Getting Your Work into White Dragon

While many articles which are published are commissioned from known writers, WHITE DRAGON is always on the look-out for new talent. The main stipulation is that you must have some connection with Mercia , ie

•  you live or work in Mercia or,

•  you were born or have lived in Mercia and are currently living in exile.

Failing this you will have to convince the Editor that you deserve special treatment, such as being an expert on some vital subject relating to matters of Mercian interest and of relevance to the readers of WHITE DRAGON.

If all else fails, remember - the Editor is corruptible. Try buying me a pint.

To get a flavour of the sort of stuff which has been published in the past couple of years, take a look at The Dragon's Hoard - the online selection of articles which have appeared in past editions of the magazine. Those published during the past 5 years are a more reliable guide than older writing. Better still - subscribe ; WHITE DRAGON is continually evolving and you will have a better chance of having your work published if it meets the standards of, and fits in with, what is currently being published.

Basic Information

Articles should be from 2,500 - 6000 words (give or take). Longer articles can probably be accomodated by prior arrangement, i.e. I need to ensure that there is room to print all of your work. Alternatively, very long articles could be split over more than one edition of the magazine. A regular series of articles on a theme to run through several editions is also welcome.

If you can provide your own - great. If not, discuss with me what sort of artwork you think your article needs. I probably know an artist who can help.

Yes - I work to them. And you will need to as well if you are going to write for this magazine! Deadlines are effectively 5 - 6 weeks before the festival of publication, ie:

•  Samhain - 21 September

•  Imbolc - 21 December

•  Beltane - 21 March

•  Lughnasa - 21 June

(Slightly negotiable under certain circumstances - but don't bank on it)

Technical Information

ARTICLES

If you own an Apple Mac, then please email the article as an email message or as an ASCII file. If you own a PC then please email the article, or send a 3.5 inch floppy using one of the following formats:

•  MS Word (doc)

•  RTF (rtf)

If requested, please also send a hard copy of your work; it helps me reinstate your document formatting if it gets a bit lost in translation - and allows me to do scan it or do a retype if the worst comes to the worst!

Your floppy can be returned to you after use, but I can't guarantee its safety, so make sure you keep a copy for yourself!

If you don't have a computer, please type your work if possible. As a last resort, material submitted in best handwriting should be semi-legible to the moderately psychic.

Please supply in email or on floppy if possible as GIF, PCX, TIF or BMP files at 300dpi.

Otherwise send good, clean hard copy which can be scanned.

If your artwork uses shading, please use cross-hatching, stippling or some other similar technique. Unfortunately, due to the printing process used for the magazine, subtle pencil shading and suchlike does not reproduce very well. If in doubt, contact the Editor for guidance.

WHAT DOES WHITE DRAGON PUBLISH?

Take a look at the What is WHITE DRAGON section to get some idea of the range of material which is published in WHITE DRAGON . If you have an idea which falls outside of these guidelines please contact me - I can be convinced and bribed.

WHITE DRAGON exists, in essence, to widen the horizon of today's pagans. It seeks to get away from the same old stuff you've read in all the books and magazines - sweet little moon goddesses, healing "spells", how to see faeries, how to make a moon mirror or a herb pillow, twee invocations - into the realms of something approaching original thought. Dangerous, huh?

In recent years, White Dragon has established a reputation for critically examining the sacred cows of neo-paganism, including the use of chakras in modern pagan practice, the origins of wicca, the wheel of the year, "drawing down the moon" and the "wiccan rede", in order to shine a light onto them and their origins and foundations. Not everyone has welcomed the results ....

Magickal consciousness cannot be separated into neat little compartments for our convenience - or for the convenience of the writers of lucrative new age and neo-pagan books. In understanding by the individual and in the quality and depth of their magickal thought there is either growth or stagnation (and with stagnation inevitably decay). Growth and enhanced understanding ultimately come from the bringing together of elements which neo-paganism all too often separates and therefore weakens - and it shows! For example:-

An understanding and knowledge of folklore and traditional practices can feed into and inspire the creation and development of new rituals. We stand between the past and the future. We must transmit the experience of our ancestors to our children. The harnessing of the power of folk traditions serves to empower our rituals and practices.

