A Witch's World of Horrible Herbs...

A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder.
Enter the three Witches.

1 WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd. 

2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin'd. 

3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—'tis time! 'tis time! 

1 WITCH. Round about the caldron go; 

In the poison'd entrails throw.— 

Toad, that under cold stone, 

Days and nights has thirty-one; 

Swelter'd venom sleeping got, 

Boil thou first i' the charmed pot! 

ALL. Double, double toil and trouble; 

Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake, 

In the caldron boil and bake; 

Eye of newt, and toe of frog, 

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, 

Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, 

Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,— 

For a charm of powerful trouble, 

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. 

ALL. Double, double toil and trouble; 

Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

3 WITCH. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf; 

Witches' mummy; maw and gulf 

Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark; 

Root of hemlock digg'd i the dark; 

Liver of blaspheming Jew; 

Gall of goat, and slips of yew 

Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse; 

Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips; 

Finger of birth-strangled babe 

Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,— 

Make the gruel thick and slab: 

Add thereto a tiger's chaudron, 

For the ingrediants of our caldron. 

ALL. Double, double toil and trouble; 

Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon's blood, 

Then the charm is firm and good.

William Shakespeare from Macbeth

I am sure most of us are familiar with at least one or two lines of this famous Shakespeare play but what interests me is the names of the items the witches are throwing into the cauldron, did they really use scale of dragon?  And if they did where in heck did they get it from?  Turns out that these things aren't quite as dramatic as you might think they are in fact folk names for herbs and plants ... bit disappointing really...

I have a cunning plan to share the herbs, their folk names and the magical uses with you over the next few weeks, look out for my Witch's World of Horrible Herbs blog posts...

Look, learn and experience...

There is no short cut to experience...and I whole heartedly believe this...and that comes from someone who has zero patience...

I have learnt a huge amount during my time on this planet from the obvious basics of learning to walk to learning to keep my mouth shut and not knee jerk to a situation...experience has taught  me it is better to step back, think, sleep on it and then usually by then I am 'so over it' that I don't feel the need to get involved in arguments.

My spiritual pathway has been one huge learning curve and it still continues, even after a gazillion years walking it my journey still twists and turns.  There are practices that I started out with that I no longer do and new ideas and ways of making my pathway work for me appear on a regular basis.  Part of my journey is to be open to new ways of doing things and new ideas to make my spiritual journey my own.  What works for me might not necessarily work for the next person and vice versa.

I started out following all the instructions that I read about and then all of the ways to practice witchcraft that my initial training gave me...years later I don't necessarily practice in the same way, I learnt, I experienced, I adjusted and created practices that work for me.

Every new journey that we begin we start as a newbie, an innocent and a novice, it is only by working with it, practicing and experiencing that we start to learn how to work with it and what is required, you don't start a new pathway knowing everything.  For instance, two  years ago I was dropped into the world of book writing and I knew nothing, absolutely nothing although I had experience with writing lessons and blogs book writing is a whole different kettle of frogs.  And I made mistakes...but hopefully I have learnt from them, I may not always get it completely right but I work in a way now that is very different from that first book.

We all have strong ideas, views and opinions on all sorts of things but only by experience can we actually stand by them, we have to be open to the ideas and suggestions of others on all sorts of subjects, they won't necessarily resonate with you all the time but on occasion they may just provide you with total 'aha' moments and send your views along a completely different pathway.  Or your own ideas may do the same to someone else.  Remember...man once believed the world to be flat...

I spent a few desperate years believing that I NEEDED a matron goddess...I worked with several, each time hoping that they were the right one...I had been on the witchcraft pathway for seven years before my matron goddess arrived and it was unexpected and not planned at all, stop looking and you will be surprised who finds you.  She has been with me ever since but I am still open to other deities that pop by because they are all there for a reason and in being open I have had amazing experiences with various deities each with a lesson for me, guidance or support.  I now seem to have found myself with a patron god as well, he has been with me for nearly two years now...but only now after all that time am I really believing that he is a patron deity because these things take time and I don't want to jump in and get all 'dedicated' to find that actually he was just with me for a particular part of my journey.

Be open...don't be a complete know it all...be guided by your intuition but don't let it carry you away...share...don't rush, spirituality isn't a race and experience everything that you possibly can...

Loveliness and much hotfootedness...

Saturday was one of those very lovely days when lots happen and you get to spend it with fabulous people.

We held our first Kitchen Witch Coven ritual of the year and focused it all about that 'lurve thang', a beautifully written ritual scribed by two of our lovely Priests/esses - Autumn Ravenflower and Amunhart.  It was fabulous to catch up with everyone and spend time in circle with gorgeous people.

