Tag Archives: Cats

October is here!!! )O(

Merry meet all,

October is here! October brings many charms such as pumpkins, gourds, fiery autumn leaves, and that magical chill in the air. I have a busy month ahead of me. Here is my schedule:

Paranormal Symposium – October 7
HWA Annual Blog event – my post October 7
Writers Digest University Horror Writing conference – October 14
Demonology Course – October 16 
Samhain – October 31
On top of that, I have my herbalism course, and taking care of my cat Penny (a full-time job in itself), my writing. I plan to harvest dandelion roots soon and dry them in my dehydrator and brew immunity tonics. I want to take the Intro to Parapsychology course and I hope it’s still open by the time I can afford it. Penny’s going to the groomers this week. She has so many mats in her fur and I want her to look and feel her best. She is my beloved kitty after all. 
There are also a few awesome astrological events this month as well. October is the month with the most magic after all. Here is a link from Spirit nest that describes the astrological events: 

On October 4th, Mercury moves into Libra, providing us with opportunities to be more empathetic and receptive in our social and professional lives.

On October 8th, Venus enters Virgo, and on October 10th, Pluto ends its retrograde in Capricorn. The combined earth energy of these two events grounds us and directs our attention to our priorities. With Pluto’s shift, we are encouraged to approach work with enthusiasm and energy.

On October 12th, Mars enters Scorpio, and for the next six weeks, we can expect to feel a heightened sense of passion and sensuality.

On October 14th, the New Moon Solar Eclipse in Libra kicks off eclipse season, followed by the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Taurus two weeks later. This marks the end of a two-year cycle of eclipses in the Taurus-Scorpio axis and signifies the end of an intense learning process centred around letting go of control.

I created a calendar that depicted photos of my irascible cat Penny. Today was the calendar’s last day. I have a calendar from Llewellyn but that doesn’t start till January, which makes no sense to me because October 31st is Witches New Year. I printed out a calendar for the month of October from the app on my desktop. I have a lot to keep track of this month. I hope to catch the eclipse near the end of the month. 
I want us all to welcome the newest member to my witch doll coven, Morrigan. I collect witch dolls in October every year. This year, I found her at. Michaels arts and crafts. She is beautiful and will adjust nicely to her new home. She holds a crow or raven in her hands and I knew she was perfect. There are 30 days to Samhain but I already feel the first stirrings of Samhain in the air. I also found a lovely astrology workbook. I find astrology fascinating and I look forward to working with it. 
The Horror Zine published my short story, Skin, for this month. I received a copy of the book in the mail. I am thrilled that my story appears at the front of the book, as that means it will be read by readers sooner. They can find the story easily. I will have to scratch up another story for the editor! Here is the link to the Horror Zine: https://www.thehorrorzine.com/?fbclid=IwAR0zTcB_PFZ1hmnigq8XuqbK0jKceeX05A3Xi8ZtQ2uJlnYHsRlYQBJ3Msc
I also see October as a month to bring projects to completion. I have several projects to finish. October 31st is the Witches New Year so that is the reason for my compulsion to finish projects. I love the feeling of completing projects. I like ticking them off my list. I do have Virgo in my chart and this is clear here. I want to work on my material media, turn up the compost outside, finish the laundry, make my apartment sparkle and be all clean for October, and write more horror stories. Whether I actually accomplish all that, time will tell. 
Until then, be magical and have fun!
Blessings, Spiderwitch 

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Herbs and horror stories

Merry meet all,

I can’t wait to tell you all the good news! My short fiction horror story, Skin, will appear in the November issue of the Horror Zine! I am so happy. I am so excited! I now have one more amazing reason to love fall. I never imagined I would get that story published. I got so many rejections but it proves that perseverance and faith pay off. I will post the link here when it is available. I am very happy about that. And no wonder. 

It is so hot here today, as I type at my Mom’s keyboard. I am determined to reach up to 900 blog posts. I’m getting there. My kitty Penny loves it here. She is here somewhere, covering the furniture and chairs with all her abundant cat hair. 

I love herbs. I am sure that anyone who has been loyally following this blog, and I hope some of you do, would know I am a fanatic for herbs. I brought more herbs home recently. I got black petunia flowers, a tricolor sage, another apple mint, calendula, borage and lovage. My garden is beautiful. The apple mint is growing well so I added a second apple mint. The lemon balm patch is huge. I plan to divide it this fall. Then I will have more room in my garden for other herbs. My green pepper plant is starting to show peppers. No tomatoes yet but I am sure they will show up. I bought copper ties to deter the slugs and placed the ties at the bases of my beans, pepper, squash plants. I also added them to the black petunias. I hope the copper ties help. 

