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March Author Blog

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An Excerpt from “Celtic Hedge Witchery—A Modern Approach” by Joey Morris

HEDGE WITCHCRAFT THEORY FOR A MODERN WORLD

A hedge witch is steeped in Otherness. Standing on the boundary between seen and unseen, Deep in conversation with spirits of tree, plant, and animal, They seek out Otherness and travel between realms.

What is a hedge witch?

There are many definitions as to what makes a hedge witch, but for myself it means a witch who is a spirit worker, honors liminal spaces, and venerates nature. This comes from a belief that everything in nature has a spirit, and with practice, we can communicate with them.

The term “hedge” can have more than one meaning. In its literal sense, it is a border, usually between fields, that has been cocreated by humans and nature. Hedges are often comprised of trees or bushes (such as hawthorn) that have been grown into barriers. Hedges over time become ecosystems for birds, insects, and animals.

In an abstract sense, hedges are boundaries between our physical world  and the world of spirits. By learning to cross the hedge, hedge witches seek to walk in other worlds.

THEORY OF THE HEDGE, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING

To a Celtic hedge witch, certain concepts and ideas are the keys to the metaphysical locks of the practice of witchcraft. They are the foundation of many paths of witchcraft (not just this one), which can make knowing them super useful even if you decide to try a different witch hat on later.

Some of these, such as animism, are well documented, and you can find many detailed opinions from academics, historians, and witches alike. Some of these concepts, most notably the spiritual ecosystem and the inner sacred grove, are from my own personal gnosis. The concepts I have grown myself are rooted in the soil of academia and research, watered by the trial and error of personal experience, and grown with insight and intuition from a living, breathing spiritual practice.

While I have jokingly titled this section “The Theory of the Hedge, the Universe, and Everything,” I want to assert that there is real wisdom in acknowledging the enormity of the universe and how little we actually know about it. I like to consider all the people I will never know or meet in my lifetime, going about their lives, laughing at jokes I may never hear, stressing about problems I will never know about. Or consider how little we know about our oceans. Or the thousands of books I will never get to read, or subjects that will forever remain alien to my mind in this incarnation.

Sometimes it is important, and humbling, to be in the realization of how small and uninformed we are—because arrogant hubris does more harm than good.

THE LIMINAL SPACE

What is a liminal space, and why does it matter to a modern Celtic hedge witch?

The liminal is balance incarnate. A place between, it is both the boundary and the crossing of it, a threshold, a place that is betwixt and between, saturated with magic and mystery, a physical location that thrums with etheric presence. It may cross into different spirit realms and be a connectionpoint between them.

It is sacred.

As we reach outside of ourselves, our spiritual tendrils stretch out into the spiritual ecosystem; we seek understanding to the mysteries of the universe. We “tap in” to an energy that is expansive, sometimes confusing, and more than slightly Other.

The liminal spaces are places of limitless potential and possibility, the deep breath before the plunge, the expansive darkness in the mind before thought, the endless choices found at the crossroads.

Liminal is a space within a space that is part of the Otherworld, something beyond our physical senses, felt with the heart and seen with psychic vision. It is the supernatural ability of bilocation, being in two places at once.

It is worth noting that we, as human beings, can deconstruct everything into nothingness, build something from the smallest electrical impulse of inspiration, and change the course of history on a whim.

This is interaction with the liminal.

Human beings may not always do this for our highest good, however. We categorize every part of our existence, clutching desperately at this sense of importance and immortality. It screams “we were here, we existed, we mattered” for all future generations to witness and remember. The spiritual ecosystem—that which connects all liminal spaces—remembers everything. It is my belief that memory is the currency of life force. It is a human fear to be forgotten, but in the spirit world, nothing ever truly is forgotten.

Boundaries are liminal spaces. They are the crossroads, the intersections, often between where energetic ley lines are said to cross. Here ley lines are meant to be given as pathways of the spiritual ecosystem, which are made up of energy and cross over one another at different points in the realm of spirit.

WHAT IS SACRED?

As we are going to be discussing the idea of the sacred quite a bit from here on out, it is probably best to explore what we mean by that. The Cambridge Dictionary defines sacred as “considered to be holy and deserving respect, especially because of a connection with a god.

Sacred is simply a word to describe human reverence for a place or person, based on agreed-upon ideals, usually of Otherness. It is a human contract with a place, an acknowledgement, an intuitive feeling that certain places in our world spark a feeling of reverence. This means to be enchanted by them, to sense the old magic inherent in a space, or feel the spirits that reside there.

This connection is facilitated once again by the spiritual ecosystem that feeds and relays soul messages across all the realms of existence. This is experienced as intuition, in dream states, or a gravity of emotional feeling that is sometimes beyond description.

Sacred is a description for soul memory recognizing liminal space.

When seeking to understand the mysteries behind witchcraft, I feel there is a balance between intuition and the universal laws that have been created from the logical, rational self. When it comes to hedge witchcraft, intuitive communication is an integral part of the overall spiritual practice. This will be part of the foundation of learning to communicate with plant and spirit allies and travel across different liminal spaces (into spirit realms).

To engage in the practice of spirit communication and spirit travel— two key components of modern hedge witchcraft—we need to understand as much as we can about how our minds connect to other realms and some of the laws of the universe that facilitate interspirit travel. It is finding that balance once again between intuition and practice.

WHAT IS INTUITION?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of intuition is as follows:

1 a: the power or faculty of attaining to direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference
b: immediate apprehension or cognition
c: knowledge or conviction gained by intuition
2: quick and ready insight

To intuit is a practice that is difficult to explain but widely understood. It is akin to when someone asks how you know you are in love—you simply know.

When it comes to spirit communication, traveling between spiritual realms of existence, or interpreting our experiences, intuition plays a major role because the communication usually occurs outside of regular or mundane channels, which can lead many people to doubt their experiences. Without a tangible physical reaction or data to reassure us, many of us wonder whether or not an experience is “real.” Here we are doubting the liminal spaces because they rely on extrasensory perception (psychic skills).

I personally feel that applying the Hermetic principles of the universe can be helpful here, even though they are not Celtic in origin. This is an integration of modern knowledge to deepen our current understanding of the world—much like not rejecting scientific discovery because we are on a spiritual path.

This is adaptive practice—applying reasonable spiritual theory when we find ourselves bereft of the Celtic versions from history due to the purging of much Pagan practice at the hands of the Christian church.

WHY USE THE HERMETIC PRINCIPLES?

To the best of my knowledge, there are no “Celtic universal laws” in terms of explaining the governing laws of the universe and how to work with them. Modern Druidic orders often take tenets from ancient Breton laws, but these are more about legal governorship than spiritual laws, which are then applied to personal behavior.

There is a great deal of information about cosmological setup, some of which we will be examining, detailed descriptions of the Otherworld, animism, the power of inspiration, poetry.

Ultimately we are utilizing an ancient system that began in Egypt after Alexander the Great’s conquest in 332 BCE and has been evolving ever since. We know that the ancient Celtic people were absorbed largely into the Roman Empire, which would begin the erosion of their culture and religious practices as Christianity sought to replace them. Ancient Hermeticism spread across the West, and many forms of modern spirituality have been influenced by the 1912 occult text The Kybalion, which introduced the seven principles of Hermetic thought. Several of these cross over into magical theory, such as the aforementioned “as above, so below,” which is the principle of correspondence.

—Joey Morris, Hedge Witchcraft Theory for a Modern World, Copyright © 2025

Featured Book

Celtic Hedge Witchery—A Modern Approach

Joey Morris

A revolutionary take on hedge witchery that focuses on what it means to reconnect with the sacred hedge in a modern world, “Celtic Hedge Witchery—A Modern Approach” teaches the ways, ideas, and methods of the hedgerow, so they become accessible even to those who cannot visit the physical locations themselves.

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Celtic Hedge Witchery—A Modern Approach

February Author Blog

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An Excerpt from “The Forbidden Knowledge of the Book of Enoch” by Harold Roth

There is not a lot of information available about Judaism in the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, which is when the oldest sections of The Book of Enoch were written, mostly because there was so much turmoil in that time period—wars, for instance. Alexander the Great had conquered the region in 332 BCE, which led to a highly disruptive Hellenization10 of Judaism and Israelite society.

At the same time, there was a revitalization of the sacrificial cult on account of the Second Temple being built soon after the Zadokite priesthood returned from Babylon in 538–515 BCE. We know that two sections of The Book of Enoch were written during that time: The Watchers and The Astronomical Book. These were originally separate books, and many scholars further believe that The Watchers was composed of at least two (Shemihazah and Asael) or even more ancient books or stories, which have been lost to us. The time between 513 BCE to 70 CE is called the Second Temple period. The Book of Enoch as a whole, the result of at least five older books being compiled, is a product of this period.

Apocalyptic Works

Apocalyptic works were mostly written during the period after the return of a large group of the Jerusalemites from Babylonian exile in 538 BCE. A number decided to stay there and went on to write one version of the Talmud—the Babylonian Talmud as opposed to the Jerusalem Talmud. (The Jerusalem Talmud was written in Aramaic in the Land of Israel (in Tiberias and Caesarea). It includes the same version of the Mishna as the Babylonian Talmud but then contains notes on the oral teachings of the Rabbis of the Land of Israel.) The apocalyptic works typically forecast some momentous event to happen after a particular length of time, and usually that event was equal to either a reset of society or a cataclysmic overturning of the old and institution of the new, perhaps even an end of the world. The Book of Enoch and Daniel both contain sections that are considered to be apocalyptic. The most famous Christian apocalypse is the Book of Revelation, written in Greek between 81–96 CE. It is now part of the Christian scriptures, although whether it should be part of the Christian canon has been controversial.

In the past, scholars believed that apocalyptic books were produced by the enormous social strains of the Maccabean rebellions (167–160 BCE), but we know now that at least a couple of the books that comprise The Book of Enoch were written long before that time.

Early History of Enoch

The Watchers (Enoch 1-36) and The Astronomical Book (Enoch 72–82) are the oldest Jewish religious works outside of the Hebrew Bible and the oldest examples of apocalyptic writing. They were most likely originally composed in the 4th through 3rd centuries BCE. Traditionally, studies of Enoch have considered The Watchers to be the oldest part (maybe because it is the only part that doesn’t actually even mention Enoch), but nowadays more scholars say The Astronomical Book is the oldest section.

The entirety of The Book of Enoch had been put together (from five different books) at the beginning of the 2nd century BCE. When actual fragments of an Aramaic version of Enoch were found at Qumran between 1951–1976, there was proof of not only when it was written (based on the lettering, ink, and type of scroll it was written on) but that it was at least partially written in Aramaic. The only problem with this is that JT Milik, who found and published these fragments, perhaps added bits here and there and mistranslated some parts. Some Hebrew fragments from the part of the book relating to Noah have also been found at Qumran.

This is important because Hebrew was the national language of the Hebrew people until the exile to Babylon, where the elite of Jerusalem adopted a version of Aramaic (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic) that was one of the two primary languages of Babylon. They brought this version of Aramaic back to Jerusalem with them, following their return from exile, but nationalist forces, reacting to the imposition and growth of Hellenism, as mentioned earlier, began using Hebrew again. It’s definitely possible timewise that Enoch was originally composed in Hebrew.

Altogether, seven Aramaic copies of The Watchers, Book of Dreams, and Epistle of Enoch were found at Qumran. These copies were composed from late 200 BCE to the beginning of 100 BCE, with some having been copied during the time of Herod the Great (37 BCE–4 BCE). That would make some parts of Enoch older than Daniel, which was written in the 2nd century BCE and composed partly in Aramaic and partly in Hebrew. The Astronomical Book and The Watchers were available separately in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE in the Land of Israel. Scholars have concluded that The Book of Enoch as a whole was written in Judea in the Land of Israel. This is important because in the past, many believed that Enoch was written in Qumran, which is in the Judean Desert on the shores of the Dead Sea. However, Qumran didn’t come into being until long after Enoch was written, so we know it didn’t originate there; it was just a text that was often copied there. Fragments of all the parts of Enoch were found at Qumran except one: Similitudes, the last book included in Enoch.

