As Valentine’s Day draws near, our thoughts turn to love, romance and flowers. The Two of Cups is the tarot card that represents an ideal relationship between two people where there is balance, respect and genuine love. Parfait Amour (“perfect love” in French) is a violet-hued liqueur that tastes like a Victorian love potion combining the essences…
Category: rituals
Predicting Possibilities With Pancakes
Mix a pancake, stir the pancake Pop it in the pan Fry the pancake, toss the pancake Catch it if you can See the pancake, what shape does it make? Gaze into the pan Show us, pancake, what is our fate? Speak! all-knowing flan.
Celebrate Imbolc with Snowmelt Milk Punch
Imbolc is celebrated at the beginning of February, marking the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The word “imbolc” is believed to mean “ewe’s milk” as this is the time of year when the sheep were giving birth and producing milk, the first stirrings of new life in the midst of winter,…
Feed your trees with toast and cider
It’s a Saturday night, and I expect many people are going out to dinner, maybe taking in a club or attending a party where the clink of glasses, muted lighting and soft music creates a warm and inviting atmosphere. Suckers! WE have driven 2 hours out of London to attend a Wassail ceremony in the…
“It’s in the leaves! It’s coming!” or “The Magic Cup”
Like many of the mystically-minded amongst us, from the very first time I found a Fortune Teller Miracle Fish in a Christmas cracker and laid it, pregnant with possibilities, in the palm of my hand to see if I was Jealous, Indifference, In Love, Fickle, False, Dead One or Passionate – I have been fascinated…
Chocomancy: Divination by Chocolate Cocktail
As the new calendar year begins, bright with promise, it’s difficult to not want a peek – just a small one – into what fate has in store for us. In Germany and Nordic countries a fortune-telling technique called Bleigiessen is traditional on New Year’s. This is a form of molybdomancy, from the Greek molubdus (lead)…
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…
Host Your Own Álfablót
Now that you have all your ducks in a row for the Christmas holidays you may feel like doing something quiet tonight before the festive revels really kick off, and what better way to spend your evening than hosting a Álfablót for the elves of your region? It’s exactly the right time of year. People rarely…
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…
It was a dark and stormy night….
……and in London at the moment, the days are pretty dark and stormy, too. A good time to mix up a potion for strength, potency and warmth. To paraphrase the wise words of the kings of the dance floor Odyssey: you need to get back to your roots, yeah?
The New City Witches Cocktail Coven 