CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: WITCHES HEAL + 

This call prioritizes artists and writers and healers that are indigenous, black, people of colour, women, LGBTQ2+, people with disabilities and members of other marginalized communities.

We use ritual, ceremony, astrology, tattoos, moon cycles, art, performance, writing, and herbs as apart of our process to heal, transform and care for ourselves. These practices and rituals help us manifest our magic, agency and guide us towards our chosen family, our covens and our queer-weirdos and the pleasure we seek to foster within our bodies and others. This zine is looking for a range of submissions specifically ones that take a critical and anti-colonial approaches to healing cultures. We’re looking for written/ visual, critical essays, photography, poetry, and herbal recipes from artists, florists, healers and herbalists, academics, writers and poets. ~ 🔹 This zine aims to document the more than human connections we have to plants and animals and our various relationship to chronic sickness, healing, disability, crip time, and surviving. 🔹 Some themes to consider: sowing worlds, attunement, contamination, arts of noticing, fermentation, collaborative survival, moon cycles, moonlight, witch bodies,trauma care, grief, stories or rituals you use that include particular herb(s) plants or flower, animal, essential oil etc. WITCHES HEAL is curious about how we use animals for connection and plants as gestures for care, for sickness, for romance and for vitality etc. 🌼 DEADLINE for submissions: winter solstice 2018.DEC 21 TO SUBMIT EMAIL US: [email protected] Include: 50 word Bio with 250-500 word project description, include images in jpeg. And 300dpi format Images by Lauren Spencer King

City Witch: A Film by Clementine Morrigan

City Witch in an invocation of city magic. Pulsing with the power of strange-familiar beauty, City Witch opens to deep, reciprocal relationship with more-than-human worlds. A liminal space of magic, madness, trauma, survival, resilience, and relationship, City Witch is a love letter to life still living wherever it can.

The Importance of Home

This is my lovely friend Margeaux’s blog - Floral Manifesto.

Her essay about what home means to her resonates with me incredibly as I’ve been living in Berlin for almost three months. But more so this section right here really reminded me of Margeaux’s insightful and heart-filled analysis about home, poverty and how we identify ourselves and a feeling of safety in a place we want to call home.

Here she recounts her decision to get her own apartment coupled with the instability of poverty and low-income living as a grad student:

Growing up poor impacts how we think about home. This photo diary is an attempt for me to work through some poor shame and find something beautiful in the place I call home.

“This past February I got my own 1 bedroom apartment. After years of living communally (with 1-3 roommates) and with two significant others, I decided that I wanted my own place. Somewhere that I could come home to and know that if there were dishes in the sink, it was my fault. Somewhere that I could decorate with all of my things and fully embrace my design aesthetic, which I describe as “What happens when an adolescent girl and her grandma get together.” Somewhere that I could be as naked as I want, whenever I want.

But living in Toronto means that you have to comprise. Rent is so insanely high that if you want to live alone, you’ll either need to live in a basement apartment or in a high-rise. As someone who needs lots of sunlight, I picked the latter. This building reminds me so much of where my family moved after we were evicted. It is a low-income building. Many of the folks who live here are dealing with a variety of mental health issues, many are immigrants, and all of us live below the poverty line (in 2012, the Median after-tax income was just $27,300 for single people).“

