non-binary witch hacking the patriachy

Ayesha Tan Jones [aka] YaYa Bones multidisciplinary artist multidimensional musician multinational quester b.93 ART     MUSIC    WYRDS     QUESTS     MAGIC     PLANT POWER     NARCISSUS F O L L O W

[yayabones]

becoming scorpio rising

i’m virgo sun, scorpio rising. i hadn’t really understood what that aspect of my chart meant, but i have some very special people in my life who i admire, who have revealed themselves to be rising scorpio too, so much so that i feel a magnetism to these people. revealing the mask they wear is the mask i wear, it makes sense that we vibe. 

scorpios sting, i have come to understand. i began to catch myself getting sharp, snappy, a lethal cocktail with my virgo stubborn sun.

i was becoming hyper aware of my scorpio, with signs all around me in my life, seeing scorpio imagery more as well as becoming almost c0-dependently close to some extremely important scorpio friends. 

it was the final weeks of 2017, i was in california visiting family. spending time with beloved family will often see me revert back to a state of teen angst, unwillingly. but trying to act grown around your Chinese elders who still see me as a child is a difficult task, and often they may not have come to accept your growth into your own being, into your identity, an identity who has formed their own thoughts and opinions, independently and often different from their own. within this framework i cannot express my grown-ness through formulated sentences but stumble through mood swings and rude responses.

the ancestors are within everything, they look down from above and they are aware of my regressions, they send signs to my mortal body, warnings, a slap in the face. they sent me a sign so big that i could not ignore.

as make my way down to the water on the west cost, surf board in hand, gassed to be finally free to ride the waves with my big cousin. he warned me about the dangers of the sea, but he missed one important warning. 

as i waded out into the ocean, beaming with joy to be surrounded by mama’s waters, something sharp felt like it clipped my big toe. ‘ow! i think i just got bit by a crab!’ i said to cuz, his face turned to soft panic mode. ‘i think its a sting ray ayesha!’ he said. but i refused to believe this, and convinced him i was fine and that i had to ride the waves!

but the pain was searing, and i rode the waves into the shore, exiting the water with a trail of blood dripping from my foot. 

the next three hours were some of the most agonising of my life, i even had to be put on oxygen as i couldn’t breathe from the pain. when u get a sting ray sting, you have to bathe your foot in almost boiling hot water, to break down the venom which is injected into you, which begins to solidify your blood. luckily it didn’t hit my main artery, which would have sent the venom up my leg and to my groin.

through pain you learn. re-learn to breathe in this new state of being, a state that feels like it will last forever, and it seems impossible to think what life was like b4 the pain. after pain comes gratitude. gratitude for the healing mechanisms of the body. gratitude for the healers around you to calm and ground you. gratitude for the un written lessons the feelings gave you. my lessons were learnt in the series of a events that happened in the 24 hours after the sting, with venom still coursing through my blood, i had taken on a part of the sting ray energy. i won’t share the events as they are personal, but i am deeply mournful of how i might have stung those around me. 

after accepting my actions and taking responsibility for them, i have become kin with my scorpio, learning to know when it shows its face/mask, and to control its urges to sting, myself and others. i have been sober since the first day of 2018. venom and liquor do not mix kindly. 

more on my sobriety in a future post. but for now, good bye, and thanks for reading. 

[yayabones]

Thoughts on Shadow Sistxrs Fight Club

As an artist, i often think about what my dream art project would be :

~immersive 

~empowering

~inspiring

~ethical

~challenging

~educational

A project i have dedicated most of my 2017 to is, for me at least, the very epitome of the above!

For the uninitiated, Shadow Sistxrs Fight Club is a physical and metaphysical self defence class for women, non binary people and QTIPoC.

It was born out of the idea to create a safer space to learn self defence. i am a confident person, but often I find it daunting entering new environments, especially if i know it may be kinda br0-heavy or a white dominated space. i thought it’d be amazing to have a space that combines the esoteric wonderment of magick with the empowering physical feelings of martial arts. a space where women, non binary people queer witches and QTIPoC could commune together, exploring our interests in the occult as a collective, helping each other learn, heal and create. 

