Spellwork as Manifesto
Making every part of the process your own. And a January project check-in!
To quote my collaborator and co-lead on our forthcoming feature, “It’s been a cruel month!”
Particularly this last week. But as many of us continue to say around here, it’s the commitment to chipping away, one day at a time, at the projects that matter to us that will make our revolutionary NonDē dreams a reality. After all, what’s happening in our corner of world is a direct response to what’s happening in the world at large. It’s all connected and that truth is a powerful guide.
I want to share something very personal today. One Filmstack genre that gets a lot of play is The Manifesto. And for good reason. I, for one, love a declaration. Particularly when it’s well thought out, personal and specific, with high character, and expansive goals. Many of you have written your filmmaker manifestos as well as manifestos for specific projects and I thank you for offering them to us to take in. I find the bullet point format to be lovingly digestible, and the specificity of each list inspiring. The very process of making one is that of SYNTHESIZING, which is a process I have alway gravitated towards. For the tarot devotees, it’s very Queen of Wands, which is a card I’ve identified with for years. Synthesizing is in fact a super power I believe I carry and one that I channel in my writing and filmmaking on a foundational level. I’ve been wanting to, meaning to, write my manifesto for months! But haven’t prioritized it for some reason…
And then I remembered, this past Halloween I had written a manifesto for my first feature, I’m So Happy for You. My kind of manifesto - a spell. I’ve dabbled in spell work in earnest for several years now (a homecoming many years after a childhood entrenched in séances and the like), but since becoming a parent have found less time to invest in the practice as much as I’d like. So when I do find and take the time, you know I mean it.
Before you close this tab with an eye roll and a sigh, let me explain.
Crafting a spell is almost exactly like crafting a manifesto — the synthesizing and writing part, the visioning in context, the dreaming and planning that happens before or alongside the work. What makes a spell different are the steps that come next — the space you declare it, the actions you take while declaring it, and the offerings connected to it. On Filmstack we declare our goals in written form on the internet for friends and strangers alike to read. That’s a powerful statement! In a spell you declare your intentions to your well and bright ancestors and guides, and sometimes your coven, while offering the former something meaningful in gratitude of the support that they are always providing to you. You are telling the beings that surround you THIS is the thing we really want to go after, please and thank you. And, of course, the more focused and specific, the better. To quote Veronica Varlow, whose spell structure I loosely followed most recently, “Spells are the combination of intention and action.”
Sometimes offerings are food or drink — fruit, oats, spirits. Sometimes they are pieces of your self — hair, saliva, blood. They should be specific to you, your guides, and your spell.
The spell I recently did for I’m So Happy for You also featured calling in specific figures outside your team of guides — icons related to this specific spell. As well as a vehicle for the offerings, a physical substance to carry them, in this case an oil.
Now for the vulnerable part.
As a next, previously unplanned, step in the spell I’m sharing here the written work that was done in October. To further declare my intentions. And as an offering to this audience. May you resonate with some or all parts this version of a manifesto and find your own form that supports your projects.
I won’t go into further detail about how this spell works as it’s based on the work of Veronica Varlow, out of her gorgeous book Bohemian Magick. But I’m happy to answer any questions in the comments, if this sparks something for you!
Now for my January accountability update:
We cast our co-lead! She is phenomenal and is coming on a producer! We are now a team of 4!
I finished my first draft and shared with the team, as well as my BK Filmstack Support Group (not our official title), AND the prospective editor I mentioned in my last accountability post.
I’m working on my next draft now. I had a goal of finishing this pass this month, but alas a small but meaningful script consulting gig came up that’s eaten into my writing time.
I began building my deck!
We are officially in pre-production for our proof of concept, shooting next month. Dates are being held. Crew is being called on. Locations are being scouted and locked. We are building!
February goals:
Shoot the proof of concept! And keep the snowball rolling.
Finish my next draft and share with a few more friends.
Finish a version of the deck.
Plan and execute my husband’s 40th birthday party — wait wrong list.
Share materials with prospective producer/s if ready!
Yes! I’ve always thought of my deck and even the email I send to the crew as a spell, the whole process is really, an intention toward the intangible, a kiss to the unknown , the thin air where our work materializes. Love this! Here for any acting you need!
Ok I love anything spell work related, I definitely need the keys to how this works