This weekend, I plan to make jam with all the frozen fruit in my freezer. Blueberries, strawberries, haskap berries and rhubarb lie in wait. I look forward to that. I also have frozen orange rind. Mm I can imagine the taste already. 

The purple coneflower is coming along and will soon be in bloom. I am not 100% certain yet what is going on with my elecampane plant. I cut the lovage back and I noticed new growth. The mint herbs I have: apple mint, peppermint, spearmint, after eight mint and strawberry mint are growing well. They will make nice tea herbs. The lemon balm intends to take over the garden and makes no mystery about it. The nettle is growing well but I didn’t get much mugwort this year. The comfrey is growing well but I need to tie up the canes. I spied a few Chinese lanterns are growing well. The blueberries will be ripe soon and so will the raspberries. My garden receives more sunlight because the hurricane broke a tree branch. I believe that is why my garden is so beautiful and fruitful this year. The sage and oregano are growing well too as are the lavender and rosemary. 

My garden surprises me every year. I regularly water my garden, protect it, and fertilize it. I add plant supports and I usually just stand back and let my garden do its thing. I love gardening and watching my plants become beautiful and vibrant. I suppose I could bring in the lavender. I will bring in the rosemary, since I have a grow light kit. I plan to harvest a lot of dandelion roots this fall and use my dehydrator to dry them. 

I really want to see the upcoming horror movie, The Last Voyage of the Demeter. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1001520/ I really can’t wait and I have saved up for it. The other movie I want to see is the new instalment in The Conjuring franchise, Insidious: The Red Door. Yeah I love the movies so much, of The Conjuring and Insidious. I want to write more horror stories (well, see top paragraph for a good explanation of why.) Pretty darn nice to get it published! I never expected that. Yeah I have to keep writing. Moments like that renew my enthusiasm and give me one more reason to keep living and keep going. It’s a bad idea to quit writing, no matter how hard, because one day that editor may send you an acceptance email. So please, persevere! Prove your mettle! 

And stay cool during all this great hot summer heat. It won’t last. Fall is around the corner!

Blessings, Spiderwitch

 

 

 

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Summer Offerings

Merry meet all,

Oh the heat! Halifax is literally a hot cauldron- and I am planted in it! There is no escaping it. What a heatwave. 

I just harvested some St. John’s wort from a fenced in wildflower patch. I was so happy to have found it. As soon as I saw the sunny flowers, I knew it was true St. John’s Wort. I went back to my Mom’s place, I returned and cut some stems and flowers. I had to reach in to cut the flowers and it was a bit awkward but I managed. When I pulled my left arm out, and I eased the flowers through the bars of the fence, I noticed my left arm was bloodstained.  Before that, I squished the flower petals in my fingers. The flowers released a red juice on my right hand.  I have no idea how my left arm was wounded. I barely even felt it. I may have been bitten by an insect. 

I returned with an offering to make nice with the spirits there who clearly don’t know me. I hope they accepted the offering of oats. Most people don’t understand the reciprocal relationship I have with nature spirits. They have been very generous with me. I usually leave offerings at the nature trail where I live. I am staying at my Mom’s right now. They love it when someone leaves an offering. It is a way of showing respect and caring. 

I noticed that two white onions had long green stems! I cut them each in half and noticed they wanted to keep growing. I looked at the red onions ( though they are coloured purple), and one of them showed a green tip. I cheered up because that means it will grow into a big lovely red onion bulb. I couldn’t ask for more. 

I hope my garden survives the heatwave. I bought a big green pepper plant, a tomato plant, and red onion starts. I was hoping to grow potatoes. It is too late in the year to start now. I can grow other things though. I am using straw as a mulch this year. I think it is working.! I hope it keeps away the slugs. Today I added fertilizer, mycorrhizae, and sand to the soil in a burgundy coloured rectangle shaped planter. I mixed it all well then watered the soil then I added carrots seeds. I will have to thin them out later. I hope this works. The carrots are small. The planter is not very deep so that works out. I am determined to grow carrots. I did it once- indoors! Outside, the carrots are exposed to all the elements- and hopefully not pests. It’s a challenge but worth it. I also noticed that my bean seeds have germinated or are starting to! I want to wait to add in a support thing because I don’t want to hurt the roots. Once the vines reach a few inches, I will then add the supports to help the vines grow upwards. 