I knew nothing about martial arts, so i turned 2 the internet calling out for a “WoC martial artist, bonus points if they’re a witch”. Monique Etienne and I found each other and Shadow Sistxrs was borne.

When we embarked on our first round of classes ( a 7 week course, each based on 1 of the 7 chakras ) both Monique and I had very little experience facilitating any form of classes. There were so many things we had to learn and our first series of classes were incredibly challenging, yet deeply rewarding. We would leave each class in ecstasy, feeling nourished by the collective energy created in the class. We dived in hearts first. We gave all our emotions to every class. Without any prior training in trauma therapy or professional healing, as the series unfolded, a set of big lessons lay ahead of us. 

We developed a safer spaces policy that all members have to read before entering class, and with the help of my labradorite stone, i learnt to set boundaries between my emotions, and my role as facilitator. 

As we come to the end of our 3rd series of classes, i reflect at how far Moni and i have come as facilitators, and am proud of our insight and dedication to maintaining a safer space for our sistxrs.   

As we have learnt through this process, there is no real safe space. As complex and varied beings, with a plethora of experiences, differentiating boundaries and unique needs, one person’s safe space may not be safe for another person. We can, however, strive for a space where there is clear communication of the intended healing and nourishing atmosphere, and allowing each individual the time and space to take time out if some thing is triggering or taxing

SSFC has been a channel for me to explore my interest in herbalism in more depth. It has given me a platform in which this hobby is praised and not pushed aside. Each week i will prepare a herbal tea blend and delve into my books to revise the medicinal and magical benefits of the herbs, their planetary ruler and ancient traditional uses. I take no credit for this knowledge, as it is widely available online and in herbal books. But having a space where i can relay this knowledge, in hopes that the stories of these herbs can be passed on, shared and made commonplace again. 

Something we emphasise in our manifesto is “every shadow sistxr has wisdom and knowledge to share”. I have learnt so much from our classes and most of those lessons have come from my fellow sistxrs. Wether it be Bea Xu sharing with us a traditional use of the Yarrow stalk in China was to create the hexagrams when divining with the i Ching, or Billie reminding us that an ancient use of incense was to keep the journeyer grounded to earth while they ascend the astral realms. The relationships we have built through communing together in this way are so sacred. I am honoured and grateful to all the sistxrs who have shared their presence, even if just for one session!

I love and loathe social media simultaneously, but i can thank it eternally for bringing Monique and I together to create SSFC. Monique is something special. as Sirin Kale wrote in her Broadly article about our class : “Etienne has the charisma of a cult leader and the practiced intensity of a top athlete. I don't exercise or own a DVD player, but if she brought out a fitness DVD, I'd buy it.” i know Moni squirmed at the thought of herself being depicted as a butch cult leader, but I think this description is perfect (soz mon). Each class Moni teaches, she is learning more about her own practice. having to simplify moves that she has been drilling for years, and explaining them to a coven of novices gives you a different perspective on the technique. Teaching martial arts to a group of people whose primary interest isn’t fitness, but healing and protection. Monique sees deeply into the spiritual benefits of martial arts, and shares these insights with us. One quote i will never forget ( and i searched frantically for a pen after she said it to write down in my SSFC handbook ) : “your structure is not weak, its just stronger in a different way”

As the year came to a close in 2017, I reflected upon my past year, and a strange anxiety fell upon me. I looked back and criticised myself for not making any (physical) ‘art’ since my YSP residency in March. Raised typically Chinese, I am taught to judge my success on my physical output and achievements. But my whole year has been focused on something much larger than a sculpture that will not get sold and eventually will rust away. I have been investing so much time, energy and soul into this art project, my dream art project. An immersive, empowering, inspiring, ethical, challenging and educational piece. Relational aesthetics some art theorists might say. I don’t know, but Shadow Sistxrs is not just the sum of Monique and my dedication, it is made manifest by the incredible souls that are drawn to the class. The sistxrs who delve into the mysterious and possibly daunting, and come to an unknown place, with unknown people, to share their hearts, their power and their wisdom, and leave with a new coven of Sistxrs.