The Watchers, one of the two oldest parts of The Book of Enoch, was written in Judea right after Alexander the Great conquered it in 333–323 BCE and during the wars of the Diadochi —those who succeeded Alexander, in 323–302 BCE. The Watchers doesn’t show much anti-Hellenism, as the resistance to Hellenism had not yet had much time to take hold and remake Judaism in its own image. These were tough times, but nowhere near as difficult as the time period that produced the later texts, The Book of Dreams and the Epistle of Enoch, which came about around the time of the Maccabean Revolt. At that time, Antiochus IV completely disrupted the Temple cult and outlawed traditional Judaic practices, probably with help from some of the Jewish elites who were influenced by Hellenism. You can imagine the divisions that existed in that situation.

The Watchers was most likely produced by the scribes of the Temple of Jerusalem. The influence of this work would grow for both Jews and, later, Christians, especially in terms of how they conceptualized the world before the Flood. Most readers did not accept its idea that evil came into the world due to the actions of a group of angels, but the story of the descent of the Watchers was important to Jews interpreting Genesis 6:1-4, especially before the rise of Rabbinism. The Jesus Movement also embraced The Book of Enoch, and early Christians took up the book as well. The Book of Enoch kept on being popular with early Christians, who took it in new directions that were pertinent to their belief system, focusing more on the figure of Enoch as one of individual salvation. They also gave much more importance to the demonic aspects of the Watchers and the Nephilim.

The Rabbis abandoned The Book of Enoch. They said that the sons of God were humans, not angels, and that Enoch was just a human being; he had never been physically lifted up to Heaven. They argued that the statement about God taking him up to Heaven only meant that Enoch had died a normal human death. The rejection of this book was one of the ways that the Rabbis drew a line between themselves and the Jesus Movement. They didn’t even mention Enoch until after the Talmud was completed, which was several centuries later.

Around that same time, the third and fourth centuries CE, Christians began rejecting The Book of Enoch also, especially once the Roman Empire was Christianized. They kept it out of the canon of Christian scripture and they no longer interpreted Genesis 6:1–4 as being about angels. Enoch was still being read by Christians in Ethiopia and Egypt, but because Christians attacked it, it was “lost” in the West for centuries. In Christianity, it was preserved mostly in quotes, and in Judaism by movements that had more of an interest in magic and mysticism, such as the Hasidei Ashkenaz.

Is Enoch Fringe? No.

In the past, scholars thought that all the early Jewish apocalypses were written by groups that were cut off from the mainstream of Judaism. These imagined groups were seen as anti-establishment, maybe people who’d gathered around a particular prophet and who were engaged in attaining and keeping hidden knowledge secret and out of the hands of the mainstream and the authorities.

Powerlessness was considered to have been central to these books, the implication being that when you have no power, your imagination lifts you out of how pinched your life is. Daniel, which is partly an apocalyptic work, did arise out of oppression, and we might say that Revelation also arose from disenfranchisement, but this doesn’t apply to all sorts of other apocalyptic texts. Various people in modern times thought that visionaries passed down their wisdom secretly; this was due mostly to the influence of the famous scholar of Jewish mysticism, Gershom Scholem, who thought secret knowledge that was passed down orally was responsible for how particular ideas might turn up in Jewish writing either without any apparent predecessor or seemingly unconnected in any clear way to the past history of ideas in Judaism. The problem with orally passed-down knowledge is that there is no way to say what it was or if it ever existed, and “oh, it was passed down orally and secretly” is not proof.

People have looked for the missing evidence that, for instance, the two oldest parts of Enoch—The Watchers and The Astronomical Book—were the products of even a particular group, and they didn’t find it. There is no particular terminology that identifies these two parts of Enoch with any group that we know. No special terms are used that don’t also occur in plenty of other texts.

The other issue we run into when we try to figure out where a particular text came from is that we don’t really know, most of the time, who wrote it, edited it, copied it, read it, responded to it, interpreted it, and preserved it. We can’t even look at whether a text was made part of the Jewish or Christian canon and say, “it wasn’t included, so it’s edgy” or “it was included, so it’s not problematic.” Being outside the canon doesn’t mean the work is anti-authoritarian or full of secret knowledge. It might be, but just being outside the canon doesn’t make it so. We should be wary of the idea that because a work is outside of the mainstream that it contains secrets or is anti-authoritarian. A work’s secrets might not even be apparent on its surface, or the keys to unlock its meaning might have been lost, their context forgotten.

We can’t even claim that Enoch was a Gnostic text; the Gnostics never mentioned it, and people who attacked Gnostic Christianity wrote about Enoch positively. In fact, the Christians who wrote about it the most were dry-as-toast, rational chronographers who were interested primarily in simply recording history.

—Harold Roth, Chapter Two: Jewish History and Apocalyptic Works, Copyright © 2024

Featured Book

The Forbidden Knowledge of the Book of Enoch

Harold Roth

The Book of Enoch has captured and commanded interest for the past two thousand years. Sometimes part of religious canon and doctrine, and sometimes outright banned, the Book of Enoch is more popular today than ever. Still many questions remain. Who was Enoch?

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The Forbidden Knowledge of the Book of Enoch

January Author Blog

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An Excerpt from “How to Read and Interpret a Birth Chart” by Laurie Farrington

Within the four branches of Western astrology, individual practitioners develop their own personal approaches. I have hesitated over the years to put a label on the type of astrology I practice. Yet, I am aware that all that I have read and studied over the years has come together into an amalgamation of thoughts, ideas, and techniques that comprise my own unique personal approach. Over time, I have come to identify that approach most closely with psychological and humanistic astrology.

The term “humanistic astrology” was first introduced by Dane Rudhyar in the 1930s and later developed in Michael Meyer’s “Handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer.” Rudhyar was powerfully influenced by Marc Edmund Jones, who brought an understanding of psychology to the more predictive traditional astrological thought. Rudhyar’s work marked a major shift in the Western astrological perspective of the time. Rather than seeing various factors in the birth chart as “good” or “evil,” he saw the potential within the chart for learning, self-development, and growth. He understood, and showed us, the connection between the immense complexity within each human being and the equally immense complexity within the patterns of the cosmos. He saw the potential for Western astrology to be, in itself, a symbolic language based on the experiences that are common to living life as a human on planet Earth.

Humanistic astrology is not a separate branch of Western astrology, but rather an approach within the Western tradition that emphasizes a person’s potential for self-realization, self-understanding, and psychological development. It focuses on astrology as a tool for personal growth and self-actualization, rather than as a method of predicting events and determining fate.

Humanistic astrologers believe that the chart reveals the full potential of the life of the native (owner) of the chart. I view humanistic astrology as a spiritual discipline that emphasizes an individual’s potential for growth and development, and even offers a path of alchemy by facilitating trans-formative change. Using astrology in this manner provides a path to the soul’s evolution. It links us with the cosmos, highlighting and illuminating the connections between us. Looking into the mirror of the cosmos, we see ourselves, our beauty, our warts, our struggles, and our potential.

Thinking Humanistically

Consider your own natal chart, printed out on a two-dimensional sheet of paper. As you read this book, I recommend having it (along with the natal charts of your loved ones) in front of you. Slow your mind and your breathing as you deeply consider the moment in time that your chart represents. How does the image, with its complex network of symbols, represent the immense complexity of your inner nature and your outer life?

Imagine the scene of your birth as it played out in a hospital or perhaps a quiet room in the home dedicated to the event at hand. Your mother has just given birth. Ideally, another loving parent is standing by her side in profound awe at the wonder of the event. Perhaps your grandparents, aunts, uncles, or family friends are nearby or at home waiting by the phone for the call announcing your arrival. Perhaps you have siblings who hear the news when they wake in the morning, knowing instinctively that their lives will never be the same. Neighbors and friends text and call each other with the news: “The child has arrived; mama is doing well; the baby is healthy.”

As you take your first breath, air enters your lungs and your first cry announces your arrival. Imagine a tiny sliver of time—one instant removed from the entire river of time—given to you, the newborn. That moment is yours to decipher, to grapple with, and to understand. You will receive the gifts of that moment, as well as the wounds that need to be healed. The occasion of your first breath is indelibly imprinted upon your heart, your mind, and your soul. In that moment, you are given full responsibility to love, honor, and respect the unfolding of this one precious human life.

Your mother, father, siblings, extended family, neighbors, and friends all hold a place in your chart, represented by the Sun, the Moon, and the inner or personal planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars. This first level of influence derives from the intimate world of those who immediately surround you.

Beyond this tight circle of family and friends, your growth is supported or thwarted in the coming years by the community, the religious or spiritual organizations, and the municipality into which you are born. This second level of influence is represented by the social planets, Jupiter and Saturn.

The outer planets represent the forces beyond your perception that will ultimately impact you in ways that are far-reaching and profound. These planets—Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto—move very slowly and represent generational cycles, the rise and fall of governments and cultures. They reflect the differences between generations that are inherent in large planetary and cultural shifts. Because they are so far removed from Earth, these planets are invisible to the naked eye.

Discovering the Natal Chart

For most of us, the zodiacal signs are the initial hook that draws us into the study of natal astrology. It is easy to see why. If your new friend’s birthday is in early January, you know that person is a Capricorn. If someone’s birthday is in mid-April, you know that person is an Aries. This in itself gives you tantalizing information. Your curiosity about the people who populate your life is instrumental in drawing you inexorably toward astrology.

If this interest persists and you don’t get stuck within the intrigue of cycles, eclipses, and all things mundane, the next thing you reach out to understand is the horoscope—the birth chart itself. The first time you see a birth chart, you discover that you have stepped into something mysterious and unknown. A secret language calls you forward, leading you to understand your horoscope as a map of the heavens at the moment of your first breath. As your focus turns to the planets, you see that each one speaks through the sign it is in, providing deeper understanding. It is a fun and exciting process to put these two pieces of the puzzle together, and you can engage in all kinds of interesting considerations. What would it be like to have Mars in Cancer or Mercury in Scorpio? In which sign was your mother’s Moon, and how was that reflected in her abilities or challenges in mothering?

It is fascinating to reflect on what you see in the personalities of those around you. Your sister, born in the Sun-ruled sign of Leo, is loud and brash and always finds herself in the spotlight. No wonder you, without a single planet in water signs, never understood your mother, who was born in deep winter, with the Sun and Mercury in the sign of Pisces and her Moon in Cancer. She was sweet and kind, as well as a bit spacey. She doesn’t quite seem to belong on this rough and tumble planet. What would that combination feel like? It is hard to imagine, and yet the consideration helps you to understand your mother in a way that you have never been able to in the past. Through this process, you realize the power of astrological understanding to help us develop compassion and understanding toward others. This is one of the great superpowers we receive through the understanding of natal astrology.

As you continue observing your circle of family and friends, it all seems to make sense—until you run into someone new. When you meet new people, before you know the date of their birth, you may watch them and try to think it through. It’s not really that you are trying to guess, so much as that you are testing your skills of perception and understanding. This new friend is loud, direct, self-confident, and dynamic. Imagine your surprise to discover that person was born in early March when the Sun was in Pisces! What went wrong?

Nothing went wrong. It’s just that you lack the full picture. Underneath an exterior that does not show the core Pisces self is the sensitive mystical nature of the two fishes. Knowledge of the full chart will fill in the picture and provide the necessary information and understanding.