With luck and some effort, I should hopefully get to harvest celeriac, tomatoes, peppers, kale, red onions, the white onions I planted, and of course, the herbs. I also planted a pumpkin seedling, celery, and onion starts in the grow cloth bag. I added straw mulch to the bag. The veggie seedlings are getting plenty of sun too. I sprinkled in fertilizer today. I also finally was able to add soil to my compost pile. I hope that makes a difference. I now have a proper compost pail. 

I made lotion bars with marshmallow root and a few other herbs. They turned out beautifully. I strained the remaining marshmallow root herbal oil into an amber coloured glass jar, labeled it and left it on the kitchen table. I had bought an extra amber coloured jar. I now realize I didn’t need it. I had strained the oil from the herbs for the witches flying ointment. I just haven’t made the actual ointment yet. I shall do that soon. 

Homemade marshmallow root lotion bars

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah my work is never done. It is so hard to move in this infernal heat. We had a ton of rain but my poor garden probably still needs water. I am staying hydrated too. 

Have fun, drink lots of water and enjoy summer!

Spiderwitch 

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Solstice Blessings )O(

Merry meet all,

Winter Solstice is tomorrow! Are you ready? I am. I have been preparing for the Solstice for a while now. I want to talk about how you can prepare for the Solstice too. Let’s get started. 

First, get outside! This is a good time to forage outdoors. Grab your cloth bag, good walking shoes and let’s go!

Gather pinecones large and small, acorns, juniper, rosemary, cedar, sage and spruce. Bring a foraging book or your phone with you to correctly identify the plant you are foraging. I identified the spruce growing on the trail I live near as Sitka spruce. The Natives loved Sikta spruce and used the bark, needles and twigs for a variety of purposes. I steeped the spruce needles in a simple syrup to enjoy with gin but more on that later. 

Once you have foraged all you can, bring it home and wash it to rid of insects and dirt. Bake the pinecones at 200 % for forty-five minutes in the oven. If you decide to gather birch bark, then boil it in hot water for twenty minutes. Then remove from the heat and let it dry. If you forage pine, cedar or spruce needles, then do it from an older tree and cut the lower branches. I also leave an offering to the spirits and give thanks for the nature items I receive. I made an offering of cornmeal, a bay leaf and an acorn. 

I made a candle and added in rosemary, Yule essential oil, eucalyptus, peppermint essential oils. The scent is divine! If you look closely at the above photo, you can see the birch bark wrapped around a few candles. I love the rustic warm look. I bought a glittery white tree. It is tucked in there with the candles and the pinecones I painted white. The white pinecones look great. I will post another photo tomorrow. 

Pinecones are rustic and dry nicely. It is a very good idea to bake them in the oven before using. That kills the mites and dries up the sap. 

Rosemary has a beautiful scent. Use it in stovetop potpourris, or herbal wands. 

Cedar is cleansing and purifying. Use cedar in stovetop potpourris, herbal wands and drinks. 

Acorns can be painted and used in decorations. 

Holly, ivy and mistletoe have mystical associations with the Solstice. They can be used in decorations or herbal potpourri. However, since they are toxic to cats and I have a pet cat, I’m not using it. If you want to, go ahead. For the reasons just mentioned, I am not describing it here. 

If you choose to forage for goodies at the local grocery store, add these to your shopping list:

Apples, oranges, allspice, juniper berries, nutmeg, clove, ginger, cinnamon, chamomile and mugwort. 

Pour a jug of cider into a large saucepan. Chop and add oranges, apples, the spices listed above and a pinch of chamomile and mugwort to the cider. This enhances the flavour and also aids in psychic development. Simmer the cider in the saucepan on low heat. Your kitchen will small great. Your tastebuds will thank you. 

Gather a pinecone or two, five spruce twigs with needles, an acorn and a dried orange to a bowl. Simmer on low heat but don’t drink. This makes a great stovetop simmering potpourri. 

To create a herbal wand, gather rosemary, pine and juniper together. The rosemary is the base. Set the rosemary down on a counter or tabletop. Then lay the pine down on the rosemary. Then lay the juniper down on the pine. Bind the three fragrant herbs together with string. You can let it dry or burn it while the herbs are fresh. It is up to you how you use your herbal wand, as long as the intention is to purify yourself or your space. 

