Hello and Happy New Year!

On this first day of 2023, we have a symbolic blank page on which to write our hopes, fears, prayers, and creative energies. All of these create our experience of this new year. Today, I hope that you celebrate possibilities and empower yourself to attract them. This is that “manifesting” buzzword you hear so much in spiritual circles.

For me, it’s been another year of neglecting regular blog entries, but let’s get real: We all have too much to read and spend too much time anyway! I only want to write if I have something worthwhile to say to you. If you want the micro-blogging stuff, check out my Twitter @jgordonbramer.

I am astounded to say that 2022 is over. And I’ve done some things! Manifesting is real! The highlights are:

• A book contract and finalizing the manuscript for Tarot Life Lessons (formerly The Tarot Diaries) with Destiny Books, a subsidiary of Inner Traditions (and a publishing home to the tarot genius Alejandro Jodorowsky! So honored to share his label!). Release date should be announced VERY SOON. The cover is beautiful!
• A book contract for The Magician’s Girl: the history and mysticism of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, with Inner Traditions. The title could change, and it may be on another imprint of Inner Traditions–I’ll hear soon.
• In May 2022, I became the proud owner of Sylvia Plath’s (hand-carved by her) Hermetic Caduceus with provenance papers. Additionally, I’ve acquired a November 1952 photograph of Sylvia, autographed by her mother Aurelia to friend Richard Larschan and his wife, as well as a copy of the very rare “Last Encounters” memoir of Plath by neighbor Trevor Thomas, inscribed and signed by the author.  Many thanks to Richard Larschan for all of these things, but most of all, for his friendship!
• At the end of June, I lost my dear friend, literary mentor, writing teacher, surrogate father, and friend of Plath and Hughes’, Zulfikar Ghose. I’m not over it yet. I began writing him a memoriam, but nothing can do him justice. We shall see if I ever finish it.
• I toured Sylvia Plath’s childhood home in Wellesley, Massachusetts with the Larschans; I had a blast traipsing across Cape Cod with my friend Margaret following Plath and Hughes’ footsteps (if you’re going to the Cape, stay at Margaret’s beautiful historic Bursley Manor); and I had some time visiting family in both the Boston area and Ocean City, Maryland.
• I watched one of my besties and his wife, Garrett and Stacy Enloe, put out the coolest book ever about Mississippi Nights, of which I was honored to help with and even more honored to be in (along with Tom). I’m in for Night Times magazine, which started as a Mississippi Nights publication, and Tom is in the book with his old band Radio Iodine. Our 30-year-old pictures are in it too! Garrett and his work have reunited me with so many dear friends from the St. Louis scene and I’m so proud that his efforts have made it a best-seller in St. Louis this Christmas season.
• I fully immersed myself in a return to music and saw some great shows: The Cult with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club; Jack White; The Who; Jane’s Addiction and Smashing Pumpkins; Gin Blossoms; Local H; the Eagles—and those were just my favorites, there were others!
• Finally, I am going to have my own radio show on NewsTalkSTL 101.9 and 94.1 FM! I am still figuring out some of the details: studio time, who my producer will be, sponsorships and advertisers, etc. As soon as I have a start date, I will post it here. But I can tell you it is called Mystic Fix and the show will focus on mind-body-spirit topics–everything from yoga to Qabalah to the paranormal. Should be a lot of fun! If you have a business that wants to help support this program (and of course, get lots of publicity on STL’s fastest growing station) PLUS it’ll be podcast so all those outside of the area can hear at their leisure and ads will last in perpetuity–give me a holler and we will talk!

OK. Back to manifesting! Hope you have a fab 2023! xo

The post The End of An Exciting Year; The Beginning of Even More appeared first on Julia Gordon-Bramer.

Bringing this back to me, I think of the TV show I almost had and what a gift it was that it fell apart. I also remember reading on their website that they wanted character over substance—spiritual teachings don’t sell a series. If I’d been character enough for them, I would have likely been made a fool.

I think now about some relationships and other opportunities I have pursued, only to later learn of someone’s true character or to understand that I was not dreaming big enough when I tried to make something happen. I think of books I tried hard to publish; either they weren’t ready, or it wasn’t the right time. I think of how I might have destroyed myself in so many ways, like I was a toddler, playing with a big, sharp knife, and Mom snatched it away as I cried. I am protected.

This was a rough summer for me, which is why you haven’t heard much. Part of it was good news: I have been getting up at 6 a.m. and typing until 9:00 p.m. to finalize my manuscript The Magician’s Girl: the history and mysticism of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes (forthcoming with Inner Traditions). In June, my husband had knee surgery that had some complications. My mother was in a car accident, and my mother-in-law started chemo. I lost my beloved mentor, Zulfikar Ghose, to cancer, and I had to put down my ancient little cat, Mimi (over 20 years old!). All while reading tarot cards for my clients, attending weddings, and traveling. Whew.

