Here in the northern hemisphere, Beltane, is almost upon us, but for our southern hemisphere friends, it is time for samhain. To help you celebrate, we’ve rounded up our best rituals, spells, books, and more! Candles for Nights of Halloween Magic: Novelty candles make fun and festive decorations. As figural candles (such as black cats, red devils, skulls, and the like) are also used in American folk magic, the availability of Halloween candles suggests many possibilities for imaginative spell working. The following are some magical suggestions for Halloween candles.     A Dark Moon Ritual for Fall: The new moon is a time when many say that magic and

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Zoë Howe, author of the new Witchful Thinking. Whenever I'm in the woods—which is as often as possible—I like to leave something for the spirit of the place, such as a piece of crystal or something "of the earth" that won't damage the wildlife. A few years ago, something very strange and special happened when I did this. My husband and I were visiting a magnificent 800-year-old oak tree in a wood in Mistley, not far from where we lived at the time in Essex, England. This tree is something of a folk hero in witching circles. His name is Old Knobbley and he is a highly protective presence: during the Essex witch-hunts of the English Civil

The Llewellyn Virtual Author Forum is our bi-monthly series of free online roundtable events will feature your favorite Llewellyn authors discussing topics important to you and answering your questions. Our latest in the series, on Positive Paganism & Spells for Good Times, featured Good Juju author Najah Lightfoot; Positive Pagan author Lisa Wagoner; Spells for Good Times author Kerri Connor; and Self-Love Superpower author Tess Whitehurst. Did you miss the live event? Watch it on-demand now!

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Mark Nelson, author of the new Shamanism. What is the relevance of shamanism today? The term shaman comes from Tungusic-speaking peoples of Siberia, which has led to criticism of the appropriation of terms like shaman and shamanism. However, we also use the termshamanism to describe cross-cultural beliefs and ritual practices, both culture-specific traditions, such as Andean Shamanism, and cross-cultural neo-shamanic traditions. Shamanism has a long history dating from at least the Upper Paleolithic era (40,000 years ago), with researchers claiming evidence from earlier. Shamanism is the oldest spiritual practice we know of, and underlies