Read the rest of this beautiful essay at Floral Manifesto 

Coinciding with her move into this low-income housing project in Parkdale was the tumultuousness that was occuring in my life. By the end of May I had left my shared apartment with my ex girlfriend three times. Many times, i had bruises on my chest and arms and soreness in the rest of my body from the abuse that was happening in my home. That winter when Margeaux landed her own apartment, she also handed me a second set of keys to her place where I went many times in order to escape, take a break and find safety. She housed me and my dog for a week once.  If it wasn’t for her generosity and ability to find stability within her precariousness, I would not have gathered the courage to leave to find my own home away from abuse and a place I could call safe and just mine.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: WITCHES HEAL: A zine about queer and feminist witchy-ness, healing and self-care Deadline Feb 1. 2017.  ∋(。・”・)_†:*.;”.*・;・ ∋(。・”・)_†:*.;”.*・;・∋(。・”・)_†:*.;”. “Women have always been healers. They were the unlicensed doctors and anatomists of western history. They were abortionists, nurses and counsellors. They were pharmacists, cultivating healing herbs and exchanging the secrets of their uses. They were midwives, travelling from home to home and village to village. For centuries women were doctors without degrees, barred from books and lectures, learning from each other, and passing on experience from neighbor to neighbor and mother to daughter. They were called “wise women” by the people, witches or charlatans by the authorities. Medicine is part of our heritage as women, our history, our birthright. “ - Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English We use ritual, ceremony, astrology, tattoos, art and herbs as apart of our witchy process to heal, transform and care for ourselves and the lives we choose to make together. These non-normative practices and rituals help us manifest not only our magic, but our chosen family, our covens and our queer-weirdos who help foster our commitment to the sensory capacities within ourselves. Moving towards magic means opening up these portals of presence in order to generate resources for creation and intention. As WITCHES WHO HEAL we gather a pathway to healing through change and renewal. Witchcraft weaves its way through our ordinary days, lighting our intentions for art, radical politics and community healing. We are interested in breaking down the gender binary, smashing the patriarchy, dismantling white supramacy, and cripping ableism in order to bring power to WITCHES WHO HEAL. As WITCHES WHO HEAL we use spells to draws us to and from a place where we survive and manifest our own collaborations and healing practices. We centre our practices for healing, but we know healing is not a linear process. This is a call to all of us thinking about the concept of the witch, how we take up magic in our everyday and how we use concepts of witchy-ness to heal, survive and mark our movement through time. This zine is interested in the queer, qpoc, and feminist art that heals and soothes you. We think about magic as serendipitous, radical world-making and non-normative. This zine is about community creation, covens, intentions and spellls, herbs, and non-normative ceremonies. These are our spells to bind against the rich, ableist, heterosexist, white supremacist patriarchy ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ ▽ Now is the time This is the hour Ours is the magic Ours is the power ∋(。・”・)_†:*.;”.*・;・ ∋(。・”・)_†:*.;”.*・;・ ∋(。・”・)_†:*.;”.*・ Please submit a 250 word artists statement Project Description (250-500 words): The project description should give a clear and concrete description of the work you are proposing for the zine. For images - jpeg format. Deadline: IMBOLC - Spring Equinox - Feb 1 2017 SUBMIT TO: [email protected] ☆ﾟ･*:.｡.☆† ☆ﾟ･*:.｡.☆† ☆ﾟ･*:.｡.☆† ☆ﾟ･*:.｡.☆† ☆ﾟ･*: Context and history are key: “What has not been recognized is that the witch-hunt was one of the most important events in the development of capitalist society and the formation of the modern proletariat. For the unleashing of a campaign of terror against women, unmatched by any other persecution, weakened the resistance of the European peasantry to the assault launched against it by the gentry and the state, at a time when the peasant community was already disintegrating under the combined impact of land privatization, increased taxation, and the extension of state control over every aspect of social life. The witch-hunt deepened the divisions between women and men, teaching men to fear the power of women, and destroyed a universe of practices, beliefs, and social subjects whose existence was incompatible with the capitalist work discipline, thus redefining the main elements of social reproduction.” - Silvia Federici, Caliban and The Witch “It is perhaps not surprising, then, that 19th- and 20th-century women’s liberation movements turned to the history of witch burnings to express the continuing plight of women living within the patriarchy. Witches were a symbol of the suppression of female power and the female body. The early suffragist Matilda Gage published Woman, Church, and State in 1893, tracing female persecution through the witchcraze. Later on in the 1960s, the American women’s liberation group W.I.T.C.H (Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell) drew on wiccan practices for political stunts, dressing up as witches and hexing Wall Street. - Izabella Scott Revisionist feminist histories of witch burnings emerged across the 1970s, such as Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English’s contentious theory that witches were in fact female healers eliminated by the medical establishment. More recently, the Italian feminist Silvia Federici has examined the connection between capitalism and the disciplining of the female body in her work Caliban and the Witch (2004). "Witches Heal" is Inspired by a feminist herbalism book ( of the same name ) written by Billie Potts.

