Dear readers,
Feel the earth beneath your feet. Let your mind drift away from the mundane. Breathe in the dirt, the leaves, the pollen, the breeze. Feel the sun on your face and remember your childhood wonder; the smell of grass, the feeling of dewdrops soaking through to your knees. Let the physical world speak to you. Its crickets, its birdsong, its whispers, its creaks. Give yourself space to listen; to close your eyes and give in to the moment. You are a child of earth. Your heart belongs with the river and the wild. We all spring to life on this blue sphere together. Our time here is magic. And we hope that you feel its enchantment as you read.
Spells and stories have always mattered to us deeply, and so it feels fitting that our first venture into running an indie publication would find itself at the intersection of both. Because the truth is, they are much the same, spells and stories. Each requires a conjuring of things that weren’t there before. Each relies on words in order to exist. And even when the case is a piece of art or a photo that one can only look at, the speaking happens from the art to the soul, sometimes in a way that can’t be made tangible, but that doesn’t make its communiqué any less real.
This edition, with all its earthen verses, is a meditation on those intersections. The creators included within these pages took our “Terra” prompt and ran in so many different, and beautiful, directions with it. They explored how frozen or broken earth can be deep metaphors for family and buried pasts. They took ancient goddesses of woodland and moon as muses and explored how they could shape their own stories differently from the way the likes of men have mutated them to the public consciousness. Fae folk and burning fires and water spirits abound, all tying back to the open hearted theme of how the natural world is our inherent and collective home.
The essence of life is explored in the margins of these verses, and we could not be more thrilled that these authors and artists have chosen to share with you their tales of heartbreak and hopes. It is our intention as editors, that you may find yourselves in these stories, may see glimpses of dreams yet to be fulfilled, and may answer lingering questions from past wounds. Get lost in these stories of the earth, so that you may find yourself anew.
Magically Yours,
El and C.
Editors and Co-Founders of Elixir Verse Press
Elixir Verse Equinox: Terra Verses will be available everywhere March 19th, 2024
In our first issue, we are proud to present the works of the following artists and authors.
Writers
A.J.M. Aldrian • Caroline Ashley • James Bosley • C. Brennecke • Audrey T. Carroll • Elayna Mae Darcy • Sean Hanrahan • Maggie Nerz Iribarne • Elizabeth Kerlikowske • Neethu Krishnan • Aimee Lowenstern • Ashling Meehan-Fanning • Dora Morrigan • Christopher R. Muscato • Charlotte Amelia Poe • Christina Rosso • Lorraine Schein • Sarena Tien • Odi Welter • Claudia Wysocky
Artists
Lee Allane • C. Brennecke • Elayna Mae Darcy • Aaron Lelito • Anne Wheeler
Guest Editor
Christina Rosso
Editors
C. Brennecke • Elayna Mae Darcy
This Letter From the Editors was first published on the blog for Elixir Verse Press, an alchemical indie publisher, and home of the Elixir Verse Equinox literary magazine.
Elayna Musings 