~we are the shadow sistxrs, and we are the protectors of our own souls~

[yayabones]

WOW Festival Chester

in May this year I was asked to give a WOW (women of the world)  talk in my hometown of Chester. I was honored to be asked. My talk was titled: 

Whychcraft: Ayesha Tan-Jones talks about the importance of reconnection back to nature, our spirit and lost wisdom through art, music and magic.

Below is an extract of my talk:

...my mother is from Malaysia, her father was the village baker. In the 1950s, Kuala Lumpar was still a jungle, nowa days it is a concrete metropolis. Not only did my gung gung bake a mean birthday cake, but he was also a keen herbalist, with many people of the village coming to him and my grandma for home remedies. My mother recalls a memory of a women with a maggot infestation on her leg. My grandmother burnt a dark sticky herb over the abscess, engulfing the infestation with smoke, drawing out larvae from the inflicted area. Like an evangelical priest exorcising a demon from the soul,  the herb and its master is a powerful healer. Apparently my grandfather kept a huge Tome, a book containing all the herbal wisdom he collected over the years, but this got lost after he passed, and my family immigrated to Liverpool. Knowing that my ancestors held such wisdom, ignites my desires to re-learn these healing powers and to re-write the lost tome.

...While on my 4 week residency [ at Yorkshire Sculpture Park ] , I was blessed with the opportunity to break down the concrete walls of the city where i reside, to commune with the trees and the plants, and be open to the calm sacred energy of nature. In between working in the art studio, I spent much of my time at the sculpture park foraging. It struck me how many plants i do not know the name of, let alone their medicinal qualities. A field is not just a patch of grass, it is a cornucopia brimming with hidden healing. It is nature’s pharmacy, yet many of us have forgotten that knowledge.

In the witch craze of the 1600s, thousands of women and also men were tortured, burnt and hung for suspicion of witchcraft. These people were the village healers, the sages, with wealths of knowledge of native herbs and plants, how to brew them to release the power and ways of divining the future. These natural healers were demonised through propaganda, because these people were of no use to the new capitalist machine that was quickly overtaking the whole of Europe and the new world. How could capitalism thrive when a community is able to self prescribe, self heal and predict the future? Capitalism demands workers to be cogs in the machine. Anybody who strayed from their ideologies, whether they be the elderly with great knowledge of plants, or the young and beautiful ones who delight in the magic of the earth, they were branded as a threat to the system. Villagers were playing a game of blame, with animals falling sick being blamed on that old women who side-eyed them last week, or a bad harvest blamed on the young woman whose freedom and youth was unreligious.

Thousands of people were murdered during the witchcraze, people turning against their own. The ones who survived were left mentally damaged and many more took their own lives. The repression and almost destruction of this natural wisdom has left us modern witches with the task of re-learning and re-writing the witches herstory/theirstory.

My own way of exploring the world comes through art and music. Creating visual poetry and audio alchemy is the way I do my research. The project I embarked on at Yorkshire sculpture Park was entitled Whychcraft? It is my way of questioning, why? Why do we need magic, why do we need craft and art, why must we constantly remind our selves to keep asking questions?

We should question the way modern society uses pharmaceutical drugs to numb minor illnesses, rather than the bounty that mother earth provides us. We should question the knowledge we are fed by society, and conduct our own research order to seek out the answers we yearn for. We need to relearn the craft, using our hands to create and to mend. My film project, Whychcraft? is a love letter to mother earth, a sorry note from a child of the future, for the damage that their ancestors inflicted.

