#cory llewellyn

[therecordchanger62279]

THE BEST WRITTEN SONGS OF ALL-TIME

     Because I have zero innate musical ability, the idea that someone can sit down with a musical instrument, and create an original song out of thin air is magic to me. Songwriting is a craft, but it’s inspiration that makes a good song into a great one. There are songwriters who seem able to turn out high quality songs in perpetuity. There are others who write maybe one or two great songs, and are never heard from again. So, I made a list of what I think are the 50 best written songs I’ve ever heard. These are in no particular order. I’ve listed the title followed by the songwriter or songwriters, and in parentheses is the performer I most enjoy hearing do the song – although most of these songs have been recorded countless times by a variety of artists. You can probably find all of these on YouTube or any of the streaming services. Most have lyrics, but some do not. But, it’s hard for me to imagine any of these songs being recorded by anyone with talent, and not retaining the brilliance with which the song was written.

Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy (Eugene Ormandy & The Philadelphia Orchestra)

Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin (Zubin Mehta & The New York Philharmonic, Gary Graffman, piano)

A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke (Sam Cooke)

Coal Miner’s Daughter by Loretta Lynn (Loretta Lynn)

Hello Walls by Willie Nelson (Faron Young)

I Left My Heart In San Francisco by George Cory and Douglass Cross (Tony Bennett)

God Bless The Child by Arthur Herzog, Jr. and Billie Holiday (Billie Holiday)

Eleanor Rigby by Paul McCartney and John Lennon (The Beatles)

Blind Willie McTell by Bob Dylan (Bob Dylan)

A Remark You Made by Wayne Shorter (Weather Report)

She’s Always a Woman by Billy Joel (Billy Joel)

Roll Me Away by Bob Seger (Bob Seger)

Margie’s At the Lincoln Park Inn by Tom T. Hall (Bobby Bare)

Angel From Montgomery by John Prine (Bonnie Raitt and John Prine)

Rainy Night in Georgia by Tony Joe White (Brook Benton)

You Never Can Tell by Chuck Berry (Chuck Berry)

Where or When by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (Dion and The Belmonts)

American Pie by Don McLean (Don McLean)

It Was a Very Good Year by Ervin Drake (Frank Sinatra)

Gentle On My Mind by John Hartford (Glen Campbell)

Early Morning Rain by Gordon Lightfoot (Gordon Lightfoot)

Book of Rules by Harry Johnson and Barry Llewellyn (The Heptones)

Highwayman by Jimmy Webb (The Highwaymen)

American Music by Ian Hunter (Ian Hunter & Mick Ronson)

That’s Entertainment by Paul Weller (The Jam)

Song of Bernadette by Leonard Cohen (Jennifer Warnes)

Jazzman by Carole King and David Palmer (Carole King)

Talking Back to The Night by Steve Winwood and Will Jennings (Steve Winwood)

My Favorite Things by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (John Coltrane)

Don’t It Make You Want to Go Home by Joe South (Joe South)

Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down by Kris Kristofferson (Kris Kristofferson)

Heart Like a Wheel by Anna McGarrigle (Linda Ronstadt)

I Am a Town by Mary-Chapin Carpenter (Mary-Chapin Carpenter)

Footprints by Wayne Shorter (Miles Davis Quintet)

Pleasant Valley Sunday by Gerry Goffin and Carole King (The Monkees)

This Old Town by Jon Vezner and Janis Ian (Nanci Griffith)

Brooklyn Roads by Neil Diamond (Neil Diamond)

Thrasher by Neil Young (Neil Young & Crazy Horse)

Box of Rain by Robert Hunter and Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead)

Is That All There Is? By Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (Peggy Lee)

Louisiana 1927 by Randy Newman (Randy Newman)

King of the Road by Roger Miller (Roger Miller)

America by Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel)

The Sound of Silence by Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel)

Children’s Crusade by Sting (Sting)

My Girl by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White (The Temptations)

Green, Green Grass of Home by Claude “Curly” Putnam, Jr. (Tom Jones)

Downtown Train by Tom Waits (Tom Waits)

The Whole of The Moon by Mike Scott (The Waterboys)

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys by Sharon Vaughn (Willie Nelson)

[eludin-realm]

Character Name Ideas (Male)

So I've been browsing through BehindTheName (great resource!) recently and have compiled several name lists. Here are some names, A-Z, that I like. NOTE: If you want to use any of these please verify sources, meanings etc, I just used BehindTheName to browse and find all of these. Under the cut:

