November 2005 Newsletter

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

I've managed to confirm someone from TABI and Steve Wilson to do workshops so I'm switching out of a talk about creating sacred space to a running talk about common terms used at pagan events and how we do things. It'll be full of practical tips for newbies as well as my irreverent brand of humour. So if you are completely unfamiliar with paganism but want to learn more, I'll be on hand to help as well as offering tidbits of information throughout the day. I'll load the opening and closing ceremonies with lots of newbie information laced with humour for those of us who have been around forever.... Hopefully it'll be like going to a pagan comedy club where you learn if you're new and get a giggle too.

So that fills our speakers and workshop folks up for this new WitchyCon but remember - it can't happen without you! We're hoping it will be even better this year with a stalls hall, a main hall, a workshop hall, free coffee and tea, lots of info, raffles and loads of fun. So come on out - it's the same price as last year only larger so more people can attend. Why not give a membership as a gift?

Please help us advertise WitchyCon 2006 - we can't survive without your help. We can send you flyers to take to your events - just let us know where to mail them to. Thank you!

It'll only cost you £8 to pre-register before Dec 31st and then £10 until March 15th after which it'll be £12 on the door - just like last year but we're giving you more for your money (like a fabric shopping bag with the con logo, tea and coffee included, etc...)! So quick - grab a friend (or six) and everyone book for WitchyCon 2006!

2) Product Spotlight
Edom Dead Sea Bath Salts - For thousands of years, the Dead Sea has been known for its remarkable properties, thanks to high mineral concentration and the large variety of minerals. In days of old, Dead Sea water and salt were imported to Italy by Roman nobles. The balance of the salts in Dead Sea water are magnesium, potassium, calcium chloride and bromides.

Magnesium is important for both combatting stress and fluid retention, slowing skin aging and calming the nervous system. Calcium is effective at preventing water retention, increasing circulation and strengthening bones and nails. Potassium energizes the body, helps to balance skin moisture and is a crucial mineral to replenish following intense exercise. Bromides act to ease muscle stiffness and relax muscles. Sodium is important for the lymphatic fluid balance (this in turn is important for immune system function). So we can see that bathing in high quality sea salt could replenish the minerals which are critical to our skin metabolism.

Enjoy the benefits of the Dead Sea by immersing yourself in a bath of Edom Bath Salts. The natural enriched salts and minerals are refreshing and revitalizing, leaving your body and skin with an invigorating feeling of softness and suppleness, beautifully shiny and healthy. A unique product, stimulates blood circulation, helps to relieve pain in muscles and joints and to release the body from stress and tension.

On a personal note: I found my eczema was really helped by these salts (and the "Aches Away Bath Soak" which also has dead sea mud in it). I really enjoyed adding them to the bath and relaxing and as they had no perfume, it meant I could then add any fragrance I wished afterwards. I usually sealed in the moisture though with a lotion so that the benefits kept on going. I am skeptical about these types of products so always use them first and while they may not work for you as well as they did for me, I can personally vouch for what they do for me and it is great. Exercising every day means I use more dead sea product including the shower gel which I love so much I should stock too but for now... IT'S ALL MINE - and I really have noticed a difference. Next I'm trying hubby on the dead sea shampoo for his eczema to see if it helps him - I'm really thrilled with this stuff! I also use the salts in a foot spa thingy hubby bought me for Christmas one year and it really heals my feet fast. I get horrible dry skin and also trade shows do me in - these salts make a noticeable difference to my feet.

Directions:- Pour the desired quantity (250gr up to 1.5Kg) into a bath filled with warm water. Relax in bath for 15-20 minutes. Rinse off. For soaking feet /elbows or foot massage, use a small amount. To aid detoxification, use a cellulite body brush for 5 minutes on trouble areas (careful - don't go mad and hurt yourself) then soak in a bathtub with 100g of Edom Dead Sea Bath Salts for at least 35 minutes. You will immediately feel the difference it makes to your skin. Apparently if you immerse your body in Dead Sea salt you do not need to use soap as the salt minerals removes redundant fat and dirt but I'm still waiting for that to work below the skin *winks*. Dead Sea salt seems to act as a disinfectant and may help remove harmful substances from the skin. Add it to some massage oil and use it as a salt body scrub then in to the bath (carefully!) and soak for a real exfoliating and detoxing effect!
1 kg jar £15.10/$38.50

