Category: Blog Post

Janus & The SAD Witch in Winter

Posted on by runa

Crafting A Life With Seasonal Affective Disorder

When the light shifts as winter approaches each year, I become a different person. Like a witchy Janus, people who see me in the winter time say I even look different. I am not the summer Runa that is cheery, active, and social. I am the winter Runa that is slow, introspective, and solitary. This is life with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), aka seasonal depression. The fact that I suffer with this disorder is no secret, but I have many new folx reading my work, and it made sense to address one of the challenges I face in my life regularly and how it impacts, shifts, and informs my life – writing, food growing, and my Practice. 

This disorder is a form of depression that shows up in a seasonal cycle, usually lasting around four to five months each year. It presents a lot like clinical depression, but has its own seasonal twists since different symptoms tend to show up in the winter-pattern versus the summer-pattern SAD. As its acronym suggests, sadness and other depressive symptoms dominate the winter season for SAD sufferers, including having little or no energy, changes in sleep and appetite, physical aches pains, and bodily system problems (think digestion, breathing, or reproductive) and thought processes become cloudy. SAD sufferers are not immune to suicidal ideation either. Let me spotlight here that if you are feeling like you may cause yourself harm, please seek professional healthcare support. Witches have therapists, too. 

As a Witch, the awareness of these energetic cycles is helpful. It helps to acknowledge SAD as the real mental-health condition it is. That said, it’s important to remember that SAD doesn’t make you broken, or “too much,” although the overculture wants you to think you just need to shake your head, pat yourself on the back, and – wa-la! you feel better. Instead, it’s been helpful to me to approach this time of year and the onset of SAD, as a natural response to seasonal changes in light, energy, and routine – like a Witch does. The Land is fallow, so sleeping more, eating differently, and needing more physical comfort and deeper roots & connections seems more aligned with our planet’s natural rhythms.

Photo by Runa Troy

In naming and acknowledging SAD, it both grounds you by giving you language for an experience many others share, without labeling yourself as a problem. It’s about understanding your rhythms so you can care for yourself with more compassion and intention. Once you’ve named and acknowledged, you can weave practical support with not just treatment routines and actions, but with Witchcraft and/or energetic practices. There was a moment back in 2016 – a decade or so after my diagnosis – where I literally yelled out the back door after like the 30th day of gray skies, “I fucking have SAD, give me a break!” It was a crude acknowledgement, but it was a positive energetic step in reckoning my shadow. If you are reading this and have SAD, I hope your reckoning is more graceful and kind. 

Both times of the year suck for having a seasonal depression. But in both cases the overculture – capitalism, the patriarchy, and living under a surveillance state – wants you to behave the same 24/7, 365-days of the year. Practitioners know this is unsustainable. However, when depression shows up – seasonal or otherwise – your brain may not be your best friend at any given moment and you will need to have in place ways to cope, destress, and build tolerance and grace to get through. This may be especially important if you’re like me and cannot take or have an atypical reaction to typical medications prescribed by western doctors. Also, the typical length of time it takes for many of these medications to ‘work,’ are about the time the disorder fades again. This means med management is often complicated depending on the individual (per the American Medical Association). And if you’re past your second Saturn return you may find that the SAD symptoms are hitting you harder than earlier in your life. But giving it a Saturnian perspective – developing infrastructure to support your life even under SAD has been helpful for me. 

Foundational to that structure is a combination of psychotherapy, Vitamin D intake (all year), and light therapy. Treatment focused on this combo has been the most helpful for my body. Your mileage may vary. As I write this, I’m under the glow of a full-spectrum light box. I do this early in the day to not disrupt my sleep. Also, there are grow lights in my greenhouse, and working with my plants while those lights are on is also helpful. If the rare and brilliant sunny day in the midst of the Big Dark here in the Pacific Northwest shows up – You will find me outside getting all the sun rays I can. Before having access to artificial sunlight, I went so far as to split my time between the PNW and the Mojave to try to battle SAD. But the Land called me back, so I had to come up with new tactics. It was normal to then approach SAD with my Craft. 

My Craft practice is rooted in the ebb and flow of the natural world, so seasonal cycles become more than just weather. They’re invitations. Each turn of that ‘Wheel of the Year’ as many before us dubbed it, brings its own lessons, energies, and rhythms. These annual rotations shape how we move, rest, create, and connect. In the bright months, I rise with the growing light; in the dark months, I descend into reflection, stillness, and deeper magic. By honoring these shifts instead of resisting them, a Witch learns to work with the season’s current, letting it guide spellcraft, intuition, and the pace of daily life. 

That doesn’t mean that I’m constantly doing spellwork, divining, building altars, or not just completely overwhelmed with magical work during the SAD season. I took a hint from the things I do for my body to apply to my practice. So you will find me focused on getting more ‘light’ into my Craft. I do more candle and fire magic in Winter. Fire scrying in front of the fireplace is stillness and depth. Even on some of my worst SAD days in the season, sitting by the fire feels healing; adding divination feeds my spirituality. Candles, bonfires, and wood stoves can also be healing like sunlight, if not simply comforting. On those sunny days when I’ve plopped myself out under the sun rays, there may just be a jug of water I’m charging to drink later – this is especially nice when it’s Capricorn season in the Northern Hemisphere, since it’s very grounding energy. I have found that using that grounding energy to make my tea (of uplifting and comforting herbs, for sure) or brew my kombucha. 

Psychotherapy can be like an energy clearing – you talk it and clear the air. When I feel that the SAD season is approaching (each year it shows up in a slightly different time, but by Fallow Thursday*, it’s here, I remember to reset any and all stagnant energy in my life, especially within my home. ‘In the preparation there is a cure,’ as my Gigi used to say. I prepare by doing lots of energetic clearing and boundary setting. I create simple charms to ward off gloom or overwhelm, and each year I perform a cord-cutting from seasonal obligations and social pressures. 

