I started to plan this event in July and finally the month of it is here. I’m thrilled to say the least. This isn’t just a few witches who happen to be authors getting together to read some of their work. It isn’t just a ritual gathering either. It feels like one of those moments where Spirit has been nudging and guiding me for a long time, and now all the pieces are finally showing up in the same place.
You see, Amanda and Patience, the two authors I’ll be sharing the space with, are also in recovery. And I’ll be bringing forward a talk that I’ve shared a few times before about the curse of addiction on witches. This is a talk where every time I’ve spoken it out loud, it hits people right in the chest. Because it’s true. And because it resonates in so many of our ancestral lines, it’s hard to deny.
Anyways…let me share a bit of how Spirit has brought this event together for us.
How Book Suey Found Me
This all started with a walk. Dan, my partner in life and in recovery, and I were visiting Passenger Recovery for the very first time. Afterward we decided to wander the streets of Hamtramck a bit. We’d only gone about a block when we spotted a bookstore. Of course we both wanted to step inside.
The place was called Book Suey, and right away I noticed something different about it. Their shelves weren’t just filled with bestsellers or whatever was trending. They were full of books from local authors. So naturally I asked, “How do you even get on these shelves?”
They told me that everything is curated by the co-op owners. That struck me. And then I asked another question, just curious, “What would it be like to hold an event here?”
Lo and behold, the answer was, “Super easy.” That was it. Cat, who helps run the space, lit up about my book and the whole witchy recovery vibe. In that moment I knew Spirit had led us straight to this door.
It would be the location of my very first local book event.
Amanda and the Book That Wouldn’t Let Me Go
Amanda’s story with me is just as Spirit-driven. I was wandering through a used bookstore in Cleveland one afternoon when I stumbled across her book. Something about it called to me. I took it home, started reading, and it was full of threads of addiction and recovery. The kind of threads you can only write if you’ve lived them.
By the end I was so moved I noticed she had actually left her email in the book. So I thought, why not? I wrote to her. One email turned into several. Eventually, the next time I was in Cleveland, we met up for coffee. And just like that, friendship. Not just because we shared the path of addiction and recovery, but because we shared magick too.
Amanda has become a dear friend over the last couple of years. So when I started dreaming up this event, of course she was one of the first people I thought of.
Spirit in the Crowd
Patience was brought into the circle in her own wild way. Cat had mentioned her name, so I’d sent a few messages, nothing too deep. Then one day I was at a local fair. It was shoulder-to-shoulder people, so crowded I could barely move. And out of all the thousands of people there, who do I literally bump into? Patience.
We laughed, hugged, and right then I knew we were meant to do this work together. Later, I found out that the day of Inked & Unbound just so happens to be her birthday. Of course it is. Spirit doesn’t just line things up, it winks while it’s doing it.
There was never a moment where I thought this event wouldn’t happen. Instead, I’ve just kept feeling Spirit’s hand in it. Every detail has unfolded like a blessing, over and over again.
The Curse of Addiction on Witches
Here’s what I mean when I say that. Many of us who are witches are born with this sensitivity. We’re tuned in. We feel the whispers of Spirit, the subtle shifts in nature, the messages from the other side. But when you don’t understand those gifts yet, when you don’t know what they mean, they don’t feel like gifts. They feel like too much.
And so many of us turned to something to numb it. Alcohol, drugs, sugar, codependency, overwork, whatever it was, we used it to quiet the overwhelm. That’s the curse.
But recovery teaches us the truth. Recovery helps us see that the very thing we thought was breaking us is actually the doorway to our magick. Sobriety doesn’t kill the gift. It sharpens it. It gives us the tools to hold it with reverence.
What I Hope People Feel
When folks walk into Book Suey that night, I want them to feel known. Even if they never say a word, I hope they feel seen. I hope they feel connected. I hope they leave with that little spark inside that says, “Maybe my story matters too.” Because storytelling is spellwork. Speaking aloud is magick. Listening is magick too.
Spirit Moves Movements
This gathering is part of something bigger than one night. The Sober Witch Life movement started because I saw recovery for what it really is: ritual. For witches in recovery, we needed a space where magick was not denied but honored. That has grown into circles, teachings, practices, and a community where recovery is not deprivation but rebirth.
And now The Sovereign Phoenix is rising. This isn’t just a community group. It’s a religious fellowship built to protect and nurture witches in recovery, especially those of us who are queer, neurodivergent, or carrying trauma. It’s about creating sacred ground where our rituals and our identities are recognized as holy.
The Real Magick
When I look at Inked & Unbound, I see Spirit’s fingerprints all over it. From wandering into Book Suey on a whim, to finding Amanda’s book on a shelf, to running into Patience in a sea of people, to discovering it’s her birthday — none of it was a coincidence.
This is how Spirit works. This is how the universe conspires. It brings us together in circles we didn’t even know we were forming until we are standing there inside them.
And that, to me, is the real magick.
Love and magick in recovery,
Sunshine
About Sunshine
Sunshine is a Psychic Medium, Soul Healer, Reiki Master, High Priestess and the pink-haired trailblazer behind The Sober Witch Life movement. As a recovering alcoholic and spiritual mentor, she helps witches in recovery rediscover their magick and align with their highest purpose.
Join the Sober Witch Life Movement at SoberWitch.life
Join the Free Weekly Recovery Circle for support and a community of sober witches
Join Witches in Recovery at the Awakening Hope New Orleans: March 2026
Get her book Sober Witch Life: A Magickal Guide to Recovery