I am just back from a fantastic trip to Boston and Cape Cod, where I walked through the private residence that was Sylvia Plath’s childhood home, toured the town of Wellesley, and spent a great deal of time with a friend of the Plath family. Then, I saw Cape Cod by land and sea, stepping back to the 1950s writers’ scene and taking in that incredibly varied landscape. I have an essay coming out in the next Plath Profiles about touring the house, and I will be writing up something about Cape Cod soon. I will post links when they’re published.

I’m sorry to have been gone from the blog so long, but I had to make my work priority, and I feel good about that. I hope your summer was fantastic. More soon. xo

The post What We Think We Want appeared first on Julia Gordon-Bramer.

Hello! It’s been an exciting January as I have found my momentum for so many things again. I think the cold weather keeps me in at the computer and has energized me as of late. I’ve had a busy week or so expanding this website to include my poetic interpretations of Sylvia Plath’s early poems in the new “Decoding Sylvia Plath” section. If you’re into Plath—or poetry—and want to understand how she built her skills in multiple meanings, here is your place. If you’re not, just hang out on this side of the website. J

Some have asked where I have been concerning my Plath scholarship. Well, I decided long ago that I would not kiss up to the hierarchy regarding the traditional, close-minded thinking that Plath’s work is only autobiography. This thinking has improved somewhat since Heather Clark’s recent biography, Red Comet. Eventually, the world will start to catch up. Of course, right now, my work makes academics cringe. First off, the current Plath scholars dominating the scene are predominantly not creative people who do not understand what is possible within a poem. Secondly, they are mostly not spiritual people, so they miss so much symbolism and structure. Plath scholars, by and large, are so entrenched in their tunnel vision and navel-gazing that they’re unable to see beyond themselves. My findings challenge their very careers. It stands that for this reason, I will be ignored on every level because I don’t support their work. That said, I’ve made a few enemies. Ha ha.

As you here reading know, I have my own career, in addition to scholarship. Because I do not need to depend on my Plath work to make a living, I have decided to give much of it away right here.

A few of you have asked about my book projects that, for a while, I promoted heavily and then went silent over. I’ll catch you up:

The Magician’s Girl, a biography of the mysticism of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, is complete in its first draft. Still, I have wanted to edit it down because, as it stands now, it’s around 1,000 pages without the bibliography. Now, given Red Comet far surpassed that number of pages and is successful, I don’t know… maybe I should try to publish it as is. I wanted to see if Red Comet would reveal some of my findings, but it mainly supports my work (in some exciting ways, I might add). I am glad I waited until after its release because I think the general consciousness around Plath and reading her work as one-dimensional autobiography is gradually evolving.

The Decoding Sylvia Plath series—ah, this one is where I let the ball drop. I had huge ambitions of publishing two books a quarter. The truth is, it is just too much work as I am also a very busy tarot card reader working seven days a week (and often nights too). More is to come, probably around the poems “Ariel” and “Cut” next. The other trick is getting my husband Tom to find the time to lay it all out. It is a significant endeavor. But the scholarship work is done.

Fixed Stars Govern a Life, volume TWO—what happened to volume two, you ask? I stopped at the first 22 poems in volume one! FSGL volume one was published (and I use that term loosely) by Stephen F. Austin State University Press in 2017. They did such a poor job, and it was an experience I would not wish on my worst enemy. I did get the rights back to my book and have intentions to publish a FSGL volume two eventually. It is half-written with all the findings. It’s just a matter of finding more time, and maybe a new publisher… or laying this one out and publishing it myself. If you’re interested in FSGL volume one, which is now out of print, send me an email, and I can hook you up with a PDF for just $5.

Sylvia Plath: The Early Poems—this is the good news. This is what I am giving away here on the Decoding Sylvia Plath page. The 1956 poems are currently up. Over the next few months, I will post my analyses of Plath’s poetry through 1962. It’s exciting stuff, as I have known for years that Plath wrote “news poems,” but it wasn’t until The Letters of Sylvia Plath came out that I was able to find a specific reference Plath made to this in a letter to her mother. (That quote is on the main Decoding Sylvia Plath page of this website.

What else?

I’ve also got a number of my creative writing projects going, which I will fill you in on as I have more news.

A Heads up: This website will soon be redesigned, as my pictures are old and technology has improved vastly since this first went live.

The post Plath Work, Web Work (Updates) appeared first on Julia Gordon-Bramer.

