About
Writing about the sacred, banal, and strange world of working bodies, productive rituals, and labour in all its egregorian forms.
For the tired global worker trapped between a data centre and some guy named Faust's nightmare, this place is for you. A resting spot for thinking intelligently and honestly about the philosophy, art, history, magic, witchcraft, and horror of work.
We are interested in the egregore — the collective thought-form that accumulates in every institution, every office, every shift. The spirit that nobody summoned and nobody can dismiss. We are interested in the witch who refused, the guild that organised, the worker who hexed the boss and the one who prayed to the machine.
We are not optimistic. We are not pessimistic. We are attentive.
Editorial voice
We write in the tradition of the long-form essay — the kind that takes its time, that circles its subject, that admits uncertainty. We are not interested in takes. We are interested in thinking.
Our scope is deliberately wide: philosophy, art history, occult history, labour history, film criticism, literary criticism. What holds it together is the subject — work, in all its forms, from the sacred to the banal to the genuinely strange.
We publish slowly. We edit carefully. We do not chase the news cycle. If a piece is not ready, it waits.
Contributors
Occult Labor is written by a loose collective of critics, academics, practitioners, and workers. Contributors are identified by initials only. We believe the work should speak before the name.
Submissions
We accept unsolicited pitches. We are looking for essays of 2,000–6,000 words on any subject within our scope: the philosophy, art, history, magic, witchcraft, or horror of work. We respond to every pitch, though not always quickly.
Send a brief description of your piece and a sample of your writing to the address below. We do not require a completed draft.
[email protected]