As a digital native, I have grown up in a generation whose lives are part lived through the internet. Google is only 3 years younger than me, so, we essentially grew up together. My interest in spirituality has always been present, but with the internet, I was able to conduct my own studies into mysticism, and carve my own beliefs using the infinite information at my finger tips. i have always believed in the higher powers, and since a child I have known that God and the spirit are everywhere, that myself and god are one and the same. The internet gave me concrete conscious awareness of something larger than just myself in my small hometown, that there were other conscious entities out there also religiously tapping away at their keyboards. The collective consciousness exists within the web.

It is this that inspired my 2013 art project Una Jynxx. Una Jynxx was my alter-ego, and was a cyber spiritual digital witch. She existed only in the digital realm, posting Youtube videos and blog posts about meditation, crystals and her spiritual awakening. I performed as Una Jynxx for two years, which included live performances at art galleries via Skype, making meditational music for art podcasts, and even becoming the resident astrologer for a queer counter culture magazine called Polyester ( @polyesterzine).  She also built up an online relationship with Ayesha, me, the artist. We conducted Skype phone calls, talking to each other about art and magic. We collaborated on installations for my University project, all via the internet.

In a way, Una Jynxx was a vessel for me to explore my interest in cyber-magic, in witchcraft and the esoteric, while still having an external critical viewpoint. In a Jungian sense, it was like I was confronting my shadow self, the part of me that was repressed by societal structures. Una Jynxx became an important teacher to me, and she allowed me to fully open up to the powers of witchcraft, and gave me the confidence to identify as a spiritual being.

Through my art, and through the internet, I have been able to begin to research the lost wisdom of my ancestors. i believe it is important for all of us to make a connection with the natural world around us, to teach this to our children, and to keep the knowledge alive. Not only does a connection with nature relieve stress, which in turn prevents many illnesses, but it gives us a deeper understanding of the vibrant and living eco system that we lay our foundations on. Our roots run deep into the soil, we cannot let the land be smothered in concrete, we cannot let more trees be cut down for animal farming and palm oil, and we cannot let Theresa May’s tory government pillage the earth and frack for energy. To let this happen would be equivalent if not worse to the torture that people endured during the witch hunts. By teaching ourselves and our children to respect the earth, to learn the names of the trees and the spirits and healing properties of the plants, we will be able to defend its future.  

[yayabones]

there was an ancient chinese proverb, but we forgot it

those words were lost when we stopped listening

listening to the hums of the earth, the murmurs of the hills, the whispers of the reeds

there was echoes of our ancestors speaking to us in dreams,

but our dreams were shrouded in screens

remember the sound of your mother crying?

i hear her all around

the spider weaves a web of copper , wires kept the world in its trap.

and it got harder, mother, to breathe

with each breathe i took i tried to remember that old proverb they taught me

but all i could hear was the screams of the skies and the screams of the ground

there are veins to this earth

that i know

there are sacred pools of energy flowing deep within

but we muted them

we numbed them with concrete

so she cannot speak no more

we tried to capture you, you were just out of our grasp.

what we inflict on you, we receive ten fold back

they said we needed 2 upgrade our systems so we can be free

they lied

we needed to restart, reset, and thats what we did

the apocalypse is to uncover and reveal. so what did we find?

among of layers dirt and oil , mineralised mechanisms that once kept the system alive. clusters of corporate crystals and fossilised factories, still bleeding deep and thick.

and thats where we were born

in the belly of the earth, your womb

our toxic bodies were rotting, but your roots gave us life

we have exorcised those ghosts, mother, they are gone now

your shoots are blooming once again, awakening from their long slumber

I’m weaving my words into new proverbs so that i will always remember, and one day i’ll be ancient too

we are the protectors . it is our duty to serve u

from Whychcraft? ayesha tan jones 2017

[yayabones]

Whychcraft? is a film and sculptural installation that explores the journey of a cyber druid of the future following the ley lines of their ancestors to seek out why they treated their earth so thoughtlessly. They sing painful apologies to mother through a poetic film,  and erects sacred sculptural sites using mined trash, creating monoliths from scrap metal and fallen trees.

for more install documentation go to www.ayeshatanjones.com

sculpture documentation by ayesha tan jones

[yayabones]

Whychcraft? (2017)

[yayabones]

screenshots from Whychcraft? (2017) filmed at Yorkshire Sculpture Park during my residency 2k16/17.