Reading a Natal Chart

Every natal chart you encounter merits careful and meticulous consideration. It’s essential to recognize that each one serves as both a reflection of an individual and a moment frozen in celestial time. Imagine it as a snapshot of the universe’s grand dance, in which the moving planets come to a standstill and imprint themselves onto, not only the heart and mind of a person, but also onto a two-dimensional chart.

When you hear discussions about challenging eclipses or dramatic planetary aspects happening in the current week or month, remember that these celestial events become ingrained in the birth charts of those born during the time frame in question. Reflect on significant historical moments, like the tragic assassination of Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968, or the fateful day when the Twin Towers fell in New York City. Babies were welcomed into the world on these days, and they each carry the resonance of those historical moments within their very DNA. Whenever astrological events like a Full Moon, an eclipse, or a potent outer-planet transit appear, keep in mind that the children born at these times will carry the impact of those powerful moments into the future.

Regardless of how many natal charts you work with, make a conscious effort to approach each one with fresh eyes and a beginner’s mind. Be clear about what you are seeing. A natal chart encapsulates an exact moment in time at an exact location. It shows you a symbolic representation of the positions of planets and significant celestial points at that very moment of birth. It depicts the full potential that began at the moment the chart was cast. It captures a single instant in the ceaseless flow of time.

With each chart you look at, stop and take the time to visualize the one moment—the moment of birth—as a tangible entity detached from the ever-moving river of time, entrusted to the person whose chart it represents. The purpose of each individual’s life is to decipher the challenges and potentials encoded within that specific moment, and to accept the associated work, rewards, suffering, and healing inherent in the chart.

Consider the substantial motion depicted in each chart. Picture the planets in motion both before and after birth. Start with the horizon and contemplate the day in question. From our vantage point on Earth, the Sun seemingly rises over the horizon in the morning and sets in the evening. Simultaneously, the actual movement of the planets moves them counterclockwise through the zodiac wheel. Understanding these simultaneous yet distinct movements is essential to avoid confusion and gain deeper insights into the chart’s narrative.

—Laurie Farrington, Western Humanistic Astrology, Copyright © 2025

Featured Book

How to Read and Interpret a Birth Chart

Laurie Farrington

Master astrologer Laurie Farrington distills her decades of experience into a clear and concise system of preparing and interpreting natal charts, whether one’s own, those of friends and family, or for clients as a professional astrologer.

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How to Read and Interpret a Birth Chart

December Author Blog

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An Excerpt from “The Fright Before Christmas” by Jeff Belanger

Why are we sitting by the fireplace with hot chocolate while holiday music fills our ears, as twinkling lights on the Christmas tree illuminate our living rooms, while Jack Frost nips the noses of those still outside in the cold? The answer lies in the backstory. We have to go as far back as humanly possible and retrace the steps to this point.

In northern climates, we live in three seasons: spring, summer, and fall. But we survive the winter. Though today we can turn up our thermostats and shop anytime for foods that never would have been available to our great-great-great-grandparents out of season, we still have to face bleak winters fraught with cold temperatures, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), snow delays and cancellations, winter colds and flu, and all of the other challenges winter can throw our way.

Winter was truly a perilous beast.

But think back just a few centuries, and winter was truly a perilous beast, staring us down each year, asking us to test our mettle and our ability to prepare for the harshest of conditions. Run out of food or fuel . . . you die. If your home collapses under the weight of the snow, leaving you without shelter . . . you die. If you can’t find game to hunt to supplement your diet . . . you die. Get lost outside in a snowstorm . . . you die. Winter is the season of fear. It’s dark, cold, and dangerous. We have to be prepared.

Why does this frightening and frigid event occur each year? We all live on this big blue-and-green ball called Earth that’s hurtling through space and time at thousands of miles per hour. The planet leans on its axis as it makes an elliptical orbit around our sun. When the pole that’s closest to where you are leans furthest from the sun, it’s the Winter Solstice. When that pole leans closest toward the sun, it’s the Summer Solstice, and the halfway points make it either the Spring or Fall Equinox. In the northern hemisphere, the Winter Solstice takes place typically on December 21 or 22 each year at a precise moment when the planet reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun.

Around the world, most significant religious holidays are tied to one of these four major seasonal events: winter, spring, summer, and fall. Or the halfway point between each of those seasons. The Pagan calendar, for example, celebrates Yule on the Winter Solstice, Imbolc on February 1, Ostara on the Spring Equinox, Beltane on May 1, Litha on the Summer Solstice, Lughnasadh on August 1, Mabon on the Autumn Equinox, and Samhain on November 1.

If you look at the Western calendar with its heavy Christian influence, you’ll see many of the biggest dates fall pretty close to some of these major seasonal moments. Christmas is December 25 (just a few days after the Solstice), Groundhog Day is February 2, Easter falls close to the Spring Equinox, May Day is May 1, Midsummer is the Summer Solstice, and Halloween is October 31.

Our ancient ancestors had to know what to expect in order to survive. When humans were hunters and gatherers, they had to know when to move to warmer, drier, or wetter places to make it to the next season. Then, about twelve thousand years ago when humankind decided to put down roots and try their hand at farming, they had to understand and know the seasons better than they ever had before. Because it truly became a matter of life and death. Plant seeds at the wrong time, harvest at the wrong time, and it can mean curtains for you, your family, and everyone who depends on you. Plus, if you’re going to live in harsh climates, you must have the ability to store enough food to get you through to the growing season again.

If you happen to live far enough north—specifically, above the Arctic Circle at 66.5 degrees north latitude—on the Winter Solstice, the sun won’t rise at all. It’s Polar Night. The sun is gone, and you may fret wondering if it will ever return.

There are parts of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia that experience this long darkness each Winter Solstice. It’s no surprise that many of the monsters who lurk during the Yuletide season hail from these regions.

Farming is the very reason for all of this fuss and all of these monsters. The Winter Solstice is also called Midwinter, because the harvest ends by the half-holiday that is November 1. The sun is retreating until it reaches its lowest point on the Winter Solstice. After that, though cold days are ahead, the sun will start to return until it’s time for the planting season again.

Something primal takes over when we’re faced with unnatural cold and darkness. There’s an understanding that fight or flight can occur at any moment. We’re on edge. We’ve just witnessed winter’s harsh hand kill everything in the landscape and turn it white or frozen solid. So what do we do when facing down this dreadful season and its promise of death? When we’re not sure if we’ll make it to spring or even tomorrow?

We party.

— Jeff Belanger, Chapter 2: The Winter Solstice, Copyright © 2023 

Featured Book

The Fright Before Christmas

Jeff Belanger

Christmas has always been creepy and with “The Fright Before Christmas” you'll see the other side. This is a book for everyone who loves a little darkness around the holidays.

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The Fright Before Christmas

November Author Blog

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An Excerpt from “Mexican Magic” by Laura Davila

“Algunos nacen con estrella y otros estrellados.”

This dicho (saying) roughly translates to “Some are born with a star, while others are born starry.” It refers to the Mexican belief that good luck is a matter of fate, something we were either born with or not. Most Mexicans attribute their good or bad luck to a greater force, to God’s will, even to the placements of the stars in the sky. Being born with a star is a blessing and being born shattered is a misfortune for some.

Yes, I do believe in destiny. I do believe in fate, like most Mexicans, but also like most Mexicans I believe even more in faith, virtue, and purpose. Just like there are many who are born to do magic, there are many others where life itself and being born starry pushed towards magic. Being a Mexican bruja is being part of a fight between what the stars say up there and what my heart dictates down below, although my faith leads me to think that the stars and my heart are linked to the plan of life that a greater force has for me.

The best brujos and magical people that I’ve had the honor to know were people who were not born with good luck, those whose destiny didn’t give them a good hand of cards to play. Some others were very lucky and were born with the best cards to start the game but folded due to their stupid life decisions. A lot of these folks were not born into a family that believed in magic or even superstitions (or at least not openly). Neither did they have elders to teach them. In some cases, they didn’t even have access to the internet. The only thing that they had was the conviction to become the best brujos they could be. It was not a choice, since they had no other option because their well-being and sometimes even their lives or one of their family members depended on it. They had, above all, a death or life motivation, and they soon realized that good luck is a skill to be mastered. Their necessity led them to action and their actions gained them dexterity. They were willing to go all in and risk the last thing that they had to bet with hopes of a better future: their faith.

The ’80s and the ’90s were not an easy time in Mexico. I know you may say, “Has there ever been such a thing over there?” Probably not, but this time period came with the end and the beginning of many things. My mom and my tías’ generation was driven by the quest to provide for their kids a better future than they had, so they could be independent from their husbands and not have to endure what their own mothers and grandmothers had to endure out of necessity, while at the same time trying to abolish the traditional gender roles that our culture imposed on them since centuries ago. But they certainly had to deal with other situations that no one prepared them to handle. A lot of them moved out of rural areas to live in the big cities and to have access to other things. These women were pioneers of entrepreneurial endeavors, a lot of them starting their own businesses. They did not want a boss, a man telling them what to do. They were willing to take risks in order to succeed.

I am not sure they thought about their happiness as much they thought about their goals, but I can say for sure this time was the beginning of a cultural revolution, not only for women but for brujas in Mexico. My early teenager years were spent between a hierbería my Aunt Diana owned, a store that she had the vision to divide in two. In one side there was a botanica store where she also did tarot readings, and in the other half a revistería (a newsstand) that served as a bookstore, magazine shop, and lottery as well. Thanks to that and the fact that I was such an incessantly chattering kid, I made friends with some of those women in the store, and they began to tell me their stories.

To be honest, I don’t know if I was the one who was looking for those stories, or if those stories were looking for me, because sometimes, somehow, those stories need to be heard by you. As a bruja, you grow to realize that occult forces are always preparing us and positioning us for divine appointments. Think of this book as one of those appointments between these magical people and you.

I want to start with the fact that people in Mexico see magic and witchcraft very differently from people here in the US. Here in the US, there are a lot of misconceptions spread thanks to social media. Some of those misconceptions are founded in ignorance, others in speculation, others by disconnection, and some others with the aim of profiting from these practices, somehow trying to keep them as a monopoly by selling them as a closed practice that requires initiations, baptisms, or being chosen by another person. Do not get me wrong, I support information, classes, mentorships, courses, and anything that teaches you something. I respect other people’s paths and how they choose to walk them, but I want to make sure that you understand this: there are a lot of ways to get to the place you want to be.

Brujos, brujas and magical people in Mexico are not a monolith by any means. We are the sum of many factors, lifestyles, and idiosyncrasies. Our sociotechnical heritages are extremely varied: Catemaco witches are different from La Petaca witches, and even though La Biznaga witches are only 131 miles away from La Petaca ones and share a lot of the same ecosystem, they are still very different between each other. The witches of Jesús María de Los Azules in Aguascalientes are very distinct and different from all of the above. To put all Mexican witches in the same costal is wrong and contributes to erasure. Diversity and representation matters, even among small groups.

Mexico is a very large country in both cultural wealth and territorial extension. Currently, and especially on the US side of the US-Mexico border, magic is all about the titles, when in Mexico we have traditionally been more concerned with just being, without putting labels on what we are. There are a lot of people in our magical community who feel alienated or are greatly afraid to share and exchange magical goods that come from experiences, stories, recipes, spells, products, tips, and hacks, out of fear of being called out, just because they lacked the financial ability to pay for these mentorships or trips to Mexico. Perhaps they are afraid because they were not born into a family of brujas but, most of all, because they do not fit with the current narrative of what some authors say a Mexican witch “should” be, when Mexican witches are all walking complexities, quite different from each other. I don’t think we (meaning Mexicans/Mexican-Americans) can afford to lose those experiences. Our magic and our brujeria needs people sharing those experiences to subsist! To keep feeding, to survive!