A: Austin, Aiden, Adam, Alex, Angus, Anthony, Archie, Argo, Ari, Aric, Arno, Atlas, August, Aurelius, Alexei, Archer, Angelo, Adric, Acarius, Achilou, Alphard, Amelian, Archander B: Bodhi, Bastian, Baz, Beau, Beck, Buck, Basil, Benny, Bentley, Blake, Bowie, Brad, Brady, Brody, Brennan, Brent, Brett, Brycen C: Cab, Cal, Caden, Cáel, Caelan, Caleb, Cameron, Chase, Carlos, Cooper, Carter, Cas, Cash, Cassian, Castiel, Cedric, Cenric, Chance, Chandler, Chaz, Chad, Chester, Chet, Chip, Christian, Cillian, Claude, Cicero, Clint, Cody, Cory, Coy, Cole, Colt, Colton, Colin, Colorado, Colum, Conan, Conrad, Conway, Connor, Cornelius, Creed, Cyneric, Cynric, Cyrano, Cyril, Cyrus, Crestian, Ceric D: Dallas, Damien, Daniel, Darach, Dash, Dax, Dayton, Denver, Derek, Des, Desmond, Devin, Dewey, Dexter, Dietrich, Dion, Dmitri, Dominic, Dorian, Douglas, Draco, Drake, Drew, Dudley, Dustin, Dusty, Dylan, Danièu E: Eadric, Evan, Ethan, Easton, Eddie, Eddy, Einar, Eli, Eilas, Eiljah, Elliott, Elton, Emanuel, Emile, Emmett, Enzo, Erik, Evander, Everett, Ezio F: Faolán, Faron, Ferlin, Felix, Fenrir, Fergus, Finley, Finlay, Finn, Finnian, Finnegan, Flint, Flip, Flynn, Florian, Forrest, Fritz G: Gage, Gabe, Grady, Grant, Gray, Grayson, Gunnar, Gunther, Galahad H: Hale, Harley, Harper, Harvey, Harry, Huey, Hugh, Hunter, Huxley I: Ian, Ianto, Ike, Inigo, Isaac, Isaias, Ivan, Ísak J: Jack, Jacob, Jake, Jason, Jasper, Jax, Jay, Jensen, Jed, Jeremy, Jeremiah, Jesse, Jett, Jimmie, Jonas, Jonas, Jonathan, Jordan, Josh, Julien, Jovian, Jun, Justin, Joseph, Joni, K: Kaden, Kai, Kale, Kane, Kaz, Keane, Keaton, Keith, Kenji, Kenneth, Kent, Kevin, Kieran, Kip, Knox, Kris, Kristian, Kyle, Kay, Kristján, Kristófer L: Lamont, Lance, Landon, Lane, Lars, László, Laurent, Layton, Leander, Leif, Leo, Leonidas, Leopold, Levi, Lewis, Louie, Liam, Liberty, Lincoln, Linc, Linus, Lionel, Logan, Loki, Lucas, Lucian, Lucio, Lucky, Luke, Luther, Lyall, Lycus, Lykos, Lyle, Lyndon, Llewellyn, Landri, Laurian, Lionç M: Major, Manny, Manuel, Marcus, Mason, Matt, Matthew, Matthias, Maverick, Maxim, Memphis, Midas, Mikko, Miles, Mitch, Mordecai, Mordred, Morgan, Macari, Maïus, Maxenci, Micolau, Miro N: Nate, Nathan, Nathaniel, Niall, Nico, Niels, Nik, Noah, Nolan, Niilo, Nikander, Novak, O: Oakley, Octavian, Odin, Orlando, Orrick, Ǫrvar, Othello, Otis, Otto, Ovid, Owain, Owen, Øyvind, Ozzie, Ollie, Oliver, Onni P: Paisley, Palmer, Percival, Percy, Perry, Peyton, Phelan, Phineas, Phoenix, Piers, Pierce, Porter, Presley, Preston, Pacian Q: Quinn, Quincy, Quintin R: Ragnar, Raiden, Ren, Rain, Rainier, Ramos, Ramsey, Ransom, Raul, Ray, Roy, Reagan, Redd, Reese, Rhys, Rhett, Reginald, Remiel, Remy, Ridge, Ridley, Ripley, Rigby, Riggs, Riley, River, Robert, Rocky, Rokas, Roman, Ronan, Ronin, Romeo, Rory, Ross, Ruairí, Rufus, Rusty, Ryder, Ryker, Rylan, Riku, Roni S: Sammie, Sammy, Samuel, Samson, Sanford, Sawyer, Scout, Seán, Seth, Sebastian, Seymour, Shane, Shaun, Shawn, Sheldon, Shiloh, Shun, Sid, Sidney, Silas, Skip, Skipper, Skyler, Slade, Spencer, Spike, Stan, Stanford, Sterling, Stevie, Stijn, Suni, Sylvan, Sylvester T: Tab, Tad, Tanner, Tate, Tennessee, Tero, Terrance, Tevin, Thatcher, Tierno, Tino, Titus, Tobias, Tony, Torin, Trace, Trent, Trenton, Trev, Trevor, Trey, Troy, Tripp, Tristan, Tucker, Turner, Tyler, Ty, Teemu U: Ulric V: Valerius, Valor, Van, Vernon, Vespasian, Vic, Victor, Vico, Vince, Vinny, Vincent W: Wade, Walker, Wallis, Wally, Walt, Wardell, Warwick, Watson, Waylon, Wayne, Wes, Wesley, Weston, Whitley, Wilder, Wiley, William, Wolfe, Wolfgang, Woody, Wulfric, Wyatt, Wynn X: Xander, Xavier Z: Zachary, Zach, Zane, Zeb, Zebediah, Zed, Zeke, Zeph, Zaccai

[prettyqueerwitch]

My Spiritual Book TBR's

This is mainly for me to have a comprehensive list but also might help others in finding books to read!

Marked ♡ means I own the book

Read

• Witchery by Juliet Diaz

• The Green Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

• Witch, Please by Victoria Maxwell

Currently Reading

To Be Read

♡ The Altar Within by Juliet Diaz

♡ Plant Witchery by Juliet Diaz

♡ Encyclopedia of Spirits by Judika Illes

• Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judika Illes

• Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints, & Sages by Judika Illes

• Moon Magic by Diane Ahlquist

♡ The Moon Book by Sarah Faith Gottesdiener

♡ Magical Healing by Hexe Claire

• The Long Lost Friend by John George Hohman

• Hex and Spellwork by Karl Herr

♡ Witchcraft Medicine by Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Christian Rätsch, and Wolf-Dieter Storl

• How to Study Magic by Sarah Lyons

• Love is In The Earth by Melody

• Radical Remedies by Brittany Ducham

♡ Spiritual Ecology by Multiple People (Llewellyn)