Next is where grace comes into my Practice. I upend any baneful thoughts with kindness towards myself, especially my higher conscience. I give myself the grace to allow winter to be a teacher of rest, surrender, and deep magic. I planted seeds in late summer and early autumn to honor both the struggle and the beauty of the season. Do I always get it right? No, but I learn, forgive (there’s that grace), and start anew. 

This grace leads to thankful recognition: I am able to move at that darker, slower pace because I’ve been blessed to work for the Land, Kin, and Seekers of Magic. It also helps that my gnosis is strong in ‘this too shall pass’ and it does every year. In the midst of coping with the winter blahs (my former name for it before diagnosis), I approach each day with gratitude. Finding that gratitude can be a magical spell in itself, especially when SAD is beating a Witch up pretty hard. When all your brain is saying is to sleep, that gratitude can change the tide. I find this by winter introspection journaling, making rest sacred, and creating a small section in my BOS/Grimoire for winter mood tracking, dreams, and energetic tides. 

Like Janus, the god of doorways, gates, boundaries, thresholds, SAD can often feel like being suspended between who you are in the light months and who you become in the dark ones. That’s a liminal space, and Witches love liminal space. So it still sucks, but it doesn’t last forever, you’ve already overcome this before, and there are choices and exits when things feel stuck – like a door having two directions. The Witch reframes this season as sacred and not punishing. May your season bring you that reframe, even if SAD has you by your witchy locks. May you find and step into a different type of power that centers, grounds, reframes, and is gracious and grateful.

If you’ve read this far, let me leave you with a bit of a Big Dark blessing:

May the dark months wrap you in gentleness, and may your inner flames glow steady and sure. May you honor the light you carry and the rest your spirit craves, trusting that both are sacred, both are needed, and both will guide you through the winter’s quiet magic. 

Go drink some water now. 😉

Blessed Be,

~R

**Fallow Thursday is my term for the US’ Thanksgiving holiday. In 2024 our Covenstead finally decided we were not going to stress everyone out with this middle-of-the-work week holiday. Instead it’s dedicated to being fallow as the Land is doing.

What The Witch Is Reading – January 2025

Posted on by runa

This section of my blog is dedicated to spreading the love of reading and books and the people who make them happen. I would not be the Witch I am today without books. I owe an obscene amount of gratitude to all the makers of books out there. This is my way of giving back. I hope that something I pick up and review will guide you to acquire the next tome on your To Be Read stack. 

January flew by and I’ve been spending extra time reading, which I adore. Next to the fire with my puppers in my lap and a cup of coffee nearby. It’s the best. My own book launch went off spectacularly and I am deep in drafting book two, so the bookish witch life continues.

Recently Finished:

Modern Magic: Stories, Rituals, and Spells For Contemporary Witches by Michelle Tea. The magic in this book is certainly the storytelling prowess of its author. Another title could have been ‘Craft for Real Life,’ as Tea weaves the necessity of the magic throughout a life peppered with unconventional living arrangements, relationships, and recovery. Everything from working with Saints, Mystical Snacktivism, House magic, and more. My favorite part has to be Laurie’s Egg of Light under the chapter called ‘Witch Panic.’ I was screaming in delight with recognition of my own kind of Egg of Light spells I cast for protection on kindred. Laurie wherever you are, I see you, Witch. Also, I love the approachableness of how Tea writes of her magical practice. It’s fluid and flowing and weaved in her life from dreams to charms. From breathwork to hexing, whether you’re a Witchling or a Crone, you’re going to dig this book.

An Apostate’s Guide to Witchcraft: Finding Freedom Through Magic by Moss Matthey. There’s a soothing flow and voice in this book. Matthey’s ‘considerate, sensitive, and nurturing,’ nature as detailed by foreword writer Mhara Starling is evident throughout the book. The escape from a cult healing that happens through Witchcraft is so validating for those of us who had our own religious trauma to heal from. The book clearly represents all the lessons that Matthey pulls not just from his cult escape, but also his Welsh and German ancestry. The section of the book on identity and diversity under the chapter of The Queerness of Witchcraft especially resonated with me. But the amount of quotes I pulled out to remember for later was pretty high in this book. His section on progressive revelation and Doubt is Divine under chapter 10 has me considering many new things as well as a new list of books to acquire from said chapter. The amount of progressive revelation from this seemingly new Witch shows that Matthey just may be an older soul than we know. A seeker like many of us, Matthey’s book is one to help you shed anything that’s not serving you and find your way to your own journey of freedom through the Craft. 

The Way of Fire and Ice: The Living Tradition of Norse Paganism by Ryan Smith. I love books with thick bibliographies and clear indexes, especially on subject matters that I may refer back to, like Nordic spirituality. Ryan Smith’s book is not only deeply knowledgeable in this path, but also its evident – if you study it – adaptable traditions that build community and resist fascism. This book is dense in all the subjects found under Norse mythology and the spiritual paths it has created. Smith’s radical look at this brings hope in a world seemingly bent on destroying healthy spirituality and its communities. If you’re called by the likes of Freyja or Thor, this book gives you a nice basis in understanding how to build relationships with these deities and develop practices (and songs) within a modern life. His section on Runes is making me seek out some other resources as well. As a long-time Rune caster there’s information in the book on the Elder Futhark that is counter to some of what I understood. I’m excited to find where the disconnect between what I understood and what he writes in the book may be bridged. I finished this book feeling like I had some new missions in my own spiritual practice, so good on ya, Smith. 

