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Good God!
Meet: Prometheus Prometheus is the Greek god of fire, intellect, and champion of mankind. He and Epimetheus, brothers and both Titans, were tasked with creating man. “Prometheus shaped man out of mud, and Athena breathed life into his clay figure,” according to greekmythology.com. The Olympians banished most of Prometheus’ family to Tartarus, leading Prometheus to love man more than the twelve Olympians – so much so that he tricked Zeus who had demanded man sacrifice a portion of all foods to the gods. The story is told that Prometheus wrapped bones in fat, and hid the best meats inside a hide. By choosing the bones, Zeus had to…
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Book Review – Church of Birds: An Eco-History of Myth and Religion by Ben Gagnon
Book Review Church of Birds: An Eco-History of Myth and Religion by Ben Gagnon Publisher: Moon Books 248 Pages Publication Date: April 1, 2023 Church of Birds is a compendium of myths, artifacts, and observations of birds throughout the history of humankind and their role in helping our ancient ancestors survive, thrive, and strive to be more connected to the gods and the natural world. Chapter 1: The Language of Birdsong discusses the similarities between the songs birds sing and the evolution of human speech. The author mentions myths from civilizations around the world that have humans descendant from birds at the time of creation. It has myths…
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Book Review – A Walk Through the Forest of Souls; a Tarot Journey to Spiritual Awakening by Rachel Pollack
Book Review A Walk Through the Forest of Souls; A Tarot Journey to Spiritual Awakening Written by Rachel Pollack Publisher: Weiser Books 288 Pages Release Date: May 1, 2023 Oftentimes Tarot books are written to give detailed instruction, formal information, and point us readers towards a final destination of comprehension. Rachel Pollack’s book, A Walk through the Forest of Souls exploded those concrete rules and dogmatic disciplines into a multifaceted, multidisciplinary journey of incomprehensible mythological, spiritual, historical, and religious complexities, back into the profound mystery. She guides us through paradoxes and contradictions, dismantling as well as respectfully illuminating all that has been said about the origins and…
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Book Review – The Cult of the Yew by Janis Fry
Book Review The Cult of the Yew: Tree of Life, Mystery, and Magic Written by Janis Fry Publisher: Moon Books 480 Pages Release Date: April 1, 2023 It is not often a book summons you from the Forest of your Soul and takes you on a journey through time and out of time back into a richer, freer, and more integrated Forest of your Eternal Soul. Janis Fry’s The Cult of the Yew was that catalyst for me. The Yew trees first started whirling in my awareness after a random conversation in the Forest one day with a neighboring woman I met on the trail. She shared…
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Book Review – Moon Phases by Cecilia Lattari
Book Review The Green Witch’s Guide to Magical Plants & Flowers by Chris Young and Susan Ottaviano Publisher: Skyhorse 160 Pages Publication date: April 26, 2022 The tagline for this book is “Use the lunar cycle to connect with nature and focus your intentions,” which straight away seems right up my street. I love moon magic, and indeed the science and astronomy surrounding the moon itself. I also focus on keeping my spiritual and magical path as connected to the seasons and nature as possible, so was keen to get a look at this book. There are thirteen chapters for the thirteen moons of the year, many of…
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Book Review – Fortunate: Tarot Poetry by Kim Rashidi
Book Review Fortunate: Tarot Poetry by Kim Rashidi Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing 168 Pages Release Date: May 3, 2022 Fortunate: Tarot Poetry is a sweet book containing 78 short poems inspired by the 78 cards of the Tarot. The poems are presented in a randomized order in the book, and it is suggested in the short introduction that the reader may wish to use the book as a form of Tarot-inspired bibliomancy. Each poem also comes with a few blank pages, so that the book can be used as a Tarot journal, or as a place where someone may collect notes and reflections on the poems…
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Beltaine Correspondences
Also known as: May Day, Bealtaine, Beltane, Bhealtainn, Bealtinne, Festival of Tana (Strega), Giamonios, Rudemass, and Walburga (Teutonic), Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain),Fairy Day,Sacred Thorn Day, Rood Day, Roodmas (the Christian term for Rood Day, Old Beltane, Beltain, Baltane, Walpurgis Night, Floriala (Roman feast of flowers from April 29 to May 1), Walpurgisnacht (Germanic-feast of St. Walpurga), Thrimilce (Anglo-saxon), Bloumaand (Old Dutch) Date: May 1 Animals: Swallow, dove, swan, Cats, lynx, leopard Deities: Flower Goddesses, Divine Couples, Deities of the Hunt, Aphrodite, artemis, Bast, Diana, Faunus, Flora, Maia, Pan, the Horned God, Venus, and all Gods and Goddesses who preside over fertility. Tools: broom, May Pole, cauldron Stones/Gems: emerald, malachite,…
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Book Review – The Little Book of Manifestation by Astrid Carvel
Book Review The Little Book of Manifestation by Astrid Carvel Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing 130 Pages Release Date: January 17, 2023 In The Little Book of Manifestation Astrid Carvel presents to us a concise and clear concept – as she does in all of her Little Books. She walks us through the basics of the Law of Attraction, a key concept of manifestation, and covers off on many manifesting techniques. She tells us about the attraction of energies to like energies – if we focus on positivity, we can elevate our frequency and attract similar vibrations. She does clarify that had work is needed – although…
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Book Review – Smolder: An Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novel by Laurell K. Hamilton
Book Review Smolder: An Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novel by Laurell K. Hamilton Publisher: Berkley 372 Pages Release Date: March 21, 2023 I have been waiting anxiously for this next adventure with Anita Blake-and it didn’t disappoint! For those of you who are not familiar with the amazing world created by Laurell K., you have no idea what you are missing. This is the 28th book in the series, and it delivered mystery, romance, and of course Anita’s unique sense of humor. There are not too many authors that can continue with one character/series for over 20 years, and the fact that she has been able…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Asparagus June is the final month for harvesting asparagus in many places, which makes it an ideal plant to look at for our Summer Solstice edition of Notes from the Apothecary. This unusual vegetable crops up in plenty of mythology and folklore throughout the ages, and is used by many modern witches and pagans for love, lust, and luck magic, among other things. Asparagus, or Asparagus officinalis, is a perennial which means it grows back year after year. It’s a flowering plant, and, if left to mature, may produce small white or yellow flowers and orange berries. It’s one of those plants that looks wildly different…
