Literary Magick: Word Spells for the Mourning Moon
“Writing is a kind of flying”
November has deep literary roots, and according to Terri Windling, November begins a season of storytelling in the Celtic region of Brittany. This celebration of story lasts for two months and culminates on Christmas Day. No doubt influenced by the crossroads of winter, November's full moon marks a pivotal moment when people shift indoors and take up residence by the fire.
Storytelling and fireside gatherings go hand-in-hand. In the past, after the chores were finished and the hearth lit, people had no choice but to get comfy beneath winter's blanket. Without the outdoors to inspire their musings during the dark months, people's journeys were limited to the inner worlds, imaginary places that were typically wilder and more colorful than realized.
We love this observation from David Abram, who writes,
Here at Pointy Hat Press and Little Witch Books, we're tapping into magical worlds through books, scripted spells, and a practice called literary spellcraft. Perhaps you know it as word witchery or intuitive writing, but literary spells are vehicles built from your words. Poetry, storytelling, dream journaling, bibliomancy, or putting pen to paper for 10 minutes a day can be a spell when paired with an intention. Sometimes, literary magick involves naming our spectral muses and crafting odes from their memory. Word spells can be solo endeavors but also collaborative.
Horoscope writer Rob Brezsny says that early in his writing career, he began urging his readers to contact him telepathically,
“either while awake or during dreams or in any state in between those two. Would that actually work? I didn't know at first. But it was a fun prospect. Then, as now, I aspired to solicit influence and teaching from everywhere. Why not invite my readers to interweave with me via the realm that mystery religions and esoteric philosophies have referred to as the astral plane or astral world?”
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For some of us, literary spellcraft is the practice of showing up again and again for our art. It can be a portal into the woods, or a passageway into the starry Above. It can be an astral gathering between far-flung friends. Our word spells construct bridges between worlds, and they need not be serious; they can also be the jokes that make someone laugh during a period of grief.
Author and witch Danielle Dulsky believes that some of our greatest magic lives in our art. She writes:
This week, beneath our full Morning Moon, we invite you to donate the things you've outgrown. Bid farewell to the habits for which you no longer have space. Compost the thoughts that do not feel supportive (even if they used to). Scatter their ashes over winter's threshold and behold the possibility that grows from that soil. Lean into your art and the mysteries penned in ink, and remember that words uphold the foundation of our craft.