Then some of us ventured to the wilds of Titchfield to a barn in the middle of nowhere...to experience the wonders of firewalking.

Hosted by the amazing Rich Lister of Hero Soul/IWalkOnFire we spent the evening immersed in warrior energy, we broke planks of wood with our hands grrrrrr! broke arrows on our throats and then the grand finale...walked on fire...yep actual red hot embers.  We watched the fire walk being set up and saw the flames climbing high *gulp* until we ended up with a pathway of hotness...I may have sent up a prayer to Ganapati before I stepped onto it but once I was there I strode across those hot coals like a good un...definitely an experience for everyone to have at least once in their life.

We have spent time with Rich on several of his workshops before - birthing drums and shamanic ways and have always come away with a sense of purpose, determination and new found inner peace/strength/warrior rar!  The firewalk was no exception.

For more details on the Kitchen Witch rituals see our website hub www.kitchenwitchhearth.net or the facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/kitchenwitchuk

For more details on Hero Soul/IWalkOnFire events see the website www.theherosoul.com or the facebook page www.facebook.com/iwalkonfire

It's a twisty ole witchy road...

Yesterday evening I had one of those clarity but not clear moments...

I was scrolling through facebook when I came upon a beautiful Ganesha silver pendant by the very talented Hairy Growler, it was very lovely (bit out of my price range unfortunately) but it made me stop and think...ruh roh...dangerous...

About a gazillion years ago when I first stepped onto the pagan pathway I blessed a silver pentacle pendant during my self dedication ritual and I have worn it every day since, it has always reminded me of my journey, from where I started and where I am now.

But last night I began to wonder if it really fitted me now...I am a witch, always will be but my path has meandered, twisted and turned along many different branches along the way.  I have dipped into, read about, experienced, worked with, studied and attended courses and workshops on all sorts of things from Druidry, Shamanism, Faeriecraft, Hinduism, Hoodoo to Wicca, Goddess worship, Hedgewitchery and of course Kitchen Witchcraft with various other bits and pieces such as Reiki and crystal healing along the way.  I have taken bits and pieces from all sorts of pagan and spiritual areas and created my own individual and unique tradition.  This isn't a new discovery, my path has always been eclectic and I have always been and always will be OK with that, it works for me, I guess it was the symbolism of the pentacle that made me think, it didn't seem 'enough' to cover everything...

I have also worked with many deities from many pantheons - Celtic, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Hindu and even Orishas and Loas have presented themselves to help guide me, teach me and generally kick my butt.  Many years ago my matron goddess The Cailleach arrived and she has been with me sharing her feisty thoughts ever since, then a couple of years ago Ganapati (Ganesha) arrived...and I am pretty sure he is here to stay so I have a Celtic matron goddess and a patron Hindu god...now there's an interesting mixture!

I found myself asking "where am I now?" and " who or what am I?"  Well the first answer is and always will be - a witch - but it didn't seem to be enough.  The pentacle pendant didn't seem to cover all that I am now...and I am not sure why...

Do I even need a label?  Well no, nobody needs a label at all I just think we as humans like to have them, perhaps it makes us feel like we fit in somewhere?

I was more concerned about having a symbol that covered all that I am, all that I do and all that I follow and believe in, the pentacle seemed somewhat lacking, but what symbol would cover all of the things?  I mentally made a list of all the things that symbolise what I do and believe in...

Witch
Nature
Cailleach
Ganapati
The ocean
The moon
The sun
The earth
The goddess
Then what about my totems?  Wild boar, frog, panther, magpie and pigeon...

That's a heck of a lot of symbolism to fit into one pendant!

Having slept (badly) on it, this morning I think it is more about control, I am a total control freak and I struggle to let my journey just unfold but that is what I must do.  I don't need to be put into a specific box, I don't need to have anything that sums me up.  Perhaps I just need lots of different pendants and choose which one to wear each day depending on how I feel or what energy I need to draw on? (I am liking this idea...).

A goddess rant...

I have to admit I am getting a bit bored with people on facebook always feeling the need to argue or counter comment re the goddesses.

Each person is an individual and as such we will have our own seperate and very unique experiences with deity and the divine...who is to say what is right or wrong?

As far as I know the goddessess never actually walked the earth...*waits for someone to argue...* so they never left behind selfies or diaries...

Historians and archeologists can only extract so much information...and add in a huge amount of speculation as to who was worshipped, when, where and why.  As far as history is concerned there is no FACT...we can only go by the information that was written down and from items that have survived.  But let's face it scribes may not have written things down exactly, translations may have been slightly off and as the saying goes "history was written by the victors" so who knows what the real events were? (Not that I am dissing archeologists or historians at all, I would have loved ot have been an archeologist myself). And at the end of the day the first image of any deity would have come from an indiviuals own personal vision...