[yayabones]

Gathering of Souls workshop @ YSP

Gathering of Souls a spring equinox workshop by Ayesha-Tan Jones at YSP. Documented by the wonderful Yasmin Akim.

We met at the boat house, where my installation was showing. I asked participants to bring along a stick/piece of wood that they feel connected with. We weaved magic and crafted on them, making our own sacred staffs.

We walked with our staffs grounding us, to a birch tree that had recently had a branch cut off, due to new sculptures arriving, the truck couldn’t get past the tree without it being cut. it was birch tapping season, and this tree had been weeping non stop since it was cut. i collected the sap in a jug, and we drank the nectar straight from the pure source.

we basked in the golden sunset and foraged in a patch of wild garlic by the stream

we returned to the boat house at dusk and wrote down our intentions for the season, rolled them and burned them into the fire.

[yayabones]

Yorkshire Sculpture Park Residency 2k17

on the cover of the spring guide!

well.. this is the dream

thank you elder witch for sharing your pages with me

b4 the paint job

at home in the forest

bad 2 the bone

being a tree

sorry

protection symbols welded

being a tree 2

the pyramids of yorkshire

diggin for pig nuts

an 80 percent foraged dinner 

#artselfie 

me and my queen niki de saint phalle

[yayabones]

back in september2k16 i embarked on the first part of my residency at The Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

i returned in March this year to continue my explorations of the landscape, my exploration in2 Whychcraft? and showed an installation of sculptures and film in the boat house over mother’s day weekend, along with leading a spring equinox workshop where we connected back to our childhood selves using our hands to craft, weaving magic into staffs and then taking them on an adventure round the park, foraging wild garlic, sipping sap straight from a crying birch tree, and burning our equinox intentions in a burning blue fire.

these are some sketchb00k outtakes planning my ideas and thoughts that formed the show

[yayabones]

screenshots from Indigo Zoom (2017)

[yayabones]

Indigo Zoom @ LIMBO LIMBO

Almost a year after I first showed this installation at my degree show, I re-created the scene, even more immersive, hyper-dystopian, and premiering the film Indigo Zoom in FULL. 

This was my first solo show, and an incredible experience it was! The people of LIMBO LIMBO were unbelievably kind and helpful, and allowed me to wreck havoc on their space.

That month I spent my nights locked up in my cave editing the final touches to the film, all the while i was going crazy because the room I was editing in had no ventilation, a jokes cognitive dissonance with the concept of my film >> “breath free”. 

I am so grateful to everybody who was involved with the project, the amazing people who helped me film, the unique incredible ppl who acted, and the creatures who kept me sane throughout the process.  this film is truly the most ambitious project i have done to date, and i’m kind of sad its over. I don’t think i’ll be saying goodbye to Indigo Zoom just yet... stay tuned and maybe there will be a sequel.

For now I won’t be putting the full feature length film online, as I will be touring the UK and parts of Europe with it, and mayb even the states! ! But below are some detailed installation shots 

more hi res photos of the installation on my website here

a feature & interview on Dazed here

and a feature & interview on 1Granary here

“I also wear the mask as an act of protest. You stand out when you wear the mask. I hear people talk about it when I walk away. The simple act of wearing a pollution mask around the city is just as effective as holding a banner at a march. We need more conversation around this topic. Maybe if we keep making ugly oxygen masks, it will encourage the fashion industry – the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas and pollution emissions, next to oil – to become more sustainable.”