I’m not an elder. (Come on! I’m barely forty years old!) Most people considered to be elders in Mexico are sixty-plus years old. What I do consider myself to be, first and foremost, is a tradesman, an advocate, a guide, and a perfect example of how magic and faith can improve your life, your situation, your finances, your health, your luck, and change your fate. You may be wondering, what is a woman who doesn’t present as an elder doing, writing book on this subject? Well, that’s part of my advocacy. That’s what advocates do. We write, we voice, we march, we share for our cause. Brujeria and Mexican magic, for me, is a mission. It’s a mission that made me understand that the things I’m most thankful and proud to have in my life wouldn’t be part of it without magic, because although I took the applause and the recognition, it really corresponded to many people who shared their magic with me in times of need: saints, folk saints, and spiritual allies. I will always show my gratitude to them and will be their biggest advocate, doing everything that I can to share their faith and their stories in the best way that I can.

I can assure you that if this book has found its way into your hands, you are supposed to read it, as well as to share its message with others. The pages of this book will reveal to you the stories, the advice, the recipes, and the knowledge of many magical people with whom I had the blessing to interact with, as well as those I observed closely as we crossed paths. A lot of them were not aware of their magical and mystical power, although some others were. There are a lot of differences among these people, in their backgrounds and their access to things. Some of them lived in the city, others in rural towns. Some were professionals with degrees, and others didn’t even know how to read or write. It is all of their generosity that successfully led me along the way.

— Laura Davila, Introduction: La Estrella, Copyright © 2024 

Featured Book

Mexican Magic

Laura Davila

“Mexican Magic” offers an overview of magic and spells from all across Mexico for daily use.

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Mexican Magic

October Author Blog

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An Excerpt from “Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling” by Jezmina Von Thiele and Paulina Stevens

Dream divination is the cornerstone of fortune-telling for both of our families, and many others. Dreams are a liminal space, between worlds, where ancestors, spirits, messages, and symbols can reach you. Dreams are also a place where the subconscious throws its deepest concerns onto a screen for you to watch and sift through. Repressed emotions are never good for our well-being. For that reason, Western psychology is preoccupied with dream interpretation, with Jung being the most recognizable name in dream interpretation, and much of his practice draws from much older wisdom and symbols from other cultures, mainly from what is broadly considered the East. For that reason, some of our approach to dream analysis may be familiar already, because our culture and many others were inspiration for a differently packaged Western approach. At the same time, we all have personal experiences with symbols, perhaps in ways that are very different from the cultures we come from.

Ultimately, knowing and caring for yourself keep you grounded enough to be a good reader. We have years of experience delving into dreams, and while we refer to our shared cultural background, we created this chapter in a way that anyone can use our techniques for navigating the world of dreams.

Jezmina’s Story

My grandmother was taught by her grandparents that dreams are how we expand and understand our intuition, and communicate with ancestors and divinity. She understood dream interpretation to be foundational to any divinatory practice. I often slept over at my grandmother’s trailer, and a regular part of my training was discussing our dreams every morning. She was teaching me to interpret dreams bit by bit, by helping me understand my own, but also sharing some of hers with me. Around the same time she began teaching me dream interpretation, when I was about four, my grandfather, her ex-husband, died by suicide. He was a very violent and troubled man, an American WWII veteran who plucked my grandmother out of the postwar wreckage of Germany when she was just nineteen, and he left lifetimes of trauma in his wake.

The only dream my grandmother had back then was the same scenario on repeat: she dreamed that she was running, and that my mother and her siblings were children again, and they were running with her. In the dream, my grandfather chased them aiming his rifle with a wild look in his eyes, something that had happened before in the waking world. The scene would change from dream to dream—sometimes they were at home, in a store, or in a forest. The dream always ended the same way. My grandmother would find somewhere to hide her children, a closet, a cave, a tucked away place, and sigh with relief that they were safe. Then she would face my grandfather, and he would fill her with bullets until she woke up. Hearing this dream over and over when we woke in the mornings, sun streaming into the bedroom, wrapped up in her big German feather down covers, taught me at a very young age that many of the dreams we have are not about us navigating the future, but rather, surviving the past.

Paulina’s Story

Growing up, my family believed anyone who knew us who had passed on would be able to reach us through our dreams. I was taught our dreams were a portal to communicate with our loved ones and see how their spirits were doing. For example, if they asked for food in our dream, we couldn’t give it to them. Hungry spirits meant that they were unsettled in the afterlife, and if we gave them food, we could be prolonging their suffering, because they needed to accept that they are not in this world anymore.

Many dream interpretations that I was raised with meant the opposite of what they seemed. How could dreaming of money and abundance mean coming into problems with business in the real world? This baffled me as a kid, but after reading many books from our family store collection and badgering my great-grandparents, I learned about the aspect of psychology behind dreams. Little things made sense. Dreaming of money in any way meant even your subconscious was too concerned about money, and this couldn’t be good for you moving forward. Maybe all the superstitions had some scientific roots. Now I see many articles and books around the psychology behind our dreams and I believe this strongly intersects with Romani dream divination, where we can find similarities with many other cultures around the world.

Prophetic Dreams

Even so-called prophetic dreams, or dreams that predict the future, are rarely straightforward. For many people, even very intuitive people, prophetic dreams can be relatively rare, usually appearing in times of crisis, or more confusingly, in flashes of deja vu that don’t seem important at all. We’ve met some people who dream in prophecy every night, but if that’s not your reality, you’re not alone. Luckily, most of our day-to-day life is made up of small events, not crises, and doesn’t warrant dramatic dream intervention. The small events are important, though, and they take up a lot of our time and emotional energy. Most dreams are like this too, reflections and fragments of our smaller concerns, or the background noise of our deeper issues, burbling up from the subconscious. The idea is that if we can use these “mundane” dreams as helpful tools to understand ourselves and our lives, the bigger, more profound dreams will be easier to spot and understand too.

There might be times when you do get a warning in a dream and you really feel it in your bones or your gut. It’s wise to listen to that. You might have already experienced this, and typically it’s something you feel in your whole body. This has happened to us too—it’s important not to assume that every bad dream is a warning, though. There are probably indicators that help you know when a dream truly is a warning, like certain people or guides delivering the message in an unmistakably clear way.

Some common symbols in prophetic dreams for Roma vary. Sometimes what we dream actually means the opposite. Like if you dream of a relative giving birth to a baby boy, it might actually be a girl. Many Roma believe hair and teeth falling out in a dream represents your troubles or worries leaving your life, so it’s actually a good dream. Seeing a little blood in a dream means good luck, but seeing a lot of blood means bad luck. Seeing money means it will come your way, but touching money in the dream is bad because your subconscious might be too greedy or worried about money. Touching money can even mean there are rumors or negative words circulating in your life. Dreaming about cash in general may be a particularly Romani experience because for almost our whole existence, we worked with only cash, and many still do. Many Roma weren’t even allowed to open bank accounts, and in some places that’s still true. Present day, some families still don’t trust banks or the government with their money at all because of that history. Most people get paid through their bank accounts or paychecks, and some businesses do take cash only, but in a Roma family, your whole lineage dealt only with cash, so physical money, such as dollars and coins, is very significant to us.

Animals in Dreams as Prophecy

Romani culture, like all other cultures, tends to have certain associations with animals and plants. And then certain Romani subgroups, or vitsas, might have their own associations, and families their own, and individuals as well. It can get very personal and specific, and not everyone agrees all the time on what certain animals mean. You might find this yourself—maybe you love an animal that many tend to shun, like spiders, and maybe an animal that most tend to love, like dogs, makes you uncomfortable. Take all of this into account when you’re interpreting your dreams.

When we first started collaborating on Romanistan podcast together, we realized that both of our families believed dreaming about animals signaled either a prophetic dream, or a prophetic aspect of a dream. For instance, both of our families tend to read birds as bearers of news, whether it’s good or bad. In Paulina’s family, snakes represent gossip, and in Jezmina’s, snakes represent change. Fish represent fertility, abundance, and manifestation in both of our traditions. In Paulina’s family, dogs represent spirits or ancestors visiting you, and in Jezmina’s, dogs represent protection or a loyal and faithful friend. These are just a few of many examples, but the trick is to learn what these animals represent for you specifically.

Examples of Prophetic Dreams

It can be helpful to have examples so you know how prophetic dreams work for others, even if you have your own experiences. Intuition can expand and evolve over time, so there’s always plenty to learn. We will share a couple of prophetic dreams from our own lives with the lessons we learned from them.

Jezmina’s Prophetic Dream

When I was in my first year at college, I had a brand new roommate, Sarah, whom I was already very fond of even though we had known each other only a couple of weeks. She was an adorable music-blaring, tennis-playing punk in a dog collar, denim dress, and red Chucks, and I knew we were going to be great friends, and we still are to this day. I don’t sleep well, so I wake up pretty frequently. As such, I have a strong distinction between night dreams and morning dreams, and I’ve noticed that most of my spiritual healing or processing dreams come at night and most of my prophetic dreams come in the early morning. One morning, I dreamed that Sarah was driving her car at the time, a sporty red ’93 Subaru SVX that she called “Back to the Future” because it looked like the DeLorean. In the dream, I was like a spirit hovering over her shoulder, and I saw the lights on her dashboard all light up like a Christmas tree, the car start to shake, and Sarah try to hit the brakes, but they wouldn’t work, and she veered off the road and got into a terrible wreck.

I woke up gasping, and both of our alarms were going off. I felt fear jangling through my body, and I had a very clear message for her that seemed to come from the dream, and not my brain. “Sarah, you have to get your car checked out. You can’t drive more than a mile, so go to the place next to the school on Williamson Road. Your brakes are almost gone and they won’t make it any further than that.”

“What are you talking about?” she said, sitting up in her bed and rubbing her eyes.

“Listen, I know it’s weird, but I get messages in my dreams sometimes, and I just had one, and I just know you’ll get in an accident if you don’t take care of this today, right now. Trust me.”

Sarah looked at me in silence for a little while. I thought for sure I had scared her off. I hadn’t explained my fortune-telling or anything about myself that would give this more context. Witchy behavior wasn’t that cool or trendy back in 2004 like it is now. I was bullied for being different as a kid, and I was worried that my new friend would think I was spooky too. But then she nodded her head and said, “Okay. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll do it right now.”

“Thank you!” I said. “It would make me feel better.”

So she left right away and brought Back to the Future to the nearest auto shop. Later that morning, I ran into Sarah in the hallway of the English building.

“You were right!” she yelled, raising her arms and clenching her hands into celebratory fists. Everyone in the hallway turned to see what the commotion was all about. “My brakes were just about to go! The guy at the shop said it was a miracle I made there in one piece. Damn, you’re good!”

After that, Sarah told this story to all of her friends, and news of my intuition spread far and wide. It ended up being great for my little fortune-telling side hustle, and she was my biggest supporter. I was just glad she and Back to the Future were safe and sound.

Paulina’s Prophetic Dreams

Why are we so good at predicting car accidents? When I dream of swimming through water, that tends to be a warning that I’m going to get into a car accident. I was taught by my family that dreaming of water at all was usually a bad omen. Recently, I had a feeling that something was going to happen to my car when I dreamed that a tsunami had swept over my town. After that dream, I noticed that little things around me, electronics and the like, stopped working or even began falling apart. I am so used to this kind of warning in my dream that I decided to preemptively trade my car in, and on the way home with the new one, someone rear-ended me. I felt like I couldn’t escape my fate no matter how hard I tried. It wasn’t a serious accident, but why did I need to get into an accident at all? Was I projecting? Could it have been worse? I learned that I should trust my instincts but accept my fate at the same time. I believe we should take precautions for sure, and our intuition pushes us out of our comfort zone and challenges us in ways we wouldn’t have imagined.