My husband said yesterday "if we could actually go back in time and see what really happened in the past we would probably have to completely re-write the history books"...

If a goddess appears to me she will do so in a form that I recognise and chances are it won't be the same image as the person next to me sees...it is very personal...it is not right or wrong, it is MY experience.

The term Celts/Celtic is used a lot, I use it myself to cover a group of ancient English/Scottish/Irish deities, did the Celts actually exist?  There has been a lot of speculation about it, were they a race in their own right?  Was it just a collective name for a group of cultures?  Again...who knows for sure? Don't berate me for using the term, it works for me and until you can give me real solid proof...I shall continue to use it as a recognised term.

For instance...my matron goddess is The Cailleach and I have seen many, many images of her drawn and painted by different artists, each one different, some wildly and some only slightly but each one with personal variations - which one is right?  In my opinion all of them...

What gives anyone the right to tell another person that their image and view of deity is right or wrong?

You can share your own experiences of deity, you can share about information you have read that was written by others that have done research on deity but you cannot give definitive, definite, unrefutable proof and fact...not to my knowledge anyway.

Lighten up people...take a chill pill...connecting with deity is supposed to be a beautiful and enlightening experience, dont' spoilt it for others by trashing their vision and journey.

We all walk with the goddess in our own unique and very personal way, in my own humble opinion if anyone tells you that you are wrong...stay true to your intuition and walk away from that person.

Rant over...

Love is in the air...♥

This weekend will be marked by the celebration of Valentines Day...not particularly something that I celebrate much anymore...having been with my husband for 23 years we don't need a particular day of the year to prove we love each other, you have to make every day special...awwwwww...although we do still exchange Valentine cards.   However...if you want to work some love magic then this is the perfect time to do so, there are a huge number of magical herbs, plants and foods associated with the lurve thang.  These magical ingredients can be worked into love spells of any kind or into your culinary endeavours.

Remember that there are all sorts of different kinds of love from the passionate ooh la la kind through to BFF kinda love and love for yourself then all the other stages/kinds/flavours in between.

I would add a word of caution here...if you intend to ensnare a specific person with a love spell be aware of the 'free will' clause.  Capturing love against someone's free will is unlikely to have a 'happy ever after'.  It's your choice...

If you are looking for love you can work a spell to bring 'your perfect match' to you.  Work love spells to strengthen your marriage/relationship with your partner, add love magic to your Valentine meal (or any meal in fact) to bring in passion or work some love magic to keep a friendship strong or to give you YOU some self esteem.

Candle spells, crystal spells, burning petitions, incense blends, magic powders and medicine pouches all make excellent love workings.  There are plenty of spells in books and on the net but I would encourage you to go with your own intuition, a spell that you create yourself will be much more powerful.  Just be careful how you word it, spells have a habit of going off in unexpected directions
...be prepared.

Foods for love:

Anise, apple, apricot, avocado, banana, basil, beetroot, brazil nut, cardamom, chocolate (obviously!), cinnamon, cherry, chestnut, clove, coriander, fennel, fish, ginger, guava, honey, lemon, lime, mango, marjoram, milk, nectarine, orange, papaya, passion fruit, peach, peas, pineapple, pine nut, pistachio, poppy seeds, quince, raspberry, rhubarb, rose, rosemary, strawberry, sugar, sweet potato, thyme, tomato, vanilla and wine!

Herbs & Plants for love:

Agrimony, Ash, Aster, Basil, Benzoin, Betony, Birch, Bleeding Heart, Caraway, Cardamom, Catnip, Chamomile, Chestnut, Chickweed, Cinnamon, Cinquefoil, Cleavers, Clove, Clover, Coltsfoot, Columbine (Aquilegia), Copal, Coriander, Cornflower (Batchelor’s Buttons), Crocus, Cumin, Cyclamen, Daffodil, Daisy, Dandelion, Dill, Dittany of Crete, Dock, Dragon’s Blood, Dulse, Elm, Fern, Frankincense, Geranium, Ginger, Hawthorn, Hazel, Heather, Horehound, Hyacinth, Iris, Ivy, Jasmine, Juniper, Lady’s Mantle, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Lilac, Lobelia, Lovage, Mallow, Mandrake, Marjoram, Meadowsweet, Mistletoe, Myrtle, Orchid, Pansy, Passion Flower, Periwinkle, Poppy, Primrose, Rose, Rosemary, Rowan, Saint John’s Wort, Sandalwood (red) , Sea Holly, Sorrel, Thyme, Tulip, Valerian, Vervain, Violet, Willow, Yarrow

Pagan Books

One of the questions I get asked a lot is "who is your publisher" along with "can you help me get my book published?"