[yayabones]

Yonivel i n c e n s e  b l a z e r s

The Yonivel 

I N C E N S E ~ B L A Z E R  

what started out as a fictional art project has now turned in2 an IRL business >>

This unique incense holder is purfect 4 any holistic human or cyborg who luvs 2 ZeN 0uT❕💫 moulded from the artist’s face it promises 2 infuse positive NRG and happiness in2 ur space > comes in multiple colours >> RED // PURPLE GRADIENT FACE // GOLD // HOLOGRAPHIC GLITTER // PINK GLITTER  ++++++ more

its been so fun going to zine fairs and lil markets selling these, meeting people and telling them about @indigozoomtheawakening ; the project that they are a product of (the mould is originally from the masks used as costume in the film) They help to raise awareness of the climate issues that I am highlighting through my art work, as the levels of air pollution in our cities rise to dangerous levels. 

[thinking aloud] altho maybe it seems dissonant to create a product that creates smoke when trying to stop air pollution? but these blazers are made with love and caring for a relaxing, grounding and awakening experience, and the incense one burns is only a teeny fraction of smoke compared to the pollution from big industries.

a n y w a y____ support ur fav artist and make an investment of a life time, and own a bit of my face.

https://www.yonivel.co/shop

or find me on @depop == [@] ayeshatanbones

[yayabones]

Whychcraft? Pepper Spray Brew @ Siren

~~ the second pepper spray brew workshop was held at the Rising Sun Collective’s converted pub space, where Siren, an all female techno DJ collective from London, were holding their 1st bday party. ~~

We began the ritual as just three adorable non-binary witches, and ended with a lil coven of babes.

i brought my whole on-the-go apothecary of herbs with me, and described their magical properties. the babes then chose which 7 herbs to put into the potion. 7 is a v magic number... 

base mixture:

~ x-tra hot chilli peppers (dried)

~ rubbing alcohol 

~ lemon

added magical herbs:

~ garlic - helps overcome fears of evil spirits

~ st john’s wort - strengthens your own will, and makes one invisible in battles

~ onion - absorbs illnesses and diseases. works well with garlic for protection

~ heather - carry heather as a guard against rape

~ rose petals - for love, in this spell, the love and healing of ourselves

~ mullein - wear to instill courage. keeps wild animals away from you in the wilderness, or in our case, the city. 

~ our pubes - our personal scent confuses our attacker into a tangle  

++ pieces of paper with handwritten words, describing places of refuge, safety, things that make us feel protected of whych we are grateful for. 

As this workshop was scheduled as part of a larger event, we had less time to ‘craft’ and decorate the amulet bottles, however the outcomes were still beautiful, and unique to each participant. 

I will be running more pepper spray protection workshops in London and the UK so follow my ig : @ayeshatanjones for upd8s <3 <3 <3

@joeyfourr​ @jourjender <3

[yayabones]

Whychcraft? #1: Pepper Spray Brew

Whychcraft? (working title) is a series of workshops, gatherings and rituals for femxle & non-binary, POC, queer witches and gender transcenders. We will explore the realms of practical magic, through art, music and earth related workshops, while creating a platform for dialogue exploring the uses of contemporary magic in an urban environment. We question, why? and create our own ritual alternatives. The inaugural workshop took place on the 12/12/16.

Pepper Spray is illegal in the UK. Yet police officers are allowed to carry this weapon, which contains harmful and toxic noxious gas. Why? Can the police force carry pepper spray, using it against protestors at demonstrations, riots and revolutions, and the general public can’t carry it for the basic purpose of self defence? Non-toxic and legal protection spray is available to buy online, but these cost £15+. 

In our workshop, we create a potion of *legal* herbal based pepper spray for self protection, learn about protection herbs and runes, and get our hands stuck into a therapeutic craft session, making our pepper spray charm necklaces and keychains.

In the last week, 2 of my best friends have been attacked on their way home, on their own roads. This brew we create is not only for our own protection against potential danger, but it is infused with magical calming and confidence boosting herbs, raising our vibrations higher than the negativity of the evil street lurker spirits. 