These activities should keep you busy. The Winter Solstice is a time of duality or polar opposites. We celebrate the return of the light but it still gets dark early. I want to revel in the dark half of the year. There is something so sheltering, so restful about it. I love the darkness and I want to enjoy it. The earth rests now and dies back. The ground needs to sleep and die back to be reborn in the spring. The earth is restoring her energy now. That changes once spring returns but for now, I am content. I hope you dear readers are too. 

I also brewed a batch of elderberry jam. I added an apple which contains natural pectin, orange rind and a pinch of cinnamon. I want to gift the elderberry jam to my Mom – and save some for me. It should go nicely with my homemade bread. 

I decided to donate to an animal shelter. I sewed fourteen cat toys together and filled each of them with cotton batting and catnip. I sewed each toy with love. I wrapped the toys together, added a sprig or two of spruce with a candy cane to the gift. I added tags to the gift. I secured the gift of the cat toys in a clear cellophane bag, added another candy cane to the gift bag, and tucked in red tissue paper. I love how the gift looked. I was very happy to donate the gift to the SPCA. I hope the cats love the hand sewn cat toys! 

It felt good to give the toys to the SPCA. 

The homemade cat toys all stitched with love and waiting to be donated to the animal shelter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Solstice!

Blessings, Spiderwitch

 

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Summer seeds

Merry meet all,

My garden is growing beautifully. This weekend, I direct seeded echinacea, poppies, foxglove and root veggies seeds – beets, radish and turnip. Some of the root veggie seeds have germinated which is so cool. I had planted garlic originally in that box but they never came up. The garlic is growing fine in the garden but not in the box. I also transplanted Solomon’s seal and pretty blue bachelor’s buttons in the garden from my Mom’s garden. I planted my green and purple beans and nasturtium seeds, mugwort and more calendula. I love summer. It is not even spring yet. My  pumpkin vine flowered this morning!

I hope that my elecampane flowers this year. The garden is so beautiful. The air is still cold here. I have no idea why. I love my garden, it’s so beautiful. The bleeding hearts plant is bigger this year. I am so glad it survived being trampled. My herbs are growing well – sage, lavender, lemon balm, mint, chives, lovage, comfrey and now rosemary.

I’m still studying at the Herbal Academy. This summer, I’m studying a mini course about flower pressing. I get a flower press to use with the course. I really really wanted one. I am so happy about that.

I binge watched all the awesome Stranger Things episodes. I love that show. I want more, lots more Stranger Things. This season was darker than the previous ones.

Oh and I want to issue a warning here: Pretty Litter is the biggest scam EVER. They sell cat litter online. Well I just got ripped off. Don’t ever buy their cat litter from them. My Mom emailed me some cash for something and before I could blink, the money was withdrawn from my account. I knew immediately who stole it. Yup Pretty Litter- the worst scam ever. They refuse to refund my Mom too. Worst scam ever. I will never buy cat litter from them again.

I will post more later. This is a quick post here today. Don’t trap your pooches in hot cars. Wear a mask and be safe, everyone. 

 

Blessed Be, Spiderwitch

 

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I stand with the Ukraine )O(

Merry meet all,

The world has gone mad! Like the Covid pandemic was not bad enough, Ukraine is under merciless fire from Russia. I can’t believe what is going on. I feel so bad for the Ukraine. They never hurt anyone. Now their homes are bombed, no heat, no love. It is awful. It breaks my heart. I found out that not everyone in Russia agrees with the cruel attacks on the Ukraine. Celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenneger and Baryshikov spoke out and expressed their feelings and opinions about the senseless attack. 

Yet there is hope. I found an interesting article on Twitter about local pagans making sure no one goes starving!!! 

Cape Breton pagans launch new programs to combat food insecurity

Candice Hannah, a founding member of the Circle of the Raven Society, shows off the group’s food pantry with Joe Townsend. (Christian Roach / CBC)

A small pagan society in North Sydney, N.S., is expanding community outreach and food insecurity programs with a new location for free meals and the addition of a community garden.

The Circle of the Raven Society is a non-profit organization started by Candice Hannah and her daughter, Briana Berardinelli, almost two years ago. They formed the group after seeing how many people in the community needed help.

The pair started out in Millville, N.S., giving away a free meal to anyone who needed one. Originally, the pair paid out of pocket for all the food but they soon began to sell small items from a trailer in their yard to help with the cost.

“We’ve moved from a tiny little trailer into a giant Addams Family building now where we’re currently located in North Sydney,” said Berardinelli, adding that the hard work has always been worth it.