Sleep Quality

Quality of sleep is helpful, though not necessary, for dreamwork. Both of us have struggled with insomnia, nightmares, and night terrors since we were kids, but we have still been able to gain a lot of insight from dreams. Some people sleep well with very little effort, and some of us need to put some work into it. Even if you can’t relate to the struggle to sleep, these tips and tricks for a better night’s rest can still be very helpful.

Data-Driven Sleep Tips

Have a set bedtime every night. If you lose track of time, you can set bedtime alarms. Try setting one for when you want to start getting ready for bed, and another for when it’s time to go to sleep.

Most people sleep better in dark rooms. Investing in blackout curtains might help.

Some people need quiet, while others sleep best with sounds, like rain, white noise, soft music, or even podcasts. Experiment with what works best for you. Set a sleep timer for music or a podcast so it doesn’t play sound all night and wake you up later. Avoid falling asleep to the TV if possible because it casts disruptive light. Find the room temperature that’s ideal for you. Studies show that many people sleep best at slightly cooler temperatures, but that’s not necessarily true for everyone. Experiment.

Avoid eating and drinking two hours before bed. It’s okay to have a little water or non-caffeinated herbal tea if you take medication or supplements before bedtime.

Try to stay off your electronics a couple of hours before bed. If you need an activity to unwind, opt for reading, drawing, knitting, etc.

Exercise earlier in the day. Studies show that daytime physical activity helps people sleep better at night.

If you get a little snacky after dinner or prefer something light instead of a full evening meal, these foods have been shown to promote a good night’s sleep. Having a small snack two hours before bed is totally fine for most people, unless you find that doesn’t work for you. Everyone is different, so listen to your body.

• A cup (8 oz.) of tart cherry juice
• A kiwi
• A handful of almonds
• A handful of walnuts
• A banana
. . . maybe combine these for a smoothie?

People also tend to sleep better in clean, tidy, pleasant-smelling bedrooms. Cool and neutral colors are popular in bedrooms because they tend to be relaxing. Lighting, scent, and sound can be very helpful for signaling to your brain that it’s time to unwind.

—Jezmina Von Thiele and Paulina Stevens, Chapter 3, Dream Divination, Copyright © 2024 

Featured Book

Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling

Jezmina Von Thiele & Paulina Stevens

In “Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling,” Paulina Stevens and Jezmina Von Thiele introduce the history of the Romani people and their infamous relationship to fortune-telling. They share divination methods, tools, and techniques that have been created, adapted, or popularized by the Roma, including card reading, palmistry, dream divination, and tea leaf and coffee reading.

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Secrets of Romani Fortune-Telling

September Author Blog

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An Excerpt from “Blackthorn’s Book of Sacred Plant Magic” by Amy Blackthorn

Getting to Know Energy in Plants

Getting to know plants by their energy signature is learned just like any language as children. We look at pictures, associate the picture with a word, and we repeat until it’s so ingrained that there’s no thought process; it’s an immediate one-to-one correlation. This can be difficult if you have no background in working with plants, but it’s never impossible. You can start with the spice cabinet. What we’re doing is exploring our minds for memories or experiences that had an impact on who we are, to see how they might shape us as people. We are also creating a scent vocabulary for further exploration of perfume, ritual oils, and other botanical allies.

Spice Cabinet

Take a look inside your kitchen cabinet and you can take a trip around the world. Each spice, herb, and flavor has a rich history of use in medicine, folklore, and witchcraft. No matter where you start, you can’t go wrong. No matter your experience, there’s going to be some history in that cabinet, even if the only things you saw were salt, pepper, and take-out menus.

EXAMPLE

Black pepper has a recorded history that goes back to mummification in 1279 BCE. Think about the contributions to history that a plant has with that length of service. It was used as currency in ancient Rome. It was such 26 Blackthorn’s Book of Sacred Plant Magic a common occurrence that the city of Rome was held hostage in 410 CE and one of the demands was three thousand pounds of black peppercorns. The use of black peppercorns as currency continued to occur until the 18th century, and the drive to find the spice that bolstered the world economy was one of the driving forces in European colonialism.

WHAT TO DO?

Take a spice jar (in our example, we’re doing black pepper, but you can choose anything in your spice cabinet) and find a comfortable place to sit with a notebook and pen. Close your eyes, and take some cleansing breaths. Open them, and take your spice jar in your nondominant hand (sometimes called the receptive hand) and give a nice long smell. If it’s a strong smell or something potentially irritating, use the waft instead of a direct inhalation. There are a lot of really lovely smells in the spice rack, but we don’t need it lining our sinuses. Notice the aroma itself, as well as any associated shapes, colors, symbols, or memories that come up when you smell it. Repeat the smell inhalation two more times. This gives our nose and brain time to collaborate and make sure they’ve dug up any really important memories from the depths of your mind and experience. Write down anything that comes up after these smells. Feel free to break it up into sights, sounds, colors, shapes, and other things that arise so you can compare it to other scents and spices you try next. Building your scent vocabulary can help strengthen connections in your mind between allies you already know and ones you’re learning as we go through this book together. Mine might look like this:

Black pepper: Smells sweeter than I expected. The spice is there, but it’s warm and round, instead of sharp and hot like other peppers. Reminds me of gray wool sweaters.

First, we established the name, black pepper. Then we experienced the aroma. Bonus points if it’s a spice that you have the essential oil counterpart to for comparison.

Black pepper essential oil: sweet, tangy, warmer than the spice, but still not as sharp as expected. Perfumy.

We’ve connected your present sense of smell to the plant name, and hopefully we’ve connected you with any sense memories that stand out. (Feel free to come back to the journal entry if any memories come back in the next days.)

Dialing in That Connection

Now that you have experienced that plant material in recent memory and have a connection to that plant spirit, I’d like you to try to connect to the spirit of that plant.

We’ve talked about your inner landscape and how to furnish your “mind palace”; now we need to populate it with friends you’ve invited to the party. If you were calling a friend on the phone, you’d dial their number, and that secret code would connect your phone to theirs. Unlike texting, it would require someone to pick up on the other end, instead of waiting in your text inbox for the messages to be picked up. In the spirit realm, your secret code is the name of the plant spirit you’re hoping to establish a connection with. You can use the Latin if that feels more formal, respectful, or clear, but the connection is the important part.

  1. Enter your sacred space—with a notebook and pen, whether it be your bedroom, a spare room, a closet where you’ve got some safe feelings, wherever you feel magical. Sit or lie comfortably.
  2. Close your eyes—Center yourself in your physical body. Feel the scattered energy lingering in fingers and toes coming into the center of your body. Send any excess energy you’re not using into the earth, where the planet can use it much more efficiently. Bring up small amounts of energy into your being if you’re feeling low energy.

Pro Tip: The earth isn’t the only celestial body. If you’ve practiced grounding/earthing enough to be an advanced practitioner, consider picking a celestial body. Venus and Mars are the next closest celestial bodies after the moon; try one of these three bodies and see how that energy changes how you feel. Make sure to record your findings for later.

  1. Start relaxing—By going muscle by muscle we can build in enough repetition to allow you to enter a trance state. Start by relaxing each and every toe individually. Then relax your calves, knees, each muscle in your thighs, all the way to the top of your head. (You’ll be surprised how much tension you carry in your ears alone.)
  2. Picture (or feel) yourself in your inner landscape—however you’ve decorated and built your space to be your sanctuary. Whether a castle, a college dorm room, an open meadow, or your local witchy shop, your inner landscape is the virtual start screen for any journeys we undertake to meet the spirits of the plants we will be working with.
  3. I always include visualizing a walking meditation—on a set of rainbow stairs to help move my brain from the physical (red) to the spiritual (violet). I reverse this visual when returning to my body after the journey is complete.
  4. If you work with a spirit guide in your inner landscape, feel free to invite them to join you—If this isn’t a part of your practice, that’s okay, too. The important part is your feeling of safety and security. If you’d like to work with your spirit guide but haven’t met them yet, feel free to add that into this journey, or build in time at another point to meet them.
  5. Speak the name of a plant you are hoping will meet with you—Or ask that a plant spirit who has a message for you to come forward.
  6. If no spirit comes forward, go for a walk to explore your inner landscape—Look around to see if there are any plants making an appearance. They should surprise you; you shouldn’t be trying to see anything specific if they didn’t make an appearance when requested. Remember, this is a cooperative relationship. We have no authority to order any spirit to appear in this place and time. That’s a different style of magic. (Not better or worse, just different.)
  7. If a spirit comes forward, have some low-energy interview-style questions for them—“How best can I work with you?” “Is there anything you need from me to best work together?” “Is there anything you’d prefer I not do while we work together?” On the first meeting, don’t expect to get all the secrets of the universe; we’re building a relationship on the first meeting. Subsequent meetings will make it easier to ask difficult questions and to be able to receive the answers in your heart. If no spirit comes forward and you go to walk about, make note of the plants that appear (trees, ivy, bushes, and so forth) so that you can figure out their meaning when you’re back in your body (so to speak).

Working with New Allies

Linden—Linden is a loving plant ally to signal to the universe that you are ready for a new loving relationship. Working with the spirit of Linden encourages respect, both for you to show, and for respect to be shown to you. Linden inspires calm and allows us to recognize our needs, especially the ones we have neglected in favor of others. As a loving ally, linden helps find lovers who are faithful and have relationship longevity in mind, and is also a plant associated with protection magic, so it can help find a relationship that is safe for your heart and body. This working can work to bring both new platonic and romantic relationships, because both are important for happy, healthy humans.

The Spell

Supplies:

  • Choose a candle (white, pink, or red depending on intended outcome, or all three!)
  • Candleholder
  • Ballpoint
  • Enough jojoba oil to anoint the candle
  • Linden flowers, leaves (dried linden from a bulk herb website is also okay)
  • 1 handful salt

The white candle signifies purifying those past behaviors that you’d like to overcome, as well as feelings of loss, fear, depression, and the like that you already overcame. The pink candle represents the ability of the Witch (you) to understand and embrace the love they have for themselves. Move lastly to the red for blossoming love and understanding with a new potential partner, whether romantic or platonic.

A flat surface like a plate or serving platter is ideal to place your candleholders on to keep the spell contained for easy cleanup. Carve the word “linden” into the candle surface that you choose with a ballpoint pen. Anoint the candle with jojoba oil for removing blockages to your desired goal.

Place the candle in the center of the space in the candleholder. Next, mix one handful of salt (purification) with one handful of linden flowers and leaves. You can do this in a bowl or with a mortar and pestle. We want to incorporate the two as best we can. Once they are mixed well, sprinkle the mixture in a line to form a small circle an inch or two away from the candle.

Add more linden to the salt mixture and do a second ring.

Add more linden and make a third ring.

The center ring will have the most salt, the outside ring, the least. Th ink of it as a multistage water purifier. We are taking the energy that the candle is putting out and forcing it through filters of love, protection, and respect.

When it is time to light the candle, picture the emotions you have overcome to make room for a new person in your loving relationships. Remember, there are so many types of love—love for family and siblings, love of your teammates, love for your home; each is different.

We are growing and moving through our lives as loving adults. You may have heard some (toxic) adages about not being able to love anyone if you don’t love yourself. Please understand that this couldn’t be further from the truth: we all deserve love. Sometimes we didn’t receive the love we were meant to in our homes as children, so it can be hard to know what loving relationships look like until someone shows you how to love appropriately. It has nothing to do with your ability to recognize feelings directed at yourself. You’re an incredible person, and I can’t wait to see what you do with this life.