Queer Healing Day || Journée d'apaisement pour les personnes queers

My pal Coral is facilitating this wonderful QUEER HEALING DAY in MTL. 

see you there <3 

A QUEER HEALING DAY Please join us for a day of queer healing at Studio 303. You can come for a few hours or stay for the whole event. Select from a wide variety of 15 - 30 minute treatments by skilled local healers and/or attend the exciting workshops we are presenting. Treatments to Enjoy Massage, Tarot Readings, Craniosacral Therapy, Reiki, Healing Listening, Life Coaching, Earth Object Divination, Astrology Chart Readings, Crystals/Psychic, Reflexology, Herbal Consultations and Acupressure △▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭ Ateliers pour apprendre, cicatriser, grandir Workshops to Learn, Heal and Grow In: 9am-10am Check-In & Guided Mindfulness Practice Leah R Vineberg A vital moment to begin a day of healing, we will use this time to gently arrive, get centered, and sense into what we are carrying and what needs our care. Consciously activating our capacity for self-compassion, and taking the time to connect and cultivate our intentions, we will land within ourselves, in the venue, in the retreat, and define the quality of the space we will be sharing for the day. www.landwithin.com 10-11am Magic Wands and Sticks Practice Andrew Tay We will start by making queer objects of power together, and conclude with using these objects in a physical practice to activate the space, our bodies and open our attention to others - all with the goal of opening up potentialities for healing. Conceived as an energetic starting point for the queer healing day activities. All types of physical ability welcome. Bring comfortable clothes to move in. http://wantsandneeds.ca/ 11am -12pm Yoga Alisha Mascarenhas Alisha Mascarenhas is a mixed race queer femme and yoga instructor. She is a descendant of both Indian survivors of inquisition and colonization and European settlers. Her practice and teaching are rooted in Ayurvedic principles of the body's innate ability to heal itself. Alisha's classes bring attention to precise alignment as the foundation for ease of breath, strength and mobility. Working from a trauma informed perspective, she prioritizes consent based touch and adjustments. Alisha has received training and mentorship from a number of yoga and meditation instructors in Montréal, Vancouver and India. She has been teaching yoga āsana since 2012. 12-pm Voice Phoebe Moonbeam Heintzman Hope Multidisciplinary artist, community organizer and facilitator Phoebe Heintzman Hope is mixed race alien baby based in Tio'tia:ke, most commonly know as Montreal. In 2013 they began facilitating a voice and movement practice and named it Womb Cxre. Currently Phoebe facilitates classes in voice, movement and choreography that work to prioritize the needs of queer & *trans bodies, sex workers, and people of colour at Dana Gingras' studio, the Stable. https://www.facebook.com/wombcxre/ 1-2 pm Rock n Roll Your Core Alyson Wish Transform your relationship to your core with holistic approaches that awaken deep core muscles. Rock n roll your belly and spine over a therapy ball to stretch, strengthen, and neutralize your core turning tense/weak muscles into strong/fluid tissues. Start a chemical communication party between gut brain & skull brain to unravel muscle tension and emotional holding. Somatic movement exercises will hydrate and liberate the Psoas, your vital connection to Earth. Breathe and move more powerfully with less effort. Get sensitive to get strong. *All-Levels. No experience required. 2-3pm Introduction to Herbalism Pam and Iman Khailat -Stress & Immunity -For Bodies with Ovaries -Tinctures & Herbal Oils -Herbal First Aid Kit 3-4pm Non Violent Communication: A No is A Need/Un ‘non’ est un besoin (atelier bilingue) Ricki Lee Un atelier d’introduction à la communication non violente(CNV), un style de communication qui nous offre des outils pratiques pour soutenir les dialogues bienveillants entre les amiEs, les amants, les collègues, et autres relations empathiques. En commençant avec un dialogue structuré dans le style CNV, nous explorons d’autres idées et questions pour améliorer nos rapports interpersonnels. The complete beginner’s workshop on non-violent communication (NVC): a useful tool for conflict resolution, especially in caring relationships ♥ Starting with an NVC Dialogue Structure, we’ll learn some other useful NVC ideas for opening up and listening. 