I want to start by saying … I am not an authority of any kind, on any of the subjects that this blog is likely to cover. Which I’m sure doesn’t instill you with a great amount of confidence, so apologies for that, I suppose. So let’s backtrack, maybe, so I can introduce myself and maybe something there will hook you.
My name is Emily. Mid-thirties. I’m a Gemini. I consider myself an actor, despite having been kicked out of my college acting program for being too unique. They told me maybe I should focus on writing, because they couldn’t figure out how to teach me, but words seemed to come to me naturally.
That meant writing plays, mostly. Although I’ve never been entirely successful with that either. I’m great with ideas but ADHD is a doozy, and writing is hard, even if you’re medicated.
You don’t know me. Or rather, I’m not anyone important, really. Maybe we’re friends, in real life, or online. Maybe we’re twitter buddies. Or maybe you saw that semi-viral TikTok earlier this year, where I stumbled upon a whole bunch of concrete skulls in our swampy backyard. That’s about as noteworthy as I get.
I was raised Catholic. Very Catholic, in fact, but maybe that’s a story for another time. I have always had an affinity for the supernatural. Or paranormal, whatever you’d prefer to call it. I’ve always gravitated towards ghost stories, despite having too much imagination and more anxiety than any one person should have. In elementary school, my dad had to call the library and request they stop allowing me to take home books about haunting a because I’d convinced myself I was possessed.
It was a lot.
I could perhaps have left the paranormal behind there, but instead I got sucked into the X-Files, and Scariest Places on Earth, and Mothman Prophecies.
So here we are, a couple of decades later. My imagination is still too large, maybe. I don’t go to church anymore, and I don’t even really know how to describe my own belief system other than to say that it’s kind of a weird, mixed bag. And I’m firm in my belief that I don’t really know anything for sure.
I’m into magic. I like it because it feels very personal. It also feels … hard. Like something I can’t talk about, because my ADHD prevents me from having a practice that’s anything other than small. Setting time aside for myself is difficult, learning tarot is hard, and setting up routines for myself takes a gargantuan amount of effort.
That’s part of what this blog is about. I’d like to find out how others make magic accessible. How they work it into their own lives. How they deal with the world, and with their disabilities.
The other part of the blog is likely to be a bit more dramatic, because … let’s be honest, I started this blog because I think we need to talk. About the paranormal industry as a whole, about our roots, about how easy it is to take advantage of people’s hopes and fears.
I want to talk about the satanic panic. And the Warren’s. And the era of the ghost bros.
And I want to be clear — I am not a skeptic. I’m not out to disprove ghosts. I love ghosts. What I don’t love, is our general collective refusal to examine the negativity that festers in the industry.
The Warren’s sucked, actually. Sorry to Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, I love you, but it’s true.
So … let’s talk about it.
Later though, and in pieces, because I do have to work. And do a fair amount of reading. But I love you if you’re here already, and along for the ride. I can’t say how much I appreciate it.