Elizabeth Kirwin

Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo Ovalles Morel: We met because of Antiga. I happened to be reading a book by Diane Stein, The Goddess Celebrates: An Anthology of Women’s Rituals. Antiga had a piece in it, which I thought was the most compelling chapter in the entire anthology, and which mainly dealt with menarche. After reading the piece, I searched the internet for a way to get in touch which Antiga and found your Q&A with her. You mentioned that you have not seen her since 2014. Would you be willing to tell us about Antiga and your encounter this wise witch?

Elizabeth Kirwin: I was privileged to meet a witch like Antiga, who was very well respected in the community of Asheville, North Carolina. When I met with her, she had a devotee who was living with her, a younger witch who had come to serve the goddess and learn about her work. Antiga’s house was nestled into the side of a mountain in the North part of Asheville. Antiga was going blind. She told me that she had been teaching these pagan chants to people in the pagan community for many years, and that witches came to her circles to learn them. I told Antiga I was from the fairy tribe, and she knew about our presence in Asheville. She took my hands in hers and offered me a blessing. Then she gave me permission to publish her audio files of the chants she sang. I am so grateful I saw her and was able to share her work. 

NDEREOM: You too identify as a witch and have been engaged with work focused on rituals, ceremonies and healing. All of this is so trendy now in the visual arts and in performance art. To me, a great deal of people working with this herstory might not be familiar with the legacies of people like Antiga, Z. Budapest, Oberon Zell and Morning Glory, and you, to name a few. How did you become involved?

EK: I have been a witch since 1994. I came to ritual practices in Philadelphia, where I worked with a woman named Elizabeth Angelo, who showed me the craft. We had a ritual in my home that was so intense it almost blew the doors off of my apartment. She came to the ritual with a birthing blanket. A cat had given birth to a litter on it. My cat went nuts when he smelled this scent, so we put it in the bathroom. I was with my lover at the time, Jo Mariner. The cauldron was in the north window of my bedroom. During ritual, Jo pushed a candle into the cauldron, which had a hot charcoal piece in it, that was burning herbs. The candle caught fire in the cauldron. We were afraid we might burn the apartment building down. Thank the goddess we were able to put it out. I was 28 years old then. I learned tarot and divination, as well as pagan chants. My ritual practices in Philadelphia were mind blowing. I learned to manifest things I wanted or needed to get rid of, using ritual. I began to connect to others using the psychic mind. I discovered telepathy and precognition are my special talents. I studied my dreams, and I spread good energy through magic. I was taught to utter the phrase, “harm to none” with my magical incantations and spells. I kept a book of shadows. I became a white witch.  When I turned 30 I was in graduate school for literature. I wanted to learn more about my heritage, which is Irish. I began exploring the works of R.J. Stewart (Earth Light and Power within the Land) and Starhawk. I had a revelation. I realized I was an earth born fairy being.  I began to embrace this as my identity.  

NDEREOM: Can you talk about your practice? What are some of the elements that inform this and how do you see yourself relating to the world at large as a witch?

