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Book Review: Your Book of Shadows
Title: “Your Book of Shadows: Make your own magical habit tracker” Author: Gerridwen Greenleaf Publisher: CICO Books Date: April 9, 2024 Pages: 144 The table of contents in “Your Book of Shadows” gives readers a structure for organizing their personal Book of Shadows rather than buying one written by someone else. Author Gerridwen Greenleaf begins with a history of the Book of Shadows that includes a gratitude ritual for the witches who have come before. In the second chapter she guides readers through choosing the right book as well as how to inscribe, adorn and protect this magical tool. Chapter 3 offers directions to make a consecration charm and a…
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Book Review: “Wiccan Self-care Spells”
Title: “Wiccan Self-care Spells: Restorative rituals to ease stress, heal mind and body, and conjure contentment” Author: Gerridwen Greenleaf Publisher: CICO Books Date: October 8, 2024 Pages: 144 Gerridwen Greenleaf loves that the simple wisdom she brought from her family farm is helping people in high-tech centers create sanctuaries both within themselves and their homes. In “Wiccan Self-care Spells” are chapters addressing such topics as reducing stress, creating a harmonious home, and rituals for relaxing and letting go. Pages are filled with spells, practices, and recipes for healing teas, potions, and cures that have been handed down by foremothers who turned to what was in their kitchen cabinets when times…
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WitchCrafting (Spells for the Craft): Pagan Patches
Merry meet! This month’s WitchCrafting column is about something I have dreamed of doing for twenty years and I am now facing the fact I never will … so I’m passing along the idea in the hopes that someday someone somewhere will run with it – Pagan patches. When I was a newbie witch, I’d get excited when I’d “master” another skill. I found myself thinking a badge like those I earned in Girl Scouts would be so cool. I envisioned them for things like working with crystals, tarot, the elements, candle magic, and making my first spell jar. I thought about ones for each of the sabbats I celebrated…
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Good God!: Sucellus
One of the gods that fits well with Mabon is Sucellus (also known as Sucellos), the god of wine and crops – two main components of many Mabon celebration feasts. Although originally a Celtic god of agriculture, forests, fertility, and of alcoholic drinks of the Gauls, his cult flourished with the Gallo-Romans and in Britain. The Encyclopaedia Britannica refers to him as “a humble but powerful guardian … protecting and blessing marginalized communities” which included the working class. “He was seen as the guardian of crops, ensuring their growth and protection from harm.” Sucellus was depicted as a robust bearded man of middle age, carrying a large mallet and sometimes…
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Book Review: 2025 Moon Goddess Diary
Title: 2025 Moon Goddess Diary: Northern Hemisphere Author: Nicci Garaicoa Illustrator: Olivia Bürki Publisher: Rockpool Publishing Release Date: June 4, 2024 Pages: 160 This self-care workbook guides readers through 2025 with a paragraph about each new and full moon. Inspirational messages, rituals, songs, and exercises scattered throughout the days assist in aligning with nature, sometimes incorporating crystals, essential oils, and affirmations. A goddess each month offers channeled guidance, love, and power. There are quarterly toolkits with information and five pages of prompts reminding readers to pause before the start of a new cycle, to be extra brave meeting the coming changes, and to choose one of the three goddesses…
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Book Review: Wyrd Sisters Deck Of Spells and Rituals
Title: Wyrd Sisters: A Deck of Spells and Rituals Author and Artist: Casey Zabala Publisher: Weiser Books Release Date: April 8, 2024 Pages: 60 Cards and 80-Page Guidebook The deck and guidebook in this box make up a grimoire to inspire witches to make their own magic. There are cards with spells for things like sacred guidance and drawing down the moon, and cards using candles to create such energies as compassion and creativity. Other cards work with sigils and tools. Each has its own page in the guidebook giving insights, actions, and choices that are jumping off points for crafting personal rituals and spells. What makes this oracle…
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Book Review: The Way of The Wild Soul Woman
Title: The Way of The Wild Soul Woman: 5 Earth Archetypes to Unleash Your Full Feminine Power Author: Mary Reynolds Thompson Publisher: Findhorn Press Release Date: May 14, 2024 Pages: 352 With Mother Earth archetypes, personal stories, introspective journal prompts, explorative exercises, accounts of trail blazers, and rituals, Mary Reynolds Thompson takes women on a journey to connect to the wild, powerful forces of nature. I found myself nodding, underlining, and rereading passages as her words spoke about the landscapes and cycles I have encountered in this lifetime. Much of the book resonated with me, sweeping way lingering doubts about my feminine power and shedding light on ways to heal…
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Good God!: Kalfu
Kalfu (also Kalfou or Carrefour) is the Haitian Vodou God of Intersections. His name literally means “the crossroads,” which is the point where four roads emerge or two paths cross. It is also the point where magic manifests, where choices are made, and fates are forged. He is thought of as “the devil at the crossroads.” a terrifying god, a red demonic beast equated with Saten. One of their most powerful gods, Kalfu allows or denies spirits to cross into the real world “with an understanding into the nature of chaos and creation, good and misfortune, and injustices,” according to Wikipedia. Although other spirits know him, he often remains a…
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SpellCrafting: Money Rice
With the land lush and green in the Northeast, it felt like a good time to make a batch of green money rice. I got the idea from a video posted by Witch the Raven on TikTok and was waiting for the right time. July’s dark moon in Cancer after heavy rains that left the world smelling rich and earthy was that time. To make it, put dry rice in a bowl, add green food coloring and stir to coat. To that, Witch the Raven added salt, basil, cinnamon, and chamomile. After mixing, she added patchouli essential oil and stirred again. When I made mine, I forgot all about the…
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Good God! – Helios
Helios is the Greek god of the sun and solar activity. A second-generation Titan, he was the son of Hyperion and Theia; his two sisters were Eos (the Dawn) and Selene (the Moon). Helios lived in a golden palace at the end of the earth. Each morning Eos would create the dawn in the East, making way for her brother to drive his golden chariot across the sky, pulled by four fire-breathing (sometimes winged) horses – one of the most recognizable images in Greek art. When he reached the West, he hid in a golden goblet on earth that carried him back to the East while Selene would begin her…
