I know the posting here this week has been pretty shoddy, and I probably won’t get a post up (other than this update) at all until next week at this point. I’m hoping to do something fun for post number 100, but my day job is eating up a lot of time due to a big event we’ve got on Friday, so I don’t want to shortchange anyone with a half-baked post when I can just wait a week and do something much better.
At any rate, thanks for being patient, and please know that I’ll definitely have something good to post soon!
Yesterday, when I went to the mailbox, I pulled from amidst the circulars and credit card pre-approvals the always-entertaining J. Peterman Catalog. For those who don’t know anything about this catalog, it’s basically a clothing and accessories shop with its ad copy in the form of mini-travelogues. The company’s charismatic founder, J. Peterman, allegedly visits exotic locales and has wonderful adventures, then brings back inspirations for different lines of shirts, dresses, hats, and fragrances. He’ll spend a summer evening in Chile camped out in the Andes and come back with a rugged but stylish belt. He’ll recall a wonderful oyster dinner at a café in Paris and design a dress after his dinner companion’s outfit that night. And so on. The company is also fairly famous for being Elaine’s job on Seinfeld for a few TV seasons.
The clothing is expensive, though it certainly looks nice and has an air of romance about it. But that’s not really what I’ll get into here today. As I walked up my driveway, I flipped open the catalog to a random page, and found an interesting womens’ top with the following description:
The Crystals of the Sabbat are being polished.
The cry for more myrrh is heard.
An open call for fire dancers is taking place.
The healing masters are calling their travel agents.
They’ll be outdoing themselves at the Mabon Pagan Autumn Festival this year.
So what are you wearing?
Something exotic from India perhaps?
Vintage Pagan Embroidered Jacket (No. 2803). Tie front closure. Which means you can keep it tied or, depending on what the ceremony calls for, open. Embroidery continues along front, short sleeves, shoulder, yoke, and hem. Black piping on sleeves and around neckline. Very casual and easy. You can wear long sleeves under it.
And you know how good pagan looks with jeans. Imported.
Hopefully the scan of the catalog page above will let you see this advert in all its glory, but I think you get the gist.
I’m not going to get on any high horse here. I’m not offended by the catalog or the company. In fact, I am pretty tickled by it. Fire Lyte posted a blog entry yesterday about fear-mongering in the Pagan community, and I thought that this ad was a rather serendipitous arrival as I pondered on his points. While I don’t take a hard stance on Jason Pitzl-Waters’ Wild Hunt Blog (I’ve never noticed the paranoia Fire Lyte mentioned myself, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s not there as an undercurrent). Fire Lyte’s broader point about the persecution complex prevalent in some Pagan circles seems valid to me, though. If I’m being honest, I experience almost no persecution, despite being in the Bible belt and regularly attending a church with people who know I’m not Christian and have magic books. Sure, hot button issues flare up from time to time, but they mostly tend to be ideological (such as the Creation vs. Evolution debate) rather than religious (though I readily admit that one of the first five questions a new acquaintance asks is “So where do you go to church?” in this part of the country). But I just don’t see the witch-hunting that seems to be implied in many cases.
That’s not to say there aren’t a number of folks genuinely experiencing some kind of enforced closeting or living in a state of anxiety over their belief system. I know there are. But I don’t know anyone who’s lost a job due to religion, myself, unless they made a big deal out of it and generally became a pest or nuisance. I’ve visited federal prisons (not as an inmate, if you’re wondering) and generally seen a very pluralistic attitude toward religion. In fact, it appeared as though religion was encouraged no matter which branch or denomination it was—copies of the Quran, the Bible, the Talmud, Buddhist texts, and even a “new age” book or two all sat on the rolling library cart.
What I’m really getting at is the other side of this particular coin. While there are plenty of folks upset over being hounded by Christians and conservative groups and bemoaning the presentation of witchcraft on “Bones” as a bleak cult phenomenon, I think there are ever more positive images of Pagans, witches, and magical folk surfacing in the world. The J. Peterman catalog is one example of someone taking the stereotype of the “hippie witch” and playing with it to create a little romance and allure—all in the name of capitalism, of course. I’m sure some would accuse this catalog (or me even) of “Uncle Tom” passivity over the commercialization of sacred traditions, but honestly I’m just pleased as punch that they referenced one of the much-less discussed holidays on the general Pagan calendar (though it’s not on my personal calendar, but that’s beside the point). Anyone will mention witches and Pagans at Halloween—who talks about Mabon, though?
