Alright. I've had enough people ask me about when preorders for the Field Guide are gonna start that I finally decided hell with it--let's make 'em happen now! Tomorrow's the Monday after a nice 4-day weekend, I don't wanna go back to work, there's snow outside--I'm going to do something fun something good to start the week off with. So here it is!

For those who don't know, A Field Guide to Otherkin is my forthcoming book on the Otherkin subculture, and it will be published by Immanion Press/Megalithica Books. The Otherkin community is a small but growing subculture of people who identify in some way--spiritually, metaphorically, etc.--as Other than human. Some resonate with dragons, while others believe they were elves in another life, and still others identify as wolves, great cats, and other animals.

Of course, this all may seem a little odd to those who aren't Otherkin. What do Otherkin believe? Why do we believe these things? How does being Otherkin affect how we relate to the world around us--and ourselves? A Field Guide to Otherkin offers answers straight from over 100 survey respondents, collected by me, and elaborated upon by me.

A Field Guide to Otherkin is designed to inform both Otherkin and non-Otherkin about the community and the people and beliefs that create it. Rather than being a collection of statistics, it is a look into the lives of Otherkin, qualitative rather than quantitative. It's written by a wolf therianthrope for the Otherkin community, as well as those who aren't a part of the community but are curious anyway.

A Field Guide to Otherkin is due out in March 2007--which, depending on publication schedule, could mean early March or late March. The cover price will be $21.99. While Immanion/Megalithica is a UK-based publisher, we do have a U.S. based printer (as well as one in the U.K.). That means no huge expensive shipping costs within the U.S., just the usual domestic post office rates. U.S. customers have the option of either priority mail or media mail by way of the United States Post Office; everyone else will be shipped air mail. (If you're in the U.K., Immanion/Megalithica will have preorders at a later date--they won't be signed because they won't come with me, but they'll be shipped from Stafford, which will be lower shipping for you.)

All copies ordered from me will be personally signed; if you want something special or want it signed to someone specific, please make a note with your payment. You can order via Paypal via the website, or email me at chaohippie (at) excite.com if you need to pay via check or money order, though Paypal is preferred.

And, as an added bonus, since we've got the Yule-flavored holidays coming up, if you want to preorder a copy for someone, I'm making a little printable preorder gift certificate that'll basically say "Hey! This person has preordered A Field Guide to Otherkin for you for Xmas/Yule/Festivus/etc.!" I'll email it to you and you can either forward it on to the person, or print it out and give it to them on the holiday itself--of course, they'll have to wait til the book comes out, but in the meantime it gives them something to look forward to. Do please give me the information for the recipient, though, since I am going to be maintaining a database of all preorders.

Finally, speaking of preorders, we are still taking preorders for a couple of other books.

The first one is Taylor Ellwood's () Inner Alchemy. The body is the most important magical tool you have--here's how to fine tune it! From working with body fluids in ritual, to DNA magic, to working with your neurotransmitters as spirit guides and much more, Inner Alchemy is designed to help you connect with your body like never before. It follows in Taylor's tradition of charting unexplored realms of magic, and is due out in December of 2006--click here for preorder info!

Also due out next month is Nicholas Graham's The Four Powers. It may seem a little surprising for us to be publishing a beginner's manual--but this one is unlike any other out there. Nick not only explains the different models and paradigms of magic, but presents the reader with a number of practical exercises based largely in Chaos magic. The book is designed to help the seeker figure out where to focus hir practice--after all, there are a LOT of options out there, and it can be overwhelming! However, those who have been practicing within a single paradigm for a while will also find it useful in determining where best to branch out and explore. And, best of all, unlike a lot of introductory manuals, this one is written without that annoying condescending tone and watered-down material tha tmany 101 books have. The Four Powers includes solid, practical information to help you find the beginning of your path--click here to find out more!

BTW, if you know anyone interested in any of these, please feel free to pass a link to this public post on to them. I'm primarily keeping this to my own journals; I'm not going to put anything on any communities/etc. myself til the Field Guide is actually out.

Thanks :) And now back to your regularly scheduled Lupabitchin'.

