Call for Entries: Lilith Devotional

Anya Kless is currently compiling a devotional to Lilith for Knickerbocker Circus. If you work with Lilith or know someone who does please repost this or send your submission to anyakless@gmail.com

This project aims to honor Lilith by recognizing Her many facets and faces, both historically and in modern practice. She is the untamed feminine, the wise counselor, the grieving mother, the shifting hermaphrodite, the first woman, and the sacred dominatrix. Perhaps because of Her complexity, it seems that She is making her presence known to more and more unsuspecting folk in recent years.

The first chapter of the book will attempt to collect and organize references to Lilith in various cultural lore and practice (Mesopotamia, Sumeria, Judaism, Kabbalah, folk tradition, and modern Western occultism). The majority of the book, however, will consist of devotional material and reflections from those who have experienced Her.

I am currently accepting rituals, poems, essays, songs, and other original material for this volume. The book already has a publisher (Knickerbocker Circus Press) and should be available in the early part of 2010. Please email questions and submissions to anyakless@gmail.com

Submission Deadline: December 1st

Interview #10 Emily Poole

What was your experience like with TBW?

I must say when Katelan first asked me to do the project I was a little scared. I’m so used to the one behind the camera that I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this assignment.  I waited a long time before I even started the project….almost down to the last week we were supposed to submit the work. But in the end I am so glad I did it. Once I got my idea in my head and did not think about it I actually had a lot of fun with this project. And I would do it again in a heartbeat. J

What was the inspiration for your images?

Pressure was part of my decision. With only one week left to gather my images, I tried a variety of shots within my apartment but nothing was coming out how I wanted it. So I decided not to use a camera but instead use a scanner. I had an idea that was floating around in my mind and I was never really sure how to translate it to an image. I found that the scanner did just that.  Using the scanner I was able to get that specific emotion that I had crammed up in my mind.

What did you learn about yourself from the experience?

I learned that exposing my self to the rest of the world is not so hard.  It was nerve racking and uncomfortable for me to do this. I’ve taken several self-portraits in my lifetime but I’ve never showed them to anyone.  I never wanted anyone to see me in that light. I also felt more comfortable photographing some else. Never myself. But after doing this project I feel more at ease and will most likely do it again.

Do you feel you are in the same state of mind as when you started?

Although I still am apprehensive about doing a self portrait… I feel like its not so bad and that I will do it again.  I’m more comfortable with who I am, where I feel that in any light, good or bad sometimes its ok to expose that to others.  I’m a little more relaxed and confident.

What advice would you give to those wanting to take their own portraits?

Have fun! Don’t think about it…too much.  Don’t doubt yourself…. try it out first before you make a judgment because you might be surprised with what you find.  And eat a cookie while you work and listen to some good music. J

background:

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Sun Sign: Gemini

Virtue: caring for others

Vice: wish I were more open with others….and cookies…lots of cookies. J

Secret Self Esteem Booster: music and the early morning hours of the day.

What Inspires You: helping those in need whatever the circumstance.

Playlist (give 5-10 songs on your ipod):

“One Way to Fall”—Yo La Tengo

“Esma Yalli”—Hakim

“Friends from Rio”—-Escravos De jo

“Arrival in Benaras” —-Ustad Vilayat Khan

“Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt”—The Mars Volta

“Hawaiian Cowboy”—Ol K. Brights Hollywaiians

“Six Days”——DJ Shadow

“Apache”—-The Incredible Bongo Band

“Off Duty Trip”—The Raincoats

“Wicked World”—-Black Sabbath

 

Movers & Shakers

Big things are happening here at They Be We.  The Knickerbocker Circus crew got together tonight for a VERY serious meeting involving photo booths.  And no I'm not talking about the photo booth that comes with your macbook.  We're talking make a face, 5 seconds flash, change pose, photo booths.  The kind where you have to wait for 5 minutes before that glorious black and white strip comes from the magical clicking machine.  Oh yes my friends, those photo booths.

As our daily hits grow it is my plan to move this blog over to the Knickerbocker Circus website.  We'll have one blog for the Circus events and one blog for They Be We.  As a whole it makes things easier and I don't have to cross-post as much.  Exciting times indeed.  We will also be offering downloadable pdfs of The They Be We posters below and our very own Knickerbocker Circus posters as well as media kits for TBW & K.C.  Also look out for in depth blogs on how to start your own TBW book and collective. 

I leave you now with a picture snapped at tonight meeting at the "fighting brothers" Indian restaurant.  It's not really called that but the name suits the place

x to the o,

Katelan



Yes I'm wearing clothes and no I'm not part of a bad 80's video.

TBW Vlog by Amanda K. Campbell

"They Be We" - AKC Vlog 7-18-2009 from Amanda K. Campbell on Vimeo.

Interview #9 Aemen Bell

What was your experience like with TBW?

Katelan is very supportive, fun and easygoing yet sharp as a whip! I love doing work with women like this, it is always an opportunity to exercise being part of a team with my own gender, rather than this false sense of competetion that women supposedly have with each other. I choose to live in a world where women are my sisters, supporting me and I them, so this project fits right in with my vision.

What was the inspiration for your images?

Myths and dreams. Stories I know, or think I know. Animals, creatures with souls that speak a diferent language than you or I were taught.
What could I do with that? Hold them in my arms for just long enough, let them crawl on my face, sparkle them with my eyes.
What did you learn about yourself from the experience?

Props, they help me succeed in life. I'm very shy, but give me a prop like a wig or a snake or a glass eye, and I am a star. I was trying to be too honest, peeking out from behind my mask too often. Props, that is what I learned. Don't wait until it is too late to learn about props.

Do you feel you are in the same state of mind as when you started?

No, absoulutely not. This has been the hardest, yet most beneficial year of my adult life. This is the year when I am becoming a Woman, instead of a little girl. I decided to move out of the house I shared with my long term boyfriend in March. I really love him and miss him, but out of kindness he would still be my crutch if I lived there, so, even through the sometimes dreadful pain, I am glad to be getting on my own two feet. When I took the photos in They Be We, I was still in that home. I think my photos reflect this, an in-between state that I was in when I took them. I was believing I was leaving my world of illusion, and was actually diving deeper. But I had to get to the bottom of the ocean, the place closest to drowning, in order to get to where I am now. I still don't have my head above water, that is, in a state of absolute reality, but I'm going in the right direction now, toward the sun.

What advice would you give to those wanting to take their own portraits?

Get a remote control.
background:

Location: Bed Stuy

Sun Sign: Virgo!

Virtue: Moodiness is my virtue. And being very kind to the aged.

Vice: I will ignore all my friends and loved ones if I am reading a good book. What, you thought I was going to tell you a real naughty vice? Maybe next interview...

Secret Self Esteem Booster: Wearing exactly what I want to wear at all times, even if it's a pair of black jean shorts with a cut up cobwebby victorian skirt  draped around my neck as a shirt to work while I'm giving people herbal health advice. I find it's not just a self esteem booster, but it keeps me sane.

What Inspires You: People on the edge of their own creativity, pushing themselves past their comfort zones. Artists actually showing their work, proving that artists can also do business. Also artists who are keeping the drama in their art. You give us all hope. And of course, my dreams. A lot of the dolls and creatures are based  on my night dreams.

Playlist (give 5-10 songs on your ipod)

Anything by Snog but especially "Bourgeois", Ladyhawke "My Delirium", Natasha Atlas "Eye of the Duck", Daemonia Nymphe "Daemons", Sinead and Shane "Haunted by the Ghost". The video of that one... it's shocking.