EK: My practice as a pagan and a witch has always been tied to the moon. I taught young witches to align their menstrual cycle with the moon through ritual, concentration and constant observances of the moon’s cycle. A witch ovulates on the new moon and bleeds on the full moon.  Once aligned, her psychic powers become more prominent in waking and dream states.  I moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where the pagan community is strong, and the fairy tribe lives in community. I had a small circle of friends who were also witches. Together, we embarked on a journey of devotion to the dark goddesses. My dark Goddess is and will always be Hecate. I have been devoted to her for decades. Me and my companions practiced ritual on the edge of the wilderness areas. Chanting has always been part of my magic. We chanted to raise the energy during rituals and to alter the energy in our lives. I feel it is important to practice magic outdoors whenever possible, so we can experience the natural world as a deep and abiding part of our being. We built fires, drummed, danced and chanted. On feast days, such as the solstices and equinoxes, I would ingest magic mushrooms and take long hikes into the wilderness and camp for several days. These were the most amazing times! I lived in Asheville for 15 years. I believe in ‘everyday magic.’ I am always thinking and feeling magic, which has helped me throughout my adult life. My family is terrified of my identity as a witch and a fairy. I never discuss magic with them and have become estranged from the family I have left. I was raised Catholic, but ceased this religious practice at 16.  Many sects of Christianity are taught to fear witches. I’ve had personal encounters with people who loathe and fear witches, and I always explain paganism as an earth-based spirituality, where we believe in harm to none.I am pretty advanced at using crystal magic to heal, manifest and see into the future. I also vibe with the plants and animals. I am an open channel, and can call spiritual entities like angels and guides, or speak to the dead, if I wish. I am trained in cranio sacral therapy, a healing modality that manipulates the fascia, using the same meridians as acupuncture, but without needles. I offer healing to those who need it – and have never made money this way. I do not practice within the context of a coven, I have magical companions. Fairies use an egalitarian form of magic and ritual that is nothing like modern Wicca or Gardenarian craft. We focus on the elementals, sex magic and plant medicine and do not believe in the traditional high priest/priestess. We all take part in creating the ritual and calling the four directions. I have been a solitary witch for about 7 years now. Living in Philadelphia again, where my magical journey began, I have come full circle. I am looking for other fairies and witches to practice with again.

NDEREOM: We are living in dire times, politically speaking. I understand that witches have traditionally advocated for women identified people, for Earth, for four-legged ones, winged ones, and for other creatures which patriarchal society has seen and treated as objects. On the other hand, it has been shocking to see some of the New Age align with the most regressive and damaging forces of our times. How would you say are you and some covens supporting the ecology when the governmental push is to drill and drill, basically to continue to rape our Mother/Lover Earth?

EK: I hate the modern thought patterns, so pervasive, which takes the power of the earth and its contents and uses it for greed and gain. I am against the removal of trees in large tracts of land for building. I oppose the constant drilling and harvesting of minerals and fossil fuels that increases daily. I support the use of solar and wind power. I see and feel Gaia as an organism. She has a body, with blood and breath and fire. Gaia is being raped, and each time a colossal catastrophe strikes, such as hurricanes or forest fires, I see this as Gaia striking back at humanity for our constant abuse of her. I see and feel Gaia expelling humans from her body, because she cannot survive and thrive with constant abuse. I know many covens and ritual practitioners are working to put good energy into Gaia, by honoring her with devotions when we walk through the forests and swim in her streams. I care for animals, gardens and most of all I love trees. I feel a part of me is being ripped out when a tree is felled. My happiest times have been spent in the forests, where my fairy magic comes alive. Gaia will be here when we are dust. So we must take steps to preserve her while we walk the earth. 

NDEREOM: What are the politics of hexing? I remember seeing an ad posted on a door at a store on the Lower East Side in Manhattan asking witches to put a curse on DT. Sorry, I refuse to write his name here. How do you deal with neutralizing evil forces pushing our planet into complete collapse?

EK: First, I fully support witches that do hexing, as it’s part of their creed and their practice. Hexing helps them to survive the atrocities of this world by thwarting the actions that injure us, rape our minds and invade our bodies. I am glad witches on the US are hexing DT and the witches of Europe and other places are doing the same. But I know so little about hexes because it has not been taught to me, even after 30 years of practicing the craft. I was taught not to place dark spells on people, because this magic would come back to me, and could possibly make me ill. Instead I use mirror magic when I feel I’m being attacked psychically. I turn the mirror on my enemies and return the bad energy to them with threefold power.  I set up psychic defenses with the use of white and clear crystals (and sometimes dark crystals) as a way of making myself feel safe. I cast a magic circle of protection around myself, my cats, my dwelling, my car and my friends and lovers. On a larger scale, I participate in worldwide meditations, to help raise the energy.When called, I teach younger witches and fairies the secrets of the craft.  

NDEREOM: What plant, non-human animal and flower do you relate to, or see as being part of your family? I feel that I was a cat before, and that I used to be a mullein plant.

