Arcane Perfection: An Anthology by Queer, Trans and Intersex Witches

by Cutlines Press, Pat Mosley (Editor)

ARCANE PERFECTION is a collection of essays, poetry, art, rage, love, rituals, spells, and musings by, for, and about Queer, Trans, and Intersex Witches. The book began as a coven project to further curate the Witchery of our Queer, Trans, and Intersex members, the project was expanded to encompass Queer, Trans, or Intersex people from around the world.

Contributors answer questions How have you overcome discrimination? How have you encountered the Divine? What are your experiences with magic as a Queer person? How has Witchcraft empowered your life as a Queer person? Can you tell the story of your transition through the Tarot? What is your relationship to the world, to Pagan community, to Queer community? Do you have a rant that needs to be screamed into publication? How are you uprooting heterocisnormativity in the Pagan community and beyond? How have you dealt with loss, invisibility, violence, disability, racism, power, capitalism, jealousy, change, and love?

Arcane Perfection mixes personal stories with mythology, spiritual and political visions, and actual witchcraft, including rituals and spells such as the "Queer Sovereignty Spell for Pride, Power and Protection," and the "Deadname Decoy Spell." Articles like "Queer Bears & Berserkers," "Candles for Queer Magic," "The Transgender Body as Holy and Liminal Witchcraft," and "A Trans Positive Ritual Space" are some of the explorations of queer- and trans-centric magickal practice.

We want Queer, Trans, and Intersex Witches to be able to pick up this book, find their experiences reflected within, and feel surrounded by the magic of others like them.

Genres: Witchcraft, Queer, Nonfiction, Paganism, Poetry, Gender, Essays

438 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 26, 2017

Reviews

[Ever Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

I spent about an hour trying to read this "book." I really wanted to like it and find things within to identify with. But this book is not at all what it purports itself to be. Firstly, it's all over the place in terms of types of content and in terms of individual pieces that are so disjointed I felt like I was in a pin ball machine. It is not well edited, especially the interviews which are very cringey and awkward. We don't need to know that the interviewee and the interviewer laughed every time they said something. The foreword itself made me want to put down the book immediately between the totally unnecessary mention of swapping d*ck picks on Grindr, to the interview that hopped all over the place and never fully explained the point which was trying to be made.

I skipped the vast majority of material in this book, much of which just felt way too explicitly vulgar. Perhaps that's just my reaction from being asexual/demisexual, but I felt that stuff just didn't have any bearing on the purported subject of the book (queer magic). Much of the material I skipped was also still very much rooted in the gender binary, which I found odd for a "queer" book.

If I had not received this book for free (because of Amazon credits), I would have been very upset at wasting the money. I wanted a book that was affirming and insightful for magical queer folx. This was not it. It's a hot mess.

[Juli Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a hard time putting this one down! First off, thank you to Cutlines Press for publishing the first book on this topic--I hope this book will be the impetus for further writing on the intersection of queer politics and witchcraft. To be honest, this book has some production issues; for instance, in the Kindle version, the numbers I thought would lead me to citations were actually editorial notes that no one had removed ("Should this be capitalized?," "Spell out acronym," etc.). That threw me for a loop at first!

Of course, as an anthology, there were passages that really resonated with me and others that left me cold for one reason or another. Generally speaking, though, this collection does a wonderful job of sampling various Pagan-queer viewpoints and even manages to get a little extra intersectional at times. Some of the essays/manifestos/interviews really fired me up to get busy and use my magick politically. Some of them helped me to understand beliefs I had puzzled over (how can queer Wiccans get behind the gender binary of the Great Rite?). Mostly, these essays jazzed me up to queer my own spiritual practice a little more.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the time

I nearly abandoned this but am glad I didn’t. It was enlightening to hear these voices and the Practice section held a great deal that will hopefully help me be a better Priestess. Some of the poetry and narratives were definitely not my cup of tea, but they were not FOR me as a cis queer woman and that’s OK!

[Naomi Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe more of a 3.5? Unclear. The thing with anthologies is some of the articles were only two stars and some were five stars and a lot were somewhere in the middle, so here we are.

There was a lot here to think about. Some of the poems were deeply touching. I cried a lot at the beginning, just so know there were other queer witches out there. It was a lot more diverse and cross-intersectional than I was expecting, so props to the editors.

Ironically, Pat Mosely's articles were some of my least favourites. Not that they were bad. Our paths are different & I found them less relatable.

If you are witchy or interested in queer theory, it's worth reading.

[Christina Hannan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and Moving

It was wonderful to read about the experiences and feelings of other queer witches and pagans in various forms. There was poetry, stories, essays, anecdotes, art and interviews that all worked together to create a whole picture of what the LGBTQ+ Witch and Pagan community currently looks like and what they’d like it to look like in the future. It was very moving and a very informative read.