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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: The Christmas Tree Straight away, I know many of you will be wondering why I’m bringing Christmas to the table, when most of us are looking forward to Yule or the Winter Solstice. Well, it’s because I absolutely adore the tradition of the Christmas tree. And, despite what many people think, it’s not an inherently Pagan symbol, although there are definite Pagan roots, pardon the pun. Christmas trees are so popular today that they are grown in all 50 American states, including even Hawaii, and most other places in the world. From candlelit trees in Germany in the 1800s to fiber optic light shows…
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Book Review – Everyday Magic: Rituals, Spells & Potions to Live Your Best Life by Semra Haksever
Book Review Everyday MagicRituals, Spells & Potions to Live Your Best Life by Semra Haksever 160 Pages I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this beautiful book to review. It was written by Semra Haksever, and illustrated by Nes Vuckovic. Published in 2018 by Hattie Grant Books. This book is 160 pages long and is full of magical information and lots of spells & recipes you can use. Upon opening the cover the first page states “ACTION + INTENTION= MAGIC”, and I know this book and I are gonna get along. This is a very aesthetically pleasing book in my opinion as well. It’s a small square…
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Book Review – My Pocket Chakra Healing: Anytime Exercises to Unblock, Balance, and Strengthen Your Chakras by Heidi E. Spear
Book Review My Pocket Chakra Healing Anytime Exercises to Unblock, Balance, and Strengthen Your Chakras by Heidi E. Spear 176 Pages This handbook by Heidi Spear is an in-depth presentation of chakras, no previous knowledge necessary. She describes what chakras are, teaches how to recognize if each is in balance, and what to do when they are not. “The experience of chakra healing is creative, magical, surprising, restorative, and cleansing,” she writes, promising if readers take the time to heal their chakras, they can alleviate suffering, improve relationships, provide joy, de-stress, illuminate your life’s path and bring about overall well-being. The process gives “the ultimate potential for health,…
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Oracle Deck Review – Oracle of the Radiant Sun: Astrology Cards to Illuminate Your Life by Caroline Smith and John Astrop
Oracle Deck ReviewOracle of the Radiant SunAstrology Cards to Illuminate Your Life by Caroline Smith and John Astrop This is a reprint of the original Oracle of the Radiant Sun deck which was difficult to find and quite pricey. It is visually lovely 84-card deck accompanied by a 144-page book, nicely boxed with a woodcut sun graphic that is also the card back. The oracle is in 7 suits, one for each of the 7 ancient planets and luminaries: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Each suit has 12 cards, with a card for each placement of the suit’s planet in the 12 signs of the zodiac.…
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Modern Yuletide Tales
**This is an excerpt from my first book, A Modern Celt: Seeking the Ancestors. The Winter Solstice has always been an incredibly magical time for me, despite not being (as far as we know) typically a Celtic festival. Here are some of my more mysterious experiences during the shortest day and longest night. My most precious memories of the winter solstice all seem to be of going to a specific lakeside on the longest night. I remember it always feels later in the day than it is, because despite it only being early evening it is already pitch black, and once you move away from the roads there…
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Learning Lenormand Reviews – Titania’s Fortune Cards: 36 Fortune Cards and How to Interpret Them by Titania Hardie
Learning Lenormand Reviews Titania’s Fortune Cards 36 Fortune Cards and How to Interpret Them by Titania Hardie When I first opened up Titania’s Fortune Cards and got the cards out of their little cardboard container, my first thought was, “How minimalist.” As I flipped through the cards one by one, I didn’t even notice that they were Lenormand Cards until I got to the Clouds card and finally recognized the pattern of the pictures. There are no numbers on these cards and no words. And there are no playing card inserts. There are only pictures. Really bright, colorful, almost surreal pictures. At first, I thought that this would…
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Tarot Talk
Ten of Wands (The Ten of Wands card is from the artist Ciro Marchetti http://www.ciromarchetti.com/)** Let’s look at the last of the Tens of the Tarot Minor Arcana, the Ten of Wands. If you haven’t already read the articles on the Ten of Cups, the Ten of Swords and the Ten of Pentacles, now might be a good time to check them out. As always, here is a bit of basic foundational information about the Tarot Minor Arcana. A Tarot deck has 78 cards. There are 22 Major Arcana cards, with numbers from 0 to 21; the Majors usually deal with broader and more far-reaching life experience issues,…
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She Who is All – Goddess of Ten Thousand Names
Hestia & Vesta, the Goddesses of Hearth & Home As we enter into that time of the year when folks gather together with family and friends, what better time to honor Hestia and Vesta, the Goddesses of Hearth and Home, in Greece and Rome respectively. (Photo credit: goddessgift.net) Hestia is the Greek Goddess of Hearth and Home. She took no human form, but was only seen in the fire of the Hearth. Homes were built from the center outward; this center always being the hearth, in which Hestia was always welcome. She was honored each morning and evening with an offering from each family, at their respective hearths, Hestia’s sacred…
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Book Review – The Big Book Of Numerology: The Hidden Meaning of Numbers and Letters by Shirley Blackwell Lawrence
Book Review The Big Book Of Numerology The Hidden Meaning of Numbers and Letters by Shirley Blackwell Lawrence 288 Pages You know those Numerology books that give you practical advice on how to use the letters in your name and the numbers in your birth date to figure out the best avenue for your career, your love life and everything else about yourself and people you know and care about? This is not that book. To be sure, that information is embedded in this book – way at the end, and briefly – but before the reader gets to that point, there is so much other information that…
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Book Review – The Little Book of Self-Care for Libra by Constance Stellas
Book Review The Little Book of Self-Care for LibraSimple Ways to Refresh and Restore – According to the Starsby Constance Stellas 160 Pages Bright Blessings, Readers! I am glad to be reviewing this great guide to why it is important to take care of yourself, and even happier to say, that author Constance Stellas has guides for all twelve signs! An accomplished astrologer in print, she also teaches, and helps clients in both the United States and Greece. She has written for such illustrious publications as the New York Times and Marie Claire. She’s been a practicing astrologer for over 20 years, and she really knows her stuff. For…