As a Celtic Reconstructionist Druid I am always interested in the practices of the ancient Celts. I read about them, write about them and then put them into practice, as best I can. It’s my own small effort to keep the traditions alive and to pass them along for future generations.

The Festival of Imbolc is the next great Fire Festival in the cycle of the Celtic year. It is essentially a milk festival in honor of the lactation of the ewes who under natural conditions don’t give milk until just before they give birth. It is generally celebrated around February 1, but I have discovered that here in New England the sheep lactate about February 15.

For the ancient Celts Imbolc, or Oimelc, was a time to celebrate. They did not have supermarkets to go to for milk and there were months when no milk was available. The re-appearance of milk was a cause for rejoicing and to celebrate with a milk feast.

Imbolc was a festival of girls, something our culture has completely forgotten. The girls of the village would make a “Bride doll” out of straw, symbolizing the Goddess Brighid (Irish) or Bride (Scottish), out of the last sheaf of the previous year’s grain harvest, which they would carry from house to house. In this way they brought the blessings of Bride and of the fertility of the last year’s harvest, to every home. The girls collected cakes, bread, and butter as they went.

When they were done they would put the doll into a bed of rushes by a hearth. A stick of birch called a “slachdan” was placed in the bride doll’s hands. Brighid or Bride was the summer face of the Winter Hag or Cailleach, She who controls the weather. The wand symbolized her magical ability to influence storms and climate.

The girls would dance and sing until dawn and in the morning the ashes of the hearth were examined to see if Bride had left her footprint. If no foot print was found, an offering had to be made at a place where three streams met, for luck.

The men folk celebrated by preparing for the first plowing; the plow and other agricultural tools were blessed with a sprinkling of whisky and fields were “sained,” or purified, by carrying a lit torch around the boundaries.

Weather omens were taken; good weather at Imbolc meant winter would continue, but if a snake or hedgehog was seen to emerge from its hole that meant that winter was on the wane (this is the origin of Groundhog Day). Rain at Imbolc meant a good summer growing season was ahead.

Special crosses were woven out of reeds on Imbolc Eve. These crosses were equal armed (not the Latin cross with the longer base) and symbolized the sun. They were sacred to the Goddess Brighid, a Fire Goddess. Once finished, the crosses were hung in house and barn. In the Highlands these crosses were also made before weddings and placed under the mattress to ensure fertility.

A “Bride’s Girdle” was made of straw rope, nine feet long. The rope was tied at the ends to make a circle through which each family member would step (women sometimes pulled it over their head). Three solar crosses were tied to the rope.

A Brat Bhríde or Brighid’s mantle was placed outside on the eve of Imbolc, to receive the Goddess’s blessings. The cloak would be placed over sick people or animals throughout the year. A bit of butter and an oat cake or a sheaf of grain were left on the doorstep to feed Brighid’s donkey as she passed by.

The Monday after the festival offerings were left for the Fairies, because by tradition they move house on the first Monday after every Fire Festival and are in need of refreshment. Appropriate offerings included mashed potatoes with butter, oatmeal with butter or cream, bread and honey, and possibly a wee dram of whiskey or milk with whiskey added.

You can learn more about this festival and all the Fire Festivals through my books: Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey, The Druid Isle, and Priestess of the Fire Temple: A Druid’s Tale. These are a trilogy of novels that incorporate traditional Celtic beliefs and practices.

Our thanks to Ellen for her guest post! For more from Ellen Evert Hopman, read her articles “10 Foods and Spices You Can Use for Healing” and “5 Herbs for Healing.”

First, the background: people loves to steal our books. Libraries and bookstores have claimed for years that some of their most frequently stolen stock are the religious books – anything from the Bible to those on witchcraft and magic. Whether this comes from a belief that all sacred knowledge should be free, a desire to hold onto a book containing so much wisdom (or so many exercises that can’t all be gotten through in the three-week lending period!), or, in the case of witchcraft books, concern that others in their small community might find out that the reader has an interest in these topics, and thus be “outed,” it’s always seemed a little strange anyway. If you’re specifically looking for a book on spirituality, doesn’t that imply that you’re trying to make yourself a better person? In that case, why start off on the wrong foot by stealing a book?

