Witchbody
a rambling & poetic autoethnography of western occult magic as a pathway for environmental learning & advocacy
March 2019, Weiser Books
2016-2018, Self-published
The first graphic novel of its kind, Witchbody is a meandering synthesis of autoethnography, magic theory, and philosophical speculation. It is full of wonder at what it can mean to learn and teach and change and grow in this world which belongs to all of us: you, me, plants, trees, coffee cups and garbage bins. What can it mean to be a witch today, in the city?
“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.”
I wanted to make something that was an exhale containing my soul, and so I decided to make a comic book about magic. Magic is my lifeblood, it is my lens, it is how I feel and interact with others. It is all of those things, and more. This book is an illustrated essay about how techniques of magic can re-orient the practitioner to see non-human bodies and relationships in different ways.
Part activist, part academic, part rant, part poetry, part magic: all illustrated.
My practices as an illustrator, writer, and witch are all intermingling, entangled. These creative processes are my way of working out similar things using different methods and media, but the creative fire that emerges comes from the same inspiration and intuition. I want to help push forward conversations about magic, life, death, change, transformation, environment, learning, growing.
I want to help us see our own stories, and to encourage the writing of new ones
“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 for all readers but especially for the modern witch.”
I created this book to be a talisman.
Will you accept its invitation?
Please contact your local book shops, boutiques, and witchy stores and suggest they stock it, if they aren’t already! This does so much to help support me as an artist and creator. Generally, though, Witchbody should be readily available wherever books are sold.
Weiser Books released a little e-reader sampler of Witchbody! You can check this out by clicking here.
If you’ve read Witchbody and liked it, please consider writing an Amazon review, and share the book with your friends!
If you’d like me to speak at your shop, host a workshop, book launch, etc, please be in touch! I’d love to collaborate and would be happy to get to know your community.
If you’re interested in purchasing original artwork from Witchbody, please be in touch with The Beguiling.
“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 and 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.”
Witchbody has been featured in university courses at the University of Toronto, Concordia University, Mount Holyoke College, and more.
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A few words on Witchbody’s history
I self published four risograph print editions of Witchbody (300, 600, 600, and 1100, respectively) from October 2016 - May 2018. The first two printings I did were with Perfectly Acceptable Press out of Chicago, and the last two were crafted by Vide Press in Toronto. This self-published edition, which you see here in the above plant-filled images by Stella Grob, was also nominated for the Doug Wright Awards in 2017. Witchbody was rereleased by Weiser Books in March 2019.
No mass publisher is able to print risograph. I knew I would have to give up this medium for my book to reach a bigger audience. It was a hard decision, since risograph was crucial for me - conceptually - in ensuring Witchbody echoed its content within its form.
Risograph ink never really dries. While it will never get on your clothes, after extended reading you may find your fingers stained just slightly, and on each creamy page, if you look closely, you’ll be able to see fingerprints (inky, yours): barely noticeable. This book is about objects. It is about how the world pushes back on us, how it shapes our bodies, creates our forms, curates our creations.
A book printed in risograph will show you your relationship to it, where you have touched it and where you have been. It will draw your attention to the marks you are always making. It will show you that it can mark you, too.
I do still have some copies left from Witchbody’s final risograph printing. If you are interested in purchasing one of these rare self published editions and exploring the experience I originally intended for this book, please send my assistant an email - hello@sabrinamscott.com