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Magic at the Hearth *Excerpted from The House Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock       In hearthcraft, magic is a way of consciously drawing on the energy of the spiritual hearth to enhance the activity you are engaged in. In many paths magic and spiritual practices are separate, but in hearthcraft the magical activity both supports and draws from spiritual activity. As so much of hearthcraft revolves around love, nurturing, and protection of what you consider sacred, positive goals can be the only ones envisioned.   Another way of looking at magic within the context of hearthcraft is as transformation of some kind, a task performed with the intent to…

Book Review Medicine Wheel Plain & Simple: An Introduction to Native American Astrology by Deborah Durbin   I had a flashback to the 1980’s when I opened this book. I saw the system familiarized in Sun Bear and Wabun’s The Medicine Wheel: Earth Astrology, complete with correspondences to animal totems, plants, crystal and moon correspondences for each astrological sign. So, this book is “New Age;” don’t pick it up thinking that you will learn find a new (or rather, ancient) system of working with cosmic forces here. And you won’t gain any insight into the cultural astronomy or archeoastronomy of the indigenous people of the Americas – the mythic tales…

Review: 2019 Lunar & Seasonal Diary (Northern Hemisphere) by Stacey DeMarco Rockpool Publishing ISBN: 978-1-925682-13-7 List Price: $21.95 USD / £16.99 GBP The 2019 Lunar and Seasonal Diary is a beautiful, spiral-bound calendar, richly illustrated with pleasing sepia color pages. As one would expect, it tracks the waxing and waning of the moon and the lunar eclipses of the coming year. It also provides the astrological house of each new and full moon and features the eight annual festivals of the wheel of the year. I reviewed the Northern Hemisphere edition of the Seasonal Diary. Both Stacey DeMarco and Rockpool Publishing are based in Australia, which is why special care…

  May the Devil Take You       Bright Blessings, Movie lovers. I had the pleasure of viewing one of the scariest horror’s I’ve seen since the original Exorcist. This is an Indonesian film called “May the Devil Take You.” If you scare easily, run like mad, and never watch this. If you are interested, take a look at the trailer.     If you love a good scare, and want to sleep with all the lights on- IF you can sleep…you MUST see this. The film begins showing what appears to be an encounter with a cunning woman, but turns out to be a man named Lesmana selling…

Celebrating The Old Ways In New Times for December 2018 Bright Blessings! Some of us count the start of Winter with Samhain, and we were lucky that we had a warm beginning of Winter here in Central Ohio. One night in Early November though, surrounded by the glory of fall colors in the leaves of the many trees I live amongst, I was out walking the dog, and I felt a chill, and the silence that had fallen upon the body of Mother Earth told me the Cailleach was here. My husband swears up and down Winter is not here until Solstice time, but I feel her moving across the…

The Circle of Nine: An Archetypal Journey to Awaken the Divine Feminine Within by Cherry Gilchrist     publisher: Weiser books © 2018 length: 252 pages This book is a rewrite of an earlier work the author wrote in the 1980s; the author talks about what it was like trying to write this book, the first time when the Internet was not yet available to her. When I went looking for the original text, the publication date on Amazon was 1750. I instantly had the thought of “She’s on to something. If she still here using the same name in 2018, and she wrote this book that long ago.” She…

The Road to Runes: The Right Headspace     Reading runes is a form of divination. All forms of divination require an open mind ready to receive messages and interpret symbols. A stressed and worried mindset will lead to false interpretations, or prevent messages coming through at all. Even the strongest connection between diviner and tools can be blocked by a worried mind or troubled soul. Of course, we often look for answers from the runes because we are troubled and worried. So how can we stop these worries affecting our divination? Relax As an anxious person, believe me, I know this is easier said than done. Relaxation becomes even…

Excerpted from: 19-Days of Illuminated Darkness Day Three The Light Within the Shadow of the Winter Solstice For most of us the turning of the Greater Wheel to the Winter Solstice (Yule) is one of welcoming the return of the Light of renewal and strength, the promise of increasingly longer hours of daylight and anticipation of warmer weather and a more outer world focused time. This change is subtle in physical form as this is also when the cold of the Winter (Northern Hemisphere) will remain for a few months more prompting us to retreat indoors as the early arrival of evening’s darkness envelopes and calls us into the warmth…

Solstice is…   (Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash)   Holly sharp sting, Red blood like Berries, red, white Mistletoe hang Deadly dart and Baldur’s curse Druids’ king seeking potion Now a kissing spot Love instead Shown through gifts Wrapped mysteries Ribbons hiding Hearts’ desires Wrap the day in a bow But presents wait Wait for me:   The mother and priestess Down in the woods At the sacred crossroads Of birch and oak The mysteries of Male and Female And everything in between And beyond.   Here I find the altar That no one knows of But I I lay the offerings Salt Offal Nothing to scar or litter…

Book Review Enchantments: A Modern Witch’s Guide to Self-Possession by Mya Spalter     Inspired by a New York Occult shop of the same name, Enchantments: A Modern Witch’s Guide to Self-Possession, takes the reader on a virtual tour of the shop, its wares and the accompanying advice and conversation that might be had when looking to craft a beautiful and meaningful altar space, or create sacred space. The author, Mya Spalter, uses a very warm approach, telling how she came to work at Enchantments store and then taking you on a journey through the highlights of her learning and experiences in working in a busy occult venue. Even the…