• Reviews

    Deck Review – The Edgar Allan Poe Tarot by Rose Wright and Eugene Smith

    Deck Review The Edgar Allan Poe Tarot Created by Rose Wright Illustrated by Eugene Smith Published by Llewellyn Publications Published September 8, 2020 288 page book     The Edgar Allan Poe Tarot is exactly what you would expect: a beautiful kit dramatically illustrated, complete with all the fog and candlelight and horror and mystery associated with Poe’s work. The 5 3/4 inch by 8 1/2 inch box, the work of art containing this vibrantly colored kit, is sturdy with a magnetic closure and a full-color glossy finish. The image on the front of the box is Poe himself. The back of the box has a brief destruction of the…

  • Monthly Columns,  Spells & Rituals

    Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times

    Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times for June/July 2022 Bright Blessings! By the time you read this, you may be saying, “It’s too HOT!!!!!” and are wishing for Fall time again! Think about just weeks ago, wishing Wintertime away because it was SO cold! Well…the weather will get hotter in Summer, and by the time you read this article, you may have your Summer Solstice plans underway! For some, this will be the first Summer in a couple of years they have felt safe to gather for Sabbat. What a wonderful feeling it is again to see soul kin. What better time than on a Solstice in Summer when…

  • Monthly Columns,  Reviews

    Exclusive Interview with Author Madame Pamita

    Madame Pamita Talks About Slavic Magic and Baba Yaga, the Slavic Witch of the Woods   “If you follow the guidance within you, you get led to do the right things,” said Madame Pamita, author of “Baba Yaga’s Book of Witchcraft: Slavic Magic from the Witch of the Woods,” which was reviewed here last month. She has, and amazing things have happened. “My mom bought me a tarot deck when I was ten years old. She grew up in a magical household. We lived in a magical household. Albeit, it was Catholic magic. You go to church and you light a candle and you’d make a wish or a prayer.…

  • Monthly Columns,  Reviews

    Witch & Popcorn

      Review of Jeepers Creepers 2 Bright Blessings, film lovers. Today’s review focuses on a horror film- my favorite genre- and how the determination of two men overcome a seemingly invincible force…at least for twenty-three years. The film grossed over $100,000,000 worldwide and at the time of release was the highest grossing film for four days straight. It is now in ninth grossing place of all films released before Labor Day. It was nominated for three prestigious awards including the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film. Before reading the review, watch the trailer for Jeepers Creepers 2 here:   The plot is- three days after the events of Jeepers Creepers…

  • Reviews

    Deck Review – Soul Helper Oracle by Christine Arana Fader and Elena Dudina

    Deck Review Soul Helper Oracle: Messages from Your Higher Self Written by Christine Arana Fader Illustrated by Elena Dudina Publisher: Earthdancer 43 card deck and 128 page guidebook Publication Date: April 19, 2022     Christine Arana Fader’s loving messages and Elena Dudina’s dreamlike illustrations combine for an oracle deck I’m happy to have. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and printed on thick glossy stock. There are wise and gentle messages on each card, including: “Live playfully and with a light heart,” “A message is trying to reach you,” “Have courage,” and “The tree of wisdom is calling your name.” Each has two pages of information in the accompanying guidebook.…

  • Reviews

    Book Review – The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Runes: Your Complete Guide to the Divination Power of Runes by Judy Ann Nock

    Book Review The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Runes: Your Complete Guide to the Divination Power of Runes by Judy Ann Nock Publisher: Adams Media 254 Pages Publication Date: 2022     Recently I was participating in a class that briefly taught about runes. Being the person that I am, I went out and purchased a set of runes. I got a book and I learned all about runes…or so I thought. The Modern Witchcraft Book of Runes taught me so much more than I had learned in class, from my rune book or from the internet. First, this book is well-written and enjoyable to read. Second, is the organization of…

  • Monthly Columns

    Dancing Into Summer – Poetry

      Pick up your feet Your dancing feet Even if you’re stuck in one place Even if you’re body refuses Or simply can’t Close your eyes Let your thoughts dance Tap tap tapping down the corridors Of your mind Whirling in worlds Of soul and spirit Sending your essence flying high Towards a domed ceiling Candelabras shaking Under the onslaught of joy Dance, dance, dance into summer Heat waves a slave to the beat Solstice imbalance pouring Funk into the shadows Open the windows and Fly, fly out into blue Into fluffy white Into thirsty, hot afternoons And giddy evenings Sing, laugh, love Embrace the chaos that you can And…

  • Monthly Columns

    As Above, So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)

      In the Beginning…   The Big Bang itself may be up for debate, but what’s not, is what the universe was made up of in her early moments. In those early moments, the universe was pure energy. According to CERN, The European Organization for Nuclear research, it took the universe (then made of pure energy) about 380,000 years to condense into the first elementary particles, quarks and gluons. Quarks we’re the very first building blocks of matter. The gluons containing the strong nuclear force that holds them together. These atoms were mainly hydrogen and helium, the simplest and most abundant elements in the universe. These atoms formed huge clouds,…

  • Reviews

    Interview & Book Review – Espiritismo: Puerto Rican Mediumship and Magic by Hector Salva

    Interview & Book Review Espiritismo: Puerto Rican Mediumship and Magic by Hector Salva Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser LLC. 242 Pages Publication date: February 1, 2022     Bright Blessings, Readers! I would like to share an exciting new book with you that was written by Hector Salva, and he also goes by Papa Hector. It’s called Espiritismo: Puerto Rican Mediumship and Magic and was published this year, 2022 by Red Wheel/Weiser LLC. The book is a substantial 242 pages and is well written. First, a little about Papa Hector. The book says about him, “Born and raised in a family lineage of brujos (witchdoctors, healers, sorcerers), HECTOR SALVA was raised by…

  • Monthly Columns,  Spells & Rituals

    Notes from the Apothecary

    Notes from the Apothecary: The Beech Tree   The common beech, or Fagus sylvatica, is a majestically large deciduous tree, native to North America and Europe, and a vital part of the ecosystem thanks to being home and food to many forms of wildlife. There are other beech species, all in the Fagus genus, with some native to Asia, including Fagus japonica, the Japanese blue beech, and Fagus engleriana, the Engler or Chinese beech. In the U.K. where I live, we often see “Copper Beeches”, which have distinct, purple-bronze leaves and look like they’re straight out of a fantasy tale. Interestingly, this isn’t a different species, but a carefully cultivated…