♡ A Witch's Shadow Magic Compendium by Raven Digitalis

• The Witch at The Forests Edge by Christine Grace

• Six Ways by Aidan Wachter

♡ Honoring Your Ancestors by Mallorie Vaudoise

• Year of The Witch by Temperance Alden

♡ Weave The Liminal by Laura Tempest Zakroff

♡ The Book of Candle Magic by Madame Pamita and Judika Illes

• The Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton

♡ Folk Witchcraft by Roger J. Horne

♡ Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer

♡ The Spiral Dance by Starhawk

• Spells for Change by Frankie Castanea

• Utterly Wicked by Dorothy Morrison

♡ Of Blood and Bones by Kate Freuler

♡ The Little Work by Durgadas Allon Duriel

• Entering Hekates Garden by Cyndi Brannen

• Entering Hekates Cave by Cyndi Brannen

• Nordic Runes by Paul Rhys Mountfort

• The Book of Spells by Ella Harrison

• Plants of the Devil by Corinne Boyer

♡ Besom, Stang, and Sword by Christopher Orapello, Tara-Love Maguire

♡ Inner Witch by Gabriela Herstik

♡ Psychic Witch by Mat Auryn

♡ The Black Arts by Richard Cavendish

• Blackthorn's Botanical Magic by Amy Blackthorn

• Astrology for Real Life by Theresa Reed

♡ Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom

• The Trotula by Monica H. Green

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• Bringing Race to the Table: Exploring Racism in the Pagan Community by Crystal Blanton, Taylor Ellwood, and Brandy Williams

• God Against the Gods by Jonathan Kirsch

• Pure Magic by Judika Illes

• Folk Magic by Mari Silva

• Witches Herbal Primer by Amy Cesari

♡ New World Witchery by Cory Thomas Hutcherson

•Magical Folk Healing by DJ Conway

• The Pagan Book of Days by Nigel Pennick

♡ Lady of The Night by Edain McCoy

♡ Spellcraft for a Magical Year by Sarah Bartlett

♡ The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook by Catlín Matthews

♡ Natural Magic by Pamela Ball

♡ Rebel Witch by Kelly-Ann Maddox

♡ The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need by Joanna Martine Woolfolk

♡ Mastering Magick by Mat Auryn

♡ In-focus Crystals by Bernice Cockram

♡ The Complete Grimoire by Lidia Pradas

• The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells by Judika Illes

And that took a while but we're done! Will probably update this as I go <3

[salixsociety]

Book Review: New World Witchery

New World Witchery : a Trove of North American Folk Magic - Cory Thomas Hutcheson. Llewellyn Publications, 2021. English.

★★★★ (4/5) This book has as many flaws as reasons to adore it, and so this may prove to be a very lengthy review. TL;DR: at the bottom.

Picking this up in the bookstore I was very excited. Hailing originally from Europe, now living in Alaska, and practicing primarily European folk magic, this seemed like a fantastic book to bury myself in and learn about folk magic of my new home continent. Delving into it I was immediately captivated. The structure of the book is very very creative, and the way the author writes really takes you away. I appreciate the inclusion of not just theoretical material, which may fall flat to the reader due to a number of factors, but also biographies of magical practitioners and the sections that encourage you to apply what you read in real life. That said, as an experienced practitioner holding the 'worksheets' up to my own work, it felt a tad empty. The author, though very good at relaying folkmagical tradition, doesn't impart a lot of folk magic's cosmology or quasi-scientific historical approach into the recommended rituals. This has benefits and drawbacks. I think that for an experienced practitioner that sticks to folkmagical principles and a set cosmology, the recommended magical practice is next to useless. However, a beginner practitioner, or somebody looking for direction and inspiration, may find a wealth of new ideas in these sections.

Of course there are the necessary socio-political issues to consider in a book review. I would not discount this book on this account, but I have a few notes. The author undeniably covers his bases. He explicitly warns against the drawbacks of such an extensive piece of literature, of it also including hoodoo, vodou, root working, jewish, native, etc practices. He makes a strong statement against appropriation. But I am a nitpicker, was born one, unfortunately. Some things I noticed: The author does recommend using both 'sage' and palo santo during the worksheet sections a few times. While he takes a stance against appropriatively using materials and rituals, I think it could use a bit more stressing that these plants (salvia officinalis and sandalwood) are endangered or close to it and shouldn't be used by people unable to obtain and use sustainably. The author recommends offering tobacco to ancestors, tobacco being a topic of hot debate presently as to whether or not the use of it in ritual should be reserved for Native American peoples. The author refers to his own magic as 'mojo' once and seems to use Hoodoo tradition fairly freely. Take that as you will. The author started the book off very very careful not to call Native Americans the I-word unless directly quoting something, but appeared to get more casual about that toward the end. Author refers to both mythical witch gatherings and real life festivals a 'witch's sabbat(s)', something I consider to be antisemitic. Author recommends taking a volunteering job cleaning graves to collect graveyard dirt without breaking any laws. Dubious? All that said - I can't knock the book for any of this. The information is good, and the book is well written. Ultimately we can never expect to agree on socio-political progression all the way with one another, and the author seems conscious about liberation for all and respectfully applying his knowledge of various traditions.

The bibliography is good, with only a few eyesores. For this section I ought to explicitly mention I have something that could rightly be referred to as a personal vendetta with Western Esotericism and its derivatives, which is why I react to certain types of modern magic as though I were allergic. All of the 'negatives' I'm about to outline are purely subjective and based on my irrelevant ass opinion. The author occasionally references and appears to hold in high regard such authors as Judika Illes and Scott Cunningham, who are undeniably primarily Wiccan authors, or at the least authors geared toward contemporary practitioners, not folk practitoners. The likes that spell it 'magick'. I should also mention that while the author takes a very neutral stance on Traditional Witchcraft (this in reference to Wicca and the like), he does include such things as the Rede and the Wheel of the Year, which he dubs "deeply agricultural." I just had to bite my tongue and keep reading.

Finally I would like to note that the book, though it refers to itself as about all of North America, pretty much only covers the Atlantic half of North America. In fact, I believe the West Coast only gets mentioned in passing twice, both times when offhandedly mentioning Bigfoot/Sasquatch. This makes sense, on the one hand: the richest folk-magical traditions are there. But on the other: the West Coast, though lacking in such big communities of traditional practitioners, has a rich history of spirituality and magic as well, mostly from the Native peoples here and, in Alaska, from Russian colonists. If the book didn't also discuss Native traditions of the East Coast and Midwest, I wouldn't be salty. But it does, and I would've liked to see a bit more discussion of the West and the Arctic. It would've fit in!

