Hipster MAGE*

Hipster Mage* is the priest of bullshit. Combining her knowledge of Presbyterianism, Evangelicalism, Reiki, Wicca, Bodytalk, Dance, Yoga, Performance and Presence, Cat Attunement, Time Travel, Astral Projection, and Snarfding, Hipster Shaman will draw your demons out of you and cast them into the ground. Or maybe she’ll just pretend to.

* Hipster Mage was originally titled Hipster Shaman. By using the word “Shaman” in my character’s title, I did what so many white folks do when trying to connect with a sense of non-Christian spirituality: I used a word with a specific meaning as a catch-all for indigenous spiritual practices. The word “shaman” comes from the Tungusic-speaking indigenous folks from Siberia. It has a very specific cultural meaning. My use of the word “shaman” in this context was a gesture towards my romantic notion of “other” spirituality, and my desire to engage with religious practices other than the Presbyterian one I grew up in. I lumped all indigenous spiritual practices together, as if there was Judeo-Christian religion, and… everything else. In so doing, I acted in service of colonialism and racism.

I have changed the name to Hipster Mage. Mage comes from the Latin word “magus.” Magus is the word from which “magic” and “magician” derive. So a hipster mage is a way of saying hipster magician. Except when I think of a “magician” I think of GOB from Arrested Development. Hence, mage. The etymological lineage is more in line with my cultural and ancestral heritage. But this title may change in the future as well. As I learn how to be more truthful with my language, all the titles I use my change.

Here are two articles that I found to be useful:
Why I’m Not a Shaman, and Neither Are You, by Jai Medina
Six Reasons Why You Should Stop Using the Word Shaman by Julia Penelope

Performances

FringeArts Scratch Night
May 2014

My house, Kensington
June 2013