUL7cjq_KdztSTTFvmibE1LMgjDXtc7Rj04/s1600/sunrun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKJq-zFNAISLjyGWAL6jnIZ67jOq0YGf1ryekfxf6AkJ03XptyZCn1RrK2QbA5_r_BWRgAaTilc9-GVXksSalKyAY7yMWfhf7G1nbL_MUqUL7cjq_KdztSTTFvmibE1LMgjDXtc7Rj04/s320/sunrun.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/emma.eldritch/">Instagram</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So, now what?<br />
<br />
Back to running regularly - just doing the run reminded me how much I do enjoy it, and now that I'm not working two jobs and the days are longer and slightly less shitty, I can discover good routes that let me absorb nature.<br />
<br />
I'm co-hosting the Stephen King "We All Float Down Here" show at the Rio with Gidget - it will be my first time as a co-host on a large stage, and it should be loads of fun.<br />
<br />
Since I had so much success with the 40 Servants, I pulled another virtually. This time I pulled <a href="http://www.adventuresinwoowoo.com/2016/12/the-monk/">The Monk</a>. This coincides with the <a href="http://rubyslipper.ca/ruby-slipper-astrology/2017/4/horoscopes-for-april-23rd-to-april-30th-2017">astrological forecast</a> in terms of simplifying life, something I don't mind doing at all. I'll be a dancing, running, meditating freak.<br />
<br />
Now have some motivational music!<br />
<br />
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<br />Emma Eldritchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12035363069197045944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-5188099675193568202017-04-09T21:50:00.001-07:002017-04-09T21:50:13.726-07:00Double DsSometimes things happen very quickly. Too quickly - all you can do then is put on your boots and roll with it as best you can.<br />
<br />
Tommie Kelly released The Forty Servants a while ago. I read Tommie's blog, but I admit I didn't pay much attention to the release - I tend not to enjoy oracle cards very much. Turns out this is an exception.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/adventuresinwoowoo/posts/1861241160784178">You can try the deck out in virtual form here</a>. I did, and the very first card I pulled was <a href="http://www.adventuresinwoowoo.com/2016/11/the-depleted/">The Depleted</a>.<br />
<br />
My good friend Andrew pulled it, too. We both reacted the same way: "<a href="https://youtu.be/izXilzFIKL8?t=48s">goddamn son of a bitch</a>." Because it was right - we were both completely burnt out.<br />
<br />
I can't speak for Andrew, but myself? I'd been working two jobs, my father had recently had major heart surgery at nearly age 70, my sister was suffering from severe anxiety and in the process of breaking up with a partner, a friend had to be rushed to the hospital... everything was shit. And in the middle of this, I volunteered myself to preform at the Vancouver Burlesque Centre's Student Showcase. Yeah, sign me up, I haven't been on stage in at least a year! Fuck it, how hard could it be?<br />
<br />
Goddamn son of a bitch.<br />
<br />
Some of it I did to myself, but even the shit I didn't plan on is no excuse to curl up into a weeping ball of marshmallow fluff. (This is not to say I did not weep, because I totally did. I came home fro my second contract and cried in my closet one day because I couldn't find a misplaced lab coat.)I am an adult - part of that is owning up to the responsibility of my reactions. I am also a fucking occultist - part of that is manipulating my goddamn reality.<br />
<br />
This spring has been hard. But so what? Embrace the thorns of the plants trying desperately to find the sun behind the grey and omnipresent clouds. You're alive, witch, do something with that.<br />
<br />
<br />
My return to the stage was a Bride of Frankenstein number, set to <a href="https://youtu.be/h2QQAvRjHh0">Shearwater's Quiet Americans</a>. A woman made by man <i>for</i> man, ultimately embracing her imperfect form and revolting against the very idea that she exists solely for her creator.<br />
<br />
I got to throw a chair, it was boss.<br />
<br />
Since then, more opportunities to preform have presented themselves. My second job will end on the 14th, leaving me with more free time that I intend to devote to running and writing. If nothing else, working more really does teach you that you can accomplish an awful lot before bedtime.<br />
<br />
<br />
For fun, I just pulled another of the Forty Servants to see what I should bear in mind for the next lunar cycle. I got <a href="http://www.adventuresinwoowoo.com/2016/11/the-devil/">The Devil</a>. <br />
<br />
Well. That I can work with.<br />
<br />Emma Eldritchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12035363069197045944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-23962673735373050692017-03-15T21:13:00.001-07:002017-03-15T21:13:32.287-07:00This is babel, sensurround now.So, okay. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BQbPTQEh1yD/">This is a thing that happened last month</a>. My almost!brother Pete and his actual biological little sister came to visit from England. As you can probably guess from the video, I had no idea about this plan. Pete and my sister orchestrated the whole thing behind my back. My sister even spoke to my supervisor and got me time off work. Sneaky bastards.<br />
<br />
Pete stayed for two weeks, and his sister for one. We nicely stayed away from the truly weird topics (well, mostly) while she was present, but once she'd gone home... One night we stayed up until 4 am talking about the old Barbelith forums and the difference between the magical communities online back then versus the modern tumblr magic scene.<br />
<br />
Why yes, I am on the tumblr. Why yes, it is filled with young people. Some of the stuff I see there in the magic circles is quite interesting. There does seem to be a different tone in the magical community there - some of this may be the age gap, but I don't think that's all of it. What I remember of the time period from about 1998 to 2005 is that experimentation was the other of the day. Now it often feels like people are more concerned with telling you what you're doing wrong than they are with trying new things.<br />
<br />
Part of this is definitely an age thing. I remember being in my early 20s and thinking I knew a <i>lot</i>, so my job was clearly to correct people who might be ignorant. I was a fucking know-it-all; a state that happens a lot with people who were really clever in school. There is also a greater awareness of various social issues. This is generally a very good thing, but it can have the unfortunate effect of dividing people who are - in the grand scheme of things - on the same side.<br />
<br />
I'm thinking in particular of the <a href="https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/anti-trump-witches-and-4chan-magicians-are-battling-over-the-future-of-america">anti-Trump binding spell</a> that's been mentioned in a few different news sources. Now, when I first read the spell I admit I had a very dismissive reaction - "well, that's not how I'D do it" and then a bunch of quibbles with the whole "we're not CURSING" attitude and so on and so forth. After a few days of thinking about it, I realised I was being an ass. The spell was designed for everyone to throw their energy in together, and instead of just shutting the fuck up and <i>doing the thing</i> I was instead nitpicking it.<br />
<br />
Which accomplishes nothing. <br />
<br />
It actually reminded me of something I had bitched about to Pete while he was here. When I had been trying to run the ladies' magic nights, one of the participants showed several times an unwillingness to go along with the group. This was a major issue that contributed to the dissolution of the group as it was (and the end of a friendship) and so to see it reflected in myself was a reminder not to be a dickhead.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCdUEeIWvUreFBmOOt6G34AdZtORE-HrqASpOHxCyPQj3_m_eQju479umYiMVfbLLWhv9PpSgeJ03zWSKicnB-uaSM6z_tTBIE4gB5oCe3Chinu6mcwMB5JyGVQZQn2OvxmoaTel0La0/s1600/bachalo_emma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCdUEeIWvUreFBmOOt6G34AdZtORE-HrqASpOHxCyPQj3_m_eQju479umYiMVfbLLWhv9PpSgeJ03zWSKicnB-uaSM6z_tTBIE4gB5oCe3Chinu6mcwMB5JyGVQZQn2OvxmoaTel0La0/s200/bachalo_emma.jpg" width="131" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art: Chris Bachalo</td></tr>