4-5pm Guided Meditation & Mandala Making Priya Jain Le mandala est un symbole spirituel et rituel dans des cultures Sud-Asiatique qui peuvent représenter les manifestations cosmiques de l'univers. Priya aimerait partager avec vous sa pratique personnelle de créer des mandalas comme un point d'entrée à la méditation. The mandala is a spiritual symbol and ritual of South Asian cultures that can represent the cosmic manifestations of the universe. Priya would like to share with you her personal practice of creating mandalas as an entry point into meditation. http://pinkcloudz.tumblr.com/ △▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭ Healers’ Descriptions Aaron Miechkota: Healing Listening Écoute. Face à face écoute active confidentielle offert par Aaron M. Sans jugement, sans pression. Tous sont les bienvenus. Listening. All are welcome to one-on-one confidential active listening, offered by Aaron M. No judgements, no solutions. Aisha Sasha John: Earth Object Readings You should do this because you need to know. The world is written. I am good at reading. You hold the objects in your hands and then you drop them. The objects arrange themselves as they will. We look at the objects together. And I tell you what I see. Angie Brown: Craniosacral Cherie Pyne Pyne: Massage Genderqueer Healing Massage (for Everyone!) Cherie Pyne is a feminist genderqueer healer and listener who welcomes all bodies and genders, including those with chronic pain and trauma. Her massage practice, now 10 years strong, uses a holistic approach that considers the effect of all aspects of experience on the body. Each session begins with active listening and support. Then, working with intuitive hands and extensive training in the anatomy of movement, she focuses on her client's individual needs with a goal of physical and spiritual healing Corrina Oliver Sparrow: Reflexology Corrina Hodgson is a certified Reflexologist (RAC) and Reiki practitioner. She ascribes to the theory that the map of our bodies can be found on the 72000 nerve endings on our feet and that the application of pressure in a consistent and systemic manner can encourage our bodies to rediscover their balance and renew physical and emotional strength. Corrina’s reflexology treatments helps reduce stress, improve circulation, release toxins and stimulate natural healing within the body. Hannah Morrow: Astrology Charts Jamie Ross: Tarot Autour d'une tisane d’herbes sauvages, je vous invite à une exploration des cycles de votre vie. Récoltées avec soins et amours dans les champs sauvages et forets du sud du Québec, les plates sauvages sont cueilles avec une intention particulière pour la protection des espèces naturelles. Cette tisane saura être le parfait complément pour ce moment d’introspection et divination. Venez avec un problème précis, une question ou simplement avec curiosité. Let’s delve together into the cycles of life you are living as a cup of wild-crafted tea steeps beside us. Picked sustainably and with love from wild patches of field and forest in Southern Quebec, a tea perfectly complements a moment of introspection and divination. Come with an issue or a question or simply with a sense of curiosity. I’ve helped people with decisions to make around their love lives, finding and keeping meaningful and financially stabilizing work and healing bodies and relationships. I help create concrete pathways to success, empowering my clients to break through indecision, fear and self-doubt. https://www.facebook.com/tarotwithj/ Jess Malz: Life Coaching (6 sessions available ) In coaching we engage in a partnership which supports you in a creative process to help you reach your goals, gain clarity and co-design action plans. My Approach is strength based and holistic. I operate from the belief that you are the expert in your own life. I bring an open heart, curiosity, humor and creativity to my sessions and aim to create a safe space for transformation and healing. PM Jess for the short form if you would like to take one of the 6 sessions available, InwardBound Coaching Website:http://inward-bound.co/ Magdalena Hutter: Massage My massage techniques specialize in deep relaxation and soft approaches to loosening up blockages. Both also can be done without touching the torso at all mostly head and arms/legs, if that's important to some folks. I also work with bioenergetic exercises and breath. Mat Boily massothérapeute: massage suédois et fasciathérpaie, approche intuitive et psycho-corporellehttp://www.matboilymassotherapie.com/ Rebecca Woodmass: Reiki Rebecca Woodmass is a passionate and intuitive Reiki master, whose journey in healing herself and others is defined by openness to learning and a commitment to the body’s ability to heal itself. She in the Reiki practitioner at HappyTree Yoga in downtown Montreal. Sally Lee: Acupressure Siean K-Shaw: Massage My goal is to provide relaxation through Swedish Massage. Mon but c'est de favoriser la detente par le massage suedois. Victrix Oracle - Crystals/ Psychic www.facebook.com/victrixcollective Véro R Méthot: Herbal Consultations Je vais offrir de courtes consultations en herboristerie (entre 25 et 35 minutes). En utilisant le dialogue, la lecture du corps et l’écoute intérieure, nous allons élaborer ensemble un protocole simple (et facile à mettre en œuvre!) pour répondre à ce qui se présente pour vous : que ce soient des troubles temporaires ou plus profonds, des difficultés avec les changements de saison jusqu’aux sentiments de déconnexion, aux blocages entravant la guérison et bien plus. I will be offering short herbal consultations (25 to 35 minutes). Through dialogue, reading of the body and inner listening, we will elaborate a simple (and easy to implement!) protocol to address whatever it is that comes up for you: passing issues or deeper rooted ones, from difficult season changes to feelings of disconnection, blockages to healing and much more. △▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭ VENDORS Cake Killarn: Crystals Roadcake vendra des pochettes miniatures cousues-maison dans lesquelles il y aura des petits objets trouvés, de la magie et des affirmations; ainsi que des sacs et paniers de 'self-care' qui incluent des idées pour prendre soins de soi; et finalement des journaux reliés à la main faits avec des vieux livres et feuilles texturés différemment (comme nos pensées). Roadcake will be stocking miniature sewn pouches full of found objects, magik and affirmations; self-care sacks and baskets including ideas to help care for yourself; as well as hand-bound journals made from recycled hard-covers with differently textured papers (to match our textured reflections). Ink & Glitter * Creative Alchemy * and Crystals https://www.facebook.com/inkandglitter7/ Jessica Bebenek: Death’s Mistress Kombucha est une marque de kombucha artisanal fait maison ici même à Montréal par Jessica Bebenek. DMK est biologique végétalien et ne produit aucun déchet. C’est donc un breuvage bon pour la planète et bon pour votre corps. Death's Mistress Kombucha is the name of the small-batch kombucha made here in Montreal by Jessica Bebenek. The production of DMK is entirely waste-free, organic, and vegan so that's it's good for your body & good for our world. Mariana Aguilera: Herbal Healing Interactive Table PWYC pay what you can je peux vous aider à redécouvrir les systèmes de soin traditionnels aux plantes comme les grande camomille, damiana et plus! On a faire du mélange, individualisé, d’herbes séchées pour fumeur ou boire (comme une tisane). Come learn about the healing powers of passion flower, marshmallow root, skullcap, kava kava, and more! Will be making herb blends individualized for each person’s healing needs. Can be consumed as a smoke mix or as a tea. Milena Gioia: Zine Table. Please contact Milena if you have a zine(s) for the zine table: [email protected] and help with the table if needed. Veuillez contacter Milena Gioia si vous avez des zines à proposer ou si vous souhaitez l’aider à tenir le stand zines : [email protected] Pamela: Herbal Blends For smoking, incense, and/or use as herbal infusions. https://www.facebook.com/blueberryjamsmtl/ Sarah Mangle: Drawings YOU CAN DO IT. TAKE BREAKS. SOME DAYS ARE FULL OF SADNESS. STEP BY STEP. Affirmations Colouring Book and more from Sarah Mangle. https://www.etsy.com/people/lonelydogtapes Sextidi Floréal: Essential Oils sextidi floreal is an herbalist offering tinctures, potions and salves for healing all sorts of facets of our bodies. Shaina Sarah Agbayani and Alex: Beat:root We create love-infused foods inspired by our Egyptian & Filipino ancestries using natural whole-food ingredients and traditional methods of preparation. https://www.facebook.com/hi.beatroot/ 10 à 20 dollars, mais personne ne sera refusé à l’entrée par manque d’argent. Tous les profits, après paiement de la location de la salle, seront partagés entre tous les intervenants de l’événement. Merci de donner généreusement à l’entrée si vous pouvez vous le permettre. Et n’hésitez pas à laisser des pourboires lorsque cela vous paraît approprié. $10-20 sliding scale, but absolutely no one turned away for lack of funds. After paying for the space, the profit will be split equally between healers and workshop facilitators, so try to give as much as you can afford at the door, especially if you have a good income. Also, make sure to tip your healer if it feels appropriate. △▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭△▴◬◭ CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS △ VOUS AIMERIEZ ÊTRE BÉNÉVOLE ? set up, take down, door, whisper translation, healer support, workshop support, vendor support needed. Installation et démontage, porte, traduction chuchotée, assistance aux intervenants et artisans.