Myth, ritual and storytelling are but three aspects of one reality and human experience; ritual is the enactment of myth in drama, storytelling recounts the myth in words. Without myth there is neither ritual nor storytelling.

The recent frontiers of earth mysteries research have moved into, a study of shamanic consciousness and its impact on the physical landscape created by our distant (and not so distant) pagan ancestors. This research has had, and will continue to have, profound consequences in the coming years on our understanding of ancient sites and on shamanic cultures.

ALL OF THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS ECLECTICISM. Eclecticism is about an easy and superficial approach to creaming off the glamorous bits of "esoteric" matters, before passing on to yet more easy and superficial aspects of other paths and "traditions".

The Editor is not a wiccan - you have been warned!

At present I am particularly interested in publishing good, well-researched articles on the subjects listed below. This is not a definitive list - merely ideas and a guide to the sort of things WD readers expect to read about. Or at least what they're going to get.

Animal folklore and mythology - articles on individual animals and birds such as: Wren, Toad, Horse, Owl, Badger, Stag, Otter, Bear and Fox.

Folklore and mythology of trees and plants – articles on mistletoe, the blackthorn, aconite, the cypress, the linden or lime tree, the elm

Sacred/Ancient landscapes and sites - articles on the following areas of Britain and Ireland covering archaeology, folklore, sites (including stone circles, standing stones, holy wells, ancient and other interesting carvings etc): Cumbria, Gloucestershire, Yorkshire, Orkney and Shetland, Peak District, The Scottish Borders, North Wales, the South Downs, Kerry/Dingle, Aberdeenshire, Anglesey etc.

Other Ancient landscapes and sites - articles on sites further afield, eg temples in Greece, megalithic sites in Galicia or ritual complexes in the Baltic states or central America.

Deities - in-depth articles on individual deities such as Aphrodite, Artemis, Astarte, Hecate, Odin and Hathor or on themes such as "Celtic horse Goddesses", "deities of the sea", "Gods of storm and tempest" or "deities of statecraft".

Anything else you think may be of interest. See the Dragon's Hoard for examples of the sort of thing which has been published in the recent past. Over the years White Dragon has included articles on subjects as diverse as The Lord of Misrule; White Animals in Myth and Folklore; Demon Lovers; Drawing Down the Moon (the classical origins); the ash, holly and hazel trees; rites of passage; the Myth and Folklore of Geese; Secret Cornwall; Initiation; Kali; Living Statues; Renaissance astrology and articles on Dartmoor, Pembrokeshire, Derbyshire and the neolithic sites of Brittany and Meath in Ireland.

I am still looking for definitive and well-researched articles on folk customs and traditions of the British Isles (including Ireland), magickal practice, sacred landscapes and consciousness, as well as aspects of wiccan/occult history and culture, "Qabala, Crowley 'n' Chaos", and anything else an enquiring mind may wish to know.

If you have an idea for an article, or wish to tackle one of the subjects on the above "wish-list", please email or phone the editor to discuss its suitability, the appropriate approach, scope, length, deadline etc. White Dragon thrives on a stance of originality and iconoclasm, so there's not a lot I won't publish.

Note: any points or claims you make must normally be substantiated by reference to academically or otherwise respectable sources. Old and out of date folklore is acceptable in the appropriate context (ie, be aware that it is not necessarily reliable but may illustrate how earlier generations of folklorists worked and thought). Don't even THINK of citing anything by Llewellyn (except in relation to ceremonial magick) or similar unless to discuss the shortcomings of such books.

NO THANKS!

Please DO NOT send us any fiction, poetry (except invocations which are an integral part of a published ritual), recipes, "Spells", or anything specifically "new age" (i.e. crystals, dolphins, Atlantis, chakras, "channelings" or bleedin' faeries). OK???

Payment - Not a cat in hell's chance. However, full length articles will earn the writer two copies of the edition in which the article appears and short articles/filler pieces one copy.

RIGHTS OVER YOUR WORK

In submitting your work to White Dragon you are confirming that it is your own original work. You will always retain the copyright in any work submitted to White Dragon .

White Dragon seeks first publication of any material submitted for consideration. If the work you are sending to us has previously been published elsewhere, please provide details of when and where it has been published so that we can assess it fully.