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Steve Andrews: Bard of Ely Dubbed as both a wizard and a bard, Steve Andrews is hardly your everyday herb expert, if there is indeed such a thing. I caught up with Steve to find out about his music, his love of plants and his writing.   Mabh Savage: What inspired you to write your upcoming book, Herbs of the Sun, Moon and Planets? Steve Andrews: I have been interested in herbs for a very long time and I like to research subjects I enjoy. I found information about planetary rulers for various herbs in books on herbalism and thought it would make an interesting subject in its own right.…

  Paul Davies, aka Oddie, is an independent Druid, a Norwich Quaker, a photographer and a pacifist. He’s also the editor of This Ancient Heart, a book that ‘reveals the connective pathways where beliefs, actions and metaphors lead to dynamic, practical and spiritual lives’. Having had this brief but fascinating introduction, I was thrilled that Oddie gave up some of his time to answer a few questions about the book and beyond.    Mabh Savage: Tell us a bit about the book This Ancient Heart. How did you become involved with editing this compilation? Paul Davies: I wanted to invite the leading spiritual and academic thinkers of our time to…

Give-Away Merry meet. We witches love stuff, and over time, we can accumulate a fair amount of it. As time passes, there are some items that may fall out of favor. Perhaps after reading that book on druids, you decide the information wasn’t something you would incorporate into your practice. You might be given a pentacle you like better than the one you’ve had on your altar for years. A tarot deck – or two or three – may no longer speak to you. The black skirt that no longer fits got pushed to the back of the closet and forgotten. Candles you thought you’d use are gathering dust. And…

This month we cover and cleanse with Soaps     Witch Soap 4 lbs lard 13 oz lye (1 can) 5 cups cold water 1 tbsp lavender oil 1 tbsp patchouli oil 1 cup fresh strawberry juice 1/4 cup dried soap bark herb (optional) In a large enamel or iron kettle, melt the lard over very low heat. (never use metal) In a seperate pot, stir together the lye and water. Heat lard until small bubbles begin to appear- do not boil. Remove from the heat and slowly pour the lye solution into the lard. With a big wooden spoon, stir the lavender and patchouli oils, the strawberry juice and…

The Tarot Illuminati I first saw images from the Tarot Illuminati back in 2012 or so on Deviart.com – the Empress card was one of the very first pins on my Pinterest page and I wrote that “these cards aren’t published yet – I can hardly wait to get a set!” Beautifully rendered by Erik Dunne (http://elric2012.deviantart.com/), the entire deck was not ready for publication before May, 2013. I personally did not get my own set until this past Yule. You can see Erik’s new Tarot deck, Tarot Akropolis, at the above link – only a few cards have been posted but they are very much alike the Tarot Illuminati…

Why Change Matters She changes everything she touches and everything she touches, changes She changes everything she touches and everything she touches, changes Change is, touch is; touch is, change is. Change us, touch us; touch us, change us. We are changers; everything we touch can change. We are changers; everything we touch can change. – Starhawk I will freely admit, I don’t like change. I like my routines and I don’t like it when they have to be changed for any reason, at times to the detriment of my own health and well-being. In the midst of this dislike, I also know that change is an inevitable part of…

To follow the hidden path of witchcraft is to commit ourselves to a life of learning, and the Craft makes no distinction between learning from books and learning from experience. The same rules apply to both. The stages in learning can be charted around the Sun-wheel, also called ‘the wheel of the year,’ since it is commonly used to map the eight Sabbats or ‘restful recreations’ of the witches throughout the year. 1 It is also a guide to the elemental directions 2 of the ritual Circle, and to the four powers of the witch. 3 The directions, Sabbats, elements and powers are mapped on the Sun-wheel thus: Direction  …

I love comparing cards! This month we will look at the Major Arcana Strength card and then come to understand it even further by comparing it to The Chariot, the card we examined last month. If you haven’t yet read last month’s column, please do so now. Next, a quick review. There are 22 Major Arcana cards in a Tarot deck, with numbers from 0 to 21; the Majors usually deal with broader and more far-reaching life experience issues, archetypes that are easy for us to identify with and connect with at some point in our lives. An archetype (pronounced “ark eh type”) is a generic, idealized model of a…

Spring Equinox 2016 for Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times Greetings from cool, moist, Ohio. We had five days of snowy , icy yuck, and now it is all melting. I have no complaints. I was able to open the sliding glass door and air out the house a bit without the heat switching back on. We have had a very warm winter here, thanks to El Nino- or what some believe is human induced global warming and what others feel is climate change that was coming all on its own. I have not decided what I believe is causing this freakishly warm weather- but today is January 15,…

The Magic of Applesauce Applesauce is so easy to make I honestly don’t understand why anyone ever buys the stuff they sell in the supermarket. The last time I ate any of that – um – substance was several years ago, and it was in a bag of food I got from a food pantry. It was so bland and watery that I couldn’t even tell that it was made out of apples. I refrigerated it and eventually used it in a cake. I always have apples in my house. An apple is the perfect snack. And apples work so well in pies, kuchens, coffee-cakes and other baked goods. It’s…