Queer Tarot and Self Care Culture

Some current research:

♀ ♀ ♀♀ ♀ ♀♀ ♀ ♀♀ ♀ ♀♀ ♀ ♀♀ ♀ ♀♀ ♀ ♀♀ ♀ ♀ 

For me its about affordable access, meaningful relationality and community cultures that provide ethical collaboration and insight into herstorical occult tarot practices. what does a queer, anti-capitalist and anti-colonial aesthetic for self care culture look like? 

I am interested in looking at a recent publication entitled “She is Siting in The Night: Re-visioning Thea’s Tarot”  by Oliver Pickle. This is a book that looks at the the way “tarot, among other occult practices, is enjoying a resurgence in queer communities, but its practitioners often find themselves revising interpretive texts to fit their realities.” 

This book is an intergenerational collaboration between Ruth West ( the artist and maker of Thea’s Tarot ) and Oliver Pickle who wanted to revision this beautiful lesbian feminist tarot deck from the 1980s. 

I want to use this recent text as an entry point into the a future discussion about the occult practices as they relate to a resurgence in self care cultures related to the occult and lesbian herstories. 

My question around this book about art object that is thea’s tarot is mostly concerned with an curosity about what herstorical lesbian culture from the 80′s means for our queer identities today? How do occult practices act as anti-colonial forms of self care in marginalized communities? 

Femme invisibility and the economy of masculine desire in the queer community

Have any cis/femme identified womyn noticed that the dominance of masculine desire in the queer community works to ( sometimes ) make you feel invisible?

Because i no longer have a short bowl cut and wear button ups, I am now hit on by men and cat called all the time and essentially invisible to the economy of queer desire. 

This economy of queer desire has really contributed to making me feel alienated from queer visibility. Lets really start talking about the ways capitalism and misogyny are embedded in the construction and desire of masculinity. The misogyny of masculine desire and the erasure of femme visibility has me thinking about the way in which queer communities and dominant models of desiring contribute to feelings of inclusion and exclusion. How does normative discourses of gender identity become embedded in queer desires? How do cis/femme identified women overcome misogynistic norms and assert their queerness? 

