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  It’s easy to feel swamped by pumpkin everything in the autumnal landscape but pumpkin to some of us is quite a modern thing.     While there were definitely pumpkins for sale in my childhood they were expensive and certainly not the size and multitude they seemed to be in the US. No we had turnips (which is as exciting as it sounds) and last year I thought I’d carve one to honour the ancient Irish tradition. I was even using Dremel and it was still a nightmare! It fought me the whole time, it refused, it spewed gross out me, it was a serious fight and took me…

Book Review:  DISCover the Power of You – How to Cultivate Change for Positive and Productive Cultures by Robert Adams According to the blurb on the back this book is for individuals who have a desire to better understand their own personality, people who may aspire to be come leaders in whatever field of their choice. Full disclosure: I was asked to review this book by the publisher (Business Books, John Hunt Publishing ). In truth it is not a book I would have gravitated to all by myself. Having said that, there can be great benefits in being pushed a bit out of your “natural reading habitat”! I found this…

The Great Cosmic Womb of Egyptian Goddess Nut In Ancient Egypt, Nut was the Sky Goddess and daughter of Shu and Tefnut. She was seen as a personification of The Milky Way. She was both the ultimate Mother Goddess and the Soul Conductor or Psychopomp who reabsorbed the souls of dead people back within herself. The ancient  Egyptians believed that our star constellation Cygnus (or The Swan) marked the location of The Cosmic Womb in The Milk Way, the womb of Nut.  The sun god Ra entered her mouth after the Sun set in the evening and was reborn from her vulva the next morning. She also swallowed and re-birthed stars. The pharaoh entered…

  THERE ARE NO CREATIVE BLOCKS I am a shamanic teacher, painter and author. In this article I am going to explain why, viewed from a shamanic perspective, there is no such thing as a creative block. This may sound a bit controversial or flippant as creative blocks can feel very real to people who are on deadline for a book, article, film or other creation. For that reason I will start by acknowledging just how soul destroying such times are, when the flow appears to dry up. If you are self-employed this may also mean that your income dries up. In its most severe form it can bring on…

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…

KWAN YIN (Lovingly dedicated to Bridget)   In the past few weeks, it has become apparent that there is a large part of this country (US) that has completely opposite feelings than the rest of the country when it comes to race, culture, gender. There is a segment of the population that is now being open with their hatred for anyone different than they and they are encouraged from the highest office. In light of this, the Goddess that I have chosen for this month is Kwan Yin, She of Mercy and Compassion, which is how we should all deal with each other, even those with whom we may disagree.…

Ten of Cups (The Ten of Cups Card is from the artist Ciro Marchetti http://www.ciromarchetti.com/)** Last month we finally talked about the Tens of the Minor Arcana, discussing the Ten of Swords. Let’s reexamine the Tens, this time looking at the Ten of Cups. If you haven’t already read last month’s essay, now might be a good time to check it out. As always, here is a bit of basic foundational information about the Tens of the Tarot Minor Arcana. A Tarot deck has 78 cards. There are 22 Major Arcana cards, with numbers from 0 to 21; the Majors usually deal with broader and more far-reaching life experience issues, archetypes that…

The tale-finder had traced the story as far as a small tavern in a remote village. Quaffing his ale, he greeted the other guests and, after a customary exchange of pleasantries, asked if anyone present had heard the story Hob told of a midnight gathering of sorcerers. There was some chuckling, and then a giant of a man sitting in the corner replied that he knew the tale, or knew of it. “It isn’t much of a story,” he began. “This farmhand Hob, in some stead over the river, was about to head home for the evening when the Mistress of the farm stopped by and asked him if he…

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…

“The Good Witch’s Guide: A Modern-Day Wiccapedia of Magical Ingredients and Spells”     by Shawn Robbins and Charity Bedell Published by Sterling Ethos Published: 2017 Pages: 305   Rituals, History, aromatherapy, crystals, candle magic, spiritual alchemy, potions, tinctures, herbs and recipes are just some of the topics covered in this hardcover book that’s approximately six inches by six and a half inches. It’s an inch thick and just feels good to hold.   As a “Wiccapedia,” it covers all the topics you need to know, and then offers lists for additional reading and reference materials.   The section on herbal folklore includes information about botanicals for health and healing,…