#a dark song

[lailoken]

What are your favorite pieces of media that you think accurately represent magic and spirit work? Movies, books, even music..

This is an interesting question, but one that requires a lot of thought, as I have read and watched an inordinate amount of books and movies. Plus, even really good fiction with pagan themes that I've read/watched is generally inaccurate in most ways, with some realistic aspects of magic woven in here and there. Some of my very favorite media relating to the subject can't really be included, simply because of how inaccurate it is overall, but there are a few that have caught my notice.

I'm sure I'll end up missing ones, which bugs me, but I'll do my best to recount some examples that I can think of:

The Love Witch (2016) is a movie that I think presents a strikingly realistic portrayal of what magic can look like. It manages to show some of the ways one might use magic to great effect, without actually skewing into fantasy at all. Clearly, the magic shown isn't going to line up with every paradigm, and its not exactly a heady or spirit-based story, but I think it's a very real look at how ritual and magic is/can be approached by many folks in the modern day.

The Witch (2015) is, above all else, a great slow-burn horror film and an excellent period-piece. However, it also portrays quite an accurate conception of folkloric beliefs about Witchcraft in the 17th century, which inexorably inform the realities of modern Witchcraft traditions. It does just barely skew into fantasy horror, but the actual folkloric information being presented is quite sound.

A Dark Song (2016) is a film that portrays ceremonial magic realistically in many ways. Ultimately, it is still a supernatural horror film, but the bulk of the magic in the movie is based directly on the Abramelin Operation, which was interesting to see. A lot of the ways that the magic "takes shape" in the film feels real enough to me, too (though it certainly takes it to extremes at points, as horror movies are wont to do).

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson is a horror novel I much enjoyed when I read it a coulple years ago, but I also remember that it happens to contain small, but meaningful, instances of sympathetic magic within the story that I appreciated as a practitioner looking in. This one has been made into a movie as well.

Cunning Folk by Adam Nevill is one of the more realistic looks at magic—including the uncanny side of it—that I've come across. It's still definitely a horror story, first and foremost, but there's an oomph to the ritual and magic described therein that a lot of other similar fiction lacks—even when the ritual act being described isn't necessarily accurate in terms of historicality or my personal experience of the Craft.

The White People by Arthur Machen is a Welsh short horror story from the turn of the century, which I think is worth including here. There are elements and aspects of the story that feel surprisingly real in terms of Gloaming initiation and the Gloaming Spirits—though, of course, it takes creative liberties informed by the paranormal beliefs and trends of the time (1890s).

The Craft (1996) is a movie that I'm sure a lot of pagans have of nostalgia for in one way or another, myself included. I struggled with whether this movie should be here or in the Honorable Mention section, but I included it here in the end because a lot of the ways magic and ritual are presented in the film are accurate enough. I also think it did a fairly good job of capturing how it can feel to discover, revel in, and then become overwhelmed by magic. However, since it is a supernatural horror film, a lot of magic shown is portrayed more fantastically than the real thing, and there are aspects of the magic (rituals, entities, etc.) made up entirely for the sake of the story.

As implied above, there are also some pieces that, while largely inaccurate or too far into the realm of fantasy, still manage to succesfully capture some essence of realistic feeling magic in them. I will list those here as Honorable Mentions:

Practical Magic (1998) is another movie that I'm sure a lot of Pagans have nostalgia for in some way or another. I won't claim that it's a genuinely "accurate" representation of magic—and it certainly strays into outright fantasy at times—but there are little things throughout the movie that managed to ring a bell for me, as someone who grew up with magic in my family. I know this was originally a book, but I actually haven't read that as of yet, so I can't speak to it.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) is a movie is squarely in the fantasy-horror genre to me, but even still, I include it here as an honorable mention because a lot of the lore depicted is drawn from real lore, and the overall ambience it manged to evoke strongly reminds me of some of my own experiences with chthonic journeying.

The Good Witch franchise isn't one I have ever actually watched any part of before, but I include it here because, oddly enough, multiple practitioners have mentioned to me that they think the magic is surprisingly realistic for a Hallmark series. As I understand it, the main character is a sort of local Wise Woman who helps the folk in her little town using things like folk-knowledge, remarkable intuition, and an uncanny ability to seemingly sway people and circumstances. Since I haven't seen it myself, my take on it may be somewhat lacking, (which is why I listed it as an honorable mention), but based on the description, it actually sounds like it may be one of the more realistic interpretations of magic on this list.

I know this is a strange addition, as it's not exactly magic, per se, but much of how Stephen King writes about psychic abilities like clairvoyance and healing throughout his works manages to touch on something all too familiar for me. I think, sometimes, that he may have known someone with the Sight and/or the Touch in his real life, as it comes up a lot in one shape or another in his writing.