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It was wonderful to have Pete visit. I had been missing having someone to talk to about occult bullshit, and seeing him reminded me that you don't have to put up with people who are shit friends just so you can have a halfway decent conversation about bad vibes and hypersigils. Especially when you deal in magic, you want to surround yourself with people that trust you, and who you can trust in turn. I am truly lucky to have some people like that already in my life, and even luckier in that I am surrounding myself with more of the same.<br />
<br />
Surrounding myself with people who enrich my life is a symptom of my ongoing plan to better myself in general. My health is also a priority, as is my writing (which is why I'm writing here now) and also my dancing. I've been away from preforming for a very long time, and I want to get back into it. I've changed my stage name to reflect this new beginning - it is now Emma Eldritch.<br />
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Not new beginnings, exactly. More like better choices.Emma Eldritchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12035363069197045944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-20310977462334891092017-01-25T21:32:00.001-08:002017-01-25T21:33:16.655-08:00Gouge AwayWell, America is living the plot of Transmetropolitan right now.<br />
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<br />
I have really nothing useful to say on the subject besides donate your time and money to fighting this horseshit. Especially if you're white. Use that privilege, come on.<br />
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This is a magic blog, innit? Fine, make Spider and the Filthy Assistants into saints while you're at it and pray to them.Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-74829078763754675202016-11-12T11:14:00.000-08:002016-11-12T11:14:19.817-08:00You're Infernal.As I've stated before, I got into witchcraft in the 90s when I was a teenager. I had been raised in an entirely secular household - my mom had an interest in ghosts and fortune telling, while my dad was (and remains) more interested in the teachings of Buddhism, but religion was a non issue. I think I'd been to church once in my life with my grandmother.<br />
<br />
I had moved twice in the span of a year when I settled in the Bible Belt. I had recently experienced - twice over - the sort of catty adolescent friend breakups that so often go hand in hand with entering high school. So there I was, friendless and culture shocked by Jesus.<br />
<br />
I think it was either conform or rebel. We all know which way I went.<br />
<br />
Now, when I was just a baby witch, I was a staunch defender of misconceptions about the Craft. Being the Bible Belt, any deviation from popular religion was considered Satanic. "There's no devil in the Craft," I would tell people. "Satan is a Christian construct." "I don't worship the devil."<br />
<br />
This much was true - I didn't worship the devil. But let's face it, when you're surrounded on all sides by such a dualistic culture you tend to pick sides. In doing that, I found myself reading everything I could that might give me a better understanding of this whole God VS the Devil thing. And thus grew the roots of my obsession with the Satanic Panic.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/10/30/13413864/satanic-panic-ritual-abuse-history-explained">The History of the Satanic Panic - and why it's not over yet</a><br />
<a href="http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-fight-to-save-america-from-satans-subliminal-rock-messages"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-fight-to-save-america-from-satans-subliminal-rock-messages">The Fight to Save America From Satan's Subliminal Rock Messages</a><br />
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<br />
While on the topic of the devil in music... In October I went to see Ghost in concert. It was one of the most religious group experiences of my life, right up there with seeing Magic Mike XXL in the theatre. Standing in a packed crowd, dressed as a skeletal nun, I found myself raising my voice with a throng of people as we threw up the horns for the Nameless Ghouls and Papa Emeritus III.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59vPYCN5TSIKoR9HvETjccRXrPyNxqTnAr_pndaB51SsEfUTko4xQN5-Uq4rl9O0UECGSiuizgmlhYxKBvItz-z2l2n7hvN8tmSMkx7CT5TsCQAZ5BH0MTq18NZuoKIv0XtTdf7rBh5ZT/s1600/ghost.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59vPYCN5TSIKoR9HvETjccRXrPyNxqTnAr_pndaB51SsEfUTko4xQN5-Uq4rl9O0UECGSiuizgmlhYxKBvItz-z2l2n7hvN8tmSMkx7CT5TsCQAZ5BH0MTq18NZuoKIv0XtTdf7rBh5ZT/s200/ghost.jpg" width="197" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Are you ready to swear right here, right now<br /><a href="https://youtu.be/VqoyKzgkqR4">Before the devil</a>?"</td></tr>
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<br />
The devil doesn't need backmasking to get us to rally with him. Let's face it, when the 'moral' side is the one hurting people, anybody with a heart isn't going to want to join up with them. Instead we should stand with the people others would tell you are the outsiders. Especially in light of world events, we all have to remember not to get swept up in fear and hate. Rebel in the name of love.<br />
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Hail Satan. Rock'n'roll.Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-30615591076622287872016-11-06T19:44:00.000-08:002016-11-06T21:40:59.708-08:00Mad WorldWell, would you look at that. It's November. You wouldn't think so much could have changed since the last time I posted, but here we are.<br />
<br />
AbraCadaver was a smashing success this year - I count it among one of our best shows. I honestly couldn't be more proud of both all the performers and also of us producers and writers - Melody Mangler and my sister Voodoo Pixie were fucking brilliant. I'm even happy with myself.<br />
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Although my wig made me look like my mom.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZmys9lwcJ1TFSqxPWXd6W9aN8cfe4KwPNTzX-aFXnFjN9MVIUnW2YCj7ia5lINgVbm6lgQ0numvxh3DtKDL-hCnuar-89rLP9q69xcZsxVBw4_oHCQG_NO2zrhkYnODANZMS5S5hX6jw/s1600/fubar_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZmys9lwcJ1TFSqxPWXd6W9aN8cfe4KwPNTzX-aFXnFjN9MVIUnW2YCj7ia5lINgVbm6lgQ0numvxh3DtKDL-hCnuar-89rLP9q69xcZsxVBw4_oHCQG_NO2zrhkYnODANZMS5S5hX6jw/s320/fubar_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">by<a href="http://fubarfoto.com/"> FubarFoto</a></td></tr>
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<br />
With AbraCadaver over, my sister and I settled into October. "We have a whole month to do Halloween things!" we said. My sister is always booked solid with Halloween shows because she's one of Vancouver's spookiest dancers, but we figured we'd still have loads of time to check out haunted trolleys and ghost trains.<br />
<br />
Then we found out that our apartment building had been sold, and consequently the rent was going up.<br />
<br />
And so, we found ourselves moving in the middle of the month. My sister and I moved back in together into the main floor of an old heritage house with stained glass windows, just a block from the ocean. We were blessed to have family and friends to help us, and although we moved in the middle of a storm warning it was truly not traumatic. We've acclimated to being in one another's space very quickly - the fact that the house is larger than we're used to no doubt helps. Surprisingly, I was gifted with the bigger bedroom, which clearly used to be a dining room. The size means that not only is it my bedroom, but also a perfect magical workroom. It even fits all of my books,<br />
