World Book Day Blog 3 - The Witch's Journal by Selene Silverwind

And now for the final of my book blogs (see my previous selections The Occult Book and Wiccapedia) I'm going to tell you all about a book that's very special to me called The Witch's Journal by Selene Silverwind.

The reason it's so special to me is because this was the book I picked up in the Magic Alley shop in Stratford-Upon-Avon that I described in my Introduction blog where I had my 'calling' *insert gagging noise here*. I left the shop clutching this and it's had pride of place on my witchy bookshelf ever since.

It covers all the basics for a newbie witch -

I also like that it looks like the pages have been pulled straight out of a Harry Potter-esque spell book, I've still to grow out of my belief that my Hogwarts acceptance letter will pop up over the summer!

The ethics of Witchcraft are also right at the beginning which always makes sense to me, some books only introduce them halfway through when potential damage can already be done, even if it's purely accidental. 

What I really love about this book is that it goes really in-depth with different colour correspondences, planetary magic and also points out when to avoid using magick such as the various retrogrades. 

My favourite section of the book is the descriptions of the different Pantheons you may choose to work with; Celtic deities, Teutonic deities, Egyptian deities, Greek and Roman deities, Chinese deities, African deities and Hindu deities. Whilst at this moment I don't feel aligned to any Pantheons (I feel I may end up practising as an eclectic witch) I found learning about everyone's deities absolutely fascinating. There's also a section of the tools of the witchy trade and how to consecrate them as well basic spells and potions. 

This one will always be my favourite book because it was the first I bought and came to me at such a happy moment but I genuinely think it's a great starting point for anyone who's wondering if a witchcraft/Wicca path (the differences are explained in the book) is for them. 

I hope you've enjoyed my ramblings about my favourite books, I'd love to hear of any you've read and loved. Contact me @muddlingwitch on Twitter or @JenRaeFrances on Instagram. 

Blessed Be

Jen

XxxX

World Book Day Blog 2 - Wiccapedia - A Modern Day White Witches' Guide by Shawn Robbins & Leanna Greenaway

Hello again I hope you enjoyed my previous blog about John Michael Greer's - Occult Book.

For this blog we're going right up to date with Wiccapedia - A Modern Day White Witches' Guide by Shawn Robbins and Leanna Greenaway.

When I picked this up and read the cover I knew immediately I would enjoy it - any book that talks about texting spells or microwaving potions certainly needs a read! 

Hi-tech witchcraft anyone?

Don't be fooled by the light-hearted blurb though, this book is an absloute gem, packed full of useful information. The authors should have an award for finally helping me to understand the magick of Numerology (no small feat given my abject fear of anything involving numbers!). I found the chapter on sharpening my psychic skills very knowledgeable (I'm just looking for a glamorous assistant to practice brain telegrams with!). 

Magick by mobile phone anyone?

The section that I was most intrigued to read was the Cell Phone Sorcery & Microwave Magick section. I've never considered the idea that the satellite signals that surround us to power our devices are also an energy that can be utilized to supercharge spells! Admittedly you may want to warn any friends before you text them saying ".... will meet the man of their dreams" to avoid any accusations of drunk texting! As an self-admittedly lazy person any concoctions that I can ping in the mircowave are the dream so thank you ladies for the tips!

I'd recommend this book as a 'next step' after a basic 'beginners guide' type book as it delves into spell casting and also covers spirit boards etc which might be a wee bit intimidating for a newbie. It's really easy to follow and of course very ascetically pleasing, my 2007 Emo self was weeping tears of joy at the design and fonts. 

Essentially it reads like a chat with two super cool witches who are eager to pass on their knowledge over a cocktail or two, it's lighthearted without straying into fluffy territory and by the same token is serious where it needs to be e.g with warnings about casting love spells and also the Dos and Don'ts of Witchcraft.

I loved this book and am really looking foward to working my way through Shawn & Leanna's other titles. 

Blessed Be

Jen

XxxX

Ostata Alter, Blossoming Spread and New Moon Manifestations

Blessed Be everyone.

In my last blog I talked about a new moon manifestation ritual that I was trying to see if the moon and universe would help me to manifest my intentions for the month ahead. I asked for help with my mental health, finding the right job for me and for the continued energy to keep up my walking regime and I do seem to be moving in the right direction (mostly). When you ask the universe for help the expectation is that obviously that you put work in yourself too and job-wise I have been e-mailing every department in the building offering my services (I just realised how bad that sounds 👀) and I think I am finally getting somewhere - cheers universe!).

In other news I was finally able to build my first Sabbath alter for Ostara this week.

Luckily for me one of the suggested themes for the alter are rabbits to correspond to the fertility theme of the celebrations and as a bunny mum/slave bunny trinkets are not something I lack! Another suggestion that I read for Ostata alters are painted eggs and rather than starting a messy art project in my limited space I decided to put my cross-stitch skills into action and sew one instead.

Of course it was also an excuse for more bunny-related crafts!

Thank you to everyone who gave me such lovely feedback on my Twitter page I'm really excited to start planning my Beltane alter.

Last night as part of my Ostara ritual I used the Blossoming Tarot spread from Urban Witchery's Plannoire, you may remember I raved about it in my Making Magic Happen blog last month. 

Absolutely gorgeous just like the rest of the book

The spread asks us to review how the seeds of our manifestations that we planted at the beginning of the year are developing and what we can do to further nurture them.

I got some pretty interesting feed back from the cards including pulling the Five Of Wands and The Tower

Cheers Tarot Deck

The spread was essentially telling me that whilst I am on the right path with nurturing my seeds and am ready to develop my craft more and perhaps start casting my first spells! (I also pulled The Knight Of Swords, Two Of Wands, King Of Pentacles, The Chariot, The World, The Eight Of Pentacles, The Four Of Wands and The Sun) I obviously have a battle and a big change coming my way, which I'm not looking foward to since The Tower reflects a dramatic, potentially shattering change. Hopefully I'll at least gain wisdom from it as my Tarot Guide suggests. 

Let's see how this pans out.......

Blessed be and have a good weekend. 

Love Jen

XxxX