-
Bloody Pawprints
The storm left streets wet and humming with leftover electricity. Down Booker Street, in the alley behind Dalrymple’s, where small bags changed hands under watchful eyes of neon, and blows were exchanged, a dark shape hunched by a dumpster. Gehenna’s fever dream palette—LED security lights mixed with bar signs, and the otherworldly glow that shrouded the city at night—traced a soft outline over the body. Black liquid that would be red in daylight oozed from the knife wound in its throat. Once again, the shape writhed. Something black and deformed tore at the air, its panicked wails might’ve been pitiful to the right ear. The thing lowered itself to the…
-
Messages of the Mums: Reflections on Grief, Samhain, and Honoring the Departed
Hello friends, I hope you’re all doing well and staying warm during these last few days of spooky season. It’s cold where I live, as November’s soggy and cold climate approaches. I originally had an entirely different idea for a Samhain/Halloween piece, but life has a way of showing you what’s most important, and what you should share. I unexpectedly lost my oldest cat, Maxwell, who was only 5 years old, two and a half weeks ago, and my home and family has been reeling from that since. He was the heart and center of our family and household. Life has been difficult without him, to say the least. Grief…
-
Weyland’s Whey Samhain 2025 Column
Samhain The online version of The Encyclopedia Britannica says that Samhain was originally held on November first by the ancient Celts. Hundreds of years later the Christian church stacked it’s own traditions onto Samhain. Pope Boniface IV established All Saints Day in the Seventh Century CE as a holy day. A century later the holiday was moved from May thirteenth to November first, probably as a Christian replacement for the pagan one. The night before the new Christian celebration turned into All Hallows Eve, eventually shortened to Halloween. In modern times neo-pagans and Wiccans have included Samhain onto the Wheel of the Year as one of the Greater Sabbats. Many…
-
Interview of Si of Mandragora Magika
Bright Blessings, October 19 would have been my priest’s 74th birthday had he not crossed the veil. Being the crybaby that I am, I was weeping my eyes out, posting tearfully on my personal social media page about how much I miss him. Something told me to look up his name, include the word “Pagan” and our hometown on the search. Mandragora Magika came up- as a way to find Pagans. I believe my priest was telling me that he wanted me to list our group in our hometown, which I did, and I messaged Si, the page admin and creator to tell him so. I also asked if…
-
Book Review: Tarot Card Companion
Title: Tarot Card Companion: Master the Art of Tarot Reading Author: Victoria Maxwell Publisher: Rockpool Publishing Release Date: August 12, 2025 Pages: 355 pages Victoria Maxwell packs a lot of information into “Tarot Card Companion: Master the Art of Tarot Reading.” Her deck, “Your First Tarot” was released along with this book, but is not part of this review. Because that deck closely follows the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, this guide can pair with any tarot deck based on that 78-card system. Each card has a two-page spread with a picture of the card and a description of its imagery, a short paragraph of key words and phrases, correspondences, meanings upright and…
-
The Face in the Window: A Ghost Story
Hello again friends! I’m back with another spooky tale, this time one that I personally experienced when I was a little kid staying the night at my grandparents’ house (the same grandpa who went to the cemetery I previously wrote on). I didn’t learn many of the details that clued me into the reality of my experience being a ghost, until well over 20 years after it had happened. I didn’t tell anyone it happened, but it scared me shitless. I was only 8 or so years old, and at that age, didn’t understand the spiritual side of life yet. I’ve always had clairvoyant and medium-like abilities, but given the…
-
The Green Ghost of Maple Grove Cemetery: A True (and Forgotten) Northeast Ohio Haunting
Hello friends, I’m so happy to be writing another piece for you in my favorite time of year! Given the natural inclination towards ghost stories and other paranormal, creepy and supernatural stories this time of year, I’ve decided to unearth an ancestral ghost story to share with you. This story scared the crap out of me when I was little, and my grandpa told me about what he experienced at that old cemetery off of North Chestnut in Ravenna, Ohio. Before we get into the story of my (now late) grandfather, whom I’m also hoping to honor in my own way with this article, I think it’s necessary to go…
-
Weyland’s Whey October 2025 Harvest and Supermoon Column
Shine on, Harvest Supermoon It will happen on October 6th, and it’s going to be the biggest and brightest full moon of 2025. The first of three–count ’em, three!–consecutive supermoons this year. Astrologically, this luminary falls in Aries, so think passion and impulsivity. It’ll be the spice in your cider, Pilgrim. Shaken and stirred. (Yahoo!, www.northjersey.com, www.space.com, Old Farmer’s Almanac) Canary in a Coal Mine Call them circles of bad intentions. Where wiccans and pagans aren’t welcome. Other minorities are already labeled unwanted, unloved, hunted even. Maybe I’m paranoid. I hope I am. But I can feel bad intentions in the air, growing stronger. Halloween is a secular holiday derived…
-
Summerfest ’92
“Wait up Jodi,” Grandma called. “I need to fix his shoe!” She bent to slip Jeremy’s sandal back on his tiny foot. “I don’t know why your mom didn’t buy you shoes that fit, kiddo.” Jeremy swayed, standing on one foot while Grandma tightened the strap. His bright blue eyes scanned the crowd, looking far away like he always seemed to. A sound like the page turning sound in the books Miss Jackson plays for us drifts down the street. Around us, a group of guys in jackets like Dad’s talk loudly to each other. Thick foam runs down their beer mugs and drips on their black motorcycle…
