Interview with Michael Herkes -The Glam Witch

Michael, we are pleased to be speaking with you today. Can you tell us a little bit about your journey and what led you to witchcraft and the occult?

I grew up with an innate fascination to serpents, the moon, and powerful feminine archetypes. This naturally led me to witches and the saturation of them in Hollywood as a kid. As I came into my pre-teens, I found books on witchcraft spirituality at the local shopping mall and library. It was through exploring these that I descended into the depths of occult practices and embraced my life as a full-fledged witch.

What does being a “Glam Witch” mean exactly? And, how did you come up with that name for yourself?

Well, I would say that it has several meanings. If you look at the word “glamour” itself, it means something entirely different today than it did when it originated. Glamour was essentially used as a word to represent a witch’s magic spell. It wasn’t until the late 1930s that it became associated with Hollywood culture and lavish luxury. In modern witchcraft, glamour is now aligned to magic that involves beauty and appearance. This is an application and is talked about in one chapter in the book. However, I see glamour as being the same thing as magic in the end.

Again, I grew up with a fascination in the feminine. I loved my glamorous Barbies, and immediately after High School I landed a job as lead photographer at the legendary Glamour Shots portrait studios. It was here that I really helped pull the confidence out of clients and transmuted it into art with the magic of an Olympus camera! So glamour, in all of its enchanting forms, is something that I have always took sanctuary in.
When I was trying to figure out a name for my practice anchored in the devotion of Lilith, I found myself flipping through old notes on her from my early days of research. I saw a quote from Doreen Valiente about Lilith being the dark “glamour of the moon.” This clicked for me and I ended up seeing “GLAM” as an acronym that would ultimately stand for what I now call the Great Lilithian Arcane Mysteries. So, on one hand a “Glam Witch” can be a witch that saturates themselves in aesthetics, but a “GLAM Witch” would essentially take this one step further and practices the version of Lilithian Witchcraft I have witch-crafted!

The GLAM Witch: A Magical Manifesto of Empowerment with the Great Lilithian Arcane Mysteries available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Witch Way Magazine’s website. Ask your local bookstore to carry the book!

Who is Lilith, and how did you begin to work with her?

There are a number of stories on Lilith, and most people know her for the most popular mythology of her as Adam’s first wife. Legend has it that prior to Eve, there was Lilith. She was created equal to Adam, from the earth, and refused to submit to him in all areas of life but predominately in their sexual affairs. So, she flew to the Red Sea and engulfed herself in a demonic orgy…subsequently being demonized from there on. It is from this that she has been elevated today as a poster-goddess of equality and feminism in the modern age.

However, her myths go further back to Sumerian times, and possibly older. It was there that she was a handmaiden to the goddess Inanna/Ishtar’s sacred sex temples and was a woman of the night. Her myths have evolved so much over time, staying alive while other entities died out thanks to the sheer fear that was placed upon her by the patriarchal society. So, she lived on and has since been reclaimed as an aspect of the Goddess in a variety of occult practices, yet she remains a bit of an enigma while being glorified in the slanderous mythologies created about her.

She first made herself known to me as a villain in a Buffy graphic novel as a kid. Once I started to explore modern witchcraft, I saw her name come up again and was intrigued. But there wasn’t a lot of information out there on her, and I was limited to the internet from 18 years ago. Everything categorized her as this horrific demon, so I ran for the hills. But she kept popping up and after a while I suspended my fear and slowly started to welcome her into my life and have since created my own personal tradition centered around her.

You’ve recently published your first book, on Lilithian Magick, tell us a little bit about your practice with her and how other can begin their own. Also, where can one purchase your book and what should be expected of its contents?

Yes, it is very exciting too! Not only is it my first published book as an author, but it is also Witch Way Magazine’s first-time publishing under the new imprint of Witch Way Publishing! The book was released on September 15th and is now available on Amazon in both a paperback and Kindle format.

My practice of Lilithian Witchcraft is solely anchored in self-love, self-care, and self-expression. If you look at her legends, Lilith has always remained true to herself. It really takes courage to do that today. In a world where many are suppressed, damned, and even murdered for being who they are, she is a potent and powerful source of energy for empowerment in our modern dark ages. I see her as the goddess of our generation, and it is up to us as a magical community to thrust her into the forefront if we are to expect any change.

Of course, my primary hope is that the book will inspire others to explore the magic of Lilith in her many shades of glamour, but I am also hopeful that others can use the book as an example for creating their own spiritual path. I find it so hard to define what a modern witch is these days, and a lot of that has to do with the eclectic style that many of us take. When it comes to building your own, it really comes down to suspending your own fear or cynicism about what kind of witch you “should” be and organically structuring your practice around what you are interested in. There aren’t that many dedicated books to Lilith, and there certainly weren’t when I was just starting out eighteen years ago. But I did research and never stopped digging. I coupled it with my witch studies and my meditations, rituals, etc. I trusted my gut, listened to my intuition, and slowly but surely my practice grew and blossomed into what it is today.

Michael debuting his book with the Witch Way Family (From Left: Kiki Dombrowski, Tonya Brown, and Fiona Horne) at HexFest 2019 in New Orleans, hosted by Brian Cain and Christian Day.

How can one incorporate Lilith in their daily lives with the use of modern everyday magick?

One of the best ways to invite Lilith into your daily life is with a little bit of mirror magic. In various legends, it is said that Lilith has dominion over mirrors…there are even some folklore that suggests mirrors were covered so that women would not look into them and get “possessed” by the sensual and confident effects of Lilith.

We all look in a mirror multiple times during the day. Often this is the first thing we do upon waking and we are all guilty of focusing on what we don’t like when we look at ourselves. We need to shift this thinking and start focusing on what we love about ourselves—and that is where Lilith can come in! As you gaze at your reflection close your eyes and call to Lilith asking that she may not only highlight your most magnetizing qualities and reflect them for the world to see, but also to show them to you too. An extra oomph would be to also make a mirror wash, which I give several recipes for in the book. This is a liquid agent that is infused with various herbs aligned with your intention (this might be rose for beauty and love, rosemary for cleansing, etc.) that is then rubbed into a reflect surface to enhance the reflection you want the world to see.

In the end, Lilith loves herself. She understands self-worth and the value of being true to who you are. Even if it comes down to something as quick as looking yourself in a mirror and saying a simple affirmation that aligns with that, it’s a great way to incorporate Lilith into your daily life.

Image of Michael’s shrine to Lilith.
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Website: www.theglamwitch.com
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