Magick. Queer stuff. Qabala. Snark.
In 4 Quick Q’s, I ask pagan authors four questions determined at random, by rolling a D20!
This episode features Laura Tempest Zakroff, professional artist, author, and performer. Her latest publication is the Anatomy of a Witch Oracle deck. We talked about her favorite spot to write, the agony of having all your best ideas at inconvenient times for writing them down, and what happens when an errant candle encounters a Hibachi grill serving as a cauldron in a ritual.
In 4 Quick Q’s, I ask pagan authors four questions determined at random, by rolling a D20!
This episode features Victoria Raschke, author of The Voices of the Dead urban fantasy series and host of the WitchLit podcast. We talked about the new series she’s working on, how she handles writer’s block, and how moving and the pandemic have influenced her writing.
In 4 Quick Q’s, I ask pagan authors four questions determined at random, by rolling a D20!
This episode features Amy Blackthorn, best-selling author of Blackthorn’s Botanical Magic, Sacred Smoke, Blackthorn’s Botanical Brews, Blackthorn’s Protection Magic, and Blackthorn’s Botanical Wellness. We talked about the oracle deck she’s working on, why authors don’t love their books being compared to other authors’ books, and what she’s really loving reading right now.
In 4 Quick Q’s, I ask pagan authors four questions determined at random, by rolling a D20!
This episode features Jane Meredith, author of Falling Through the Tree of Life: Embodied Kabbalah (my review), Journey to the Dark Goddess, as well as Elements of Magic and Magic of the Iron Pentacle (co-authored with Fio Gede Parma), and Aspecting the Goddess. We talked about inspiration, learning how to write impossible books, and the concept of mistakes vs. learning experiences.
A gushing love letter to Kabbalah (I will use the author’s spelling for the purposes of this review), full of wonder and joy, Jane Meredith‘s Falling Through the Tree of Life: Embodied Kabbalah invites the reader into a full-body, full-sensory, ecstatic experience of living in, around, and through the Tree. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of this book to read late in 2021 (it’ll be released in July), and it is truly a feast for the mind and the spirit.
Jane Meredith meets the reader not as a lecturer, but as a guide, pointing out signposts while inviting the reader to chart their own, unique, embodied understanding of the Tree through art, ritual, and trance. With multiple suggested ways to engage with the material, including reading chapters in whatever order suits the reader, this work meets the reader exactly where they are and lets them choose their own path, while weaving in the author’s lived experiences with the Tree of Life.
Continue reading ““Falling Through the Tree of Life” is a deeply personal and experiential journey through Kabbalah”
In 4 Quick Q’s, I ask pagan authors four questions determined at random, by rolling a D20!
This episode features Diana Rajchel, author of Hex Twisting and Urban Magick. We talked about things we wish other pagan authors would do more, what things we wish they’d do less, and the vortex of hippie anger found in Trader Joe’s parking lots.
I had the pleasure of presenting a 30-minute workshop on queer Qabala for LlewellynCon 2022! In case you missed the workshop, you can catch the replay below or on Crowdcast.
LlewellynCon has a great lineup of speakers and topics through next week. Be sure to check it out!
🌈 Guess what? I wrote a book on Queer Qabala, and you can buy it now! 🌈
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In honor of Queer Qabala’s release Wednesday, I have a post on the Llewellyn blog! Here’s a teaser, followed by a link to read the rest of the post.
My identity journey as a nonbinary, bisexual person is intertwined with my spiritual journey with Hermetic Qabala. In my book, Queer Qabala: Nonbinary, Genderfluid, Omnisexual Mysticism & Magick, I show several ways Qabala is inherently queer, and how to use the Tree of Life as an authentic, queer lens and spiritual tool for queer experiences and rites of passage.
Here are five ways the Qabala has helped me personally, in affirming my nonbinary, bisexual identity.
🌈 Guess what? I wrote a book on Queer Qabala, and you can buy it now! 🌈
Like this post? Subscribe to my monthly-ish e-newsletter to get 11 free audio pathworkings and other exclusive content!
In honor of Queer Qabala‘s launch yesterday, I’ve got an article on the Llewellyn Journal today! Here’s a brief teaser with a link to the full article.
Be honest: When you hear the word, “Qabala,” what comes to mind?
Hermetic Qabala is a spiritual framework for understanding ourselves and the universe, using a glyph called the Tree of Life. It has tons of practical, magickal uses, but it’s not uncommon for someone to take a quick look at Qabala and decide it isn’t for them, for any number of reasons. Many people see Qabala as an antiquated spiritual tool bogged down with undesirable concepts like patriarchy, hierarchy, and monotheism.
But I’m one of those weirdos who started digging into Qabala early in my Pagan spiritual journey, and then just couldn’t stop. From the moment I read my first Qabala book, The Witches Qabala by Ellen Cannon Reed, I was hooked. And about five years ago, I began to understand the Tree of Life as a deeply queer-inclusive spiritual tool.
I’m not the first person to think of Qabala as innately queer, but written content on the subject is scarce, which is a big reason why I decided to start a blog, and eventually write a book about Queer Qabala, called Queer Qabala: Nonbinary, Genderfluid, Omnisexual Mysticism & Magick. Finding connections between my queer identity and my spirituality has been a deeply empowering experience, and I want to share that with other people.
What Makes Qabala Queer
Surprisingly, it doesn’t take a ton of digging to find queer representation in the Tree of Life…
🌈 Guess what? I wrote a book on Queer Qabala, and you can buy it now! 🌈
Like this post? Subscribe to my monthly-ish e-newsletter to get 11 free audio pathworkings and other exclusive content!
Happy book birthday to Queer Qabala: Nonbinary, Genderfluid, Omnisexual Mysticism & Magick! As of today, the book is out, and you can find it all sorts of places online and IRL. If you can’t wait to get your hands on it but are short on funds or don’t like buying books, you can request it at your local library.
I started writing this book before I thought it was a book, back in early 2020. I wrote a series of posts on this blog examining each of the spheres on the Tree of Life and how to relate them to queer experiences, and created audio pathworkings to go with them. One of my mentors suggested I had the makings of a book, and when I added it all up, sure enough, I had about 17,000 words written between all the posts and pathworkings, and I was pretty confident I could expand that to over 50,000 words within a few months. And I did! The initial draft took about 6 months to write, and many more months to edit into something I was really proud of. Llewellyn was kind enough to accept my book proposal, and after lots of hard work with their stellar team of editors, designers, and marketers, the book became a reality. I still can’t quite believe it.
Continue reading ““Queer Qabala” is out TODAY!”