With this pattern having been in place for years, it should shock no one that in the digital age this would quickly translate over to stealing spirituality ebooks in any form. The music industry has wrestled with illegal downloads for years – we all know there are file sharing programs and sites that easily circumvent established means of distribution.

This is what a copyright notice looks like, stupid pirater.

The website I was sent multiple times today is a repeat offender. I won’t post a link here because I don’t want to drive traffic to her site. Let’s just say that she has a nifty little disclaimer about how she got all these PDFs of ebooks off the internet (presumably absolving herself of responsibility, having not scanned them in herself) and that as far as she knows they are not violating anyone’s copyright. And if she is in error, to please let her know. (I guess there was something about the COPYRIGHT PAGE of each of our books that she failed to understand.)

Llewellyn, Red Wheel/Weiser, and other publishers have notified this person, by writing to the email address listed on the website, several times. And yet that notice is still up, and our books are still there for illegal downloading. So today (after the very first email I received) we sent a DCMA takedown notice to her ISP, and hopefully those pages of her website will be removed soon. [Update: it looks like it's working. I'll check again from home, and again tomorrow.]

But since I kept hearing about it all day, regardless of our invisible-to-the-outside-world actions (which are things we deal with every day, incidentally), I wanted to post a few thoughts for you all to consider and hopefully discuss.

MYTHS ABOUT PIRATED BOOKS

“It doesn’t cost them anything to make an ebook, so why should I pay for it?”

This one I’ve also heard for legal, paid downloads, except in that case it goes “It doesn’t cost them anything to make an ebook, so why should I pay a normal book price for it? It should cost only $1.99/[insert your own price here]. I mean, I even had to buy a device to read it in the first place.”

Here’s the thing. First of all, an author wrote that book. They spent hundreds of hours researching, writing, editing, proofing, revising, communicating with their publisher, and in many cases, teaching, lecturing, writing a blog, marketing, etc. in order to have their good name in the field, in order for their manuscript to be desirable for publication. So that’s one person that should be paid for their effort.

Secondly, multiple people are involved in publishing a good book:

• the editor who carefully selects, acquires, contracts and develops it (that’s me, in this case),
• the editors who copy edit and proof it (the production editor, layout designer, and proofreader),
• the marketing team that writes the back cover copy, web copy, catalog copy, and so on,
• the cover designer who created a cover,
• the publicity team that sends out a press release, galley, or review copy to your favorite Pagan podcaster,
• the accounting staff who send out the royalty checks and pay our bills,
• the IT department that converts our book files to ePub formats and keeps our websites and servers running.

These are all fixed costs, whether the book comes out in print or digital (unless the author is self-published, in which case he or she can have more control over the pricing of the book and also gets to keep more of the profit). If you add a print release (not digital-only) then you can add the sales staff, customer service, and the warehouse crew. Basically the only thing you’re taking out of the entire equation by downloading an ebook is the cost of paper, printing, and distribution (trucking, shipping, etc.), and the people who make sure the physical copies get sent to the customers, whether those are bookstores or people. So are you still so convinced that your ebook should only cost a dollar? Or nothing?

“It’s the same as borrowing a book from a library, or from a friend.”

Um, except for the fact that the library bought a copy of the book, or your friend bought a copy of the book. (Even libraries that now do digital lending.) And that they have a finite number of copies (physical or digital) that they are able to lend out at any given time – not a file that can be downloaded over and over again in the blink of an eye by complete strangers all over the world.

Let me put it this way – surely you would lend $10 to a friend in need. But would you put up your PayPal account details on the internet for the world to see with a note that says “hey, feel free to borrow ten bucks”? If you did, I’m guessing you’d go broke immediately, unless you have some very deep pockets.

“But publishers have very deep pockets.”