3) Book Review
"Dime Store Magic" by Kelley Armstrong
What a HOOT! I loved this book and am upset at hubby for hiding "Industrial Magic" (though by accident). This is part of the "Women of the Otherworld" series if memory serves and I can't wait to read more. Armstrong weaves a very real present-day world in to her stories, creating covens of "real" witches that scorn the "wiccans" and new pagans as not knowing anything about real magick. The heroine ends up watching a young ward of what could be one of the most powerful black witches out there but we're never sure until the story develops. She has to protect her new ward from the top boss of one of the demon/warlock groups called a Cabal who generally run corporations and amass large fortunes thus controlling aspects of modern society. The best part in the whole book for me was the description of the 'Goddess worshippers' who came at one point to lend support. They sit in a circle naked, ask her to join them and constantly intone 'Goddess be praised' which made me thing wither of fanatical Christians or Hong Kong kung fu movies where the kung fu masters constantly say "Buddha's name be praised". If you'd like a great light read, this is it and when you get to the end don't worry - there *IS* another book. We will get to see how things develop between them - but which them I won't say so I don't spoil it.

"The Good, The Bad, and the Undead" by Kim Harrison
Hubby did not give me "Dead Witch Walking" so I failed to understand the significance of the handcuffs to Rachel Morgan. I'd suggest reading that before this book though that's the only thing I didn't get. Rachel, who is a witch (and witches are a different species), lives with a "living vampire" - a human who has been infected with the vampire virus and so still has her soul and fights (like Angel... Gods help us) to not drink blood. Ivy lives in the hope that Rachel will find a cure to her "infection". This book follows Rachel as she strives to protect Ivy and others she loves from the top vampire in town as well as running her own business, persecuting the man she blames for many evils in the world and running away from Weres just because she stole a fish... This is a great read and one I'd recommend. I enjoyed the real world woven in to fiction to create a credible environment as well as a genesis to how the world came to be inhabited by these other species. Ley lines are real and used for magick, demons can be summoned and do answer, and there is another world superimposed over this one which can be accessed but is the realm of demons, beasts and all manner of scary things. Don't make a deal though - you'll be marked for life...

"Every Which Way but Dead" by Kim Harrison
Making a deal with the devil is one thing - owing a demon for accepting their help is something else which taints your very aura. Rachel Morgan has such a demon mark and would like very much to get rid of it thank you. But with her love life in tatters, Ivy back on the blood, keeping a deadly secret from her partner Jenks and another one from the world, she has her hands full. Along comes a living vamp suitor who turns her world inside out and she ends up involved in a fight over control of the underworld that she caused. Not only that but big Al is coming to collect his due - Her! A rather gripping read that made me go out and look for the next book... which apparently hasn't been written yet. Harrison is at work on another story set in the Hollows - this world she created but I do hope it'll let us all know what happens with the new pack, Jenks and Ceri as the world rather grows on you. Weaving it in with the world as we know it makes it intriguing and adds a bit extra making me wonder... what if?

4) Ritual Workings
TEA SPELLS - By Xxanthe

Blend the teas for a recipe in a plastic baggy or a glass jar, then measure out one tablespoon per cup of tea. A small two cup teapot will take two tablespoons of tea. If you are like me, however, two cups of tea equates to three because I prefer my tea with lots of milk. because the tea base is black tea leaves, the addition of milk and a sweetener makes for a very flavorful beverage. Unless you are making tea for a crowd, you really don't need more than one or two tablespoons of tea at any one time. Store in a closed jar in a cabinet away from light.

TEA FOR DIVINATION:
1 tablespoon China black, English breakfast, or Irish breakfast tea
2 teaspoons lemon balm
1 teaspoon eyebright
1 tablespoon mugwort
1 tablespoon rose hips

TEA FOR PSYCHIC HEALING:
1 tablespoon China black tea
1 teaspoon elder flower
1 teaspoon nettle
2 teaspoon burdock root
2 teaspoon mullein
2 teaspoon rose hip

TEA FOR LOVE (SPELL):
1 tablespoon China black tea
1 teaspoon damiana
1 teaspoon raspberry leaves
2 teaspoon chamomile
2 teaspoon mullein
2 teaspoon rose hips

TEA FOR MEDITATION:
1 tablespoon China black or English breakfast tea
2 teaspoon chamomile
1 teaspoon rose hips
2 teaspoon elder flower

TEA FOR PURIFICATION:
1 tablespoon China black tea
2 teaspoon fennel
1 teaspoon valerian
1 teaspoon chamomile
2 teaspoon hyssop

TEA FOR HEALTH (SPELLS):
1 tablespoon China black tea
2 teaspoon fennel
1 teaspoon mint
2 teaspoon rose hips
1 teaspoon elder flower
2 teaspoon hops
1 teaspoon mullein
1 teaspoon white oak

TEA FOR PROTECTION:
1 tablespoon Irish or English breakfast tea
2 teaspoon elder flower
1 teaspoon linden flower
1 teaspoon valerian
2 teaspoon burdock root
1 teaspoon comfrey
1 teaspoon hyssop
2 teaspoon rose hips

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