Geography

Some honeysuckle for the spirits


We all have our own little internet "covens"; Witches we associate with through social networking sites, blogs, and internet stores. We join the giveaways, participate in group discussions, comment on blogs. We wish each other blessings on holidays. We do swaps together and send gifts to brothers and sisters across our Earth. I'll trade you 3 Mockingbird feathers and her foot for a fox skull. Wait for the package. Most of us are the "solitary" witch with nothing but virtual friends. I've begun to think that lately this is not enough.

Solitary can mean that we don't follow a specific tradition or if we do we practice alone. I would say that I locally know only 3 or 4 witches I'd call my friends and I practice with none of them. Most of them are Wiccans so I'm the oddball out. They bring an athame and a bowl, I bring bones and cornmeal. We are just too different but our overlapping Animist beliefs bring us together.

Some of the Witches I know both virtually and locally have spouses or partners that practice similar beliefs. I do not but have an amazingly supportive man who helps me dig up previously buried animals for their bones and who calls from the bathroom when he's finished clipping toenails or shaving his head (silly punk men) so I can collect the personal effects. He is willing to halt a bike ride or a walk while I climb into brush to pick Yarrow I've found by a roadside and points out roadkill in case it's salvageable. I'm damn lucky for that.

A few months ago I began a search for festivals or groups I could join to support my local Pagan community and ideally do some vending for. I belong to plenty of online groups and I wanted something tangible whose minds I could pick in person. I love talking to other witches. My search came up fruitless. I found plenty of Wiccan covens and even just Pagan groups or some Pagan Pride get-togethers but they were either inactive or intolerant of those who don't follow the "harm none" rule. There was even one that refused admittance into any of their festivals or events for not being Wiccan.

At this point I took a step back. I have no issue with Wiccans, why do they have issues with me? I thought about other alternatives and found that I'd be able to vend at the local Renaissance Fairs which is fine but I was looking for something different; something more witchy. Despite living 30 minutes from Washington DC I found few things in the way of events or accepting groups and maybe that's part of it. I worship in the wrong part of the country. I'd hate to go to an event or become a vendor and bring out my bones and cornmeal and have everyone go "Huuuuh??". What steps do I take? Is is even plausible to start my own event? Where did this intolerance spawn from? Is it a backlash? Am I destined to forever be a solitary plus 1?

What do you think, witches?

A few works in progress...

Sacred Psychopomp Necklace in Corvus.

Blue Hamsa Pendant

Crossroads Key Pendant in Persephone

Crossroads Key Pendant in Trickster

I had the itch lately to create some jewelry pieces for the shop. I scoured my collections of saved and found items, vintage jewelry and findings, and purchased a few things at antique stores. In addition to the the other items the shop currently carries I've wanted to do a little more art and handcrafted items. I am an artist first and a Witch second so having both these aspects flit about in my brain provides nearly boundless creativity. Nearly.

The piece at the top has been the most time consuming as the Raven skull was carved by me out of salvaged Poplar wood. I searched for a large enough branch of Yew since it would have been more appropriate but the only Yew trees I know of are in graveyards by large public roads. I already look daft stuffing my purse full of small branches and dirt while dumping whiskey on the ground so attempting to lug a large five foot branch out of the cemetery and into the car is pushing the boundaries of the public ignoring me. Someday, someday.

A reminder, I will be on vacation from June 12-19 so the shop will be closed during that time. I will return with bountiful goodies pillaged from the sea and hopefully a not too sunburned rear.

New Items at the Shop!

Summer Solstice Incense Blend

War Water to curse your enemies.

Sanctify Cleansing Kit for cleaning and purifying all your tools and your space.

Evil Eye Altar Box to protect your pretty items.

Ancestor Offering Box to hold gifts for your ancestral spirits.

Love and Sex Spell Kit to attract great love and even better romance.

So things on my home front have been a little wacky and as a result I've been working my "real people job" more than expected. This has given me less time to devote to the listing of items but I've got some time today to expel the backlog I've accrued. Don't forget I take custom requests!

Follow me on Tumblr!

So I broke down and made a Tumblr. While nearly the same concept, it seems more streamlined for my scatterbrained head. For everyday postings and what-nots and pictures check me there now! I will most likely keep the blog for larger announcements and postings.

Giveaway! And more Grimoire work

Hey Guys and Gals, I'm a sponsor for The Spooky Spring Easter Casket Giveaway over at Bloodbath's blog! You have the chance to win some Spirit Sustenance Incense and some Graveyard Dirt from my shop plus a ton of other cool prizes from some really great Etsy sellers, so hop on over!