Another good review for Gathering the Magic: Creating 21st Century Esoteric Groups by Nick Farrell, reviewed by Daven's Journal (which, BTW, if you've never visited there, do so--excellent resource, reviews and all :)

The only thing I want to note is that the book IS easily obtainable in the U.S., and the shipping costs are NOT international--we have printers in both the U.K. and the U.S., so when you order in the U.S., it ships from the U.S., either UPS or USPS. Also, it is available on Amazon, and the shipping is no more than any other book they sell.

But I do agree with him on the cover.

The Power of Animals: An Ethnography by Brian Morris

Okay, yes, this book is on my list of the Ten Most Unappreciated Books Related to Animal Magic, and I did use it as a source for Fang and Fur, Blood and Bone.

However, there's a huge difference for me between reading a book for research, and reading it for pleasure. So this time I decided to read it just for the fun of it, and rediscovered a lot of good material.

Brian Morris spent a number of years living among the indigenous people of Malawi in southeast Africa. His focus in this, and a companion volume that I'll be reading soon, "Animals and Ancestors: An Ethnography", is the relationship between the various cultures in Malawi, and the native fauna. "The Power of Animals" specifically focuses on relatively more mundane aspects, such as the hunt and other everyday interactions with animals, as well as touching on moeity in relation to animal-symbolized clans.

The book is divided up into four primary chapters. The first goes into great detail about the basic social structure common in Malawi cultures, and describes its matrilineal nature. Central to this structure is the sedentary village-based lifestyle that primarily involves women, children, and elders, and the mature men who are considered outsiders, and who may have several families in several villages among whom they divide their time. This segues into the next chapter which goes into greater detail on hunting traditions. Not only are older traditions covered, but the changes wrought by European invasion and the rise of capitolism, as well as the overhunting of wildlife by European hunters and the ivory trade in general, are examined as well. Folk classifications make up the third chapter. The taxonomy of animals in Malawi is quite different from Eurocentric taxonomy, and the differences in relationship between humans and animals is made quite clear per culture in this respect. Finally, there's a chapter dealing specifically with the attitudes the Malawi tribes have towards animals, based upon the research done in the previous three chapters.

This is an incredible look at one particular set of cultures' views towards animals, and nature in general. The difference in worldview between these people, and people in post-industrial countries, is at times astounding. Reading this also reminded me of the detachment that American culture has from nature in general. For instance, Morris pinpointed the erroneous argument that meat-eating, and the pleasure derived thereof, is primarily a Caucasian corruption, by exploring the eagerness to procure meat that the people around him studied. Additionally, Morris is careful to point out that his research was done in the field, while digging mice up or otherwise participating in day to day activities with his "subhects of study", and his close relationship shows in his work, which lacks the detachment, Eurocentricism and condescension often found on anthropological work.

The writing is quite academic, and those who aren't used to this style of writing may take a bit to get used to it. However, it is far from being a dry read, and once I got into the rhythm of Morris' writing style I really enjoyed myself. I will say there are a number of typos and grammatical errors, but content-wise this book is excellent.

This truly is a wonderful look at a very complex series of human-animal attitudes. I highly recommend it to anyone who has gotten the basics of neopagan totemism and wants to start studying traditional relationships with animals. Totemism is a spiritual pursuit today, but its roots are in the everyday interactions with wildlife, as well as the maintenance of the social structure. I'm looking forward to reading "Animals and Ancestors" to see what the rest of his research on this says.

Just what I need--more diversions. Ah, well.

I'm not as active over here as I am on my Livejournal, but I'll try and crosspost some things here.

Anyway, a quick bit about me.

I'm 28, live in Seattle, and am married to my friend and fellow author, Taylor Ellwood. We have a cat named Sun Ce, a lizard named Tatzelwurm, and too many books and art supplies.

I am a pagan and an experimental magician. My beliefs run towards animism and pantheism, along with a lot of psychology. My magical practice tends towards the weird--I'd as soon evoke pop culture entities as ancient gods, and I like pushing the limits of magic to see where it goes.

I'm also a pagan/occult nonfiction author. My first book, Fang and Fur, Blood and Bone: A Primal Guide to Animal Magic, is what happened when I got tired of looking for books on animal magic that weren't just totem animal dictionaries trying to be "Animal-Speak". My current works in progress are A Field Guide to Otherkin (March 2007), and Kink Magic: Sex Magic Beyond Vanilla, cowritten with Taylor Ellwood (2007).

You can see my website at the Green Wolf.

That's me in brief; any questions? Just ask :)