7 Days of Witches- 4. If She Ain't, She Ought to Be

Today we have a double feature- two women. And three of my favorite topics- stories, quilting, and magick.

I read The Color Purple when I was about 16. The book had a profound impact on my views about spirituality. The part I most connected with was towards the end about 'getting the old man off your eyeball' because that isn't god. I had always thought religion was something that had to be done in church. I had never thought about living mundane life in a spiritual way. I love this book and I talked about it non-stop for weeks after reading it. My best friend thought I was stupid because the book isn't a religious text, it's fiction and oh yeah, I'm white.

But still, I love it, I love the movie too, and I am delighted when it comes on television. Sometimes, Alice Walker's work appears in my life, almost as if she is giving me a message when I need it most. She popped up often in college. I am always thrilled to see her. Then one day, I found a very thick quilt book in the library called A Communion of Spirits. And there was Alice Walker with a purple quilt that she made when writing The Color Purple. She said she couldn't have written the book if she had been working on a brown quilt.

Do you know what this means? This is stitch magic bringing dream into manifest form. If you need a better picture of how it works, think of a woman sitting by the fire weaving cloth, spinning, or sewing. Her children are gathered around her and as she sews, she tells stories. Her work gets done, her children learn, and when the textile is finished, all the little stories are woven into the threads and cannot be separated again.

So I found out one of my favorite writers is a quilter, which thrilled me to no end. But then! I found her connection to this woman:

Zora Neale Hurston was the first Black woman to be published in America. That alone is an amazing feat. But Zora is rather special because her connection to HooDoo. Alice Walker pretended to be Zora's niece in order to find Zora's grave. You might not think it's a big deal, who cares where anyone is buried, but HooDoo practitioners often gather graveyard dirt from the grave of person they believe can help them. The locals were not keen on anyone bothering Zora. And the story I heard is Alice went to the cemetery, called Zora's name, and waited for a sign. Summoning spirits, just like witches do!

I have to mention now, as far as I know, Alice Walker has NEVER claimed to be a witch. But there is no doubt, she's got power.