I’m currently fascinated by a new book, called The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. It’s not a spiritual book. Rather, it is based on the psychology of Alfred Adler, a contemporary of Jung and Freud. It’s about abandoning the Punishment-Reward system, how systems of competition and comparison create unhappiness, and how when we look to others for any kind of approval or validation we essentially destroy ourselves. There is no freedom or creativity seeking kudos. Also, both praise and condemnation are manipulative and keep people down. It also talks about the real happiness found in contributing beyond self-importance. It explains a lot of the misery in this ego-chasing world. It made me see that I am doing a lot right… and I am doing a lot wrong. There is always room to grow.

A vital takeaway I get from this book is that if you are disliked by some people, you are doing some things right. You are not kissing ass, you’re thinking and creating originally. When your intentions are toward improving this world, you can only be a positive force.  It’s very hard, especially for women, who are traditionally raised as people-pleasers. And most everyone wants to be liked.

One of the things I have been doing right, although it may not look right from the outside, is to focus this past year on myself as a human being, rather than a human doing. I recently took stock of a lot of my old articles and posts. In some posts early in 2018, I proclaimed the various projects I would have complete. Well, I decided on self-care instead. I’ve spent much more time in meditation each day, in working with spiritual teachers,  and also in getting into better physical shape. I put two writing projects on hold for different reasons (I held up The Magician’s Girl to go over the two volumes of The Letters of Sylvia Plath first and see if they would add valuable information to my work, and they did; and Night Times–a project I am holding until I finish my tarot book to submit both to a potentially interested agent). I had worked myself to near-exhaustion getting two Decoding Sylvia Plath books out at the end of last year on top of the tarot holiday season, and I thought, “Who am I doing this for?” The next Decoding book will come out when I feel like it.  I have some other projects taking precedence, and that “one book a quarter” goal was biting off more than I could chew.

I doubled my rates this year, as many of you know, and that did not change much with regard to free time to write. This year, after lots of thought, I am going to reserve writing time and simply not be available for tarot seven days a week, 16 hours a day, which is pretty much how it has been. I will probably write every morning; exact hours are yet to be decided. I have been decreasing my Facebook and Twitter time, but not enough, and I will cut more of that because I simply get nothing done when I “keep up” on social networking. While I see the value of it, it is mostly not a productive way for me to spend my time. I am also spending more time with friends, doing coffees, lunches, and walks as the mood strikes me. Freedom and creativity go hand and hand, and one feeds the other. Plus, life is to be lived.

After my recent visit to the 97.1 FM Dave Glover Show to read tarot on the air (see last blog post or my Media page for videos), I scanned the Facebook comments on their page. Most were positive, and the gang said that the phones lit up the whole time I was on and they want me back as a regular. That could not be more wonderful news. But of course, there were those few haters, people saying things like “DGS is going downhill,” mocking the tarot, and accusing me of witchcraft (ha). A few years back, I might have been hurt by these remarks, or wanted to defend myself, or tried to convince the nonbelievers. I have learned mainly from my academic life that there will be those who just aren’t worth the effort. In the same way that the majority of academia is unable to view the subject of my scholarship, Sylvia Plath, outside of their hysterical madwoman mold, there are always going to be those that point at me and call me names. And that’s OK because that means I’m doing something, and others are appreciating it. Even if it’s not everyone.

Sylvia Plath was pretty unhappy with the Punishment-Reward system, although she excelled at it, winning many awards, scholarships, and respect. It killed her, in fact. To operate in that world wasn’t the truth of her, as she was a fellow mystic with wild, new, incantatory verse with a multitude of images and meanings going well beyond her personal autobiography. Plath might have chosen to stay within the constructs of what was expected in her early 1960s literary world and to just write nice poems.  But she didn’t. In the end, in the Ariel poems, she found the courage to be disliked, however, I think she sat on the fence and did not fully surrender to it, shifting her weight back and forth from free creativity to the world’s harsh expectations. To this day, Plath remains the butt of suicide and insanity jokes and is not seen for a fraction of her genius by a close-minded, still paternalistic, incredibly repressed, pseudo-intellectual world.  I see now that I’m lucky they never liked me. I have greater vision and understanding, I’ll never be in their old world mold, and I’m helping people every day. These are the people I like, and they seem to like me too.

I’ll be back on the Dave Glover Show Wednesday, April 3rd at 5 pm c.s.t. This time they’ve promised I can do free readings for those who call in. The phone number is 314-241-9797. I hope to hear from you!

The post The Courage to Be Disliked appeared first on Julia Gordon-Bramer.

I’m still going to publish my book reviews on the books Plath read, and other Plathy pieces, but I’ll probably keep them short and the main text will be on Academia.edu.

I don’t want to do another tarot blog, but I may put links here to other tarot articles, interviews, and projects I am doing.

