I received word this morning about a forthcoming book. A very fucking important forthcoming book – Becoming Dangerous : A Book About Ritual And Resistance.
I swiftly went to investigate – meant I was late for work, but it didn’t mater though because books are everything – and it immediately dawned on me that Becoming Dangerous was a book I wanted to see in print very fucking urgently, a book I wanted to see be re-printed and re-printed and re-printed, a book I wanted to see in the hands of every weirdo who’s ever felt marginalized and scared.
Featuring ‘twenty personal essays from witchy femmes, queer conjurers, and magical rebels on summoning the power to resist,’ Becoming Dangerous is the book child of Fiction And Feeling founder Katie West and blogger Jasmine Elliot.
BECOMING DANGEROUS is a non-fiction book of personal essays about the rituals of resistance that people from marginalised communities perform to be scary in a world that wants them to be scared, to fight back against the patriarchy, to dismantle systems of oppression, and to just generally survive this world that seems hell bent on damaging and destroying our bodies and our hearts.
We’re putting together a book of intelligent, emotional, beautiful, challenging works written by witchy femmes, queer conjurers, and magical rebels. Topics range from dismantling dependance on the patriarchy through witchcraft to gardening; from fashion magick to city-magic rituals as a cripple-witch; from skincare rituals to searching for a legendary Scottish warrior woman. It’s going to be necessary reading in a time when turning to magic and ritual is the only way for many of us to survive and resist. – Fiction And Feeling
Katie and Jasmine have set up a Kickstarter campaign with the end goal of creating a 300-page softcover book with writings that can help you in summoning your own power ‘to resist, survive, and thrive.’ At the time of writing, £13,212 has been pledged. They are looking to raise £26,000 and there’s only 28 days to go.
Rituals, and magic in general, tend to increase in popularity during times of uncertainty and unrest. So at a time when there are forces at work in the world that threaten our freedoms, rights, and well-being, now is the moment to go dark and fuck shit up. This book collects twenty remarkable, defiant writers doing whatever they need to do to get people to stop fucking with their energy. The essays are personal explorations about how and why rituals of resistance work for them. Our goal is that this 300-page softcover book can help you to summon your own power to resist, survive, and thrive. – Katie West
You will probably know the deal with Kickstarter now. If you pledge some cash, you get something in return…and the somethings in return in this instance are not to be missed. Here are a few of the rewards to encourage you to hot foot it over to their Kickstarter page and help this powerful project become a reality. The things they will do with the book if they reach their goal or go past it are just beyond epic…
I was extremely impressed when I read about the contributors for Becoming Dangerous, as they’ve written for my all-time favourite British national The Guardian as well as the impeccable The Paris Review and the addictive blog The Hoodwitch.
Some identify as witches; others identify as writers, musicians, or artists. All of them have developed personal rituals to summon their own power and want to share these personal experiences of resistance and survival with you. – Katie West
I had looked at many, many Kickstarter projects in my time, and I have to be honest…this is the best one I’ve ever encountered. It’s been impeccably thought out and the time and energy that must have gone into it hardly bares thinking about. Please do go see for yourself. Have a good think about donating, and becoming a part of this remarkable and hugely necessary endeavour.
Celebrating the strange and the shadowy, the damned and unseen 