<br />
Speaking of books... You really ought to put your <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Glamour-Magic-Witchcraft-Revolution-What/dp/0738750387/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478280795&sr=8-1&keywords=glamour+magic">pre-order in for Glamour Magic: The Witchcraft Revolution to Get What You Want</a>. I just did.<br />
<br />
So. October went by in a blur. On the interpersonal level, I came to the decision to distance myself from people with the emotional intelligence of potatoes. This was a harder decision to make than perhaps it should have been, simply because one of the people in question was a part of the witch meetups I had been hosting. Consequently, I was trying stubbornly to make it work in spite of feeling disrespected more often than not. But ultimately I realised that I cannot work magic with someone who does not trust me, as it in turn destroys my own trust. It's a rotten cycle that leads solely to doubt and anger. That realisation made me reexamine other aspects of that relationship, and ultimately I found the negative outweighed the positive. So it was time to pull back. Thankfully I don't feel any genuine malice towards this person - mostly I just feel stupid.<br />
<br />
More positively, this week I discovered that a lot more of my girlfriends at work are into fortune telling than I had suspected. I fully intend to organise a wine-and-tarot evening sometime this month, and perhaps try another magic night with the ladies who I know are a bit more open and honest.<br />
<br />
My sister, as always, reminds me that I should settle for nothing less than love and respect.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKp3d4exPLFII6UMNGMmpGW3tV1xkS3LsovPCkyqwr37Lg5nrEYBj3ZUcFAL7RkR0KygbJg61lserSUUimHzJ8g5ekQgR4RG9hhO7PTyQnrVL4IiSQY0YtqeUreZ_jkvg_lB2MpT4iWyCH/s1600/bob_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKp3d4exPLFII6UMNGMmpGW3tV1xkS3LsovPCkyqwr37Lg5nrEYBj3ZUcFAL7RkR0KygbJg61lserSUUimHzJ8g5ekQgR4RG9hhO7PTyQnrVL4IiSQY0YtqeUreZ_jkvg_lB2MpT4iWyCH/s320/bob_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Voodoo Pixie (and Sweet Pea McGee) as photographed by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8809338@N04/">Bob Ayers</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-5212446480806127052016-09-27T23:16:00.001-07:002016-09-27T23:16:13.762-07:00to control my mindEvery year I forget that the month leading up to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/554139268111809/">AbraCadaver</a> will be chaos, and every year I forget that said chaos will inevitably lead to stress manifesting itself physically. I woke up at 5 AM with a splitting headache, and I couldn't decide if it was caused by me clenching my jaw as I slept, the shit food I've been eating, not enough water, PMS or just general mental catastrophe.<br />
<br />
So tonight I rolled on the floor.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/6P_YISMJ4sQ">Music for release</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/7mlj7epgBik">Music for equilibrium</a>. Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-361494379133959802016-09-16T23:36:00.001-07:002016-09-16T23:36:28.625-07:00Harvest Moon in a nutshell<br />
<a href="http://rubyslipper.ca/ruby-slipper-astrology/2016/9/full-moon-eclipse-in-pisces-higher-actions">Full Moon Eclipse in Pisces: Higher Actions</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://liminalforces.tumblr.com/post/150358053063/inverse-incantations">Inverse Incantations How-To</a><br />
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Yup.<br />
<br />Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-41600352395061790382016-09-05T22:00:00.003-07:002016-09-05T22:00:48.598-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbAb7AxMS2YTaGUMRIwVNGLrkHl6g5HL9aBU_BTmgvzYp5agibWBrTOEdxc5kFkaqRn_JqpVcn0naeq3orDHeHmeYoTAwr_UgFVrknnN2g-RAEurc5IDj8-09DbpkbjWKhDHshxpDWfc7L/s1600/satanspjs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbAb7AxMS2YTaGUMRIwVNGLrkHl6g5HL9aBU_BTmgvzYp5agibWBrTOEdxc5kFkaqRn_JqpVcn0naeq3orDHeHmeYoTAwr_UgFVrknnN2g-RAEurc5IDj8-09DbpkbjWKhDHshxpDWfc7L/s1600/satanspjs.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
(Whatever, the Dead Files are hilarious.)Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-13058180191317118312016-08-28T17:37:00.000-07:002016-08-28T17:37:47.335-07:00When the grass is withered from the summer heat and stretches out in the lonely spaces between homes and business, sometimes the sky turns. Streaky, barely-there clouds roll in and create a peculiar quality of light - harsh, it hurts the eyes while not being precisely bright. Everything looks leaden and somehow <i>ominous</i>.<br />
<br />
I remember walking under this ominous sky a lot when I was a teenager in the valley. No matter where you went everything always felt deserted, and the few cars or people you would see seemed inexplicably hostile.<br />
<br />
I'd been out for a short visit with my best friend, who still lives in the city we spent our youth in, and this morning I found the world awash once more in that heavy, desolate light.<br />
<br />
Now I'm back in the city - MY city - where the trees are green and the clouds above are simply grey and opening up to release fresh rain. The cat is curled up on the couch, burning candles are giving off the soft scent of absinthe and mint, and I can rest comfortably in a sweater. It's safer here.<br />
<br />
Still, I think about that quality of light. It is unsettling, and yet anytime I experienced it I find that a part of me is quite pleased.Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-38055296479619000962016-07-02T15:25:00.000-07:002016-07-02T15:25:39.909-07:00Occult Link Roundup<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://badwitch.es/witchs-guide-getting-want/">The Witches Guide to Getting What You Want</a>. - "Understanding the <b>why</b> behind the want is another key element for witch-kind.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i> How will achieving your desires ultimately make you feel? And exactly why do you want the things you do?"</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Louder for my not-very-introspective sisters at the back! </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/oathbound/2016/06/the-care-and-feeding-of-a-pagan-group/">The Care And Feeding of a Pagan Group</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://sabbaticdance.com/corpus/demonic-voices/">Demonic Voices</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://rubyslipper.ca/ruby-slipper-astrology/2016/7/horoscopes-for-july-3rd-to-july-10th-2016">Ruby Slipper Horoscopes July 3 - 10</a>Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-87829449822172864912016-06-19T19:48:00.000-07:002016-06-19T19:48:29.182-07:00FifteenSaturday was another witch meetup. Half the girls couldn't make it, meaning that there was in total only four of us. ("Four would make a circle....") Ultimately this worked out well, as it meant that we had an opportunity to do more than just talk.<br />
<br />
After the talking and sangria, it quickly became apparent that the issues facing people were not exterior problems but rather internal. I decided that we should do a reading to help clarify, and so I pulled out the Vertigo deck and shuffled it up. Each of us picked a card, and then I drew an additional three to see how our individual needs connected and what to do about it. I had everyone interpret their own cards. The reading confirmed that the issues facing each of us were emotional and mental, and not something quite as cut and dry as "I need more money."<br />
<br />
The intersect cards were The Devil, the Four of Swords, and the Three of Swords. Once again I asked the girls to give me their thoughts on the cards, which they did. They were all very insightful, and I admit it was fascinating to hear what other people felt and saw in cards that I myself am so familiar with.<br />
<br />