The Book of Delights by Ross Gay. This book was gifted to me near my birthday in November by the admirable Theresa Reed. It has been quite the solar-return blessing. This book brings us soothing prose, even I might add practical hopefulness in the light of so much violence and terror in the world. Gay is an award-winning poet and clearly a Knight for finding enchantment in our lives. Pleasure and happiness are the balance to the pain and sadness of modern life. Bite-sized essays are great to read when the world is too heavy. Grab your cat, cup, and get this book in your lap for a quick pick-me-up, or a long session of reading for bliss. My favorite – which will be unsurprising to anyone who knows me – surrounds an interaction with a praying mantis. It is essay number 7, which gets my numerology nerd excited. Birds and crows figure prominently, too, so Gay gets another stamp of approval from me. Seriously, the weaving of language to convey healing balm for the reader for the wounds and weariness of the world.

The Old Farmer’s 2025 Almanac. Every year this periodical finds its way to me. This year it was a Yule gift from my eldest daughter and her family, including my dear Grand Witchling. As a ‘farmer’ of sorts my whole life, the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Planets included in this book are always appreciated, but as I grow older, the coverage of farming trends and the people behind it are a bigger pull. This year’s volume has me planning a trip to the home-stomping grounds of Canadian kindred and the cheese makers in British Columbia. Such synchronicity – which often happens when you’re paying attention to the land and cosmic weather, which the TOFA has done for 233 years. I’d really love to see less advertising in it, or keep the advertising to the back, since sometimes the latest and greatest in land care can be found there. But this year’s publication seems to be especially fraught with commercialization. But the inspiration found inside of it is still gold. 

Up Next:

Blackthorn’s Protection Magic: A Witch’s Guide to Mental & Physical Self Defense by Amy Blackthorn. Many a book on my TBR pile comes from recommendations from a community I belong to and adore. Laura Tempest Zakroff has a patreon that I participate in as much as I can (I wish I could attend all the time!). If you want your TBR pile to grow, come hang out with this well-read crowd, too. I just dipped into this one the night before penning this post, so only initial reactions from me on this. But Blackthorn really wants the reader to understand where they stand in the world of magic before proceeding and that kind of expectation is something I deeply support. Looking forward to more. 

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer. From the author of Braiding Sweetgrass and Gathering Moss comes another title that seems destined for more in my own life, as getting more serviceberries here at Villa Westwyk is a goal. 

Kimmerer is known as a great teacher and I’m ready to learn all about natural wealth distributions and the idea that all flourishing is mutual. In a world where the rich cannot be satisfied, this book already feels like the start of realigning ‘enough’ in our lives. 

As you can see, I read a little of everything. I’m always curious about what others are reading. What book are you working through right now? Let’s talk about books! Comment below. If you have a book you think I should read, let me know that, too!

What The Witch Is Reading: 2024 Year In Review

Posted on by runa

I’m working through a tall stack of books on my nightstand this month, and will post a hearty monthly What The Witch Is Reading entry on those books soon. Today you get an overview of all the books I read last year and what I thought of them, and share my top favorites for the year. 

Laying my posts out all at once made me recognize that I was still very much in book-writing/editing/launching mode for Magic In Your Cup, and my consistency of reading was slowed and composing my posts even slower. My goal for this year is to consistently post each month and finish at least one whole book, since I’m starting the writing process all over again for my ::crosses fingers:: book two. I hope you’ll join me in this venture. If you don’t want to miss the Bookish Witch news, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter. 

My Top Reads of 2024

The Book That Stayed With Me The Most: Early in the year I read a book that has led me down some new pathways in my spirituality and connected me to ancestors I hadn’t realized. That book was Longing For Darkness: Tara and the Black Madonna by China Galland. As I noted in my post in February, the Black Madonna appeared to me in a dream a few years back. The book is making me think now, post 2024 election here in the USA, about the nonviolence in specifically Galland’s story, the Solidarity movement in Poland that she stumbled upon within her search for the Divine Mother and her own spiritual journey. Thanks to this book, I’m learning more about the little folk practices my Polish and other Slavic ancestors did that were adopted by the descendants that focused on assimilating as opposed to continuing their spiritual and/or magical practices. Longing For Darkness is the kind of book that continues to leave bits of its stories inside you as you walk your own journey in life. If you haven’t read this particular book, perhaps consider putting it on your list for 2025. 

The Book That Let Me Lean In: In the middle of the summer I was ripping through the book Alive With Spirits: The Path and Practice of Animistic Witchcraft by Althaea Sebastiani. This book’s guide to helping you deepen your own relationship with the Land, Departed Dead, and all manner of spiritual and physical relationships a Witch may have. Even if you’re a long-time Practitioner like myself, this book has such a great map to help you reinforce your own Practice, or even teach you a new thing or two. I loved all the reinforcement of what I knew to be a healthy practice and viewpoint on the Craft, that as a solitary practitioner isn’t always available. For that, I’m very grateful to the author and their book. If you do the work presented in the book, you’re absolutely going to rise up more powerfully in how you do your Practice. Don’t take my word for it, go read the book and do the work. 

The Book That Charged Up My Spellcraft: Of Blood and Bones: Working With Shadow Magick of the Dark Moon by Kate Freuler was a book I had listened to when it was first released and then again during my research for Magic In Your Cup. But I picked up the hard copy and read it through again, pausing to do some of the workings inside of it as I reviewed. As I mentioned in my post on this one (October 24), as a Witch that picks up snake skin, wasp nests, acorns, and animal bones to use in my spellcraft, this book felt like a sister grimoire that will remain on my shelf for many years to come. 

The Book That Showed Me A Different World: As a dreamworker myself, I am always gobbling up any books on dreams – magical or otherwise. But Elhoim Leafar’s book Dream Witchery: Folk Magic, Recipes & Spells From South America For Witches & Brujas showed me many new magical practices and beliefs around dreams that still intrigues me every time I see his name or pass the book on my shelf. The worldview here is so unique and ever fascinating. Even though my dream practice looks different, it was definitely refined after reading this one. Case in point, Leafar’s reiterating protection magic while doing so many of the workings in the book is a great reminder even for us Crones that any practice’s foundations need to be fortified regularly. I’m ever grateful for that message within the book. 