Maybe some do – but I’ve never worked for a publisher that does. We’re talking about Pagan books here. It’s a niche. We hope to sell 5,000 copies if the book is to be successful. (And, not to shake your confidence in the system or anything, but some of our books only sell hundreds of copies and we don’t make a dime.) We are not selling Harry Potter here! We are not flying our authors around on world tours or taking them out for three-martini lunches! Being an independent, midsized publisher in a small field is not a license to print money.

Here is a great quote to illustrate the situation, written by Colin Robinson, who formerly worked for a large New York publisher:

Books have always been a low-profit item and in recent years margins have been shrinking even further. Publishers now regularly give bookshops a 50 per cent or even a 55 per cent discount on the retail price. The distributor that warehouses and delivers the book will typically take 10 per cent of what remains, or more if you are a small publisher; 15 per cent goes on production (printing, paper, typesetting). Add another 10 per cent for the author’s royalties and the publisher is left with 10 per cent to cover promotion costs, rent and office expenses, wages – and profit. No wonder it’s called the gentleman’s profession.

“But authors have deep pockets.”

While you wait for me to stop laughing, did you notice the author’s royalty in the quote above? It’s not much, and it can actually be even less depending on the genre, the format of publishing, and a variety of other factors. Authors don’t have deep pockets either – they cannot afford to give you their book for free. If they could, they would! (And some actually have, just as many musicians are now releasing their music and letting their fans decide what to pay for it.)

Most authors support themselves with full-time jobs in addition to writing and enriching their communities. The very few who don’t work a “day job” have to tour and teach constantly to make a salary to live off of. Some even sell potions, spells, or courses on the internet to add a little income. And yet they still provide plenty of free content on their websites, blogs, facebook pages and other media. They are more than willing to share – up to a point. If they approach a publisher to publish their book, it means, by default, that they want to get paid for it. It has value. So do them a favor and buy their book if you appreciate their work and want to make sure that they continue to write for, communicate with, and teach the community in the future.

“But it’s all over the internet anyway…”

Go ahead and read all the free blog posts you want. Learn about Wicca by putting together information from ten different websites. Go ahead and search for that certain spell you need on Google. Not sure what to do for next month’s full moon? Just type it into the search box. Go onto the Internet Sacred Text Archive or Patheos and learn about the world’s religions. These are all perfectly valid ways to get information. There are TONS of free resources on the internet – ones that are given freely by their creators. (Perhaps because they have ad revenue they can rely on. Perhaps they just do it out of the goodness of their heart.) So why do people even feel the need to download whole books in the first place? By wanting to download a book more than you want to read a website or blog (etc.), you are admitting that it has a certain value that is greater than what you can browse for free. The sum is greater than its parts. So please, pay for it.

“But I’m poor, I can’t afford to buy these books myself…”

See the above list of free resources. And visit your local library.

“But I wasn’t even sure I would like it, so why pay money on it?”

In today’s book-buying world, that is no longer an excuse. You can get previews of just about any books online, either at Amazon, GoogleBooks, or the publisher’s own website. You can browse reviews from other readers on GoodReads or other retailers’ websites. You can visit the author’s website or blog and see if you like their writing style or agree with their ideas. You can ask your facebook friends if they ever read the book and would recommend it.

“Information should be free!”

I totally agree, to a point. Information is what permeates the very fabric of the universe; information is as basic and integral to life itself as light, and so far no one is charging for light. Information is heady and exciting. Hermes/Mercury, the god of communication, is also the god of tricksters and thieves, so it’s not unreasonable to expect he’d be encouraging illegal downloads.

However, he is also god of merchants – trading, bartering, and yes, paying for goods and services. If you step back and look at the big picture, information is just a type of energy. And energy is never static, it must be exchanged. Money is also a form of energy – it’s how our minutes and hours of toiling away at something we might not always like get converted into poker chips we can trade in for things we like better. Therefore, it’s not only acceptable to use the energy of money in exchange for the energy of information – it’s divine. Like the universe itself, you are keeping energy in balance, in motion, in an unbroken chain, just as it likes.