Connecting with Plants outside the Physical

Working with plants as spirit beings means that we can work with and develop relationships with plants that we might not otherwise have access to, due to time, distance, cost, scarcity, and a number of other factors. In this case, it can be important to interact with that plant as a spirit being using your inner landscape rather than interacting with the plant itself.

One such example would be to interact with the spirit of a plant that you’re allergic to. It isn’t safe to handle plants that you’re allergic to, but it can be a fulfilling experience to meet that plant ally on the spirit plane to ask what you’re supposed to learn about that plant through your allergy. Th ere could be a message in it. Th ere could not be. But you don’t know until you ask.

  1. Enter your sacred space.
  2. Relax your body.
  3. Count down from ten to one to settle your mind further.
  4. Feel yourself enter your inner landscape.
  5. Invite a plant you are allergic to, to meet with you in sacred space. Ask them what you can both learn from each other through this allergy. For example, if you’re allergic to plantain, a common weed found in grass, you might learn that you avoid healing parts of yourself that you see as not being too bad or not bad enough to warrant treatment. Where does this understanding come from? Plantain (both broadleaf and narrow leaf plantain) is an anti-inflammatory, a vulnerary (wound-healer), and astringent (draws out poison, venom, and irritants like bee venom, spider venom, and the like).
  6. To discern the meaning in any botanical associations, you can check field guides, herbal books like The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine-Making Guide and magical herbals like Blackthorn’s Botanical Magic and Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs.

Quick note: folklore is a vast and varied subject, but some Beings (with a capital B) can get offended if you thank them. If you feel strongly about showing your appreciation, ask them how they feel about the words “thank you” and if there’s anything they might ask of you in return for helping you. Debts are a funny thing. Make sure it’s something you can 100 percent do, as breaking your word to spirits can have disastrous consequences.

  1. Once you have the information you need, exit your inner landscape, and write down everything you can remember. You may have more vivid than usual dreams, and parts of your journey may come back to your memory hours or days after a journey. That’s completely natural, just write it down when you can, as you remembered it for a reason.

Just make sure to get a nice grounding meal afterwards and plenty of rest that evening.

—Amy Blackthorn, Chapter 3, Building Botanical Relationships, Copyright © 2024 

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Blackthorn's Book of Sacred Plant Magic

Amy Blackthorn

Renowned herbalist Amy Blackthorn shows readers how to bring plant spirits into their daily spiritual practice with therapeutic access, subconscious learning, and divining skills that help them understand plant spirits on a deeper level.

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Blackthorn's Book of Sacred Plant Magic

August Author Blog

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An Excerpt from “Becoming Baba Yaga” by Kris Spisak

Have you ever had a day where you blink and the sun is up? You take a few breaths. You turn around, and noon’s sun blazes down. Then somehow, as if no time has passed at all, twilight surrounds you. Darkness falls. And the day, which had only begun, has slipped past.

Time is a complex element within Baba Yaga’s stories, yet even the first time I heard of her horsemen—the horsemen in red, who brings the dawn; the horseman in white, who brings the brightness of daytime; and the horseman in black who brings the night—they felt familiar. Not only are there echoes of other mythologies in their travels, but some days can be like that, can’t they? Weeks and years can rush by. Time flies, not only when you’re having fun but when life keeps you on your toes.

These are no twelve horsemen of the apocalypse. They are Baba Yaga’s horsemen, controllers of time. Yes, the power in this ancient woman’s hand is so much greater than other cannibalistic witches you might know.

Oral traditions are harder to capture than a slip of the tongue, and characters like Baba Yaga don’t lend any simplicity to the hunt. Just as we forget that those around us do not see the intentions of our minds and hearts but only our words and actions, Baba Yaga too is a creation of others’ impressions. We don’t necessarily know her motivations, and that missing element adds to her enigma.

In our own lives, every day, our hearts strike out for the good of the world—or at least the good of our personal worlds in whatever way we can pursue it. Baba Yaga started in the same way. Earth goddess. Goddess of fertility. Goddess of the harvest. Force of regeneration. Caretaker of our ancestors’ wisdom. Gatekeeper between life and death, guiding souls through their birthing and dying. Yes, these are a part of her legacy too. Yet time, social movements, and politics do their damage.

Don’t we all know it? Though not all of us are recast as crones, as ogre witches, as monsters. At least not on our better days.

However, in true Baba Yaga style, she’s a babushka (grandmother) who owns her complexities and thrives in them. That’s a lesson for all of us. We see your assumptions, world, and here’s what we have to say about it. Or not. Actions should speak louder than words, but what if those actions are sometimes compassionate and sometimes malicious? Therein lies the rub.

Baba Yaga’s identity drifts one direction then another between places and times, but by traveling back into history and crossing her many inhabited lands, we can gather a better understanding of who she may have been, at least to some tellers of her tales.

In contemporary popular culture, her name and character appear more frequently than we realize. The code name of Keanu Reeves’s titular character in the John Wick series is “Baba Yaga” within the dark organization where he operates. Hellboy comics and Dreamworks’ Puss in Boots introduce her as a character. Malware has been named after her, and the literary scene has certainly embraced her many possibilities. My own novel, The Baba Yaga Mask, is only one of a long legacy, including Orson Scott Card’s Enchantment and Diana Wynne Jones’s Howl’s Moving Castle with its parallel to a certain someone’s chicken-legged hut. While perhaps unfamiliar to American audiences at first glance, Baba Yaga’s presence is increasingly relevant to Western lives.

By trailing her backward through time, not only can we discover how she’s been introduced to prior generations; we can also pick up the clues of her origins and countless backstories. Specific episodes of our own lives shape and define us, and the same can be said for a folktale character who has existed in popular culture for hundreds of years, with her roots stretching into past millennia. Storytelling over such time spans is almost inconceivable, but our quest is a noble one—no matter how tangled in linguistic vines and hypothesis-laden thistle.

In a 1979 hand-drawn cartoon created by a Soviet-owned film studio, Baba Yaga and her accomplices tried to block the Olympic mascot, Misha the Bear, from playing in the Games. Released ahead of the 1980 Olympics, the old troublesome witch interfered as much as possible in this twenty-six-minute cartoon, even attempting to become the mascot herself, before entering the competition and comically failing repeatedly. Because the Moscow Olympics were boycotted by sixty-six countries, led by the United States, Baba Yaga’s role as interfering nuisance is considered a metaphor for the moment, her bumbling, destructive behaviors a parallel to Soviet impressions of the U.S.

Once again, she’s more complex than her face value, as grotesque—or as comical in this instance—as that face may be.

Of course, Baba Yaga was a common figure in Soviet-era cartoons from 1930s onward, often serving the morality tale trope to her child audiences. Be good and follow the rules of a well-organized society or else Baba Yaga will eat you! Big bad wolves and boogeymen historically have their roles, no matter your opinion on child-rearing or nationalistic propaganda.

Baba Yaga was known by the Czech version of her name, Ježibaba, in Antonin Dvořak’s opera Rusalka, which was first performed in Prague in 1901. While the storyline skews close to Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, Baba Yaga (as Ježibaba) has one of the best-known witch arias in operatic history, luring in the listener as she offers aid true to her dark forest roots.

Her legacy is as gnarled as the tree’ branches that surround her dark forest home, and we love her all the more for it.

Close to the same time as Dvořak’s opera, Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov composed a three-and-a-half-minute orchestral poem “Baba- Yaga” in 1904, following the tradition of Modest Mussorgsky’s 1874 orchestral arrangement “Pictures at an Exhibition.” The work of Victor Hartmann, an artist active amid the 1860s movement to revive Slavic folk songs, folktales, and traditions of medieval Russia, inspired Mussorgsky’s piece. Specifically, one of Hartmann’s watercolor pieces on display at the Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg in 1874, depicted a 14th-century style clock inspired by Baba Yaga’s chicken-legged hut. In turn, Mussorgsky’s ninth movement in “Pictures at an Exhibition” was titled “The Hut on Hen’s Legs.”

The Telephone game continues. Art begets art begets art, and I imagine Baba Yaga cackling all the while—whether hovering around creative circles, the audiences that consistently whisper and shrink back from her fame, or the shadowy forests and hidden alleyways of old villages where we might expect to find her.

Yet traveling back one hundred or one hundred fifty years is not really so far, when we know how long Baba Yaga has graced imaginations.

If we step back into the era of the birth of folktale studies, we may well come to know the work of Aleksandr Nikolayevich Afanasev. In his lifetime, Afanasev published nearly six hundred Slavic folktales and fairytales, from the first collection of seventy-four stories in 1855 to a significantly larger tome completed in 1863. Much like the Brothers Grimm, his roots were in academia. History, romanticism, mythology, and nature studies initially piqued his interest, with characters like Baba Yaga and Koscheii the Deathless biding their time in the inkless shadows, waiting for the moment their tales would flow from Afanasev’s pen.

Keep Koscheii in mind. Not only will we return to him, but he also was one of Baba Yaga’s accomplices during her brief animated stint at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, Afanasev was unique amid his folktale collecting contemporaries. He didn’t merely gather oral tales, changing them to his fancy. He collected versions of the tales, meticulously noting his sources, an invaluable record.

Afanasev was hardly the first of the Slavic fairytale collectors. He had multiple contemporaries, tracing back to the work of Vasilii Levshin, who is considered the first to capture Baba Yaga stories in writing. And we cannot ignore the 1788 comedic opera, Baba Yaga, by Prince Dmitry Gorchakov and Mathias Stabingher. Designed for Catherine the Great’s royal court, the ancient witch’s complex portrayal on stage makes me long to see this performance as it once was. Before the final curtain, Baba Yaga remains the sole character in the spotlight. Was she hunched, clenching a giant pestle? Was she dressed in rags or a gown as black as the dark forests of Russia? So many details are lost to history, even as we do know Baba Yaga closed the show with a solo about a better world that could come to be.

Terror. Hideousness. Hope. Possibility.

Yes, this is Baba Yaga, the witch, the motivational sorceress, sharing a lesson and a hint of optimism for audiences to take home. Members of Catherine the Great’s royal court, academics digging into dusty record books, modern readers who’ve always sensed a shadow aching to step into the spotlight and be heard—this is a character crafted through the ages for you all.

But like someone journeying into the woods, weaving between peeling birch trunks and dew-tipped thorns reaching out to pierce us—we must seek her out still, bracing ourselves as best we can as the pursuit begins to test us. We must creep beyond the easily accessible written records of history and published creativity.

We must track her to places where the forest’s onyx shadows are no different from the raven-inspired hues of night, where owls call no matter the hour, reminding us not to approach with demands but with the respect such an ancient elder surely deserves.

In her earliest known written record, Mikhail W. Lomonosov’s 1755 Russian Grammar, Baba Yaga was noted in an academically designed table, where gods, goddesses, and other deities of the world were connected with notes on their geography. The ancient Slavic god Perun, for example, was related with the Roman god Jupiter. Yet in this first-known textual documentation, Baba Yaga stood unaccompanied, with no comparisons the world over. She might have won me over in this detail alone, but let’s pause here for a moment.

This Russian grammar book is the beginning of her written legacy, but she’s clearly known to the population that may have encountered her here. Her first known written record is hardly an introduction. She’s named among the pantheons of gods and goddesses, no insignificant reputation.

Earlier still, woodblock prints known as lubki, popular in the 1600s and 1700s, are our earliest known confirmed representations of her. These decorations, originally fashioned from the carve-able layer of wood under the bark of linden trees, hung in the households of those who could not afford more expensive icons. Commonly sold for only a kopek or two, these simple prints were inked with a mixture of soot and burnt sienna boiled in linseed oil. They decorated homes and told stories, even to those who could not read. Lubki captured biblical tales, historical events, and yes, folktale stories well-known and well-treasured.