I’ve noticed that this sort of “popular Paganism” has been surfacing more and more, which is rather heartening to me. On a Simpsons episode recently, Lisa temporarily joins a Wiccan coven, then stops the town from engaging in a full-on witch-hunt. An episode of Futurama from a few years ago showed main character Leela wishing to be a witch, but only “As long as I get to hurt people and not just dance around at the equinox.” I even seem to recall an episode of the animated Batman series from the 90’s where Batman needed the help of a Wiccan coven to solve a case (why is it that cartoons are so dang progressive?). I’m not saying that I think all of these portrayals are accurate, but they are all positive (Leela’s desire to be a “wicked witch” notwithstanding—she does portray non-wicked witches in fairly benign terms).
I don’t usually go into posts like this here at New World Witchery, and I don’t plan to make a habit of it going forward. I just found the lovely coincidence of the catalog arriving just as I was thinking about Fire Lyte’s post to auspicious to pass up. But I’d love to hear your thoughts, too. Do you see Pagans, witches, animists, and other magical folk as persecuted? Have you experienced outright persecution in your life (not a fear of it, but actually losing custody of a child or getting fired from a job because of it)? Do you see popular examples of paganism elsewhere? Do you think the public perception of Pagans is going less from “scary weirdos” to “funny eccentrics” as I do? Please leave your comments and your thoughts!
Okay, enough op-ed for the day from me! Thanks for reading!
-Cory
P.S. To all you wonderful folks who have commented or emailed and not received responses, I promise I’ll be getting back to you soon! Sorry for the delay!
I know that I’ve been a bit scanty on blogging lately, for which I apologize most profusely. Unfortunately, I’m likely to stay busy with many irons in many fires for quite some time to come, but I feel like you readers are wonderfully patient with me when the blog and podcast have dry spells and I want to reward that. And so, I have put something together for those of you who have been taking an active interest in the recent cartomancy posts.
I’ve put together those posts with some additional material in an e-book, which I’m making available for download free from the site:
It’s a PDF and should be easily readable with Adobe Reader. Like I said, it’s totally free. Feel free to save it, copy from it, distribute it, etc. Please do attribute any citations, excerpts, or references back to me, but otherwise, I hope you enjoy it! And if you do like the book, consider making a donation here, or with the button on the sidebar.
I’m also planning to revise this material, with some additional sample readings, expanded information, a quick-reference chart, and improved graphics and release it as a chapbook sometime in the near future. The printed chapbook will have a cost of some kind (and will probably be sold through our Compass & Key Etsy shop, which I’m hoping to revamp and relaunch soon), but I’ll try to keep it very reasonable. The e-book will remain available through the site, however, and I intend to keep it free/donations-only for all to download.
I know it’s nothing spectacular, but I hope it is useful to some of you. Thank you all so much again for your patience and your patronage of New World Witchery, both blog and podcast. We really appreciate your support!
So you may have noticed a subtle change or two to our page today. We have a new look here at New World Witchery, which hopefully makes us look a little more interesting. Our fantastic web designer is none other than the lovely Sarah, Witch of Forest Grove (and The Pagan Bookworm and Hedgefolk Tales and proprietress of Forest Grove Botanica)! Many many thanks to her for putting together such a neat design (especially that banner at the top—the old one was kind of sad looking).
If you run into pages or buttons that don’t work, please let me know so we can get those fixed. Likewise, if you suddenly find one of your comments missing from a previous post, let me know that, too. Some of them wound up being sent back into “hold” status during the update.
Again, a thousand thousand thanks to Sarah, and we hope you like our new look!
So running with an idea (and a title lovingly borrowed) from Juniper over at Walking the Hedge and Standing Stone and Garden Gate, I’m putting out a call for submissions to our wonderful readers. I know we probably have at least a couple of writers out there as well, and we’d love to have you do a guest post for New World Witchery.
We’re going to have about 6-8 weeks of low posting from me, and we’d like to be able to post at least 3 articles per week if possible. So that means we need 18-24 well-written, proofread, researched, reasoned, resonant, and remarkable entries. Something tells me we’ve got a few folks who might just be up to the task, so if you’re interested, here’s the submissions guide:
1) Each article should be no less than 300 words, and no more than 2000. 500-800 words is usually ideal length, but there is some flexibility.
2) MS Word (.doc) attachments are ideal, with inline email text being a secondary preference.
3) Please include all links with your submission. I may have to tweak them slightly to get them on the site, but I definitely can’t chase down links for you. Footnotes or endnotes should be similarly included.
4) Any artwork must be in the public domain (try Wikimedia Commons to start) or your own original picture/art with authorization to use it on the site.
5) All work must be your own. Citations are fine, along with short passages of material presented in a scholarly fashion, but please, no plagiarism.
6) Please proofread your work. Excessive typos and grammar snafus will not be corrected or posted.
7) You retain all publication rights to your material other than the first-time online publication rights. In other words, you’re free to submit this on a site like Witchvox or to a print publication, as long as you say that it was first published on this site. (I’ll also assume the right to reprint passages or references to your work in future publications, but I will not publish your article in its entirety without your permission).
