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Creations
Merry meet all,
The Wheel of the Year next shifts to Lammas. Lammas is one of the first three harvest Sabbats. The harvest season is almost upon us. I think time is speeding up. I just put my squash vines in the ground.
I am sewing a whole new outfit for the upcoming Christopher Penczak workshop The Mighty Dead. I grew up in fabric stores and pored over countless pattern binders. I learned how to sew. I sewed myself a lovely purplish blue peasant blouse. I plan to sew myself a black corset. The corset is lined with dark purple butterfly print fabric. I need to finish it by inserting grommets ( not the easiest job) and make the black gothy blouse and skirt. To some, sewing is a challenge. Yet I see a challenge as something to overcome. I see sewing as an act of creation. I walk around a fabric store and can’t help touching the fabric. So my new outfit will be a joy to create. I know all about selvages, bias tape, and all the other important things involved in sewing. The malls never carry the type of clothing I want. That is why I do so much sewing. Sometimes the fabric stores don’t carry the patterns I want. The patterns are standard and conventional. I put my own spin on my creations.
Here are some photos of my efforts o the corset and my purple blouse so far:
The blouse:
I can’t wait to complete the corset. It is not that hard. The pattern I have calls for 2 pieces of boning to be inserted on both sides of front section of the corset.
I love black as a choice for clothing. Black is empowering, magickal, and adds mystery. Purple is a good witchy colour too. But black has always held superiority over everything else.
When you sew your own clothes, you create something original and tailored to you. The outfit will fit you better because you know your own size and measurements, which is important when sewing. Designers understand that though the models in the magazines are extremely thin. So whatever you sew you will feel good in. This is why I go to all that work.
GARDENING
Gardening is also an act of creation. That may be painfully obvious but it’s true. Once you have grown all your magickal plants, there a thousand ways to use them.
Incense, incense cones, potpourri, tinctures, potions, charged water, the possibilities are endless. You might even create your own herbal book where you can record all your successes and experiments. I am currently experimenting with making incense cones.
I blended herbs with orris root, red wine, and honey. I formed 20 incense cones. They are curing on wax paper on a cookie sheet in the kitchen. I will let them cure till the cones are ready then I shall store them. They smell like cloves.
Basically, when you create something, whether you grow black hollyhocks or a gothy shawl, you are putting your own energy into it. If you practice, you can become very good at it. You are creating something and feeling the fire of creation, You are a Witch and witches are usually very crafty. You don’t need to buy a wand when you can create just as magickal a wand from a fallen branch on the ground. I did that and I wood burned a Celtic serpent design over the whole wand. I painted it green and brown. People might start asking you for your help and where you get your inspirations. That’s when you know you are getting somewhere.
Good luck with your creations
Blessings, Lady Spiderwitch )O(
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Home Protection of another kind
Merry meet all,
If you are having problems and think that you have negative energy or bad spirits in your home, it could be a good time to perform a banishing. You have a right to cleanse your home of bad energy and not have to live with it. But how do you identify the bad stuff? I’ll tell you.
You should still use common sense when you want to deal with this matter. Logic rules over paranoia. Just because a shadow flickers on your floor from your big lamp that doesn’t mean your home is haunted.
Signs your home is haunted:
- If you are seeing for sure dark shadow beings in your home that appear for a second then disappear through a wall.
- The hairs on your neck stand on end when you are alone in the bathroom at night.
- You experience sleep paralysis as you sleep.
- You grab a doorknob only to feel something resist on the other side of the door.
- Objects are moved or fall down without you or anyone else having handled them.
- You hear something crash to the floor yet nothing has been moved. I can’t count how many times I have heard a mop or something fall and look and nothing happened. Explain that.
I have experienced all of these things. It’s how I know. But there are actions you can take to stop it from happening. I used to believe that smudging your home with sage was enough. I have heard that the lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram is supposed to be helpful.
One night not too long ago, someone was over to help banish bad energies but a shadow person appeared in my apartment anyway. We did the reiki cleansing but I still saw the spirit. This makes me wonder how effective the person’s ritual was and if smudging a home with sage actually works. I shall try stronger methods of home cleasning. I plan to visit a farmers market for sage to steep and sprinkle from a teapot or garden jug all around the outside of the apartment. Then I plan to sage the house and perform a home threshold clearing ritual from the Hedge Witch book. I may also try the lesser banishing ritual. But I won’t be asking that person to help with another cleansing since it was ineffective.