“Any personal stories that we’ve heard just keeps pushing us to continue doing this, because we’re seeing just how many people that we can help.”

The group has grown and now gives away about 100 free meals on the last Sunday of every month from their location on Commercial Street. They also sell crafts and books and run a free clothes market.

The society offers free clothing in its store on Commercial Street in North Sydney. (Christian Roach / CBC)

Expanding to Glace Bay

In the short term they hope to feed more people by expanding to Glace Bay.

Member Mary Dillon will be giving away 30 free meals from her home in Glace Bay starting March 27, while other members continue to offer free meals in North Sydney.

Dillon said she loves being a part of the group and wants it to grow so they can help more people.

“We’d love to get as much places as possible for people to have food, for people to come, get readings, be able to connect with people who understand them, that aren’t going to look down on them,” she said.

Briana Berardinelli is a founder of the Circle of the Raven Society. (Christian Roach / CBC)

New community garden coming

Although the society has only six official members, the Facebook page has over 700 followers. The group has made community connections with the Ally Centre, NSCC and Cape Breton University to spread the word about the free meals.

They’ve also partnered with other community groups like Community Cares to install a red food pantry behind their building — the home of the new community garden that’s expected to be ready this summer.

“We want to be able to fill it up with an array of fruits and vegetables or herbs, anything that can really go a long way for people who need it and it will be easily accessible.”

Berardinelli said she still can’t explain the feeling she gets helping others.

“It just fills my heart just seeing how many people that we’ve helped, even just in this amount of time in the last two years,” said Berardinelli.

“I can only imagine just how much more we’re going to grow and how many more people will be able to help.”

That warms my heart. I love this story of people trying hard to help others. It proves we don’t need a war. No one wants war. When willl it end? 

I am almost done sewing the wool coat. I am so excited and brimming with anticipation. I promise to post pics when it is done! 

Ostara is upon us. It is still snowing. March is the cruelest month of winter. Spring battles with winter for supremacy. The other day was so warm and today I saw a skiff of snow on the ground. 

Well we can warm our hearts and stand together for the Ukraine against the cruel and needless war. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch

 

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Samhain Mysteries

Merry meet all,

The colourful leaves trickle down to the earth. The overcast sky hangs low. But the fiery leaves brighten the afternoon sky. I see a haze like a misty translucent curtains that has fallen over the backyard and nature trail. I like to think that is the elusive and famous veil between the worlds. Samhain is here, at least to me. I ventured out in my garden today to remove the frost blanket as I do everyday. The frost blanket shields the still growing plants from the cold. A pumpkin has begun growing in the garden – yes, in October. I found flowers on my haskap plant and the pumpkin regularly shows off flowers. I mean I don’t get it. It has not been too cold this month which could explain a lot. Even my cucumber vine is showing a new flower. I don’t get it. I do feel duty bound to protect the plants. Everything else has withered and died back. Everything except for the nasturtiums, lemon balm, thyme, and oregano and what I mentioned above. 

This is the time when pumpkins are harvested not grown. Ok if my plants choose to do so, fine. I shall do my best to protect and nurture it. I may get a small pumpkin before the killing frost hits. Who knows? 

Last night I brewed mulled cider. Yum! I also harvested mullein root for a tincture. I brought my cellphone with which has an app called Seek. The Seek app aids me by identifying which plant is which. Seek did identify the plant as great mullein. I dug up the roots of the plants, brought them home, scrubbed them clean and chopped it into smaller pieces. I bought a small bottle of vodka. I’ll let the roots dry out for a week to draw out any moisture in the roots and then mix it together. It will steep for 4 to 6 weeks after which I strain it out. I found and saved a LOT of nasturtium seeds and my Mom gave me a huge puppy of poppy seeds. I truly look forward to next spring. !!! The poppy seeds and the nasturtium seeds are stored in clean ziplock baggies. I love poppies. Next to purple coneflower and nasturtiums and pansies, they are the prettiest flowers. 

For all you horror fans in Canada hankering for a spooky The Haunted Museum episodes, Discovery Plus is now available in Canada! I am excited about  this good news too. You can subscribe now and then never miss a single episode. 

I tried to do a seance last night. But no spirits came through. I was a little disappointed but I made a true effort to commune with spirits regardless. I performed a spirit guide meditation, burned candles and incense and did a few divinations. I used a pendulum to tell me if spirits were close. Nope. I used my ouija board. Nope. I asked the spirits if they were present. Nope. Ok or at least as far as I know, the spirits weren’t there. They could have been hiding. I don’t control them. I wonder if the black salt I sprinkled around the doorways kept them from entering. Hmmm. 