According to this artistic record, Baba Yaga was already a familiar character in this time period as well, able to stand on her own pictorially and be clearly identifiable. Imagining a cultural icon, a character captured in imaginations across Eastern Europe, but never written down in words is almost difficult for our modern minds to imagine. We live in an age of endless records, of content creation, and of mass media around every corner—corners both shadowy and well-lit in the sunshine. However, we must remember that literacy was not always as widespread as in the contemporary West. Oral traditions have a more extensive history. While harder to trace, these legacies hold equal value to messages preserved in parchment and ink, in chisel and stone. Stories are stories. They hold secrets, mysteries, and tremors of humanity within.

After all of the written and pictorial evidence, we can see how Baba Yaga was a familiar presence in the lives and memories of Slavic people across the regions of present-day Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Belarus, and beyond.

Was she connected with the Siberian bird goddess, known as a midwife? Her beak-like nose and her hut’s chicken legs may pay their own subtle homage.

Was she linked with another ancient Slavic goddess, tied to the underworld and known to be seated in an iron mortar like a throne, iron pestle in her hands? These objects didn’t grant her flight, but, oh, the relationship is far too palpable to ignore.

Do her roots lie in tales of Jezibaba, associated not with the collection of children’s bones after eating them but with the collection of baby teeth? Childhood traditions certainly spark their own tales.

Or should we examine the connection with the ancient being that carried the wisdom of time? She was believed to partner with Death as souls transitioned to the opposite side. Sure, “partner with death” sounds a touch macabre, but when wrapping our minds around the persona who guides souls as they enter life and as they leave it, this last role is among the most profound of all, no?

These goddesses, terrors, and traditions are all likely connections, fragments that rebuild and reshatter to create the disjointed and bewildering existence Baba Yaga has held in minds for centuries. Some scholars even trace Baba Yaga’s roots to the pre-Indo-European matrilinear pantheon, and logic exists in these foundations.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting excited to roll up my sleeves and embark on this quest for an ogress witch who may also be a goddess.

Dusk begins to fall. Rustling leaves overhead beckon us into the forest’s obscurity. Scholars, academics, folklorists, and weavers of their own yarns link Baba Yaga to countless possibilities. The truth remains somewhere in the tangles of thorns and of threads. The headline can fearmonger to sell more subscriptions and to gain more clicks, but to grasp the entirety of the narrative, more time is required. Baba Yaga’s three horsemen should be able to help with that.

Examining ourselves, we know that who we are in any given minute of our lives is shaped by our past and present circumstances. All we have done and all the versions of ourselves we have been coalesce to refine us and define us. A folktale is no different. Baba Yaga’s stories exist and evolve, building upon their past derivations and seizing upon the new world, the unique societies that she discovers herself within.

No one folklorist, no one spiritualist, no one story captures Baba Yaga’s singular essence. Yet each leaves us clues to explore.

And so we shall.

Is her broom made of birch because birch trees are known as “the mother tree,” associated with fertility for centuries? Does this association arise from the tale of how birches were the first saplings that grew after the Ice Age, bringing life back after a frozen, desolate existence? Is it true? I don’t know, but wow is that a good story.

When examining folktales, we must always appreciate a narrative well-conceived. Only then do we let our curiosity push us on.

One of my favorite approaches to classic tales is in the tradition of the Ukrainian literary master, Lesya Ukrainka, who reimagined well-known tales with new parallels and purposes. In these pages, I mill Baba Yaga tales with a modern eye, as if I had a mortar and pestle of my own, grinding wheat berries down to bran and flour, crushing freshly picked herbs to release their oils and essence.

Recipes, medicines, and cocktails are known to transform with muddling. Stories do too.

And Baba Yaga has always embraced ongoing personal development.

She could be a goddess, a monster, or a little bit of both. Exploring all the remaining specks and nettles are a necessity, even if they may become stuck in our hair or a part of an old ogre witch’s brew. Curiosity is as much at the core of humanity as the desire for story itself, and where curiosity and story combine, you find the story historians whose fingers itch to turn back the pages to reveal more about who we have been, who we are, and what shadows and sparks linger to impact our collective future.

How did Baba Yaga become Baba Yaga, and what does the old woman still have to say to us? Let’s find out.

—Kris Spisak, Chapter 1, Clues to Explore, Copyright © 2024 

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Becoming Baba Yaga

Kris Spisak

Explore the folklore of the trickster, villain, and rescuer known as Baba Yaga in a new light.

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Becoming Baba Yaga

July Author Blog

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An Excerpt from “Lead Boldly” by Hugh Blane

“That’s the beauty of coaching. You get to touch lives. You get to make a difference.”  

—Morgan Wootten

I can count on one hand the number of people who have had a transformational impact on my life. My parents certainly did, but a very close second (and the catalyst for my professional life today) was David Litton, my junior high school track coach.

Coach Litton changed the trajectory of my life. That’s not hyperbole. In a very real way, he entered the life of a skinny, troubled immigrant kid and planted the seeds of what was possible, the power of perseverance, and even the idea of pursuing excellence. I didn’t possess those attributes before being coached by him, but the fact that he had planted the seeds of greatness in me is a testament to his impact.

I wasn’t raised with greatness in mind. I was raised with a mindset of adversity, anxiety, and poverty by an immigrant family that was struggling to survive. My family came to the United States in 1968 with no furniture, little luggage, and great hope that we could recover from the financial reversals we had suffered in Scotland. My father’s business had bankrupted our family. By the time three men knocked on

our front door to repossess our furniture, we were broken financially, emotionally, and, in some ways, spiritually. For us, immigrating was not so much about moving to the United States as it was about running away from the embarrassment of having been reduced from an upper-middle-class lifestyle to one dependent on family and friends for survival. This experience left my parents rightly focused on making ends meet, but with little energy left to attend to the emotional and psychological needs of their two young children.

We arrived in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1968, five years after Bull Connor had used fire hoses on protestors and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. I entered Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic school on the same day that four African-American girls crossed the integration barrier and enrolled there. I stood on the sidewalk with fifty other students curiously watching as these girls crossed the courtyard to enter the building. On this, my first day of school in America, I experienced prejudice and the civil rights movement up-close and personal. And I found myself closely aligned with the four girls crossing that invisible barrier of belonging because I, too, was crossing into the unknown and was eager, if not desperate, to fit in with the other kids at school.

In my first two years at school, my schoolwork was well below average. I felt out of place and unable to focus. I spent more time in the principal’s office than at my desk. I had a nervous and insatiable need to talk when I was told to be quiet.

In hopes of being included and accepted, I befriended other troubled kids. I found a group of boys as unfocused as I was who were rebelling against being told what to do. On a dare from one of my new friends, I stole lunch tickets from a teacher’s desk and scalped them for half price. It was a simple transaction. Your parents gave you $2.00 for your weekly lunches. I’d sell you a ticket for a dollar. You kept a dollar and so did I. After two weeks, I visited the principal’s office and was found to have $65.00 in cash. I thought I was entrepreneurial, but the school principal called me a thief. She was right, and I was expelled from school.

I was then enrolled in a public junior high school, where I quickly realized how much safer Catholic school had been. Here, fitting in and becoming a part of the group was a fullcontact sport. I tell you all this to provide context and help you understand where my young life was headed, and why Coach Litton’s lifeline changed my trajectory so dramatically.

RUNNING FOR MY LIFE

One day in gym class, the football coach lined up all the boys in a large horseshoe and instructed the two boys at the top of the horseshoe to compete in a forty-yard dash. I’m not sure if I was smart or nervous, but I counted the number of kids in front of me to see who I was going to race against. To my shock, I saw my “competitor” was Moses, the star running back on the football team. I only knew him from seeing him walk the halls of school, where kids called his name wanting to be seen as his friend. When my eyes met his, Moses was beaming with a confident and arrogant smile. From forty feet away, it was clear how much he would enjoy devouring this scrawny kid. The likely fear on my face made this all the more delicious for him.

I started brainstorming excuses for why I couldn’t run. I had an upset stomach. Nope. I felt sick and needed to go to the bathroom. Nope. How about, I want my mom! Eh . . . no, that won’t work. As a Catholic, I thought of the Old Testament sacrifices and felt like a lamb going to the slaughter. I believed I was going to be sacrificed by the football coach, by Moses, and by all of the other boys for the laugh of the day. There was nowhere to hide.

After ten fear-wracked minutes, I found myself face to face with Moses. I remember he had the broadest smile and the whitest teeth. He was a god, and hearing his laughter as he contemplated racing me was humiliating. The football coach started laughing as well, as did the other boys. Then the coach picked up his stopwatch and asked if we were ready, to which Moses responded loudly and triumphantly in the affirmative.

I had no talent or skill for running. I was good at running away from responsibility, but that was it. As time slowed to a standstill, I felt a physical pain of sorts standing next to Moses. I couldn’t catch my breath, but I remember bracing myself on the starting line and staring ahead. At the command to go, I felt as if I had been shot from a cannon. I was running to get the race over with. I wanted the embarrassment to end. So I ran away from it and the laughter of seventy-five boys and the devouring gaze of Moses. I ran my ass off. And so did he. But over those forty yards, Moses never pulled ahead of me. Miraculously, I crossed the finish line before he did.

Think for a moment about what had happened. Some scrawny kid (and I mean scrawny!) raced and beat the star running back. Compare this to a souped- up Honda Civic beating a Porsche 911 in a quarter-mile sprint. The disbelief was palpable. Disbelief from Moses, who certainly wasn’t accustomed to losing. Disbelief from the football coach, whose star running back had just been beaten. Disbelief from the other boys, because their hero had been bested. And most profoundly, disbelief from me that I hadn’t lost.

The momentary “Holy smokes, I didn’t lose” moment was quickly replaced with the thought that I must have jumped the gun. I must have goofed up somehow. This was confirmed when the coach barked: “Let’s see if you can do that again.” As we walked back to the starting line, Moses was no longer laughing, but looked confused. The other boys weren’t laughing either, but asking: “Who is this kid?” I was simply wondering what had just happened.

I won the second race, although by a smaller margin than the first, which enraged the coach, who yelled that we had to race again. As we returned to the starting line, I could feel the anger radiating off Moses. After I had beaten him for a third time and was hoping desperately that there wouldn’t be a fourth race, Coach Litton stepped into the fray and suggested that the football coach give some of other boys a chance to run.

TAKING THE WIN

At first, my unlikely victory over Moses didn’t turn out to be a victory for me. I had alienated Moses’s friends and the other members of the football team. I was too small to play football, so I was of no value to the football coach. For the remainder of that ill-fated gym class, no one spoke to me or congratulated me. I felt more and more like an outsider. I felt responsible for embarrassing Moses and, in some perverted way, for causing him pain. Aware that I had no allies and no one with whom to share my success, I spent the rest of that day trying to avoid talking about what had happened and waiting to use my newfound speed to run home.

But Coach Litton was waiting for me as I walked out of my last class. “I think you’ve got a lot of potential as a runner,” he said. He told me that I had done something really special that day by winning three races against Moses. Then he commented that, with a little coaching and training, I could excel at running track and suggested that I join the track team. Feeling I had nothing to lose, I decided to give it a go.

This was a transformational moment for me. Coach Litton did what great coaches do. He saw something in me that I couldn’t see in myself and committed to bringing out the best in me on the track. He understood my circumstances as a troubled immigrant kid, my academic struggles, and my lack of friends. He raised the bar on what I thought I could accomplish and helped me to feel a part of something special.

I’m telling you this story to illustrate how one individual can change the trajectory of another’s life. Coaching, when done in the way that Coach Litton worked with me, doesn’t impact just one person’s life. It affects the lives of all of the people with whom that person lives and interacts.

