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The Kitchen Witch – Salmon-Topped Dinner Salad
Salmon-Topped Dinner Salad This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite things to eat lately. I love salads anyway – I eat a salad every day, whether it’s a salad for my lunch or a small salad to accompany a larger meal or maybe a fruit salad for a dessert or just a snack! And I maintain that there is no right way to make a salad – the only correct way is the way that is going to make you enjoy eating it. You and whomever you invite to share in this culinary joy. You start with a piece of salmon. I buy the big pack of…
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Weyland’s Whey, Grey Strega Interview, Part Three, Conclusion. December 28th, 2024.
Last Father’s Day, my girlfriend Sparkle arranged Tarot card readings for us. And Cyn was great! But don’t take my word for it–see for yourself! The Frequency of Divinity, Part Three 15: Any theories on how all this works? I don’t think any of us are here by accident. I believe this world is a spiritual school, and our ability to learn the self through that journey is the experience over the course of a lifetime. The tarot helps us orient on that path: what we have experienced, how far we have come, and what we will encounter along the way. 16: Best outcome of a reading? When a client leaves a…
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Our Sally Is Gone
Rural USA, December 21, 1927 Sally May climbed the carved granite steps, careful not to slip on the damp stone. The cave walls wept, and cool drops fell from the ceiling. She could already hear her parents scolding her. They might even send her to bed without supper. Daddy would say, “Sarah, how many times have we told you? Don’t go wanderin’ like that.” Momma would tell her, “Go on to bed, Sally.” In the thirteen years since momma birthed her, they still couldn’t agree on the name. She loved the way grandma said her name with that drawl. SallaMay. Skeletal trees scratched at the cave’s mouth, as if trying…
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Weyland’s Whey 2024 “Have a Cool Yule!” Column
Yule A Wiccan Sabbat observed at the Winter Solstice; Yule is the second Sabbat of the Wheel of the Year (Samhain being the first). It’s a fire festival observing the God’s rebirth and the return of the light. (Newsflash: after the Solstice, days start getting longer again, Pilgrim. Trust me.) For Your Deliberation Sparkle doesn’t believe in idle hands or paws, so Delinquent the dog and I were out at five a.m. this morning for our first Yuletide walk of the day. I stopped within the warren of pathways in our communal back yard, stunned by the beauty of Sabbat. Snow was falling silently, turning the ground a speckled white. …
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In a Forest of Winter Enchantment: A Special Fiction Piece by The Modern Merlin
Good afternoon and Frohes Muttersnacht to you all! For those who don’t know, Mother’s Night is celebrated the night before Yule (the Winter Solstice) in many traditional Germanic customs. Not only are our earthly and ancestral mothers honored, but also the mother goddesses. This part of my Winter holiday celebration is when I switch into a more ancestry-based practice, incorporating various Celtic, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon beliefs concerning the winter solstice tradition. All this, while still honoring Saturnalia, which in essence welcomes in “Jack Frost” or “Old Man Winter” as he is now called. This fiction piece is inspired by the energy of Mother’s Night, and is in celebration of all mothers out…
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Book Review-Pagan Portals: Maman Brigitte: Dark Goddess of Africa and Ireland by Pauline Breen
Book Review Pagan Portals: Maman Brigitte: Dark Goddess of Africa and Ireland By Pauline Breen Publisher: Moon Books 104 page E-Book Release Date: December 1st, 2024 Pagan Portals: Maman Brigitte is a fascinating exploration of an oft-misunderstood goddess within the Vodou traditions of Haiti and Louisiana. Breen makes clear that she has no “in” with these cultures that have been the subject of centuries of exploitation, from slavery to the appropriation of their beliefs. I appreciate the author’s intent to avoid an attempt at appropriation, but rather the exploration of the Goddess, in this case, Brigid, as she evolved to meet the needs of peoples who had been exploited and sold…
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The Modern Merlin’s Corner-December 2024: Saturnalia, Yule and Winter Celebrations
IO Saturnalia! I hope my readers are having a joyful and blessed Saturnalia and start of the holiday season. Before getting into the subject of this month’s column, I want to take a moment to address some changes coming in 2025 to this column. Rest assured, I will still be contributing this column to our publication, but I will be re-defining it in some ways, excluding certain subject areas, as they will be touched on by other columns I will be writing, and add in other subject areas into this one. This column will still remain fairly eclectic, but I will be expanding it to include more on the subjects…
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Scary, Strange and Mythical Encounters: A Paranormal, Folklore & Mythology Column-December 2024: Introduction and Friday the 13th
Happy Friday the 13th! I’m so excited to start one of my new columns, and on Friday the 13th no less! How perfect for a Paranormal Column! Before I get into the content of my article, which I promise is themed for this Friday the 13th, and we will look at lore, legends, and myths as well as possible Pagan basis for the current superstitions and beliefs surrounding this magickal day. Before we get into the fun that I have in store for you, I want to explain what this column will be, and why I chose to tackle these subjects, both separately and apart. Stay with me, as it’s…
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Book Review: Faerie Wisdom
Title: Faerie Wisdom: Magical Guidance and Wisdom Author: Gillian Kemp Illustrator: Emma Garner Publisher: Cico Books Release Date: March 12, 2024 Pages: 52 Cards and 64-Page Guidebook Gillian Kemp begins the guidebook with faerie “folklore as old as the hills in which faeries have lived since time immemorial.” Page after page draws readers into the magical world as their customs, rituals, foods, occupations, habitat, and means of transportation are introduced. The illustrated handbook depicts faeries as varied and their world being not unlike that of humans when life was simpler. Kemp notes some fairies are the size of humans and can live in each others’ worlds. She describes the fae…
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WitchCrafting: Pinecone Fire Starters
Merry meet! This time of year pinecones are fairly easy to find, and Yule is celebrated with bonfires and Yule logs. Combine the two by making fire starters from pinecones. It’s an easy, quick craft. Begin by collecting pinecones. They must be completely dry. If they are damp from being on the ground, you can put them on a parchment-lined sheet pan and leave them in a 150-degree oven for an hour, or until any sap has melted and the cones open fully. If you are doing many, you’ll want to melt wax – preferable bees wax because it burns the cleanest – in a metal or ceramic bowl…