Thanks for listening to my rant today. Please, feel free to discuss in the comments… I’m curious to hear your opinions and thoughts on this matter.

Do you have gardening tips to share? Do you read Llewellyn’s Moon Sign Book? Want to see your gardening tips in print? Llewellyn is looking for reader-submitted gardening tips for publication in the 2013 edition of our Moon Sign Book. Now is your chance to be a part of your favorite annual gardening and astrological guide! We are still in need of gardening tips for our 2013 Moon Sign Book, so we’re extending our call!

Details:
What: Llewellyn is looking for gardening tips from readers around the country and around the world! Every gardener has a trick or two that they rely on, so let’s share our tips with other readers. There is a 75-word limit for entries.

How: Send your tip to NicoleE@Llewellyn.com, including your full name and mailing address. We will publish only your first name and last initial, along with your state or country. If your tip is chosen for inclusion in the 2013 edition, we will mail you a free copy of the book in July 2012—you’ll be one of the very first people to see the 2013 Moon Sign Book!

When: All submissions must be received by January 15, 2012 to be considered for publication.

Important note: By submitting text to Llewellyn, you agree that we may publish, distribute, sell, display, and use the text without limitation. You also agree that you will not be compensated monetarily for your contribution.

A deep thank you to all of our readers, past, present, and future—you help make us great!

Is there such a thing as a Pagan name? In the same way as people talk about Christian, Jewish, and Muslim names?

As a Pagan who has spent the last two years writing a book on names, my answer might surprise you. My answer is no.

But, I would also argue that there is no such thing as a Christian, Jewish or Muslim name either. There are only ever names for Christians, Jews, Muslims—and Pagans.

And, if you dig deep enough into a name’s history, you’ll find that almost every name, from every time and every place, could fit the bill for Pagans.

I know a lot of Pagans who are tempted to reject many names because of their long use by the Christian majority of the last fifteen hundred years. They feel that the names have somehow been tarnished or contaminated, and want to embrace new, fresh names, free of baggage. And there’s no reason not to do that; there is a whole world of possibilities out there just waiting to be embraced.

But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Remember, many of those Christians of the last fifteen hundred years didn’t have much say in their religious affiliation. For much of that time, adherence to Christianity was not optional (and we all know what happened to those who tried to opt out). Yet, somewhat ironically, most of the names sanctioned for use by the Church, went back well into pre-Christian times. What do you know? They were first used by Pagans! And there’s no reason why they can’t all be reclaimed.

That’s why, in my new book (Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Names) I have included most names that have seen at least modest use at some time or other over the last thousand years or so, and why I have dug deep, down to their roots (which, in one way or another, invariably turn out to be Pagan).

Perhaps I do believe in Pagan names after all!

Our thanks to K. M. Sheard for her guest post! For more from K. M. Sheard, read her article “A Light in the Darkness: The Light Personal Names Shed on Ancient Paganism.”

by John-Morgan on Flickr

Two weeks ago, I posted a Holiday gift guide for Pagans, Wiccans, and cool people, sharing some of the books I’ve acquired that were published within the past year or so that I figured would make nifty gifts for your favorite witches. (Only the ones who’ve been really good and bad this year!) But what if you don’t want to give the gift of books, but you still have Pagans in your life you’d like to shop for?

Cara Schultz at PNC Minnesota has very kindly done all kinds of research to round up the ultimate giving list. So much so that it had to be divided into two parts!

In part one, you’ll find foodie ideas, film reviewer Peg Aloi’s inspiring movie suggestions, music suggestions from überblogger extraordinaire Jason Pitz-Waters of The Wild Hunt, and few ideas for the eco-conscious Pagan by No Unsacred Place bloggers John Beckett and Eli Effinger-Weintraub.

In part two, Cara covers art and gifts for children, Patheos and PNC-Atlanta blogger Star Foster shares some art and botanical lotion picks, I share my book picks, web developer Dash provides some ideas for the techno-mage in your life, and PNC Warriors & Kin blogger Lori Dake, Bress Nicneven from the Upper Midwest Pagan Alliance (UMPA), and Selena Fox from Circle Sanctuary and Pagan Warrior Radio all chip in to provide ideas for any military Pagans you may know. (Or not know – UMPA and Circle are both holding drives to send Yule care packages to active duty Pagans stationed abroad.)

