I’m in a very dark place right now, the darkest I’ve been in a very long time. But while I’m willing myself to keep existing for the next five minutes, I want to make a list of good things in my life right now:
Package of new clothes I just received in the mail. They are very cute and seem to be good quality, I hope to enjoy wearing them a lot.
Bought supplies for some good vegetarian meals to have in the next few days.
Linda Linda
Warm, soft cashmere sweaters
Cute/funny hair clips
Rabbit Ears stories from around the world I used to listen to when I was a small child (a few years ago I bought all of the ones I could find on Audible and it was a very worthwhile purchase)
I just found this album of Disney songs covered by pop punk artists, and listening to it made me smile, laugh, and even cry
Lately I’ve been exploring my potential connections to magic and how I can tap into them in ways that feel right for me. While I’m not too interested in going full Wicca, I like the idea of connecting more to the natural world and honoring the metaphysical. I’ve always been interested in magic (right now I say “magic” and not “magick” because the latter has connotations I’m not 100% aligned with) and witchcraft but never had the resources to explore it, so I’m doing it now that I’m an adult with autonomy and a disposable income.
A few weeks ago I went to the local witchcraft store and just walked the perimeter of it, exploring the different sections and seeing what resonated with me (I’m also trying to live more authentically by listening to my body and noticing what I respond to). The store had a bit of almost everything – candles, herbs, crystals, books, divination tools, shamanic tools – so I was able to spend some time in each section and really see how I felt about it.
The magics that most resonated with me were:
Stones/crystals
Candles
Aromas (herbs, oils, some incense, maybe cooking, etc)
Music
If it wasn’t obvious from my previous entry detailing my love for 90s-2000s electronic music, music in general is extremely important to me. It’s a mode of expression and connection vital to my very existence – if we can bond over music we may be friends for life, and almost nothing else helps me solidify the boundaries around who I am as a person. If you think “Bring It All Back” by S Club 7 is the most vapid song ever, I may not contradict you to your face but I will know that some part of you hates a tiny part of me.
I think it was in 2008 or 2009, when I was still trying to amass nerd cred and tried to shop regularly at my local comic shop (despite having very little money), that I picked up volume one of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s Phonogram series. If you’re not familiar, it was a story about British 20-somethings who use music to work magic called phonomancy. If you’ve ever gotten deep into a style of music, so much that it fundamentally changed who you are as a person, or even if you’ve ever been moved to heightened emotion by a song, you know the power that phonomancy can have over you.
I wasn’t able to connect deeply to the first volume’s story about a guy reckoning with the death (and possible resurrection?) of Britpop. I wasn’t aware that Blur and Oasis had multiple songs, much less multiple albums. But the second volume of the series followed a variety of characters using and dealing with music and magic in different ways, and suddenly the whole idea snapped into focus. I could resurrect old loves by playing our songs. I could put on metaphysical armor by getting ready to a “Going Out” playlist. I could reconnect with my childhood self by singing along to 90s pop songs. And now that I have experience DJing for social dances, I can see what effect my music choices have on other people. This is the most tangible magic I’ve ever been able to access, and you better believe I’m going to get good at it.
I found this article this morning while exploring whether or not other people have been moved to try practicing phonomancy in their everyday lives, and I was inspired by the playlist the author set out to create. Respectfully, I want to continue their tradition and share my own magic with the world.
Track 1: A Song That Blew My Mind A track symbolises my headfirst dive into loving music.
Track 2: A Song That Takes You Back In Time A track that transports me back in time to a key memory.
Track 3: A Curse Song A track that brings up sad or bad memories.
Track 4: A Song that Show Who I Was/A Song that Shows Who I Became (Medley) A medley of tracks that show the evolution of my music tastes as I age.
Track 5: A Song That You Heard Long Ago, But Now Makes Sense A track that you may have liked or heard in the past, that now resonates with renewed vigor.
Track 6: A Song that Makes You Dance for You A track that makes you want to dance like no one is watching.
Track 7: A Song That Makes You Dance with Others A track that makes you want to throw your arms around your friends and dance together.
Brendan Shanahan for Mic Drop Music, “Exploring My Life Through Phonomancy”
I don’t like “Best of” lists, especially ranked ones. In my house it’s kind of a pastime to look at these lists and comment all the ways they’re wrong (or we just don’t agree with the listmaker’s choices). But I experienced a lot of good media this year, and in my case I do want to rank them because – while all of them were worth my time and I would recommend everything here to just about anyone – there is a weighted order of how much they impacted me.
As to why there are 8 in each list and not 10? I didn’t really mean for it to come out that way, but 1) beyond eight picks I stopped having super strong gut reactions to them, 2) 8 is my lucky number and it’s generally an auspicious one, so embrace the power of 8 in your life!
Thoughts From Barbara Yaga 