02/18/2019
This digressive rumination on magic and nature, with unusual ideas of what counts as “natural,” might inspire occult-minded readers as they dive deep into its incantations and wonderfully witchy drawings—but it will leave others puzzled. Scott follows the pull of the magical over the course of 80 lushly inked pages and hand-scrawled declarations, illustrated with coiling river currents and ferns, the bodies of small animals, and a woman interacting with it all against a city skyline. “Witchcraft knowledge is body knowledge,” she writes, as she seeks wonder everywhere from grimy city streets to ocean vistas, and urges collaboration with ecosystems (“What might happen when trees and concrete are perceived as bodies in the political arena?”). If there is a thesis of this nebulous, loosely linked tract, it lies in Scott’s passion for finding interconnected “realness” all around her and her earnest belief in magic’s role in protecting and appreciating it. Many inquiries are raised (“How do you hold the things you believe? What do you believe about belief itself?”), and she cites theorists such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Jane Bennett in grounding her ideas. The book’s amorphous structure seems true to its all-encompassing message, but doesn’t offer readers anything resembling a through line. While spellbinding in sections, the volume brews lovely art with a muddy message. (Mar.)
"Cerebral, passionate, and beautifully drawn, Sabrina Scott's Witchbody invites us to consider our connection not just to nature but to what we normally consider outside of nature. A highly distinctive and engaging book." —Joe Sacco, author of Palestine
"Sabrina Scott has created a mystical and intellectual masterpiece. Witchbody reclaims the poisoned, manufactured world, laying bare the purity fantasy of the natural sublime that leaves our magic unbodied, ungrounded, unreal. A powerful celebration of what we have, a call to protect what is left, and dare to situate our witch-selves in this gorgeous, imperfect world." —Michelle Tea, author of Modern Tarot
Witchbody is gorgeous, lyrical, intense, magical—a graphic manifesto of life and magic. Its creator, Sabrina Scott, completely had me on the second page: "Witchcraft knowledge is body knowledge . . . Experimenting with a body. Feeling with a body . . . Witchcraft is the art of saying hello." And oh, those drawings! Constantly moving, inventive, joyous. If I was a teacher of, well, pretty much anything, I'd find an excuse to make Witchbody required reading.” —Rachel Pollack, author of 78 Degrees of Wisdom
"Sabrina Scott has created a morbidly beautiful graphic novel that encompasses what it means to be a witch in today's world. By tackling the Earth's issues straight on through her own form of magic, creativity, she's helping all readers not only get in touch with their power but do so on a wider scale that may raise the strength of the planet our bodies call home." —Sophie Saint Thomas, GQ, Allure, Playboy, Vice, and co-host of the sex and spirituality podcast "The Serpent Cast"
"Sabrina Scott’s Witchbody is a welcome and much needed reminder of the sheer physicality inherent in witchcraft and of the power and pleasure which that provides. Magic is in your body and in all bodies; human and non-human alike. Witchbody will ground your witchcraft practices and recalibrate your magical vision. It has benefit forall readers but especially for the modern witch." –Judika Illes, author of Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells, and other books of magic
Reading Sabrina Scott’s beautiful graphic novel Witchbody has been a transformative experience for me. I hope that the messages of Sabrina’s work, their perspectives on ecology, materiality, nature and magic, will feel relevant to everyone who reads this. Put simply, if you engage in any way with the physical world (and of course, it is impossible not to), then this book is for you. It will help you to redefine your relationship to your environment and find magic in all that you touch – including yourself.” —Beth Maiden, founder of Little Red Tarot
Magic is everywhere—in the ordinary, the mundane, and even in garbage. It takes time to slow down and find traces of such wonder in the world, but it is rewarding once discovered. Written, illustrated, and lettered by this first work is dense in both content and artistic style. Carefully reviewed, researched, and cited, it combines the author’s knowledge of magic and witchcraft with her academic studies in the environmental sciences to create an atmosphere in which the supernatural is dynamic and ever present.”—Library Journal
"Witchbody is smart, beautiful, and highly recommended." --Spiral Naturemagazine
"Sabrina Scott has created a mystical and intellectual masterpiece. Witchbody reclaims the poisoned, manufactured world, laying bare the purity fantasy of the natural sublime that leaves our magic unbodied, ungrounded, unreal. A powerful celebration of what we have, a call to protect what is left, and dare to situate our witch-selves in this gorgeous, imperfect world." --Michelle Tea, author of Modern Tarot