I've been working on my Grimoire as often as I can and have done a few small watercolor pieces in it, mostly on pages devoted to deities and I have yet to really put color on anything else. I chose one of my favorite images for the inner front page, sketched it and then used a steel tipped pen and "Black Magic" Higgins ink. It was interesting how the slightly slick Moleskine sketchbook paper took to the watercolor, the color sitting and beading on the surface until it became absorbed by the paper. I have so many Evil Eye/Hamsa pieces of jewelry and trinkets, and with it being the symbol and logo for my shop I thought it was appropriate I emulate it here too. It's probably my favorite occult symbol and when I open a brick and mortar shop I'll be sure to include it there too.


I also sketched out this Hecate picture last night. It being a dark moon and a Wednesday, Hecate was calling. The sketch isn't finished but will be done in watercolor within the following days. I've been looking for a good image of Hecate for my altar and have found very few so I decided to just draw one myself that encompassed as much of her imagery as possible. I plan on adding some Yew branches and maybe her wheel as well. Most Pagans tend to neuter her power and water it down, making her just another crone or moon goddess or whatever. I embrace all aspects of her and wish that others would too, her vast knowledge, her ability to traverse the heavens, earth, and underworld, etc. I guess we all look at our deities differently.

For the shop the next items I plan on working on will be Spell Component Kits, but ones that cater to all levels of Witches. There will be no specific instructions, just themed items. For example: the Hexing kit will include a Bayou Black candle, War Water, Graveyard Dirt, Coffin Nails, and so on. As for myself I really enjoy crafting a spell of my own, not using one straight from a book. Yes, I use some ideas and reference from many books but part of any works of magic is your gut and knowing what works for you. Use it! Use the knowledge you've obtained through all your practices and mold it to your path. Use your deities, your spirits, not someone elses. That's the great thing about being a Witch.

What's your favorite occult symbol?

Black Candles

Bayou Black Spell Candle Pair for Hexing and Banishing, and a listing for Your Custom Spell Candle Pair! Details and additional products at Anathemum.



I received a Sunshine Award from Danni over at The Whimsical Cottage! Thank you, Danni. You've always been stellar. I have a feeling that if we met in real life we would probably hit it off splendidly.

~Here are the Sunshine Award Guidelines~

1) Please thank the person who gave the award to you.

2) Copy the award and place it in your blog.

3) Link back to the person who nominated you.

4) Name 6 things that no one would really know, about yourself.

5) Nominate your Sunshine Award bloggers and post links to their blogs.

6) Leave a comment on each of those blogs letting them know you have nominated them for the Sunshine award.

As far as the 6 things about me go...
1)I have a thing about collecting. Joey calls it a "problem" but I call it a solution! Sort of. I collect many things including frog figures(been doing it since I was probably 9 years old), mice/rat figures(I've had many rats and mice as pets, they are great), owl things(my amazing Mom buys Owl figures for me and she is the single source of all my owl jewelry, I have some wicked cool pieces!), antique tins and metal boxes, skeleton keys, evil eye stuff, real insects (I find them dead on the ground), feathers, shells, plus plenty of curios I use in my rootwork.

2)I'm ridiculous about fashion. I wear dresses or skirts and heels every day and probably only own 2 pairs of pants, one of them is solely for work. I refuse to pay more than $50 for any one item which leaves me to vintage shopping, or raiding closets. I don't think people need an excuse to dress up, they just should! I go wild harvesting and into graveyards in 3.5 inch heels! It sounds daft but fashion is an extension of our psyches and mine is colorful and fun and creative. I have lots of vintage clothes and accessories and my style has 1930's, and 1940's-50's, Gothic, mystic shamanism, gypsy queen, and Victorian circus influences. Joey got me the Salem Cloak by Black Market Baby for Xmas and it's great! I also name certain dresses or outfits. I also wear vintage fur. I'm a fashion dork.

3) I had plans to hopefully get my Art degree in Craft and Materials Studies with a focus on Fiber and move to New York to work for the Jim Henson Creature Shop, but I think I want to be a Cultural Anthropologist instead. Working in the art field for income all but killed my creativity and made me hate art so I had to make a change.

4) I go through reading phases. Sometimes I'll crush 3 books a week, sometimes I wont read for 2 months. This does not include reference books which I'm constantly poking my nose in and out of.