Of course, I’m always happy to get nice, scholarly articles on the topics of hoodoo, pow-wow, curanderismo, witchcraft, etc. But what I’d really like is to get articles on the following topics, specifically:
Personal or family magical lore (such as magical practices, divinations, weather signs, etc.). Please include your family background (such as region or ethnic heritage), too, so we know where these things come from.
Regional magical lore, including things like witch stories, magical places, spells, famous witches, etc. Of course, please let us know which region you’re writing about (you don’t have to be too specific—“Appalachia” or “New England” would be sufficient).
Spell-work hits and misses. Tell us about spells you’ve done, ingredients you’ve used, charms you’ve said and what your results were.
Botanical or animal curios and your personal experiences with them. Are there ones you favor? Ones you shy away from?
Favorite spells and practices. Do you particularly like working with the dead? Do you have a favorite way to communicate with the Ancestors? Are you a sharp-shooter when it comes to love mojos? Tell us what you do and how you got so dang good at it!
Magical book reviews are also welcome, especially ones dealing with North American folk magic and witchcraft (not Wicca—there are lots of reviews on Wiccan books, so we don’t really want those here). History, folklore, and regionally specific spellbooks (like conjure or brujeria books) are all excellent candidates for review.
Other topics are welcome; just email and ask about them first. Not every article may get published on the site, so if we don’t select yours or if we suggest some revisions first, please don’t take it personally.
“Geez!” you say. “That’s an awful lot of work for not getting paid!” Ah, but there’s the twist in the plot! While we’re still a relatively poor blog and podcast, we’re gearing up for another contest. Anyone who writes a guest article that we post on New World Witchery will be entered for that contest. We’ve still got to work out just what we’re going to give out, but right now we’re looking at having three winners drawn at random. If you submit multiple posts and we publish them, you get an entry for every article we put up! Each winner will get a different, unique prize, so this could shape up to be a very interesting contest.
So, yes, technically you’re still not getting paid exactly, but you may wind up with something cool in the end. And you’ll be adding to the wealth of knowledge found here, so you are benefitting a whole wide world of witchy folk. Isn’t that a nice feeling?
So, if you’re interested in being a part of New World Witchery, email us your articles and maybe win a prize in the process! In case you can’t get the email from that link, it’s compassandkey@gmail.com.
Many thanks, and we look forward to hearing from you!
This is just a quick thank you to all of the folks who voted in our first polls. We had a very substantial response to the questions I asked about improving the blog and podcast, and some heartening feedback on the question of a New World Witchery book, as well.
It looks like, on the whole, there are a lot of readers who want more practical and hands-on segments in both the blog and podcast. For example, the question about what would improve the blog was answered “More Practice and Technique” more than any other choice, by a margin of 11 votes (out of a total of 121 votes). Likewise, in the podcast question, 48% of respondents said they wanted more Podcast Specials or Practical Segments like Spelled Out or WitchCraft.
While I can’t guarantee that the blog will undergo drastic changes and feature a vast majority of practical elements, I will say that going forward I think I will attempt to include more hands-on and how-to information for you all. It will be my goal to put up one practical segment per week at a minimum, eventually, and quite possibly more than that. The podcast will likely continue to follow a similar format (other than the desire for more practical segments, most other answers were pretty evenly split across the board), but we may try to increase the length of the practical segments a bit. And since the specials are so popular, we may try to make those a bit more frequent, too.
Finally, with the hugely positive feedback I got on the idea of a New World Witchery book (nearly two-thirds of respondents said “yes” to it, and the other third was “maybe” with only one “no” in the mix), I’m happy to say that I’ll be working on that project soon. I’ve been asked to contribute to another author’s work on folk magic first, but I think that there may be room in the occult market for a New World Witchery book, too.
So thank you again to all who responded! It was great to get that feedback, and I’m really looking forward to some of the directions this blog and podcast will be taking soon. Please feel free, as always, to comment or email us with your suggestions, questions, ideas, rants, raves, and stories! We do love hearing from you!
We’ve got another podcast almost ready which should be up in the next day or two. I thought I’d start off the week, though, with a set of polls for all our readers here at New World Witchery. They’re nothing fancy, just a couple of questions about what you like best or would like to see more of with regards to the blog and podcast, and a question about whether a book on New World Witchery is something that would interest folks.
These polls are really guides for us to help make the site and show better for our listeners and readers. The results may or may not change the content of the blog or podcast, but at the very least they will help us figure out a little bit more about what people want from us here.
Anyway, without further ado, here are the polls:
The polls will probably close in about a week, so you’ve got some time to answer. I’ll also keep them up on the sidebar throughout the week so you don’t have to use only this post to answer. We really appreciate your opinions, and your readership! Thanks so much!