Black salt, my own concoction, is intended to protect a home. Yet this is the time when spirits are reputed to haunt the realm of the living. The ancient Celts believed that. I blended white table salt with cauldron ash, crushed charcoal bits, black pepper and incense ash together in a jar. I labeled and stored the jar. 

A cat that mewed constantly and sought affection from me the other night has been found! The poor little kitty. It gets cold out at night here. I felt so bad leaving the furry mewing little wonder. The cat’s name is Gilbert. He is not feral as he did wear a collar. I wanted to hand him over to anyone who did own the cat but had no idea who they were. I tried carrying the kitty and considered knocking on every door till I got him back to his home. But Gilbert wouldn’t let me. Thankfully, since the owner is out of town, the owner’s friend returned the mewing little wonder home safe and sound. I am so happy the kitty is safe. If he got in my apartment, fang, fur and bone would be flying! Penny would have been pissed. It ended well, which is good. 

I would love, I mean love, to have another cat. Penny is having none of it. Ah well, she didn’t have an easy time of it. The home she lived in before she took over mine had a dog that was mean to her. Here, Penny feels like the big one and that is fine with her. 

This Samhain, please keep your feline furries inside. Some shelters don’t even adopt out black cats during this time of year. The cats face terrible threats such as being returned to the shelter, or killed by a car or another animal or abandoned. Abandoning a cat only hurts and confuses the poor thing. They will never know what they did wrong. If you do adopt, it is a commitment. So let’s show our pets extra love this season. !!

Blessed Be, Spiderwitch

 

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Raccoons in the yard again

Merry meet all,

The raccoons- those daring masked thieves invaded my garden. I thought they wanted the apples but they were on another prize. I had a compost bucket, a bird feeder, and – potatoes! Yes I grew potatoes this summer. I cleaned up the apples to toss in the compost bin and found small brown things on the ground. The raccoons were more interested in the taters that grew in pots on the back step. I have since tossed the contents of the compost bucket into the green bin ( a feat in itself), emptied the bird feeder and relegated the plant pots to my Mom’s place. The pots are up high on her deck. Let em try. They can sniff all they want. The prized food is gone. 

Potatoes grew in my compost bucket! I. harvested 3 pounds of potatoes- so far! I was growing the spuds in a big wooden box. I shoveled all the soil out and searched for potatoes. Nothing. There were a few tiny potatoes, that was all. The healthiest strongest best ever stalks grew in the box but no taters. I was so disheartened. That was weird. The taters in the compost bucket grew much better.  There were more nutrients in the compost perhaps which may explain why they grew like taters should. I’m planting garlic in the woodn box. I will wait a few weeks till it’s cold to grow them though until the raccoons to move on. 

Penny hissed at them from her high point on her scratching post. They hissed at each other. But now that there is no food – or, should I say, no five finger discount, they will likely move on. I will harvest the tomatoes and remaining pickling cucumbers in a few weeks. Then the frost hits. Pickling brine can be bought at your local grocery but I made my own mixture. It makes me feel more like a real kitchen witch that way. 

Here is a recipe for to make your own brine. It is affordable and simple to do. The taste of the pickled cucumbers is amazing. You may never go back to eating the store bought kind. 

Master Pickle Brine Recipe
You only need four ingredients and 20 minutes of hands-on time to turn yourself into a master pickler. Vinegar combines with sugar and salt to create this basic pickling brine that can be used for any of your seasonal fruits and vegetables. With pickling, you can transform fresh summer produce, such as small cherry tomatoes, cucumber and zucchini spears, okra, and red onions, into lip-smacking sides. Or use them as garnishes to top pulled pork sliders or hotdogs. Prepare your canning containers by sterilizing the jars and lids. Since you will be storing these pickles in the refrigerator, you won’t need to bother with a water bath. Wash and cut (if needed) your produce, then pack into your pickling jar. In a medium saucepan, stir together water and the four ingredients, boiling and stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool, then pour over the produce into the pickling jar. Seal tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 months. Pickling and freezing are popular methods of preserving seasonal produce so that you can enjoy the tastes of summer all year long. Some vegetables, including corn on the cob and sugar snap peas, can be blanched and frozen whole. Tomatoes can be stewed, then frozen or canned, to be used later in meat sauces, soups and stews, or even Bloody Mary drinks. If you want to freeze blueberries, don’t wash them. Instead, lay them out on a baking sheet and pop them in the freezer; once berries are frozen, you can then store them in freezer-safe baggies.
Active:
10 mins
Cook:
48 hrs
Total:
20 mins
Yield:
4 cups (1 [32-oz.] mason jar)
Master Pickle Brine Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 1/3 cup white vinegar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 1 cup water

Directions

 

Stir together 1 cup water and all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes. Pour over vegetables or fruits. Cover with a tight-fitting lid; chill 2 days. Store, covered, in refrigerator up to 2 months.