The key to crafting magic in this case was The Devil. The Vertigo's Devil is Lucifer from the Sandman comics - the fallen angel who handed over the key to hell and escaped his prison. In the card, Lucifer's wrist is shackled. That to me was the crux of the matter - we had these sword cards, and then here's a shackled figure. We were in bondage, perhaps willingly.<br />
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<br />
So what does that mean? Well. <a href="https://youtu.be/f4Mc-NYPHaQ">You want to break free</a>, obviously.<br />
<br />
We did a five minute sitting meditation, and then an exercise I learned in dance class. This exercise is a variation on one my sister had assigned as 'homework' last month to everyone in the group - the ideal way to do it is to be able to roll across a length of floor with your eyes closed while music plays. The idea is that gravity can't fuck with you when you're already laying down, so your body can move in ways it cannot when you're standing. It can express movement more freely, even if you can't do a full roll - you just need enough room to starfish in.<br />
<br />
My apartment isn't big enough to allow four grown women to starfish at the same time, so instead we used the up-and-down variation: you begin in essentially child's pose, and move in between that and standing. My house, my music, so we used <a href="https://youtu.be/46u_Ggsub1A">Chelsea Wolfe</a>.<br />
<br />
So why make anybody do this before sitting down to cast some spells?<br />
<br />
It is entirely possible to do magic without emotion - there are plenty of instruction manuals out there that you can use to follow formula, and you will see results. In my personal experience, however, the most successful magicians are those who can navigate their own interior landscapes. How are you supposed to traverse other wolds when you cannot look within? If you don't know who you are, you can get lost more easily, and if you don't deal with your emotions you are at their mercy when they eventually overwhelm your defenses.<br />
<br />
We carry emotions in our bodies. This isn't news - plenty of people have stress induced muscle pain, particularly in the neck and shoulders. Lots of people clench their jaws or grind their teeth. Exercise can lift our mood. If you are lucky enough to have a range of movement, allowing your body to express itself can help you bypass the thinking mind. You don't analyse your emotions, you simply feel them. They move through you.<br />
<br />
<br />
The key to escaping our shackles was the Devil. Traditionally, this is a card associated with indulgence in 'base' desires and impulses. The old goat will not tell you deny your body. He won't tell you to restrain your emotions, either.<br />
<br />
The spellwork itself was focused on ridding ourselves of things we <br />were chained to, and I feel that doing the exercise directly beforehand made the spellcasting portion much, much easier. There was a sense of surrender to whatever <i>needed</i> to happen - the entire evening revolved around freedom from painful coping mechanism and blockages, and attempting to control that freedom would simply smother it instead. Open, we could accept the change that is coming.<br />
<br />What remains to be seen, of course, is how we deal with it when it happens.Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-81499837159617999412016-06-15T21:53:00.001-07:002016-06-15T21:53:55.797-07:00"This is good for you."So, sometimes I wind up being a sort of low-rent shrink for people. This week it's been for more than one person, most of whom are coming over on the weekend for our monthly witchy meet-up. So I decided to ask Ye Olde Spotify Oracle, "how should I handle these girls on Saturday?"<br />
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Jesus effin Christ. Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-11671145655922867042016-05-29T15:07:00.000-07:002016-05-29T15:07:13.596-07:00Basic Bitch Witchcraft Slim, minimalist gold font on glass. One word stands out: metaphysical. "Whoa, whoa, hold up," I tell my sister. We share a glance and say as one, "we gotta go in."<br />
<br />
It's a hipster occult store.<br />
<br />
<br />
My sister and I were in Gastown because I had a hair emergency. I had recently had my cousin take my hair from teal to a perfect cool pastel purple, but a little over two weeks had passed, and it was fading out to a sort of pale blue. Because I was to be on stage as a <i>thespian</i> that night, I figured I'd freshen it up with what looked like the same colour. Oh how wrong I was. 'Lilac' turned my hair a steely blue. I texted my sister in distress, and so off we went to buy bleach and pink dye from the goth shops on Cambie.<br />
<br />
The goth shops in the Gastown area have been around longer than I've been living in the city - I remember coming in from the 'burbs to check out Cabbages and Kinks (which burnt down in 2004) and I bought my first corset from Venus and Mars. The area around them, however, has been undergoing a shift for a few years now as old second hand stores and smoke shops have been replaced with high-end (yet not mainstream) clothing stores, and places where you can buy bundles of twine for twenty bucks. <br />
<br />
My impulse is to call the area 'hipster' but I'm not sure if that word really has much meaning anymore. I think we all know the vibe I'm thinking of, however - it's vintage furniture, home brewing kits, locally sourced honey, fish tacos and well manicured beards.<br />
<br />
The store that caught our eye used to be a skeevy convenience store, if my memory serves. Shawna and I walked in to a small space that had been completely gutted and painted white. There were shelves with a few products for sale - tarot and oracle decks, bath salts, spell kits in little cardboard boxes shaped like houses. The front of the store by the window was taken up with small tables - it was, as it turns out, a tarot bar.<br />
<br />
The store, called 'The Good Spirit' bills itself as a "tastefully curated, modern, metaphysical boutique." My sister and I looked around, and I whispered to her that it was an Instagram filter made physical. <br />
<br />
In fact, the shop's <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thegoodspirit/">Instagram account</a> says more in a few photographs than I could with this entire entry. And if you're on Instagram, Pinterest, or even tumblr, this is one hundred percent an aesthetic you've seen before. It's rose quartz and yoga mats and sage and talks about sending your energy out into the universe.<br />
<br />
It's basic bitch magic.<br />
<br />
The irony of the situation is not lost on me - I saw this store as I was on my way to turn my hair into THE 'basic' hair colour of the moment. Also not unnoticed was my knee jerk reaction of "I should hate this."<br />
<br />
But I don't. I don't hate it. It's like when fucking Urban Outfitters was selling spell candles.* Whether you fall on the crusty old occultist side of the spectrum, or the dirt-witch hand-making everything yourself side, the impulse when presented with this sanitized pop shit is to distance yourself from it as fast as possible. If you're a serious occultist/witch/pagan/whatever, you should be making fun of this <i>so hard</i>.<br />
<br />
I honestly thinks that this reaction is the newest incarnation of the fluffy bunny backlash. Initially, the term fluffy-bunny was used mainly to describe people who stubbornly refused to consider the darker aspects of magic and paganism and preferred to focus on ideas like universal love and the idea that everything is going to be okay if you think enough positive thoughts. Gradually, however, the term started to be applied to newcomers to the craft in general. "Oh, you read Scott Cunningham? I GUESS that's an okay starting point." Cue eyeroll and snickering. <br />
<br />
You know who a lot of those newbs were? Young women. You ever notice how we make fun of anything young women like?<br />
<br />
The internet is full of people bitching about what
is and isn't real witchcraft. Jesus, just look at Patheos's pagan
section and be bored to tears after the tenth article on the subject.
