Ancestors, Witches & Sisters

In This Missive:

• Musing on…a new memorial to people accused of witchcraft in Perthshire.
• Reading the Witch Sisters Tarot Guidebook
• Listening to…Beyonce’s Freedom (I voted last weekend…)
• Watching The Outrun and House of Spoils
• Planning a Yuletide Hangout

I’m shaking things up a bit because it’s spooky season—a favourite time of year for many of us! I’m offering the monthly Round Up at the waxing moon instead of the waning. If you enjoy reading Missives, please spread the word!

Musing on…a new memorial to people accused of witchcraft in Perthshire.

There’s a new memorial to the accused planned in Abernethy in Perthshire. It’s a beautifully carved stone devoted to the memory of three women executed for the ‘crime’ of witchcraft in 1662. The proposed stone will be erected south of Williamson Hall in Kirk Wynd.

Reading Taking Flight with your Witch Sisters Tarot Guidebook

I’ve been doing a tonne of research and have finished few books lately. I have abandoned a few recreational reads that I couldn’t actually recommend. But I have been spending time with Julia Jeffrey’s Witch Sisters Tarot and it is fascinating and so far has proved useful to me for a daily Tarot practice. Deeply rooted in Scottish witch and Celtic goddess lore, it departs from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, especially in the challenging cards like The Devil, The Tower, and the Ten of Swords. These cards are reinvented here—not candy-coated but presented as liminal sources of power. The 10s of the minor arcana are all older women—crones—and they are the standout cards of the deck for me in their beauty and authenticity. I highly recommend this deck to anyone searching for a Tarot deck who has shied away from the trad Smith-based decks because of some of the more challenging cards. Scottish witches—both living here or part of the Scottish diaspora—will find this a helpful tool to root their tarot practice in the lore and landscape.

Have you used this tarot deck? What other decks are you into at the moment?

Listening to…Beyonce’s Freedom

Freedom is the official song of the Harris-Walz presidential campaign. I voted last weekend—I’m still American when it actually counts. I was overwhelmed with this quiet moment, one cat lady among countless others sitting on the floor with our fur babies, voting for a woman of colour for president of the US. This happened in my lifetime. There are many things wrong with the world, and it’s easy to extinguish joy by reminding others and ourselves of all that is terrible. I relish this moment, a culmination of much struggle and sacrifice of our ancestors, activists, thinkers and artists and visionaries.

I'm telling these tears: Go and fall away, fall away
Oh, may the last one burn into flames

Have a little dance with me to this one. What does it feel like? Is there hope in there? I was once a twenty-something girl doing women’s clinic defense back when Roe v. Wade was still protecting us. I was able bodied enough to march in those days. That young woman in me feels this hope. She never imagined everything that might be taken away. This Child-free Cat Lady feels it hard, babes. Let this galvanizes us.

I’m watching The Outrun & House of Spoils

I think this is the only film that premiered in Orkney first—before Hollywood! I read Amy Liptrot’s The Outrun years ago before I moved to Kirkwall—though I did read it in Orkney, devoured it in front of a log fire. I was worried the film wouldn’t reflect the humility and power of the book. The film is different—not as meditative, but equally cathartic. It is a love letter to Orkney and it must bee seen on the big screen. This Is the Day —the The The song—rolls over the closing credits. This teen anthem fuelled my flight into the world. As a young woman, I was equally as willfull as Rona in the film, searching like a selkie who’s lost her skin. This metaphor rides through quiet storm of the book and it begins the film. The film is true to Orkney with its raging winds and painterly light—the islands test you, hold you, root you deep. 

HOUSE OF SPOILS is a delicious ’cozy’ horror (Did this film just invent a new genre?) where haute cuisine meets kitchen witchery. A pacy, fun movie full of wonder and humour that still manages to be scary. What might be demonised in more pedestrian horror is actually embraced here and even treated with tenderness. Actresses Ariana DeBose & Barbie Ferreira are all in. I just loved it and can’t stop thinking about it. 

Have you seen either of these? Or anything else you’d recommend?

Planning…our next online get together.

I’ll be planning an online Yuletide hangout for us…watch this space! These are always at 7pm GMT. Are you interested in some conversation and catching up together, meeting other readers of the blog?