RIP Raven Grimassi

I have just learned that Raven Grimassi, has passed away. His wife, Stephanie Ann Zarrabi (pen-name Stephanie Taylor), announced that Grimassi died on March 10, 2019, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.

“The soul is drawn into a lineage that anchors it in a specific current within the Material Plane. There are many lessons to be gained and many challenges to temper the soul. There is also a flowing river of consciousness from the past that empowers us with knowledge and wisdom.” 
― Raven Grimassi, Communing with the Ancestors: Your Spirit Guides, Bloodline Allies, and the Cycle of Reincarnation

Reading Water Witchcraft: Magic and Lore from the Celtic Tradition

I think that I may be a merfolk.

An accessible in-depth guide to Celtic water lore, including spells, rituals, water spirits, and merfolk

Let Annwyn Avalon, a practicing water witch herself, take you into the world of water magic. The water magic and lore in this book focuses on the Celtic tradition, but draws on other water magic traditions as well, and features rainwater, as well as lakes, rivers, oceans, canals, swamps, and other watery locations, together with the folk and magical customs that have been and are still practiced at these places. The book teaches the reader how to set up a water altar at home, how to connect with water spirits, and how to gather or create water witch tools. Readers are encouraged to visit local water sites but will also find an abundance of material to perform at home. Included are practical examples, visualizations, and exercises so any reader can start to take up spell work and establish their spiritual connection to water.

Water Witchcraft: Magic and Lore from the Celtic Tradition

In my mailbox: Conjuring Harriet “Mama Moses” Tubman

I want to thank Weiser Books for the free review copy of Conjuring Harriet “Mama Moses” Tubman and the Spirits of the Underground Railroad by Witchdoctor Utu.

by Witchdoctor Utu

The spirits of Harriet Tubman, John Brown, and other heroes of the Underground Railroad guide readers on a magical path to healing, empowerment, and liberation.

The historical role that magic and soothsaying played in the Underground Railroad has long been ignored out of fear it might diminish the legacy of Harriet Tubman and other heroes of that time. However, Harriet Tubman was a Conjure woman who relied on her dreams and visionary experiences to lead her followers to freedom. Revered as “Mama Moses,” she, along with John Brown, Mary Ellen Pleasant, and others have been venerated since their deaths. They now have emerged in the 21st century as the pantheon of a new and increasingly popular African-Diaspora tradition.

Written by Witchdoctor Utu, founder of the Niagara Voodoo Shrine, this is the first book devoted to the spiritual and magical tradition of the Underground Railroad. In it, the author conjures the spirits of the Underground Railroad, their continued connection to each other, and their “tracks” still leading to freedom from obstacles, bondage, and trouble and tribulations of all kinds. It is a spiritual tradition that is broadly accessible and inclusive, much like the historical Underground Railroad itself, whose participants were black, white, and Native American, male and female, Christians, Jews, Quakers, animists, secret devotees of forbidden African religions, and free thinkers of all kinds.

This revelatory book teaches readers how to invoke the blessings of Mama Moses and her followers, access their healing inspiration and magic powers, and seek their own path to freedom.

In my mailbox: A Book of Pagan Prayer

It’s a dark and chilly day in little part of Florida. A storm rattled through last night but the sky hasn’t cleared up. Today is just the kind of weather for a cup of hot tea and an interesting book.

In my mailbox

Nothing makes me happier than to receive a new book from Weiser Books. The good folks at Weiser are, simply put, awesome.

This time Weiser sent me a free review copy of “A Book of Pagan Prayer.”

I remember this book and look forward to rereading it.

Product description: Steeped in tradition–“Those of us who call ourselves Pagan owe a debt to all those who came before us”–and based on more than a quarter century of research and practice, A Book of Pagan Prayerteaches us to pray in the ways of our ancestors for very modern times and concerns.

Changes to this revised edition include rearranged chapters and prayers and the addition of two new chapters, all of which make the book easier to use. The chapters are now arranged in an order that follows a ritual, and all the litanies have been moved to their appropriate chapters. Two new chapters–“General Requests and Offerings” and “Travel, Protection, Imprecatory”–combine two types of prayers out of the general “Petitions” into one. Prayers have been labeled with the deities to which they are addressed and arranged in logical order within each chapter. Prayers to new deities have also been added. In addition, a major problem with the first edition has been corrected: prayers for Lughnasadh/Lammas and Midsummer, two of the eight great neopagan holidays, have been added.

A unique collection of nearly 500 prayers written to fulfill the needs of contemporary pagans from a variety of traditions, A Book of Pagan Prayer is a book to turn to again and again.

Besom, Stang & Sword

Thank you Weiser Books

I want to thank the good folks at Weiser Books for the free review copy. I received this book shortly after hurricane Michael and devoured it. I needed the diversion. That being said, I want to reread Besom, Stang & Sword and give it a fresh look.

