This weekend marks the first anniversary of the “Spellbook Saturday” series, and at the time I wrote, “One of the unexpected joys of starting Hedge Witch Botanicals over a year ago has been the community that I have encountered. I love seeing herbalists recommending resources, witches discussing activism, and people sharing in knowledge and experiences. With sharing in mind, and a love of the written word, I’m happy to introduce a new (definitely recurring, likely not weekly) feature I’m calling Spellbook Saturday. In this context, a ‘spellbook’ doesn’t have to be a tome of magical incantations, but a book that has enchanted, impacted, or influenced me in some way, leaving me spellbound.”
Since then my business has grown and my community has expanded in such unexpected and beautiful ways. It has been catalyzing and transformative and challenging as hell, exploring this path, and one spellbook I have very much appreciated throughout this journey has been Jennifer Armbrust’s Proposals for the Feminine Economy.
Regular readers may remember I’ve discussed (bastardized?) Armbrust’s work before in the context of a commitment to radical self-care and the current pandemic, but Proposals has been something of an inspiration for some time. Armbrust’s “work explores the collisions and collusions of art, business, gender, embodiment and economics.” Part manifesto, part art publication, Proposals asks, “If Capitalism is an economy that values masculine traits, what could another economy look like?”
With her “12 Principles for Prototyping a Feminist Business,” Armbrust offers readers a path to explore the institutionalization of empathy, connection with the earth, and the embodiment of our values. “As entrepreneurs, we have the opportunity to agitate the current social, political & economic order by experimenting with new business models that honor our values, our humanity, and the earth. A feminist business can model new ways of living, working and being together. This is about transforming our relationship to money, to work, to the earth, to our bodies, and to each other. This is about redistributing power & resources, based on feminine principles. This is about radical social transformation. This is about making the world we want to live in.”
As an ardent feminist, a queer woman, and a business owner, exploring such questions has been formative to the growth of Hedge Witch Botanicals. How can I support myself as I strive for sustainability, connection, and a positive impact through my work? I highly recommend this book to fellow business owners, feminists, or those asking themselves similar questions, particularly as we imagine a new, post-pandemic future.
Interested in a sample of Armbrust’s work? Check out the video below, then shop Sister for Proposals for the Feminine Economy.
Past Recommendations
Spellbook Saturday: The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec
I mentioned in a recent #spellbooksaturday feature that I am making a conscious effort to read more fiction, and I’ve been reading a fair number of “witchy” novels in recent months, including… The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ Oddny and Gunnhild meet as children in tenth century Norway,…
Spellbook Saturday: Banned Books Week Edition
This #spellbooksaturday is going to be a bit different than my past reading recommendations, as it falls on Let Freedom Read Day, the final day of Banned Books Week! Rather like witch hunts, book banning seeks to destroy and diminish that which doesn’t fall within a myopic worldview, and with the unprecedented surge in local…
Spellbook Saturday: Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
I mentioned in my last #spellbooksaturday feature that I am making a conscious effort to read more fiction, and I’ve been reading a fair number of “witchy” novels in recent months, including… Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ In this “bewitching” (The New York Times Book Review) novel that traces a centuries-old…
