{"id":1285,"date":"2024-04-30T23:42:45","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T23:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/?p=1285"},"modified":"2025-01-09T19:30:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T19:30:34","slug":"what-the-witch-is-reading-may-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/30\/what-the-witch-is-reading-may-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"What The Witch Is Reading: May 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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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.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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March was insanely busy for work (huzzah for editing jobs!) and April\u2019s Mercury Retrograde \u2013 on the heels of another eclipse \u2013 felt like I was re-reading the same page every day. Although, I wasn\u2019t. I am moving through a couple of different texts and audiobooks right now. But I didn\u2019t have any of them finished until now. Hopefully, my goal to post one of these once a month will groove forward with no problems from this point on in my \u2018What the Witch Is Reading\u2019 posts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brings me to the point of posting today \u2013 even if you read slowly, you\u2019re still reading. Even if you\u2019re listening to a book \u2013 you\u2019re still reading. You\u2019re allowing yourself to be lost in a story, to explore a world \u2013 even just in your mind \u2013 you are still doing it. Through books \u2013 no matter their format \u2013 we gain access to a vast repository of knowledge, ideas, and perspectives that expand our understanding \u2013 of the world, ourselves, and each other. More importantly, it exposes us to diverse cultures, experiences, and viewpoints. Reading nurtures empathy because we begin to understand others better. Although so many of us use it as a leisure activity \u2013 reading is a fundamental skill for success in all areas of life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embrace reading in all its forms and enrich your life in countless ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps you\u2019d like to take a chance on one of these books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently Finished:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Longing For Darkness: Tara and the Black Madonn<\/em>a by China Galland<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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As I mentioned in February\u2019s post, the Black Madonna appeared to me in a dream a few years back. She still visits me often in that space. Other than some statutory and art frequented within many of my ancestral homes and some of my travels, I did not know much about this particular symbol of the Divine Mother. What I did learn is why perhaps the dream appeared to me \u2013 my Polish ancestors coming in to connect me with this energy. Since Galland was there during the rise of Solidarity, it gave me a peek into a historic thing that happened that I only saw as a young adult from way over in the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Galland points out in the story, Solidarity completely ignored the usual revolutionary process with its choice of nonviolence. Within her journey, the author also accounts for how a woman seeking the Divine Mother has even more battles to overcome. I was surprised by some of the blockers to women, especially those seeking to be leaders in Zen Buddhism. Galland\u2019s deep spiritual search has the reader feeling the ache she has to find Tara. Anyone seeking the path to any feminine deity will find inspiration in Galland\u2019s vulnerability within the prose. Additionally, she gives the reader an amazing peek into many different cultures and their journeys to the goddess. Thanks to this book, which I adored and will likely re-read at some point, I\u2019m considering a pilgrimage to ancestral lands that held the spirit of the goddess close.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading Now:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wild Soul Runes: Reawakening the Ancestral Feminine<\/em> by Lara Veleda Vesta<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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This book was a gift from a friend who knows my frustration with accessing spiritual literature about the tools I use in my Craft, particularly Runes, that are not colored by racism and bigotry. I don\u2019t know why the Nazis love my lineage\u2019s heathenry, but they do. I always laugh when I see that because do they even know Odin? Talk about Patron of Drag Queens. I\u2019ve worked through about more than half of the book and there is a more witchy and inclusive viewpoint, even going so far as to note respectful practice on colonized land. She\u2019s provided poetry, exercises, and multiple translations regarding the background of the Runes and the language around them.\u00a0More to come after I finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up Next:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dream Witchery: Folk Magic, Recipes & Spells from South America for Witches & Brujas by Elhoim Leafar <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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As a dreamworker myself I\u2019m very excited to dive into this book. Truth be told I\u2019m already working a bit through it and I\u2019m fascinated by Leafar\u2019s childhood in South America surrounded by magical practitioners. Already some beliefs and rituals are super interesting and make me feel like I\u2019m on a solo expedition to uncover hidden magic. Can\u2019t wait to dive in deeper.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As you can see, I read a little of everything. I\u2019m always curious about what others are reading. What book are you working through right now? Let\u2019s talk books!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,421],"tags":[423,17,435,489,436,433,282],"class_list":["post-1285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-post","category-what-the-witch-is-reading","tag-am-reading","tag-books","tag-dream-witchery","tag-longing-for-darkness","tag-what-the-witch-is-reading","tag-wild-soul-runes","tag-writing-witch"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1289,"href":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions\/1289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runatroy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}