Below is a link to each one with a short vignette on what books/authors are covered in each post if you’re new around here and missed them the first time around. 

What The Witch Is Reading: February 2024

What The Witch Is Reading: May 2024

What The Witch Is Reading: July 2024

What The Witch Is Reading: September 2024

What The Witch Is Reading: October 2024

What The Witch Is Reading: November 2024

As you can see, I read a little of everything. I’m always curious about what others are reading. What book are you working through right now? Let’s talk about books! Comment below. If you have a book you think I should read, let me know that, too!

Blessed Frau Holle Day!

Posted on by runa

What January 6th Means For The Creative Crone

For many a years my family leaned into our Mediterranean heritage and celebrated La Befana and gathered round the table with some good Lasagna on Jan. 6. This date is the 12th day of Yule. But in recent years, we’ve been leaning into our Germanic kindred traditions of Frau Holle day. As I talk with my fellow Witches during this time of year, I recognize not many Western Practitioners may know much about who this figure is. I thought I’d share a little bit about that and give you all a little Kitchen Witchery to perhaps play with yourself.

Frau Holle, much like her Italian counterpart, La Befana, is a holiday Witch. In some communities throughout the Alps range, you will see her accompanying the more demonic creatures during Krampusnacht . Her origin stems from the winter goddess Mother Perchta (sometimes written Berchta). She’s also known by the names Hulda or Holle. This last one is how I was introduced to her. All the cleaning that leads up to winter celebrations (e.g. Xmas) is necessary otherwise Frau Holle will think you lazy and not bless you with her light. Lore has it that she sneaks into your home at night like a grizzled Dolores Umbridge checking your baseboards for dust and such. If you don’t pass the white glove test, well…let’s just say the coal in your stockings might just be set afire.

She was around long before Xtianity came to Northern Europe. She’s associated with nature and fertility and as she is connected with cycles of death and rebirth, she is celebrated in winter. Those in charge of hearth and home, especially where women were concerned, had the closest relationship with her. She is said to be the goddess who looks after children who have passed on. In some lore, she is the one that prompts you to create a cozy nest during the coldest time of the year. The word Hygge and Hulda sound very close when you say them as a native Northern European might.

She is venerated during Twelfth night, as well as again in the beginning of Spring (Wonnenacht/Walpurgisnacht). She’s petitioned to help us get through the winter, and then thanked profusely once we’re on the other side of it. She is at the center of the lore around Women’s Christmas, as part of celebrating her, women gifted their sisters, mothers, grandmothers, aunties, and friends little small gifts on this day. Some of you may know it from the more Irish tradition of Little Christmas, where the men take on the household duties for the day and the ladies take over the pub (my kind of celebration!).

The Grimm brothers turned this goddess into Mother Hulda in one of their fairy tales. In their story she’s a magical being who tests two stepsisters, rewarding the kind and hardworking one with gold and prosperity while punishing the lazy and cruel one.They did include some of the mythological associations long connected with Frau Holle like shaking out the featherbed, which symbolizes snowfall and her ability to control the winter weather. They also included jumping into the well and golden apples and spinning. They represent the descent into the underworld, as well as industriousness and domestic skills.

I like Frau Holle Day, because it’s like a small pick-me-up after the come down of Winter Solstice and New Year’s celebrations. In the years when things have been hectic there’s still time to celebrate. It can allow you to celebrate with anyone you haven’t been able to catch up with during the Solstice proper. Also, any place that I can connect with Divine Feminine, I’m there. This patriarchal world can be weary. The 2024 Holidaze, for yours truly, have been peppered heavily with workload and illness for me. As Frau Holle day arrives, I’m finally feeling better.

Since I live so close to the ocean, my freezer is filled with good Pacific seafood directly procured right from the fishing families of my community. I’ll be making a version of Cioppino. Yes, yes, we’re back to that American-Italian influence from my old neighborhood and my other Mediterranean ancestors, as well as the Slavic lands line the Adriatic Sea. Of course our Nordic ancestors had the food of the North Sea. Therefore, this type of dish connects and honors them as well. Cioppino, which basically means “chip in, chip in!” is some Kitchen Witchery that is near and dear to my heart. I’m all about using up what you have and creating goodness from it, especially if you can add Magic, too. Frau Holle Day Sea Stew will use up many of the things in my freezer and larder.

Frau Holle Day Sea Stew as written here will focus on the water’s bounty near me – Salmon, Halibut, Black Cod, Dungeness Crab, Spot Prawns, butter clams, and the like. Feel free to add the things to this stew that are closest to you. When I lived in Louisiana, my version of this working included crawfish and catfish (oh, how I miss catfish!), because it was available. If you’re on the east coast you likely have blue crab or cod available. If you’re somewhere in the middle, our rivers and lakes give us lots to make up a Frau Holle Day Sea Stew. If you’re reading this from far away from North America, again, I’m sure you have seafood that is germane to your area that could be used. Local food is the yummiest and freshest, as well as holding its own most powerful energies, and thereby its magical properties. My counsel is to go for that. Find a local fishmonger and let them teach you and help you. They likely have a good source of fish stock which is key to this working.

Do also visit your local bakery and get some good crusty bread to go with this. You can get fancy and serve it in bread bowls. If you bake bread regularly, make a fresh loaf just for this. This recipe will serve about four people. Feel free to divide or multiple the ingredients to make more or less.

This observation is about entering into the deepest part of winter with a focus on enjoying even these harsh times. I also like to look at it as a reminder that a little bit of this and a little bit of that can make a whole meal – this isn’t just about food. Ask yourself in your own life what a little bit of (fill in the blank) and a little bit of (fill in the blank) could enhance your life? Where can you chip in a little extra to your life? What bit of talent, what bit of education, what bit of gumption can you add to the stew of your life and create something new and beautiful? Those are the thoughts to enter into while making this festive meal.

