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Book Review: The Ancient Art of Tasseography
Title: “The Ancient Art of Tasseography: How to Read Tea Leaves and Coffee Grounds” Author: Kylie Holmes Publisher: Moon Books Release Date: March 1, 2025 Pages: 120 pages Kylie Holmes has been practicing tasseography – “the sacred art of interpreting symbols found in tea leaves and coffee grounds” – for three decades. In this book, she gives readers everything they need to know to perform this form of divination. Beginning with the histories of tasseography, tea, and coffee, Kylie goes on to give detailed instructions on how to choose a tea with properties that align with the intentions and energies of a reading. While any coffee will do, Turkish and…
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Review: Wise Woman Oracle
Title: “Wise Woman Oracle: Reconnect with She Who Knows” Author: Cheyenne Zárate Publisher: Rockpool Publishing Release Date: November 5, 2024 Pages: 128-page booklet and cards In the wild woman chapter of her life, Cheyenne Zárate shared the untamed, instinctual, and independent archetypes in her deck “Wild Woman Oracle: Awaken your true, free and soulful self.” Now in another stage of life, she finds herself identifying with the wise woman, and shares thirty-six of their traits in the “Wise Woman Oracle: Reconnect with She Who Knows.” Each card portrays a woman from pop culture, history, folktales, or myths across diverse cultures. Although a wise woman is typically thought of as a…
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Review: Held by the Land Deck
Title: “Held By The Land Deck: 45 Ways to Use Indigenous Plants for Healing and Nourishment” Author: Leigh Joseph Publisher: Wellfleet Press Release Date: April 9, 2024 Pages: 48-page Guidebook and 45 Cards This guidebook and cards by Leigh Joseph, an ethnobotanist from the Squamish Nation in Vancouver, marry the growing need and respect for indigenous wisdom with the growing desire to use gifts offered by nature. Noting the diversity of plant knowledge and practices among Indigenous Peoples, she chose to approach these profiles only through the lens of Squamish woman. Each card represents a tree, shrub, flowering herb, or plant grown in Squamish Territory – or that has been…
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Book Review: The Time Changer’s Tarot
Title: “The Time Changer’s Tarot: Reading for Yourself, Your Community, and Your World with the Waite-Smith Tarot” (Product Bundle) Author: Caitlin Matthews Publisher: REDFeather Release Date: October 28, 2023 Pages: 360-Page Guidebook and Travel-Size Tarot Deck To negotiate the chaos, uncertainty, and changes of the time in which we live, Caitlin Matthews developed a new approach to an old system by offering a wider perspective and helpful strategies when reading tarot cards for the individual and their world. Each entry has a color picture of the card, a description of the image, three meanings on which to focus, and a paragraph of background. Then come the upright and reversed…
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WitchCrafting: Witches’ Gunpowder
Merry meet! When you want to give a spell some extra oomph, power, or speed, Bella Lopez (who posts on TikTok as Sexy_Green_Eyed_Wiccan) has just the thing: Witches’ Gunpowder. Mix together in amounts that will result in a dark powder: salt cayenne pepper paprika black salt coffee grounds clove powder dragons blood She cautions, “Be careful, a little goes a long way. Add too much to a spell and it can prematurely burn out (like a caffeine crash) or just become erratic and not do what it’s intended (like overdosing on caffeine).” I had been meaning…
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Review: Practical Tarot
Title: Practical Tarot Author: Lisa Kessler Illustrator: Holly Carton Publisher: Beyond Words Release Date: January 7, 2025 Pages: 78-Card Deck & 192-page Guidebook This tarot deck is the one Lisa Kessler wished existed when she began teaching students to read intuitively – one where each cards’ meaning was depicted so clearly in the design that it was not necessary to memorize the explanations in the guidebook. She also wanted a deck “that reflected people of different sizes and body types, from all races, ages, gender identities, and sexual orientations” as well as a variety of impairments and conditions. A conversation with Holly Carton, the artist doing the cover for her…
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Book Review: Gay Witchcraft
Title: Gay Witchcraft Author: Christopher Penczak Publisher: Weiser Books Release Date: 2003, Weiser Classics Series rerelease Pages: 320 When “Gay Witchcraft” was first published in 2003, it was the only book in stores that introduced the Craft to the gay community – and by who better than a member of both. This edition introduces a new generation to a classic that continues to provide a sense of belonging. It has a new forward and preface; there are some additions and edits; and the language was updated – all while keeping the voice and the spirit of the original. Christopher Penczak did not feel the need to write a sequel to…
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Book Review: Druid Wands
Title: Living Wands of the Druids: Harvesting, Crafting, and Casting with Magical Tools Author: Jon G. Hughes Publisher: Destiny Books Release Date: January 29, 2024 Pages: 232 “Living Wands of the Druids” is a detailed guide to making the living wands used in hereditary Welsh Druidism. Author Jon G. Hughes, a fifth-generation Druid, explains the history and lore of wands, then goes on to describe the hermetic properties of various woods and botanicals, harvesting methods, preparation, and use of wands, rods, and staffs in magical work. Wands serve as a spiritual conduit, connecting the practitioner’s intention with the living sap at the core of the wand and channeling it into…
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Book Review: Heal Yourself Oracle
Title: Heal Yourself Oracle: Intuitive guidance to transform your soul Author: Inna Segal Illustrators: Cris Ortega and Drazenka Kimpel Publisher: Rockpool Publishing Release Date: April 2, 2024 Pages: 36 Cards and 96-Page Guidebook The “Heal Yourself Oracle” deciphers the darker as well as the lighter side of life with three dozen cards to help you get in touch with all aspects of yourself. The deck’s raw, emotional illustrations and unflinching text can trigger deep feelings. By delving into the different aspects of wellness, spirituality, love, relationships, and soulfulness – and not avoiding the delicate themes – Inna Segal seeks to empower readers. With this oracle, she encourages them to explore,…
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SpellCrafting: Cord Cutting With a Candle
There are multiple ways of doing a cord cutting. This one uses two candles and a looped cord. The ritual energetically cuts ties with something – be it a person, a place, a habit, etc. Unlike a binding and some other forms of magick, this will not create a bond with what you cut from your life. If possible, do this work on a dark moon, or when it is waning, for an added boost. Choose a candle to represent yourself and one to represent what you wish to cut loose. White for you and black for the other person or thing are probably the most commonly used, but the…