I am so so grateful to the beautiful womyn who participated in this first workshop. We shared stories, we shared knowledge, skills, herbs and songs. I am grateful for the tenderness that was felt and the gifts that were offered (as i was pretty ill that day and almost called the whole thing off!) I am thankful to my housemates for respecting our sacred&safe space we created during the ceremony. The next workshop is already being planned, and it will be in a different location (SE LDN so no excuses).

witches huddle round the fire alter

paulo santo & X-tra hot chillies

St John’s wort to combat anxiety, ward off & banish spirits, & makes you invincible in battles of any kind.

Poundland ‘Cautious’ perfume 

snail shells, for protection and to remind us that we have a home where ever we go (its called love lol)

onions and garlic for protection and exorcism 

a small piece of snake skin shed by a snake called shiva was placed in each bottle, to give us the power and venomous bite of the snake & we drank red wine from a womb shaped nut shell

<3

below are images of the finished charm bottles we created! iT was amazing to see them evolve throughout the evening, and the weird and magical techniques that each witch played with, to cre8 1 of a kind protection pendants!

Barra Cuda’s unpractical choker spray / doubles up as a keychain

123 so mote it be

[yayabones]

U PAY OR I’LL SLAY

In September, during lfw, I wrote a lil piece venting my frustration at being asked to work for free as a young, emerging, ‘free’lance artist.

Since then, I have joined a global group of artists who are fighting for financial transparency in the contemporary art and media world. #getartistspaid 

“THERE’S NO FEE, BUT IT’S GRRREAT EXPOSURE!!!”Oops! Typo glitch! You read exposure but it said exploitation.

Are all the likes you get on Instagram of the work you expect me to give you for free somehow gonna magically turn into IRL hearts, fly into my bank account where they metamorphose into glittering coins? Are you expecting me to be happy with a hashtag? OMG I’M GONNA BE FAMOUS OVERNIGHT! #lifegoals Wow! Are all the pictures by the swarm of photographers (stealing my IP with every invasive click of their phallic lens) going to give me level up points in the capitalist video game called L_I_F_E >I_N >B_R_I_T_A_I_N >2_K_1_6 —Or will my name fade into the shadows of the flash guns?When the big companies come to you and ask for your time, the motto is “No budget? No business.” They exploit our status as ‘emerging artists’ and their status as a notable name, because they think we are gagging for fame and recognition. At the same time they are capitalists sucking up anything cool about youth culture, subcultures and ethnic communities, and spitting it out as wearable garments costing more than a months rent.

read the full article i wrote on @polyesterzine here

[yayabones]

a witch doesn’t need to spell right, to get the spell right.

so its the season! the best of all, when the fungi come out and turn our forests and fields into alien looking landscapes.

In October, we went mushroom foraging in the magical Highgate Woods. Although there were such an array of different fungi to please the eye, we were having a hard time finding any edible mushrooms in the forrest, and I kept muttering secret wishes and spells to the trees and the earth to help us find a good harvest of edible mushrooms! 

Among the totems of clay faces, tree triangles and dens, a witch left a trail of badly spelt messages reminding us that all our wishes will come tro. The notes were plentiful, and predictive. 

You no what you are thinkig about

you will be loved

you nou me ...???

yore wises will all come tro

you will fall in love

you will find som thing speshel tresher

and then...

I saw a white flap on the ground in a clearing, I thought it was another secret note... But, alas! it was an ear of hen of the woods, a delicious meaty edible mushroom! A we got closer, we saw more of these ears scattered about. We then circled the tree and found 2 huge clusters at the base of an oak! 

The Hen of the Woods, or Maitake mushroom, grows at the base of Oak trees, often hidden in a bush, like ours. Maitake means translates to ‘dancing mushroom’ from Japanese, because it is said that when the hunter discovers this well camouflaged fungi, they will dance around the base of the Oak in glee! Which is exactly how we reacted! 

Eternal thanks to the witch who led us to the "treshor" of Highgate woods!!

<3