The Magickal Mail on Patreon for August is #thriftwitch remix - Budding Biophilia . This love note mini zine is filled with appreciations for the natural world and colorful mixed media art.
Since Yule of December 2019, I have created a witchy mini zine almost every eight weeks. The first sixteen issues were simple 8-page book folds. The first series explored the Wheel of Year, with art and rituals inspired by the seasons. The second series featured the elements; the five obvious ones of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit; and three less conventional "elements." These zines, written every six weeks, were in conjunction with the three other weekly zine series, 52 Feathers, 52 Facets, and 52 Petals. Suffice to say, after writing over 160 zines I needed to mix things up.
In 2021 I began remixing THRIFTWITCH to keep the project fresh and alive. The theme for this third series was types of love, most specifically inspired by the distinctions made by the Ancient Greeks. Using different types of love as a jumping-off point I researched new papercrafts to weave experiential art into the "pages." I started with a fortune teller for Eros, erotic love, and most recently created Xenia Blessing, the most complicated remix to date!
Biophilia: The Love of Life.
It has been hypothesized that people have an innate adoration for other living things. Biophilia is hypothesized as the instinct to connect with nature.
Coined in the 1960's by Erich Fromm and later popularized by writer Edward O. Wilson, the idea of Biophilia has inspired design theory and philosophical thought. For my Zine the idea of Biophilia inspired a deep dive into my adoration of nature.
Wanting to share this sense of community with the plants and animals the zine contains ten appreciations for the natural world ranging from the birds and the bees to the trees and the soil. Each appreciation is on a separate slip of paper, which can be explored or shared however the reader pleases.
The zine contains ten appreciations for the natural world ranging from the birds and the bees to the trees and the soil. Each appreciation is on a separate slip of paper.
I came across the form for the zine while researching issue IX, Xenia Blessing. I liked the idea of a simply folded book with slips of paper woven through each page. Known as a woven concertina book the zine appears deceptively simple. It turned out to be a little tricky making the slits in the paper work with a title page, and remain consistent across each zine. I felt quite clever developing a template out of card stock to make the cuts consistent each time. Unlike the Xenia Blessing, which was time-consuming due to the folding and gluing, this zine was time-consuming due to so many cuts.
Despite the investment in time, this Zine Remix was a delight to create. Any time spent in appreciation and creation is time well spent. The interactivity of the zine, with all the slips of paper to pull out and read, satisfies my goals for creating an interesting, engaging, and unexpected spin on the zine format.
This zine is currently only available to August Patrons on Patreon of the Magickal Mail Club and above. Join before August 31st to secure your limited release issue of Budding Biophilia. The Magickal Mail Club is $5.55 a month and includes monthly gifts.
Interested in receiving Magickal Mail every month from my studio, including future zine remixes?
Resources and References
hashtags: #invocation #blessings #zine #flowerlanguage #flowermagic #witchcraftforbeginners #witchesofinstagram #witchyvibes #forestwitch #witchcraftzine #zineremix #biophilia
