#witches who write
Attention Writing Witches!
NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a wonderful event where writers connect with each other and support each other throughout the month of November, all in hopes of reaching a goal of 50,000 written words by the end of the month. This is a really fun month long opportunity to focus on your writing projects in the coziness of November. I am personally in need of the camaraderie this year to get to the finish line a couple of personal projects.
We have just built the a group on Facebook for witchy writers participating in NaNoWriMo. The goal of this group is to offer an inspiring and encouraging space for writers planning on writing witchcraft, magic, divination, metaphysics, and/or supernatural topics. Whether you plan on following the traditional path or have less conventional goals (like I do), I invite you to join!
This is so far a small group and a wonderful opportunity to work side by side with other writers. If you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments or send me a DM.
Please click on this link to connect with the NaNoWriMo Witch FB Group. I hope you will join us!!!
Essay by Mercury Gentry
It’s been about seven years since I renounced Christianity, or as I like to say, Jesus and I mutually broke up. After growing up in a Baptist church—even though I was christened as a Methodist, I finally confessed to myself that it wasn’t for me anymore. My principles were changing along with my ideas and space. Calling myself a Christian seemed foreign to me, now that I think of it; I always felt out of place. The final straw, after years of feeling discontent, was when I was chastised by a group of church buddies for asking a biblical question. I don’t like feeling shut down, and that was the last time we talked.
In the summer of 2017, I made a bad decision that resulted in me fighting for my life in the hospital. Strangely, I heard my late grandmother say you only have one life while I was unconscious. After that, my spirituality was reawakened, but not without struggle. I cut my dreadlocks after nine years of growing them out, and my depression reached a new height. The next summer was a turning point when I visited New Orleans for the first time since I was a baby, reeling in the culture and history made me seek a new faith.
I was learning IseseIfa in my hometown along with other spiritual outlets. The former is a traditional religion of the Yoruba tribe primarily based in Benin and Nigeria. While doing so, I was confiding with a co-worker and friend, who’s Wiccan, about how I struggled with my faith over the years. She was telling me how she took what she learned from various practices and blended them. Although I’m still navigating my path, I knew I had no desire to blendbecause I didn’t consider myself eclectic. What sucked was there was no word to describe how I was feeling. Until I finally coined something up, polyeverie.
What is a Polyeverie, and how does it differ from being an eclectic? An eclectic is someone who combines elements from various faiths to construct a belief system of their own. Whereas a polyeverie is someone who identifies with many religions but practices them in the tradition they adhere to without blending the faiths. I coined the term after discovering the word Dvoeverie, which means double faith. When Christianity was making its mark in Eastern Europe, the Slavs saw this as a way to embrace the new faith and keep the traditions of their old one, according to Emily Die Katze.
As I said, I’m still learning new things and growing every day. Who knows what I want to learn next, but I’m excited about this journey I’m about to embark on.
Mercury Gentry is an intuitive-empath and Jyotish enthusiast who likes finding the practically within spirituality. When she’s not roller skating or surfing the web, you can catch her blogging at Saturn Says. Or doing oracle readings in her home town in southern Nevada.
Creative Non-Fiction by Exodus Oktavia Brownlow
Instructions: Fill in Your Name/Personal Pronouns
An undergraduate professor was explaining the word iconoclastic to the class. As an example, she used ______.
The professor, “______, would you stand up, please?”
______, “Seriously?”
The class, laughing.
The professor, “Yes.”
______—standing, fearing, waiting for all the blows, and more.
The professor, “Now, there’s a ______ who marches to the beat of ______ own drum.”
Praise?
Foreign.
Somehow drastically more terrifying.
___
In ______ fantasies, ______ are/am/is on stage. Fully-bloomed. Performing with exquisite execution. Receiving endless applause.
It wasn’t supposed to feel like this.
Desiring to die as an imposter.
Needing to live as a believer
Exodus Oktavia Brownlow is a Blackhawk, Mississippi native whose writing aesthetic includes purposeful horror, character-driven fiction, and nonfiction writing that aims to create a healthier world for us all. She is a graduate of Mississippi Valley State University with a B.A in English, and Mississippi University for Women with a MFA in Creative Writing. She is published with Electric-Literature, Barren Magazine, Valley Voices, Luna Luna Magazine, X-Ray-Literary Magazine, Jellyfish Review and more. Exodus has a healthy adoration for the color green.
