The premise of LAST WRITES is simple. Our guests face their final rest, but before Death claims them they are granted a few parting earthly pleasures, the memories of which will travel with them into the great unknown. What makes these questions appealing and insightful for me is that these are not necessarily our guests favorite things, but those they most want to experience one last time before they shuffle off this mortal coil.

TODAY’S DEPARTING:

CHRISTOPHER PENCZAK

Anyone with an interest in witchcraft is well aware of today’s guest. Christopher Penczak is a renowned author, teacher, and practitioner of modern witchcraft and spiritual traditions. With a deep dedication to exploring and sharing the mystical arts, Penczak has become a leading figure in contemporary paganism and the Wiccan community. His works often blend ancient wisdom with modern practices, making esoteric knowledge accessible to beginners and experienced practitioners alike.

Penczak has authored more than twenty books, including The Temple of Witchcraft series, which serve as comprehensive guides for those interested in developing their spiritual path and understanding the deeper aspects of magic and mysticism. His teachings emphasize personal empowerment, spiritual growth, and the integration of spiritual practices into daily life.

In February, Weiser Books rereleased his groundbreaking work, Gay Witchcraft, for contemporary audiences. I discovered him through his 2002 release Spirit Allies which was a compelling exploration of the relationships between ourselves and unseen forces. I have always found him to be courteous and insightful, and I looked forward to his responses to these morbid missives I’ve put forth.

Now it’s that time again, so let us take care and snuff out the candles. Christopher has traversed many roads, both seen and unseen, but now his path has led him to the Occult Detective Mortuary and his Last Writes await.

LAST MEAL

Well assuming  I am not trying to cheat death with bottomless fries or an unlimited salad bar, I think I would say Mongolian Barbecue. Before I was born, my parents spent a few years living in the Far East, including Korea, Japan and Hong Kong. Our travels and adventures would take us often to a variety of Asian shops and restaurants. I remember a vacation in Hawaii where they introduced me to Mongolian Barbecue. There was an open air market with all sorts of little tourist shops and jewelry stores, interwoven with a greater banyan tree. Tucked way in the back was this delicious restaurant, but kind of a hole in the wall in terms of atmosphere. I remember being surprised that my parents, who liked a bit of fine dining on vacations, chose it.  Essentially it was just a pick your own stir fry where they cook it in front of you, but not quite the Hibachi steakhouse experience. More low key. I’m a picky eater so to have the choice of exactly what you did and didn’t want was such a freedom when eating out, and the choice of all the spices and sauces made me feel like I was making some sort of magickal potion as a kid, always a draw for me. Years later, a local restaurant started up the same type of BBQ and a few years later went out of business. Later learned that it is actually Taiwanese and while not influenced by Mongolian cuisine at all, it comes from a myth of Genghis Khan’s soldiers cooking on their shields.  I’d love to experience that again with a group of friends before I go to the great beyond. 

LAST BOOK

While I’ve been on a big kick of queer romance books, I think for my last read it would probably be another round of The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. One of my favorite books despite ending on a cliffhanger, and a formative experience on doing your own thing and being your own self. While I have reread it several times, I always catch some new nuance to the story. While tragic in a lot of ways, the relationship with Lestat and his mother, Gabrielle, echoed some experiences with my own mother in the times of growing up, coming out, and getting involved in the occult with her. Perhaps we were not entering the Savage Garden together, but we were entering a whole new world together that utterly changed us, much like Gabrielle and Lestat becoming vampires. 

LAST MOVIE

Movies are a tough one for me. While I retain what I read and what I listen to, usually, movies just pass through me as fun at the time, but don’t stick with me often. Favorites are fun trilogies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, but for my last movie, I am going to say Bell, Book and Candle. While I don’t watch it  often, it might be nice to watch Kim Novak one last time. I adore the old time movie star settings, but having it be Witches is what draws me in. And set in old time NYC. Who wouldn’t want to go to the Zodiac Club? Witch friends get on me about the ending, and I agree, but I still love the movie.     

LAST SONG

Such a hard one as there are so many amazing songs that mean so much to me. While I am tempted to pick a Tori Amos song, I think I’ll be greedy with my time and pick a symphony, if the whole symphony can count as one song. I’m a huge fan of Igor Stravinsky, and have sung his Symphony of Psalms in choir. It’s dissonant and follows none of the rules of chord progression or harmony, like most of Stravinsky’s work, but sounds amazing and has such rich complexity to the arrangement of instruments and voices. When I’ve shared my love for it, a lot of Pagans are surprised I don’t pick his more Pagan work, like Rites of Spring or Firebird Suite. Perhaps it’s just because I studied Symphony of Psalms in greater detail, but that’s the one for me. While singing it live, I’ve never seen it performed live, and I’ve gone looking for it…  

FIRST PERSON YOU WOULD LIKE TO MEET ON THE OTHER SIDE

If we are looking beyond loved ones like my Mom and Great Aunt, who I would expect to be the first to greet me on the other side, but people we are “meeting” the first time while disembodied, I would say Andrew Wood. Andrew Wood was the singer of an early 90’s grunge band called Mother Love Bone that was a huge influence on me creatively, but also in terms of being a patron saint against overindulgence when I was in the music world, as he died from a heroin overdose. I did get to “meet” him at a really powerful graveside experience. When I was on tour for The Outer Temple of Witchcraft and in Seattle, I took a day out to find his grave and conduct a little seance, and we had a lovely chat, but to have a full on clear conversation with him would be amazing. I’d like to thank him but also talk about creativity and music and art. 

What a truly magical experience. My thanks to Christopher for such thoughtful and intimate answers. As always we strive to get to the heart of the matter with this little morbid exorcise exercise.

Until next time, treat each day as it might be your last.