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Book Review Midlife Is Not a Crisis Using Astrology to Thrive in the Second Half of Life by Virginia Bell Published by Weiser Books Pages: 242 What others call a midlife crisis, Virginia Bell calls a Mid-course correction, saying, “Whatever we’ve left out of the equation, whatever we’ve ignored, begins to rise up and can no longer be disregarded. This cycle involves four planets and is spread over a decade.” With that, she welcomes readers to understand life’s most important cycle. As she began to study astrology in her early-50s, Bell came to realize it wasn’t about something happening in the sky, but something happening within each of us, “and…

Book Review Mindful Tarot Bring a Peace-Filled Compassionate Practice to the 78 Cards by Lisa Frienkel Tishman, Ph.D The preface gives the reader a very specific view into the interpretative style and way in which Dr. Tishman is going to incorporate a Mindful approach to using the 78 Keys as tools of integration and awareness. This is a different ideology than is the norm in treating the cards of the Tarot as tools for accessing predictive information or having a specific spiritual practice in mind that these interpretations may be fused into. Dr. Tishman is, after all, a Zen Buddhist minister, so the underpinnings of this book’s methodology are grounded…

Dream Candles Merry meet! This year for the new moon in Pisces I made dream candles. I was inspired by a ritual in the book I reviewed, “Moon Power: Lunar Rituals for Connecting with Your Inner Goddess” by Simone Butler. I later modified her ritual for Ostara where some participants changed it to meet their own visions, so do revise it so it works for you. Pisces is dreamy, making it a wonderful influence for letting your subconscious choose images and words to glue to a seven-day glass pillar candle. Candles can also be made for a particular intention. You can find them at the dollar store. Any color you…

Book Review Numerology Dancing the Spirals of Time by Elen Sentier I do quite a bit of numerology as an enhancement to my magickal disciplines and I am always looking for a fresh perspective to inform and find the bridges of connection between multiple esoteric disciplines. Numerology: Dancing the Spirals of Time does just that in decoding the patterns and vibrations that are present universally. The author uses a very tactile approach to learning and “feeling” the numbers and the geometric patterns they create. This process engages the reader from the onset and provides Ms. Sentier as a Transpersonal Psychotherapist and British Shaman. I have had the opportunity to read…

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…

Book Review Choosing To Be A Medium by Sharon Farber Ms. Farber received her BA in sociology at Univ. of Mass. before pursuing a path in healing arts. This is evident and supportive in the manner in which Choosing To Be A Medium is written and the subject in general is presented. This very pragmatic approach is reflected in the Disclaimer at the beginning of the book… “ Not everybody has the ideal emotional strength and stability to be a medium. Good mental health, including a strong connection to reality is vital. People with certain types of mental illness, including clinical depression or psychosis, are advised to consult with a…

If you’re a traveling Pagan, especially during the warmer weather, make your way to southern Illinois to a little town called Makanda. Longitude and latitude of Makanda is 37.6179° north, 89.2090° West. According to the website for this small town, is called the “Gateway to Giant City Park,” the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, and the scenic River to River Trail passes through this village. It’s also been called the most hippie town in southern Illinois. It was incorporated February 7, 1888, named after local Native American chief. It once was a bustling town that was closely tied to the railroad and was the major shipping hub for Chicago for fruits…

Book Review Pagan Portals The Dagda Meeting the Good God of Ireland by Morgan Daimler The Dagda, the Good God of Ireland, is the subject of the book written by Morgan Daimler. She has created a beginner’s book on a Deity that is multilayered and complex. As of 2017, the time of the writing of this book, the author, Ms. Daimler had not heard of a book that was written solely on the Dagda. The author, Ms. Daimler, has broken the five different chapters up into sub-entries. Each entry deals with a different aspect of the Dagda. Even though there are only 77 pages in the e-book, I found myself…

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…

Book Review The art of Doodle Words by Sarah Alberto 144 pp. Race Point Publishing “The art of Doodle Words” is an inventive, amusing look into a playful art style: Sarah Alberto’s “doodle words” are hand-lettered art pieces which incorporate fun pictorial imagery into the construction of a hand-lettered word or phrase. For example, the word “tools” can be spelled out with different types of tools, or a line of cursive may be incorporated into a larger drawing. The introduction walks the reader through the basics of creating doodle art (including some suggestions for brain-storming and laying out a specific design), while the first part of the book gives numerous…