The coaching I received from Coach Litton has shaped and informed the businesses I have run. He influenced the relationships I have with my family, my friends, and my coaching clients, as well as with the community where I live and work. He inspired me to pursue excellence and, in the process, to become the very best version of myself. He taught me a set of values and principles that still helps shape me today and that enables me to show my clients how to rise up and live abundantly. His coaching was a gift given to me at a time when I needed it the most. I now share this gift with you, as I believe that we, as a culture, are in need of it now more than ever.

QUESTIONS

As you reflect on the story of Coach Litton, think about how similar experiences you may have had in your own life have changed you—for better and for worse.

  • Who are the three most influential people you’ve
  • known and what did they do that changed the trajectory of your life?
  • How do you pay forward what they taught you?
  • How have your relationships with these people shaped
  • your definition of greatness?

With your answers in mind, let’s now take a closer look at what it means to love deeply.

—Hugh Blane, Chapter 1, Be a Difference Maker, Copyright © 2024

Featured Book

Lead Boldly

Hugh Blane

In “Lead Boldly,” peak performance coach Hugh Blane shares his three guiding principles for converting human potential into inspired performance. He does this by providing a detailed road map for transforming a leader’s results at work and home in unprecedented ways.

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Lead Boldly

June Author Blog

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An Excerpt from “Year of the Dark Goddess” by Lara Vesta

Journey to the Underworld

I want to clarify that this is a journey to the mythic Underworld, but not a journey into the ancient land of the dead. We will be traveling to the outer gates of a mythic vision for the land of the dead. According to the historical lore, it’s important that you don’t touch the wall or the gates of the land of the dead nor attempt to enter the land of the dead. Psychologically, it is important to adhere to these prohibitions.

It is traditional to make offerings in the mythic Underworld. I invite you to consider metaphorically what you have with you, what you can give as a gift. It can be something that you’re ready to give up and leave behind. And in fact, something traditional in the exchange of the Underworld is that we leave something there of significance to us; we allow something of ourselves to remain.

I also recommend grounding yourself into the here and now after the journey with some food and water and going outside, putting your bare hands and feet to the earth, breathing with the earth and just giving thanks for whatever it is that you receive. That’s going to help bring you back into your body.

TO BEGIN

Ensure you are in a quiet place where you will not be disturbed. Because this journey takes us deep into psychological space, you do not want to be jolted out of your travels. If you are playing a recording of the journey or having the journey read to you, you may choose to lie down in a dark room. If you are reading the journey aloud, you might wish to place a veil over your head. Choose one that allows you to see the text below you but blocks out surrounding light.

Center and ground yourself.

Journeys to the mythic Underworld all follow a formula in Old Norse sources:

First you must choose your transportation.

You may either ride on a borrowed horse, which will become the magical transporter for your journey, or you may encounter a woman whose arms are filled with hemlock greens, who greets you and wraps you in her mantle drawing you down beneath the earth.

Once you have decided on your transportation, begin to envision yourself in a protective circle. You might choose to visualize yourself in the web of life, connected above and below, encircling yourself in a web of light. Breathe into the web.

Or you might wish to imagine you are a tree, sending your own roots down into the earth and connecting deeply with the stones, the ancestral bones, even the magma from the earth’s center. Then allow your branches to extend up into the sky above you, while also dropping down into the earth to meet your roots so that you become a circuit of energy.

Breathe into your web or energetic tree. Release anything that is no longer serving you into the earth below.

Invite in any protectors—your helping and compassionate ancestors, guardians, and guides—to be present with you in this journey.

You are now in a sphere of protection and support.

And from within this sacred space, find yourself at the center. Feel your strength, the power of your container, your readiness for making this journey, and give thanks to yourself for being here, for showing up, for being willing.

Feel into your choice of transportation. Now either mount your borrowed horse or find yourself wrapped in the mantle or shawl of the woman bearing hemlocks. Either way from this place we begin with your guide, horse or woman.

And we are in the forest.

You see before you a large tree, maybe an ash, a yew, a redwood, a sequoia, or a great oak.

The tree is vast. Its branches reach up so high that they disappear into the mists above it, extending out, holding an entire forest within the circumference of the tree roots. And inside the tree is an aperture, a portal. Now with your transporter, woman or horse, make your way into the tree. Notice how in the trunk of the tree opens a wide road, the path pointing down and to the north. It is damp and slippery.

And as you become a part of the journey on the road, you can hear footsteps—your own or of the horse or of your guide—resounding on the road, echoing out into what seems like an endless chamber. You travel down and down and down for nine days and nine nights.

We move now down nine days and nine nights on the road. Day is felt, not seen, but sensed; night is luminous in the distance. A feeling of stars.

Nine days, nine nights.

Eight days, eight nights down and down.

Seven days, seven nights,

six days, six nights down and down.

Five days, five nights,

four days, four nights down and down.

Three days, three nights,

two days, two nights down and down.

This day, this night.

We stand now on the Earth Road.

And still the road leads down.

The way is full of mists and darkness. Feel the mists curling around you. As you walk, a sense of sovereignty and centeredness fills your every motion. Even though you can’t see where the road ends, you know where you’re going: you are going to the land of the dead.

You travel over deep, dark valleys, through more mists and more darkness. You find the road beneath you has become well-worn, and you notice that you are not alone. There’s a community with you now of travelers, richly clad and walking, all of them down and down.

You move with the travelers until you find yourself alone again in a sunny land. Now, light is coming from somewhere bright and glowing. The plants are growing fresh and green, beautiful all around you. Notice which plants you recognize, which ones you have seen before, or perhaps they call to you, tremble as you approach, or brush your hand.

And we travel on down and down.

There is no sound except for the footsteps and your own breath. And through the ever-present mist, a dog approaches, its breast bloodstained. And it barks at you urgently, but not threateningly.

And you travel on down and down. It becomes so dark that you see nothing at all. But you can hear the roar of a great river, the river whose name means “echoing, bellowing,” a swift and tumbling river of leaden waters, which contain weapons of all kinds. At the banks of the river there is a battle unending. Those who have died in war are fighting forever by the river that separates the living from the dead.

Over the river before you, there is a bridge. The bridge is also called Bellowing, and it is roofed in shining gold. Suddenly everything around you becomes luminous, bright with the gold of the bridge as you approach. And in the shadow of the roof, emerges the guardian.

Her name is Morgu∂, which is said to mean “courage in battle” in most translations, but it comes from roots that mean “heart” and “mother.” She greets you and says:

What is your name? What is your lineage?

Tell her now your name; tell her who your people are.

Morgu∂ says:

Why are you on the Earth Path?

And you answer:

[Whatever it is you are seeking in terms of support, answers, or guidance for your rite of passage, this is where you ask.]

Morgu∂ says:

What you seek has crossed the Bellowing Bridge and the Earth Path lies downward and to the north.

And again, we are on the move, crossing over the Bellowing bridge. Visible to the east is a glow. And shimmering before you is a mysterious wall, the gates of the ancient Land of the Dead.

Maybe you can see the outlines of apple trees and the orchard of this mythic Underworld, beautiful in mists and full of soft light. You must not touch the wall, but in ancient times, were you to pass through to the Land of the Dead, there would be a restoration, for when the time comes that is where the dead are restored.

Now you walk between the wall and the river following the Earth Path. It is smooth and worn from many visits. And you see a ring of fire in the distance, and there is something within the ring that calls you forward. Notice how you feel approaching the fire. It is not in the Land of the Dead, nor is it in the Land of the Living. It is on the borderline, the liminal space, the space of sleep, the space of forgetting.

You come to the fire, seeking to remember, re-member, to bring together something missing, something essential to you. Something that you have lost or forgotten in your rite of passage. Perhaps something was taken from you in this transition or something was put to sleep for reasons of protection or reasons beyond understanding.

As you approach the fire, feel what it is to be in that liminal space between the worlds.

Step forward to the fire.

If you carry fear from your rite of passage, this is where you leave it.

If you carry doubt from your rite of passage, this is where you leave it.

If you carry shame or pain from your rite of passage, this is where you leave it, shedding it like a skin and leaving it outside the wall of flame—emerging new and whole.

You enter the flame itself, and it does not burn.

You feel the sensation of the flame, the sacred fire that heals and anneals, that holds what is precious, but does not burn. Now, notice.

What is in the circle of the fire?

This symbol may represent support you need for your Dark Goddess Year. If you choose to bring the symbol back with you, you’ll have to leave something symbolic in its place, something of equal representational value. Even if it is something that you need to let go of, there may be some pain involved.

If you bring an object back with you, you will be responsible for it. You will have to tend it. It is an obligation. It is an honor that you are committing yourself to here in the sacred circle of fire.

When you make your decision, you may claim what is in the circle and leave something, honoring for this exchange. Say some words of blessing or thanks for this symbolic action.

Now say some words of blessing and gratitude for the mythic Underworld realm.

Bless yourself at the center of the sacred liminal fire.

Bless the fire.

As you turn, walk back to the path, exiting the fire and leaving behind your offerings of anything you do not wish to carry any longer.

Bless the river to one side of you.

Bless the path beneath your feet.

Bless your guides, either woman or horse, all those that have been with you on this journey.

Make your way to the bridge and bless it as you arrive to it again. Give your thanks to Morgu∂ as you pass from the depths of your unconscious.

And now you must return, leaving Morgu∂, over the bridge.

You move now to the south and up, the path resounding beneath you.

You bless the dog with the bloody breast who barks at you as you move up and to the south.

You enter again the realm where the plants are eternally fresh and green as you travel up and to the south.

You pass the well-dressed travelers on the path; you bless the dark valleys.

You bless the mists as the path arcs up again.

You bless the nine days and nine nights it takes to return, up, up, up and to the south.

This day and this night, second day and a second night,

a third day and a third night,

a fourth day and a fourth night,

a fifth day and a fifth night

a sixth day and a sixth night

a seventh day and a seventh night,

an eighth day and an eighth night,

On the ninth day you see the light above you.

And you return to the trunk of the tree, emerging into daylight.

As you come again into the realm of life, the realm of the living, bless your symbolic guide, woman or horse, and give gratitude in exchange for the accompaniment they have shown you on this journey.

Your guide or mount embraces you or nuzzles you.

And then they melt back into the earth becoming one with the chthonic dark below. You find yourself again on the path of the forest.

Begin to bless yourself.

Root into your physical body. Notice the taste in your mouth.

Notice the smell in your nose.

Notice what is touching your skin.

Notice any noises you hear and bring your hands to yourself, to the sacred center, and hold yourself close.

Feel again the web of life around you, or your energetic roots and branches, created by you in relationship to the place that you are now, to your ancestors, your guardians, your guides, and fill yourself with love for who you are right now at this time, this deep honoring on this sacred day. Continue loving yourself, loving your task, loving your transformation, loving the rite of passage that you are honoring.

Bless yourself; bless your life; bless your relationships, human and nonhuman. Bless the place where you live; even if it’s not the place that you think you should be, it’s where you are right now. It is feeding you and holding you, so offer it your blessing. Bless your ancestors, all of the lives and deaths that created you, that brought you here to this moment in time, human and nonhuman all. An infinitude of lives. An unbreakable matrix connecting you to all life.

And bless the mystery, the source of all life, that holds us in presence and joy and possibility.

Now, with a heart filled with compassion and empathy for the mythic Underworld, come back into your center. Open your eyes.

By this and every effort may the balance be regained.

—Lara Vesta, Part 1 The Dark Goddess Awaits: Journey to the Underworld, Copyright © 2024

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Year of the Dark Goddess

Lara Vesta

A guided journey of empowerment and healing through life’s difficult passages, with practical tools, including embodied rituals, writing prompts, seasonal self-care practices, and community creation.

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Year of the Dark Goddess
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