Merry meet all,
Hooray!! HellBound Books published my short story, How the Crow Flies, in their anthology Ghosts, Spirits and Specters Volume 2. I am so excited!!
“This second volume in our popular anthology series is a superlative collection of fifteen spine-chilling, marrow-icing ghost stories that will have you hiding beneath the covers and reaching for the comfort of your nightlight’s glow.
Featuring tales of the otherworldly by:
Lee Glenwright, Davis Pratt, Derek Muk,
TS Alan, Nicholas Beishline, Marvin Brown, Kenneth Bykerk, Dustin Chisam, Alison Cybe, Virginia Elizabeth Hayes, Heddy Johannesen, Sylvia Son, Carl Alves, Thomas Kodnar, and Patrick W. Gibson
Release: May 8th 2020
Pages: 320
$14.99 Paperback”
Here is the link if you want to buy a copy or two. I hope you enjoy this fine book and read it on your Kindle or in paperback.
http://www.hellboundbookspublishing.com/ghostsspiritsandspecters_2.html
How the Crow Flies is a story about a young male janitor who receives a strange talisman from a patient at the mental hospital where he works. Soon after, strange things start happening. He doesn’t know if the nightmares he suffers are his imagination… or are real. I can’t wait to read the other stories. I ordered the book from Amazon. The book should arrive today or tomorrow.
The stories sound scary! I am so excited to be a part of this. I hope you all take the time to read it and let me know what you think of the book.
In other news, Litha is around the corner! Here in Halifax, the stores have all reopened. I miss my friends but I know I shall see them soon. My garden is blossoming beautifully.
My landlord has increased my rent. Sorry I know I should post more on this blog but I was super stressed. I hope to iron out the details of how I shall pay the increased rent. I hope I hear back from some sources soon such as the rent supplement and arts grant I applied for. If I move, it would mean leaving my garden behind. That is upsetting but if worse comes to worse, my Mom said she would take my plants. Well yeah but I want to grow them here. I worked so hard on this garden. We shall see what the future brings me.
Litha is the Summer Solstice. Litha is when the sun reaches its zenith in the sky. It is the longest day of the year. Litha is also known as Midsummer. Its one of the lesser Wiccan sabbats.
Litha (Midsummer, Gathering Day, Summer Solstice, Alban Heffyn, Feill-Sheathain)
Incense: Sage, mint, basil, Saint John’s Wort, sunflower, Lavender
Decorations: Dried herbs, potpourri, seashells, summer flowers, and fruits.
Colours: blue, green, and yellow
The Fire Festival of Litha
Midsummer or the Summer Solstice is the most powerful day of the year for the Sun God. Because this Sabbat glorifies the Sun God and the Sun, fire plays a very prominent role in this festival. The element of Fire is the most easily seen and immediately felt element of transformation. It can burn, consume, cook, shed light or purify and balefires still figure prominently at modern Midsummer rites.
Most cultures of the Northern Hemisphere mark Midsummer in some ritualised manner and from time immemorial people have acknowledged the rising of the sun on this day. At Stonehenge, the heelstone marks the midsummer sunrise as seen from the centre of the stone circle.
In ancient times, the Summer Solstice was a fire-festival of great importance when the burning of balefires ritually strengthened the sun. It was often marked with torchlight processions, by flaming tar barrels or by wheels bound with straw, which were set alight and rolled down steep hillsides. The Norse especially loved lengthy processions and would gather together their animals, families and lighted torches and parade through the countryside to the celebration site.
The use of fires, as well as providing magical aid to the sun, were also used to drive out evil and to bring fertility and prosperity to men, crops and herds. Blazing gorse or furze was carried around cattle to prevent disease and misfortune; while people would dance around the balefires or leap through the flames as a purifying or strengthening rite. The Celts would light balefires all over their lands from sunset the night before Midsummer until sunset the next day. Around these flames the festivities would take place.
In Cornwall up to the mid 18th century the number and appearance of fires seen from any given point was used as a form of divination and used to read the future.
Astronomically, it is the longest day of the year, representing the God at full power. Although the hottest days of the summer still lie ahead, from this point onward we enter the waning year, and each day the Sun will recede from the skies a little earlier, until Yule, when the days begin to become longer again.
Agriculturally, the crops are in full growth. They are reaching the pinnacles of maturity and coming closer to the harvest time. Most wild herbs are fully mature by Midsummer and this is the traditional time for gathering magickal and medicinal plants to dry and store for winter use. In Wales, Midsummer is called Gathering Day in honour of this practice.
Magical Aspects
Since this sabbat revolves around the sun, a candle should be lit for the entire day, especially if it is cloudy or raining. The fire represents the sun and is a constant daily reminder of the power of the God. Rituals should be performed at noon, when the sun is highest in the sky. The best rituals to perform on Midsummer are those dealing with masculine issues, masculine energies, or issues dealing with solar influence.
Many pagans choose to make protective amulets, in the week before the Sabbat, which are later empowered over the Midsummer balefire. Some witches choose to bury their protective amulets each Midsummer’s eve and construct new ones. Rue, rowan and basil, tied together in a white or gold cloth, is a good protective trio that can be carried in your pocket year round.
Midsummer is the time to formalize any relationship and couples that have been together a year and a day since the previous Beltane can make their marriage final. This Sabbat is also an excellent time to re-new wedding vows.
Midsummer Incense
Sage, mint, basil, Saint John’s Wort, sunflower, mistletoe (specifically the berries which represent semen), oak, rowan, and fir.
Suggested activities for Litha:
*Rededication to the Lord and Lady
*Divination related to romance and love
*Light a white candle in front of a mirror and say your own Lithia prayer over it, then allow the candle to burn out.
*Float paper boats with blessings on a river/stream to bring luck and love to whatever may find it, or to the land.
*Singing and dancing around a bonfire
*Outdoor picnic feasts
*Create crowns out of flowers
I hope you all continue to celebrate Litha in your own safe way.
Blesssed Be, Spiderwitch
