Cauldron Anthology - Blog

Issue 7 Submissions Open!

9/13/2018

Issue 7 submissions are now open! Our theme for this issue is Time's Up, and we will be focusing on the myths of Leda, Ahalya & Rindr. We are looking for submissions that focus on reclaiming power as well #metoo pieces. We can't wait to receive your work.

Submissions close November 9th, with the issue coming out by the end of that month.

Issue 6 - LGBTQIA+ Out Now!

9/4/2018

Dear Readers,

Cauldron Anthology is so proud to offer to you all Issue 6 - LGBTQA+ “Sappho, Inari Okami, & Ardhanarishvara”. We started curating this issue in July during Pride Month because we wanted to do a special issue merging mythology with current day issues, and I’m so pleased with how this issue turned out. We have love poems, we have the roar of pride, we have tales of becoming who you knew you were always meant to be, and so much more.

I sincerely hope that you all enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together. I would like to thank each and every one of our contributors; your work has been such a joy to read. I would like to thank all of our readers for the unwavering support you have given to Cauldron Anthology. And of course I would like to thank the entirety of my staff for their dedicated work.

I hope this issue inspires you all!

Abigail Pearson,
Editor-in-Chief

Open publication - Free publishing

Issue 6 Playlist

8/8/2018

Submissions will be closing next week on the 15th, but we are still hoping that a few more people will submit to us!
So today we're sharing Issue 6's playlist. We've tried to find as many queer anthems as we could, but if you have any suggestions for us please leave a comment and we'll add more songs.
You can find the playlist here.

Editor's Thoughts - Abigail Pearson

7/31/2018

Sappho

Like the very gods in my sight is he who
sits where he can look in your eyes, who listens
close to you, to hear the soft voice, its sweetness
murmur in love and

laughter, all for him. But it breaks my spirit;
underneath my breast all the heart is shaken.
Let me only glance where you are, the voice dies,
I can say nothing,

Like the very gods by Sappho

This issue’s themes are very special to me, because as a bisexual woman I am always looking for queer themed prose and poetry and art. So it’s very exciting for to be writing out my thoughts on this theme and to hopefully be inspiring someone to submit to us.
Sappho was a woman who lived in Ancient Greece, she was a poet but she was also supposedly a lesbian. When I did some research into her life I found out that her sexuality is debated about by some scholars, which is frustrating but such is life. Apparently some of this debate is around the fact that not all of the lovers she refers to in her poems are females, but for some reason the fact that she could have been bisexual doesn’t seem to enter into the minds of ‘’scholars’’. Another thing I find to be frustrating is it seems to me that the only people debating her sexuality are cis straight males.
Whether she was gay or bi, it doesn’t really matter to me much. What matters to me are her poems and the eloquence in them. What matters to me is that we can still read the musings and words of a woman who loved women. This matters. It matters because representation for the lesbian community matters. Because we all matter.
Sappho was an amazing poet, her words are thrilling to read even today. I hope that you all are inspired by them and write your own poems dedicated to love of all genders.

Editor's Thoughts Lauren Walsburg

7/30/2018

Inari Okami: The Fox Who Crosses Boundaries

Inari Okami has been depicted as male, female, and androgynous. In this issue, I want to see writing that breaks down gender barriers.

The figure of Inari Okami is often linked to the fox, or kitsune. Foxes symbolise the cunning trickster. They are generally not malicious, but rather must use their intelligence to become the victor of their conflict.

In terms of this issue, I see the fox as being the figure who uses its knowledge to cross boundaries and educate others about the importance of being true to oneself. This issue is a celebration of the LGBTQA+ community. I can’t wait to see what you all come up with.

Editor's Thoughts: Grant Pearson

7/25/2018

Ardhanarishvara

In Hindu mythology, Ardhanarishvara embodies all that is both male and female into a single form. The supreme god of creation, Shiva combines with his lover, Parvati, the mother goddess of nurturing, to create an androgynous being that manifests both of their strengths. This form is particularly inspiring to the LGBTQ community – and especially those who identify as nonbinary -- because this implies the strengths of males and females should be mixed and inseparable. Neither can be isolated from the other because they are strongest together.

As Ardhanarishvara, there is no male or female. They simply exist as the supreme being of creation, power, and love. They combine the stereotypically male attributes of power and authority with the stereotypically female attributes of empathy and care to create the ultimate embodiment of balance. How can strength be used to the benefit of all without empathy for all? How can creative energy be put into an effective form without care and patience for the final outcome? How can a ruler be deemed good without love for their subjects? Wouldn’t the best leader be the one who acts as both mother and father, as both god and goddess?

The point of all this is to say: the older I get and the more I involve myself in the LGBTQ community, the more I hope we all reach a point when we are able to assimilate ourselves into the same form as Ardhanarishvara, as both male and female, as both creator and nurturer, and as both leader and lover, because what could be more powerful than that?

Issue 5: Seer - Out Now!

7/13/2018

Issue 5: Seer is now officially out and published! I (Abigail) apologize for the delay in this issue, but I am so proud and excited to share it with you now. Thank you to all of my staff for all their work. Thank you to all who submitted and for all the lovely work we are showcasing this issue. And of course thank you to all of our readers. I hope you all enjoy!

Open publication - Free publishing

Submissions For Issue 6 - Open Now!

6/15/2018

From today until August 15th our submissions are now open again!

Issue 6 is a special issue celebrating Pride Month and we will be looking for submissions only from people who identify somewhere on the LGBTQA+ spectrum. Our theme inspirations are Sappho, Ardhanarishvara and Inari Okami.

Check out our submission guidelines and we look forward to receiving your work!

Submissions Closed for Issue 5 - Seer

6/3/2018

Thank you to everyone who has submitted over the last few months! The editors and I are so excited to buckle down and start preparing this next issue. We've received so much diverse and amazing work and we can't wait to share it with you all.

We will be announcing the themes for Issue 6 on June 15th.

Editor's Thoughts - Abigail Pearson

5/28/2018

Jezebel - Is There More To Her Story?

What do you think of when you hear the name Jezebel?
Have you heard the name before? Does it conjure up images of sex workers in ancient times, of lewd paganism and scheming women?

If you’re like me it’s the images above, or at least that’s what it was until I did more research on the woman from the book of Kings in the Bible. I knew there was more to her story, I had just never taken the time to look.Because Jezebel is, in my opinion, just one more example were the mythology has been changed over the years.

Once you look at her story more closely you see another classic example of people blaming the woman for negative outcomes, when there’s very little proof she was the heart of the problem. When looking at stories like Jezebel’s, one wonders where were the other people in the story? 1 Kings 18:4 says she was killing prophets, but obviously she wasn’t the king, so where was her husband? What was he doing? One also has to ask the questions of why was she doing this? Where they a threat to her life? No one takes the time to stop and ask. There are no answers to be found that are not given to us by men who want to paint her as the bad guy. What are your answers to this question? Why do you think Jezebel does the things she does?

Jezebel has come to be synonyms with prostitutes, but again there’s no actual evidence that Jezebel cheated on her husband or was a sex worker. So why have Biblical scholars ignored this and changed her character? Why do you think she’s so negatively portrayed?

It is interesting to note that the Bible treats Jezebel much worse than any of the Jewish texts do. While in the bible she is carefully never called queen, Jewish texts do give her title and even mention some of the more positive work she did. Why is there this difference in the texts? How do you feel like her story should be written?

I hope one, or all of these questions inspires you all to submit to us today!