All of that said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It certainly isn't the type of work you're supposed to read front to back over the course of a few days, but that is exactly what I did and I still liked it! I think the information presented is overall very good, and should be held up to light only as much as any other source should be. Cross-reference, kids! Something I noticed as I worked my way through is that this book would lend itself exceedingly well to being used as a textbook, due to its structure. I wouldn't recommend this book to an ultimate, bare-bones beginner who has no idea how to research and what to look out for yet, and I wouldn't recommend this book to an already very experienced practitioner looking to truly severely deepen their knowledge. But I would recommend this book to a team of them - an advanced mentor able to use this book as a textbook for a student, capable of helping them discern between appropriate and inappropriate conduct, and giving them direction in their early stages. TL;DR: This is a great book. Cross-reference as you would with any other resource, and be sure to contemplate your own ethics and what heritage you are and are not entitled to. I would recommend this book to: - Mentors teaching beginners; - Novice practitioners with some pre-existing knowledge, that are confident in their abilities to cross-reference; - Practitioners in need of some direction or inspiration; - Practitioners that have a hard time finding magic in their native surroundings. Maybe pass on this book if you are... ... from the West Coast and only interested in the West Coast; ... not confident in your ability to cross-reference; ... a true beginner with little to no pre-existing knowledge and cosmology; ... a well-established North American folk practitioner looking for a deep inquiry into the nitty gritty of New World folk magic; ... unaware of appropriate conduct and social issues in the magical community.

[wytchwyse]

In Defense of Traditional Wicca.

Before I get into this I want to say that this post is not to cause debate or argument. this is only to give facts and useful sources, that debunk popular myths about what Wicca is and what it is not.

Wicca is predominantly influenced by The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which one who has read anything about ceremonial magic will see in the Wiccan ritual structure. most of what you all think you know about Gerald Gardner is from TikTok as all the talking points remain the same, and still prove to lack any real historical knowledge of the man or the religion of Wicca. Now keep in mind i am NOT an initiate in traditional Wicca, and i do NOT practice the Wiccan religion. However, I have met some very intelligent Initiates.

you may know one of them Dr. Cory Thomas Hutcheson PhD author of New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic (Llewellyn Worldwide 2021) which is an OUTSTANDING book if you don't already have it. I have had the pleasure to sit on a presentation of Cory's at the University of Pennsylvania ( A university with global renown) another name you might know is Thorn Mooney who is currently in her PhD program. I have never had the pleasure to meet Thorn in person but have spoken with her a few times on social media. ( I would like to add that both Cory and Thorn have graduate degrees in relevant topics. Thorn's is in comparative religion focusing on modern religious movements, and Cory has his Ph.D. in folklore you can see the focus of his work on the back of New World Witchery.

Both of these highly educated people are initiates in traditional Wicca. Now Thorn writes and vlogs exclusively about trad wicca, she is an outstanding resource. She has 2 books currently out, and one she is currently writing, she also has YEARS of content on her youtube and tik tok.

so let me get to what brought me here, someone on here shared a post that said "Wiccan beliefs are not witchcraft rules. That's all. Carry on." the replies got kinda spicy. which fundamentally I agree with, we are not bound by the traditional ethics, creeds etc of traditions of which we are not a part of. However their is a lot of misconceptions about Wicca here is a short but sweet article by Thorn Mooney. that clears up a few misconceptions very briefly. https://www.llewellyn.com/journal/article/2702.

Trad Wiccans ARE in fact Witches, if you are a none initiate you know nothing of actual Wicca. Formally Wicca is a mystery tradition and therefore keeps its secrets closed to outsiders. the neo-wicca you all know and hate is an amalgam of new age thought and outer court wicca, which occurred in the 70s when the hippy movement met the Wiccan religion which was migrating to the States at the time. This is to ALL pagans, Witches, Wiccans, folk magicians, occultists etc know your history before you have an opinion. “A fool is known by his speech, and a wise man by silence.” — Pythagoras I only say this to you as someone who needed a good slice of humble pie myself at one time.

oh btw, another source for trad wicca is a YouTuber by the name of Jack Chanek. he's knowledgeable, well-spoken, and formally initiated into Trad Wicca.

so in conclusion let's be careful of where we get our information on topics related to this stuff, while it's all worth hearing it's not all correct. also, i understand that some of what i said was critical but i did not mean it maliciously, I too once thought I knew it all. we all have to be gathered in at times. i hope this can lead you to better sources to understand real Wicca.

Best Wishes.

Ps. also Thumper Forge on Tiktoc seems to know a lot about Trad Wicca and its real history

[upthewitchypunx]

https://www.llewellyn.com/blog/2023/01/join-us-for-our-next-llewellyn-virtual-author-forum-folk-magic/

Check out this free Virtual Author forum with some pretty great folk magic people. It's Friday February 10th at 2pm Central Time.

Join us for our next Llewellyn Virtual Author Forum! This bi-monthly series of free online roundtable events will feature your favorite Llewellyn authors discussing topics important to you and answering your questions.

Our next in the series, on Folk Magic, will feature Ozark Mountain Spellbook author Brandon Weston; Cory Thomas Hutcheson, author of New World Witchery and the forthcoming Llewellyn’s Complete Book of North American Folk Magic; Madame Pamita, author of Baba Yaga’s Book of Witchcraft; Water Magic author Lilith Dorsey; and H. Byron Ballard, author of Roots, Branches & Spirits. Join the live conversation, and ask them your questions!

We’ll be streaming live on Crowdcast—save your spot today!

