South of Midnight - Thoughts from a Wizard

Jun 9

Happy Monday, everyone! Ready for a new week?

This past weekend I was dealing with some form of exhaustion, so I took some time off to rest, recuperate, and play this game I found on Xbox Game Pass called South of Midnight (Games, 2025).

I wouldn’t really consider this a review but more like some thoughts and a retrospective from one not of the cultures depicted in the game. I’m going to do my best to be thoughtful about my wording as I want to pay proper respects while I process some of my musings having just finished the story of that game.

First of all, as a Wizard, I loved the magick presented in this game. It was fun, action packed and really paid thoughtful homage to mythologies and folklore of the South (I think the Louisiana area perhaps?). It was just so cool overall! A joy to play through, truly.

There are a few things about this game that really had me thinking about, yes magick and energy and how trauma can affect the very land on which we live, but also it is a reminder of what a trauma filled history the United States truly has. This game had a similar effect on me that Rolling Thunder Hear my Cry (Wikipedia, 2025) had on me as a young person. It reminded me that we need to have deep empathy and acknowledge that there still is caste system at play in the modern age that sorts people into groups like rich/poor, white/other that creates unnecessary and cruel barriers if you aren’t in the “right” categories, if that makes sense. Like, yes I have had struggle and trauma in my life, but I can’t deny that I have benefited from privilege attached to my skin color without me even realizing it over the years.

I very much appreciate these stories that people like me need to engage with. It reminds us that, yes, we are all human and all bleed red at the end of the day, but that doesn’t change that there is much pain in our history that has created a system that inherently benefits groups of people more than others off of something that is literally only skin deep to this day. I’m not the right person to speak in depth on this topic nor am I an expert in this arena. Even in my neighborhood where I currently live, I see this difference of treatment played out which is why I take the time out to sit with the people of the area and listen to their life stories. I feel like hearing the truth of history and listening to people really help us with the empathy that I feel is so necessary to live in harmony. Especially nowadays.

There were stories of loss, heartbreak, viewing some harrowing escapes through the spirits in the game, and there were very difficult stories of humans making choices that had far reaching consequences on the area. The idea that areas that have witnessed traumatic or violent events can have the energetic threads there tangled that causes that area to become a feeding ground for more sorrow, pain, and negativity is one that makes a lot of sense to me. I’ve always been sensitive to the energies of places and people so those times where I have visited, and lived in, these scarred areas where abuse, trauma, and violence have taken place over the years I can feel… a weight and/or like there is a layer of grease or tar on my skin. They are very uncomfortable places to be. If you live in one, it’s hard to realize the affect it has had on you until you are away for a time and then return.

In the game, there are these magickal people called Weavers that repair tangles in the Grand Tapestry of the world. The tangles are these places steeped in negativity and trauma. It makes me wonder… are there other folklore or even mythologies where this concept exists? Are there ways, like the Weavers in this game, to repair the wounds left in these places? Or are these places just meant to be eventually abandoned and reclaimed by the Earth? I feel the Earth would eventually recycle that energy back into itself to be made into something else, but that could take a very long time. Are there areas where it never energetically recovers?

In a way, I wonder if the Healers and magickal practitioners or our age can repair these areas. Or is it even our place to do such things? Many thoughts about this. It’s very interesting indeed. As I’m still early in my formal occult education, I don’t have the answers or even know where to start in finding them, but it is very interesting to ponder, nonetheless.

The game is a wonderful reminder of how rich the folklore found around the United States really is. I really need to do some deep dives into Southern Cajun folklore and research the magickal practices and spirits therein someday.

Bottom line is, play South of Midnight.

It’s a great game with a great story. And oh my Gods the music is just phenomenal! Just send shivers through me down to my toes!

And the game is a short one which I’m glad for. I have not wanted to be tied down with an overly long cumbersome game as I have much to do with both work and school.

May you be treated with how you’ve treated others.

See you next time!