That hasn't changed since the dawn of the internet, and it never will. The only thing that changes is the target
everyone is trying to tear down. Pastel Instagram-worthy witchcraft
is a fucking easy target because it looks shallow as hell.<br />
<br />
"Oh, you think you can cast spells because you reblogged some sigils and like crystals? I GUESS." Cue eyeroll and snickering.<br />
<br />
The subtext is that if you're a young woman who, god forbid, likes something popular? You're vapid. And so is your magic.<br />
<br />
I got into witchcraft because of a movie. I was a teenage girl, and witchcraft - even a popular version of it
sold in bookstores - was a way to have SOME kind of power. It doesn't
matter how stupid it was, because it <i>worked</i>. And so will your indie-darling sorcery. You can use your ink-and-watercolour tarot. You can use your scented soy candles and rose quartz crystals. You can read an overpriced pamphlet on moon phases and magic herbs. Just because it isn't handed down through family traditions or written by some dead white guy in a funny hat doesn't make it invalid. You want that magic, girl? Take it. Take it and make it yours.<br />
<br />
As for us old farts... Look. People can and will make magic look cool. They will make it marketable. We've seen this several times before. It's not going to kill occultism. It will bring magic to a wider audience, to another generation hungry for power and for meaning. Magic will fall out of fashion as it always does, but the people who it touches will remain. Why is that a bad thing?<br />
<br />
If we're really concerned that popularity waters down the practice of sorcery, then let's be honest: we're not talking about real magic. We're talking about being scared that our ivory towers are falling.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJCMUQTvOo_X9g-INeNihtIKzB-J_iGs_hm3KWg94OntjnG0RglPe9LeYnMvE-meBZRkjPQhZtKPp_k_xEEQC2JBs7r018HYlv1N-uUSyQ5amMP9CmA57u1iAaXk1kRydSlnbZ9bX8uhI/s1600/wildunknowntower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJCMUQTvOo_X9g-INeNihtIKzB-J_iGs_hm3KWg94OntjnG0RglPe9LeYnMvE-meBZRkjPQhZtKPp_k_xEEQC2JBs7r018HYlv1N-uUSyQ5amMP9CmA57u1iAaXk1kRydSlnbZ9bX8uhI/s320/wildunknowntower.jpg" width="182" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">https://www.thewildunknown.com/products/tarot-deck</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">* - But seriously, fuck Urban Outfitters, they're evil. I regret even giving them ten bucks for cool candles, and in the future would find out who the maker was and go directly to the source. </span>Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-27785692029887247122016-05-15T14:57:00.003-07:002016-05-15T15:04:41.603-07:00Occult Link Roundup<a href="http://www.inominandum.com/blog/7-rules-regarding-tradition-vs-ingenuity/">7 Rules Regarding Tradition vs Ingenuity</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/revisiting-the-craft-the-film-that-realised-the-monstrous-power-of-teen-girls">How 'The Craft' Realized the Power of Teen Girls and Made Witchcraft Cool</a><br />
<br /><a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/5/3/11580054/the-craft-20th-anniversary-nancy-fairuza-balk">The Craft, now 20 years old, is a vicious love letter to teen girl rage </a><br />
(Between the blogs I follow and my friends sending me shit on FB, I got a lot of "hey, did you read this article about The Craft?" this month.)<br />
<br /><a href="http://www.adventuresinwoowoo.com/2016/05/magick-primer-02-banishing/">Magick Primer 02: Banishing</a> - Adventures in WooWoo is a great site, you guys, and from the above post there is also a link to Ramsey Dukes talking about protection while holding his cat. It's precious.<br /><br />
<a href="http://triplevirgo.tumblr.com/post/144305697747/organizing-your-grimoire-tips-from-a-neat-freak">Organizing Your Grimoire (tips from a neat freak virgo) </a>Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-60552730419885914032016-03-06T16:21:00.000-08:002016-03-06T16:21:41.474-08:00Review: The WitchI saw Robert Eggers' <i>The Witch</i> for the second time last night. I left the theatre unable to stop smiling, which possibly creeped out the cashier at the IGA when I stopped to buy potatoes.<br />
<br />
The following reviews contains SPOILERS. So very, very many spoilers. It's spoilertastic.<br />
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The Witch follows a Puritan family in colonial New England. The patriarch of the clan, William, feels that the colony is not godly enough, and so he takes his wife and children and fucks off/is banished to the wilderness. That's right, William is so hardcore that he thinks the Puritans aren't into Jesus enough. William's wife Katherine is supportive of her husband and seems to believe that they can live a more godly life on their own. The only one who seems openly upset about leaving is the family's eldest child, a teenage girl named Thomasin.<br />
<br />
The family settles down in a clearing next to the woods out in the middle of nowhere. Eldest son Caleb helps his father, while Thomasin helps her mother mind the young twins Jonas and Mercy, and baby Samuel. It's a hard life, but everything is alright in the world.<br />
<br />
At least for five minutes.<br />
<br />
Now, I've heard and read many people say that the pace of the movie is slow, but I'm not sure I entirely agree. The film clocks in at 93 minutes - what I like to call 'standard horror movie time.' And one of the movie's first shockers comes I'd say maybe twenty minutes in when baby Sam disappears... and is murdered and mushed into skin lotion by a naked old lady.<br />
<br />
Anybody who saw the trailer knew that the baby was going to go missing. Thomasin was playing peek-a-boo with the kid, and after a few rounds she finds him simply missing from his blanket. The kid can't exactly crawl off at warp speed, so we know he's in trouble. All that I expected. What I did not expect was for them to show us the witch so soon. I was honestly expecting the hole movie to be one of those, "is it real or are they just descending into madness?" things. Which would have been cool, but that's not what we get. I'd argue what we get is so much better.<br />
<br />
Oh, and another thing - I've seen several reviews (particularly on pagan sites) say that this isn't <i>really</i> a horror movie. There is infanticide in the first quarter of the film! And then an old hag s<i>mears a child's blood</i> all over herself and starts to fucking fly. I realise this may be because the general public doesn't think of horror as anything more nuanced than <i>Exorcist</i> knockoffs and slashers, but if you make it sound like a period drama you're doing everyone involved a disservice.<br />
<br />
Anyway, from there on out things start getting out of hand. The twins - who are annoying in the way only young children can be - are acting out, saying the family's he-goat Black Phillip speaks to them. Tensions between Katherine and Thomasin continue to rise, and both parents agree she should be sent to work for another family. Caleb goes missing in the woods, only to return naked and 'witched' after an encounter with a woman deep within. <br />
<br />
Caleb's condition sparks witchcraft accusations among the children, with the twins accusing Thomasin, and Thomasin accusing them right back. It's childish, but it has severe consequences as both Katherine and William turn on Thomasin after Caleb dies. Her insistence that the twins are the root of the evil results in all three children being locked up in the goat pen by their father. William, after his anger fades, can only pray to god that his children not be punished for the sin of his own pride.<br />
<br />
In the night, Katherine awakens to find both Caleb and Samuel. In a soft, low, voice Caleb speaks to her and asks she look at a book he has brought. She agrees to, but first she must feed Samuel, who is hungry. The child is not a child at all, however, as we see instead a raven pecking mercilessly at her breast. Meanwhile, inside the goat pen, a naked hag suckles from a goat's teat until the twins foolishly approach her.<br />
<br />
The dawn brings an exhausted William from his home, only to find that the goat pen has been destroyed. Dead animals lay everywhere, with Thomasin just beginning to wake among them. There is no sign of the twins. Before he can truly react, William is impaled by the horns of Black Phillip. Katherine comes outside to find everyone in the family dead or gone save Thomasin, and so attacks her daughter. Thomasin commits matricide in self defense, and wanders alone into the empty house.<br />
<br />
In the dead of night, she follows Black Phillip back into the goat pen and bids him speak. When there is no reply, she turns to go, and that is when a low, soft voice asks her what she would like. In return for the things he promises, she must sign her name in a book she finds before her.<br />
<br />
The movie ends with Thomasin, naked, following the goat deep into the woods, where she finds a group of nude women chanting and withing in ecstasy before a bonfire. They rise into the air, and Thomasin rises with them, laughing.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Witches’ Sabbath</i> by Salvator Rosa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I have a lot of feelings about this movie, although I understand that it is not a perfect film. The most common criticisms are that it is slow, and that the dialogue is difficult to understand - every character speaks in 17th century English accent, after all. (The other most common complaint is that it "isn't scary", but I feel those comments are usually written by teenagers who don't understand atmosphere yet, so.)<br />
