About the book..
‘The Modern Craft’ is an eclectic and radical collection of essays on witchcraft practice and the ethics of magic, which gives that much-needed modern context to timeless wisdom. It offers a fascinating snapshot of contemporary occult practice viewed through an intersectional lens.
Essay topics include:
– The ethics of decolonization
– Meditations on what it means to honour Mother Earth during the Anthropocene
– The reclamation of agency for working-class and queer witches through practical spellwork
– A gender-fluid perspective on breaking down traditional hierarchies in magical symbolism
– A day in the life of a disabled Pagan Irish practitioner
– Inspiring and electrifying glimpses from the brink of the contemporary Craft, these essays show how anyone, no matter who they are, can find positivity and the force for change in the subversive unknown.
Contributors include: Claire Askew, Lisa Marie Basile, Stella Hervey Birrell, Jane Claire Bradley, Madelyn Burnhope, Lilith Dorsey, AW Earl, Harry Josephine Giles, Simone Kotva, Iona Lee, Briana Pegado, Megan Rudden, Sabrina Scott, Em Still and Alice Tarbuck.
My thanks to the Charlotte at Lovereading for the chance to read and review ‘The Modern Craft’ which is available now from publishers Watkins Wisdom.
I will be honest, I did not fully read all the essays in this volume, Several I found to have taken self reflection to the point of such indulgence, and pushing of a narrative that I personally do not ascribe to, that I felt repelled out of and away from the writing. In an effort to be so inclusive, I, ironically, felt excluded from the discussion which I feel often aimed to re-write the history of feminism, persecution for practicing and what witchcraft means, which to me are intrinsically entwined with both the path and life experiences of women.
Therefore I cannot honestly say I have read and reviewed this collection, however I admire and appreciate the initiative which created it. It is timely in that the resurgence of an interest in witchcraft has led to many looking into it, for example, I would never have imagined that our town would have a local apothecary and tarot card reader. And that is 100% a good thing, I felt this real connect with the essay on poverty and witchcraft by Jane Claire Bradley. She talks about the baby witch who does not know where to start and what equipment to begin with, and as the mother of a daughter whose altar is made from cardboard boxes, makes spell jars with household herbs and glass jars from The Works, I can appreciate that necessity is the mother of invention. For me , this was the most powerful essay in the book because it gives the freedom to those just burgeoning their craft to explore it in their own way.
Can’t afford a tarot pack? Make your own!
An altar can be anywhere!
You can worship goddesses in the form that you choose, the altar is a manifestation of the things which you hold dear and by which you conduit your forces and ideas. The intention behind it is more important than a price tag.
”Witches today have a deep responsibility to ourselves and to each other;we often do the heavy work of caring and acknowledging when the world does not care or see” Lisa Marie Basile
I felt that I learnt a lot about the way cultural appropriation is employed within the craft, how cultural stereotypes are reinforced, the way that social media whilst being a force for good, can also create a sense of ownership, or belonging to a club that, by its very nature, excludes and ignores. As well as this, modern culture can create a sense that you need this and that, or to belong on this platform, in order to be seen or heard, and by employing a multi-directional approach to this topic, the editors have created a broad approach to a heartfelt subject that beckons newbies in, and seeks to inform.
Who are we to bemoan a ‘witchcraft aesthetic’? After all, from Primark to exclusive boutiques, there is witchy gear galore, available to those who want to dip a toe into historically murky waters. It opens a conversation about the way that those who were in touch with nature and natural processes-women, by their nature were closer to the world around them, the sacraments of birth and death as well as healing-were maligned and persecuted when things went wrong, were convenient scapegoats and even institutionalised for daring to say out loud the words that can be so easily overheard today.
”The lack of power historically afforded to women has tended to make them be seen as one-dimensional,and this has been reflected in our narratives, stories and media.” Iona Lee
Discussions over various tarot spreads, the powerful nature of crystals and home grown herbs, are all things which would have had girls like me marginalised as a teen for being ‘weird’. Now, with growing opportunities to explore what the concept of being a witch means to the individual, here is a book which can introduce readers to some key concepts, some authentic experiences and guided research into 21st century witchery.
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About the editors….
Claire Askew is a poet, novelist and the current Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh. Her debut novel, All the Hidden Truths, was the winner of the 2016 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, and longlisted for the 2014 Peggy Chapman-Andrews (Bridport) Novel Award. Claire holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh and has won a variety of accolades for her work, including the Jessie Kesson Fellowship and a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award.
Her debut poetry collection, This changes things, was published by Bloodaxe in 2016 and shortlisted for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award and a Saltire First Book Award. In 2016 Claire was selected as a Scottish Book Trust Reading Champion, and she works as the Scotland tutor for women’s writing initiatives Write Like A Grrrl! and #GrrrlCon.
Claire Askew was born in 1986 and grew up in the Scottish Borders. She has lived in Edinburgh since 2004. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications, including The Guardian, Poetry Scotland, PANK, Edinburgh Review and Be The First To Like This: New Scottish Poetry (Vagabond Voices, 2014), and have been selected twice for the Scottish Poetry Library’s Best Scottish Poems of the Year. In 2013 she won the International Salt Prize for Poetry, and in 2014 was runner-up for the inaugural Edwin Morgan Poetry Award for Scottish poets under 30. She runs the One Night Stanza blog, and collects old typewriters (she currently has around 30)
Links-https://www.readthismagazine.co.uk/onenightstanzas/
Twitter @OneNightStanzas
Alice Tarbuck is an academic, writer and literature professional based in Edinburgh.
Tarbuck holds a BA and MPhil in English Literature from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and a doctorate from the University of Dundee. Her thesis explored poetry and practice of Thomas A. Clark. She taught creative writing at the University of Dundee. She writes about her experiences as a modern witch and practices what she describes as ‘intersectional, accessible’ witchcraft.
Links-https://alicetarbuck.net/
Twitter @atarbuck @WatkinsWisdom @LoveReadinguk
Author
bridgeman.lenny@gmail.com