Why "Smithcraft"?

ccording to an old Yakut proverb, "Smiths and shamans come from the same nest." Both possessed esoteric transformative knowledge; both were masters of fire. And in Celtic lore, Brighid was the patroness not only of blacksmiths, but of shamans and healers, and of poets and writers as well. As Mircea Eliade put it,

"The shaman is the original poet, the tribal myth-maker who pulls up a 'secret language' from the depths of ecstasy: the hidden roots of language."

At Smithcraft, we perform a similar alchemy with words: we transform the static and awkward into the powerful and lucid. Whether in the compelling articulation of ideas, or the artful placement of words and images on a page, what we can do is nothing short of magic. Call us shamans of the written word.

Whether you are a publishing house, a writer, or an organization seeking to promote itself, if your project involves the written word, chances are that Smithcraft can help in some way.

What's with this "we" business? Who are you, anyway?

All right, the "we" is a little misleading. In fact, this is basically a one-person business.

Craig R. Smith is the founder and big kahuna of Smithcraft. In spite of a rather disturbing penchant for low humor, he's garnered a good deal of respect as a non-fiction writer and a religion scholar.

Physically, he's a bearded Friar Tuck, complete with matching bald spot; spiritually, an explorer of the edges of consciousness, from Taoism and Zen Buddhism to existential Christianity and Jewish mysticism to everything in between—including Native American medicine practices and various forms of aboriginal shamanism.

If you're familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, you might be interested to know that he's a thorough-going INXP (off the scale on the "N" rating, actually, with nary an "S" percentile in the bunch, and about halfway between an INTP and an INFP). For better or worse, he's a creative perfectionist. It makes him a little hard to live with, but it's been keeping his clients happy since 1989, when he started this business.

Anyone else?

But back to the "we." Craig has some trusted and exceptionally talented friends whom he consults from time to time, asking them to lend their professional expertise to one project or another.

Chief among them is James M. Fann, who works out of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Jim has a true artist's eye in web design matters, and his technical skills are abundant.

Otherwise, this is Craig's baby from start to finish; after all, he's the Smith in Smithcraft. He just finds it easier to say "we" instead of "I."

That's it, you've reached the end of the tour. Thanks for sticking around. Feel free to contact me if you should have any questions at all.

Half my life is an
act of revision.

—John Irving