I set up a small altar to Frau Holle in the house – often on the dining room table or the kitchen windowsill – as I’m called. This often includes lighted candle(s) and incense. The candle color echoes the season for me, something white, or blue, or that wonderful PNW gray. As for the incense, it brings a lift. I opt for something that reminds me of sunnier days like lavender or tangerine, or as I’m called. Cedar is a well loved scent in this house, as is sandalwood, so over the years this Jan. 6th celebration has included those. Listen to your gut for which to choose. Understand the correspondences of each incense, and maybe what you may need as you begin 2025.

I may have a short meditation, focused on the energy that Frau Holle represents. Where can I bring in more feminine energy into my life? Where can I create a world where children thrive? Where can I make my hearth and home a sanctuary? Where can I make winter that much lighter, safer, and warmer? I allow the thoughts and any divine downloads to percolate and mull. You can journal if you want, but I tend to focus just on the energy in that moment and let that energy fill my kitchen as I get ready to create this lovely meal.

If you’re interested in the Kitchen Witchery to go with this date, please visit this link on my Patreon. You’ll note that my patrons received this Working last year. They get all my content way ahead of time. So if you love it, consider joining my Digital Covenstead. Come join the circle!

BIG NEWS: Magic In Your Life Retreat!

Posted on by runa

March 21-23, 2025 – Starlight Meadows – Bothell, Wash.

I’m super excited to announce that I’m co-hosting a magical weekend retreat in 2025! All focused to start your spring off magically and double-down on the Magic In Your Life. Check the slides out below and registration link for Magic In Your Life may be found HERE. My patrons at the Front-Porch Sitting level and up receive extra goodies and discounts.

What the Witch Is Reading: October 2024

Posted on by runa
This section of my blog is dedicated to spreading the love of reading and books and the people who make them happen. I would not be the Witch I am today without books. I owe an obscene amount of gratitude to all the makers of books out there. This is my way of giving back. I hope that something I pick up and review will guide you to acquire the next tome on your To Be Read stack. 

More Time For Books…

We’re in the Big Dark here in Western Washington. This means there’s not a lot of light, lots of rain, and the sun only makes brief appearances. The good part of that is extra reading and writing time. And I did finish a few extra books this go-round. I suspect that November, when it’s colder and darker, will also induce some extra reading sessions. It’s the best part about winter in my book. 😉

Recently Finished:  

Glamstrology by Michael Herkes

I tore through this one. It arrived just a little over a week ago and I was up late reading through all the beautiful pages. Herkes’ writing is like having your best pal show you all the great things about yourself you didn’t know you possessed. Express yourself using a little magic and a lot of tips from The Glam Witch – the moniker that Herkes is known for. The book is full of color and illustrations and color coding, because you know we Witches love a good ‘reference’ book.  Diving into this book you may just find a new magical style, or you’ll be reassured – as I was – that your style default is exactly aligned. You’ll never look at your rising, Venus, or Neptune placements the same way again. Not a big astrology nerd? No worries, Glamstrology includes easy references on everything zodiac from the signs, planets, houses, the elements, and so much more. There’s a ton of not only fashion sense and beauty routine advice, but a new path of magic to explore. Glamstrology will have you looking at your own path to glamor magic in a whole new way. 

Self Source-ery  by Lisa Lister

The subtitle of this book is: Come to Your Senses, Trust Your Instincts, Remember Your Magic. And Lisa Lister, bestselling author of Witch, takes you through another wild ride of path forging that Lister is known for. You’ll delve into all our bodies, our intuition, and energy. She has her own vocabulary that will be very familiar to those who read her other books  But even if you haven’t read those, you’ll easily embrace her storytelling skill and deep vulnerability.  Lister draws her practice from not only lived experience, but also her studies of art, somatic practices, ceremonialism, and a medicine keeper.  She’s a fellow Scorpio and will talk about all the taboo stuff. This book was another that I devoured quickly and is giving me lots more inspiration in my mission to live more in tune with the rhythms of nature. 

Inspiring Creativity Through Magick by Astrea Taylor

This was a Relish Longer entry from last month.  However, I am not sure you can ever be ‘finished’ with this one. In fact, I think this might be a book I reach for on the regular to fall back in love with my creativity. The subtitle for this one: How To Ritualize Your Art & Attract The Creative Spirit. Regardless of what your art is – and Taylor nudges the reader repeatedly to not diminish what those can be – you will find inspiration on each page. This book is so chock full of goodness about how to create a practice for your creative pursuits. The Magick of Revision section right now is coming in clutch, as is the Performance/Release blessing ritual. If you create, this will be a very useful book. It ends up on my desk more than the shelf. 

Relishing Longer:

Sacred Tears: A Witch’s Guide to Grief by Courtney Weber – The opening pages of this book made me realize I need to take this one slow. And Weber says that. Her stories of loss will likely bring up a lot for any reader. Like Christopher Penzack says in the foreword, the author’s writing is raw and honest. 

Breathe, Write, Breathe. 18 Energizing Practices to Spark your Writing and Free your Voice by Lilsa Tener – Real talk. I’ve not had a whole lot of time to get into this, so… There’s lots of exercises which with my book tour coming up, I haven’t had the time to focus on. I’m hoping that the deep winter slow-down is going to give me time to play with this more. 

Up Next:

Of Blood and Bones: Working With Shadow Magick and the Dark Moon by Kate Freuler: As a witch that picks up snake skin, wasp nests, acorns, and bones to do her magic, Freuler speaks to my soul. Yes, I’ve already tip-toed into this one a bit, but had to put it down because I was working through exercises and workings from Taylor’s book above. But, I can’t wait to get back to it. Freuler’s no-nonsense yet inclusive writing is refreshing. Also, I’m chuffed to find a book of another’s practice in working with the dark moon regularly. 