With Logan MacDonald, “Lezbros for Lezbos” in C Magazine 114 “Men” (Summer 2012). Artist project with photos, poster and text.

Does anyone know about any queer oral histories that have been digitized and are available online?

I have the following: 

BUT I NEED MORE !

A documentary short film about queer underwear artist, promoter, DJ Will Munro.

Nicky Da B - Go Loko

REDUX || Queer Sex: Thinking Through BDSM and Traumatic experience

These thoughts have been inspired and ignited by my fellow pal and co-creator in queer-feminist arts based work Kae. Their research is concerned with BDSM as a critically generative practice http://brockenspectre.tumblr.com/

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Thinking through trauma.  

( Trigger Warning: discusses BDSM and Survivor Identity.)

As a survivor, queer, artist and feminist I have recently been thinking through the way in which trauma is repeated. How does ones sexual life create a generative relationship to traumatic history? Does trauma get repeated through relationship models?

My therapist quoted this to me;

” We all develop models of relationships, and we are always employing them. When a friend keeps going back to an abusive husband, we think in exasperation, “she’ll never learn” On the contrary, she is merely renacting what she has learned all too well.” ( 151 Allen, Coping with Trauma: A guide to self understanding”  

My initial response to this quote, was intense and knee jerk. I got angry and said that sounds a lot like victim blaming. But after some time I have since gotten curious about my desires for certain types of relationships, partners, and play. 

How does BDSM culture create a generative site for healing? How do we talk to new partners about BDSM as a generative practice and process for self-healing and sexual play?

In Judith Halberstam’s newest book The Queer Art of Failure they talk about Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher’s  in order to speak to cutting and masochism as a site of desire, agency and resistance. 

When I think about my attraction to certain relationships, and various s/m sexual play I find Halberstam’s use of “shadow feminism” as it relates to power incredibly productive:

Recently, I disclosed my identity as a survivor to a new partner. ( This can be scary but also a really empowering opportunity to create boundaries that help make sex feel safer.) This conversation was not met in a way that was respectful. I told her that on two previous occasions she slapped me without my consent. I said its okay now, but don't ever do it again without asking. She seemed surprised and defensive. "oh maybe i misread the situation." Later when I said i think bdsm sex could be a productive or healing process she said "that sounds dangerous" 

Why is it dangerous for a survivor to think about bdsm as a site of productive healing or even radical mastery? Why do i feel a stigma of shame? Our patriarchal, homophobic, and sex-phobic culture does not know how to understand queer-survivor identities alongside radical sex-positive and feminist agency. Why is this? How can we hold shame accountable?  

Obviously, when these boundaries and conversations are not met with compassion and respect there is a moment where radical agency of “self shattering” turns against me and into shame. I want communication about boundaries and experiences to be a site of powerful agency. However, after this negative experience, i feel more literally shattered by the process of unbecoming. However, the opportunity is here to think about the erotics of a generative energy for safe disclosures that do not tether communication but instead open up the powerful erotics of unbecoming. 

Toronto Comic Arts Festival is happening this weekend 

and this beautifully awesome HUNGRY BOTTOM comic is made by my talented pal Eric you should come and buy one off him!

In celebration of MoMA’s Cindy Sherman retrospective, PopRally invites you to an interactive dance party hosted by the artist collective CHERYL. CHERYL will create an immersive experience inspired by ideas of transformation, celebrity, and artifice, themes crucial to Sherman’s work. Guests will have the opportunity to engage in this unique group metamorphosis either as direct participant or captivated spectator.

CHERYL is a four-member, semi-anonymous, often cat-masked artist collective based in Brooklyn, New York, known for its video art, museum installations, performances and over-the-top happenings. Through themes ranging from topical to bizarre, CHERYL revels in the joyous power of dance-induced psychosis/euphoria.

pomme is french for apple is playing at the tranzac feb 13-18th - who wants to be my date?