EK: I have always related to the rosemary plant and have often kept a plant growing near the threshold of my home. It means, ‘a strong woman lives here.’ I may have been a cat in another life, because I want to come back as one. I always have cats in my home. They are fierce little creatures who love deeply. I love the rose, and have kept rose bushes in the yard behind my home, tending them. I use rose oil as part of my magic, rubbing it onto my third eye and sprinkling a little on the threshold of my home to bring good energy.    

NDEREOM: What advice do you have for the younger generations of artists working with healing? Mine would be to educate ourselves, to honor legacies, to research, read and do the work (as in training with key people), before venturing to call spirits and summon ancestors. There is a great deal of this happening, and I am of the opinion that I do not or call spirits or ancestors unless I know how to guide them back to the dimension where they came from. This is not a game or a joke. 

EK: I would say that magic is real. It’s a powerful essence and knowledge that pervades everything, and so we must respect magic and use it for good, and share it with others. I have met many magicians who use magic to control others. I would advise people to stay away from this path. Magic is sweeter if you share it, like the fairies do. Rather than setting up hierarchies and bragging about what you’re capable of doing magically – learn to respect the art of magic and allow it to show you what it will.  Look for signs, and when you see them (such as a certain animal or bird crossing your path, or a phone call from a long forgotten friend) learn to read the signs and divine their meaning. Pay attention, or you will miss the magic that is afoot.  If you do a spell, just let the energy go where it may go, and don’t bother ‘feeding’ the spell, just trust in the powers of the universe. Put love into all of your magic, even when it’s for defense, or you feel you’re being energetically attacked. Never do magic out of anger. Let the mood pass, and do your magic from a positive place. Learn through books and by finding teachers. I don’t believe in gurus. I have had many, many teachers of magic throughout my life. Each teacher has crossed my path in a magical way, and I recognize them. I have never paid for magical instruction. If you give a healing, you get a healing, so healer, heal thyself. Learn about crystals by collecting them and wearing them or carrying them with you.  If you dare to summon a spirit or ancestor without proper training in this art, you could really wreck your life and befuddle your consciousness.  Be cautious about meddling in the world of spirits. There are some malignant spirits who will enslave those with a weak(er) mind. Many who call spirits are on intoxicants, which makes them prone to a walk-in (a spirit that takes up residence in you, like a possession).  Embrace sobriety when calling spirits or ancestors. Begin with training, and at first, only call the spirits of your blood ancestors. Learn how to send spirits back to the light so you can dismiss them when they are troubling. Do not ever let a spirit control you! Remember, they can always be sent away. 

NDEREOM: Where do you go to find balance, as in a place on Earth where you become attuned with All and connect with the larger picture; with the spirit that moves as parts of this vast cosmos where you and I are a tiny grain of dust?

EK: I climb a mountain with a magical friend or spend time in a forest, by a stream or river. I am really attracted to gorges in the mountains, which are valleys that are cut by water. I have found so much peace and connection to nature by traveling by foot in the wilderness areas, and hiking for days on end down a familiar trail. Mountains remind me that the world of humanity is oh so small, compared to the vast, untainted tracts of land that still exist on earth. I have been so lucky to have seen many wild places and inhabited these places for days. I venture into the woods unafraid – and I have never carried a gun with me. Some of my favorite places are Grandfather Mountain, near Boone, North Carolina and Shining Rock Wilderness area in North Carolina. At the core, these mountains are made of white crystal, and they are power points in the land.

NDEREOM: I thank you.

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To read Elizabeth Kirwin’s and Antiga’s interview click HERE

All images courtesy of Elizabeth Kirwin

Elizabeth Kirwin is poet, fiction writer and performance artist. She has been published in The Oyster Boy Review. Kirwin is owner and editor of www.FairiesInAmerica.com  - a website that is based in the neo-pagan tradition of the Americas. She has written for magazines on art and culture, travel and education. Kirwin is a web entrepreneur and was a pioneer in content development strategies for the web in the early aughts. She has published and performed the lyrical poems, the Fairy Gothic Ballads, a collaboration with electronic music composer Liam Sckhot. She lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Contact her on Facebook