Spirit Cats Inspirational Cards by artist Nicole Piar     Just recently, I received promotional copy of “Spirit Cats” – an “Inspirational” 48-Card Oracle deck created, written and illustrated by artist Nicole Piar. These past few weeks, I have been using the cards – looking at the lush artwork on the one side and reading the meditative prose on the other – as well as researching everything I could find on Nicole Piar herself. (“Flow”) I also looked up tarot and oracle cards featuring cats. I thought – why cats? Why not dogs? Or horses? Or any other animal? One of the websites I visit regularly – at least once…

Harvest Stir-Fry with Shrimp        If you are like me, you either make too much pasta or not enough. Generally, I err on the side of too much. So I often use leftover pasta in stir-fries. Pasta reheats fabulously in the stir-fry pan, and absorbs the flavors of the cooking oil, vegetables and other seasonings.      The other day, I went to the farmer’s market in Downtown Buffalo. I bought these wonderful purple and pale green peppers, as well as cherry tomatoes and zucchini. I decided to use them in the stir-fry with the leftover pasta. I also had onion and shrimp. Here is the recipe and…

Thoughts While Reading The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook       One of the books on my summer reading list is The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook: Reading the Language and Symbols of the Cards, by Caitlín Matthews. I don’t have a set of Lenormand Cards – but I’m not letting that stop me from learning as much as I can about them. As with all divinatory cards, I am fascinated by the variety and beauty of the many sets of Lenormand cards available in occult shops, online or from private seller. I think what appeals to me about the Lenormand is the combination of pictures, numbers and playing card symbolism.…

Sauteed Zucchini with Onions and Mushrooms   Since my last posting, I have moved into a new home and I finally have a real kitchen again! It’s so nice to have counter space and storage space! I am still getting settled but I have lots of plans for magical meals and witchy ways to make your culinary life more charming. It’s the height of the summer harvest season and everywhere you look, there’s zucchini! Your garden is overflowing with the bountiful green squash, at work, your co-workers bring in extras from their gardens, every farmer’s market has baskets filled to the brim with zucchini and summer squash both. There are…

Black Magic Cake   This is literally one of the best cakes in the entire world. Apart from its fabulous name, it is easy to make, it keeps well, and it is so yummy good that once you make it, you won’t want to make another chocolate cake ever. I found this recipe on a Hershey’s cocoa can back in 1971 or so – I was maybe ten or eleven years old. I asked my mother if I could make it and my mother, being the kind of cook that she was, said yes. Up to that point, I had always used cake mixes but this was the first “by…

A Great Little Book About Numerology One of my first articles for Pagan Pages was a little essay about numerology. I wrote it on my fifty-third birthday, since I generally check my “numbers” for the coming year on my birthday. (I also do it on New Year’s Day, but that’s a more generalized reading). This year is a 7 year for me – which to a Tarot person like me says the Chariot – which says to me that I’ll be on the move, in one way or another – either a physical move to another place or some kind of esoteric move that rocks my world. Or maybe both!…

Super Fast! Super Easy! Super Good! After last month’s total screw-up, I decided to make one of my favorite quick meals. I have this at least once a week. It’s super fast and super easy, and super yummy good. First you boil a pan of water. I always salt the water, because that makes it boil faster – salt changes the chemical composition of water, making it more susceptible to the effects of heat. Once it comes to a full boil, I add angel-hair pasta. For two servings, I add about an inch and a half diameter of pasta – I use my thumb and index finger as a measure,…

Using a Pendulum with Runes   Since buying a set of Runes in January of this year, I have been working with them and studying both their history and lore diligently. Using Alexandra Chauran’s wonderful book, Runes for Beginners: Simple divination and Interpretation as well as the chapter on Runes in The Fortune-Teller’s Workbook: A Practical Introduction to the World of divination by Sasha Fenton, I am slowly – very slowly – becoming adept at using the stones. I am also – of course – searching the internet for all the information I can find. I made a chart for myself that I refer to quickly and am beginning to…

Sweet Potato Pie: How Not to Make it!   Okay, I’ve really been off my game lately. I’ve been traveling a lot and I haven’t been doing a lot of cooking – I’ve been eating a lot of salads and quick pasta dishes or beans and rice – things I can whip up in a jiffy. But I got home from visiting my son and my elderly parents the other day in Buffalo and I thought that I would make something different – I had some yams that needed to be used, so I thought, oh, I’ll make a Sweet Potato Pie. If you have heard of “Granny Moon’s Morning…

To See or Not to See: What is Your Preference?     I was going to write more about Runes for this month’s column, having worked diligently with my new set all month long and even found a way to use my pendulum with them. But yesterday I read an article in The Guardian that made me think about divination in general and I want to discuss that today. The Guardian is one of my favorite sources of news nowadays – like The Huffington Post, it posts articles that were originally posted on another site. The article I read, “Want to Know the Future? Most People Don’t, Study Suggests,” by…