Witchbody, a graphic novel by Sabrina Scott ~ Book Picks

"To be a witch is to become open to learning differently, to read books as well as sensation, smell, saliva, soil, miaows, dreams. It is a different way of being with environment. Boundaries are revealed to be permeable."

Sabrina Scott, Witchbody

Sabrina Scott's new graphic novel is a brilliant invitation into the world of magic. We follow the stream of one idea to the next in a breathtaking exposition of what magic looks like in the real world...seeing the sacred in the city, and deepening our experience of our environment.

Scott's work is special because she goes beyond idealized Nature. She acknowledges the reality that most modern witches practice in an environment that is mostly manmade.

"Magic can happen in a forest with cedar and pinecones and candles...Or it can happen in a shoebox apartment downtown with some toilet paper and floss."

If we begin to see everything as sacred, from skyscrapers to a Bic lighter, we will be one step closer to seeing ourselves as we are - and seeing our environment for how it is in truth.This is how we will heal our planet, through a magical practice that does not shy away from the contradictions of our society, and our treatment of all beings - human, plant, animal, sentient, non-sentient...Because of this position, her book has radical implications as a text about equality between all people:

"Being selective about whose bodies we take seriously impedes ecologically sound environmental education. Some of us cannot be more real than others. We are not more or less here."

Is this a book to devour in one sitting? Or are we meant to linger on each page, looking deeply into the rich illustrations and carefully thinking over each line of prose? In this case, perhaps both.

In Sabrina's words...

I made this work as – more or less – my Masters thesis in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Education. It seemed pointless to write a stuffy paper that perhaps only three or four people would ever read. I wanted to make something that was an exhale containing my soul, and so I decided to make a comic book about magic.Magic is my lifeblood, it is my lens, it is how I feel and interact with others. It is all of those things, and more. This book is an illustrated essay about how techniques of magic can re-orient the practitioner to see non-human bodies and relationships in different ways.My practices as an illustrator, writer, and witch are all intermingling, entangled. These creative processes are my way of working out similar things using different methods and media, but the creative fire that emerges comes from the same inspiration and intuition. I want to help push forward conversations about magic, life, death, change, transformation, environment, learning, growing.Price