As I said, I'm sure there's stuff I'm missing, but this at least a serviceable overview. I encourage others to share any other media that they think deserves a mention, too!

#witchcraft #magic #media #the love witch #the Witch #a dark song #we have always lived in the castle #cunning folk #adam nevill #the white people #the craft #practical magic #pan's labyrinth #the good witch #vistorille #ask

[grrrenadine]

Since Spooktober has rolled around again, I wanna give a shoutout to a project that @snailontheslope and I made two years agp. We watched and reviewed 13 Irish movies in various subgenres of horror, and the end result is a fully illustrated zine available for $1+ on Gumroad (link in source).

These are all the illustrations featured inside. Enjoy and happy reading!

@zine-scene

#13 irish horrors #horror #monochrome #interview with the vampire #i am not a serial killer #shrooms #grabbers #a dark song #the killing of a sacred deer #colin farrell #dan wells #the little stranger #sarah waters #zines #my art

[leehallfae]

“grief is a wild dog / snapping jaws alongside my neck”

— claire c. holland, “sophia: a dark song (2016),” i am not your final girl

#my reading #quote #poetry #claire c. holland #on grief #a dark song #i am not your final girl #bestial #sara

[sleeper9]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! Pt 2

Last minute Horror movie recommendations for a spooky night 🎃 ✨

#horror #halloween #movie recommendation #alien #invasion of the body snatchers #richard attenborough #dark night of the scarecrow #shudder #seance on a wet afternoon #prom night #perfect blue #satoshi kon #a dark song #10 Rillington place #happy Halloween

[skydalorian]

Scenery from A Dark Song (2014)

#scenery #halloween #magic #magick #gnosticism #kaballah #kabala #a dark song #films #film #ritual #magic ritual #magic circle #horror films

[theresatreeofmanyone]

A Dark Song directed by Liam Gavin (2016)

#a dark song #liam gavin #steve oram #catherine walker

[framerate24]

Review: A Dark Song (2016) | 'Hellblazer' Done Right

I have never really liked Constantine (2005) because Keanu Reeves was not only wrong for the role physically (he looks nothing like John Constantine as typically depicted, but in making the character American as opposed to British the filmmakers changed characteristics that were essential to his nature (being British, like any other group of people anywhere, is more than a physical location. It’s…

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#A Dark Song #Christine Walker #Constantine #John Constantine #Keanu Reeves

[booksellergothic]

Halloween Day Thirteen

Because of it being both the 13th of Halloween and Friday the 13th I am giving you two recommends, this time movies. Neither of them are involve anyone wearing a mask.

There are apparently at least three horror movies called The Borderlands. Great. The one I am reccing is the 2013 found footage film (I know, bear with me) released in the US as Final Prayers.

Synopsis : After reports of strange phenomena in a rural English church, a team is sent by the Vatican to see if what is happening qualifies as a miracle. At first skeptical, and mistrusted by the locals, they soon learn that they may have found something far darker and more potent than they could possibly have imagined.

So one of the problems with found footage, a style of film I have next to no use for, is that the question of how would they keep filming and why comes up. The Borderlands gets around that by having the Vatican insist on everything being documented. Everything. To ensure that the characters are fitted with bodycams like cops, and there are multiple cameras in every location set up by non-religious tech guy Grey.

The film is mostly a two-hander as , the Vatican chief investigator and Grey, spend time together on the job that leads to a blooming friendship. Deacon is intense, guilt stricken, and serious about both religion and his work, while Grey is a likeable, slightly goofy bloke. It is that friendship and how real it seems that raises the stakes, leading to an ending that honestly knocked the legs out from under me and which I obsessed over and could not stop thinking about for months. If any of you do watch The Borderlands please let me know. I loved this movie more than I can say and would love to hear your thoughts.

A Dark Song is another low budget, British two-hander about the occult and I found it to be a somewhat greater artistic achievement if not quite as devastating as The Borderlands.

Synopsis : Sophia has rented a house in the middle of nowhere, and she has paid extra money so that no questions are asked. Her only companion will be Michael Solomon, an occultist who must help Sophia contact her deceased son.

I find that I don't know what to say about A Dark Song. It is grueling and at moments beautiful, neither of the two characters we are trapped with are likeable, but they probably shouldn't be. In fact, they are more understandable because we don't like them, maybe even more sympathetic at some point. The combination of treating the idea of ritual magic as something difficult and dangerous, and the question of how far a person will go to get what they most deeply need, and the question of what it even is that they most deeply need, with two breathtaking performances creates a movie unlike any other I can think of. Let me know what you think.