Modern Magic: Stories, Rituals, and Spells For Contemporary Witches by Michelle Tea. This book is described as the sibling to Tea’s Modern Tarot with a focus on creating stronger magic incorporating queer, feminist, anti-racist, and intersectional values. Tea’s known for her literary accomplishments, so I’m looking forward to this. Okay, who am I joking, I look forward to opening every book. But this does check a lot of boxes for me. 

As you can see, I read a little of everything. I’m always curious about what others are reading. What book are you working through right now? Let’s talk about books! Comment below. If you have a book you think I should read, let me know that, too!

What The Witch Is Reading: September 2024

Posted on by runa
This section of my blog is dedicated to spreading the love of reading and books and the people who make them happen. I would not be the Witch I am today without books. I owe an obscene amount of gratitude to all the makers of books out there. This is my way of giving back. I hope that something I pick up and review will guide you to acquire the next tome on your To Be Read stack. 

Back from Summer Vacation…

Time is zooming by! Here at Villa Westwyk, September arrived loud and proud, leaning hard into those pumpkin-spice vibes. She’s showing her burnt umber, golds, oranges, and deep soil browns already. Her cat walk here at Villa Westwyk is certainly bringing a twist on a classic autumnal debut. The daylight hours are so short now. Yet, I’m ready for not having to be out at the barn at 0530 hrs. But it does mean that I’m getting less time to get things done on either side of the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. timeframe. Outdoors is the loser, because this Witch is not giving up her reading time. 

The books keeping me in the library a bit longer these darker days have some insanely lucious bibliographies (more books, yo!) and if you’re all about going further into the rabbit holes these books open up for you, you’re going to be filled with glee with this round of What the Witch Is Reading.

Recently Finished:

Thoughts That Cloud The Mind by Kelsi Henn Horner

At least once a season, I pick up a poetry book and dive in. Poetry is an important art form for humanity and I am lacking in reasons why not to support it. How many people have learned about their own feelings through poetry? Poetry teaches us empathy, it comforts, it makes people think about how they understand the world, and whether or not they even understand themselves. Tarot helps with that, too. So give me a book that is 300 Haikus dedicated to a daily Tarot card and I’m holding a tome of import. In Thoughts That Cloud The Mind, each entry is suddenly shaking you awake to your own purpose in this rock hurtling through space and time. This book of poems was clearly built on surging emotions – the best kind of poetry. The fact that I’m also trying to decode which poem is to which Tarot card, well that’s just a bonus. 

Ancestral Whispers: A Guide to Building Ancestral Veneration Practices by Ben Stimpson

Stimpson spoke to the history geek in me as well as the storyteller in this book. He employs both easily to take the reader through the highs and lows of an ancestral veneration practice, as well as the whys and why nots. The author has his own Venn diagram of intersecting influences on such a practice and it provides a very wide view within the text, as well as drilling down into the finer details of creating your own practice. Stimpson’s prose in the book has this feel of the encouraging and knowledgeable, mindful uncle who is just the smartest and you are in awe of how cool his life is. My own practice is still in its first decade so this exploration with Stimpson was encouraging and created a deep need for further reflection on at least two areas of my practice that I may want to level up. Hopefully more folx read this book and become powerful waiting ancestors. 

Heal The Witch Wound: Reclaim Your Magic & Step Into Your Power by Celeste Larsen

When you’re bibliophile last left you we had just finished reading Part I of this book. Part II and III apply the realizations of Part I into your present life and then towards your future. Once again, the author, Celeste Larsen, defines and illuminates symptoms of the witch wound and how it shows up in modern life and then what to do about it. Larsen brings in her own stories which seemingly highlight so many ways in which this wound may have manifested in the readers’ life. The details in the rituals in part III provide a deep well of healing for the reader exploring this Witch wound. This book took longer for me to read, as many in the esoteric genre do, because it’s very thought-provoking. You have to stop and make notes and jot down things you remember and want to ‘treat.’ This is a book I’ll likely return to at some point dive in even deeper. A future ‘Relishing Longer’ tome, perhaps? 

Relishing Longer:

Inspiring Creativity Through Magick: How to Ritualize Your Art & Attract the Creative Spirit by Astrea Taylor

I first read this book when it came out in the Summer of 2023; but, I was in the throes of editing a freelance job and revising Magic In Your Cup, so I finished it with the intention of coming back to it. And I’m so glad I did. I’m especially digging the tips and tactics on handling criticism. Every Witch I know is creative. Unlocking that creativity and nurturing it is the focus of this book and the tips on creating a process that invites in the spiritual aspects of Witchcraft– the Elements, Spirit, and the power within. I’m re-working through the practical exercises to more deeply feed and consistently recharge my creative pursuits, as well as my Craft.

Up Next:

Sacred Tears: A Witch’s Guide to Grief by Courtney Weber

There have been moments throughout my years as a Witch, where grief has interrupted my magical practice. Our society doesn’t deal with grief very well at all. And everyone has a different expression of that feeling, state, being. Looking forward to reading this one, especially since Christopher Penczak wrote the foreword and praises the book as raw, honest, and deep. 

Breathe. Write. Breathe. 18 Energizing Practices to Spark your Writing and Free Your Voice by Lisa Tener

This book was gifted to me and I love getting books on the writing craft. I have a lot of writing projects coming up, so any energizing spark is greatly appreciated. Tener served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School’s CME publishing course for more than 12 years, among other writing-centered achievements. Let’s see if we can’t do some throat-centered work with this book. 

As you can see, I read a little of everything. I’m always curious about what others are reading. What book are you working through right now? Let’s talk books! Comment below. If you have a book you think I should read, let me know that, too!

What The Witch Is Reading: July 2024

Posted on by runa
This section of my blog is dedicated to spreading the love of reading and books and the people who make them happen. I would not be the Witch I am today without books. I owe an obscene amount of gratitude to all the makers of books out there. This is my way of giving back. I hope that something I pick up and review will guide you to acquire the next tome on your To Be Read stack. 

