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PR Isfeld

Oh, you SASS-y little witch
Oh, you SASS-y little witch

“A creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life.”

–Elizabeth Gilbert

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As I mentioned a while back, I’ve been down the rabbit hole of modern witchcraft and have found a lot of interesting things. The latest witchcraft revival, which started to gain momentum in the mid 2010s, and really took off during the dark days of COVID lockdowns, offers an empowering alternative to traditional western belief structures. But what if you have a hard time believing in spirits, deities, and magic? Well, SASS witchcraft might be just the thing for you.

What Is SASS Witchcraft?

SASS stands for skeptical, agnostic, and science-seeking. Instead of casting spells to summon entities or energies, SASS witchcraft encourages using ritual as a way to shift perspective, boost mood, and/or sharpen focus. SASS witches don’t see their power as coming from a mystical Universe or an all-powerful deity, but rather from self-awareness, intention and the documented psychological effectiveness of habit and symbolism.

How can this help with writing and creativity?

SASS witches often use symbols—sigils, crystals, even color-coded pens—as physical reminders of intention. For writers, marking the start of a writing session with a candle (representing clarity), sketching a personal sigil on your notebook, or choosing a  piece of lapis lazuli or other crystal as a confidence anchor can infuse ordinary moments with purpose. Psychological research on anchors and ritual tells us that such practices can help reduce anxiety and set the brain up to focus.

Ritual doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as brewing tea, arranging your desk in a particular configuration, or speaking or chanting a simple mantra before writing—all creating mental “containers” for creativity.  As long as whatever you set up resonates with you, there’s no need to link it to supernatural beliefs.

Muses, Magicians, and Tricksters

Traditional witchcraft explores archetypes such as Muses, Magicians, and Tricksters which can all be used as tools for self-coaching: the Muse encourages openness, the Magician gives you the power of transmutation, and the Trickster helps break through perfectionism. Writers can  consciously adopt these roles in their creative narrative, using  journaling or brainstorming techniques to help see things with fresh eyes.

At the End of the Day: confidence

At its heart, SASS witchcraft is about using science and skepticism to curate a ritual toolkit that works for you. Cognitive psychology shows that ritual increases confidence and performance even when we don’t believe in the supernatural—just ask the many professional athletes who have told us about the importance of having the right “winning mindset.”

And you don’t even have to shut your brain off. Not a bad deal at all.

Captives
A psychological mystery that explores the aftermath of a brutal abduction and the secrets that haunt the survivors.

Three years ago, Samantha Gilchrist and her friends Amanda, Kaylee and Maria forged an unbreakable bond when they survived a brutal kidnapping in Kandahar. Sam wrote a best-selling memoir about their ordeal and moved on to a great new career as a journalist and a happy relationship with Dave, a handsome intelligence officer she met in Afghanistan. Still, she can’t help wondering about the reasons behind their capture.

On their way to Maria’s remote Gatineau cottage to commemorate the anniversary of their escape and rescue, Sam and Kaylee hear news reports about a missing Afghan diplomat. Then, they think they see Ali, their former interpreter and the mastermind behind the hostage-taking, who was supposed to have died during their rescue. When Amanda’s lifeless body is found the next morning, the friends’ suspicions lead them down a dangerous path that uncovers dark secrets and hidden motives.

The narrative alternates between the present day and the version of events presented in Sam’s memoir, as she and her friends struggle with their grief over the loss of Amanda and lingering trauma and jealousy over their differing fortunes in the aftermath of the kidnapping. As tensions rise and secrets are revealed, Sam starts to question everything she thought she knew about her friends, her lover, and herself, not just in the past, but in the here and now. 

Full of suspense, complex characters, and unexpected twists, Captives will cause fans of mystery and psychological thrillers to make irresponsible decisions about their sleep. 

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