[appalachianwarlock]

Jake Richards

Jake Richards holds his Appalachian heritage close in his blood and bones. His family legacy in Appalachia goes back generations. Jake has practiced Appalachian folk magic for over a decade now. Jake has written three books (Backwoods Witchcraft: Conjure & Folk Magic from Appalachia, Doctoring the Devil: Notebooks of an Appalachian Conjure Man, and Ossman and Steel’s Classic Household Guide to Appalachian Folk Healing), a deck of cards (Conjure Cards) as well as contributions to Mat Auryn’s Mastering Magick, Llewellyn's Complete Book of North American Folk Magic: A Landscape of Magic, Mystery, and Tradition by Cory Hutcheson; article in Witchology Magazine, Samhain issue 2022.

It is his hope that this work resurrects these traditions as they were, not as history as recorded them in broken pieces of “superstition”, but as a cohesive system by which mountain folk have lived for centuries. If your folks are from Appalachia, this is apart of your heritage, life, and culture, regardless of your gender, race, or sexual orientation.

We are all heirs to the Mountain.

[thewritehag]

New day, new audiobook. I was in the mood for a memoir style nonfiction, so I tried Initiated by Amanda Yates, read by the author, but was almost impossible to get through without just being irritated by Yates. I have some specific opinions about it, but I'll get derailed and just because she doesn't appeal to me doesn't mean she isn't good.

Then there were some fictions that didn't jive with what I'm feeling, so they're back on my TBR list. Some solid ghost and vampire stories.

Now, I'm listening to Llewellyn's Complete Book of North American Folk Magic: A Landscape of Magic, Mystery, and Tradition, edited by Cory Thomas Hutcheson. It's an anthology made up of essays from folk practioners in and of North America.

I like Hutcheson, so I'm not surprised I'm liking this book, though not actually written by him. He has good judgment and presents things in an academic way, making his discussions stronger.

I've barely started the book, so I'll have to report back (and maybe listen to some sections again), but the contribution about Italian-American folk magic is comforting and enlightening to me. Safe to say I'm enjoying it. I think I would also need a hardcopy to really engage with the stories, even though Elizabeth Wiley is a good reader.

Anyway. I return home...

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Ignore career advice from established writers

“Breaking In,” is my latest column for Locus Magazine; it’s both the story of how I broke into science fiction, and an explanation of why there’s so little to learn from that story.

https://locusmag.com/2021/09/cory-doctorow-breaking-in/

When I was trying to sell my first stories, I obsessively sought career advice and memoirs from established writers. I sat in on countless sf convention panels in which bestselling writers explained how they’d butter up long-dead editors to sell to long-defunct publications.

None of them ever mentioned that as interesting as this stuff might be as an historical artifact, it had zero applicability to the market I was trying to break into.

Not only did these writers enter a fundamentally different — and long-extinct publishing world than the current one, but their relationship to the current market was fundamentally different from my own.

Editors solicited work from them, not the other way around. When they wrote something on spec, they could directly contact editors with whom they’d had long and fruitful professional associations — bypassing the who “slush reader” apparatus.

I don’t know if these established writers failed to mention that none of this applied to the would-be writers in the audience because they thought it was obvious or because it never occurred to them, but either way, it didn’t do me a lick of good.

What worked for me? Well, that’s the point, isn’t it? What worked for me won’t work for you. Not only was my path into the field pretty idiosyncratic — any generally applicable principle to be derived from it has been obsolete for decades.

But some things don’t change. I benefited immensely from the kindness — sometimes protracted, sometimes momentary — of writers who spoke to youth groups, served as writers-in-residence, guest-lectured to my summer D&D camp.

Above all, I benefited from Judith Merril, a towering writer, critic and editor who went into voluntary exile in Toronto after the Chicago police riots of 1968, and opened the Spaced Out Library, now the Merril Collection, the largest public sf reference library in the world.

Judy didn’t just serve as writer-in-residence, reading my manuscripts when I took the subway downtown to give them to her. She also did writer-in-the-schools programs, founding serious writers’ workshops that endured for decades.

My high-school workshop was one such; I kept attending it for years after I graduated (I wasn’t alone). Judy also steered the writers she critiqued into peer groups, like the still-thriving Cecil Street Irregulars, which I joined in the early 1990s.

Other writers were likewise kind and generous with their time. Tanya Huff worked behind the counter at Bakka bookstore; she sold me the first sf novel I ever bought with my own money (H Beam Piper’s Little Fuzzy).

Tanya was immensely patient with me, and even read manuscripts I shyly brought down to the store, giving me encouraging — but unflinching — feedback. When Tayna quit to write full time, I got her job in the store.

Ed Llewellyn and Ed Greenwood were guest speakers at the D&D summer camp I attended. Both were incredibly encouraging when I approached them after their talks to tell them I wanted to write.

Parke Godwin was guest of honor at the first con I ever volunteered at; when I brought him his coffee, he patiently listened to me as I told him I wanted to write and took me seriously, telling me about the importance of good habits.

These writers didn’t have any career advice for me per se, but I wouldn’t have had a career without them — without them taking me seriously, even at a very young age. I try to pay them forward, by encouraging the young writers in my own path:

https://doctorow.medium.com/why-bother-f3e8416899cc

As to commercial advice, there’s very little I can offer, I’m afraid. I like Heinlein’s advice (“1. Write. 2. Finish. 3. Submit. 4. Revise to editorial spec.”).

I have a general method (“Find publications that feature work like yours, research their submission process, send your story to the highest-paying ones first”).

As for specific market advice, that’s something that you should get from peers, not the people who came before you. When I was starting out, other would-be writers and I obsessively shared notes on new markets, editorial tastes, and other nuts-and-bolts.

Writers who are at the same place in their development as you have advice that is far more likely to be applicable to your situation. What’s more, they’re also the kinds of writers you should be seeking out to join in a critiquing group — your peers.

The reality is that “breaking in” is a grind. It took me a decade from my first submission to my first professional publication; 19 years before my first novel hit the shelves.