So after spending nearly a week recuperating from my “swamp virus,” I used yesterday to catch up on emails and comment replies on the blog. Much to my great surprise and delight, someone had lobbed a shiny happy little blogging award our way. Sarah over at Crooked Ways has tagged me as a “Kreativ Blogger,” so I figured that’s as good a way as any to start the week! The rules are pretty straightforward:
1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog
3. Link the person who has nominated you for the award
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting
5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate
7. Let the nominated victims bloggers know they have been tagged
So first things first, Thanks Sarah! It’s always an honor to be nominated. As for the logo, ::twitches nose::
Here it is!
I’ve already linked Sarah, so now on to the “7 Things” segment.
I grow and can my own food – I even teach classes on the subject sometimes. I prefer to do the hot-water bath method, as most people can get a stock-pot of boiling water pretty easily, but a pressure canner’s a little harder to come by. I love to put up things like tomatoes, pickles, jalapenos, salsas, apple butter, and brandied peaches (DELICIOUS over vanilla ice cream).
I’m a published poet – My work has appeared in Raving Dove Literary Journal, Merge Poetry Review, and a couple of other places. Why don’t I put my poetry on my blog? Because I didn’t say I was a very good published poet.
My first year of marriage was spent in Prague – My wife and I, who had not lived together before due to religious reasons, wed and moved thousands of miles away from our families and friends. We spent almost a year there, and it was really spectacular. Prague remains one of my favorite cities in the world.
I’ve also spent time in Spain (mostly in Murcia and Valencia) and Scotland, and made short trips to Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and London. And I’ve visited 38 of the 50 US States. At some point, I’d really like to go to Greece, Italy, and Turkey. And eventually, I’d LOVE to go to Japan and possibly China (if its political climate ever calms down). My next big trip will probably be up to the Pacific Northwest, though, as that’s where my wife really wants to go. Really, I’d be happy to travel just about anywhere.
I’m a very lazy polyglot – I learn languages and then never use them, other than to show I can remember key phrases. I’ve taken courses in Latin, Russian, Portuguese, Czech, and Japanese, and my minor at University was Spanish. Plus I’ve tried to independently learn Mandarin Chinese, Greek, Yiddish, and German. Of all of them, Spanish has stuck with me enough that I’m still conversant in it, and I could probably survive in Japan long enough to begin picking that up again as well. Despite the fact my mother, my wife, and several of our friends all speak (or have spoken) French, I’ve never tried to learn that one, though.
I’m a trivia addict – I watch shows like Jeopardy! as often as I can, and I subscribe to the magazine mental_floss, which is basically full of trivia (like “10 Presidents Who Could Drink You Under the Table”). I can make hours disappear from my life by opening a box of Trivial Pursuit cards and just sitting and reading them. It’s kind of sad, really…
I have an odd phobia of rabbits. I’ve mentioned this before, and I’m not outright scared of them, but vaguely creeped out. Really, I only discuss it here to give myself a reason to link to the cause of my wariness: the cartoon version of Watership Down. The clip shows a few of the more brutal highlights of that particular film, but if you imagine an 8-year-old seeing any movie with this stuff in it, a fear of bunnies seems much less weird.
Okay, so now on to my Seven Nominees:
Sarah, the Witch of Forest Grove (of course) – She has some of the most creative work I’ve seen, and one of the most informative sites around. Big kudos to her.
Papa Toad Bone – His apotheca takes me out of the internet and puts me barefoot into the swamp, and I like that.
Juniper’s Walking the Hedge site – It’s lovely and she really puts a great deal of effort into making it a nice place to just go and visit.
Lady Lavona – She has two blogs that I just eat up, her main Cabinet of Curiosities site, and a Tumblr site called Witch Mountain. Both are easy to spend oodles of time on.
Jude over at Spirit Cloth always captures my attention with her amazing fabric works. They have a tangibly magical quality that just makes me want to curl up in all her scraps of cloth and live there.
My friend Saturn over at Pennies in the Well – It’s a pretty site, and her Mad Hatter episodes are fun, insightful, and just a pleasure to listen to. All her episodes are, actually, but the Mad Hatter ones really show off her creativity.
Finally, Oraia the Sphinx has a blog over at Sphinx Words that I really like, not just because she’s also my friend, but because her writing style is so familiar and pleasant. She has a way of getting into my head sometimes that is uncanny, so big kudos to her.
So that’s that. Again, huge thanks to Sarah at Crooked Ways (another very well-written and marvelously creative blog, if you haven’t checked it out)! Hopefully you’ll be seeing a couple more articles from me this week as I get back up to my usual posting habits. But for now, thanks so much for reading!
New World Witchery - The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft 