Book Review – Earth Spirit: Belonging to the Earth – Nature Spirituality in a Changing World by Julie Brett
Book Review Earth Spirit: Belonging to the Earth – Nature Spirituality in a Changing World by Julie Brett Publisher: Moon Books 104 Pages Publication Date: February 25, 2022 Connecting to the land is crucial for healing our Mother Earth. In her book in the Earth Spirit series by Moon Books, “Belonging to the Earth – Nature Spirituality in a Changing World,” Julie Brett shares stories about connecting to place. Most are of her personal insights, travels, and events. Five come from interviews with Aboriginal community leaders, activists, and those practicing nature-based spirituality, each connected to a specific land and its history. By telling these stories, she inspires others…
Book Review – Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies by Rebecca Beyer
Book Review Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies by Rebecca Beyer Publisher: Simon & Schuster 240 Pages Publication Date: May 10, 2022 “The spirit of a place.” In “Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies,” Rebecca Beyer gives readers ways to come to know the spirit of a place, forming deep, intimate relationships with its plants, animals, minerals and history. There will be a unique magic of that place, too. A witch and a forager, Beyer specializes in folkloric plant history, as well as magical, edible, and medicinal uses. The detailed information about botanicals, and…
GoodGod!
Meet the Gods: Triton The son of the God and Goddess of the sea, Poseidon and Amphitrite, Triton (“try-ton”) is a demigod of the sea. A mighty merman, stories tell of him living with his parents in a golden palace deep in the sea. Because Poseidon fathered many children outside of marriage with both mortals and goddesses, Triton has as many as fifty half-siblings. Triton is said to be the father and leader of three thousand mermaids and three thousand tritons – creatures who were male or female with matted green hair who escorted the marine divinities wherever they wanted to go. “Their entire body was covered with…
Book Review – The Witch’s Book of Simples: The Simple Arte of Domestic Folk Medicine by Mélusine Draco
Book Review The Witch’s Book of Simples: The Simple Arte of Domestic Folk Medicine by Mélusine Draco Publisher: Moon Books 208 Pages Publication Date: April 1, 2022 Witches have been using medicinal plants for cures of common ailments as part of their Craft for centuries. The most elementary cure is a simple – an infusion, poultice, or compress derived from a single herb. Nothing fancy, just effective: chamomile tea for sleep, elder flowers for coughs, peppermint for nausea – quick household remedies not intended as long-term treatments. Perhaps because they are so basic, they are often overlooked. Mélusine Draco wrote “The Witch’s Book of Simples: The Simple Arte…
Witch Hunt
There are witches all around us. You can find them anywhere… The Witch on Wheels has been documenting her findings. Meet: Connie Duffy “We are healers and helpers,” said Connie Duffy, who only does positive magick. She will do mini rituals before going on motorcycle rides with friends, before work every day, on her dogs and anyone who needs a little pick me up. She gives mini reiki sessions, calls on the Goddess for help in her classroom, is energized by pine trees, and has gardens full of medicinal plants. An Aries, she uses fire magic. “I go in and I blow up shit – positively!!!”…
Book Review – Baba Yaga’s Book of Witchcraft: Slavic Magic from the Witch of the Woods by Madame Pamita
Book Review Baba Yaga’s Book of Witchcraft: Slavic Magic from the Witch of the Woods by Madame Pamita Publisher: Llewellyn Publications 336 Pages Publication Date: April 8, 2022 Every Slavic country had its own name for a witch in the woods. Hundreds of names were in the folk tales told to Russian author Alexander Afanasyev. The book he published in the mid-1800s used only one: Baba Yaga. Because her stories are traditional across traditions and countries, “cultural anthropologists and folklorists believe that Baba Yaga was originally a spirit or deity who was revered and honored as the Mistress of the Woods,” Madame Pamita wrote in the introduction. The…
WitchCrafting: Crafts for Witches
Protection Door Hanger Merry meet. I was inspired to make protection door hangers by first fashioning twigs and vines into small wreaths that would fit over a doorknob. Then I collected up as many small objects as I could find that had protective powers, including bells, pentacles, tiny jars of salt, hag stones, sweet gum tree seed pods, tarot card charms, goddesses, crystals (black tourmaline, black obsidian, clear quartz, amethyst), evil eyes, rune symbols, dried herbs, and spirals. I attached these to the bottom of each wreath with embroidery floss, ribbon, twine, or string. Other objects that offer protection include angel wings, the Hand of Fatima, the triquetra, dreamcatchers,…
Book Review – Crystals and Numerology: Decode Your Numbers and Support Your Life Path with Healing Stones by Edith Wuest and Sabine Schieferle
Book Review Crystals and Numerology Decode Your Numbers and Support Your Life Path with Healing Stones by Edith Wuest and Sabine Schieferle Publisher: Earthdancer Books 160 Pages Publication Date: February 16, 2021 Numerology is a tool for gaining insight into character, talents, and abilities by analyzing the numbers in your birthdate, and the numeric values of the letters in your name, as well as the numbers that serendipitously appear in your life again and again. These personal numbers reflect our inner world. Crystals offer supportive and healing energy in the outer world, helping to harmonize the energies we had at birth. “Crystals and Numerology” combines both, bringing the…
Book Review – Inner Practices for the Twelve Nights of Yuletide by Anne Stallkamp & Werner Hartung
Book Review Inner Practices for the Twelve Nights of Yuletide by Anne Stallkamp & Werner Hartung Publisher: Earthdancer Books 144 Pages Publication Date: October 5, 2021 (Originally published in German in 2014) There is a special magic between the solar and the lunar years, beginning on Yule eve and continuing for 12 nights. The twelfth night begins the evening of January 1, ending at sundown January 2. This span has been called a buffer zone, and the fifth season. Think of it as the pagan alternative to an Advent calendar or the 12 Days of Christmas. It is a pause, a time of transition. Electric lights allow us…
GoodGod!
Meet the Gods: Faunus As part of the festival of Lupercalia, held on February 15, the ancient Romans honored Faunus, the god of forests, fields, and plains. One of the oldest Roman deities, he epitomizes the reproductive force intrinsic in the universe. He is the essence of wild male sexual energy and the urgent biological need to procreate. Similar to the Greek god Pan, Faunus is typically depicted as an attractive man from the waist up and a goat from the waist down, with human feet and goat horns. He kept company with similar creatures, known as fauns, in the woodlands. While delicate and humble, they were also…
