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Book Review – The Witch’s Yearbook: Spells, Stones, Tools, and Rituals for a Year of Modern Magic by Clare Gogerty
Book Review The Witch’s Yearbook: Spells, Stones, Tools, and Rituals for a Year of Modern Magic By Clare Gogerty Publisher: David & Charles 128 pages Publication Date: August 10, 2021 Clare Gogerty, a seasoned practitioner of the craft, gives a year’s worth of ideas and wisdom for celebrating the sabbats that makes for a helpful resource for beginners. Chapters begin with an introduction to the festival, a topic of interest (trees for Mabon, the moon at Yule, magical creatures for Ostara), botanical and crystal correspondences, holiday traditions and customs, rituals and spells, and a witchy craft (apple wand, incense, Brigid’s cross). On the Samhain pages, for…
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Book Review – A Spell A Day: 365 Easy Spells, Rituals and Magic for the Everyday by Tree Carr
Book Review A Spell a Day: 365 Easy Spells, Rituals and Magic for the Everyday By Tree Carr Publisher: Watkins 336 pages Publication Date: June 13, 2023 Tree Carr gives readers 365 spells and rituals in book form, organized by element. There are several ways to choose which spell to cast: by intention, chronologically, synchronized to magical and celestial dates, and using the divinatory art of bibliomancy by opening the book to a page at random. For each of the five elements – air, fire, water, earth, spirit – Carr presents spells for three new moons, three full moons, three solar returns, sabbats, and a collection…
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SpellCrafting: Spells for Witches
SpellCrafting: Starting Beltane Fires Merry meet! This issue’s WitchCrafting column has ideas for making fire starters. If you’d like to take it one step further, you can craft them as a spell. Beltane themes such as burning away that which no longer serves your highest good and greatest joy, planting seeds, and nurturing goals can be incorporated when making fire starters. For instance, toilet paper tubes stuffed with dryer lint can be decorated with Beltane colors (green, soft pink, blue, yellow, red, brown), pictures of flowers in bloom, or a sigil made for a specific intention. On it you can write what you are ready to release, what you desire…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Columbine The columbine, or Aquilegia, is a striking flower, with hooked spurs that resemble either eagle’s talons or the heads of doves gathered together. It’s in the same family as buttercups (Ranunculaceae), which while isn’t obvious in the shape of the flowers, becomes more apparent when you look at the hairy stems and the lobed leaf shapes. There are up to 70 species of columbines that we know about, with colours ranging from bright blue to deep red. Also known as Granny’s Bonnet, these fantastic flowers carry a wealth of folklore and magical associations. The Kitchen Garden Columbine are one of those plants that…
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It’s All Rite
Spring is a time of hope, new beginnings, potential, and planting. Air, east, the new moon, the maiden archetype, inspiration, imagination, fresh flowers, nests, eggs, hawks, seeds, chimes, dragonflies, wonder, joy, playfulness, communication, spiders, purification, daffodils, childhood, and adventure are all associated with Ostara. For readers who want to keep it simple, below is a collection of easy yet meaningful activities to celebrate the Spring Equinox. Pick whatever interests you, and continue as long as you wish. Perhaps one of them will become a daily practice. * Put a bowl of candied eggs on a table or counter to bless new beginnings with sweetness and happiness. * Hang wind chimes…
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Book Review – Rituals for Life: A Guide to Creating Meaningful Rituals Inspired by Nature by Isla Macleod
Book Review Rituals for Life: A Guide to Creating Meaningful Rituals Inspired by Nature by Isla Macleod Publisher: Laurence King Publishing 192 pages Release Date: November 29, 2022 I strongly believe in the power of rituals, which play an important role in my spiritual practice, so I was excited to review Isla Macleod’s book, “Rituals for Life: A guide to creating meaningful rituals inspired by nature.” It makes a wonderful manual for beginners because it goes into depth explaining the their purpose and potential, their gifts, essential components, how to prepare for them, and instructions for creating twenty rituals plus suggestions for variations. With its many…
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Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times – Final Edition
Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times 2023 – Final Edition Bright Blessings! Since 2016, I have written about the Sabbats in this column. As the Wheel turns, and seasons change, so do we, and this old witch wants a new topic. This will be my final Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times, and starting with the next issue, I will be writing a column about Tarot. I’m a Tarot reader and have been for years. I was lucky enough to be one of the readers at the psychic fair that was this past weekend at the shop where I get to read, and let me tell you, being…
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Exclusive Interview with Author Nikki Van De Car
Nikki Van De Car is the author of several books including The Witchy Homestead: Spells, Rituals, and Remedies for Creating Magic at Home which we recently reviewed here on PaganPagesOrg. Nikki was kind enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to talk to us about her writing, her crafting, and the magic in her own life. Mabh Savage (Mabh): I’ve just read “Witchy Homestead.” Firstly, congratulations on a wonderful book. What prompted you to write this? What was your main inspiration? Nikki Van De Car (Nikki): About five years ago, I left New York to return to my hometown in Hawaii. It’s a tiny…
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Book Review – The Magick of Birthdays by Hannah Hawthorn
Book Review The Magic of Birthdays: Rituals, Spells, and Recipes for Honoring Your Solar Return Through Rootwork and Conjure by Hannah Hawthorn Publisher: Penguin Random House 269 Pages Publication date: July 12, 2022 Bright Blessings! I am thrilled to share an amazing new book with you that discusses exactly what the title says it does — birthdays and all the magic that comes along with them. I don’t read all that much for myself, because my day job entails plenty of research. As somebody who has to share facts and history on a weekly basis, I have to say I…
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Book Review – Herbal Tea Magic for the Modern Witch: A Practical Guide to Healing Herbs, Tea Leaf Reading, and Botanical Spells by Elsie Wild
Book Review Herbal Tea Magic for the Modern Witch: A Practical Guide to Healing Herbs, Tea Leaf Reading, and Botanical Spells by Elsie Wild Published by Ulysses Press 224 pages Publication date: November 23, 2021 If you like tea and want to know more about its magical use, you’re certain to enjoy Herbal Tea Magic for the Modern Witch. This book is a modern introduction to basic herbs, mixing and brewing tea, tasseography, and basic herbal magic. The first chapter explores the history of herbalism and tasseography. This history is fairly short, but provides a good basis of context for what follows. Chapter two lists a number of…
