The glamorous truth...

Last weekend hubby and I headed to the QE Country Park for a photoshoot...now that might sound very grand and all kinds of Hollywood but in reality it was me having spent ages faffing with my hair (something I don't usually do) and eons putting on makeup (although I do wear makeup most of the time I don't often wear lots and rarely loud colour lipstick)...together with a pretty dress and a bag full of cloaks and headdresses, hubby armed with a digital camera.

Like a lot of women I DO NOT like having my photograph taken, I usually hate most of the photos and I get incredibly bored very quickly... thankfully I have an extremely patient husband (well he hasn't killed me yet). However with the book writing, talks and magazine articles that I do it makes photos of me an unpleasant necessity.

We ended up in a field at the top of the park between a yew tree grove and a beech tree grove (where we hold the Kitchen Witch rituals) and proceeded to make complete fools of ourselves with me posing by trees and hubby dancing about like some kind of David Bailey (for anyone not of my age...he was a famous photographer).

The weather was glorious, blue sky and bright sunshine - which apparently is not good for photos because it causes over exposure and shadows...but hey ho.

We provided much amusement for many dog walkers and families out for a picnic some of whom actually stopped and sat on a nearby bench to watch...and quite a few of the dogs came over to investigate too.

I must have looked fairly odd dressed in a cloak with flowers in my hair and carrying a huge staff and a cauldron...

The really glamorous event was me walking from one side of the field to the other and putting my foot in a hole...I fell spectacularly ass over elbow landing face down in the grass...

The reason I am sharing this experience with you is firstly to thank everyone on facebook for your very kind comments about some of the photos I shared, you guys are amazing but also because a few people have said "you are so lucky that you are photogenic"...now here is the truth...

Hubby took 429 photos that day...yes seriously...429
Over half of them were deleted on the first look through because they were over exposed, blurred or covered in shadows...
Another huge load of them were deleted when I looked through them because I didn't like them, the conversation went something like this:

Husband: What about this one?
Me: No...I look like a weasel
Husband: What about this one?
Me: No...I look really grumpy
Husband: What about this one?
Me: No...my face looks huge
Husband: What about this one?
Me: No...I have a double chin
Husband: What about this one?
Me: No...I look like a teepee (it was a whole moving cloak thing)

You get the idea...

So actually out of 429 photos we ended up with about 20 that I could live with and that's only because hubby insisted we keep them, out of those I only really like 2...

The other thing to mention is...when I said 'my face looks huge' hubby suggested that he could edit/photo shop the image to make it thinner.  My immediate answer was NO.  Although I might dislike most of the photos I want them to be the real me, so none of them have ever been 'mucked about with' nor will they ever be...

What you see is what you get...except with maybe a bit more lipstick than usual.

And I still hate having my photo taken...

A desk what?

So....we are extremely excited to be able to present to you fabulous peepholes our new...

Arc of the Goddess Desk Oracle

A desk oracle? What's that I hear you say? (or not but I am going to tell you anyway...)

Well...

It is 258 A5 pages of goddess goodness in a spiral bound book format.  

Whilst working with our Arc of the Goddess course and book the inspiration arrived to create oracle cards but with 108 different goddesses we decided that book format might be a lot easier to handle.

After much deliberation, lots of design work...and re-design work...and sighs from our graphic designer Pete (who has been incredibly patient) ta da!  The desk oracle was born.

You can flick through the book and select a goddess at random or choose one to work with for the day, the week, a month or longer and you can also use our original Goddess Wheel for the year as well (included in the book along with how to work with readings too).   The book can sit on your desk or altar with the goddess image looking right atcha...

Each goddess has two pages, one with a beautiful image and the other with her oracle meaning.

Pre-order your copy via our online shop for delivery early June, also take a sneaky peek at our special package offers...

www.kitchenwitchhearth.net
http://kitchenwitchhearth.wix.com/arcofthegoddess

Working Magic...RELEASE

Use the full moon magic (Wednesday 23rd March) and the waning energies after to help you release and let go of that which no longer serves you. Spring is in the air and it is time to dump all the negative unproductive stuff you have been holding onto and allow yourself to move forward for a new start, new plans and new beginnings...

Intent: RELEASE

Colour:
White

Crystals:
Citrine
Petrified wood
Quartz
Rhodonite

Herbs:
Carnation
Coriander
Thyme
Cloves

Incense Blend:
Copal
Coriander
Clove
Thyme
Willow

Tea Blend:
Cardamom
Clove
Coriander


The Magic:

I wrote the word 'release' on a piece of paper and used that as the centre then I charged each herb/spice and crystal that I chose to use with my intent and put them on my altar around the intent paper. I also chose a white candle to light as well. I didn't have a plan or design in mind I just used my intuition.

Visualise all that no longer serves you and watch it as you release it and let go...
Once you are done don't forget to fill the void with positive images and new plans for the future.

Let it go...

I have no eggs...

I am owning up to it...there are no eggs on my altar in fact there is no real sign of Ostara at all. Although I do have chocolate eggs obviously...

When I first started on this pathway one of the first things I learnt were the dates and meanings of the sabbats, it took some time to remember them all and get the dates and order correct but I did and I dutifully set up my altar for each one...until I didn't.  I realised a few years back that I wasn't connecting with the sabbats particularly and I started forgetting to decorate my altar in time...and I felt guilty.

The realisation dawned on me that the sabbats were just dates on a calendar and a lot of the time they didn't line up particularly with what the weather or the energy around me was doing.  It is hard to celebrate the middle of winter when the weather hasn't even been cold enough to wear a coat and the bedding plants are still flowering in December.

So I don't particuarly work with the sabbats as such any more.  What I do is work with the energies in my area, I connect with the weather, the seasons and the immediate feel of the energy on any particular day.

My walk this morning was beautiful, the sun is shining and the sky is blue but the wind is still chilly. It feels like spring outside so that is the energy I will be working with today.

I now re-dress my altar at the beginning of each month to celebrate and recognise the energies that each month will bring with it, I find it much easier to connect with and in fact sometimes I add things each week or each day if I am felt drawn to do so.

But there are no eggs or chicks or fluffy bunnies.  Not because I don't have any, in fact I have a huge cupboard full of seasonal sabbat decorations for my altar that I have collected over the years.  But the eggs and chicks will stay there for the moment because it doesn't feel right just yet, maybe they will even stay there indefinitely...

For me it is about connecting with nature and the energies around me at the present time, not because a date on the calendar tells me to.

Don't get me wrong I am not trashing the whole sabbat idea, it worked for me for many years and if it works for you then go for it!  I attended a lovely Ostara chat last week with the Kitchen Witch posse and there have been some fabulous local Ostara rituals on last weekend and this weekend coming.

For now I am following my intuition and being guided by my inner voice to do what works for me...

So if you haven't felt the draw to decorate your altar for Ostara or if you just plain haven't had the time because life is so darn busy...don't beat yourself up, there are no 'altar police', it is your journey, your pathway and ultimately your decision to do as you chose without judgement from anyone else.

I am still going to eat my chocolate eggs though...

Tangerine Quartz

This month I am working with the crystal tangerine quartz and I have to admit it is not one I have come across before but it is beautiful!

Tangerine Quartz

The orange colour in the quartz is caused by hematite and the presence of water when it was initially formed.

It is a good crystal to balance your emotions and helps bring calm and quell any panic or upsetting feelings.

This crystal also packs a huge punch of strength and can help you to 'keep going'.

Tangerine quartz can aid in bringing balance to relationships and to cope with dealing with 'difficult' people or situations.

This crystal is all about expanding your etheric vision and evolving your inner being along with increasing your self worth.

Tangerine quartz resonates with the sacral chakra to promote creativity and sexual energy.

Work with this stone to protect against psychic attacks and to shield yourself from negative energy.

Meditate with or use as a tool to focus your thoughts.

Tangerine quartz can also help in any manifesting spell work.

It can help to release anything that no longer serves you, aiding in mental and emotional release allowing you to focus on your life purpose.  It can also aid in past life work and any healing that is associated with it.

It brings inner wisdom and pure clarity also allowing you to let go of self made boundaries and allowing you to reflect your true nature.

The Goddess Lakshmi

I have been working with the beautiful Hindu goddess Lakshmi this month and wow is she amazing...

She wears a red sari covered with gold decorations as she sits on a lotus often with a pot or gold coins in her hands and is surrounded by elephants.

Also called Laxmi she is the goddess of fortune, power, luxury, beauty, wealth and fertility.   She can bring you fulfilment and contentment of the material kind.  She has a motherly air about her but is also full of excited energy.

Her sacred name is Shri and this is written on petitions and spoken before addressing any revered individual.  The word when spoken or written creates an aura of sacredness and whatever follows is full of divine blessings.   Om is often associated with the mystical things in life and Shri is the balance on the material side.

As the earth goddess Bhoodevi she nurtures life and as Shreedevi she is the goddess of fortune who bestows power and prosperity to those that she believes deserve it.

The four hands represent the four ends of human life: dharma (righteousness), kama (genuine desires), artha (wealth), and moksha (liberation from birth and death). The front hands represent the activity in the physical world and the back hands indicate the spiritual activities that lead to spiritual perfection.

Lakshmi is one of the mother goddesses and is addressed as "mata" (mother) instead of just "devi" (goddess).

It is the Hindu tradition to evoke the Lord of Obstacles, Ganesha, to clear the path to success. Ganesha removes obstacles so Lakshmi can deliver fortune into your life.

Although Lakshmi and Ganesha often work together her mate is the god Vishnu, the Great Preserver.

To evoke Lakshmi light a candle in her honour, think about what good fortune and prosperity mean to you whether it is material or spiritual.  Evoke Ganesha to clear the path by chanting 'Om Ganesha' three times then ask the Goddess for her help but don't forget to put effort into the goal from your end as well.

Lakshmi can guide you to prosperity but also better relationships and a whole life full of joy, she can also guide you from the darkness into the light.  If you work together with her she can bring you to a higher state of living and being and into a situation where you can create anything...

Fantastic Mr Fox

I live on the edge of a big city in a mid terrace house with a small garden which is enclosed on all sides by a high brick wall, to get into my back garden (other than via the back door obviously) you would need to scale several 6' and 10' walls and over a lot of sheds...

This morning I opened the back door to find a large fox sitting in the garden amongst a pile of flower pots...

We often get foxes in the street and they do like to empty our dustbins at the front of the house but this one must have been a particularly gymnastic fox to find its way into our back garden.  He must have been there before because I did notice last weekend that the pots had been knocked over.

Unfortunately as soon as he saw me he ran across the garden, scaled the 6' brick wall into next door and then over their back wall (10' high).

So...here is the magic of Mr Fox:

As foxes are generally seen at dawn and dusk it links them to the time of 'in between' and the world of magic.

Fox is clever and cunning along with being agile and skillful.  He can teach us how to detach from our surrounds and use all our senses for observation and not only to anticipate what will happen but also to shape and create our own future.

He teaches us how to outwit and remove ourselves easily from unpleasant situations.  He does remind us however that being crafty all the time can backfire.

The word 'cunning' is often used to describe a fox and the word possibly originates from the old English word 'kenning' which means 'to know' meaning that you can see something that might not be obvious or that others cannot see straight away.

Fox can help us with our people skills in knowing when to take a step back, when to detach or when to wade in, he helps build your intuition.  He also guides us with judgement, bringing patience and the ability to listen and sense before making a response.

The fox hunts for food not just for himself but also for the vixen when it is nursing and for the young, this shows us that we can use our own power not only to help ourselves but also others.

The power of fox teaches us to live and connect with all that is around us, to blend in with our surroundings and become a part of the all.

Fox's wisdom includes: Shape shifting, cleverness, observational skills, cunning, stealth, camouflage, feminine, courage, invisibility, ability to observe unseen, persistence, gentleness, swiftness, wisdom, reliable friend, magic, shape shifting, invisibility.

Magic...in a nutshell

Magic...in a nutshell

I expect everyone is used to using herbs and plants for magical workings and perhaps even food stuff such as rice (good for prosperity) but what about things that we throw away such as the shells from nuts?

I always keep the shells not just because I hate waste but because I use them in my magical workings as they still hold the magical properties of the nut that they surrounded...and I get to eat the nut from inside...it is a win win situation.

You can use the pieces in medicine pouches, witches bottles or to stuff poppets and if you have a decent electric coffee or spice grinder you can turn them into magic/sachet powder too.

As always (this should be my mantra) go with your intuition about what magical properties each nut shell has but here are my correspondences:

Almond Magical Properties:
Love, prosperity, treasure, intuition, psychic powers, passion

Brazil nut Magical Properties:
Love, prosperity

Cashew Magical Properties:
Prosperity, energy

Chestnut Magical Properties:
Strength, success, prosperity, abundance, fertility

Hazelnut Magical Properties:
Protection, psychic powers, wisdom, fertility, Faerie, Healing

Macadamia Magical Properties:
Prosperity

Peanut Magical Properties:
Masculine energy, prosperity

Pecan Magical Properties:
Prosperity

Pistachio Magical Properties:
Hex breaking, grounding, divination

Walnut Magical Properties:
Wishes, mental powers, clarity, fertility




Magical correspondences taken from A Kitchen Witch's World of Magical Food

Pagan Portals Celtic Witchcraft

Pagan Portals Celtic Witchcraft by Mabh Savage

The wonderful Mabh Savage has a new book coming out in April (available for pre-order now), it is part of the Pagan Portals series and is entitled 'Celtic Witchcraft'.

A beautifully written book looking into the myths and legends that support the modern day practice of Celtic Witchcraft drawing on Mabh’s personal experiences of walking this pathway and the wisdom of the Tuatha De Danann.

The official blurb:
Learn how Celtic legend and mythology can bring magic into your daily life. Walk with the Tuatha Dé Danann and hear their wisdom on the wind. See colour as a doorway to a magical world. Speak to animals and become one with the turn of the seasons. Including practical exercises that can be performed by witches of all abilities, this book will teach you how your Celtic forebears are still alive, in the sorcery and skill of the magical practitioner.

http://www.moon-books.net/books/pagan-portals-celtic-witchcraft

Working Magic...INSPIRATION

With the new moon tomorrow (9th March) it is time to be inspired...whether it is for a creative project, in an area of your life, your house, your cooking or in the bedroom (oooer missus)...bring on that inspiration...

Intent: INSPIRATION

Colour:
White...just like a blank canvas

Crystals:
Citrine

Moss agate

Carnelian

Sodalite

Herbs:
Sage

Bay

Chillies

Oats

Chocolate (well it definitely inspires me...)

Incense Blend:
Frankincense

Sage

Bay

Vanilla

Tea Blend:
Hot chocolate with a dash of vanilla

OR

Peppermint tea with lemon and honey

The Magic:

I wrote the word 'inspiration' on a piece of paper and used that as the centre then I charged each herb/spice and crystal that I chose to use with my intent and put them on my altar around the intent paper. I also chose a white candle to light as well. I didn't have a plan or design in mind I just used my intuition.

I also felt drawn to add a cauldron which makes perfect sense as Cerridwen's cauldron was filled with a magical potion that brought wisdom and inspiration...the Awen.

The marbles also wanted to make an appearance...I use them for scrying so they have added to the 'forward thinking' of inspiration...

Be inspired...

Hold onto your hats...

Hold onto your hats and keep hold of your big comfy pants because this summer is a tad busy...

When I write a book it can take months to get all the words out of my head and onto the paper (or screen) then it goes off to the publisher and from then on it is out of my hands but clever people behind the scenes make it all happen and magically it becomes a book. It is also down to the big boss publisher man as to when the publication dates are set.

This year I have three books being published (one co written with Tracey)...and because the universe likes to have a bit of fun for some reason they are all coming out within a three month window...madness and mayhem will ensue...

So this is just a heads up and an apology that they are all being thrown out there in a short space of time. I promise not to publish any more this year...

So here is the low down:



The Art of Ritual
978-1-78279-776-0
Publication 27th May 2016

The Art of Ritual takes you through every step of ritual format from the basics to the more unusual. What ritual is, how to create it, work with it and all the different aspects and stages of putting a ritual together and how to get the best out of it whether you are a solitary or within a group. From set up through the entire process including the cake...this book covers just about all you should need to know to give you the best ritual experience. Drawn from the author's own teachings and experiences this book also shares a variety or different ritual scripts and suggestions along with those from members of her coven.



Arc of the Goddess
Publication 27th June 2016
978-1-78279-776-0

Arc of the Goddess book co-written with Tracey Roberts.
This year long Arc of the Goddess course will take you on a personal journey of discovery, taking each month as the wheel of the year turns and introducing you to different goddesses and pantheons with your choice (or theirs…) about who you work with and how you work with them.
We hope to help you connect with the magical energies of each month as well as giving you lots of practical exercises to work with and suggestions on how to make your spiritual connection stronger.
At the end of the course we hope that not only will you have discovered your own personal pantheon of goddesses to work with but also uncovered The Goddess Within…

The Arc of the Goddess can be used as a stand alone book but also ties in with the Arc of the Goddess online course we run AND...we will also be publishing a new and exciting (well we think it is anyway) special and unique Arc of the Goddess oracle...with a difference...



Pagan Portals The Cailleach
978-1-78535-322-2
Publication 29th July 2016

Within the pages of this book I hope to give you an introduction to the mysteries, myths, legends and magic of the ancient hag goddess The Cailleach drawing upon ancient legends, stories told and my own experiences.
The Cailleach – Goddess of the ancestors, wisdom that comes with age, the weather, time, shape shifting and winter.

Pre-Orders & Competitions

The Art of Ritual is available now for pre-order via the usual sites (Amazon, Barnes & Noble and our online shop etc) but keep an eye out for pre-order details for the others closer to their publication dates.

For each book launch there will also be a competition run over on facebook with some lubbly jubbly prizes...

www.rachelpatterson.co.uk
www.kitchenwitchhearth.net
www.moon-books.net

https://www.facebook.com/RachelPattersonbooks/

https://www.facebook.com/kitchenwitchuk/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/kitchenwitchuk/

Record Keeper Crystals

Back in October I was drawn to work with the crystal ruby (as part of the Arc of the Goddess course). I didn't have a ruby in my collection so I had to go on a search ...the one I was most drawn to turned out to also be a 'record keeper'.

A record keeper crystal can be identified by the appearance of raised (more common) or sunken triangles on the surface of the crystal.  The triangles usually only appear on one or two of the faces of the crystal.

Most record keepers seem to be part of the quartz family (clear, smoky, amethyst, citrine etc) but are also occasionally found in the corundum group such as rubies and sapphires.

It is believed that the record keeper triangles can be used to access information stored in the crystal which can be accessed through meditation or connecting with the crystal.  The knowledge and wisdom held within is believed to be from ancient civilisations and our ancestors.  They also work well to help guide on shamanic journeys and astral travel.

The crystals can also help to enhance intuition and psychic, past life work and spirit contact abilities. The stones can also be used to help access the Akashic Records.

Record keeper crystals are also very good for programming to store your own information.

I have worked with past life retrieval before and I have dabbled with the Akashic Records (although as it happens I am currently working through a course to learn how to access them properly)  and I have also followed the path of a Seidr since being prompted to follow that direction during a course I took with Farrar & Bone...but I have let my practices slide somewhat (busy life and all that) so I think this is the prompt I need...it should be an interesting journey...