On they walked and walked, till suddenly they came upon a strange cottage in the middle of a glade. “This is chocolate!” gasped Hansel as he broke a lump of plaster from the wall. “And this is icing!” exclaimed Gretel, putting another piece of wall in her mouth. Starving but delighted, the children…
Category: crafting
Tired out? Bake a Mabon Bread Demon
This period between the festivals of Lammas and Samhain is known to be an unchancy one, with high levels of supernatural activity. It’s wise to avoid most magical behaviour for now, as while you are likely to get heightened responses, it’s also extremely possible that the results may not turn out as you anticipated. So…
Killing the Corn-Spirit or Hello, Dolly!
In the village of Siddington in Cheshire in the shadow of the monolithic radio telescopes of Jodrell Bank, lives a gentleman with an unusual hobby. Raymond Rush makes corn dollies, and at Harvest Festival time decorates the local church with over 1,000 of these sinister pagan relics. In his workshop next to an old hand…
Throw a Wicker Man Party for Beltane!
Beltane is one of the best festivals of the year in my opinion – a celebration of fire, flowers and creativity! It’s also the backdrop for the 1973 Christopher Lee gem The Wicker Man, the film about a hapless policeman investigating a missing child on the mysterious Scottish island of Summerisle. If you’ve never seen…
Magic Eggs
“Long long ago before time had begun, the moon lost a pebble and away through space it spun, in the world far below only water could be seen, it sank down to the bottom and it lay there like a dream… Magic Egg….Rejected by the devil and circled by a dove, the message inside was…
Giving Parties For Pets
Since the Early Times, familiar creatures were accepted as quasi-supernatural entities who would assist witches and the Cunning Folk in their magical practices. Documents of that era described them as appearing in numerous guises – usually as an animal, and most commonly as a cat, or cat-demon. Unlike ghosts or otherworldly spirits, they were described…
Chocolate Logs, Marzipan Mushrooms & Crowned Cakes
Cakes & Ale is the most often performed ritual within witchcraft, as well as one of the most ancient in practice, and consists of the sharing of food and drink among sorcières to mark a gathering. The concept of sharing a meal with someone to show goodwill dates back to prehistory and is symbolic of…
Holly & Ivy & Horned Gods
The traditional celebrations of Yule involve so many of the minor and major gods with their associated traditions/symbolism and multiple identities that to the casual observer it looks like a cross between a class reunion, a family party, and one of those horror stories where people go walking down long dark hallways and meet themselves…
Transform Festively For Free
For some of us mere wage slaves, the workplace can be a rather sterile environment at this time of year. If the tinsel and lights of the season cease abruptly when you step across the threshold, you may wish to consider creating a more copacetic environment for yourself and your colleagues.
Gluckspilz: Lucky Mushrooms for the New Year
The fly agaric mushroom with it’s distinctive red cap covered with white dots is a popular Yuletide pagan good luck symbol, particularly in Europe.
The New City Witches Cocktail Coven 