While a few of the recommendations are local in nature, most are not, as we are all gathered together by the loving strands of the Interwebs in a warm and fuzzy embrace. So have fun shopping! Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments as well!

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“Why would you want to worship a goddess of war?” Usually this is the first question I’m asked when I tell someone my patron goddess in the Morrigan. My own experiences and research have taught me that the Morrigan has many guises. She is a goddess of sovereignty, power, and magick. She is the Great Queen who teaches us to take control of our lives and empower ourselves. The Morrigan is a complex figure; she is far more than a goddess of battle, but it is this aspect that has become the most familiar to us. And unfortunately it is the Morrigan’s connection to warfare that make some hesitate to work with her.

Why is it that we fear the warrior goddess? While most people today would think of war as belonging to the realm of the “masculine,” there are a surprising number of female deities connected to battle. To the Celts she was Andraste, Maeve, Cymidei Cymeinfoll, and the Morrigan, who flew over battlefields in the form of a crow, lending encouragement and strength to her favorite warriors. In Egypt she was Sekhmet and Menhit, the lioness goddesses who drank the blood of their enemies. To the Greeks she was Athena, in Rome, Bellona, in India she appeared as Durga and Kali. The list goes on and on. In mythological terms war has a distinctive feminine side. If so many cultures of the past revered the warrior goddess and held her sacred, why now do we fear her?

We must take into consideration that our modern concept of battle is vastly different than the cultures from which these warrior goddesses arose. Unless you are in the military, war is something we watch on TV or read about in the newspaper. When you leave your house in the morning you don’t worry about the neighboring town attacking while you’re gone and stealing your food stores for the winter, but these were real concerns for our ancestors. Their warriors were akin to our firefighters and policemen; they kept the community safe, and thus warriors were held in high esteem. And it should be no surprise that deities connected to battle were also revered. To those who worshiped them they were deities of protection. By deciding the outcome of battles, they held sway over life and death.

But how does that translate to today’s world? Does the warrior goddess still have a role in our lives today? Absolutely. The role she plays in our lives may have changed compared to cultures of the past, but that does not make her mysteries any less valid. I personally don’t think the Gods remain stagnant; they evolve and change as humanity does. When we look at the Morrigan’s origins—which point towards her originally being a tutelary earth goddess—we can clearly see that her role within Celtic spirituality evolved and changed over time. So why would that evolution stop now? Life is always full of battles. Whether its finding a way to pay all the bills, fighting your inner demons, standing up for a cause you believe in, ending an abusive relationship, or conquering any number of the battles we face in life, the warrior goddess still stands ready at our sides, encouraging us and leading us to victory if we let her. Maybe your “war” is against animal cruelty, or your “battle” is for social change. Maybe you wield a pen and a business suit instead of a sword and shield, but if you see a crow flying overhead, or find one perched by your office window, ask yourself if that isn’t the Morrigan watching over you.

Whatever your battle, the Morrigan remains a source of strength, wisdom, and power to those who call to her. So for those who would ask “Why worship a goddess of war?”, I would have to respond that we need to rethink our concepts surrounding war and battle. I face battles within my life all the time; they may be rather mundane ones, but regardless I’d still like to have the Morrigan watching over me, leading me towards victory.

Our thanks to Stephanie for her guest post! For more from Woodfield, read her article “The Great Queen and the Sovereignty of Self.”

The Yulish Tree by DairDair

It’s that time of year again…time for gift shopping! Whether you celebrate Yule, the Winter Solstice, Christmas or Hanukkah with your family and friends, the season has come to be synonymous with the giving of thoughtful gifts, trinkets or tokens of goodwill. This puts some degree of stress on all of us; though giving is joyous, often the expense and energy spent on tracking down “the perfect gift” is not.

