I asked a bunch, or should that perhaps be a 'bibliography' of authors...whatever the collective noun for a group of authors is...a few quick snapshot questions.
This week is...LUCYA STARZA
Website: www.badwitch.co.uk
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/paganportalscandlemagic/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/badwitch1234
1. What or who inspires you the most and why?
I am most inspired by my friends, including my fellow authors at Moon
Books. Reading books they have written, art they have done, their
crafting projects, music, and other creative endeavours, spurs me on
to get writing and creating. They are also incredibly supportive and
go out of their way to help out how they can. I am proud to be among
such talented and wonderful people.
2. Do you have any set daily spiritual practices?
Writing A Bad Witch’s Blog (www.badwitch.co.uk) is the only thing I do
pretty much every day, but I do regard it as something of a spiritual
practice. I started writing it about 15 years ago because I wanted an
incentive to be more active in paganism and witchcraft. I had a pile
of books I’d intended to read and things I intended to do, but not got
round to. Giving myself the goal of blogging every day meant I had to
get more active in order to have things to write about. However,
there’s a huge variety in what I do, so it isn’t quite the same as
meditating every morning or saying a blessing every night.
Having said that, I often light a candle in the evening to make a wish
or simply set a mood. I light the candle as it begins to get dark, and
let it burn as I go about my usual evening activities – eating a meal,
listening to music, reading or just watching telly. I always
extinguish it before going to bed though, for safety reasons!
3. What is your favourite subject to write about and why?
I love to write about London esoterica. I’m a Londoner born and bred,
but I never tire of finding out new things about the city. People
often dismiss large cities as not being pagan places – yet London has
so many wonderful green spaces, including areas of ancient forest,
that you are never far from nature. London is full of myths and
legends, history and folklore. I enjoy finding out more about my city,
and writing about it.
4. Do you have a sacred or spiritual place/area (anywhere in the
world) that you feel connected to?
As much as I love London, my own home is the place I feel most
connected to in a spiritual sense. People who come to my home often
say that it feels magical. Oddly, my house doesn’t have a number – it
only has a name. Other houses in the road have numbers, but mine
doesn’t. It is as if it has long been a liminal place, partly in some
magical other realm. The annoying part of that is people who don’t
know where it is often can’t find it. Delivery drivers just go
straight past. I have to keep an eye out for them, then go outside my
garden gate and wave before they seem to even see the house. I like to
think of it rather like the places of wizards in Harry Potter or
London Below in Neverwhere. That’s probably overly fanciful, but you
never know.
5. Where do you work your magic/practice your faith? Do you have
a special room or area set aside?
Yes, I am very lucky to have my witchy room. As much as my house feels
magical to me, my witchy room is where I keep all of my tools and
books and where I go to do rituals, spells and divination.
6. What book/talk/article of yours are you most proud of and why?
I’m most proud of my book Pagan Portals – Candle Magic. It was the
first book I wrote on a pagan witchcraft topic. I was pleased with it
when I wrote it, and I’ve been delighted to also see it sell well and
prove popular as an introduction to a very traditional form of
spell craft.
List of witchcraft books published:
Pagan Portals – Candle Magic Every Day Magic – A Pagan Book of Days Pagan Portals – Poppets and Magical Dolls Pagan Portals – Guided Visualisations (available to pre-order, due to reach shops later this year)