To show you that I have not just been wasting time on Facebook, here is a bit of catching up:

Radio interviews–

On February 19th, I was on Brandon Vogt’s radio show on KKOB Albuquerque, talking tarot and Plath. You can hear it here. (Scroll down in podcast links until you find me).

On February 28th, I was on Michael Vara’s Latenight in the Midlands show, which can be heard here. Be prepared, they had me on for over two hours(!). I talked Plath, tarot, and did more than a solid hour of free readings for listeners. If you want to hear what I sound like and how a tarot reading with me works, this is the recording to listen to. Michael Vara is a doll and said he wants to bring me back soon. Here’s hoping I have enough voice to do it again.

On March 1, I was on Mary Jane Popp’s radio show on OK Sacramento. I don’t have a recording of that one, unfortunately. I absolutely loved Mary Jane and there is talk of me returning to her show again sometime soon as well.

Public Events–

On February 25th, I worked the “Open Your Heart” Gala for Animals, a fundraiser for the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation. It was a beautiful event with beautiful people, and I am honored to have been a part of it.

Publications–

Sylvia Plath’s #MeToo Stories– This article got picked up by Ms. Magazine! Here I explore where Plath was victimized, as she wrote it in her journals and in The Bell Jar. This wasn’t an easy piece to write as I began to explore the gray areas, and also situations where Plath might have been called a kind of predator herself. And isn’t that confusion at the root of this whole problem?

Reaching Across Generations of Women: Louisa May Alcott’s Impact on Sylvia Plath – This is actually excerpted from my forthcoming book, The Magician’s Girl. I want to get the information out to audiences beyond Plath fans. Plath was touched by so many great writers, and I think it all really started with Louisa May Alcott.

On a related note, the next Plath Profiles has accepted my article on George Eliot’s Middlemarch and that book’s impact on Sylvia Plath. I’ll have a link to that when it goes live.

I’ve started writing for the website Medium, which is a fantastic site for searchable short pieces on specialized subjects. My topics (for now) are personal growth, Sylvia Plath, tarot and spirituality.

Here are some of my latest pieces on Medium:

Ten Signs You Picked A Bad Publisher – This article took me almost five years to write. As I told a friend on Facebook, if I had written it sooner it would have read like continuous screaming. My husband Tom thinks I went too easy on them, but he witnessed all the tears and frustration first-hand. There were other publishing nightmares I could have included from other book projects, but I thought I’d focus on the main one. Perhaps another article is ahead about all the dropped contracts and publishers making passes at me. But I’m not ready to return to those nightmares just yet. Let’s just say it’s all a fantastic argument for self-publishing.

Unfriended, Friends, and Unfriended Again – How the return of old boyfriends on Facebook taught me who I was and am today. This essay got personal, but these were important relationships that taught me a lot.  Some of the lessons were good, and some were not so good. Names have been changed to protect the guilty! This article also touches on my forthcoming memoir, Night Times, mentioned below, because all of my writing projects seem to be related somehow!

The Books–

I’m LATE on my goal of getting a new Decoding Sylvia Plath book out each quarter. Truth is, I’m still writing it. You can see from everything above that I’ve been busy, and I’m still also actively promoting the first books, getting them in with distributors, wholesalers, libraries and schools. It’s a LOT of work. The next book, Decoding Sylvia Plath’s “Cut,” will hopefully be out by May. I’m not going to kill myself because I want it to be done well, and to write it with joy. Positive energy, you know?

This is the year I am going to publish The Magician’s Girl. I just got the rights for the fabulous photo on my cover. While the book has been written and edited for over a year, now that the new letters are out, I want to go over everything with a fine tooth comb and be sure to include any new details. So this book will probably be ready closer to the end of the year–especially as Volume II of the letters is expected out this year as well. It’s a lot of reading!

AND this is the year I am publishing my memoir of running an alternative rock zine as a single mother in 1990s St. Louis. It’s called Night Times. I’ve got a couple of early readers going over it now. After that it will be edited and should be out this summer. Woo-hoo! This is the book that has had three different contracts which all fell through for various painful reasons. I finished the first draft well over ten years ago. It sat in a drawer for many years when I found the Plath work and began to put all my energy there. Over this last couple years I have had fun rewriting and revising it, playing with the structure. This is what I did with every issue of Night Times, so the adventurous form feels true, and it’s been a blast to work on. I can’t wait to give it to the world, and as the 1990s are becoming hip again, the time is right.

Future book—

I have a lot of journaled pieces about tarot readings with clients and at events that I am considering pulling together for a Confessions of a Tarot Card Reader memoir. Names will be changed to respect my clients’ privacy, of course. Trust me, there are some good stories here.

Onward!

The post Catching Up and Returning to Myself appeared first on Julia Gordon-Bramer.