<br />
The pacing might bore some, this is true. The second time I saw the movie, I saw it with a friend who dislikes slow pacing, but even she stated that she didn't think the movie would work if it had been faster. The atmosphere needs time to turn gradually more and more ominous. There are plenty of shots of grey skies and dark woods - the movie was filmed in northeastern Ontario - which could be considered boring to some.<br />
<br />
What the film gets right beyond a shadow of a doubt is authenticity - Eggers spent four years researching the era, and used period appropriate tools to build much of the sets. (I bet his crew fucking loved that, oy.) And as for the witch herself... Eggers has crafted her straight from folklore. While some of the elements of the supernatural are European rather than strictly from New England, the composite still <i>feels</i> genuine. (The family is, also, transplanted from England itself - the film's story predates Salem. I think that earns a bit of a pass.) In the witch scenes we see flying ointment made from an unbaptised babe, hares ravens and goats, night suckling of farm animals, and the infamous Devil's Book. All of these things are lifted straight out of witchcraft trials and legend.<br />
<br />
Also authentic are the Puritans themselves. I remember reading <span class="st">that a lot of the early settlers were big on fortune telling even though it could get them accused of witchcraft <i>because</i> of the idea of predestination. In Calvinism, God decided whether you were saved or damned, and you never really knew which you were. You could pray until your knees wore out, but you may still have been fated for the shit pile. This, understandably, created a lot of anxiety. In the film we see this reflected most clearly in Caleb, who worries both for the soul of his little brother and his own. His father can do nothing to allay these fears, either, as he is a man who believes one hundred percent in his religion.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">The family dynamics and the question of faith drive much of the story. Caleb is not alone in his insecurity - Katherine tearfully admits to her husband that since Samuel's disappearance she can no longer envision Christ's love. The twins are children, but even so seem quite unconcerned with religion on the whole. Oddly, after William it is Thomasin who seems most secure in her faith - she opens the film with a prayer for forgiveness, and insists throughout that she loves Jesus and the Bible.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">Oh, Thomasin. Our lead character is played beautifully by Anya Taylor-Joy, an actress I'd never even heard of, possibly because I am old and crusty. As much as each character contributes to the plot, it is Thomasin and her growth into womanhood that lays at the heart of it. </span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">Although I personally get a little bored with the old "mom hates her daughter" trope in media, it makes sense in the context of <i>The Witch</i>. Thomasin is a New England forerunner to the neglectful babysitter of urban legend; losing her mother's baby elicits some not unreasonable venom from Katherine, which poisons their relationship. This plays a part in the suggestion that Thomasin be sent away from the farm, although economics too are at play... as is the fact that Thomasin has apparently started menstruating. Katherine tells William, who looks a bit shocked at the news, that Thomasin has started to become a woman. She is no longer fit to stay under their roof as a result.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">The bloody end of Katherine at her daughter's hands is preceded by her screaming at Thomasin that she took her family - particularly, the men: Samuel, Caleb, and William. (The twins at that point are gone too, but nobody really seems to give a shit - maybe they found them so irritating they were glad they got eaten or whatever.) She uses the phrase "sluttish ways" before trying to choke the life out of her oldest child, really hammering home the conflation of female sexuality in particular with witchcraft. (Although Caleb would no doubt be in trouble for peering at his sister's boobs - Puritans aren't sex positive in ANY way - it is still the daughter who would be held ultimately to blame for even having boobs in the first place.) </span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">Besides that, in the world of the fairy tale the wicked mothers are always jealous of the pretty young heroine.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">I will pause to say that I had a moment where I thought that Katherine was going to hook up with Satan. When she wakes up in the middle of the night near the climax of the film, my very first thought was "ohhh shit, <i>her hair is down</i>!" The women of the film keep their hair pinned up and covered even when sleeping, as good Puritan women do. Finally seeing Katherine's hair means shit is about to go down. I honestly thought we were being set up to see her take a familiar - after all, witches were supposed to let the little devils suckle on special teats. But, no. You should have signed the book first, Kate. You could have a mother-daughter day!</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">Anyway. The ending of the film is perhaps one of the most wonderful moments in horror cinema that I've seen to date. </span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">Thomasin sells her soul to the devil. She has spent the entire film trying to be good and being rewarded for her efforts with suspicion and hostility - even her father, who seemed to wish for her to remain his little girl forever - turns against her. This is not on par with being sent to your room for lipping off, because this is Puritan fucking New England and if her dad tells the other colonists that she is a witch, Thomasin is as good as hung. Wither her entire family dead, Thomasin is left alone with a poisoned farm. There is no food and winter is coming. The animals are all dead... save Black Phillip, of course. </span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">I can safely say that I, too, would have signed that book so fucking fast. Thomasin is a woman now, not a child, and a contract with Satan is literally <i>the only way</i> out of servitude to mortal man. She can either starve, go back to the colony and pray they take her in so that she can get married and pump out babies, or she can go to the most metal fucking girls' night ever in the woods. Holy shit, who wouldn't take door number three?! From a story perspective, too, this is the only truly satisfying conclusion for Thomasin's character arc.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">The final scene of the film is, I think, the one scene I can understand people disliking. The witches fly, and for some that might seem a little hokey. I personally loved it, as did the people I saw it with - my non-horror loving friend, the one who dislikes slow movies, said that she liked it because it was clearly a reference to famous works of art. That is half of why I loved the scene, myself.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="st"><i>Witches going to their Sabbath</i> by Luis Ricardo Falero</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="st">The other half is because Thomasin finally seems happy. She is ecstatic, literally rising above her earthly shackles. Sure she's probably going to wind up smearing herself in flying ointment made from the fat of her irritating siblings, but she gets to become a card-carrying member of Satan's army and therefore actually have some real power. Is she subjugating herself to the devil? Yes. This is not true personal freedom. But judging by everything leading up to the finale, it's still a sight better than the alternative.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st"><i>The Witch</i> is a wonderful film. It looks great, the soundtrack is unsettling, and the story functions on a few levels - you can view it as a fairy tale, a supernatural family drama, or as a feminist allegory. It reminds me most of Italian horror films (<i>Suspiria</i> comes to mind at once) and films like <i>The Shining</i> where the psychological and supernatural combine with devastating effects. </span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">Remember: the devil wants you to live deliciously, everybody. Praise him appropriately. </span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