I am a book lover, so I happen to think books always make good gifts. There’s no need to worry about whether it fits or is the right color; no need to buy batteries or complicated hook-ups to operate it; no need to stay up all night on Thanksgiving to get the best deal on it. It’s entertainment (or edutainment?) that can be used again and again, even if the power goes out for a week in a freak snowstorm.

Also, if you’re one of those people who happen to think that supporting local businesses is a smart idea, many of us are blessed with local independent booksellers who will bend over backwards to see their customers pleased, including specially ordering books for you. If you don’t have a local bookseller and don’t want to patronize the big boxes, you can always order directly from the publisher’s website – which, in turn, allows more of the proceeds to go to the author.

eBook Reader by goXunuReviews

Finally, we all know people who now read on gadgets – let’s not forget them either! You can buy gift cards for the Kindle, the Nook, the Kobo, and the Sony Reader, and they can pick what they like best.

If you’d like to buy a printed and bound media artifact, though, here are some suggestions. You can view my suggestions for 2010 here in case you had a certain type of person in mind, and remember that all Llewellyn books linked to below have a “browse inside” feature so you can check it out before checking out. Happy shopping!

Basket cases

The Witch's Heart

Why not put together a decorative gift basket including a book and some related extras? For example, Alaric Albertsson’s intelligent and thorough book on Anglo-Saxon magic, Wyrdworking, would be lovely paired with a set of runes or the author’s specially designed pictorial rune cards. Know someone who’s having a serious run of bad luck? Try giving them Ellen Dugan’s Practical Protection Magick along with a deep red or purple seven-day candle, cedar, lavender or vetivert essential oil, dragon’s blood incense, black tourmaline, hematite, lapis lazuli or malachite, and a sage smudge stick. And if you know someone who could use more love in their life (either with their current partner or with a potential new one), stuff the basket with The Witch’s Heart by Christopher Penczak, along with some rose water (available at many Middle Eastern delis), wheat pennies (coins that are actually made of copper, the metal sacred to Venus), yarrow, raspberry leaf tea, and a nice chunk of rose quartz, watermelon tourmaline, or peridot.

Something crafty

Magical Candle Crafting

We all know people who just can’t wait to get started on their next craft project. These are the people who usually give you some exquisite hand-made gift that makes you feel bad you bought their gift in a store! This year you can give them a book or two geared toward a new crafting hobby – but one that’s magical. Try out Wandlore by Alferian Gwydion MacLir, which includes everything you need to know about making and consecrating a wand, or Magical Candle Crafting by Ember Grant, which teaches you how to make your own magically infused candles for a wide variety of spells and special occasions. If you drop the right hints with your gift (and throw in a tree branch or a hunk of wax), you might receive a handmade wand or batch of candles next Yule!

Are you experienced?

Fairy Tale Rituals

Lots of witches who are fairly well established in their practices think that there is simply nothing new under the sun and haven’t bought a new book on witchcraft in years. Hopefully one of these titles will surprise them! For the (slightly twisted) child at heart, try Fairy Tale Rituals by Kenny Klein, which provides deep rituals and magic based on well-known fairy tales. If you know a witch suffering chronic burnout, whose magic hasn’t changed since the ‘90s, or who seems to have lost that magical spark – get them The Witch’s Bag of Tricks by Melanie Marquis as soon as possible to reverse the damage. I guarantee they will thank you later! Finally, for the feminist in all of us, give The Woman Magician by Brandy Williams – a thoughtful and wide-ranging discourse on women’s role in magic over the long centuries, and how we can take our Western magical traditions and craft something entirely new, entirely focused on the woman’s experience in her own body and her own right. This one is particularly hard to sum up neatly, so I do recommend using the Browse Inside function!