5) My hair grows incredibly slowly. It's also been every color of the rainbow when I was younger. It's now just natural brown and long. I also cut it myself.

6)My musical taste is varied. The most "Pagany" music I listen to is Type O Negative's October Rust album. I listen to metal, 90's grunge, vaudville and swing, blues, doo-wop, and classic rock.



These are some blogs which I think deserve a look!
Conjured Cardea
Swamp Pixie Herbal
Enchanted Garden Studio

Graveyard Dirt

Some new products! Ritual Bath Salts in Sea Witch and Aphrodite's Bath Water, and a business success incense called Business Boom. They are all available at Anathemum's.

Yesterday Joey and I visited the graveyard in Downtown Fredericksburg. It's a confederate cemetery but I found gravestones as recent as the early 2000's buried there (most likely family plots). The graveyard is pretty big and was very quiet despite the area and all the busy streets. We found a bench and sat down for a while to enjoy the beautiful day and spectacular weather.








Proof I was there!


I then wandered around a bit and gathered some graveyard dirt from the blessed ground of the cemetery. Joey acted as my distraction in case anyone wandered by but we were completely alone for a while. Well, not really alone, but you get the idea :) I was also considering listing some of the dirt in the Shop if anyone was interested.

Also, to my surprise I found what I believed to be a Yew tree, which would be appropriate in a graveyard most certainly. I've been searching for Yew to wild harvest some and was unable to find a bulk supplier of the tree. I'm decent when it comes to plant identification but wasn't sure (especially because it wasn't giving off it's unmistakably strange red berries at this time) so I took a sprig home for further investigation. (by this time my purse was filled with leaves and my hands were covered in dirt, like a true witch!) It turns out I think I'm right! Or at least I hope I am.

Bricks and the Vernal Equinox

I hope everyone has something special planned for the Vernal Equinox today! In addition to being one half light and one half dark, it's also the first day of Spring! Get outside! Plant seeds! Do something!

So here's what I've been thinking and if you call me daft it's not like I haven't been called so before (:P). I sorta want to open a brick & mortar store for Spiritual and Witchcraft Supplies.

*pauses for droves of negativity*.... Ok then. I think it's a brilliant idea.

I live in a great location for one; right near historic downtown Fredericksburg VA which is full of antique stores, small art stores, indie coffee bars, great little bars and restaurants, a civil war cemetery, all surrounded by a really beautiful college campus. All the buildings there are old and full of character. I wouldn't need anything big either, maybe 300-400 sq feet, maybe less. Joey said there used to be one downtown a while ago but there isn't one now.

I'd also want to do a consignment based system with local artisans who can feature their handmade items within the shop because I try to support local farmers, artists, and stores as much as I can.

This is obviously something that's a few years away but I've been pricing out leasing spaces just to get an idea.

Also, a few new things on the way for the shop, stay tuned!

Candle Making!

Red Cedar Spell Candles, for sale at Anathemum.etsy.com



So I totally took the plunge yesterday to destroy the kitchen and decided to try my hand at candle making. However, I'm a strange kid when it comes to buying "for real" supplies for certain crafts, I'd rather just wing it with thrift store finds. I went to a craft store looking for votive molds and I found them. For $20. So forget that. I used a beat-to-crap pot I had and a green bean tin can as my double boiler and decided to make little fat tapers instead. I'd also bought a pound of pure beeswax on a super whim about 2 years ago (it was probably on sale) and some wicks so I just went at it.



I'd been collecting scrap wax from all the burned out candles I've used over the past couple years and decided to mix it in with the beeswax, sort of a waste not want not idea. I also decided to not to add any fragrance but just let the scent of the pure beeswax suffice. It smelled so good as it was melting! Like warm honey.



Baby candles!! It's also good to not let the wax get too hot while dipping and to let the candles cool before dipping again (learns the hard way) so I just did a few sets at a time so there wasn't too much down time. For the red ones, I rolled them around in Red Cedar powder a few times during the whole candle making dipping process and mixed with the honey smell of the beeswax it smells great! I can't wait to make more of these.

Witches, what is one new craft you'd like to try? Or, if you've tried them all, which is your favorite?

Seven of Tentacles!

"Ah! The Seven of Tentacles is a very powerful card…"

From Articulate Matter, a sculptural webcomic.

I've been dealing with a lot of negativity lately but this made me laugh really hard! I have a soft spot in my heart for squids and my love for them made me get one tattooed on my arm several years ago. The posts are all really adorable and funny so go check it out.