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Happy Book Birthday! Herb Magic Launches Today!
Happy Book Birthday to me! Herb Magic: An Introduction to Magical Herbalism and Spells, releases today! If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can scootch on over to Amazon and get yours, or order it from Barnes & Noble or Books a Million. Better yet, support your favorite local witchy shop and get a copy from them! It’s been one hell of a ride for this one, and I can’t begin to thank all of you enough for your support, your love, and the kind words throughout this journey. I promise that once the world isn’t a dumpster fire anymore, I’ll get events scheduled so we can…
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Celebrate Beltane With a Giant Pole
The maypole dance is a spring ritual long known to Western Europeans. Usually performed on May 1, which is Beltane, or May Day, the folk custom is done around a pole garnished with flowers and ribbon to symbolize a tree. Practiced for generations in countries such as Germany and England, this tradition dates back to the dances ancient people used to do around actual trees in hopes of harvesting a large crop. The pole was erected on the village green or common, or even a handy field—thrust into the ground either permanently or on a temporary basis—and brightly colored…
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Herb Magic: The Reviews Are Coming In!
OMG, you guys, my black little heart is about to burst. Y’all are saying such kind things about Herb Magic: An Introduction to Magical Herbalism and Spells over on Amazon. I try to avoid reading reviews in general because they can be scary and soul-crushing, but here are just a few of the things people have said in their reviews so far: Herb Magic is beautifully formatted and engaging. From our wild plants to our simple kitchen spices, herbs are more than flavor and medicine, their folklore ties up the magic into what you need. Herb Magic will be your go to book for everyday magic and beyond. For someone…
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Beltane is Coming!
Beltane is coming soon, and most of you know that it’s my second favorite holiday (Samhain for the win!), so I wanted to share some really cool stuff about this spring Sabbat. I know we’re all stuck inside, isolated right now, thanks to social distancing, but even if you’re not carousing and doing ritual with a hundred other people, it’s still valuable to get outdoors and look at the history of this significant celebration. It’s a time of year when we’re celebrating the fertility of the earth, as the land returns to blossoms and blooms. The soil is beginning to warm, and the gardens are greening again. It’s like everything…
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Celebrate Nature with a Goddess Garden
Gardening is a magical act. It allows us to take the simplest form of life — a seed — and plant it so that weeks later it will bloom. Plants and magic have been associated for hundreds (if not thousands) of years, so when spring rolls around and you’re planning your seasonal garden, why not set up a special area to dedicate to the goddess (or god) of your tradition? If you don’t have a big yard to plant, don’t worry. You can still create a special goddess garden using a container. Start by figuring out which goddess you’d like to honor. It’s probably a bad idea to just pick…
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Monks, Mandrake, and Magical Mayhem
I’m a history geek, so every once in a while I peruse the interwebs looking for random historical stuff related to witchcraft, and the English Heritage website did NOT disappoint me today, y’all. Evidently the monks at Mount Grace Priory are growing some serious herbage, and most of the plants are the sort that you can’t just pick up in the bulk grocery aisle at Costco. No, these guys are inspired by their medieval predecessors, and are growing medicinal goodies like mandrake and deadly nightshade. Senior Gardens Advisor for the North and Midlands, Dr Michael Klemperer, presents a fabulous tour through the gardens, which include: Sea holly, an aphrodisiac and…
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Violet Magic and Folklore
I’ve got a ton of violets cropping up in my yard, and I always scamper outside to pick these pretty purple flowers before my son does his weekly scalping of the lawn. They’re small and dry quickly, so I’ve got quite a collection of them in a jar, that I use for a variety of magical purposes. According to Maud Grieve’s Modern Herbal, there are over two hundred species of flower in the violet family. This leaves a lot of room for interpretation when it comes to magical workings. We’ll just take a look at violets in general, without going into details about specific members of the family. In Roman…
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Self-Care Sundays: Cleaning House
I spent yesterday cleaning out my garage—or at least, the building that would be a garage if my driveway wasn’t weird and I could actually get a car up it and through the doors—because in the two years I’ve lived here it’s become a giant storage shed full of stuff I keep thinking I’ll maybe use some day. Who am I kidding? Other than the lawnmower and some camping equipment, I ain’t using anything that’s out there. Since we’re all stuck Quarantinalandia right now, my daughter and I decided the storage building/notgarage should become a weight room—after all, our gym has been closed for weeks and who knows when it…
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Book Review: Modern Wicca
Recently I had the opportunity to get a sneak peek at a new book, Modern Wicca: Beliefs and Traditions for Contemporary Life, by Rowan Morgana, and I’m pleased to share my thoughts with you. Here’s a quick bit of full disclosure first—Modern Wicca is published by Rockridge/Callisto, the same publisher that I’m working with for my upcoming Herb Magic book. However, y’all know me well enough to know that I don’t say things I don’t mean, so this review isn’t influenced by my professional relationship with the publishing company. Anyhoo, let’s get started! Modern Wicca is a refreshing guide to today’s Wiccan religion, featuring all the things that someone new…
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Herbal Magic: Bloodroot Flowers
With the world being in a state of social distancing—and me being okay with not peopling for a while—I’ve had a lot of opportunities lately to get 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. I was out foraging the other day 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…
