Snow in spring.

It snowed this morning. There are blooms and blossoms and pollen and snowflakes. The Old Woman has one last laugh.

I've been going through some really uninteresting and unspiritual real life job changes so things have been quiet. I went from a flexible schedule to a fixed one and have had to spiritually change some things. Before I worked a job that allowed me to freely speak about who I am and what I do and it was the first job I was able to do that. It was liberating but alienating but I had time for crafting. Now I feel as though I've taken a step backwards in my progress by changing my job to one where I feel as though to expose myself might leave my employment in jeopardy. So I will stay quiet for now.

I've also been having trouble composing words and sentences and my spelling has worsened. My productivity has slowed. It will pick back up as I'm gearing up for the festival.

The winner of my little contest, which I am sorely late in posting, is Unknown Binaries! Please email me at anathemum(at)gmail.com to collect your prize. A big thanks to those that participated, I loved reading all your words.

Ink and Paper

The Hare Notebook

I often worry that being witches of a digital age has stifled our written word within ourselves.

For myself I can't really get behind the idea of a typed grimoire that's bound in a plastic binder. Plastic is unreceptive. It makes something that should be so personal so very sterile and clinical. It's not as though writing it by hand within a nicer book is harder, it's perhaps more intensive but this implies that the shortcut is the way to go and my mindset couldn't be farther from the truth. For those who find the binder and typed method suitable I encourage you to try a bound book and written words. The claim is that "if I want to change something it's easy to and I don't have to start a whole new book." Part of our learning as witches involves changes that we should embrace, not hide as though they're shameful. Even the most elite of witches started somewhere small and meager.

I'm a purist when it comes to things like this. Perhaps it's the artist in me. I want to use ink and pen and paper within a bound medium. I want to mix my blood with the ink. Or spit. Or whatever. I want my hand to ache after I've transcribed an incantation. I want that ink to accidentally or otherwise be smudged. I want to feel my words as they appear on the page. To add color with paint and mud and blood. This is why I've created all these inks and little notebooks for you witches. To encourage the recording of our paths in a traditional and tactile manner. I personally use one of my little notebooks for recording my results of tarot sessions.

To help encourage all my witches to put down the keyboard and pick up the pen I've got a little giveaway. I want to see pictures of your grimoires, those of you who are willing to show it. A link to a flickr post or photo host will do. Doesn't necessarily have to be of the whole thing, maybe your favorite page. Got a sketch of a deity? Beautiful, let's see it. Don't have a camera? Post the favorite piece of text from your grimoire instead. Please give credit if the posted text or photo is not your own.


The winner will receive this block printed lined notebook. A Piccadilly by brand, measuring 3½ x 5½ in, 100 lined acid free pages with a stitched binding. A silver cardboard notebook printed with my Sticks and Skulls print in high quality black ink. Fits perfectly within a tarot pouch or pocket and is perfect for all sorts of scribbles and sigils.

I will accept entries through the Vernal Equinox, March 20th. Thanks and happy commenting!

Alllmost spring

While things may have been a little quiet in my internet world, I've been a busy bumbling bee around my little thicket. I've been cold stratifying and starting seeds for the witch's garden this year (soooo many plants!!!!), working on dolls and furnishings (as seen at the Spirit House, go look!) and enjoying the first few warm days we've had in Virginia since last fall.

It seems as though every witch I know has fallen ill these past few weeks, myself included. Bouts of coughing and feverish night and dreams have sequestered me to the least labor intensive of my crafts. It has also given me ample time to reflect on past and future projects. Things have slowed in the shop a little since I'm taking some time to work on some personal projects of mine that until now were on a very far back burner. It feels so good to every day be able to do what I love. Don't worry, I have many beautiful things planned for the shop these next few months.

Last March I was putting coolant into my car in the parking lot of my man's job (a disadvantage of driving a 15 year old car). Stuck underneath my tire was a piece of paper and as I bent down to pick it up I discovered it was a tarot card. The Justice card. A return to balance. Adjustment. I quit smoking that month and haven't had a cigarette since.

I've made it a ritual now to pull a spread at the yawnings of spring, preferably the first New Moon. My spread this year was ehhhhh but at least I have a heads up. I've always thought of spring to be the beginning of my year. You know, start the seeds, watch them grow, harvest, death. It seems more reasonable to me.