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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Book Review – Daily Magic: Spells and Rituals for Making the Whole Year Magical by Judika Illes
Book Review Daily Magic Spells and Rituals for Making the Whole Year Magical by Judika Illes Publisher: HarperOne 592 Pages Publication Date: August 31, 2021 “Daily Magic: Spells and Rituals for Making the Whole Year Magical” is the quintessential collection of days that pagans of all varieties celebrate around the world. It is a perpetual calendar of dates having spiritual, magical, and esoteric significance, helping readers make the most of the energies and influences that are associated with special power times. Some significant historical events, such as September 11, are also referenced. April 30, for example, is perfect for spellcasting – especially for love, romance, fertility, and prosperity.…
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Book Review – Hello, Goodbye: 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration, and Change by Day Schildkret
Book Review Hello, Goodbye 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration, and Change by Day Schildkret Publisher: Simon & Schuster 208 Pages Publication Date: March 1, 2022 Events shape our lives, stirring up emotions, bringing transitions, and forcing changes. These moments — a birth, health crisis, marriage, job transfer, the loss of a pet, leaving for college — tend to get lost amid routinely busy days with their unending demands. Day Schildkret, artist and author behind the Morning Altars movement, believes we need ritual to observe, sanctify, and make sense of these transitions. Being mindful of them, being willing to honor these times with purpose and meaning, provides…
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WitchCrafting: Crafts for Witches
Wreaths Merry meet. Wreaths have been around at least since Ancient Greece where those made of laurel, representing the circle of eternal life, were displayed at funerals. As their popularity rose, they were used as symbols of power, honor, and victory (which led to warning against “resting on your laurels”). The Ancient Etruscans – who predated Romans on the Italian peninsula – made crown-wreaths of ivy, laurel, oak, myrtle, and olive leaves, sometimes incorporating vines and wheat. Evergreen wreaths were included in Christmas celebrations by Germans in the 16th century, but were used in pagan solstice rituals centuries before that across Europe. Holly and mistletoe were also sometimes used.…
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Witch Hunt
There are witches all around us. You can find them anywhere… The Witch on Wheels has been documenting her findings. Meet: Roberto Vargas I met Roberto Vargas about six years ago through a pagan discussion group. He and his husband, Norman, are one of the nicest couples you’d want to meet and we’ve remained friends. Both have their sun in Cancer. The three of us connected with three other friends and committed to planning a public ritual for all eight sabbats during one turn of the wheel. He was unflappable. I learned a lot about how wonderful things turn out even if you feel like you’re…
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Book Review – Seasons of a Magical Life: A Pagan Path of Living by H. Byron Ballard
Book Review Seasons of a Magical Life A Pagan Path of Living by H. Byron Ballard Publisher: Weiser Books 224 Pages Publication Date: August 2021 In “Seasons of a Magical Life,” pagan, witch and farmer H. Byron Ballard extends an invitation to return to a simpler time of earth-based spirituality and ritual living, through essays written from a small forest-farm in the Appalachian Highlands. The first part of the book offers background on the Wheel of the Year. In Part II, chapters are broken into eight sabbats. Each contains traditions, activities, skills, chores, celebrations and opportunities. The final section is a brief overview on physical and spiritual…
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Book Review – Money Magic: Practical Wisdom and Empowering Rituals to Heal Your Finances by Jessie Susannah Karnatz
Book Review Money Magic Practical Wisdom and Empowering Rituals to Heal Your Finances by Jessie Susannah Karnatz Publisher: Chronicle Books 208 Pages Publication Date: March 1, 2022 In “Money Magic: Practical Wisdom and Empowering Rituals to Heal Your Finances,” intuitive financial coach Jessie Susannah Karnatz, aka “The Money Witch” presents a detailed seven-step system to assess your financial situation, plan for goals, and overcome obstacles. It’s a workbook combining practical advice and a sprinkling of magical rituals to take control of your money, getting readers from where they are to where they want to be. Much has to do with healing the emotional blocks surrounding money that prevent…