musical musings & more
I promised a ridiculous photo, and initially I put it at the end of this love letter (because I was self-conscious). Then I decided that starting at ridiculous is perfectly fine. Here you go:
It might be hard to find 10-year-old me under the wig and the makeup and the costume, but all four and a half feet are there.
Meanwhile, you have a few paragraphs to ponder which character I'm portraying in this image, while I share a little-known fact about me:
I like musicals.
Not all musicals, and maybe not even the genre. But certainly lots of musicals. And definitely plenty of respect for the live performers.
Hamilton is a recent favorite. But also some animated ones — yes, I like Frozen and its sequel. And Moana.
Much more than musicals, though, I like a lot of the source material. I love fairy tales, both as stories and as a genre.
Thinking about musicals and fairy tales brought me to a pretty obvious comparison:
The Little Mermaid – the Disney musical
vs the Hans Christian Andersen tale
The Disney production is fun, exciting, uplifting. I can dig it.
Whereas Andersen's tale is deep and spooky and joyful. And that's waaaaay more potent to me than the musical.
The Disney version is good entertainment. But the Andersen tale engages my mind and spirit much more. It explores the nature of the soul, the existence of the soul, the occurrences of the soul.
I want a space for the latter conversation. And that's exactly what The Spiral is for. In workshops, rituals, sound, moon circles, and more—all away from social media—we're gonna get deep and spooky and joyful.
Though of course, that accommodates space for memes, musical references, and other bombastic inspiration (such as the above photo).
But what excites me far more is to have conversations along the lines of the themes in the Andersen tale.
For example – I like the Andersen version way more than the Disney one. But I also disagree with some of the declarations about the soul.
And I'm open to changing my mind.
If you'd like more details about The Spiral, reply to this email and I'll send 'em your way. It's happening from fall equinox to winter solstice.
And if you haven't guessed the photo: Ursula.
Except rather than stealing your voice, I'm inviting you into a space that encourages you to amplify it to the world.
For all souls,
S.
—
Siderealchemy
she / they