June/July 2005 Newsletter

1. Judith's Ramblings
2. Product Spotlight
3. Book Review

I will be putting up a sub directory on the site of wedding photos. I haven't any yet of the back of my outfit but the front is stunning *grins*. I was almost a size 16 for awhile there then I gained a half an inch on my waist and got discouraged. Sure I lost about 3lbs in that month which included much party food and little exercise, sure I lost an inch from my chest (meaning my new bras no longer fit properly), but my sexy Bravissimo shirts now don't fit in the waist! WAH! Mind you, I'm also off Atkins eating plan so have been eating far too many things I am allergic to - wheat, yeast, maize, pulses, apples, pineapples, grapes, mushrooms, etc... So obviously some bloating and an unhappy body results.

I was chuffed to meet two more newsletter readers at the pub moot! How wonderful to hear how the newsletter gets printed off and read - so many of you have told me you do this I'm starting to wonder if I should actually take a creative writing course and maybe put some quality content in here. I used to love waving stories and telling tales I made up to people. I was always raved about for my ability to make people see exactly what I was talking about. I just hope you all continue to enjoy my ramblings.

Are you going? Of course you're going! I mean, why in the world would you not be going, right? So since we're all going, LET'S PARTY TOGETHER! http://interaction.worldcon.org/ Come on over to the New Moon table, say hi, chat, enjoy the day and let's go out in the evening. Check the party board or the table to see if anyone is interested in partying and we'll throw something together! There is *tons* of information on the website so pop over - if you never go to any other convention, go to WitchyCon 2006 - if you go to only one other convention than WitchyCon 2006, make it WorldCon 2005!

WIN FREE TICKETS TO WITCHYCON 2006! If we use the convention site you recommend, you'll get THREE COMPLIMENTARY MEMBERSHIPS to WitchyCon 2006. The venue needs three rooms with a minimum of 150 in a main room and 50 in a smaller room plus a room for stalls for people to go shopping in. There needs to be a place within or very nearby for food. We'd prefer 200 in the main room. It needs to be within Oxfordshire - preferable in the middle to northern section like around Witney and available April 1st. Access should be by card and public transport if possible but ease of parking is a must. Contact us with your suggestions and we'll comp you 3 memberships if we use the place you recommend! Did you miss seeing anyone at WitchyCon 2005 you'd like to see again or perhaps is there a speaker you'd like to see or workshop leader? Let us know as well!

Gosh I tell ya - the influx of stuff in to this place has just seemed to be at a frenzied pace! More jewellery, more statuary, more everything! But alas, with such a big influx, we've had to pare back some of our lines. We're currently looking at discontinuing most tarot card jewellery, many angels, much of the runic jewellery, the Yankee Candle candles, some wall plaques, some patens, some statuary, and more. While this always makes me sad, I know that what we're getting in really is wonderful fun and great stuff so we'll always have shelves here bulging with stock!

You might have noticed I've finally updated the website. Everything new up to May should now be on the site and the image has been changed to reflect our transition in to summer so I have the happy sun back. It was a heck of a lot of work I tell ya but that's what happens when you leave it and try and do other things *grins* But the chocolate was fantastic!

2) Product Spotlight
Genuine Graveyard Dirt - Often you will find powdered patchouli used in place of or sometimes sold as graveyard dirt however this is the genuine article. This package comes sealed & with instructions. Used in Spells this graveyard dirt enhances spellwork. Graveyard Dirt has been used for centuries in Spells, Ceremonies & Rituals. The Spell/Instruction Sheet comes with very useful information for Powerful Spell Work. What we have is not symbolic Graveyard dirt but Genuine graveyard dirt. Instructions included.

Apparently, it is claimed on some sites that graveyard dirt has been used by many people for the purpose of causing illness. Well, not that I'm encouraging this but the theory is that if you mix graveyard dirt and sulphur powder (which thankfully is not easy to get) with your target's hair or *ahem* other *ahem* discharges (and please don't ask me what this means) then put the mixture in a bottle with 9 (sacred number - of course!) pins, 9 needles, and 9 nails (three - another sacred number - 3 sharp things), and buried the bottle under the target's doorstep or pathway as the moon was waning (getting smaller) in order to hurt them or cause them to waste away. Another claim is that if you put graveyard dirt in to your target's shoe and then marked a trail from the target's home to the nearest graveyard, sprinkling a pinch of the dirt at every crossroads along the way to lead the target to take that path and be drawn down in to death or destruction.

Kinda creepy, hunh? Well, if you look at it, it's really sympathetic magick of a sort. We don't always have an easy lifer (or death) and there are times we will call on those who have gone before us to help. This goes one step further and actually uses the dirt collected from the grave to invoke the spirit to help a magickal end immediately. In this sense, the dirt from the grave of a family member can thus be used in protection as their spirit is being called upon to protect you, your home and/or family.

There has been a movement in recent times to try and take the "ewwwww gross" out of traditional voodoo or magickal practices. This has resulted in some authors claiming that patchouli, mullein or mugwort was what graveyard dirt actually was - that the term was a folk term for a herb. This is actually untrue as we are working with sympathetic magick here and the use of a herb such as mugwort to invoke the protection of your ancestors simply does not work in that way. The dirt of the grave of someone who loved you or cared about you enough to want to protect you makes more sense and is actually fact having been investigated by Harry Middleton Hyatt as part of a folkloric material collection he created. If not for people like this collecting and recording the truth, it would be too easy to believe those authors who suggest otherwise. Plus it removes the squeamish factor from magick.

3) Book Review
"The Art of WIccan Healing" by Sally Morningstar

When I received the review copy of this book, I was worried it was going to be all a bit fluffy. A white cover was adorned with an image of a forest full of bluebells or a relation of theirs. By the thickness of the book, I was worried the author had said in ten words what could have been said in three. I was, luckily, quite wrong.

This book is actually an excellent book for anyone looking at walking the path of the healer. Starting with a very grounded and practical view of the history of modern craft, the author spends a good amount of time establishing a base for the reader to launch from. Correspondences are not overly flowery, imparting the information necessary. Working with elements is practically written with great information for someone seriously looking in to this path.

Each chapter deals which what I would consider an important aspect of healing (not that I'm an expert) and I can't think of anything I would have added. This book deals with a huge number of topics such as ceremonies and rituals to achieve wholeness and how to tap into the healing power of the Sun, Moon, Stars and Earth which I really don't think I've seen elsewhere. The breadth of the topics covered also makes this book a great reference book. It contains information that will help the reader connect to the healing energies of the Gods as well as those that originate with the animal, plant and mineral world.

A huge read and quite a lot to take in, I would recommend setting aside a specific time each week where you go through a chapter several times so that you absorb all the information. This is the kind of book you'll likely refer back to again and again.

4 out of 5 Moons

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