Perseverance is the greatest predictor of success here, and support from your peers is the best source of strength and resiliency over that long road.

[fuckyeahaimeemann]

aimee mann in philadelphia, early 1990s

[larissa-lee-scribbles]

[Witchy Review] "New World Witchery" by Cory Thomas Hutcheson

[Witchy Review] "New World Witchery" by Cory Thomas Hutcheson #witchyreview #bookreview #witchcraft

Full Title: New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk MagicAuthor: Cory Thomas HutchesonPublished: April 8, 2021 by Llewellyn PublicationsGenres: Nonfiction, Witchcraft, Folklore, Mythology, Magic Studies, Folk Magic, American CultureEdition Details: 480 pages, trade paperbackSource: ARC – Request via NetGalleyRating: {3.5/5 stars} First Glance As a long time witch, I’ve studied…

[adelaster]

8 Months, 21 Potential Blog Posts

Happy November! Rachel here. Somehow it is Thanksgiving already. Somehow a summer in Maine has come and gone. Theo and I thought we’d be blogging all the way through it, but instead we ended up just living it - and now we’ve already said farewell for the season.

In June, I did start a post that already had become irrelevant by July. In August, I rewrote the post and almost put it up, but then it suddenly became September and so much more had happened. Throughout the summer, I would find notes in Theo’s handwriting toward posts that he intended to write, but they all seemed to turn into grocery and hardware shop lists instead.

Given the sweet chaotic sprawl of our lives, it’s possibly impossible that we will ever keep up this blog as regularly as we originally envisioned. At least, for now. But we’re not abandoning ship – we’ll just post as we’re able, sporadically, here and there.

In the meantime, here is a list of blog posts that I would have loved to write over the past eight months:

1) A post about all the big changes in our lives this past winter and spring. In a nutshell, Theo dove into a new job at Spring Lake Ranch, an amazing therapeutic work community in Vermont, and finished the first draft of a new play commission. I held down our homestead in Minneapolis and worked on transitioning to fully freelance life, a shift that (as of July) now is being supported by a Playwrights’ Center McKnight Fellowship! Bit by bit, along the way, we got pieces in place toward our goal of spending a large portion of the summer in Maine.

2) A post about the Alliance of Artists Communities’ Emerging Program Institute, which I had the honor of attending in Washington D.C. this past April. It was so good. I learned so many things. I got so many ideas. I met so many incredible humans. I want to tell you about all of them.

3) A post about my road trip out to Maine in June, picking up Theo from Vermont along the way, and all of our experiences getting settled in - like installing a mailbox (it’s more complicated than one might think) and learning the delightful fact that the New Portland post office is only open for two hours in the early morning and two hours in the afternoon daily.

4) A post about the trip to Asheville that I took in June, for a cousin’s wedding, where I got inspired all over again by my family and that city and Black Mountain College.

5) A post about Healing the Wounds of Turtle Island at Nibezun in July. Theo and I still haven’t found adequate words to talk about that incredible experience. Perhaps you should save the date for July 13-16, 2018 and plan to join the next one (all are welcome). This ceremony will happen annually for 21 years! h/t Jennie Hahn for the initial invitation.

6) A post about the two dozen brilliant souls, family and friends and colleagues, who visited us in New Portland throughout the summer, many of whom came for informal artist residencies lasting a few days to a few weeks (for some remarkable examples of work made during this time, click here, here, and here). Everyone was so kind and patient with our very raw work spaces, a couple momentary power outages, and even the failure of the water pump (which meant fetching water from a well with a bucket for more than a week until it was replaced)! Everyone contributed to the space and its future in some beautiful way, from collaborative brainstorming, researching, and problem-solving to taking on house projects, chores, groceries, and cooking. THANK YOU Rae Simpson, Bob Whitten, Sarah Myers, Steven Wright, Leigh Hendrix, Karen Cellini, Erica Hassink Logan, Theo Langason, Amy DeLap, Andrew Jendrzejewski, Emily Mendelsohn, Kate Dakota Kremer, Jonathan Crimmins, Jennie Hahn, Cory Tamler, Henry Peck, Meara Sharma, Casey Llewellyn, Terry Hempfling, Meghan Frederick, Jon Grayboyes, Josie the Dog, Jeffrey Wells, A Wonderful Person Who Shall Remain Anonymous, and Hannah Geil-Neufeld!

7) A post about house projects galore. We did a few this summer and have a long list of more we’d like to do. The actual completion of a task as simple as installing makeshift shelves in the bathroom somehow ends up adding five more tasks to the list; and the research required toward any given larger task, like renovating the barn, easily could take years. (As my mom once noted, paraphrasing a neighbor, caring for a house is like caring for a person’s health – a constant process, ongoing, over a lifetime.) We had a delightful time getting to know numerous local contractors this summer, and we’re so hugely humbly grateful for the many ways in which our visitors contributed labor and consultation.

8) Related: A post about the valuable Skype consultation that we had with Cameran Bailey to discuss future heat and alternative energy possibilities. We were reminded that what we’re doing is no small undertaking and that it’s very important to take a holistic view, in assessing what to tackle first. Cameran is an incredibly generous, patient, brilliant human (highly recommended if you need a consultant in this arena)!! We’ve got a whole lot of good homework to do... 

9) A post about the remarkable lectures by Torkwase Dyson and Wu Tsang that some of us attended at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, just 30 minutes away from New Portland - a pretty excellent neighbor.

10) A post about meeting the intrepid founders of the Barn Arts Collective (located in Bass Harbor, Maine) and seeing their latest delightful children’s theater production. h/t Mallery Avidon and Meghan Frederick for the introduction!

11) A post about visiting my collaborator Terry Hempfling at the dreamy Lighthouse Works residency on Fishers Island, New York, and learning about how they operate. So much thoughtful goodness there.

