Glamourbombing

All right, fine. I'll admit it. I'll come clean. It's something I've always done, here and there, since learning of it many years ago, but these days has become a strong part of my identity, for many reasons. I think it always will be. I can admit that, too. Deep breaths, now...

Hello, my name is Kirryn, and I'm a long-time glamourbomber.

("Hi Kirryn!")

What is glamourbombing?

Very briefly, a glamourbomb is an action, nine times out of ten unexpected, that raises the awareness of magic in the world, usually subtly. Glamourbombing can be a physical action you undertake (casually wearing a pair of wings with your everyday clothes), or involve crafting (leaving "business cards" from faerie companies around where random passersby might find them). It is an attempt to raise the ambient levels of magic and dream in the world around you, and to provoke curiousity in that -- precisely what the fae call glamour (completely different from Hollywood glamour, I might add). A little mischievous, a little mysterious, a lot wonderful.

Contrary to some people's statements, it did not originate in the otherkin community and is not the sole province of otherkin. For more information on how glamourbombing as a term came about, you can read the explanation given by the owner of the mailing list that the term first appeared on, who does not identify as otherkin (although there were otherkin members of said mailing list).

Let's Get Personal.

What is the objective of glamourbombing for me?

Sparking wonder, creating mystery, fostering that little thrill that runs through the belly when someone believes -- even for just the whisper of a second -- that magic is real, and is happening to them, or around them, or within their line of sight. As said in the Glamour Bombing Community Homepage's FAQ, "[t]he purpose of glamourbombing on a larger scale is to help lift the veil of illusion that causes most people to see the world (and themselves) as limited and ordinary." My goal when I set up a glamourbomb is for that wonder to exist, even if it's only for a millisecond. After all, milliseconds add up.

But on the other hand, yes, I think it actually is (on some level, at least) "freaking the mundanes". Or more accurately (and usefully), mildly startling them. Because sometimes, the soft jolt of being surprised at something can open doors in someone's mind...and once that happens, they're no longer mundane. Those who don't believe in magic are mundane; as the phrase goes: No magic -- know Veil. Know magic -- no Veil. They are no lesser than those who do, and I don't think we should use that term disparagingly or as a slur, because it's quite useful, really. Mundanity is not a permanent or default state

What is glamourbombing not, to me?

We could be here all day listing what something isn't, but for brevity's sake:

"A form of poetic terrorism". Mostly because I'm not sure anyone -- not even Hakim Bey himself, be well in the West -- knows what poetic terrorism actually is. He seemed to meant for it to be seen through an anarchist lens, rather than a glamour-based one, and anarchists themselves still aren't wholly sure what he meant it to be . (In very base, literal form, I suppose we can say that "'Poetic Terrorism' is the name of a prose piece written by Hakim Bey, featured in his 1985 publication T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism.") Glamourbombing, for me, is not any form of terrorism, because it's not meant to invoke terror in any form. If you're terrorising someone, you're not glamourbombing. (You're probably just being a pain in the ass, truth be told.)

The sole province of those who are spiritual or 'other'. I believe anyone, of any faith, or any identity, can glamourbomb. Nobody has more of a claim to glamourbombing than anyone else. That being said, I think perhaps a belief in magic might be necessary, because...what are you doing otherwise? Much like faeriepunk requires some kind of belief in the fae, glamourbombing needs a belief in magic. Even the most ordinary, secular person in the world can (even if secretly) believe in magic. What shape that belief takes is up to you, what magic is to you is personal -- but if you're glamourbombing without magic, you're not glamourbombing.

If you've seen the 2001 film "Amélie" (and if you haven't, you SHOULD), you'll see the title character pulling off glamourbombs in a completely secular way, for lack of a better term. Amélie Poulain's spiritual beliefs or identity are never even discussed, and the actions she takes are pure and utter glamour, at its very mischievous, beautiful, startling, wonder-kindling best.

Random acts of kindness. Not to say that these aren't wonderful things, mind you, nor that some glamourbombs can be seen as kindnesses -- but a random act of kindness is exactly that. Its purpose and hoped-for outcome isn't to raise ambient levels of magic, it's to increase kindness in the world. It's lovely, there's very few instances where you'd find me dismissive of it, but it's not glamourbombing automatically. Remember the magic. (Also remember to be kind, even without magic. The world is cruel enough as it is.)

Pretending to be a fae(rie creature). That's playing pretend, and while I think it's something that a lot of people need to engage with (even if they don't know it) to stay sane in this ridiculous world, it's not glamourbombing by default.

Being a fae(rie creature). Nobody's existence itself is a glamourbomb. Make no mistake, it's a very lovely thing, certainly! But existing while doing naught else does not a glamourbomb make. Glamourbombing is a verb that can create a noun. Much like love.

Et Al.

Is glamourbombing a senseless act of beauty?

While this usually goes hand-in-hand with the abovementioned "random acts of kindness", thanks to the late Anne Herbert's lovely paraphrase ("random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty") and 1993 book, I rarely actually see the "senseless act of beauty" part enacted, unless you want to include the actual kindnesses performed as the senseless acts in question, which could very well work, if you want to get semantic about it. Because beauty is so subjective, I'm not sure that an act of beauty for beauty's sake, senseless or otherwise, can really be something that can exist outside personal experience. For example: I find Amano Yoshitaka's artwork stunningly, inspiringly gorgeous. It literally makes me feel fluttery and breathless when I'm looking at his work. A lot of other people don't feel the same, and find his style too ugly to bear. If, for example, I wandered randomly into a little street only to find prints of Amano's work hung on every available space that could hold a frame, I would find that utterly nonsensical and absolutely beautiful. Another person who hates his work would not have the same response -- it would be utterly nonsensical to them, too, but not beautiful.

But all that aside, does that make a glamourbomb a senseless act of beauty? Well, no, because glamourbombing has a purpose. We do it to spark wonder and thus create magic. It isn't senseless -- it's very purposeful. Also, not all glamourbombs are necessarily beautiful! I love it when they are, and mind tend towards to aesthetically pleasing side of things (according to my own tastes, of course), but a glamourbomb does not have to be pretty -- just magical. (Again, harking back to "Amélie": Amélie's actions towards the rude shopkeeper were definitely not beautiful, but oh boy, were they the absolute pinnacle of the startling type of fae glamour.)

Does this mean you think the world isn't magical or is mundane?

Oh, fuck no.

No. No and no and no, and also no.

This world is endlessly beautiful, and not remotely mundane. Have you ever seen a lunar halo? Or the quiet majesty of an old city building in a sunset? Or the way raindrops cling to a spider's web like the most ephemeral diamonds made to glitter in the very sunlight that spirits them away? Or the fact that there are lemurs and okapi and capybara and black opals and trees that bloom purple and others that grow their own rainbows and gilded butterflies and salted caramel flavoured-anything and platypuses?

Our world is a magical world, and we've been told it isn't. That's a crime.

This world is anything but mundane, but we're made to believe it is. Wonder and magic and mystery are part of the very fabric of reality, of our lives, and they've been yanked away from us under the guise of having to "grow up" and "be serious". Well, my friend, I am deadly serious about this, and that, that is why I glamourbomb. Because the world is not mundane, and I want everyone to be able to see that again, like they did when they were a child and everything was new and wonderful. Mundanity is a forced state of being; it isn't the norm and it certainly isn't natural. I glamourbomb to remind everyone born on this fragile larimar dewdrop of a world that wonder is our fucking birthright.

Spread glamour. Startle the mortals. Fight mundanity. Stay faeriepunk, bitches.