I know my home, You know your home. You know instinctively what would work or not. You know how each room ‘feels’ and you know the history of your home. This is why I think that performing your own rituals yourself is such a good idea. Regularly smudge your home with sage every Full Moon. Sprinkle salt on doorways and windowsills. Leave an empty bowl or two in a room to ‘collect’ energy. Relax and focus on filling your home with love and positive energy. I have a pet cat, my fur-miliar, and I have felt a lot safer since adopting Lady Cattarina Cutey-paws the 1st. Penny, for short. It should be no wonder why. Burn a lemon-scemted candle. Try the above suggestions.
Always remember, you are in control. You have the upper hand. You can control what happens to you. And never become paranoid. Remain balanced and calm.
I hope this all helps you to have a good loving home. Blessings
Lady Spiderwitch
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Genre
Merry meet all,
Not all may agree with what I want to talk about today, that is, if I can forget about my cat obsession for a while and post on my blog. Cat obsession may be a topic for another day. There are many genres in fiction. My favourite obviously happens to be paranormal or speculative fiction. I believe there is more freedom within speculative fiction for authors to explore.
I can create the world and characters I want. In The Eldritch Ghost, the characters are not all human, i.e.., the Ghost. a mist shields the house at night, seaweed litters the house and crawls, the cat is an animal familiar, the main characters is a Witch, and the ghost bears a seaweed curse of sorts. Literary fiction affords none of this freedom.
People argue over which is better: genre or literary fiction? I like to argue that speculative fiction is far more interesting. In literary fiction, nothing happens, nothing of interest, so how can it be interesting? But there are most likely a great many novels that are literary fiction and are just as fascinating. I don’t think Wuthering Heights was meant to so gothic, but it is and it endured. I think it is more literary fiction, since Emily Bronte wrote it. I could be wrong and it may have been intended to be so gothic.
There are great books in both genres. To me, though, speculative fiction will always win over literary fiction.
Today is Friday the 13th!! Good Luck!!
Blessed Be, Lady Spiderwitch )O(
Links of Interest:
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Ghost House
Merry meet all,
I know a novel about a woman in an old house with a ghost is the most cliche thing ever. That is why it is important to put a new spin on the story and make it truly original. That is exactly what I have tried to achieve with The Eldritch Ghost.
The old made new, that should be every writer’s goal. I believe I have accomplished it. I am the first writer to set a novel in Pleasant Bay, so the setting is unique. The characters and the story line are unique. The system of her magic is Wiccan but the ghost details are new. Gore and guts have been used so much in horror. The wheel needs new grease to turn.
As I posted earlier in the blog, the ghost and the seaweed haven’t been done to death. This is what sets this story apart from other stories. Also, the ghost wants to be reunited with his love. He wants vengeance, yes, and also love. It humanizes him. It makes him relatable to readers, no matter how scary he is. I would not want to be in a house with this ghost. He lives in my imagination and on the page and that is good enough for me.
I wanted to add to this post: Don’t hesitate to pour your emotion into your story. Go ahead and write when you are upset. Poor out your feelings. It makes your story more powerful.
I encourage all writers to strive for true originality. Push yourself. Stare into your heart’s darkest caverns and haul that out onto the page- whether you fancy an Aliens type story or something like The Woman in Black or The Walking Dead. You may be shocked at what you find there. That is actually a good thing and a sign that you may have a story to tell. I could never have guessed that I would write this one. Maybe there is a Wollstonecraft or Byron in you. Just make it yours.
Let’s hope!
Blessed Be, Lady Spiderwitch
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In memory
Merry meet all,
I announce with some sadness that the president of the HWA, or the Horror Writers Association, has passed. He seems to be missed by many and remembered well. I never knew him but since this blog is about the paranormal and I am a member of the Horror Writers Association, it deserves mentioning here. Last night, I read the entirety of the Horror Writers Association newsletter which focused mostly on Rocky Wood. It is understandable. He made great stride in helping this genre remain afloat alongside the more common genres of fiction. We owe him a lot.
Blessed Be, Lady Spiderwitch )O(
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