Besom, Stang Sword: A Guide to Traditional Witchcraft, the Six-Fold Path the Hidden Landscape

by Christopher Orapello 

Tara-Love Maguire

Regional traditional witchcraft is an animistic form of witchcraft that moves away from the religious harvest festivals and fertility-minded practices associated with the more common Wiccan form of witchcraft. Very few of us in this age are farmers or dependent upon crops and harvests. Regional traditional witchcraft teaches people to find their craft in their own backyards, in the uncultivated land or urban cityscape alike, and in their ancestors rather than in ancient foreign deities or in a neopagan-styled religious form of witchcraft. It’s not about where you’re from but where you are.

The material is adaptable to any region in which the practitioner lives. Although the lack of deity worship and holy days is a significant part of the authors’ nonreligious approach, this book presents a complete system of practice utilizing ritual, chant, trance, the six paths of witchcraft as defined and explained by the text, and the practices associated with traditional witchcraft.

Son of Chicken Qabalah

Thank you Weiser Books for the free advanced review copy of “Son of Chicken Qabalah: Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford’s (Mostly Painless) Practical Qabalah Course” by Lon Milo DuQuette. Expect to see this book in your favorite bookstore November 1st.

This simultaneously funny and serious book provides the easiest, fastest way for readers to painlessly attune themselves to the mysteries of the Hebrew alphabet and immerse themselves in the fundamentals of practical Qabalah. It is a road map from the Godhead to your head—a clear and lucid guide to an extremely complex, mystical topic. By performing the exercises and rituals in the book, the reader can complete the self-initiatory process comprising the three main degrees of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford’s Practical Qabalah course.

In my mailbox: Black City Dragon

I want to thank the good folks at Pyr for the free advance copy of “Black City Dragon” by Richard Knaak.

A historical urban fantasy set in Prohibition-era Chicago, which combines action, mystery, and romance against a backdrop of gangland wars and the threat of supernatural horror.

For sixteen hundred years, Nick Medea has guarded the gate between our world and Feirie, preventing the Wyld—the darkest Feirie of all—from coming into Chicago to find human prey. But since he defeated Oberon, more and more Wyld have been slipping through. Nick and his Feirie companion, the shapeshifter, Fetch, have been busy hunting them down.

Nick keeps coming across the Dacian Draco, the sign of his ancient enemy Galerius, including a tattoo worn by a human thug. Unfortunately, every trail ends as if years old. Claryce, Nick’s reincarnated love, has narrowly escaped two attempts on her life, and when Nick sees her wearing a broach with the Draco on it, he knows they must look more deeply into her former lives.

With Wyld and gangsters wreaking havoc in Chicago, Nick and Claryce must confront the secrets of their pasts if they are to have any hope of finding out Galerius’s plans before it’s too late to stop them. Nick will need the help of all his friends, both human and Feirie, and the powers of the dragon within him, to keep Galerius from endangering the gate, Chicago, and all of humanity.

Storytelling Alchemy

I have been hiding in a cool, dark, air conditioned room waiting for the last hot thunderstorm-laden days of Summer to ebb.  While my little corner of humid Florida is still feeling the effects of the oppressive heat, I can still enjoy a quiet evening of tea and a good book. The good folks at Weiser Books have sent an interesting title by Renee Damoiselle (link).

Storytelling Alchemy
Write Your Own Happy Ending
Renée Damoiselle
ISBN: 9781578636389
Book (Paperback)

We all have stories we tell ourselves, personal narratives that define who we are. These stories take root in our subconscious and limit us, like a shadow holding us back from our full potential. But words and storytelling also have the power to free ourselves from these shadows and to profoundly transform our lives.

Storytelling Alchemy provides tools and exercises designed to help you change your relationship to your personal stories in a way that is empowering and transformative. Included here are:

• • Journaling and creative writing exercises
  • Prompts for reflection and self-examination
  • Tips on dream analysis
  • Simple spells and enchantments for insight, transformation, and lasting change

 

Renée Damoiselle hosts the Witchin’ the World Meetup in Phoenix, open to all who are interested in ritual, metaphysics, paganism, magick, and diverse spiritual practices. Events include open discussions, ritual circles, and empowering workshops. Renée also hosts personal development and spiritual retreats, such as Goddess Divine and the Storytelling Alchemy Retreat held in beautiful destinations such as Sedona, AZ and the New England countryside.

http://ReneeDamoiselle.com

I want to take a moment to thank Weiser Books for this free review copy. It’s always a joy to go to the mailbox and find something special.

Book news Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

In my mailbox: The Last Sun

Pyr was kind enough to send me a copy of K.D. Edwards “The Last Sun” (The Tarot Sequence). Looks like I have some Summer reading.

In this debut novel and series starter, the last member of a murdered House searches for a missing nobleman, and uncovers clues about his own tortured past.

Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Court, is hired to search for Lady Judgment’s missing son, Addam, on New Atlantis, the island city where the Atlanteans moved after ordinary humans destroyed their original home.

With his companion and bodyguard, Brand, he questions Addam’s relatives and business contacts through the highest ranks of the nobles of New Atlantis. But as they investigate, they uncover more than a missing man: a legendary creature connected to the secret of the massacre of Rune’s Court. In looking for Addam, can Rune find the truth behind his family’s death and the torments of his past?