Lisa Marie Basile

Lisa Marie Basile

Bio

Lisa Marie Basile is the founding creative director of Luna Luna Magazine--a popular magazine focused on literature, magical living, and identity. She is the author of "Light Magic for Dark Times," a modern collection of inspired rituals and daily practices, as well as "The Magical Writing Grimoire: Use the Word as Your Wand for Magic, Manifestation & Ritual." She can be found writing about trauma recovery, writing as a healing tool, chronic illness, everyday magic, and poetry. She's written for The New York Times, Refinery 29, Self, Chakrubs, Marie Claire, Narratively, Catapult, Sabat Magazine, Healthline, Bust, Hello Giggles, Grimoire Magazine, and more. Lisa Marie has taught writing and ritual workshops at HausWitch in Salem, MA, Manhattanville College, and Pace University. She earned a Masters's degree in Writing from The New School and studied literature and psychology as an undergraduate at Pace University.

Lisa Marie Basile Articles

Whenever a thought pops up into my mind, I stop, assess it, and then talk it off its ledge. Imagine doing this 50 times a day — it gets tiring.

The Invisible Life Of Having High-Functioning Anxiety 

Anxiety disorders — PTSD, OCD, and Panic Disorder, to name a few — are the most common mental illnesses in the United States, with about 18% of the population struggling with one. No one wants to be put on blast for their weaknesses or wiring issues. I just wish there was a way to better understand the silent majority — the people who suffer every day.

Read...
Image courtesy of Lisa Marie Basile

A Guide For Witches & Writers: The Magical Writing Grimoire

The Magical Writing Grimoire is a book of inclusive and accessible rituals and writing prompts for anyone who feels called to using words as a source of healing, empowerment, joy, generativity, and self-exploration. Read...
You’re a body of magic. (Photo by Ryan Moreno on Unsplash)

Gratitude Magic

Remember that your body is you, it is not separate. Treat it, yourself, with love. You’re a body of magic.

Read...
I was consistently pondering this emptiness inside me.

Everything I've Learned About Living With Abandonment Issues

I grew up knowing my family always had its very own black cloud. Like a backyard pet that comes and goes when it pleases, a room locked but filled with things we weren’t allowed to look at or set free. And it was all passed down to me like some broken heirloom — my ancestor’s weaknesses and fears, swirled into DNA’s mad ritual. Does the body sometimes take into itself — take from its creators — what it cannot heal from? Sometimes, yes.

Read...
Have the awkward conversation. Fight for your friendship if it’s worth fighting for.

My Wealthy Friend: I Love You, But You’re Hurting Me

It’s Monday, 6 a.m. and Sarah, 30, wakes up — as she does five days a week (but really, it’s seven, because the body is a fickle thing).

Read...
My personal goal was always to help writers tap into bigger social and cultural issues through their work — not to peddle exploitative shock-factor trash.

Navigating The Ethics Of Editing Personal Essays 

The fact of the matter is that content mills are dangerous and personal essays are a different beast. And there’s a vast level of discrepancy between a phone-it-in XYZ — and a Here’s What It Feels Like piece and other essays, where the language sings and the story is backed up by reportage. I’m aware of this. But there is also a middle ground.

Read...
Do we all care deeply what others think? And is it total bullshit when someone says they don’t?

What’s Not Said: When People Either Love Or Hate You

In this column, I talk about things other people think or say, but not out loud, and certainly not in public. No one wants to say, “People either love me or hate me” because it sounds ridiculous and arrogant and icky.

Read...
One person can’t hold up the weight of another at all times. It’s especially difficult in situations of role reversal, like with parents and kids.

What's Not Said: When Your Parents Take A Toll On Your Health

It can really take a toll on you when you have to parent a parent.

Read...
I’m in this strange place where I have close friends, many acquaintances, and only now am I figuring out what is important to me.

What’s Not Said: It’s So Hard To Make New Friends

The older we get, the harder it is to make close friends.

Read...