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<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">Further reading:</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st"><a href="https://twitter.com/blackphillip">Black Phillip's Twitter account </a></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://newworldwitchery.com/2016/02/27/blog-post-199-film-review-the-witch-spoilers/"><span class="st">New World Witchery Film Review</span></a><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<a href="http://malloryomeara.tumblr.com/post/139741768717/the-witch-is-feminist-as-hell-pun-intended"><span class="st">Mallory O'Meara: The Witch is Feminist as Hell</span></a><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st"><br /></span>Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-65902790959324533572016-02-28T20:32:00.001-08:002016-02-28T20:32:34.829-08:00definition of being aliveI saw The Witch yesterday and I have a lot of feelings about it, but right now I feel like a horrendous shit beast because of this cold, so I just want to make a brief post about something that just happened.<br />
<br />
A few weeks ago, my sister and I helped another pair of sisters. The elder, who travels all over the word as part of her job, had for years been haunted by some<i>thing</i>. Without going into too many details, I can say that what we did was name it, draw it up, and get it to fuck off.<br />
<br />
(I owe a lot to Lon Milo DuQuette for the inspiration for that ritual.)<br />
<br />
Anyway, the sisters just dropped by. The elder gave my sister and I a gift. Years ago, she picked up two stones in Laos. She's carried them around as talismans, and tonight she gave us one of them. It was just such a sweet gesture - I nearly cried, and not just because I'm all hopped up on cold medication.<br />
<br />
It's good to help people, in whatever way you can.Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-59889155366008504932016-02-24T21:07:00.000-08:002016-02-24T21:07:46.541-08:00Link Roundup<u>Magic and Paganism</u> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://runesoup.com/2016/02/episode-12-talking-magic-with-ramsey-dukes/">Gordon over at Rune Soup interviews Ramsey Dukes</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.adventuresinwoowoo.com/2016/02/practice-how-exactly-do-you-meditate/">How Exactly Do You Meditate? </a><br />
<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/oathbound/2015/12/are-you-there-god-its-me-willowthorn/"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/oathbound/2015/12/are-you-there-god-its-me-willowthorn/">Are you there, God? It's me, WillowThorn</a>.<br />
<br />
Also <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2016/02/the-cartomancer-read-the-cards-like-the-devil">the Devil</a> has been <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/commontansy/2016/02/satanic-sabbaths-or-how-the-horned-god-survived-christianization">all over</a> Patheos <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/panmankey/2016/02/the-horned-god-not-as-old-as-you-think/">lately</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u>Spooky Nootchies</u><br />
<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/eJOdvWxW7Cc">True Craigslist Horror Stories</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.xojane.com/fun/scary-halloween-stories">Creepy Corner Halloween Reader Roundup</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Fashion/Beauty<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hautemacabre.com/2016/02/earthly-delights-tim-walkers-hieronymus-bosch/">Earthly Delights - Tim Walker's homage to Hieronymus Bosch</a><br />
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Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-43891175976093041142016-02-23T22:08:00.001-08:002016-02-23T22:08:20.778-08:00CascadeI had another seizure.<br />
<br />
This one I feel is my own damn fault - I'd been very lax in taking my medication, because it had been over three years since I'd last seized. I was at work and felt nauseous, so I went to the bathroom and knelt in one of the stalls. Obviously I don't remember what happened next since I came to as I was being loaded into the ambulance, but it turns out one of my coworkers found me. My sister currently works in the same office as I do, so she was on hand to accompany me to the hospital.<br />
<br />
I took the next day off work and got a very nice card from my coworkers, as well as some trashy magazines and chocolate.<br />
<br />
Seizures blow. Not only because you chew up your tongue, but because they really ram home the fragility of your body. <i>"What if I have one on the stairs? Near traffic?"</i> The possibilities for serious damage are too many to count.<br />
<br />
So in reaction you dye your hair a fabulous mermaid colour and then cut off most of it, apparently.<br />
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One of the stylists watching my cousin cut it referred to it as a ‘micro bob’ and said, “it was big in the 90s.” <br />
He looked 12. “I know,” I replied, “I was there.”<br />
<br />
<br />
The <i>Dark Entries</i> show went off decently well. The attendance was mostly friends, but that didn't really matter to me very much. The next time we do it, however, I think we should do only two films max - three was really pushing our time limit, and there were a ton of notes I didn't even get to. David and my sister were both very articulate and funny, and I would like to do a live show again. Maybe even strangers will come next time!<br />
<br />
<i>The Comedy of Terrors</i> monthly show will be ending this Thursday. We had a really good run, but all of us involved are just too busy to give it the attention it deserves. The plan is to resurrect it as a bigger, better show that only happens a few times a year as opposed to monthly. I would prefer a different venue, too. But for now we just need to give it one last hurrah... and then we can all relax. Monthly shows take a lot out of you, and I don't even have to do most of the work on this one.<br />
<br />
<br />
In spiritual news, I've backed off from the Old Man. It seems like once you get into the Norse pantheon you have to deal with Heathenry whether you want to or not, and that whole scene just sort of rubs me the wrong way. There's also the fact that I am stunningly uninterested in the rest of the pantheon and actively avoid one particular member, neither of which seems conductive to a close working relationship.<br />
<br />
There are a few other things going on, however, so I'm certainly not bored.<br />
<br />
<br />
Fran continues to be adorable.<br />
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<br />Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-77894245143157616322016-01-11T21:10:00.000-08:002016-01-11T21:10:03.305-08:00"Ain’t that just like me."Yesterday I made a friend watch the videos for both <i>Blackstar</i> and <i>Lazarus</i> by David Bowie. "It's almost like he's planning the return to his home planet," I joked.<br />
<br />
Last night not long after midnight, my sister texted me to tell me that David Bowie - the man who fell to earth - was dead.<br />
<br />
I was stunned. I had strange dreams all night, and when I woke up this morning and checked the internet to <i>really confirm</i> the news, I found myself much sadder than I thought I'd be. I'm still sad, if I'm honest. I've cried a little, which seems sort of stupid as I never met the man, but there it is. <br />
<br />
I was born in 1981, and so my first introduction to Bowie was <i>Labyrinth</i>. As I got older my mother informed me that the Goblin King was the one singing many of the songs I loved on the mixed tapes she would make. I remember playing <i>Modern Love</i> on my baby-pink tape player - running on batteries - in the back of my mom's car. She, my sister, and I all sang along. As I grew older I would discover <i>Station to Station</i>, <i>Ziggy Stardust, Diamond Dogs</i>... all of it. My sister and I watched <i>The Man Who Fell to Earth</i>, and for a while Voodoo even had the same hairstyle as he did in that film. He was a fascinating character who never truly faded from public consciousness, and the more you learned about him the more interesting he became. <br />
<br />
David Bowie was more than just a rockstar. I think anyone who ever enjoyed his work felt that.<br />
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We were lucky to have him.Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-88824316340766351092016-01-10T20:34:00.001-08:002016-01-10T20:34:18.336-08:00MajestyIt's a brand new year, and the blogosphere is full of articles on how to make this one the year of a new you.<br />
<br />
I think <a href="https://youtu.be/WhMWDueT34o">Matt Bellassai has the right idea about that</a>, really.<br />
<br />
Hey, I've tried it. You can look at this very blog and see that. I'll be honest with you - every year it's usually the same shit: exercise more, meditate more, write more. <br />
<br />
This is not to say that I have not improved in those areas or that it's bad to have goals. I actually think it's great to have goals, because it gives us something concrete to slog towards when the going is tough. But once you reach a goal, there's another and another and another. It's not like you finally run that 5K and then just quit altogether.<br />
<br />
Will I be the same person this year as I was last? Yeah, pretty much. I'll probably still drink too much wine, judge the outfits of every last one of my co-workers, play music too loudly and <i>hate</i> meditating. But there will be new shit, too.<br />
<br />