Off the beaten path

The Path of Druidry

Finally, there are those who are always looking for something different. The Path of Druidry by Penny Billington is a druidry book like no other, firmly based on the reader’s own observations of nature as well as the tales of the Mabinogion. Brain Magick by Philip Farber is a fun romp through how our brains make magic happen – occurring across all times and cultures, magic is definitely part of our biological/chemical makeup, and this book’s exercises will show you how to find it. And, if you know someone who lives literally off the beaten path, chances are they’ll appreciate the collective wisdom, shared stories and practical advice found in The Small Town Pagan’s Survival Guide by Bronwen Forbes.

And more stocking stuffers…

Did you know Llewellyn also sells tarot cloths, tarot bags, crystal runes and talismans, journals and more?

Check them out!

photo by Kashirin Nickolai

I saw a very interesting article this morning on what is purported to be the “most relaxing song ever created.” I highly recommend reading the whole article here, but to summarize with a quote from the article,

The band worked with sound therapists to get advice on how to make the most effective use of harmonies, rhythms and bass lines. The result on listeners is a slowing of the heart rate, reduced blood pressure and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

This proves, once again, that our environments have profound effects on our brains, and thereby our entire bodies. If a song can slow your heartbeat by entrainment (the process whereby our hearts beat at the same pace as what we’re hearing) and if low tones put you in a trancelike state, then it’s no wonder witches rely on such techniques as drumming, chanting, or humming when performing magic or ritual. Once again, science has confirmed what magical practitioners already knew.

Researcher Dr David Lewis-Hodgson said, “Brain imaging studies have shown that music works at a very deep level within the brain, stimulating not only those regions responsible for processing sound but also ones associated with emotions.”

If the implications of this are as fascinating to you as they are to me, I highly recommend you check out a book I acquired for our magick line that just came out last month, Brain Magick by Philip Farber. This book can be used by anyone who practices magick, witches and Pagans included. Here’s a snippet from the intro:

Elements from a variety of theories and models, ranging from neuroscience to voodoo, are offered as clues to understand the phenomena we find in our magical experiments. There are many different styles and practices of magick, in every culture, on every continent. By identifying some of the common elements, we are better able to separate out the magick itself, the techniques and practices that really work, from the content of the rituals that relates to specific belief systems. In general, many techniques of magick are the same everywhere, with their intent aimed at different results and deities. This suggests that the rituals and practices derive from the commonality of human experience; this is how our brains work when we do magick.

Just some of the cool stuff included in this book are explorations of states of consciousness and state-dependent memory, and how you can use that in magick; how to create anchors to easily re-access those particular states, energies, or feelings (the way we often do in ritual by using the same cues to produce altered states); how to create and move through evocations, to better and more easily connect with gods or goddesses specifically aligned with your purposes; creating a timeline and moving through it; instant empowerment; and much more.

I seriously can’t say enough good things about this book, and any advanced witch should consider seriously working with the 56 exercises in the book. As the study mentioned above shows, there are simple and practical ways to change not only your brainwaves, but your brain chemistry, your state of consciousness, even your hormone levels. If you want to apply that to magick, this is the book that will show you exactly how to do that.

Calling all gardeners!

Do you have gardening tips to share? Do you read Llewellyn’s Moon Sign Book? Want to see your gardening tips in print? Llewellyn is looking for reader-submitted gardening tips for publication in the 2013 edition of our Moon Sign Book. Now is your chance to be a part of your favorite annual gardening and astrological guide!

Details:
What: Llewellyn is looking for gardening tips from readers around the country and around the world! Every gardener has a trick or two that they rely on, so let’s share our tips with other readers. There is a 75-word limit for entries.

How: Send your tip to readertips@llewellyn.com NicoleE@Llewellyn.com, including your full name and mailing address. We will publish only your first name and last initial, along with your state or country. If your tip is chosen for inclusion in the 2013 edition, we will mail you a free copy of the book in July 2012—you’ll be one of the very first people to see the 2013 Moon Sign Book!

When: All submissions must be received by November 15, 2011 to be considered for publication.

Important note: By submitting text to Llewellyn, you agree that we may publish, distribute, sell, display, and use the text without limitation. You also agree that you will not be compensated monetarily for your contribution.

A deep thank you to all of our readers, past, present, and future—you help make us great!