That’s all for today. I shall post more soon. Stay safe and be well
Blessings, Spiderwitch

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The Feminine Macabre

Merry meet all,

I am very excited to announce I’ll be featured in the all-female paranormal journal The Feminine Macabre Volume 2. It will be released in August 2021.

Volume 2 of The Feminine Macabre is out in a couple of months and look at the amazing list of writers who have contributed to this volume and if you’ve not heard of this before, search online for Volume 1 or if you’re UK based click here: amazon.co.uk/Feminine-Macab

The Feminine Macabre is an all-female paranormal journal. Paranormal investigating is not the exclusive domain of men. Damn right. Woman are way more in touch with their intuition. Ghosts are not exactly tangible. It does require having a sharp sixth sense to detect ghosts anyway. That is not what most men do. I am not trying to be sexist here. Paranormal investigations are very scientific too. It is just fascinating. 

I am proud to be included in this journal. It is the first all-female paranormal journal I have heard of. Volume 1 contains a foreword written by Patti Neghri, of Ghost Adventures. I don’t know who is writing the foreword for Volume 2. I am sure both journals will contain fascinating stories. I can’t wait to read both journals. My article focuses on the unsettling true history of my beloved haunted hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

I will help promote the second issue of The Feminine Macabre. Amanda, the editor and genius of this project is hosting interviews on Facebook. I can’t wait to be a part of that! This all sounds so exciting. I don’t get paid for this but I do get a free copy. I am so happy to be involved that I don’t mind that I am not paid. The payoff is this opportunity. I am very grateful. 

I just happened upon the website Spookeats. It is how I got involved in this. Good thing too! Hm, now that the lockdown is over, I may dive back into my solo paranormal investigating. 

Till then, stay spooky

Blessings, Spiderwitch

 

 

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Haunted or not haunted?

Merry meet all,

I cleaned my broom closet this week. The closet desperately needed to be cleaned. I didn’t clean the closet floor in months. I thought I smelled something off, like a dead mouse. Turned out to not be the case. I removed everything- by that I mean, lots of cloth bags, the recycling bin, the 2 glass cloches, a lamp, tote bins, plastic boxes, a big heavy bookcase, a tall plastic stand with clear plastic drawers. I was quite tired after all that heavy lifting. I swept and mopped the floor then sorted through it all. I returned everything but the bookcase and the junk/ trash to the closet. Now I have more room and order. My Mom has the bookcase which I took to her apt today via cab. She also has the old laptop, keyboard, charger and mouse. My whole place is more organized and clean. I love it!! I emptied a tote bin of ancient belongings I don’t care about. 

I believed for a long time that my closet was haunted. But I spoke with a guy I know after showing him a photo of my closet. He believes there is nothing nefarious down there. He thinks the broom closet just has trapped energy that is hemmed in and can’t move. I hung a pentacle and gemstones in a pouch down there. I used salt and sage in the closet. My EMF meter would glow too. It lit. up. Then I was forced to debunk my theory about the EMF meter when I realized that it lit up because of the power box, not spooks being the cause. 

That said, a power box is not usually a reason for why I feel followed as I climb the steps up to the main floor. I show photos of my broom closet to mediums and psychics and they believe that there is something – a spirit, an earthbound ghost in the closet. Some people have gone far enough to tell me they think there is a demon down there. I don’t believe that. I am willing to believe there is a spirit but it is not demonic. Here’s why.

The energy is contained, hemmed in. A demon cannot be trapped. A demon will likely go anywhere it damn well pleases. The energy is contained and has been that way all the time I have lived there. If you think this through, it really makes no sense. Not all spirits or ghosts, forerunners etc are demons.  If you ever have a demon in your home, you would know it. They are like insects, they make themselves known. So I don’t believe it is a demon. My cat sits down there and she is calm. If you do have a demon,  your cat will hide under the bed and never come out, no matter how much you coax it. Animals are exceedingly attuned to energies and far more psychic than we are. So if she is calm, I am calm. 

