Welcome! This is a nonfiction writing-share exploring and honoring your personal experience in the overlap of spirituality and erotic hypnosis.

There are so many of us in the erotic hypnosis community who have a connection to spirituality in one way or another -- this is an opportunity to write an essay about almost any topic that lives in that intersection. There is SO MUCH richness in this overlap! Please read rules and guidelines!

This jam will be open from May 4-9th, noon Eastern -- the itch page here is a hub for submissions but you can (and should!) also participate by simply posting your essay on social media such as Tumblr or your personal blog (using the hashtag #PSYCHOSPIRITUAL). You can also just share a link to your Itch submission on any social media!

Make sure to include in your essay your pen name or handle, and a short bio/blurb about who you are and where readers can find you!

PDF is probably the best format to submit here.

Collection/Zine: After the jam is over, sleepingirl will compile (with consent) essays into a digital zine/collection for free distribution. Submission into this jam does not mean you consent to have your work shared in this way. You MUST email sleepingirl (at “h.sleepingirl[[at]]gmail.com”) with a .docx or google doc of your essay. The plan is to accept as many essays as possible, but some filtering will be done for content, appropriateness, etc.

Rules:

• 500 wordcount minimum
• Up to 3 essays may be submitted
• Previously-written essays are allowed
• Zero tolerance for generative AI use
• SFW essays/topics are OK, but absolutely no minors and you must not be against NSFW/kink/etc
• You retain all rights to your work and may submit it elsewhere anywhere you like

Guidelines:

• On atheism or religious critique: Theism is not necessary to participate in this jam -- however, the essays in this jam should really come from a place of personal celebration/interest/experience: “I am spiritual, I am into hypnosis, here are some things I’ve thought about in the overlap of the two.” The line between religious critique and anti-theism is very wobbly. Here are some examples of topics/themes that I would say are not appropriate as your focus:
  • “[Religion] is harmful”
  • “If you think about it, [Religion] is just hypnosis/Hypnosis is just like [Religion] (because they are both like cults/require blind faith/etc sneakily disparaging remarks about religion)"
  • Etc
• This is not to say that these topics are never valid, important, or worth exploring -- just not in this jam!

• On drawing/fiction: If you want to draw a companion image for your essay such as cover art or insert art, this is great! However, this jam is focused on non-fiction writing -- please do not submit standalone art or any works of fiction.

• On content:
  • You are encouraged to write from your own perspective -- the place of your most authority is from your own experience. Fully academic style “objective” essays are allowed but we are most interested in the experiential and personal, which can’t be authoritative.
  • You are HIGHLY encouraged to write more carefully so you a) do not proselytize, and b) do not invalidate other readers’ experience of spirituality. We are all of varying spiritual backgrounds which is something to celebrate and be mindful of. Consider using language like, “In my practice…” “I believe…” etc.
  • You are simply just encouraged to write! Every individual person has their own unique experience in both of these topics and these essays are a way that we can create a pool of shared knowledge that literally has never existed before. You don't have to have writing skills (although some basic grammar is appreciated!), nor do you need to have a fully formed airtight thesis. Just express yourself and be confident that we are interested in learning about your practice, thoughts, and experiences.