May 2019 for Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times Bright Blessings I write this with a sore back from beginning the garden. I have planted seeds for snow peas, radishes, milkweed, and sunflowers so far, and a few packs of annuals as well. I nabbed more seeds, ordered three more seed catalogs, and got a couple of hot pink pots! Not bad for the first week of gardening. This year, I am doing the unthinkable! I am killing a mint plant! I’m doing it so I can pull a shrub behind it and use the space for more, well…PLANTS! The roots of the mint would take over the space…

Book Review Witchcraft and Secret Societies of Rural England The Magic of Toadmen, Plough Witches, Mummers, and Bonesmen by Nigel Pennick Bright Blessings, Readers! If you are like me, you nab every book you can that explores magic on a historic level, as opposed to just flipping through modern spellbooks. Pennick doesn’t disappoint in this 216 page book that was first published in 2011, and was sent to us to review, having been printed again this year. A bit about the author- Pennick has published extensively on topics ranging from history of the occult, folk traditions, biology, and art. A UK native, he has been teaching, writing, and lecturing for…

I’d heard a filmmaker named Penny Lane was releasing a documentary about The Satanic Temple, and I was stoked. Then, I heard it did well! Imagine how thrilled I then was when our beloved editor told me we had been offered the opportunity to review it! Here is the Trailer: I know. I know. Some of you are balking at the nerve- Satanists! Some, not just Xtians, believe what the media and mainstream Evangelicals tell us the Church of Satan and The Satanic Temple is all about- devil worship. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as this intimate portrait of some of the chapters of The Satanic Temple reveals.…

Bright Blessings, viewers!!!! I am addicted to film, but I am also crazy for documentaries, and travel videos. My husband and I are addicted to Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, and I think you should be as well. Here is a sample of how great this show is! Anthony was an eccentric chef who could not be still, and was always on the go. He was also an intellectual, a writer, an incredible host, a bit of a cynic, and a bleeding-heart Liberal. Thank goodness! His career as a writer, journalist, film presence, and traveler took him all over the world. Not only did he go to sample the ethnocentric foods…

The Closet Pagan Bright Blessings! I was tickled pink when I got this lovely bundle in the mail to review! I am so happy to share what The Closet Pagan has available, and I am confident you will find something you’d love to have! Owner, and craftsperson Anna Pierce is a gifted jewelry maker, and she knows her stuff about what stones have which magical attributes, and she makes spell kits as well. She shipped me, as pictured, two different necklaces. One with crystal ball smoky quartz, and the other with the mysteriously beautiful bloodstone. She also sent single amazonite and fancy jasper stones, and had them all put together…

April 2019 for Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times Bright Blessings! I write this the day before Spring Equinox, and I am pleased to say, although we still get the scattered odd snow, and colds and upper resp is currently rampant in my hometown, Spring is happening anyhow! My crocus bulbs have started showing purple buds, and the birdsong, and strong light are a very welcome break from the cold, and gloom of winter! I have all my seeds for the year already, and I’m going to start buying soil a couple of bags at a time this weekend to fill that new planter box I am thrilled to…

Dracula This month, I reviewed Dracula, the original one starring Bela Lugosi. OH MY!!!!! They just don’t make movies like they used to! Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve found the divine Bela Lugosi to be positively magnificent, but I have never sat and watched the entire original Dracula he made famous. I waited too long, and if you have not seen it, don’t wait any longer. Take a look at the trailer of what we have been missing! Universal has released a set of Blu-Rays’s called “Dracula: Complete Legacy Collection”, and it has six films, including the 1931 Dracula with Bela. The films were made from 1931-1948,…

March 2019 for Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times March 2019 for Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times Bright Blessings! I cannot tell you how excited I am that it is almost the Spring Equinox! To prepare, I assembled a precut garden box today, and have been diligently bagging up the dead leaves from last fall I spread over the garden beds I already have. I never buy mulch that way! Once the thaw starts, I dig out the leaves, and just throw them away. While I joyously begin celebrating Spring at Imbolc, the fact I can see the green fingers of garden bulbs pushing up out of…

Bright Blessings film lovers! I’m reviewing a new show instead of a movie this time. This show has made quite a stir on Netflix this week, and people are either celebrating it, or upset by the hosts suggestions. There seems to be no happy medium response. People either love this or hate it. I watched a few Episodes of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. Let me begin by saying I freaking LOVE this! Smart business lady Marie Kondo hails from beautiful Japan, where she single-handedly started an organizing business based on clean, minimal living, only owning things you get a lot of use out of, and teaching a lifestyle of…

Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times For Imbolc February 2019 Bright Blessings! Oh my, did the Winter Hag hit us last night. In Central Ohio we got I don’t know how many inches of snow- which would be fine- except we got solid ice underneath it first. I can’t walk my dog in certain parts of the grass or we will slide away! The plows, salt trucks, and sidewalk clearing is in full swing. I only had to shovel my front stoop, as a neighbor shoveled the walk before our helpers got here. Not bad, but I am aching all over- as it’s only 8 degrees, and my body…