How is it almost August? I hope you’ve been busy with your nose in a book for at least part of this summer. June flew by and I was reading, reading, but having trouble keeping up to post this in June. So, this entry is a bit more than usual. But there were some very good books included, all of them pretty mind opening.. 

Recently Finished:

Dream Witchery: Folk Magic, Recipes & Spells From South America For Witches & Brujas by Elhoim Leafar. 

As a dreamworker myself I was excited to get my hands on this book. Leafar’s experience as an urban spiritual worker and the influence of his Craft from Venezuelan Brujos had me intrigued from the beginning of the text. The fact that he brought in other practitioners to lend more stories and perspectives to the book speaks to Leafar’s multiple esoteric backgrounds. Because of his upbringing and now living in the United States, he has a unique perspective on how mutable and cultural dreams and dreamwork can be. I found his voice refreshing. The way he weaves narrative into the dreamwork is inviting for the reader and leads you down a dream world path with ease. His stories about the symbolism in a dream for an American versus someone of Caribbean culture highlight why the remainder of the book’s pages show you how to create your dream practice and learn from the varied and powerful one that Leafar has. Included in the book are dozens upon dozens of spellcraft, rituals, recipes, and more all about dreams, the dreamer, and the dream world. Dream Witchery is a great reference book for aspiring dreamworkers, but at its foundation, there are years and generations full of dreamworkers held in its pages.

Alive with Spirits: The Path and Practice of Animistic Witchcraft by Althaea Sebastiani

Remember how I missed June’s edition of What The Witch Is Reading? That’s because not only was I busting butt healing the land, but I was reading this book, twice – back to back. And now I’m listening to it while pulling weeds in the garden, which I think the author might appreciate. For many becoming a Witch means stumbling through and learning bit by bit to create our Craft practice. However you’ve come to the Craft or even Animism, Sebastiani takes your hand in Alive With Spirits and shows you a customizable plan to walk deeper into a world filled with spirits and a deeper relationship with the Land. She details throughout the book that right relationships with the Land and Spirits help us be in right relationship with ourselves and other living people. Sebastani’s experience living this way comes through clearly in the book and grounds the reader – whether they be novice or elder – in five traits and seven skills of Witchcraft. As I mentioned, I have read it twice already and am listening to it a third time. This will be a book I recommend to any practitioner, especially because it’s clear that Sebastiani wants you to do the work and gives the reader exercises in each chapter to hone and expand their Craft and Practice, especially where relationships with Spirits are concerned. 

Relishing Longer:

Wild Soul Runes: Reawakening the Ancestral Feminine by Lara Veleda Vesta

Alive With Spirits likely would have been here last month under ‘relishing longer’ if I’d gotten to June’s edition since I re-read this. I’m not re-reading Wild Soul Runes, but rather ‘doing.’ The book features a week-by-week plan to deepen your relationship with the Runes. With 24 Runes, it will take me a bit to do this, but the Runes and I go way back, so I think this will be like a second honeymoon. 😉 As I mentioned in my May post, the inclusivity of this book is refreshing given that sometimes some close-minded individuals can attach themselves to these sacred divining tools. I especially enjoyed the feminine point of view and lens throughout the book. I’m going to work through all the exercises bit by bit and dive even deeper into my relationship with the Runes. 

Up Next:

Heal the Witch Wound: Reclaim Your magic and Step Into your Power by Celeste Larsen

I am about ⅔ way through this read and I just started a few days ago. Larsen however is uncovering things for me that I experienced but was unsure of its source. Be prepared to want to go down rabbit holes with your Witch Wound with this one. The history section can be rage-making if you haven’t heard some of the stories before – if you have heard them, you’ll be reminded there’s a lot of generational trauma we’re all healing – a Witch Wound just might be it for you, too. I’ll begin Part II next and that’s where Larsen contends the healing begins. Excited to read further. 

Ancestral Whispers: A Guide to Building Ancestral Veneration Practices by Ben Stimpson. 

This book has been patiently waiting in my TBR pile for me to crack it open. I adore its title because I often hear my ancestors whispering. This book came highly recommended to me by several people, so I’m curious to see how Stimpson approaches all there is with this wide subject matter. 

As you can see, I read a little of everything. I’m always curious about what others are reading. What book are you working through right now? Let’s talk books! Comment below. If you have a book you think I should read, let me know that, too!

Getting Stung To Day Dream

Posted on by runa

Unraveling the Messages from the Universe

This week, I was stung by an unidentified flying insect. I wasn’t tromping through the land, or harvesting late, or weeding. I was just sitting having an evening snack and drink with kindred.  From the description of those who witnessed the attack, it was as tiny barely a fingernail width, colored mainly black with a pointed lower abdomen and a narrow waist called a petiole. That description matches a western honey bee, that accidentally flew into my elbow and felt I was attacking it. The jury is still out as to what it was that stung me, but it certainly got my attention.

At the moment that it happened, I felt like I was in a weird dream state. Things were so pleasant and then in an instant they were not. For days, my elbow looked like it was missing because of the swelling and hives. I’ll live, and I’m much better. But the discomfort lasts all week. As I treated my sting site, I recalled the weird dream state that happened in the previous years as well. My body and my energy were on high alert, which often brings in my witchy brain asap. This was worth noting and would lead me down an interesting daydreaming path. Like the wasp sting awakened this creative, intuitive, meditative channel of communication between myself and the Universe.

Each year that I have lived here at Villa Westwyk I have been stung. I don’t have an anaphylactic response, but I always get swelling, pain, hives, fatigue, and in some instances, it triggers an asthma attack. To be fair, as a Witch who works closely with the Land, it is a hazard of the job. Because I apply permaculture principles to my Witchcraft practice, I noticed that behavior, as one of its key tenets is to observe and interact. Well, I’m watching me get stung once a year, every year since residing here. And I think I know what’s happening.