12) A post about the labor of making a space for making. Related: Mierle Laderman Ukeles and “Maintenance Art” (h/t Emily Gastineau). This project’s combination of “development” and “maintenance.” Related: how to interact with the summer’s expenses on our books and taxes next year? The assessment of whether any given financial transaction is “business” or “personal” can feel so absurd when these realities are, in fact, inextricably woven together.

13) A post about the natural environment all around us in New Portland. The trees and bugs and deer and foxes and sky. How different it feels to be so much closer to and aware of nature on a daily basis, compared to being in the city. How clear it becomes that nature ultimately is in charge.

14) A post addressing this question we keep getting of “What’s your vision for this space?” On the practice of staying open as we research and gather and listen and brainstorm and simmer on what is needed (in the field, in this state, in this country and beyond) in tandem with what makes sense for us and our lives. When people ask us this question, “What’s your vision?” we keep saying things like, “We don’t have a singular vision right now” - which feels both vulnerable (it is super tempting to wish we had a more specific, concrete, satisfying elevator speech ready to go) and exciting (we’re swimming through so many wondrous possibilities). Of course, we also keep being reminded that staying open and undefined is, in fact, also a vision. I’m reminded how much active work it is, to stay in a space of not knowing, to trust a process over time.

15) Related: Casey Llewellyn gifted a copy of Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown to us. I am reading it now, and it is so crucial and good. A post, probably multiple posts, about reading that book.

16) A post about what it was like to be in such a quiet rural place all summer as Charlottesville and other atrocities unfolded throughout the country and world. We are continually considering how the work of cultivating this space intersects with social justice and equity work already happening in Maine and nationwide. How it might meaningfully support existing efforts, how it might offer crucial rest and rejuvenation, how it might become a hub for imagining new ways forward, how it might serve different functions at different moments, how it might surprise us with new functions along the way, how we need to keep listening hard. 

17) A post about how we’re recognizing that we’re fluidly moving into a new phase of this process: one that involves a rapidly growing network of people. From the start, Theo and I have known that the project of building this space has to be bigger than the two of us; and now that we’re here, taking the next step, that truth rings loud and clear in our bodies. We really can’t do it all by ourselves, and that is so entirely appropriate. Ultimately we know this project will only make sense for us if it’s useful beyond us, if a community* forms around it to help inform it and conceive it and shape it. And that’s already happening - has been happening - slowly, steadily, bit by bit. It’s kind of blowing our minds.

18) *A post about Against the Romance of Community by Miranda Joseph, another relevant book I finally started reading at long last (h/t Lara Nielsen, five years later). I’m not very far in yet, but I can tell it’s gonna be good. 

19) A post about my monthlong residency at MASS MoCA in September - the wonder of thinking about residencies while doing one. The structure of that program and how it compares to others. The place of North Adams. The place of the Berkshires. The people I met.

20) A post about a phone call I had with Carlos Uriona of Double Edge Theatre, over a year ago already, about how the company was founded and how their farm base operates now – and then an amazing site visit that Theo and I had with Carlos and Cariel and others in September! Also another call, quite awhile back, with Nick Slie of Mondo Bizarro talking about the collaborative development of Catapult in New Orleans - the challenges of building a space while also making art, and that perhaps sometimes building a space should be the art for awhile, the sole project of focus, rather than trying to juggle it all at once.

21) A post to ask: Where/how do you think we should capture everything we’re processing and learning!? We have been gathering literally hundreds of resources and ideas and contacts that generous people have been sharing with us along the way, in our email and in a Google Drive and on our phones and in notebooks and on scratch pieces of paper everywhere. Once upon a time, we thought this blog would be The Place to gather all this wisdom, but clearly there’s more wisdom than we have capacity to organize and post. So we wonder: Do you have any suggestions? Any preferred platforms, organizing systems, archival impulses, hot tips?

To sign up for periodic email updates about this endeavor (very periodic – confession, we haven’t even sent out the first one yet! – but it’s coming), click here.

To learn about some ways you can get involved from afar or in Maine next summer, click here. (It’s an old post, but all the stuff we wrote leading up to this summer still is relevant, more or less.)

To see more photos from this past summer, click here.

All images taken by Rachel in New Portland, Maine, 2017.

Previous Post: How to Get Involved

[humanhost]

DEDICATED AND SOFT RESTING

Over the past three years it’s been a tradition here for a year end rundown of HH activities to be posted up just about now. This will happen in a few lines, but it’s always good to question the routine kinda things that we all do.

 Time gets enough of our attention as it is every day, every hour, every moment whether you’re at the beginning of the year, or the end of it, in the middle, whatever. To constantly acknowledge its power (or even its weakness) would make us feel obsessive. How many times do you hear folks worrying about getting old? Or dying? Or showing up late to something? Or waking up? Or “getting enough hours” of this, that, or the other thing? The looming presence of time will never disappear. That’s actually a good thing for an infinite number of reasons. But, unless perhaps there’s some kind of magical time-spirit being who is really interesting and fun to hangout with, why pay extra special attention to something that has about as much personality as your average everyday grain of sand?

On the other hand time possesses the amazing, beautiful super power of invisibility, and it seems to be incapable of feeling any pain. You can’t say that about whole lot of other things, invisible or otherwise. So yeah, it seems like the jury’s still out. So what the heck, we might as well have ourselves a good old fashioned time blastin’ fun-o-rama-lama

~ 

For roughly 3 months out of 2018 Human Host was on the road. This was the largest amount of gigs we ever played at any time within the last decade (’08-’18). Being a traveling artist can be a strange and sometimes awkward endeavor, but as far as HH’s 2018 tours are concerned it was pretty smooth sailing all year long. There’s a big reason for this: people - good people who work in many capacities to support independent/original artists because they genuinely *love* doing that. A ton of venues, promoters, talent buyers, and show bookers of all shapes and sizes helped make ‘18 one of HH’s most productive years ever and we thank *all* of these folks & venues massively. 