If you would like to be added to my taglist please let me know!

@dianamolloy @piggledy-higgledy @imdeadtiredtm @joyfullymassivewhispers @caffiend-queen @dangertoozmanykids101 @toozmanykids @myoxisbroken @wrathkitty @punemy-spotted @stupendouslovegardener @sylviefromneptune @acidcasualties

#halloween #31 days of halloween #horror #horror movies #the borderlands 2013 #a dark song #found footage #occult

[twoforoneflipflops]

Movie rec: A Dark Song (2017)

The most realistic depiction of ceremonial magick in a film that i have yet seen. A must watch for anyone interested in the kind of magick that builds up and up and up until the ethereal spills into the physical.

Love this so much.

#a dark song #film rec

[addictivecontradiction]

A dark song, 2016

#drama #fantasy #horror #a dark song #liam gavin #catherine walker #steve oram #evil #halloween

[misfithorror]

A Dark Song (2016)

5/5 Stars

This movie describes occult rituals, not to summon demons, but to summon a guardian angel. The goal is to ask these otherworldly protectors for favors.

Sophia is a mourning mother seeking vengeance for her young son's murderer, and her guide is Joseph, a seemingly ordinary man who is well-versed in these occult rituals. The rituals go on for months in a house neither of them can leave in excruciating detail. The realism in this movie comes through in that this magic is portrayed as difficult, time consuming, and risky.

This slow burn character study is a true hidden gem. For all the pain that it evokes, the payoff is transcendental and deeply religious.

#Horror movies #occult #Movie review #A Dark Song #horror movie #movie #Psychological #horror movie review #horror review #movie recommendation #horror movie recommendation

[captaincolossal]

Today was my recovery day from the previous 3 days. But while I did sleep in, I also, like, caught up on chores, but with the zen-like calm of not having to talk to people and be outside all day.

Oh, speaking of zen-like calm, my older fella booth neighbor, as we were packing up yesterday, was like, talking to me about how I seemed to have a good attitude for doing shows, and apparently that made his assume that I'm married??? Like. I'm not entirely sure how to interpret this. I'm very go-with-the-flow because once I set up, I'm there, like, I just have to make it to the end of the day and a bad attitude does not improve a bad day, frankly, not to be twee about it. It's also absolutely a "worksona firmly in place" situation, so I don't know if that really means I'm marriageable. Please no one try to marry my worksona, I only put her on very infrequently and I am a zen potato the next day.

At least he assumed I'm married, and not specifically married to a man. That's happened to me before.

Oh, shit, I actually have to pick a film, hang on.

A Dark Song (2016)

"Protestant or Catholic?" Back to religious horror (Catholic, but delving into the occult). In Wales! It's gorgeous!

#a dark song #movie funtime

[words-at-night]

#quotes #dark academia #wordsnquotes #beautiful quote #dark academism #beautiful words #dark aesthetic #quoteoftheday #book quote #spilled poem #self love #sad songs #sylvia plath #punk #poetry #live #lit #literature #life #love #moon poetry #midnight musings #moodboard #musings #music #makeup #sad notes #i have no words #spilled poetry #poetry spilled ink

[leehallfae]

“the secret is this: magic isn’t magic. / i can lay salt to stave off insanity, cruel spirits, / unwanted gods. but if i lay my hands on you, / will you falter? dissolve beneath my palms / and leave me gasping for air?”

— claire c. holland, “sophia: a dark song (2016),” i am not your final girl

#my reading #quote #poetry #words #claire c. holland #i am not your final girl #a dark song

[officialspec]

can i say something. for years i thought the joke of the song short skirt/long jacket by cake was that he wanted a woman who was hung like a horse. like i thought when he says jacket it was a last-second fakeout because he very obviously meant to say cock. and the rest of the things in the song were just her personality and interests. which were secondary to her awesome penis

#is anyone else doing this. or am i stupid #i didnt question it at all i thought that was just the obviously intended meaning of the song #and i was like damn this is pretty progressive for the 90s i wonder why no one talks about this song when theyre talking abt #popular songs about trans women at the time. i guess some of the stuff mentioned could potentially rub people the wrong way- #OH. SO IT WAS JUST ABOUT A WOMAN WHOIS PRAGMATIC AND BUSINESS CASUAL WITH IT. I SEE #EDIT THE LINE 'a voice that is dark like tinted glass' LIKE....U GET WHAT I MEAN

[skydalorian]

Pretty Horror for Halloween - A Dark Song (2014)

#a dark song #halloween #autumn #spooky #films #film #horror #horror films