Each incident has involved a different flying wasp or bee each time. The first was a bald-faced hornet. They look like the mean thing they are. They are black and white with an almost skeletal appearance. They can be super aggressive. Their sting is very painful. Being stung by a bald-faced hornet was one of the worst stings I’ve experienced, partly because the bugger hit me more than once. I was weeding a section of Land that had been crying out for healing – removing invasive species – and I must have disturbed a nest. I did not return to that section of Land until the following season. The attack site – my wrist and put me on my ass for a few days with my allergic response. It hurt so badly, I had to ice the sting site like once an hour when awake. Sleeping was hard because it just throbbed, burned, ached, and itched incessantly and restfulness was nearly impossible. I did compresses, tinctures, teas, and all kinds of anti-inflammatory treatments. I give bald-faced hornets a wide berth still today. 

The second growing season here I was stung by a bumblebee. That one hurt my feelings the most. I love the chonky bumblebees as they bungee jump from lavender stem to lavender stem. The physical recovery from that was not too bad, and the result was the setting of the rule that all harvesting has to be done before bee hour (around 10 a.m.). But it still wasn’t a cakewalk. Again, I was super sensitive the rest of the season when one of those very loud bumbles bobbed into view. I would immediately leave the area if one was about. I didn’t scream or cry or make a scene. Just a quick about-face away from wherever it was grazing.

Last year the sting came from the asshole of pollinators – the yellowjacket. Yes, yellowjackets are accidental pollinators as they fly from spot to spot in the garden eating the insects you hate to have in your garden like caterpillars and harmful flies. Yellow jackets eat a lot of the insects that like to harm fruit trees, so I want to give them a chance. But even so, they can be triggered to sting quickly, thereby achieving its asshole pollinator label. Yes, yes, even as an animist there are energies in this world I cannot abide. The yellow jacket has been on that list my entire life. Growing up we called yellow jackets sweat bees because they were always about when you were sweating outside in the heat. However, true sweat bees don’t sting and are sometimes called fairy wasps. But, the yellow jacket? Their sting has an intense pain level. 

In the summer of 2023, the whole of the covenstead was infested with yellow jackets. Mr. Troy was stung several times as he played pest control serviceman to root out the massive hive under one of the pine trees not too far from our house. One of our dogs is deathly allergic to insect venom, having been hospitalized early in her life from a bee sting. Yellow jackets, like bald-faced hornets, can sting multiple times and they run in packs. Eradicating such sneaky hives is therefore a must. But not before those little assholes left their mark on both the humans living here. The lesson there was to pay attention more carefully to spaces the yellow jackets are drawn to and to design our landscaping in a manner that helps assist their natural predators – mainly birds like the Western tanagers. We have also heavily planted repelling plants all around the house especially. Plants like lavender, mint, lemongrass, marigolds, and thyme are ones that yellowjackets avoid. Next year we’ll be setting up a predatory pitcher plant bed to also help curb not only the yellowjackets but biting flies. When using our space during wasp season, we keep the yellow jackets occupied with a small offering of ripe watermelon or sliced cucumber placed in a different area from where you’re enjoying the outdoors. Their attention will be on the offering and not on your BBQ chicken and salad.

It’s clearly a trend these annual stings I’m receiving. I can’t help but think this is some kind of message from the Land, the Universe, my beloved dead, Spirit, or all of them. Four years, four stings. Like a fire drill for my spiritual life. I feel like the Universe is grabbing me by the elbow and trying to get my attention. Each incident has made me slow down, prioritize self-care, and remember that life isn’t all about work. After this latest wasp sting, I knew there was so much more to what was going on. Enter my dreamwork practice to the rescue. Dream messages don’t just come at night, Witches. They can come whenever we can switch our brain into that space of receiving messages. Given that understanding, what do these wasp stings annually mean?

In my Dreamwork, wasps, especially, denote social connections – family, friends, coworkers, and even the collective community. Have you seen how wasps work together? Even solitary wasps use other flora and fauna to survive. Looking at where I was stung to lends other clues. The wrist, the shoulder, my neck, and my elbow. The wrist may denote flexibility, adaptability, and certainly connection. But it’s also a super vulnerable part of our anatomy. Raise your hand if you have carpal tunnel, or if the worst part of doing planks is the pain in your wrists. 

The shoulder much like the wrist connects the arm to the body. It also may represent responsibilities ala “carrying the world on her shoulders.” It can symbolize comfort or support. And shoulder can also be about pushing forward – think a football player – or not giving in on the sidewalk to people who don’t move to provide egress. Whereas signs or dream elements that incorporate the neck can mean there’s a throat chakra issue, or an ancestral wound involving the neck (if you know anything about the Witch wound, this is not surprising). Again, the neck connects the head and body and some of the most critical nerves and circulatory systems members are in the neck. It’s the thoroughfare of life in your body.

The elbow is the motivator of hard work when we look at its potential symbolism. Give it some elbow grease, or you must elbow your way to the top – it gives that kind of vibes. It is also a connector between the upper arm and the lower arm. An insect sting on the elbow as a message in dreams or a sign from the Universe tells me that prioritizing pointed connections. An insect sting on my neck says to prioritize critical connections. The responsibility of right relationship is mine to shoulder. And it is critical that I do so in a vulnerable way. 

It might take me a few years to get the message – noted. I’m pretty sure I got it and what I have to do next – besides all the physical mitigation noted above. It’s time for me to spend some time being capricious and pensive. To observe if my connections, my relationships, and my community may need some pointed ‘medicine.’ Perhaps I need to work harder at these connections and take responsibility for where I am not doing so. 

I certainly know that I’m not waiting for next summer for another sting to get to work on these nudges from Divine.