Calling All Word Witches
A practical guide to using witchcraft and the power of the written word to develop a magical creative practice.
Word Witches are spellcasters of language. They are storytellers, poets, writers, and ritualists who know that writing anything is a form of channeling: spirits, ancestors, collective dreams, and their most authentic and surprising selves. Word Witch is a joyful guide and companion, helping writers build a creative practice rooted in magic.
Writer and witch Kate Belew offers readers an invitation to craft altars of language, offering simple writing rituals that will spark inspiration and equip writers to build their own thriving creative writing practice. Readers will learn to conjure creativity and imagination, defy the silence of writer's block, build a circle of community support, and cast spells that spread magic across the page. Much like the movements of the moon and the earth's seasons, creativity also has cycles that readers will learn to expect and embrace. Word Witch encourages creatives to reclaim their imagination and give themselves permission to write freely, expressively, and magically.
Weaving together magic and creativity, paying homage to the intrinsic power of words to conjure and shape our lives, Word Witch guides readers across the page as they undergo the alchemy of becoming of writers.
Advanced Praise for Word Witch
“The soft, fierce potency of putting pen to page, the mystical alchemy of creativity, the transformation of the base material of ideas, into literary gold - Word Witch explores innumerable ways to harness the power of written language. Drawing on Belew’s personal experience as seeker, teacher and guide, this richly dense grimoire celebrates the integration of ritual, intention and spell work into creative expression and ultimately offers a deeply thoughtful exploration of the practice of writing, as a magical act.”
“Word Witch is both spell and guide, a weaving of Kate’s decades-long journey as a poet, scholar, and practicing witch. Rooted in literary study and lived magical practice, it offers intuitive exercises, foundational teachings, and profound stories from Kate’s own path. The book meets you where you are: a grounding start for new word witches, a creative catalyst for seasoned writers, and a nourishing balm for those in need of inspiration. At once mystical and practical, personal and universal, it is part writing manual, part magical education, and part poetic reference. For storytellers, earth stewards, and lovers of myth, Word Witch will give you the courage and practical tools to help you bring your truest stories to life.”
“Word Witch is for everyone - whether you are writing notes in crayon for garden fairies or a dissertation for a PhD, this book is a useful tool for breaking through writer’s blocks, ritualizing a writing practice, navigating the liminal space of a blank page and more. With tenderness and thoughtfulness, Kate Belew, a dynamic and experienced word witch herself, guides readers through the powerful magic of story-telling, using our words to seek out and honour our Truth, and craft spells that change the world, building our reality one letter, one word, one page at a time. Kate reminds us that “Everyone is creative. Everything is connected. Writing is magic.” Language is a potent tool of Witchcraft, and anyone looking to wield this tool, this pen mightier than sword, will find in Word Witch an invitation, a door opening to reveal practical steps and evocative prompts that unleash the word witch within. To “build altars with language”. To immerse ourselves in “writuals” (writing rituals) and explore the poetics of our lives. In Word Witch, Kate teaches us how to collaborate with the elements, the stars, all of our surroundings, to find the words that fill in the blanks that form our stories, our lives.”
“If, like the Druids, poets are your heroes and you aspire to venture on a hero’s journey of your own, then this is the book for you. In Word Witch, author Kate Belew venerates the storyteller in all of us and shares how we can participate in that veneration at our own altars. If you’ve been feeling a stirring at some hidden well inside you, Belew will show you how to whisper your wishes into the water and conjure up your creative dreams. Kate Belew is a generous, loving guide for anyone longing to become a word witch. ”
“The otherworld has always spoken to us through our art. When we write poetry, we are scripting charms that defy the ordinary rhythm of speech. We break through the linear, predictable patterns we were taught made for good writing and invite the ghosts, the ancestors, the deities, and other unseen forces to speak and sing through us. The word-witch knows writing opens the door between the worlds, and Kate Belew is the voice of the word-witches. Whether you identify as a writer, a witch, or a honey-tongued poet, this book is an essential addition to your library.”
“This book is a spell. Spells are not solely the work of witches; they are crafted by writers, poets, and midnight storytellers. Stories can be spells, invocations for the creative spirit. In Word Witch, Kate Belew reminds us that our creativity is a form of magic. The witch’s pen is a wand. Holding the moon, stars, and the elements (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Spirit) as lanterns, Word Witch illuminates our creative landscapes and invites readers to forage for the questions and curiosities that bloom from that place. ‘Word Witches know that magic is for everyone, everyone is magic,’ and inspiration is everywhere, it spirals out from the memory of a fallen oak tree, a chicken coop turned writing residency, and the fiery skulls that border Baba Yaga’s sacred wilds. In what could be described as The Artist’s Way for witches, Word Witch is both a celebration of creative expression and a step-by-step guide to enchanting writing practices old and new. By weaving together storytelling, automatic writing exercises, and journaling prompts, readers learn to craft ‘altars of language’ and summon their inner Word Witch.”