Wonder Weirdness Witchcraft 1: Beginnings
Alex Morabito
@Alex_Morabito
IG: @wonderweirdnesswitchcraft
Wonder Weirdness Witchcraft is an A5 full colour zine about witchcraft.
I feel like I should premise this review with a note about how my thoughts on this zine may be biased in regards to my excitement about learning about witchcraft. I’m coming from a place of very little knowledge and perhaps had expectations of this being a zine I could learn more from.
Wonder Weirdness Witchcraft starts off with a brief intro to the zine and Alex’s plans for the zine as a series. Of all the intros I’ve read in zines, this one was very interesting. I got the impression that Alex is someone who is used to introducing what they do rather than who they are.
Don’t get me wrong – I liked reading about Alex’s plans for the zine and the social media presence they have built up under the name. But it took me a moment to realise that – besides a name and a picture – you don’t really get to Alex the person. That information might be easily available elsewhere, but I like to look at a zine in and of itself.
This isn’t a huge issue in and of itself, but with witchcraft, I think it would be good to know more about Alex (within the zine itself) before casting spells they recommend.
Unfortunately, I was left with a lot more questions than answers in the rest of the zine as well – even down to simple questions like why Alex chose to share a particular spell.
It’s certainly not Alex’s fault nor mine – Alex assumes a level of knowledge and I assumed a level of teaching. Still, I feel that making that assumption on the part of the reader means it closes itself off to readers who are interested but don’t fit the bill.
Wonder Weirdness Witchcraft is definitely pretty to look at with leaves and feathers alongside sketches used. I would have said that this would be fine in black and white, but the use of colour definitely helps add dimension to those things so you can tell that real things were used in making this zine.
As far as contact details go, Alex certainly has it covered with everything from Instagram to YouTube. While it doesn’t have anything to do with the zine or witchcraft, it could be worth checking out in regards to building a ‘presence’ online.
This zine is very possibly a good, fun zine for a knowledgeable witch but probably not the best starting point for those who aren’t familiar or for ‘witchlings’.