Autumn dress for upgraded home wear Oh those lovely days when I can stay at home the entire day, without having to leave the house!   I like a neat home, and to match my neat home, I need something neat to wear. For me staying at home the entire day does not mean slouching around in worn out sweatpants and a t-shirt that would do it´s best as a dish rag. That would be a bit depressing, and sad even, to be honest. For me too, comfort is the most important thing when it comes to my wardrobe.Only then comes beauty. Looking good means also feeling good. But one…

New Moon in Libra – 11 degrees Friday, October 5, 2013 – 8:33 pm EDT  A New Moon is always a good thing… where the Dark Moon finally rids us of negativity, the New Moon begins to filter positive energy into the void. Libra presents a balance to the whole and to find perfection, where it is needed most. Emotions level out and there is a happy medium. Enjoy this energy!!     Eclipsed Full Moon in Aries – 25 degrees Friday, October 18, 2013 – 7:37 pm EDT The Moon builds up energy and finally comes to fruition with robust energy when it is Full. If you had begun…

October Book of Seasons   Samhain is here and at my house it is highly anticipated!  I love walking into a grocery store and seeing all of the new Halloween decorations out for sale!  Look at how so many people celebrate, albeit without knowing, our sacred turn of the year.  Pumpkins, skeletons, black cats and scarecrows peek from houses and businesses.  The fall harvest is in and the aromas of cinnamon brooms and pumpkin soup fill the house.  Can you tell I love this time of the year?  Let’s fill our hearths and hearts with the grounding abundance surrounding us.     Our affirmation is   My heart and hands…

Privately Pagan:  In the Broom Closet I’m “in the broom closet”. It’s one of the most frustrating and difficult parts of being Pagan for me.  I live in the United States and I have rights and freedoms to practice my beliefs as I wish.  But, when it comes to being Pagan, there are consequences for being open and public about it. We can easily find a story in the news about a Pagan woman losing her right to see her children, someone losing their job or passed over for a promotion, someone’s home being vandalized or threatened, or children being teased or ridiculed for their parent’s beliefs.  It isn’t fair.…

Famous Witches, Wiccans and Pagans   Gerald Gardner was one of the first to take witchcraft ‘out of the broom closet’.  Since then, many witches have followed in his footsteps by publishing books and discussing publicly the beliefs, rituals and practices of Wicca.  These famous witches and pagans helped to bring Wicca out of obscurity, and allowed mainstream culture to gain insight into this secretive and selective group.   Gerald Gardner Gerald Gardner is known as the ‘father of modern Wicca’.  A British public servant, he spent much of his time abroad and was influenced by a variety of cultures and esoteric teachings.  He claimed to have been initiated into…

Surviving Chaos The past couple of months have been rather chaotic. My family and I moved from a house in Illinois to an apartment in Colorado. I’m relocating my shamanic practice and my wife and I are opening a shop together. The move was complicated and while boxes were designated as shop versus apartment, several ended up in the wrong place. There are still a number of things we haven’t found. It would be easy to go on and on about the things that are contributing to the chaos in our lives, but I think everyone can relate well enough. Aren’t most of us surrounded by more than our share…

ARTICLE FOR SPELL-STRUCK   Samhain Enchantment and Protection Ritual Spell UNDER THE NEW MOON TIN KIT www.underthenewmoon.com The Season of the Witch is upon us once again and Samhain is just about here!  This spell is adapted from a Witch Tin Kit I created for my store, Under The New Moon.  You will need the following objects to complete this Spell and Enchantment.  We will be doing an Enchantment first, then an actual Ritual…so this article covers a 2-fer for your October…to make it all the more Enchanted!  Let’s dig in!    We will start with the Object Enchantment first.  The main focus of this enchantment is for PROTECTION (of…

Improve Your Chances Of Spirit Communication      So, you want to be a ghost hunter.  You have picked your location and of course have permission to investigate the area.  You have done your research on the history of the location, such as who lived or worked there and if they passed on, you know how it happened.  You have extensive notes on the type of activity reported and the camera, flashlights and digital recorder are ready.  However, none of this will guarantee you will experience an encounter.  Many times investigators come up empty handed; it takes time, patience and persistence.  So how do you improve your chances of experiencing paranormal…

Wise Woman Ways to Boost Your Energy   Almost every woman has, at one time or another, felt so fatigued she wanted to cry. But for some women, and for a variety of reasons — including menopause, caring for a new-born, working odd hours, chronic anxiety, and poverty, to name only a few — fatigue is a constant, not an occasional, problem. Stimulants don’t really give us more energy, though they are what many women turn to when they feel too tired. Stimulants create false energy, leaving us more exhausted at deeper levels. One more cup of coffee, one more soft drink, one more jolt of fear increases energy, to…

This month, we will move into the Major Arcana, and talk about The Fool.  So far, we’ve been talking about Minor Arcana cards, and since this is the first Major we are looking at, before we begin breaking down The Fool, let’s define and describe some terms.   There are 22 Major Arcana cards in a Tarot deck, with numbers from 0 to 21; the Majors usually deal with broader and more far-reaching life experience issues, archetypes that are easy for us to identify with and connect with at some point in our lives.   An archetype (pronounced “ark eh type”) is a generic, idealized model of a person, an…