Rx of Enchantment, prescribed by the Doctors of Carterhaugh

I love the work being done by Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. Ah, I knew them when they were young poetesses of Goblin Fruit Magazine and Mythic Delirium.

And now, behold them!

Brittany Warman, Sara Cleto: the Good Doctors of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic

They’re still poets. But now they’re also DOCTORS OF FOLKLORE! They have an incredible Patreon (with monthly book clubs and fairy tale salons!), a great Facebook community, and lively presences elsewhere on social media.

Right now, the Doctors of Carterhaugh (that’s what I always call them in my head, because it’s so FANCY, and I think Janet from Tam Lin would get a kick out of it)) are ramping up for a course called ENCHANT, which they’ve been preparing for about 4 years.

And one of the lovely, community-driven things they are doing this week, for those who cannot afford the course fees for Enchant, is running a 3-day “Everyday Magic Challenge” on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I SIGNED UP! I’m on a writing retreat this week, so I thought, why not?

And I not only signed up, I’ve been participating. I’ve done the first two so far, showing up on Crowdcast at the appointed hour and hurling myself into the chat–and I’m looking forward to Friday, which I’m promised will be “whimsical.”

I wanted to share a few of my responses to the “Everyday Magic Challenge” so far, with a likely follow-up on Friday, but first I wanted to tell you about the “Enchant” course coming up, because Carterhaugh School’s early-bird pricing ends Friday, and I didn’t want you to miss it.

If the course sounds like something you’d like, but you’re feeling shy, I just want to tell you: the community I’ve seen this week is so stellar, so generous, so hungry to share and participate, to be helpful, and so willing to be vulnerable for the sake of beauty and renewal.

My husband and I look with admiration and awe upon the deep work with fairy tales the Doctors of Carterhaugh are constantly doing, the many ways in which they do outreach, and the fact that, a few years out of grad school (or “PhD college,” as I called it the other day, much to Carlos’s amusement), they have a thriving small business doing exactly what they love, working hard to add petals to the flower of a life worth living.

Quickly, I’ll tell you the bullet points about their “Enchant” course. But you can read more about it at their website! All the lectures will be pre-recorded, so you can take them at your own pace, but once a week, they’ll have a community chat in person, so you’ll be able to share your experience and ask questions.

If you can’t do the course now, a great way to find out all about their new projects–and free things, like this “Everyday Magic Challenge” is to sign up for their awesome newsletter!

Man, I love newsletters. They’re the LiveJournal of our Roaring Twenties.

About “Enchant”

An empowering five-week course that uses fairy tales, folklore, and a dash of science to help you unlock the magic that can exist in your everyday life.A reminder that enchantment is always at your fingertips through small actions and habits.A powerful way to counter burnout.Brittany Warman and Sara Cleto, the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic

EVERYDAY MAGIC CHALLENGE – DAY 1 THREAD

Challenge #1: What is the fairy tale of your life? Journal on this prompt for a few minutes. What fairy tale calls to you? What tale motifs seem to pop up in your life? Which character do you most identify with?

Tell us a bit about your journaling on this thread!

I had an interesting and introspective time journaling/poem-ing to the prompt. My life didn’t pop out as one single fairy tale to me, but the scattered iconography and archetypes across a dozen random ones kept blitzing through my mind.

I kept thinking about one of us saying, she’s left the form of Cinderella behind, and taken on the form of Cinderella’s godmother. And thinking… we need more middle-aged heroes of folklore. All those beginnings, just going into the woods. All the elders are witches or queens.

The poem’s in no shape to share, but maybe these lines:

“I take the gown of nettle cloth I wove myself
and feel its luster
Oh, to bind me to my shape
Oh, to keep me in my skin
Oh, a nettle cloth to keep my pigeon wings in.”

And:

“I have spat my ring in his soup.
I have worn the skins of my dead.
I have danced in my day. I have danced.
And yes, when the sun is red,
I still wear ribbons.”

EVERYDAY MAGIC CHALLENGE – DAY 2 THREAD

Challenge #2: What is your soul outfit? What favorite pieces of clothing do you put on when you want to feel most like yourself? What accessory lights you up? Today (or tomorrow!), dress so that your childhood self would think you’re the coolest person they ever saw.

Tell us a bit about your outfit in this thread (we’d love to see pictures!)

I am currently cat-sitting in Western Massachusetts, and have a very slim wardrobe to pick from. That said, I remember thinking, as I was packing, what would be both comfortable and feel the most like me, as I take this time as a writing retreat. I brought along a few “normal“ clothes, specifically for traveling and/or hiking. The rest are chemises, short bodices, or simple dresses that, for one reason or another, make me feel lovely and at ease in myself.

Similarly, I only packed one small bag of jewelry. Why? I almost didn’t. I usually pack my jewelry in a travel bag, but I found the black velvet bag appealing this time. I chose just a few pieces that would go with most of whatever I brought. I didn’t know we would be taking this challenge. Very few people will be seeing me in person at all over the next week.

I was just in pajamas today, my hair in a side braid, uncombed. And I thought, I will put off this challenge until tomorrow, when I feel less weary and sore. But then, I thought… that’s the point of the challenge. To do the enchantment FIRST, and THEN let it work its magic on the weary soreness. 

To that end, I actually unpacked all my clothes (I hadn’t yet; I was digging them out grumpily from the suitcase. It’s funny; in a hotel, I ALWAYS unpack all my clothes immediately), and hung them up, and looked at them. And then thought about what felt right today, when I don’t really want any, ahem, you know, undergarments, or things tugging or lolloping or catching. 

So I came up with this outfit I’m calling “Verde que te quiero verde” after the Lorca poem, which is a green chemise (from Holy Clothing, I think, but this one is no longer in stock. There are others though), and a new short bodice in recycled sari silk I got from a vendor called Oh,Jessa! at GenCon. 

When I was choosing jewelry, I found a pair of golden tree earrings from my lovely friend Jess, a piece of amber from my friend Stephanie, and an amber choker recently given to me by my sister in law.

I wrote a fairy tale poem once called “Three Fancies from the Infernal Garden” with this line in it: “piece of amber / copper pot / the north wind tucked up in a knot.“ Wearing amber always puts me in mind of it.

Rapunzel-like, I let down my hair. But I’m fighting a headache today, so I didn’t want to do anything fancy. A black bandana seemed to pick up the interesting pattern on the bodice.

That, with my meteorite-metal wedding band (my husband & I write SFF, so of course we needed outer space wedding rings), and the ouroboros ring that came in a set of two by artist Crystal Hartman, of which I wear the silver and my husband the bronze, my outfit is complete. For you all. And for me. 

I have to say, this exercise gave me a strong memory of the year in Chicago when I put all my stuff in storage and lived with different friends for a whole year, trying to save to move. I lived out of a suitcase, wearing the same clothes for months.

And then I started dreaming of the apocalypse, where everyone in the world died, and I could go into any store I wanted and take whatever clothes I wanted. I told this to my friend, and she said it was time to go to my storage unite and swap out for new clothes.

So we did. And the dreams stopped.

You can see, dear readers, this has been a fruitful week already. I wish the same for you. And I am so happy to introduce you to the Doctors of Carterhaugh and their thoughtful and moving work.

Yours truly,

C. S. E. Cooney