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Telling the Bees: What’s the Buzz?
The other day, Diana Gabaldon announced (FINALLY!) the release date for the next book in her Outlander series, entitled Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone. For those of you familiar with the series, she’s a fan of long and unwieldy titles, so this was no exception, but I was surprised at how many people in Social Media Land found GTTBTIAG a puzzling series of words… because telling the bees is a really cool bit of folklore. Of course, this doesn’t bode well for Jamie and Claire Fraser, as one typically tells the bees about death… but that’s Diana Gabaldon’s story to tell, not mine. In general, this practice is a nineteenth…
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The Magic of Forsythia
Sometime between Ostara and Beltane, you’ll probably start to see the bright yellow blooms of forsythia plants appearing. This early spring flower is associated with the sun, thanks to its yellow flowers, and it seems to have an uncanny ability to blossom without any care or tending whatsoever–it’s not uncommon to find random forsythia plants in full bloom at properties long since abandoned. According to some legends, once the forsythia flowers begin to bloom, it means you’ll still have three more snowfalls before the winter is truly over. During the Victorian era, flowers were assigned special meanings, as part of a “secret language of flowers.” The forsythia is associated with…
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The Magic of Bloodroot
Even though I’ve gotten my first of two Covid shots, I’m still social distancing, so I like taking time to get out into the woods near my home. It’s springtime here in Middle Earth, and with the heavy rains we’ve had, a lot of stuff is beginning to sprout and bloom. Last year around this time, I was out foraging near a limestone outcropping, and encountered what I initially thought was mayapple… except mayapple shouldn’t be surfacing for a few more weeks here. A friend pointed out that it was probably bloodroot (thanks, Lisa!), and I realized she was correct. It’s one of those lesser-known flowers that doesn’t get a…
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Celebrating Ostara With Kids
This is an article that originally appeared on my old About.com page and was eventually moved over to LearnReligions, but now it’s been deleted, so I’m going to share it with you here. Since Ostara comes to the Northern Hemisphere on the 20th, I thought it was a good time to talk about how you can celebrate the season if you’ve got small humans in your house. Ostara is the season of the spring equinox, and falls around March 20 in the northern hemisphere (it’ll be somewhere near September 20 if you’re one of our readers below the equator). This the time when spring begins anew, and much like Mabon, the…
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All Hail the Chocolate Bunny!
This is a ritual I created waaaaaay back in 2008 and posted on my About.com page, and since that time it’s been copy/pasted ad nauseum all over the Interwebs, and About/LearnReligions ended up eliminating it altogether, because reasons. I’ve heard about numerous shops and covens and groups doing this as a public ritual over the years, so if you want to do so, have at it. It’s a little levity in a time of crisis. So, in the interest of sharing something sort of fun—and the gods know we need fun right now—I want to share with you this simply and ridiculous Ostara/Spring Equinox ritual that you can do with your whole…
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That Falconer Woman is Now Available!
It’s finally here! Happy book birthday to me – I know, I know, a few of you are all Wait, I thought you just wrote witchy stuff… Not entirely, my sweet little plumcakes. I love me some fiction, and I’ve written quite a bit of it. My latest is a steamy Regency romance, That Falconer Woman, brought to you by the folks at The Wild Rose Press: Cordelia Falconer is back in England after a fifteen-year absence, just in time for her sister’s betrothal to a stickler for propriety. Unfortunately, Cordelia has a scandalous reputation, and her brothers are busy gambling and drinking, so the wedding might not happen at all–unless Cordelia…
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TFW Now Available for Preorder!
Cordelia Falconer’s To Do List: Proper “sister of the bride” dress fitted √ Engagement party at a fancy manor √ Try to restore scandalous reputation √ Investigate murder in the garden √ Steamy romance with a completely unsuitable stranger – imminent It’s finally happening, y’all! That Falconer Woman is available for preorder, in either paperback or Kindle edition, and will be launching February 1! I realize a lot of you don’t know I write fiction, but it’s always been my first love. Honestly, I blame Kathleen Winsor’s Forever Amber, which I read when I was about ten, for pushing me into a lifelong addiction to steamy historical novels. You can…
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A Novel Idea Writing Workshop
Is this the year you finally write your novel? Join me, literary agent Stacey Graham, author Melanie Hooyenga, and Michelle Grajkowski of 3 Seas Literary Agency for a full day of novel-writing workshops, right from the comfort of your own couch! The schedule includes a panel discussion about the mechanics of writing, a workshop with yours truly on historical research for novelists, a discussion with Melanie about self-publishing your work, and more! Join us on January 23, and make 2021 the year you finally finish that book! A Novel Idea
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The Legend of Mithras
Christianity hardly has a monopoly on the theme of resurrection, particularly around the winter holidays. A couple of thousand years ago, followers of a god named Mithras celebrated rebirth in much the same way as the followers of Jesus do today. Mithras was an early Roman god of the sun, who was born around the time of the winter solstice and then experienced a resurrection around the spring equinox. Sound familiar? The cult of Mithras was a mystery religion, like that of Cybele and many other Roman Pagan beliefs. Author Ceisiwr Serith describes the cult’s temples, or Mithraea, as being relatively small, and typically hidden underground. He also points out that it was only open to men, and very…
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Releasing Feb 1: That Falconer Woman
Guys, I am SO excited to announce that my next novel, That Falconer Woman, will be available on February 1, 2021, from The Wild Rose Press! I know a lot of you are familiar with my witchy books, but I write fiction too, and That Falconer Woman features one of my favorite characters that I’ve ever created. Cordelia Falconer first appeared on a page for me back in 2010, and I’ve spent the better part of a decade (off and on) refining her adventures. It’s a Regency mystery featuring a strong-willed widow with a bad reputation, a hot dude from Yorkshire, some steamy sex, and murder. Add in an inept magistrate, drunken…