But tours aren’t always succesful strictly because of people in the “business”, or even due to the support of folks working in the art-centric underground, or any of the other more typical proffesionals who you can imagine are responsible for getting great gigs together. There are tons of other people who often wear a thousand hats, or simply work behind the scenes to make great art come to life in contexts that are far more complicated/multi-faceted than that of the average concert promoter. Below are the names of a whole giant ton of great people whose help, moral support, and kindness made Human Host’s 2018 adventures unforgettable and extra special in every way possible:

Nathan Dowell, Alex Dowell, the entire Dowell family of Birmingham, Al., and David Richardson of Hamilton, Md.

Doug Hammond of Los Angeles (TGAUC forever!)

Lorraine DeGraffenreidt/UCB and Richard McClaughlin from the KMAN 92.5 Tapes label of Glendale, Ca.

Cory Davolos/T.E.A.M. & Joy Eichert of Columbus, Oh. (next time HH gets the ice cream tab, seriously!)

Devon Till/T.E.A.M. of Jacksonville, Fla.

Jacob Markus and the whole crew from The Southside House & the band From Worlds Alike of Smyrna, Tn.

Sarah Brandes & Matt Reilly and family of Los Angeles

Mac Burns of Los Angeles

Kaitlyn/Illegal Shirts & Perseus The Cat, and the RAT PPL collective of L.A.

Jarod Walker/In Case Of Emergency Press of Bloomington, In.

Nick Riddle and family of Raleigh, N.C.

Chris Bishop/garagehangover.com from upstate NY

Destination Coffee Bar and Bistro of Hemet, Ca.

Ruthy who was with us on the Greyhound bus going from Jackson, Ms. to Monroe, Louisiana.

Son from La Plata, Ia. who was with us on the Amtrak train up until Chicago

Regina from Chicago who traveled with us on the Amtrak train to D.C.

The El Pollo Loco location near the UCB Theatre on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood

Landon Deaton of Milwaukee, Wi.

Alex of Nightmare In Wonderland from Monroe, NY

David & Radcliffe of Hill Boys, and Joe Vick of New Brunswick, NJ

The Dump community center/spiritual hub of Brooklyn, NY

Amy Beth & Argyle Zandolis of Elmsford, NY

Darren Mabbee and Russell Dolan of Jersey City, NJ

Jared Fischer & Michelle Silvester of Brooklyn, NY

Billy & Maria from The Poconos

Alberta & Jim from The Poconos

Wayne Llewellyn of Roanoke, Va.

Jason Donells of Austin, Tx.

Jack Elliot-Higgins from St. Louis, Mo.

Cody & Kimmie from The Philistines of Kansas City, Mo

Chris MacGarvey of Athens, Ga. 

Eric Rosario of Bubble Wand from Baltimore

Dee Crittenden of Joy Lane/Alien Witch from Orlando, Fla.

Jill Lloyd Flanagan of Forced Into Femininity from Chicago

...yow! That’s alotta awesome people, and (cant stress this enuff here) most of those mentioned weren’t directly involved with booking any shows. To anyone that might feel forgotten here, HH sincerely apologizes. They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes friggin telepathic megopolis to keep the healing meta embers of weirdness a’smoulderin for cosmic glory.

~

In addition to all the touring, 2018 saw HH release a new full length record, create recordings with a slew of side projects (including the newest album from T.E.A.M., a group who has only become active after a nearly 25 year hiatus), and some Human Host members even sat in for a few open jam sessions in New Jersey and Ronaoke, Va. Some new Human Host writing projects were completed, and there was even a combination HH music/spoken word performance which was recorded live in the L.A. suburbs out at the University Of California’s Irvine campus (which the school’s radio station KUCI-FM has archived; more info on this is coming soon).

The Host also became the subject for an excellent piece entitled ‘Strange Symbiosis’ which was run by suburban L.A.’s Ventura County Reporter. In this piece writer Karen Lindell brings the Human Host experience to life in a new way which highlights the core political and philosophical concepts of our purpose. You can read the article here:

https://www.vcreporter.com/2018/12/strange-symbiosis-experimental-pop-outfit-human-host-goes-off-the-beaten-path-in-ventura-and-ojai/

~

O.k., Time Cult, time’s up 

HH needs a rest (a real big one). As we enjoy the sleep of brief ages, 2019 awaits with even more goodies in store. We’re puttin ‘18 out to pasture in style, so please stay tuned.

            YOURS IN PEACE, MYSTERY, AND LOVE,

  Gurgle Bliirrg, Talb Chrang, Z’mabattadanergustre, and the whole gang out there pseudo-spelunking through the inverted cave of trampoline lava-clava a.k.a. ))) Human Host ((( 

~

(Image credit: A page from the ‘79 edition of P. Craig Russell’s “Night Music”)

[upthewitchypunx]

Hiya, former bookseller here. I quickly looked through several publishers I'm familiar with to see if any of them had A Cornish Books of Ways by Gemma Gary in stock, but it looks to me like it's out of print. Troy Books appears to still have copies, but I don't know if you guys have an account with them or not. On the bright side, hopefully Llewellyn won't be dropping the other Troy books. Sometimes book disappear for a reprint then come back on the market, hopefully that's the case here.

I saw Troy still had it, but we don't have an account with Troy... Yet? We've only really focused on books since last year when the button bis tanked during the pandemic. I'm hoping things start to look up and we can order direct from them and probably Scarlet Imprint too. Shipping from the UK is ridiculous and I've just been importing zines like Weird Walk and Rituals & Declarations.

The thing is that I've never just seen a book disappear from a catalog like that. The Murder of Crows tarot was between printings and they just back ordered it and shipped when available. Maybe it is out of print or due for an update?

In other fun news, I just got notification that Cory Hutchinson's New World Witchery book shipped today! I hope to have them next week.