In answer to the second question, no I can't, I am an author not a publisher - see my previous blog post So you want to write a book?

In answer to the first question my publisher is Moon Books http://www.moon-books.net/ who are an imprint from the John Hunt Publishing Group http://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/

Moon Books is a small publishing company that focuses on pagan books. What they do is take all kinds of authors known and unknown and help them get into the world of authorship...if they like your book of course!   They don't organise big book launches at swanky hotels but they do support their authors with knowledge, experience and advice where necessary.  And of course they do all the copy editing/printing/publishing malarky.

Moon Books has some amazing authors on board and covers a whole scope of pagan pathways such as Witchcraft (obviously because that's what I write about...), Druidry, Shamanism, Paganism in general, Faeriecraft, Wicca and a whole host of other wonderful areas that the huge umbrella of Paganism covers, they also produce wonderful collaboration books too.  Their Pagan Portals series is also an interesting concept - a range of books giving introductions to pagan pathways.

They have a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MoonBooks and also a facebook page for media (bloggers, reviewers, interviewers etc) https://www.facebook.com/groups/1412089469082702/

The official blurb about Moon Books:
What is Paganism? a religion, a spirituality, an alternative belief system, nature worship? You can find support for all these definitions (and many more) in dictionaries, encyclopedias, and text books of religion, but subscribe to any one and the truth will evade you. Above all Paganism is a creative pursuit, an encounter with reality, an exploration of meaning and an expression of the soul. Druids, Heathens, Wiccans and others, all contribute their insights and literary riches to the Pagan tradition. Moon Books invites you to begin or to deepen your own encounter, right here, right now

and the official John Hunt blurb:

John Hunt Publishing began in 2001 under the name of O Books, and now publishes 300 titles a year. In 2010 the company began reorganizing itself into a number of autonomous imprints operating worldwide in different genres.

We are largely run by authors who have gravitated to being involved in publishing, whether coming up through editing, design or marketing, and they draw in turn on a pool of like-minded people. A central office looks after sales, accounts, and royalties.

We rely heavily on in-house online publishing systems, designed by authors, for authors, in order to be lean, quick, and hand back to the author as high a proportion of the sales income that we can achieve. For example, our ebooks royalties are 50% of receipts (averaging about one third of the sale price), which is the highest royalty rate we are aware of in commercial trade publishing.

What also distinguishes us from other publishers is our attention to marketing. We provide every book with a basic promotional campaign (including but more than the usual press release you usually get with commercial publishers). And then, for every 500 copies sold, we dedicate another round of publicity. This way, the books that are succeeding in the marketplace get the attention they deserve. 90% of our sales come through the bricks-and-mortar and online retailers.

Me, myself and I

At school I was always lucky enough to be surrounded by scores of friends (and the odd enemy of course) with a busy social life.

A big proportion of my working life has been spent in an office of one sort or another dealing with bosses, colleagues, customers and organising shows.

Add to that several years as a member of Young Farmers which was full of social events, parties and big groups of people...oh and copious amounts of Southern Comfort but that's beside the point...

Moving on to meeting my husband who is in a rock band and the years that followed filled with gigs and huge amounts of social gatherings with the band, the wives and then all of our children.

So I have always been surrounded by people.

Until seven years ago when I started working from home, not by choice, it was just how it all worked out.  I have to say..it was a big shock to my system.

It sounds ideal and yes of course I wouldn't change it for the world now because it allows me the flexibility to do what I want to do, although I think I probably work more hours now than I ever did in an office!

It did take some getting used to and it takes a huge amounts of discipline to focus on what needs to be done.

The flipside is that I spend a huge amount of time on my own which actually I have gotten used to and most of the time I love.

The problem is that you can become too isolated.  It can easily get to the stage where you realise that you haven't left the house for days on end (except for the school run) and that can lead to a bit of cabin fever.  It can also make you very reclusive, your home becomes a sanctuary, a safe cocoon, which is no bad thing but it can make it extremely difficult to want to step outside the door.

I have found myself agreeing to appointments and engagements in advance and then when the time comes I actually dread the thought of having to go out...once I am out and spending time doing whatever it is I usually thoroughly enjoy myself.

I have a 'lot on' as they say and I am generally a very organised person but lately I have been very much out of routine and I don't think that helps, so this is a new start for me, a new plan and a new routine.