The monthly show I help produce with Voodoo Pixie and Aleister Crane, <i>The Comedy of Terrors</i>, will be coming to an end. We had a good run, but we all have other demands on our time. I have a job scheduled to run through to the fall that is shaping up to be pretty demanding, Voodoo and I are trying our hands at a new project - a series of roundtable discussions on horror and an accompanying podcast, both called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/185859025102558/">Dark Entries</a>. (Why yes, I did pick the name.) I'm cancelling my membership at the YMCA, but my running is picking up again and I plan to take pole dancing.<br />
<br />
Slowly, I am developing some sort of relationship with the Old Man. I'm still not sure what it's going to become. At the same time, I have discovered Sabbatic Witchcraft and find myself eager to read more about it. (How has this been hiding from me for so long? And now I seem to trip over it all over the tumblr and on blogs.)<br />
<br />Life progresses, although rarely in an instantly dramatic fashion. We shouldn't expect massive changes just because we said "happy new year" and we should not hold ourselves to such an insane standard. On the other hand, we also cannot use the fact that most often life is a case of same-shit-different-day as an excuse for our own inertia.<br />
<br />
So do the shit that you want to do. Your habits now will help shape who you are ten years from now, so maybe make sure at least some of that shit is healthy. I highly doubt much of what is over the horizon will be easy, but I'm also quite confident that we're all a bunch of tough motherfuckers and we can handle whatever may come.<br />
<br />
New year. Same you. (ie: still badass.)Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-82016914501075000102015-12-20T00:21:00.001-08:002015-12-20T00:23:41.377-08:00Facelift.So, I've been maintaining an online presence since... the 90s? The early 2000s? Back then I had a livejournal, because <i>of course</i> I did. Eventually I moved on over to blogger, and I've had this sporadically updated slice of the blogosphere since 2011.<br />
<br />
We're closing in on 2016, and I decided to give this place a bit of a facelift. Tidy up some information, and perhaps most importantly... change the name.<br />
<br />
'Walk Softly Witch' was taken from a pulp novel - something about it tickled me, and I loved the <a href="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1218412583l/4052762.jpg">cover</a>. I actually started doing burlesque when I was heavier than I am today - this was before my breast reduction surgery, and I remember feeling that to do burlesque you had to go full pin-up. There was a period where I would pin curl my hair every other night and I actually wore <i>colour</i> sometimes. It didn't last, obviously, because goth is like a stylistic version of herpes.<br />
<br />
But that's not really who I am anymore. People evolve, or at least get better about paring back the shit that isn't truly necessary to their enjoyment of life. <br />
<br />
So, looking back on over a decade's worth of both blogging and magic, what's the constant?<br />
<br />
Music.<br />
<br />
And here we are.<br />
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<br />Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-79876213644202564322015-12-12T13:24:00.000-08:002015-12-12T13:24:34.194-08:00Another GirlI ave spent the past two weeks on a roller coaster of social activities, including two large scale holiday staff parties - one for the company I currently work for, and the other for the one I had recently finished at. (Both at the same venue, which was kind of funny.) I drank too much at the former but was relatively well behaved at the latter, and wound up with sore feet at both.<br />
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Outside of that, I attended a craft fair, had a meeting about the upcoming Comedy of Terrors show, went to see Nightmare Before Nutcracker, and had a very intense magical evening with a friend who has not been doing so well lately. For a hermit like me, that's a <i>lot</i> of socialising.<br />
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I'm pleased to say that on this stormy Saturday I am doing nothing. I've had my coffee, and shortly I will clean the house and then go get a sandwich from the bakery around the corner. The house is fairly clean - aside from some dishes I've been hoping will vanish into the ether - but it definitely needs a good psychic scrubbing. As I said, some pretty heavy magical work was done earlier in the week and it's best not to assume all of that emotional discharge took care of itself any better than my dishes have.<br />
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I don't do a lot of magical work with others. Including a person in ritual is different than doing a spell on their behalf, and requires more consideration. There are people who I know and love that I think would be very difficult to work with, not because they're assholes but because I think they would have a difficult time opening up.<br />
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Magic and ritual looks goofy. Combine that with the fact that you really only get out of it what you put in and you can see why the more cynical you are going in the less effective the whole thing is gonna be. Those of us filled to the brim with sarcasm, or those who are naturally skeptical or filled with doubt are prrrrobably better off working on their own shit alone so that the presence of others does not trigger performance anxiety.<br />
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Obviously my friend was not one of those people - she's a very artistic person who is very open with her emotions, and so the evening went off better than I could have hoped. But there's still the clean-up to do, especially with all the usual emotional drain December brings. No sense living like a <a href="http://www.charmedfinishingschool.com/unfuck-your-situation/">filthy hamster</a> when you know it will further zap you, no? Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1391253899423803619.post-28801328885809742962015-11-19T17:09:00.000-08:002015-11-19T17:09:51.932-08:00Black CelebrationNovember in Vancouver is guaranteed to be two things: wet and cold. Not the nostril-hair freezing cold of most of Canada, mind you - ours is a bone-deep dampness. It's a rotting-skeleton-at-the-bottom-of-the-ocean cold. The sun sets earlier and earlier, and the city raises more lights in defiance of the primal dark.<br />
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Bleak months ahead. I find myself looking forward to it.<br />
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Earlier this week, I was on the <a href="http://www.corupriesthood.com/"> Coru Cathubodua website</a>. I have been a follower of The Morrigan since I was a teenager - she was my first true experience with the divine. On 'The Morrigan's Call' page, the author(s) discuss what it means to be claimed by this particular goddess, and this in particular struck me:<br />
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"It means you yourself will be reshaped, and this can also be quite
terrifying. But here is what She offers in return: She makes a weapon of
you."<br />
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How sharp of a knife she's made me I really can't say - sometimes I feel pretty dull - but I can certainly attest to the fact that she is a force that will not allow you to remain static, even if it hurts. I would go so far as to say that if you cannot learn to breathe through the pain, your relationship with her will probably be short lived.<br />
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I figured out that I was going to die when I was ten. For the next three years I wanted nothing more than to become a stage magician. So I suppose it's really not shocking that I am drawn to gods of death and magic. This also seems to mean that I am prone to attraction to <i>difficult</i> figures.<br />
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Last winter I told my sister I had a feeling I was being drawn to another such figure. And then, to be perfectly blunt, I put off doing anything about it because I was chickenshit. I didn't want any upheaval, and I did not feel like being remolded into someone else. After a rough few years, I just wanted to grow comfortable with my life again.<br />
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But, you know. Death and magic. I'm not a witch because it's comforting. I want to <i>know</i> things, before it's too late.<br />
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The sky is frigid ebony. Inside my beloved apartment it is cozy and safe. The cat is curled up in front of an electric fire, while a black candle warms the air with the smell of eucalyptus and sage. The next year is now set to be stable, financially. Spiritually, I doubt it will be so. Earlier in the week we had windstorms so severe that they contributed to the collapse of part of the seawall in Stanley Park; I had gone out jogging along the seawall like a fucking genius, and although I did not see anything destroyed I did get to witness waves smashing into the rocks and more lightning than I think I've ever seen before above the city. It would have been miserable if it wasn't so exhilarating. That is how I imagine the year might go.<br />
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<br />Mama Fortunahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11034802154731242130noreply@blogger.com2