Some nights I see the spirit always in that one spot, practically staring back at me. Other times, it is not there and everything feels calm. Some people are quick to conclude it must be a demon. They never take the time to think it through. I just watched a little part of Ghost Adventures. This woman claimed that her home was haunted by a nasty – ok nasty-demon. She had moved to stay with a relative. Bad move there. The entity was then free to do as it willed. It didn’t sense a threat. She also took people in who had serious mental problems and had severe addictions. What a dumb woman. I am talking heroin addicts. Again, bad move. I mean she was dumb. My mother took boarders in but she screened them and made them give her glowing references. No heroin addict is going to have a clear record or give a glowing reference. Then she wonders why she has such serious issues. There was no demon, she just had serious issues. My mother would never have taken in a heroin addict. I wonder what that woman was thinking. It’s clear she wasn’t thinking. I have seen  a shadow person in my home but I think that something more serious was going on there. 

I think they were wasting their time. But they are clearly as gullible as her. Most people want something to cry about. I can give an example here. These people for whatever reason- and don’t ever do this in your home- nailed ouija boards to the walls of the building. I would NEVER do that. Ever. This one tenant then claimed that a demon had infested itself to the building. However, when I entered to offer help to the guy, I did feel a nasty energy there. The very second I entered, I felt it. It hit me like a huge wave. So perhaps there was something in there. But I found his later claims hard to believe. I needed to see it to believe it. But then I am that way about everything. I am impatient and stubborn and not so gullible. 

That woman I mentioned above would just be fair game for a bad entity. I felt bad about how she found her husband lying dead. Ouch. Entities can prey on a person feeling vulnerable. She was operating on a much lower vibration. Entities can sense that. It is a beacon to them. Oh yes they do pick up on that. It is like the glow from the lighthouse for ships that have to make port. That shines very bright to them and it is irresistible. If something did haunt her to wreak havoc in her life, it found her signal. I would taste bad to an entity because I know how to shield myself. She still deserves a hug. 

I have studied psychic development and psychic shielding. I am a much harder target for a nasty entity to feed off of. I wish that woman had studied what I did and knew what I know. She would be much happier and if she used her brains, not let heroin addicts move in. I mean C’mon. That only leads to problems. I hope she works everything out in her life. Then her vibration will be higher. 

Witchcraft is shrouded in mystery. We were and are persecuted. It is not what people think. People only see what they want to see, not the facts. That woman in the show is a perfect example. She saw what she wanted to see: oh my god my home is overrun by demons. Well maybe. Lots of bad stuff was happening which would draw them to her. But if Witches are so bad, which isn’t true, then why are we the ones who know how to psychically shield ourselves from such negativity? Again, the endless and needless persecution. If people used their brains and learned how to shield themselves, they would be faring much better in life- but Ghost Adventures would be out of work,. People need to believe they are being attacked to get to appear on the notorious show. Heck, the ghost hunters don’t even shield themselves. They let themselves get affected. Oh it’s proof. It seems sadistic to me. 

But again, it comes back to the mystery. I believe- and this is just me, that everyone on earth is entitled to learn how to psychically shield themselves. Everyone. I wish it was more common knowledge. Then if there were nasty entities hanging around, the entities would find themselves faced with a challenge. Unfortunately, that is not the case. That’s sad. You don’t need to be a Witch to study psychic development. It would benefit people in many ways, some of which are mentioned in this post. I hope that more people do get the chance to study psychic development. It is a natural thing to do and it takes a bit of hard work, but the payoffs are amazing. It’s the difference between a friend handing you $5 or the lottery jackpot. Don’t you want the jackpot? I do. They would have to let go of their temptation to stigmatize psychic development and witchcraft. As if that would ever happen. 

I don’t believe that my broom closet is haunted by a demon. It could be haunted or it more likely is just trapped energy. I did sprinkle holy water in it which did help. It has not harmed me so it is not that nefarious. Until something nasty happens, and I may be waiting a long time for that, I will just chill. 

I am more qualified than most to conjure spirits. As I have demonstrated above, I am more practical and psychically trained. I have been trained in mediumship, psychic development and psychic shielding. I have done a lot of meditation work, trance work, visualization, etc. I would never nail an ouija board to my walls or use an ouija board in a warehouse at midnight for shits and giggles. I take it seriously. When you don’t respect it, that is when you have problems. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch

 

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