I have my 'real job' which thankfully is part time and even more thankfully pays the bills so that is the first order of each day.  Then there is the Kitchen Witch School, the blogs and then the two book contracts I now have which all need to be scheduled into the day and several Kitchen Witch online courses all of which I am incredibly excited to be co-writing along with the school runs, housework, washing, cooking dinner etc (not so exciting) and writing articles for Pagan Dawn and Mystik Way.

But I also need to do things for me, so today I am actually writing this from a lovely little cafe in Southsea called Southsea Coffee Co.  I came in for breakfast - Nordic spiced porridge with maca, apple & coconut partnered by a hand blended chai latte.  My table is spread with paperwork, books and notes but I am amongst people with all the sights and sounds oh...and there may be cake in the future too...

The other downside to working from home is the lure to 'faff' and find yourself sitting watching back to back trashy TV...not the Jeremy Kyle type..goddess forbid things have not gotten that bad...generally I watch the food channels.  So I have to attempt to avoid that particular black hole...

One of the good distractions is signing up for a weekly yoga class...yes I know you have all fainted at that prospect but it is being run by a friend and appeared at the right time - fate, synchronicity and all that jazz.

My cafe writing will hopefully be a regular jaunt because a. they have cake...no that's it they have cake...well that and it allows me to purely focus on writing without distraction and b. it gets me out of the house and among people.

I am also drawing up a schedule of writing so I will be so organised you won't believe it.

I am thankful that my life is where it is and for all the events that have led me to this point and that my real job not only pays the bills but also allows me the freedom to write, create and co run Kitchen Witch.  It has also allowed me to discover that I do very much like my own company, that I can feel comfortable going out on my own but also that I value company too...the best of both worlds, I just have to remember not to slip backwards into the hermit void...

Three beautiful Druidry books...

I have three beautiful books to present to you today all from Joanna van der Hoeven.

Pagan Portals - The Awen Alone: Walking the Path of the Solitary Druid

Druidry is a wonderful, spiritually fulfilling life path. Through the magic that is Druidry, we build deep and abiding relationships with the natural world around us, and through our connection to the natural environment we walk a path of truth, honour and service. We aim to immerse ourselves in the present moment, in the present environment, in order to share in the blessing that is the cycle of life. Throughout the ages, people have withdrawn from the world in order to connect more fully with it. This book is an introductory guide for those who wish to walk the Druid path alone, for however long a time. It is about exploration and connection with the natural world, and finding our place within it. It covers the basics of Druidry and how, when applied to the everyday life, enriches it with a sense of beauty, magic and mystery. This book is for those people who feel called to seek their own path, to use their wit and intelligence, compassion and honour to create their own tradition within Druidry.

A very down to earth 'all you need to know to get you started on the journey of Druidry' book. Written beautifully the author starts with the basics, takes you through daily practices and guides you on how to create a druidic pathway that is tailored to you with plenty of practical suggestions and ideas along with the essence of what it means to be a druid.

Pagan Portals Zen Druidry

Taking both Zen and Druidry and embracing them into your life can be a wonderful and ongoing process of discovery, not only of the self but of the entire world around you. The aim of this text is to show how Zen teachings and Druidry can combine to create a peaceful life path that is completely and utterly dedicated to the here and now, to the earth and her rhythms, and to the flow that is life itself.

This little book gives an outline of druidry, what it is and how it works, followed by an introductory tour of Zen teachings and then shows you how to bring both 'traditions' together to form Zen Druidry. Very intriguing concept, well written and interesting for anyone on a spiritual path.

Dancing with Nemetona

Nemetona is an ancient goddess whose song is heard deep within the earth and also deep within the human soul. She is the Lady of Sanctuary, of Sacred Groves and Sacred Spaces. She is present within the home, within our sacred groves, our rites and in all the spaces that we hold dear to our hearts. She also lies within, allowing us to feel at ease wherever we are in the world through her energy of holding, of transformation. She holds the stillness and quiet of a perfect day; she is the stillness at the end of it, when the blackbird sings to the dusk. She is the energy of sacred space, where we can stretch out our souls and truly come alive, to be who we wish to be, filled with the magic of potential. Rediscover this ancient goddess and dance with a Druid to the songs of Nemetona. Learn how to reconnect with this goddess in ritual, songs, chants, meditation and more

A beautifully written book about one of the illusive but wonderful Goddesses. The author takes you on her own personal journey working with Nemetona and shares experiences that will give the reader a fabulous insight into working with her. This lovely book also contains practical information on rituals and sacred space along with entrancing meditations to try.